Linda O'Connor

Happy Valentine’s Day! A day to celebrate the love of your life. Congratulations to those people who have found their person, their soul mate, their one and only. You have reason to celebrate. Fostering a relationship takes commitment, time, and selflessness. But dare I suggest that there is an even greater love to behold? A special bond that transcends even the most romantic of relationships.

Yes, it is the love I have for my IT guy. Without him, I’d be stumbling, struggling, unable to get past the desktop screen.

He’s only one email away, and each email is like a love letter from cyberspace. Always calm in the face of adversity, he just knows what to do. Like the time I went to pay and searched left and right, up and down for the NEXT button. I clicked around aimlessly, stuck on cyber hold, lost and confused. It only took two words from my IT guy, as powerful as any “I do.” Command minus. Absolutely brilliant. Is there anything more satisfying than emptying your cart and moving on?

Or the time, hard at work on my work laptop, a sexy little blue without Microsoft suite applications – no Word, no PowerPoint, no Excel. I saved a photo, but alas, where did it go? “Where?” I asked.  My IT guy swooped in like an eagle-eyed owl, unblinking, all-knowing, took one swift glance, and pointed to the taskbar. “Check the file folder.” I bowed to his infinite knowledge. How does he know all this stuff?

He’s selflessly guided me through installing Microsoft Teams, launching QuicktimePlayer, locking my password, emptying the cache, erasing the cookies, backing up with an external hard drive – he unravels the tangled web one click at a time.

And don’t even get me started on updates. All I can do is shudder and hand the whole laptop over, shielding my eyes from the pain of it all until it’s 100% complete.

My IT guy has my back, puts in time and energy to make my life a better place, all with patience and kindness. We truly have a special bond…one I treasure and foster. I’ll never forget that holy grail of IT advice he once gave so generously: “Did you try unplugging it and plugging it back in?”

Yes, truly, love for my IT guy knows no bounds.

If you’re looking for a fun escape, pick up a copy of Beyond the Face-Off, a sexy, medical, hockey romantic comedy!

Kelly Danali has a big personality. She runs a pharmacy by day and lights up the local theatre scene by night. There’s nothing she craves more than a spot in the limelight. Jake Ross is a homegrown hockey star. He’s been traded back to the Clarington Quakes and spends most of his time avoiding the press and hockey-crazed fans.

Kelly wants to curb an alarming trend of drug abuse in local teens, and Jake, with his athleticism and sex appeal, would be the perfect spokesperson. Except there’s one problem – there’s nothing Jake craves more than privacy and solitude.

Jake finds Kelly irresistible and skates around the possibility of falling in love, but is she more attracted to hockey, fame, or him?

There’s more to love…Beyond the Face-Off.

Enjoy an excerpt from Beyond the Face-Off ~

Her smile widened as the newcomer came up to the counter. “Hi, can I help you?”

He held out a piece of paper. “I have a prescription that needs to be filled.”

Kelly’s smile froze and her heart stuttered as recognition dawned. Jake Ross. The Jake Ross was in her store. The dazzling star forward and newest sensation on the Clarington Quakes hockey team had been the buzz of the town for the last six weeks. He had gone to her high school way back when but had been two years ahead of her. In school. Likely a few more than that in life experience. Those blue eyes that had been plastered all over the Clarington Post were an even deeper shade of sexy in real life. The smile? To die for. And that gorgeous wavy brown hair? Oh. Yum. And he was in her store.

His smile faltered and he frowned. He looked at the nametag pinned above her left breast and swept his gaze across her chest back to her eyes. “Ah, this is a pharmacy, right?”

Her breasts tingled, and she straightened her shoulders. Probably not the best place for a nametag. “Of course. Sorry.” She reached for the prescription he held out and quickly scanned it. Harpen. Thirty pills. She struggled to keep a neutral face. “Is this for you?” She checked the name as he shook his head.

“No, for my dad.”

“Of course.” B.J. Ross, she read. She looked at him. “It’ll just be a moment.”

He nodded and turned to browse in the store as Kelly went into the storeroom behind the counter and found the bottle she needed. She counted out the pills, scooped them into a small pill bottle, and printed off a label.

“Okay, all set.” Kelly walked over to the cash as he returned to the counter. Was it just her or was there a sizzle in the air? “Has your dad had this before?” Please say yes.

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. He’s feeling a bit under the weather. He came back from the doctor with this and asked if I could pick it up for him.”

Kelly nodded and cleared her throat. “I’ve slipped some information about it in the bag, but it’s used to treat erectile dysfunction. It takes about thirty minutes for the full effect–” She stopped at his strangled sound.

He raised his hands in the air, and his eyes went wide. “What?”

Kelly blinked. “It’s used to keep an erection hard so intercourse is pos–”

“Yeah, I know what erectile dysfunction is. How is that going to help my father?”

“Well, if he’s having problems with–”

“No.” Jake shook his head and waved his hands in the air. A flush spread over his cheeks. “I don’t want to discuss my father’s…erectile,” he said with a wince, “problems.” He shook his head. “He told me he had the flu.”

Kelly looked at him. “This won’t help the flu.” She grinned. “But it may make him feel better.”

Buy link (only 99c!):  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G6XMD6B