Kinky Kiss & Tell: Jake Boudreaux from Poker Posse Book 1

Bryce had to reschedule his interview, so a new character I've been working with has kindly offered to step in and take his place. Please follow me as I chat with Jake Boudreaux from a new series I'm working with.


Jake Boudreaux slouches on the side of his Harley and watches as I ease my Santa Fe into a parking spot. The warmth of late morning in spring in Georgia has a low mist hovering over the grass and the drone of insects as the sun eases toward its zenith. He looks comfortable in his faded jeans, green tee shirt and scuffed biker boots. The black leather jacket is draped over the back of his bike while the matching leather chaps emphasize the muscles in his thighs and frame the substantial bulge behind his button-fly. In typical bad-boy fashion, he’s left his hair long, letting the glossy chocolate brown waves caress his shoulders, and his morning beard unshaven.

If there’s one thing that makes me nervous, it’s meeting a new character for the first time. Especially before I’ve even finished his book. I shut the engine off and climb out of the truck, dragging my tote bag with my notebook, pen, and the list of questions with me. I approach him with a smile I’m sure is more nerves than confidence. I hold my hand out. “Mr. Boudreaux, thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”

His hand is warm and callused as it swallows mine, but gentle, no squeezing, just a firm clasp. The sun-darkened skin evidence of his time in hotter climes is shades browner than my own pasty skin. “My pleasure, Miz Rain.”

The southern drawl is pronounced in his voice, an attempt to put me at ease, I’m sure, but it doesn’t. I know what he’s done with his life, the places he’s been. Laid back country boy may be the persona he’s trying to exude, but specially trained warrior and hacker extraordinaire is what he is.

The grin he gives me assures me he knows exactly what I’m thinking. “Shall we sit down?” He motions to the picnic table a few yards away and I head in that direction, with him a few paces behind me.

Once I’m settled across from him, he waits for me to begin.

I fiddle with the papers and clear my throat before saying, “This interview is for the Kinky Ever After blog, so the questions are ones the authors have asked of their characters.”

“Understood.”

“What is your favorite ice cream?”

“Butter pecan.”

“What is your favorite thing about Norah Lipton?”

A soft smile lifts his lips and the chill in his azure gaze melts away. “The way she looks at me. At the real me.”

I jot a note down, a reminder to make sure I make that clear in the story. “And what does Norah do, what habit does she have, that is most annoying to you?” I could list a dozen things I’ve discovered about Norah but so far in the story there’s nothing that…

“She comes too fast.”

I blink, thrown by the answer. “She comes…?”

Jake nodded, leaning forward, forearms braced on the worn wooden table. “Too fast. Yes. Twelve years is a long time to want someone, Miss Qwillia, and I consider all the things I still aim to teach her, the fact that she’s climaxing so quick, tests my control.”

The grin that spreads over his lips and the glint in his eyes tells me this isn’t necessarily a bad thing in Jake’s mind. While I’m still trying to find my voice for the next question, he continues.

“Not that I mind too much. It just means I get to wind her up again and again before it’s my turn.”

I can feel the heat in my cheeks, not to mention between my thighs. I swallow. Why do I get myself into these situations… I shake off the thought and ask my next question. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

The ice returns to his gaze and the smile disappears. “Twelve.”

The clipped tone and foreboding expression warn me off, but I ignore them, determined to dig deeper. “Twelve? That’s far too young, Jake. What happened?”

He shakes his head. “Miss Qwillia, Norah likes your books. She’s right pleased that you’re tellin’ our story, but she’s gonna read this interview and I don’t want her knowing some things. Not yet.”

An inkling of an idea whispers in my mind and I think I know what he’s not telling me, so I let it go. After making a note to revisit the question during revisions, I look at the paper and grin at the next question. “What is your favorite sexual talent of Norah’s?”

That brought the grin back and eased the tension in his body. Leaning forward, he winks at me. “I’m teachin’ her new ones every day. Give us a few years to get the basics down then we’ll talk, okay?”

I laugh and roll my eyes at him. “Yeah, yeah.” I look at the list and ask, “What is Norah’s weirdest habit?”

Heat darkens his gaze and he gives me a wicked smile. “Hiccups.”

I stop, my pen stilled half-way through writing the word. “Hiccups?”

“She gets the hiccups when she’s too excited.”

An image of one of the love scenes from their story surfaces and I remember just how Jake cured her hiccups the last time they struck. I pick up the notepad and fan my flaming face before croaking out the next question, “How did you meet Norah?”

This time he did laugh. He got up from the bench and moved around to my side of the table. With his back to the table, he sat back down letting his legs stretch out and his elbows rest behind him on the wooden surface. “She beat me up at school.”

As he said it, the images flooded my mind. I have to admit, I love interviewing my characters because the memories that they recall are often telegraphed directly into my head. Since the readers couldn’t see what I saw, I asked for the details. “Explain.”

“I was twelve, Norah was ten. Nick, her big brother, was in the same grade as me and we got into a scuffle over something that was said. I bloodied his lip and knocked him on his ass and Norah took exception to that. She came chargin’ over and kicked me in the shin and punchin’ me in the arms. She may be a little bitty thing but when she gets riled I wouldn’t mess with her.”

“Did you stop her?”

He shook his head. “Nah, I thought it was cool that Nick’s little sister would go wadin’ in on a fight. Nick wasn’t happy about it and when he grabbed holda her I was afraid he was gonna hit her, so I stepped between ’em and told Nick to keep his hands offa her.” A chagrined look flashed across his face. “Nick yelled at me for thinkin’ he’d hit a girl, even if it was his sister, and Norah yelled at Nick for yellin’ at me. It was the darnedest thing.”

