Book Title: Secret Places Revealed
Genre: Inspirational Romance
ISBN-10: 0989969150
ISBN-13: 978-0989969154
ASIN: B01M0GXCGB
About
The Book
He wasn’t looking for love.
She was running from the pain.
One encounter changed everything.
Single—and very content—real estate
developer Aaron Blackman is determined not to become involved in another
relationship. He’s experienced enough drama to last a lifetime. The only thing
garnering his attention now is his growing business. And he plans to keep it
that way. Then Simone Herron waltzes into his life, beautiful and confident.
Fighting to keep his promise to himself—to remain single—he soon discovers that
when it comes to love, some promises must be broken.
After losing her fiancé in an untimely
death, Simone Herron relocates. She desperately needs to put the past behind
her and start a new chapter in her life. While love is the farthest thing from
her mind, she experiences an attraction to the handsome Aaron Blackman that
frightens her. She's built a wall around her heart, but can she find the
strength and courage she needs to welcome love again? To do so, she must
conquer her fears and allow God to put all of her broken pieces back together.
Excerpt
“Hello.”
“Aaron, good morning. This is Holly.”
“Good morning. What’s up?” He couldn’t
imagine why Holly was calling, knowing he was on his way into work. He didn’t
have anything pressing on his calendar or any clients coming into the office
until later that afternoon.
She muttered, “Aaron, Mr. Kane is here to
see you. He keeps coming to my desk, asking when you will be arriving. If he
keeps pacing back and forth on that carpet in the sitting area like he’s doing
right now, we might have to bill him for new carpet.”
Aaron let out a deep sigh. What is it
now? “Okay. Tell Mr. Kane I’ll be there within the next fifteen minutes.” He
paused. “Holly, pull the file.”
With a heavy sigh, he ended the call. He
drove the rest of the way to work praying, Lord, my morning cannot start like
this. He had an unnerving feeling about the meeting, but he didn’t know why.
Fifteen minutes later, he pulled into the
parking lot. He grabbed his briefcase from the passenger’s seat and took the
elevator up to his office. When the elevator doors opened, instead of seeing
Simone’s beautiful face or being greeted by Holly, he was met by Mr. Kane, who
had fire in his eyes.
Aaron forced a smile. “Good morning, Mr.
Kane.”
“Aaron,” Mr. Kane grunted.
Aaron instructed Holly to hold all his
calls. From the look in Mr. Kane’s eyes, Aaron could tell he hadn’t come to pat
him on the back. The back of Aaron’s hair stood up as Mr. Kane trailed him into
his office. Why does it feel like I’m about to get a beat-down?
“Come on in and have a seat.” Aaron sat
in his chair and observed Mr. Kane pacing back and forth.
“No, thank you. I’ll stand.” The man blew
out a terse breath. “Blackman, I trusted you with this project. And this is how
you repay me?” His voice was shrill, harsh.
Aaron was about to respond, but Mr. Kane
held up a hand, silencing him. Aaron’s eyes widened, but he remained calm.
“Were you trying to rip me off, or what?”
He peered at Aaron and cleared his throat for the tenth time.
Aaron’s jaw tightened. He was getting
furious. There was a long moment of silence between them. Aaron quickly rose to
his feet. He stood at least two inches over the man. With one punch, he could
send the man into his next dream. Aaron gave him an exasperated look instead.
“Mr. Kane, what do you mean, ‘trying to rip you off’? Blackman and Blackman is
a reputable organization, and I take offense. I would strongly recommend you
explain your statement.”
Mr. Kane tossed the financial reports on
Aaron’s desk. “Gladly. Those are the financials we received in my office. My
accountant looked them over and informed me that the bottom line is over the
original budget by four million dollars.”
Aaron frowned. “That can’t be correct. I
looked over the reports myself and verified the amounts before they were sent
to you. There must be some logical explanation.” Aaron grunted. He felt like a
scratched record. The last time Mr. Kane was in the office, Aaron had given him
the same response. His heart rate increased as he glanced over the report. “I
need time to look this over and see where the mistake is.”
“Don’t bother, Blackman. Time is money,
and mistakes like this are costing me.” He paused to take a breath. “I’ve
decided to take my project to LW Partners instead. I hear Lamont is one of the
best in the Bay Area, also.”
Aaron’s face tightened. “Mr. Kane, give
me until later today to see what happened. I’m sure the mistake will be
corrected.”
“Blackman, you sound like a broken
record.”
Aaron’s anger rose several notches. His
level of tolerance diminished. “Mr. Kane, do I need to remind you that we have
a signed contract?”
“No, you don’t need to remind me at all.
Sue me then, Blackman.” He turned and walked out of the office, slamming the
door behind him.
Aaron collapsed in his chair. What
happened? He was in disbelief. Did he say he was giving the project to Lamont
Willis? He leaned back in his chair and loosened his tie. One of the biggest
projects of my career slipped out of my hands … because of a mistake.
All the time and long hours wasted, not
to mention the money the firm was planning on making. He sighed heavily as he
stared, bewildered. He sat in confusion, replaying the last few minutes in his
head. The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got. Why does Lamont
Willis’s name keep popping up?
Lamont was his archenemy—professionally
and personally. Out of all the real estate developers in the Bay Area, Mr. Kane
had selected him. Why? Aaron pounded his fist on the table. The man was a
scumbag and a cheat. How did he manage to steal this project away from me?
Aaron thought about the last time he’d
seen Lamont. How could I forget? He came to pick up Simone for lunch. He
remembered the smirk on Lamont’s face. A twinge of irritation crawled over
Aaron’s skin.
Aaron and Simone had looked over the
financials together. They were all in order. Everything was correct. So, what
happened between Simone leaving his office and Mr. Kane receiving the package?
Something wasn’t right. It didn’t add up. Could she have bungled the reports?
But why? No. Aaron. She’s too meticulous. She would have never made that kind
of mistake.
His mind traveled to the times all three
of their paths had crossed. Lunch at Le Cheval. Maybe that would explain her
nervousness that day. The conference in Las Vegas. He’d seen them talking.
Lamont came to the office to pick her up for lunch. The roses—she’d never divulged
their sender. I’d bet good money they were from Lamont.
It was obvious Lamont was attracted to
her, but she’d led Aaron to believe she wasn’t interested in Lamont.
Knowing Lamont, he’d use anybody to vex
Aaron, including Simone. Aaron, you’ve lost your mind.
Hmm, have I? Could they be working
together? If they were, she was really good at fooling him. He felt a
tightening in the pit of his stomach. His skin crawled.
His eyes flew to their picture on his
phone. The selfies they had taken at Yoshi’s. His feelings were all over the
place. One moment, he dismissed the thoughts of her and Lamont conspiring
together. The next, he pondered the possibility.
Nah. Not Simone.
He was emotional, but he had to know the
truth.
Aaron marched into Simone’s office and threw
open the door. She jumped in her seat as he slammed it shut. She spun in his
direction, and he stared her down with dark, piercing eyes. “We need to talk.”
About
The Author
In addition to being an award winning
author of Completely
Whole and Secret
Places Revealed, Paulette is an inspirational speaker, as well as a writing
workshop instructor. Her literary works have been spotlighted in a growing
number of publications, including CBN, Real Life Real Faith Magazine, The
Sacramento Observer and Black Pearls Magazine. She has also appeared on
numerous local and online radio shows.
Paulette resides in Northern California.
Buy Link
Amazon e-book: http://a.co/iGSPOzl
Amazon paperback: https://amzn.com/0989969150
Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/2cod8in
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