'Mia in the Maldives (Vacation Destination)' by Ruby Nadine

Book description:

When curvy copywriter Mia finds out her company is handing out pink slips, her best friend Addy offers her a fun freelance writing gig. How can she pass up the chance to interview the most successful hotel tycoon out there, especially at his very own resort in the Maldives? All for free!

Figuring she’ll have some time to relax and recharge while coming up with a new plan for her career, Mia takes off for the Indian Ocean but never could guess how much it will change her life.

Hotel hottie Razan with his golden skin and green eyes gives her an offer she can’t refuse...but only after he gets what he wants first. And what he wants is Mia.

Approximately 15,000 words

Contains mature situations. 

Read Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My boss Christine came over to my desk right as I was taking my first sip of coffee. I had just settled in, my coat hanging from my chair, still wet from the rain. Of course my screen was open to my best friend’s new travel site, instead of any of my actual work.

“Mia, I need to see you in my office at 10 am. Please don’t be late,” Christine said slurping her morning Frap. I only ever saw her eat junk food. She was one of those lucky women who could eat anything and never gain a pound.

“Sure thing!” I said. “What’s this regarding?”

“You’ll see,” she said. “It’s big.”

I was nervous. There had been a lot of lay-offs recently and I wasn’t sure how much longer my department even had. I didn’t like my job very much but still—I was scared to be unemployed. I’d worked in print advertising for almost ten years and I knew it was a dying industry.

My best friend Addy with the cool new travel site kept telling me I should just quit and come work for her. It was tempting but I knew she couldn’t pay me even a third of what I was making, not that I was making much but Addy’s company was brand new. She always tried new things. She’d had her own dog walking company, a small store that sold cute jewelry, soaps and candles, she’d even been a massage therapist but she always changed her mind about her career. She could afford to do that.

Addy was great but we grew up in very different economic worlds. My world was what people referred to as “the real world.” You know, the one most people live in. I grew up with a single mother who worked constantly. Most of our meals were paid for by food stamps and I always wore my sister’s hand-me-downs. I never had cool designer clothes, not that I could have fit them. I was always a little on the chubby side. Addy’s world was like a country club. Actually, it was exactly like a country club. Her father owned the biggest one in town; The Emerald Broadmoor. It sat on top of a huge hill, almost like an observatory for rich people to look down on the poor have-nots of Seattle, where we grew up. But Addy wasn’t like that. She was kind, giving and always up for an adventure. Otherwise, we would never have become friends.

What could my boss possibly want, I wondered. Was this my pink-slip moment? If I open the door to Christine’s office and an HR Rep is sitting there, I’m going to try really hard not to cry.

I texted Addy: My boss wants to see me in an hour? WTF?

She replied back: You’re probably getting promoted because you deserve it!

I love her.

Me: Or maybe I’m finally getting canned because no one buys magazines anymore!

Addy: Probably not the case BUT if it is… I keep telling you, this site is going to be the next big thing and we could use a writer like you!

I was a writer in my spare time, maybe even a good one but at work I was just a copywriter. The job was thankless and tedious but I had a car payment and expensive rent. I looked around my office at the other poor drones in cubicles. I know there is more to life than this. I don’t want to tell my children I sat 8 hours a day for 40 years, gaining weight and writing exciting catch phrases like “Call Now” or “This Sale Won’t Last!” But I guess before you can have kids, you need a boyfriend. That was another thing Addy was always trying to help me out with: meeting hot guys! Sometimes she’d text me screenshots of her rich, bachelor clients. Mostly, I’d laugh and then delete them because when was I ever going to meet these dream guys?

But there was one photo I just couldn’t bring myself to delete. When Addy texted me the pic, she just said Meet Razan. He’s gorgeous. The end. I responded with a simple Haha but I couldn’t stop thinking about him, his golden skin, black raven-like hair and strong arms. His eyes were green so they just popped out at you like little emerald kisses. He was standing on a dock with a large boat behind him, holding a glass of white wine, smiling. That guy knows how to live, I thought. My mind would drift to that picture often, when it needed to be focused on work.

Available on Amazon

About the author:

I write sweet and sexy romance stories that get sizzling hot and steamy! I like red wine, strong coffee, oh and super hot alpha males who are strong, faithful and passionate about the woman they love.

I'm currently working on the Vacation Destination series so if you love to travel and you love dominant, powerful men with influence, these stories are for you!