STARLIGHT SATURDAY

A CUPID INTERVIEW

My guests today are Eric and Dwayne– please, have a seat on our lovely couch! – from Canada. Their tale can be found in Permanent Ink a novel creation by Jaime Samms.

Before we begin, I must remind everyone to please try and keep your responses to a PG13 atmosphere – the Moonlight Mistresses rules, not mine *eye roll*. Double entendres are acceptable and widely encouraged for events and phrases we don’t want our young readers to really know about. Oooh, it will be so much fun trying to guess what you’re really saying!

*Settling comfortably onto the sofa, draping his arm over the back and sipping his bubbly* That Miss Havana in Reaper’s Domain is one hot teacher and boy would I love to get into her…class! I might actually learn something…oh…did I say that out loud? *Clears throat* Sorry. Let’s get back to the interview.

You two make one fine pair! I did a wonderful job pairing you two up if I do say so myself! Then, I just love all of my matches!

Cupid: Please, Eric, tell our readers how you two first met. Was it by your design, or his?

Eric *casting a sly glance at Dwayne* Neither. I think it was pretty much hate at first sight for both of us. I thought he was a thug and he thought I was about the biggest jerk North of the 49th. I was wrong. *puts his hand on Dwayne's knee* He wasn't, but I think he's mostly forgiven me.

In fact, though, we never would have met if not for his cousin, Angel, who happens to be my best friend, inviting Dwayne to come up and live with him for a few months.

Cupid: Dwayne, would you say it was love at first sight or did you find him repulsive?

Dwayne: What he said. In his defence, I didn't give him much reason to doubt his first impression.

Cupid: This one’s for both of you. Since chaotic happenstance tends to put characters like yourselves in situations where they must work together or live together for one reason or another, tell us what chaotic happenstance “forced” the two of you to work or live together. How did you feel about this?

Dwayne: *looking uncomfortable* It's a long story.

Eric: Like I said, he came to live with Angel. The why doesn't really matter. And since Angel and I spend most of our waking, non-class time in each other's back pockets, it was inevitable I would meet him, eventually.

Cupid: This one is also for both of you. How long did it take you to know your true feelings for the other? At what point did you know, “this is the one”?

Eric: *swallowing hard and looking at Dwayne* When he told me his story. Which is about the same time I realized what an ass I'd been.

Dwayne: First time I saw him. Hen he opened his mouth… *grinning* But Angel convinced me to give him a chance.

Eric Really? *stunned*

Dwayne: Laughs

Cupid: Eric, what would you say was your biggest obstacle to overcome before you could settle into a relationship with Dwayne?

Eric: Myself. I mean, we still have a ways to go. But getting over myself was huge.

Cupid: This is for either of you. Would you like to thank anyone – other than me, of course – for getting you two together?

Eric: Angel

Dwayne: *speaking simultaneously* Angel

Cupid: I know our readers have enjoyed learning about you two so far, but I’m getting a little bored, so I’m going to heat things up. Eric, how would you end this sentence, "I wish Dwyne would _____?" *leans forward to eagerly hear your response*

Eric: *Blushes* I can't say that here!

Dwayne: *chuckles*

Cupid: Dwayne, would you prefer to give Eric a bubble bath or a back massage? Why?

Dwayne: Is there some reason I can't do both? You know there's this new bubble bath scent guaranteed to…put you in the mood… *grins at Eric's blush* God, I love when he does that!

Cupid: How many of you remember that old show, The Newlywed Game? Well, these next questions are going to help us play a similar game. Dwayne, what would Eric say is your aphrodisiac? *waggles eyebrows*

Dwayne: That pink in his cheeks right there.

Eric: *Blushes more deeply*

Dwayne: Oh yeah, Baby. Tell me that isn't the biggest turn on.

Cupid: Eric, is he right? How would you have answered that question?

Eric: *Squirms* He's right. *glares at Dwayne*

Dwayne: *Snickers*

Cupid: *crosses ankles and rubs his chin* Dwayne, what would Eric say is a spot guaranteed to drive you crazy with passion? Is she correct in that assumption?

Dwayne: *covers the star tattoos on his inner elbow with his other hand* He has a thing for my tats. Makes me crazy when he…can I say licks? Yeah.

Eric: Admit it. You see stars when I lick your stars.

Cupid: Eric, as far as you know, what is Dwayne's idea of a perfect date?

Eric: Staying in. Eating a meal. Eating each—ah…licking.

Cupid: Dwayne. is he correct? If not, what is your idea of a perfect date?

Dwayne: I like watching him play ball. But yeah. A night in, cooking, hanging.

Cupid: Dwayne, your turn in the hot seat. What is Eric's idea of a perfect date?

Dwayne: He likes when I give him…cooking lessons. Those are always good times.

Cupid: Eric, is he correct? If not, what is your idea of a perfect date?

Eric: *more blushing* Yeah. Cooking.

