LOL, DON’T trade in the husbands ““yet. It is because of their support and understanding that we have time to either read and/or write the way we do.
Inspiration is always around me, and the stories totally ferment in my mind (it’s a pretty funky place around three in the morning). I might see a man entering his car with a certain swing of his leg and an intriguing angle to his shoulders. Maybe he’ll make eye contact and I’d think, “He’s Jacques””the ruthless French billionaire”” who can only be saved by Maria””the daughter of arch nemesis.” Or a couple sitting beside me at the diner might be whispering and talking real close while holding hands. Well, maybe they just knocked off the evil wife who had blackmailed the young man into her bed for the past five years? Then again, it might be something as simple as a great smile from the cashier in the drive-thru.
As for what is on the menu in the near future? I have a time-travel release in June with Resplendence Publishing, titled “Knight in Shining Amour’. We’ve completed a really great “bible-style’ anthology with two talented authors, Tia Fanning and Judi McCoy, and are preparing to submit it as a complete book. It has a bit of history and a bit of Keys’ style. Fantastic mix! Then, I’m back to my European travel and off to Italy with Dante and Sapphy, and an archeological dig of ancient ruins with Nikolas and Sophie.
Hey, I’m glad I put this to paper, because now I’m accountable to deliver. Lol I promise to post the details on my site as they become available.
I’m hoping to meet with readers in Pittsburg next month at Romantic Times and Lori Foster’s gathering in Ohio. Please let me know if you’ll be there. The majority of my schedule is listed on my site and myspace page one to two months in advance”¦NYC, England, & Italy! Lots of inspiration there! Plus, I’m chairing the Florida Romance Writers Fun in the Sun Conference, and I’m happy to say”¦we’ll be sailing into success. The conference is on Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas, so join us, and cruise with your muse!
I’ve been having internet problems all day, so I tried to get as much on this post as possible. I’ll leave you tonight with a few ideas about Alexandros’s six-pack and Athena’s reaction to it in The Greek Rule since Bonnie refered to her hubby’s six-pack. I’m sure it would be a similar situation””except that this is set by the villa’s eternity pool–befroe they headed for the beach. Just know that CTR hasn’t reviewed The Greek Rule or The Summer Deal as of this moment, so please look for them here in the future.
THE GREEK RULE:
“¦
Athena worked for two hours on the Cretan hotel’s marketing file before Alexandros came into view, speaking into his headset.
“No”¦ fair market value,” she heard as he made a gesture to ask if she was hungry. She smiled back and mouthed a silent “no” as he walked by.
Still talking, he sauntered over to the pool and slowly sat on the edge. His hands moved, expressing the urgency of the point he made to who ever was on the other end of the phone. His broad shoulders relaxed as he placed his bare feet into the pool and leaned over to draw on the water with his finger. She regretted saying no to him. If she had said yes, she could go sit with him. Magnetically drawn to him, her feet moved without consulting her mind.
He was nodding his head and concluding the call when he looked back at her. She continued, slowly walking to where he sat. He smiled, and took off the headphone and patted the spot next to him.
“Come and have a seat.”
“This is a nice setting to conduct business.” She searched for something else to say as she took off her sandals.
“It sure is, but life isn’t just about working. It is time for a break.” Looking up at the mid-day sun, he stretched his arms and pulled off his simple white t-shirt, then dove into the pool.
She felt a hot trickle running down her back as he surfaced, exposing his muscular chest and defined abdomen.
“Where is everyone?” he asked.
“Your parents went to see your grandmother. Heather and Costa went to lunch with Gianni Poulos and his wife, and I stayed behind to do some work.”
He simply nodded and did a few laps in the pool. She watched as his powerful arms cut into the water, his long legs only needing a few kicks to get him from one side to the other.
When he turned on his back, her eyes followed the line from the soft, dark hair on his chest, down his sculpted abdomen, into the wet red cloth clinging to his manliness.
Her mouth went dry as she saw his long, broad outline. She forced her eyes to move to his thick thighs and down his legs before looking back to his beautifully masculine face. If they pictured him in the marketing material for the hotel in Crete, they would never have a vacancy. His body was so male, so strapping, so tempting.
She had to stop these thoughts. Her brain said she wanted nothing from Alexandros but friendship; her body was obviously not listening. Water splashed onto her hot face.
“Come in,” he said, spraying her again.
“I need to change into a bathing suit.” She got to her feet as he hauled himself out beside her.
“As you are.” He laughed, grabbed her waist, and hurled them together into the deep end.
His arms closed around her as they resurfaced and gently pushed her hair out of her eyes. She liked the feel of his arms more each time he held her.
“You’re stunning. If you appear in a tiny bikini, I can’t promise to behave.”
His hand cupped the back of her head and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her forehead. Suddenly, he released her completely, and moved to arms’ length.
“It’s a lot easier to behave if you’re wearing a NY Knicks basketball t-shirt,” he said with a spectacular grin. “Come on, a five lap race””loser does the lunch dishes.”
She inhaled deeply and began to swim, thankful for the diversion. She was a strong swimmer, matching his strokes, and releasing the sexual tension that had swelled her chest. On the last lap, he pulled ahead. He would not be doing the dishes.
Lifting himself out of the pool, he stood on the white stone and went over to the house. He pulled two towels through the bathroom window, and walked back, placing one by the poolside for her before drying off himself.
“Thank you,” she said walking out of the pool.
Her shirt hugged her body, revealing a little bit of skin above her shorts. She tugged at the clinging material. His gaze made the wet skin on her abdomen tingle. Grumbling a curse under his breath in Greek, something about damming the Knicks, he started to walk toward the back of the house.
“I’ll get lunch,” he said. “Change and meet me in the kitchen.”
How could a simple request sound like a command when Alexandros Strintzaris spoke?
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