In
the year 2086, Zaphira is alone, the last survivor of biological warfare on
Earth. Before he died, her scientist father promised other survivors would
come. Nobody has. So when a horribly mangled android shows up claiming to be
her father’s assistant, Aiden, who has been sent through time to rescue her,
she’s both frightened and astounded.
The
last time she’d seen Aiden, she’d been sixteen, head-over-heels in love with
him and had literally thrown herself at him, leaving her devastated by his
rejection and him running for the hills. The following day, she’d been told of
his death.
Eight
years later he’s miraculously back, this time asking for her help. Without it,
he won’t survive. But can she really put a dead man back together with
tweezers?
For
Aiden, everything has changed. There are no other humans, no government, and
time travel has left his new android body unexpectedly weak and suffering from
inexplicable genetic changes in eye and hair color, brought about by his
molecular shake-up. Unbelievably, the scientist who sent him is dead, and he
must rely on the scientist’s daughter to help him. A woman who he’s not so sure
has his best interests at heart.
The
last time he’d seen her, Zaphira had been a sixteen year old with a dangerous
crush on him and he’d been rocked by the turmoil of his own feelings. Now she’s
twenty four and literally holds his survival in her hands. Too bad everything
he does and says seems to annoy her.
Trusting
her might be his undoing. But he is left with no choice.
For Zaphira, getting used to the
transformation of old Aiden to android Aiden requires a large mental leap. But
when android Aiden starts to rebuild his human form to a new and improved
standard, things start to get tricky.
The Aiden she loved as a little girl
was her father’s nerdy assistant. The new Aiden is hot. But are her feelings as
strong eight years later or are they simply a cherished memory?
Excerpt
She narrowed her eyes and squinted at
the skinny geek stumbling backward out of the passenger seat of her father’s
car. She’d waited all day for the rumble of the engine of her daddy’s
convertible. The old car had a distinct stutter and a sly rev she fantasized
was because it had a mind of its own.
She smiled awkwardly, her mouth pulled
tight across her braces and she pressed her fingers over her top lip to stop it
from catching on the edge, rolling and making her look like a feral cat. Her
face ached. They’d tightened the braces again and it hurt so much more this
time. The smile dropped from her lips only to ping back up again as the geek
caught his shoe on some piece of equipment in the foot well of her daddy’s car.
He flipped backward, his gangly arms pin wheeling until he landed on his ass on
the floor, minus his shoe.
He whipped his head up and she stepped
back from the window hoping he hadn’t heard her girlish giggles. He wouldn’t be
impressed. He was so much older and more mature.
Not many would believe he was twelve
years her senior. Not with his thick russet hair falling in a boyish flop over
his forehead, his fine gold-rimmed glasses perched right on the end of his
nose.
Her heart fluttered in her chest as
she chanced another peek.
His arms full of equipment, flushed to
his hairline, he staggered toward the front door of her home. Adrenaline pumped
hot through her veins. She took a few skips toward the hallway, ran back to the
window to see her father’s car pulling away from the curbside. Her mother was
out. She was the only one there to open the door. She darted back, hesitated,
her pulse thrumming in the base of her throat.
A dull thud shuddered the door in its
frame and she shot forward, wrenched it open before he did any further damage.
His shoulder slid across the oak panel and he shot sideways through the
entrance, his skinny limbs racing to keep up with the speed of his body, but to
no avail. His foot skidded and down he went. The clatter of laboratory
equipment skidding across the wooden floor filled her ears as did his quiet
Irish curse.
“Bollocks.”
Stifling another snigger, she crouched
to help, casting furtive little glances at him as he came to his knees,
straightened his waistcoat and touched his fingers to his bow tie, ensuring it
was still there.
“Hi Aiden.”
His deep frown almost made her
stutter, but she knew he couldn’t sustain his annoyance. His small nervous
cough made her smile.
“Hey.” The sound of his soft, smooth
voice made her light-headed and she stopped what she was doing to gaze deep
into his eyes.
He pushed his glasses further up his
nose and glared at her. Unperturbed, she met his beautiful gaze with a lovesick
one of her own.
“Do you need a hand down to the lab?”
He dropped his gaze to her mouth. Her speech lisped embarrassingly through her
clenched together teeth. She hated her braces, couldn’t wait to have them
removed.
“No.”
Not wanting him to go yet, she piled
another few items on top of the ones already in his arms and resisted the urge
to stroke her fingers along the sleeve of his tweed jacket.
“Can I get you a coffee?”
“Zaphira…” he sighed, “Thank you, but
no. I have work your father wants me to complete. I don’t want to be
disturbed.”
Her chest ached. Just a little. The
same as it always ached when he rejected her offers.
She bent to pick up Paco, her new
puppy, snuggled her face into his thick fur and took comfort from his
squirming, plump body as she hugged him close and let him lick sweet kisses
across her chin.
Aiden paused at the lab door then
glanced at her over his shoulder and her heart hitched again. There. It was
there, the glint in his eye. The one that told her every time she was about to
give up that there was a spark of interest. There was hope.
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About the Author
Diane Saxon lives
in the Shropshire countryside with her tall, dark, handsome husband, two
gorgeous daughters, a Dalmatian, one-eyed kitten, ginger cat, four chickens and
a new black Labrador puppy called Beau, whose name has been borrowed for her
hero in For Heaven's Cakes.
After working for
years in a demanding job, on-call and travelling great distances, Diane gave it
all up when her husband said “follow that dream”.
Having been hidden
all too long, her characters have burst forth demanding plot lines of their own
and she’s found the more she lets them, the more they’re inclined to run wild.
Previous Books:
Loving Lydia -Atlantic Divide Book 1
Bad Girl Bill – Atlantic Divide Book 2
Finding Zoe - Atlantic Divide Book 3
Flight of Her Life
Flynn’s Kiss – Disarmed & Dangerous Book 1
For Heaven’s Cakes – Paranormally Yours
Anthology