Cupid: The next two questions are for both of you. What's the most romantic thing your lover has ever done for you?

Eric: You'll laugh, but the night he made me talk to my brother instead of kick him out. Doesn't sound romantic, but it meant a lot to me, after, to know he wanted us to make up. He didn't even really know me that well yet, and he made me do it. That was cool. He put me first.

Dwayne: He kissed the stars. *points to the tattoo on his arm* Because of what they mean, how they got there. And he didn't care.

Cupid: If you could change one thing about your relationship, what would it be?

Eric: He'd move in already.

Dwayne: *stares*

Eric: What?

Dwayne: Here? Now?

Eric: *shrugs* Say yes.

Dwayne: Ask properly.

Eric: *faces him* Dwayne, move in with me. Um. Please.

Dwayne: Um. Please?

Eric: *rolls his eyes*

Dwayne: Fine, but you so are going to pay for doing this in public.

Eric: Promise?

Dwayne: Oh, I promise, Sweetcheeks

Cupid: Have the two of you had time to settle into any Valentine's Day traditions?

Dwayne: He has. He's developed a tradition of putting me on the spot.

Eric: *shrugging and settling back in his seat, self satisfied* It worked, didn't it? Both times.

Cupid: Thanks to Eric and Dwayne for joining us today. We hope you’ll check out their story, Permanent Ink.

To learn more about Eric and Dwayne's author, Jaime Samms, visit: http://www.jaime-samms.net/

Buy Link: http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Permanent-Ink-by-Jaime-Samms.html

Blurb:

Eric has gone through life putting a lot of store in outward appearances, so when his best friend Angel's cousin, Dwayne comes along, with his tattoos and body piercings, Eric is sure there's a story behind all that armour. He's equally sure it's a story he doesn't care to hear. He's already written Dwayne off as a thug and player.

Finding out the truth behind Dwayne's tough exterior proves Eric really didn't know anything, not even his very best friend. Learning about Angel and Dwayne's past gives Eric a good look into his own truth, and he's not so sure he likes what he sees, but is it too late to change? More important, is it too late to convince Dwayne he was wrong?

Excerpt:

Lunch the next day was a greasy burger and soggy fries at the diner on the ground floor of Eric's building. He didn't cook and another bowl of cereal or piece of toast didn't appeal in the least. He was just poking at the mess when the bell over the door rang. He looked up to see Dwayne glancing around the joint. As soon as those dark eyes fixed on him, Eric felt heat curl in his belly. He let the top bun of his burger fall from where he had it pinched between his fingers and wiped his hands on his napkin.

"Hey." Dwayne sauntered over, his hips swaying, his customary grin in place, but his eyes were deep and brooding.

"Hi." Eric indicated the seat across from him. "How'd you find me?"

Dwayne tilted his head. "You not wanting to be found?"

"No. Just...wondering. Have a seat."

"Angel." Dwayne slid into the booth across from Eric. "Gave me your address. Told me you eat here sometimes. You didn't answer your door so I figured no harm in trying, right?"

Eric nodded. "Right."

Dwayne pulled the sugar shaker out of the wire basket next to the wall and proceeded to pour a pile of it onto the table. He eyed Eric's plate and asked, in a rather dubious voice; "So what's good here?"

A grimace turned up Eric's lip. "Not much. You hungry?"

"I could eat." He paused. "But maybe not that. Had enough slop in the joint to know I don't ever want it again." He pushed the sugar pile around with his baby finger. Shapes appeared, outlined in the white crystals; a square, manipulated into a circle then into a star.

Eric bit his lip. "We could go somewhere else." He watched as Dwayne carefully erased his work by pushing the sugar back into a heap and started over.

"Like to eat food I cooked myself." He picked up Eric's fork and poked at the limp fries with it. "Angel and Marianne needed some time, ya know?" Abandoning the fork like an empty flag pole in the mound of fries, he went back to shifting the sugar around the dark melamine of the table top and a heart appeared.

"I see." Eric thought fast, but he knew he had no food in his apartment, and said so. He watched the heart take form and wondered if it was in relation to Angel and Marianne or something else.

"There's a market just down the block," Dwayne suggested. He drew an arrow protruding out the side of the heart. "If you got a stove."

"Sure." Eric swallowed hard. "I do."

"Light a few candles and it could be a right proper fucking Valentine's date," Dwayne said, his voice thick with something that could have been sarcasm except for the low tone, the way his eyes didn't spark with that snarky light Eric was used to seeing there.

"Huh." Eric was finding it hard to speak. His mouth was dry, his thoughts scattered like the grains of sugar fanning out from the crooked heart Dwayne had sketched. "Is it the fourteenth already?"

Almost black eyes peered up through thick, long lashes. Dwayne shrugged. He poised his hand to sweep the sugar away but Eric stopped him. They stared at one another for a long minute.

Eric nodded once. "Okay."