Beth Williamson’s Blog

Jimmy Tanaka is the hero of my WIP, The Perfect Score: One Night Stand coming from Loose Id later this year.

(It’s actually a model named Satoshi Tumabuki, but he’s my muse for Jimmy)
One Night Stand is the first of three novellas centered around a bowling alley in Texas. Why did I pick a Japanese hero? I wanted to try an interracial romance (I/R), and I wanted it to stand out in the crowd, ya know? Then as I started writing it, I realized how sexy he was. My heroine, Babs Loomis, is a thirty-two year old divorcee with a string of men behind her as big as Texas. She picks ‘em hot, sexy, and stupid for her one night stands. Then she runs into Jimmy again.
Here’s a bit from the story (unedited of course) when Babs catches her first glimpse of Jimmy at the bowling tournament she is volunteering at.
EXCERPT:
“Morning!” Marlene called with a big grin.
“Good morning,” Babs replied as she set her cooler down beneath the table.
“Ready?”
Babs shrugged her shoulders. “I guess so. Not sure if I’ll be such a goodwill ambassador, but I can tell people what to do.”
Marlene laughed and gave her a quick hug and headed off. “You’ll be fine. Just be nice.”
“Hey! I’m always nice!” Babs winked at her and sat down. Jesse already explained what she needed to do. She’d help get the registration lists and score sheets together. Lord, she even helped with the scheduling. Marlene was bowling with a man in the couples tournament that she didn’t know. Babs bullied Veronica into bowling doubles just to get her to do something besides the ordinary.
The moment she sat down a large Starbucks coffee was set down in front of her. Babs smiled up at Jesse.
“Thank you, Jesse! How did you know?”
He almost looked like he blushed. “I asked Marlene. I cain’t pay you, Babs, but I wanted you to know how much I appreciate your help.”
Babs’ smiled grew wider. “You’re welcome, Jesse. I like to help out my friends.”
He patted her on the shoulder. “I’ll be over at the front desk, so if you need me, just holler.”
She nodded and he half-jogged back to the desk to take care of the three people already waiting. So many strangers, so many new faces. Babs was watching all of them, knowing she’d speak to each and every one of them sometime over the next four days.
That’s when she saw him.
He wasn’t overly tall, in fact, he couldn’t be taller than five foot eight. His hair was black as pitch and from behind, he was perfectly formed. Wide shoulders with firm muscles topped a tapering back and long arms. The biceps and triceps well defined and winked at her from beneath his short-sleeved red shirt. His black trousers hugged an incredible ass that made her mouth water. It was more than enough to fill her hands. She wanted to bite it and see if it was as firm as it looked.
His legs were obviously well muscled and his stance was one of an athlete, one well used to his body and fluid in his movements. As he spoke to a teammate, a man wearing an identical red shirt, he gestured and she got a better view of his magnificent arms. A hiss escaped her mouth as a shiver wormed its way up to her pussy.
Perfect. He was perfect.
Babs had no idea how long she stared, but it was long enough for the other man to notice. He smiled at her and tipped his head in her direction to the man that her body longed to explore. The perfect stranger turned and Babs literally gasped when she saw his face.
Jimmy Tanaka.
END EXCERPT