How old is he when we meet him?
Mid-thirties.
What stands out most about him?
His humor. Despite his heavy duty job as a hospice nurse, he knows how to bring light into people's lives. He certainly brought it into mine.
Nice guy or douche?
Fletcher is the best of the best, but he also knows how to get things done. Don't discount THIS nice guy. He'll surprise you. There are some that say you cannot have chivalry AND equality. Fletcher's the kind of man who can elevate his woman, because of how secure he is in himself. They're a rare find in this world... but they are world when you find them.
Favorite moment with him?
Oh, so many. SO, so many. He's got both a heart AND swagger, which is a pretty intoxicating combination. He's also a formidable gent. He has to be, because my heroine is a force of nature. Like the song Bitch says, it takes a strong man to take a woman the way she is in all her complexities. Yet, he never lets her run roughshod over him. Despite how beastly she roared, he had to stand strong. Every time he did, it just made me love him more.
“Fletcher, I need to speak to you privately in my office.”
He and Meghan shared a glance before he nodded. He gestured the way. “After you, boss.”
She entered the office first, so he closed the door behind them. “I take it you’ve made up your mind how to handle Martina.”
“There’s nothing to handle,” she said. “She made her choices when she broke her contract.”
He gaped at her. “Seriously?”
She sat at her desk, her throne. Let him dare question the queen. “I appreciate that you are empathetic to her particular troubles, Fletcher, but I can’t afford to be. I have a show to run, and that gets a lot harder when people have no incentive to follow the rules.”
“She’s not some fuckup, Sofie. She’s sick.”
Sofie leaned forward, resting her arms on the desk and linking her fingers together. “She now has a free schedule to get better.”
He walked to the desk, placing his hands onto it before he leaned down to glare at her. “Do you realize that you have your cast so terrified of your bogus rules that they couldn’t even call 9-1-1 for someone who was overdosing? They were more scared shitless of what you would do.”
Her eyebrow arched. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“She could have died,” he growled.
“Her decision to overdose on drugs is regrettable,” Sofie agreed. “But that was her decision.”
He rose back into a standing position. “This isn’t about her at all, is it?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
“It’s about me. And you. And showing me there’s a price for crossing you, which–thanks to the power you seem to wield–is everything.” She said nothing, so he needled more. “Seems like a pretty drastic reaction to me catching you in your robe.”
She flew out of the chair and rounded the desk. “I don’t know what you think you saw last night, but it changes nothing.”
He studied her for a moment before he stepped closer, closing the gap between them. “No?” he murmured.
It was everything she could do not to step away from him. “No,” she confirmed.
He leaned down. Their faces were inches apart. His dark gaze drilled into hers. “You sure?”
She tipped her chin, which ultimately brought their faces even closer. His gaze dropped to her mouth, which made her stomach clank to her feet. She fought every impulse to clear her throat, lick her lips, stammer or gasp. She would not give one inch. “Positive,” she gritted between clenched teeth.
His eyes met hers. “You really turned out to be a cold-hearted bitch, didn’t you, Pudgie?”
Her hand flew up to slap his face, but he easily caught her wrist. The strength in his hand as he held her took her breath away. She wasn’t used to anyone standing up to her. No one ever dared. But Fletcher Sullivan wasn’t just anybody. He had the ability to tear down everything she had built, and he knew it.
Damn him, he knew it.
Worse, those dark, hooded eyes kept searching for more.
“Sometimes I still see her in there,” he murmured. “That indefatigable little girl, fighting to find her happy.” His thumb absently stroked her skin as he lowered her hand to her side, ultimately bringing them closer. “Why are you so scared to let her free?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’m not afraid of anything.”
He chuckled as he bent closer, his lips so close to hers that she couldn’t help but suck in a breath. It was such a small white flag, but those eyes missed nothing. He suppressed a smirk when he leaned closer still, planting a peck onto her nose so fast that her other hand swished empty air when she attempted another strike. He strode confidently towards the door. “You keep telling yourself that, Pudgie,” he said. “But I know all your secrets. You might want to think about that before you make that call to PING.”
She sputtered as she stared at him. “Are you threatening me?”
“I’m just saying you have a choice. Certain choices come with certain consequences, right?”
His eyes were hard as he stared at her, every bit as unmovable as she was. Without another word, he slammed out of her office.
What do you love about him?
He's a good man with a good heart, that much is a given. But it is the way he loves his 12-year-old daughter that endears him to me the most. Like Sofie says, he's pure light.
What do you hate about him?
Wow. Hard question. Right now I'm crushing pretty hard on him, so it's difficult to say. If anything, maybe that he's not real? The world could use some more Fletchers right now.
If you went on a date, where would you go?
On a sailboat, dancing under the moonlight, singing wildly off-key.
Who inspired him?
Given he is supposed to be the Beauty in my B&B tale, I had to go with the most perfect physical specimen of man I could find. Shamelessly and unsurprisingly, #1 on the laminated list inspired him, and inspired him HARD.
Who might play him in a movie?
I mean... come on.
Do you have a special song that reminds you of him?
Any "Easter Eggs" planted with this book boyfriend?
All OVER the place, but the one that deserves special recognition is the scene where Fletcher takes Sofie to a karaoke bar. Having been afflicted with horrific stage fright in the past, she is reluctant to take the stage. Fletcher doesn't understand this, because he embraces life in all its many colors. When he realizes that she's been locked up for years behind her irrational fear, he decides to liberate her from it. The scene is one of my favorites in the book, mostly because it was inspired by people outside of it. Aside from having someone in my life who WOULD force me to face my own stage fright, the following line came directly from my husband:
He kept her in the dark about where they were going all the way to Long Beach, where he finally pulled into the parking lot of a crowded karaoke bar.
“Oh, no,” she said automatically. “No way.”
“Why not?”
“Um, hello? I don’t want to make a fool of myself. Again,” she added for emphasis.
“It’s a bar full of strangers. You’ve never seen them before and you’ll never see them again. What do you have to lose?”
Where can we find him?
See you back here tomorrow, when we talk about my Big Fat Bitch, Sofie.
I am loving this book, Ginger. I'm almost finished and it's just so damn good. And, of course, the Easter Eggs are always a welcomed bonus.
ReplyDeleteAww thanks, MJ! I had so much fun weaving them all together. I'm so glad you're enjoying it. <3
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