As many of you know, it’s been a crazy ride for my latest Evernight Publishing release, Board Indiscretion – book 3 of my Taking Advantage series. I struggled with writing this story. In the first two books of the series, Mark Olson was a player. Even his friends, John Dorsey (Board Stiff) and Greg Snow (Board Approved) were leery about Mark being around their women. You see, Mark had been in a loveless and sexless marriage for some time, so when his divorce was finalized, he went a bit off the deep end – bedding anything he could. I guess I worried a bit if I made Mark too much of a “villain” so-to-speak in the first two stories to redeem him. So, this book took me some time to craft.
Once I finally felt confident that I’d created a story for Mark and Suzannah that I could be proud of, I began my revision process. In January 2014, I had fully revised the manuscript and was preparing to send it out to my beta readers before submission. But I did something stupid. I didn’t save the revised version to my cloud right away, only saving it to my thumb drive and the flipping thing crashed. And by crashed, I mean… it was not even accepting any electrical current to it – the drive would not even light up when I plugged it in. I was devastated. It had already taken me so long to draft the story and now the revised version was gone. Ugh!
I sent it away to a company in California with high hopes that the information (as there were other manuscripts on that drive) could be recovered. This first company wanted $800 for the attempt and there was no guarantee. It was at that point that I lost my drive. Quite honestly, my motivation to write wiped out almost as quickly as the thumb drive itself. I’m not sure which was harder to deal with. I found a million other things to do besides write and I began the process of accepting the fact that I’d lost the revised version of Board Indiscretion and would have to start the revision process from scratch.
Then my husband found a local company LC Technology that recovered SanDisk thumb drives specifically. I contacted them, explained my situation and sent them my drive. It took them several weeks, but they did it! And not only did they recover Board Indiscretion, but they recovered everything on the drive and for 1/8 the cost of the California company. I was saved and so was Mark Olson!
I’ve found this journey to be quite ironic for this story. You see, this story is about a second chance at love for Mark Olson and well, it was also sort of second chance for me. I’m pleased to present to you Mark Olson and Suzannah McCormick of Board Indiscretion!
Blurb:
Mark Olson isn’t just known for owning his three large care dealerships. He’s also known as a player, at least since his divorce. For a while, he believes he is satisfied as a member of Advantage Insurance Company’s board of directors and bedding a different woman every weekend. That is until someone decides to call his bluff.
Suzannah McCormick is the sweet girl working hard as the executive assistant to Advantage’s CEO. But underneath her saccharine southern charm is a vixen-in-waiting. She’s never been with a man that tapped into that side of her, but she set her sights on Mark Olson with high hopes.
Mark doesn’t realize his single status and his heart are in jeopardy.
Add it to your Goodreads TBR here!
Excerpt:
Since his divorce, he’d convinced himself that remaining single was what he wanted. It made things less complicated for his two pre-teen daughters. Shit! It made things less complicated for himself. But that lifestyle could also be quite lonely.
That’s where Suzie came in and complicated the hell out of his life. She was the executive assistant to the CEO of Advantage Insurance Company, Michael Herron, and well… Mark was a member of Advantage’s board of directors, had been for several years. He loved his position on the board. Aside from the small amount of prestige it carried, he’d made great friends with the other members, particularly the two younger board members—John Dorsey and Greg Snow. A relationship with Suzie could compromise his position on the board and with the members, but truth be told, he also loved his most recent position between her legs.
If only the situation was different.
A familiar giggle wafted in from the direction of the dance floor. The delicate sound stirred his cock to life. It stiffened against his black trousers instantly. After several weeks of clandestine meetings involving dirty talk and hard fucks, he’d know that giggle anywhere. He’d heard it many times afterwards when they lay tangled in each other’s limbs. Turning his head in the direction of the dance floor, anger heated his face and his hands clenched into fists on the bar top at the sight he witnessed.
Sandwiched between two guys that he’d now refer to as dickheads, danced the woman that wreaked havoc on his single life status. Her little black dress clung to her trim frame, emphasizing her small, but very perky breasts and showing off her figure that could easily grace the cover of any fashion magazine. Her legs stretched for miles and her creamy white skin contrasted nicely against the jet black of her dress. Flinging her silky blonde hair over her shoulder and down her back, her pink Pursecase carrying her iPhone dangled from her wrist as her hips gyrated against her two dance partners. The taller man dancing behind her slipped his hand over her hip and rested it over her low belly as he rubbed what Mark was sure to be a rock hard erection against Suzie’s ass.
What the fuck is she doing?
First, she never came to the Beach Club. Never. In all his regular visits to this club over the last couple of years, he had yet to see her in here once. Not once! Second, she was practically dry-humping two guys in the middle of the dance floor. That wasn’t her typical style.
Suzie was one of those beautiful women that appeared to have the girl-next-door innocence. She didn’t dress too provocatively. She was sexy, but in that way that was just natural. Her bubbly Southern charm won over all the men on the board of directors and Mark speculated it would win over anyone. He flirted with her, teasing her on board days to get a rise out of her. There’d always been a twinkle of mischief in her eyes when he flirted with her that would leave him questioning whether he knew her at all.
At last quarter’s board meeting, she left him dumbfounded when she responded to his flirtation with a proposition. After mulling it over for a bit, which actually had turned out to be a couple weeks, he called her bluff. He asked her over to his place for cocktails and she showed up. What he learned was that there was a lot more to Suzannah McCormick than met the eye. The rest was history.
Throwing back the last remnants of his whiskey, he stood from his stool, tossed some cash on the bar, and turned toward the dance floor. He wrestled with what his next move should be.
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Jessica Jayne 
I’m so glad you were able to retrieve your work. I can’t even imagine how you must have felt.
I’m looking forward to reading Mark and Suzannah’s story.
Thanks, Janis! It was depressing when it happened, but it feels good now. 🙂