Money or Men
by David Burnett
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
Erin must choose
between the money of which she has long dreamed and the man who she has loved.
Eight years ago, she chose “loot” when Chris, her former husband, competed for
her hand against the god of money. Now, with a promotion within reach, she is
poised to take her place among the elite of Wall Street. She will soon be
working twenty-four-seven to reorganize a failing company, and she has been
ordered to find someone to care for her children.
She has few options,
and she reluctantly concludes she must beg Chris for help. She has not talked
with Chris, written, texted, friended, private messaged, or tweeted Chris since
leaving him, but if he will not keep their children for the summer, she will
lose her promotion, and her dream of wealth will vanish.
Opposites had
attracted when they had fallen in love. Erin remembers a Chris who was
laid-back, satisfied, and, worst of all, unambitious. He seems not to have
changed. He lives on a small island with no home mail delivery. He had been an
author, but Erin can find nothing he has published since their split.
But Chris’s photo is
the one personal item on Erin’s desk, and she still dreams of him when she
sleeps. She fears if she asks Chris to care for their children for the summer,
she will be drawn back into his world. She will choose Chris over money, “love
over loot,” lose her drive to succeed and everything for which she has worked.
Her promotion will be denied – and lightning will not strike a second time. How
can she send their children to live with him without becoming entangled
herself?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
Why was her former husband invading her dreams? They had
parted ways eight years ago, had laid eyes on each other exactly once since
then. They had nothing at all in common. He was a stranger to her now. If her
unconscious was insisting she still cared one whit for Chris Stephens then her
unconscious needed serious help, because it was distorting her thoughts, urges,
and wishes totally beyond recognition.
Why were her father’s sermons echoing in her mind? She had
renounced his religion long ago. Beyond that, why was what she was doing so
very wrong? She didn’t sleep around. She’d used sex to obtain information, yes.
She had gone to bed with men for a good time, as she had tonight, yes. But no
one, neither she nor the men involved, had any illusions about love or caring.
She didn’t destroy marriages. She didn’t break hearts. No one was hurt. She was
more chaste than almost any unmarried woman she knew and more so than a third
of those who had husbands.
Her eyes narrowed. Neither of those men would control her,
and she knew one sure way to drive them out of her thoughts.
She retraced her steps and stood beside the bed. Their
clothes lay discarded on the floor where Tim had tossed them several hours earlier.
He lay on his back, asleep, a white sheet covering the lower half of his body,
his breathing low and regular, the hint of a smile on his face.
Earlier, Tim had played the hunter, while she had been cast
as his prey. Nothing wrong with that game, but if she wanted to control the men
in her mind, she must also control the one in her bed.
She would change the rules.
Careful not to wake him, Erin sat on the bed beside Tim and
placed her hand on his chest. It felt hard and sculpted, the chest of a body-builder.
He had bragged he could lift her weight with a single hand and bench-press
three hundred pounds.
With one finger, she traced the outline of his muscles,
“pecs,” they were called, pectoral muscles, round, hard muscles that covered
the upper part of his body.
Her hand crept lower, slipping across his flat stomach. As
the muscles tightened under her touch, Tim’s eyes opened. He placed one hand on
Erin’s right arm and raised his shoulders as if he wanted to sit.
Erin gently pushed him back onto the bed. A woman in charge.
He would have at least one thing in common with the data analyst.
“I thought you were leaving,” he whispered.
“Just a bad dream. And I’m thinking that if my dreams are
going to be bad, then I should find something better to do with my time.”
He smirked. “My thoughts, exactly.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
We recently
moved to our new home near Charleston, South Carolina. Four of my books are set
in Charleston, and I’ve always enjoyed the Carolina beaches. I now have the
opportunity to walk on the beach almost every day and to photography the ocean,
the sea birds, and the marshes that I love.
I love
photography, and I have photographed subjects as varied as prehistoric ruins on
the islands of Scotland, star trails, sea gulls, and a Native American powwow.
My wife and I have traveled widely in the United States and the United Kingdom.
During trips to Scotland, we visited Crathes Castle, the ancestral home of the
Burnett family near Aberdeen, and Kismul Castle on Barra, the home of my McNeil
ancestors.
I went to
school for much longer than I want to admit, and I have degrees in psychology
and education. In an “earlier life” I was director of research for our state’s
education department.
Links
Amazon US
https://www.amazon.com/Money-Men-David-Burnett-ebook/dp/B07N58KL52/
Website
http://davidburnett.yolasite.com
Twitter
https://twitter.com/DavdBurnett
Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/DavidBurnett.Author
Amazon Author
Page
http://amazon.com/author/davidburnett
Goodreads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6579272.David_Burnett
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