Excerpt!
Aimée
Standing in the elevator on the way down to the parking garage, I lay some truth on myself. I didn’t want to stop talking to Noel; I just had no reason to stay. It’s not like he offered me a drink or anything. He just kept talking about cookies. I feel flush at the very thought of it.
Noel Fitzwilliam is a sexy, sexy man even though he tends toward rudeness with bouts of verbal diarrhea. My phone pings when I pass the twenty-second floor, so I pull it out of my purse and read.
FitzAssoc: Hey pretty lady. The boss just messaged me and asked if you could come back upstairs for a few minutes. He said he’d pay your parking ticket if you get one.
Aimée T: What does he want?
FitzAssoc: He didn’t say, but who knows, it might be work related.
Aimée T: Yeah, okay. I’ll go back up. I missed seeing you. I hope his Highness isn’t running you ragged.
FitzAssoc: Obviously, he is. But he’s such a hunky and loveable guy, I’d do anything for him.
Aimée T: Um, okay.
FitzAssoc: Give him a big wet kiss for me when you see him.
Aimée T: !!!
FitzAssoc: I’m not kidding. It would make the old boy’s day. His year actually.
Aimée T: I don’t think that would be very professional of me, do you?
FitzAssoc: Sounds like you’re not opposed to the idea.
Aimée T: I’m almost back at the office. I’m going to stop talking to you now.
FitzAssoc: Go tap that, girl.
And just like that, the doors open and I’m staring right at Noel Fitzwilliam as he puts his phone in his pocket. He looks up at me with a crooked smile. “Byron said you had something for me.”
“What? No!” Byron didn’t tell him about his kiss idea, did he? Oh my god, I’m probably beet red. “He said you wanted me to come back up.”
“That I did,” he says. “It occured to me that even if we don’t get the new contract we’re bidding for, I’d like to host a Friday lunch for my staff every week. They work hard and I want to let them know how much I appreciate them.”
“Really?” I’m so glad I came by here today! “Every Friday?” I pull out my mental calculator and start crunching numbers. If it’s for the same number of people as the lunch I already catered, after paying for food, gas, and other sundries, that weekly meal alone would add nearly two thou in my pocket every month. Multiply that by twelve, if I can get it to last a full year, mama’s going to be back in her own apartment with at least two separate rooms this time. That whole living room/kitchen/bedroom combo I had going before was depressing.
“Well then. Would you mind joining me in my office so we can hammer out some of the details?”
“Tonight?” I ask feeling my mouth go as dry as the Sahara. “Don’t you want to go home?”
“Traffic is horrendous this time of day, I prefer to stay at the office late so I’m not sitting in the back of Town Car fighting motion sickness.”
“You have a driver?” I blurt out. Slick, Aimée . Obviously, he has a driver if he’s in the back seat.
“It makes sense for expediency sake. If I’m not responsible for making my own way to the office, I can fit in a couple extra hours of work every day.”
I follow behind him. “Sounds like you work too much,” I tell him.
“I love what I do. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
“That’s sad,” I say before I can stop myself. I wonder if verbal diarrhea is contagious. I hurry to add, “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate of me to say that.”
Back in his scrumptiously expensive office, he says, “No offense taken. You’re not the first person to suggest I have a problem.” Then he points to his couch with a thoughtful expression. “Maybe I do. My sofa folds out into a bed in case I want to stay the night. Is that normal?”
He offers me a mock confused smile, but instead of laughing, I glance back at the couch. Now both of us stand there staring at it silently. I don’t know what Noel is thinking, but I’m wondering what that bed looks like pulled out. I shrug out of my cardigan before I get so hot I spontaneously combust. Finally, I remember to answer his question. “I’m sure it’s fine as long as you also make some time for fun.”
Author bios:
Whitney loves to laugh, play with her kids, bake, and eat french fries -- not always in that order.
Whitney is a multi-award-winning author of romcoms, non-fiction humor, and middle reader fiction. Basically, she writes whatever the voices in her head tell her to.
She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Jimmy, where they raise children, chickens, and organic vegetables.
Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017.
Silver medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016.
Finalist RONE Awards, 2016.
Finalist at the IRFA 2016, 2017.
Finalist at the Book Excellence Awards, 2017
Finalist Top Shelf Indie Book Awards, 2017
All is fair in love and texting…
When Aimee Tompkins loaded up her old catering van and pulled into Manhattan, she had her sights set on becoming one of the best (and most lucrative) caterers to ever serve crudités and creampuffs in the Big Apple. But after a year of leaving fliers all over town, she’s not only running out of money, she’s running low on hope. So when she lands a gig at a big architecture firm, Aimee’s certain her luck is about to change.
Noel Fitzwilliam is pitching the most important project of his life—the type architects dream of. Everything has to go right, so when he finds the new caterer naked in his office bathroom right before the meeting, he’s torn between thrilled and extremely irritated. He doesn’t have time for romance, no matter how incredible she looks without her clothes on.
A mix-up means Aimee is accidentally given his cell number instead of his assistant’s. So when she starts texting Noel about how much she hates him, he decides to have a little fun with her. The last thing he expects is for her to turn his world upside-down. But that’s exactly what happens as the pair start sharing their deepest secrets and their greatest fears, and Noel discovers he can share so much more over the phone than he can in person. But what will happen when she finds out who he really is?
It’s a case of opposites attract, even when they repel…
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Whitney loves to laugh, play with her kids, bake, and eat french fries -- not always in that order.
Whitney is a multi-award-winning author of romcoms, non-fiction humor, and middle reader fiction. Basically, she writes whatever the voices in her head tell her to.
She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her husband, Jimmy, where they raise children, chickens, and organic vegetables.
Gold Medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2017.
Silver medal winner at the International Readers' Favorite Awards, 2015, 2016.
Finalist RONE Awards, 2016.
Finalist at the IRFA 2016, 2017.
Finalist at the Book Excellence Awards, 2017
Finalist Top Shelf Indie Book Awards, 2017
Melanie Summers also writes steamy romance as MJ Summers.
Melanie made a name for herself with her debut novel, Break in Two, a contemporary romance that cracked the Top 10 Paid on Amazon in both the UK and Canada, and the top 50 Paid in the USA. Her highly acclaimed Full Hearts Series was picked up by both Piatkus Entice (a division of Hachette UK) and HarperCollins Canada. Her first three books have been translated into Czech and Slovak by EuroMedia. Since 2013, she has written and published three novellas, and eight novels (of which seven have been published). She has sold over a quarter of a million books around the globe.
In her previous life (i.e. before having children), Melanie got her Bachelor of Science from the University of Alberta, then went on to work in the soul-sucking customer service industry for a large cellular network provider that shall remain nameless (unless you write her personally - then she'll dish). On her days off, she took courses and studied to become a Chartered Mediator. That designation landed her a job at the R.C.M.P. as the Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator for 'K' Division. Having had enough of mediating arguments between gun-toting police officers, she decided it was much safer to have children so she could continue her study of conflict in a weapon-free environment (and one which doesn't require makeup and/or nylons).
Melanie resides in Edmonton with her husband, three young children, and their adorable but neurotic one-eyed dog. When she's not writing novels, Melanie loves reading (obviously), snuggling up on the couch with her family for movie night (which would not be complete without lots of popcorn and milkshakes), and long walks in the woods near her house. She also spends a lot more time thinking about doing yoga than actually doing yoga, which is why most of her photos are taken 'from above'. She also loves shutting down restaurants with her girlfriends. Well, not literally shutting them down, like calling the health inspector or something--more like just staying until they turn the lights off.
She is represented by Suzanne Brandreth of The Cooke Agency International.
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