Synopsis:
Jonathan Vallen has never felt good enough. A
gentle musician who loves to garden, he’s woefully unsuited to running Vallen
Industries, the family business. When his father hires a hotshot executive,
Marco Pellegrini, to save the company, Jonathan moves away and leaves his
humiliation behind. A year later and forty pounds lighter, Jonathan runs into
Marco on an LGBT cruise. Marco doesn’t recognize him, the sparks fly, and
Jonathan pretends to be someone else for the week—Jonah Rutledge—someone good
enough to be loved.
Marco Pellegrini has always been driven. He rose
from poverty to the pinnacle of business success, and he’ll do anything to
protect his reputation—including hiding his bisexuality. Having saved Vallen
Industries, he’s weary of the rat race and ready for a more meaningful life.
When Marco meets his soul mate for that new life—Jonah Rutledge—on an LGBT
cruise, he prepares to stop hiding and start living.
Back on land, the romance crashes when Marco
discovers his perfect man is not only a lie but the son of his boss, Frederick
Vallen. Jonathan resolves to win Marco back, but Frederick takes vengeful
action. Jonathan and Marco must battle their own fears as well as Frederick’s
challenge to get to the future that awaits them on the horizon.
Excerpt:
Jonathan eyed the moon and waited for Marco, who
was getting something from the bar to bring back with them to his stateroom. He
smiled up at the stars, heart full, ready to ride the wave of this fairy tale
all the way to shore. Then a hand caressed his neck, and he turned to smile at
his handsome prince. Marco smiled back, his pendant glimmering on his chest and
a bottle in his hand.
“What did you get?”
“Courvoisier.”
“Nice.”
“I thought it’d be nice for an after-dinner drink
as we listen to Debussy.”
They strolled along the deck. “We are almost too
fancy for words.”
Marco chuckled. “I’ve never been accused of being
fancy before.”
Jonathan eyed him, tall and elegant with his black
curls and Roman nose. “You seem fancy to me. Or, well, sophisticated is more
like it.”
“If only Mama could hear you. She’d know her bambino had made it in the world.”
“You’re funny.”
Jonathan followed Marco into his stateroom, letting his Jonah
Persona take the lead lest he pass out from sheer nervousness. “Nice digs.” Digs? Where’d that come from?
“Thanks.” Marco picked up a large envelope that had been
shoved under the door, glanced at the front of it, and tossed it to join a pile
of others on the desk. “Work faxes. They don’t seem to get I’m on vacation in
the middle of the ocean. They can wait.”
A shiver took hold of Jonathan, thinking of Father and how
totally like him it was to be bugging his CEO in the middle of his vacation.
“You aren’t cold, are you?” Marco asked.
“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s good.” And I’m running off at the mouth. Cool it.
“Oh, okay. Good. Let me get the Debussy up on my
iPod. They have a docking station with pretty decent speakers in here.” Marco
sounded a little nervous himself.
As Marco fiddled with the iPod, Jonathan opened
the Courvoisier and poured each of them a moderate amount, thinking they could
both use some loosening up. “Do you want yours over ice?”
Marco turned. “No. That’s okay. There should still
be some ice in the bucket if you like it that way. Here we go.” He pushed a
button and Debussy’s La Mer started
to play.
They sat in two armchairs at one end of the large room, listening to Debussy’s sensual and passionate music while sipping the brandy. The music swelled and crashed down in eerie imitation of the ocean all around them. With the curtains drawn back, they stared out at the real thing, moonlight dappling the midnight waves. Everything about this moment was surreal—a beautiful dream.
After a time, Marco set down his glass, his eyes
burning into Jonathan’s. Jonathan gulped down the rest of his drink for courage
and put his glass next to Marco’s. Marco held out his hand, and they rose from
their chairs. As Jonathan followed Marco to the bed, his palms grew clammy and
his heart raced so much he thought he might pass out. Now that his Jonah
Persona had been successful in luring Marco to bed, performance anxiety crowded
out everything else. God. It had been so long since he’d had sex. Did he even
know what he was doing? Anthony’s voice chimed in on the proceedings. Relax, doll! It’s just like riding a
bicycle. You never forget. Now, hop on that man and ride!
Buy
Links:
Meet
the Author:
After years of hearing characters chatting away in
her head, CJane Elliott finally decided to put them on paper and hasn’t looked
back since. A psychotherapist by training, CJane enjoys writing sexy,
passionate stories that also explore the human psyche. CJane has traveled all
over North America for work and her characters are travelers, too, traveling
down into their own depths to find what they need to get to the happy ending.
CJane is an ardent supporter of LGBTQ equality and
is particularly fond of coming out stories.
In her spare time, CJane can be found dancing,
listening to music, or watching old movies. Her husband and son support her
writing habit by staying out of the way when they see her hunched over, staring
intensely at her laptop.
No comments:
Post a Comment