I chuckled as the scene played out again in my mind. “But you and Nick became best friends.” It was a statement not a question.

“Damn straight. Harlen Krikkel, too.”

I looked at the list of questions. Eleven more to go. I plow ahead despite my interest in learning more about Nick and Harlen and Jake’s time in the Marines. “If there was something you could change about the first few weeks you knew Norah, what would it be?”

That coldness descended over his features and he stared off into the distance, refusing to look at me. I knew he was thinking about the events surrounding the loss of his virginity. My stomach flip-flopped at the idea that that would have happened so soon after he met Norah. “The weekend after we met.”

“How would you change it?” I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get details but a general idea would help my suspicions.

“I would stay home instead of goin’ to visit my dad in Savannah.” The clipped, determined tone assured me nothing else would be forthcoming.

“What about now, since you've returned to Magnolia and ran into Norah again? Would you change anything about the first few weeks then?”

He took his time thinking about his answer. “Not much. My assignment was need-to-know, and despite what you or Norah think, she didn’t need to know.”

I glare at his arched eyebrows and ‘so there’ look and go to the next question. “What is your favorite movie?”

His lips pursed and his brow wrinkled as he thought about it. “It’s a toss up between Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

I chuckle. “Ah, the classics.”

He nudged me with his elbow. “Hey, you know you like ’em. If you were talkin’ tv, I’d have to add Sherlock, Leverage, and Burn Notice. But I don’t get to the movies very often, and I only catch the shows on Netflix or Hulu.”

Considering what I know about his lifestyle and his work, I can see that’s very true. “So, where’s the craziest place you’ve had sex?”

He winked at me. “I’ll take the fifth on that one.”

Not even a puppy-dog eyed pout changes his mind, so I ask the next question. “Which do you prefer? Coffee, tea, or…?”

“Coffee before noon. Sweet tea afternoon. And vodka or bourbon after five.”

“What addiction can you not live without?”

“Norah.”

“Describe your favorite pair of shoes.”

He laughs and crosses his right leg over his left so his scuffed up black leather biker boot is next to my hip. “I don’t know. You’re the writer, how would you describe it?”

I look at the boot. “Well-worn and lived in.”

He nods. “Sounds about right.”

“What do you most fear?”

A solemn look settles on his face and he draws a deep breath before slowly letting it out. “The day Norah figures out she’s way too good for a fucked up bastard like me.”

I don’t let that go, and apparently neither did Norah. Considering I could sense her watching, I do my best impression of Leroy Jethro Gibbs and wallop him a good one upside the back of his head. When he sits up and glares at me, I glare right back. “Do not ever go there. Understood?”

His lips thin and his eyes flash with irritation, but he knows exactly what I’m saying. After a tense few seconds of silence he dips his head and grits out, “Yes, ma’am.”

I can feel Norah’s anger ebb and I know she’s stepped back to allow me to finish the interview. I don’t envy Jake when he gets home tonight…another quirk of being connected to my characters is that sometimes they learn things from me. “If you were reincarnated, what would you like to come back as?”

It was slow returning, but amusement lit Jake’s eyes as he answered. “A pig. From the little messages goin’ around the internet, I hear a pig’s orgasm lasts at least thirty minutes.”

I laugh and stutter out the next question. “If you…if you could be in a different book, which book would it be?”

He seemed to think about it for a minute. “Hmm, considering what I’ve heard from some of the other characters. I’d be curious to see what Lanaan was like or even check out that Halsey club in Regency England that Cole and Anthony keep mentioning.”

I groan thinking of the sci-fi stories and historicals I’ve been kicking around ideas about. Jake in either of those settings would be quite interesting. Instead of giving him an answer, I ask the next to last question. “If your life were a book, what would you prefer the author not tell readers about you?”

He rolled his eyes. “Now, Miss Qwillia. If I didn’t want the author to tell the readers about something, why would I mention it in an interview, hmm?”

I nod my understanding. “True. Seems like a silly thing to do, huh?”

“Especially with you.”

“Last question. Who, living or dead, would be your hero if you have one?”

“Hmmm.” He focused on the grass beneath his boot for long moments. “I don’t rightly know. I’ll have to think on that one ’cuz puttin’ a person up on a pedestal, callin’ ’em a hero, I’m not sure that’s a good thing to do to another person.”

I pause as I write his response, aware that he’s right. In a way. I finish my notes and tuck my notebook back into my tote bag. “Thank you, Jake, for talking with me today.”

He stands up and helps me from the bench. “My pleasure, Miss Qwillia.”

Ever the Southern Gentleman, he walks me back to my truck and waits until I’m settled behind the wheel, the door shut and engine started before moving back to his bike. I watch him shrug on the black leather jacket and collect his helmet from the hard-sided saddlebags.

“Jake.”

He turns and looks at me.

“You’re going to have to tell her about that weekend.”

He goes stiff, but waits for me to finish.

“When you were twelve.”

I can see his throat work as he swallows. His knuckles go white with the fierceness of his grip before he nods. “I know.”

I watch him tug on the helmet and straddle the Harley. The engine rumbles to life and as I back out of the parking lot and make my way back toward the highway, he follows me. Watching my back like the hero he is.


**Jake and Norah's story is still in the rough draft stage, so I can't give away their book, but one lucky commenter can win a copy of Santa's Elf. The winner will be announced on Monday, April 23rd.