Today we have the blog tour of FASCINATION by Ainsley St. Claire! Check it out and be sure to grab your copy today!
Title: FascinationAuthor: Ainsley St. ClaireGenre: Contemporary RomanceAbout Fascination:It started when my boyfriend was caught in public with a girls lips on his you know what. People think my life is easy - they couldn't be more wrong. A girl can never be too thin, too rich, or too famous. From experience I know that's crap. Well, maybe not the thin part. Men don’t see me – they see my name and my bank balance. Dating is near impossible with the paparazzi following my everywhere. Any sane man would run from that. When a competitor steals my company's entire fall line, down to names and packaging, I daydream of tropical islands far away from the mess of my life. He brings me back. There was one man who saw the real me. A man who wasn't swayed by the money and was strong enough to deal with the craziness that surrounded me. But we'd been friends to long to move beyond that. But can I control myself? I have feelings for him but our timing has always been off. **Fascination is is a standalone romance with a happy ending. It’s the ninth and final book in the Billionaire Venture Capitalist series. You can read it on its own, everything you need to know is explained, but once you get a taste you'll want to binge the rest ;}**
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Baywater Café is not the typical see-and-be-seen restaurant. It’s high end and more for the discreet luncher. The traffic is tight, but I make it on time and am the first to arrive.
“Miss Arnault, may I show you to the room where you’ll be joining Mr. Clifton?” “Thank you.” I follow him to the back room. It’s a little-known secret that this room exists. Rumor has it, it was originally designed for a man and his mistress to meet discreetly, but it’s since become the place for private business meals. It overlooks the Bay Bridge and the water. I bet they get plenty of activity on baseball game days since the Giants play really close. I stand at the window and watch the traffic on the bridge. So many people going in so many different directions, each with their own challenges. Maybe running away to a deserted island in the Pacific would be perfect. A cute cabana boy to entertain me—although I’m sure Mason has wrecked me for all men. We haven’t been “together” long, but I sure do miss him in my bed when he isn’t there. My trip to New York proved that, and he’s said it was the same for him. I feel the door open, releasing the pressure in the room. Walker strides over with his arms wide. “Caroline!” I walk into his arms and give him a nice gentle hug, making sure it’s more professional than personal. “Walker, thank you for inviting me to lunch.” “Sit down.” He waves to the table set for two beside him. At least it’s not a romantic setting, more business related. As soon as we take our seats, a waiter appears. “Would you like some wine with your lunch?” “No, thank you. Just unsweetened iced tea for me, please.” “I’ll have the same,” Walker tells the waiter, and he leaves as quietly as he appeared. “You look positively radiant today, Caroline,” Walker says. “No one would think you were dealing with what you’re going through. You’re certainly cool under pressure.” “Don’t be fooled, it’s definitely an act.” He chuckles. “I’d never guess. So, tell me how things are going right now. Give me a real understanding of what’s going on and bring me up to date. I got the overview from the FBI team on Friday, but somehow I have a feeling that, given our meeting last night, they may have left a few things out.” “Sure. That’s not a problem.” I walk him through everything following the last lunch we had. “Holy shit! That’s huge. So not only did someone steal your line, but now they’re plastering the internet with fake photos of animal testing? Why does anybody test on animals anymore? Knowing you’ve spent close to a quarter of a million dollars fighting this with a crisis management team is astounding.” “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. The money just sits in bank accounts. I’m just grateful I have it to spend.” “What are your next steps?” Walker asks. “We’ve determined that we’re going to lose out on our fall season, and I’ve already lost my three contracts for Fashion Week. I have one remaining, but it’s most likely to be lost.” “Who’s it with?” “Art Peck over at Gap.” “I know Art pretty well. I’m happy to reach out to him if you think that would help.” “Right now we’re just waiting, but I reserve the right to take you up on that.” “Whatever you need. This all sounds pretty devastating,” Walker sympathizes. I nod in agreement. I don’t want to tell him too much, because chances are it’ll make it to the newspaper and local gossip sites, but I’m okay with sharing how much this has affected us and my determination to not let it sink me. “When I look at my P&L statements, I can assure you it is beyond devastating.” I know we’re alone, but for dramatic effect, I say in a very low breath, “Walker, the negative numbers on the P&L over this are astounding. Most people would shut their doors over this, but I’m not most people. I am personally going to pull out of my personal accounts to make sure every one of my employees keeps their jobs, can pay their bills, and keep their commitments. I won’t lay people off, and I’m determined not to let this monster win.” He sits back hard in his chair. “Wow! That’s pretty impressive. You’re right, most people would just shut down, throw their hands up, and walk away.” “Yes, most people would, but I’m not most people, and they’ve pissed me off.” “Good. Now let’s talk about our plan to catch them. I’ve spoken with the heads of Cybercrimes and White-Collar, and we have an idea for you to consider.” “Okay. Lay it on me.” I sit back and drink my iced tea, prepared to listen carefully to their idea. “We think that if you make movements as if you’re going to launch the line you worked on, we might be able to ferret out the person behind this.” “I only worry that it’ll bring the animal rights activists out.” “It would only bring them out if you really were going to do this. If your team is as innocent as they say, then this will go nowhere.” I raise a brow. “Fair point. How are you suggesting I move forward?” “We think the first step is to meet with each person individually and tell each one something slightly different. With one, you’re launching the line as is with new slightly different colors. With another, you’re changing the names of your colors. With another, you’re going to launch with different packaging and the same names. With another, it’s different packaging and different names. And with the last, you’re just launching as is, believing your fans will disregard the fakes.” “A lot of these things tend to be decided by a group of people—different groups of people for each step.” “We understand that, but after what you’ve told me, if you position it as though you need to make sure you’re saving your company and the impending losses, and you’re making an executive decision, then it should work.” I sit and think about it. It’s a little out of character for me to make a unilateral decision, but I can see how it could possibly work. “Do you think that’s enough for you to figure it out?” “Possibly. We’d also put tracking software on each person’s cell phone, plus their home and personal computers. When I talked to Jim, he said based on their sweep of the office computers, no one had done it from a computer in-house.” “That’s another reason I’m convinced that it’s not coming from in-house.” I sit back, and the thought occurs to me. “You know, Tim Carpenter at Cosmetics, Inc., has been making noise to buy Metro for some years. I’ve always resisted the big conglomerate, figuring we’re more agile to buck trends and therefore create them, but also, I don’t want to work for anyone. I like being in control of my own destiny.” “We’ll add him to our list and check him out. I can’t imagine that if someone wanted to buy you that they’d sabotage your business.” “I know. But it is a way to get a bargain.” “It’s something we should at least rule out.” “Thank you. Back to my team. What would be the next step?” “Cybercrimes has the ability to create emails that look like they’re going to others when they aren’t. We’ll work through a series of emails that the team will be cc’d on, then watch where they get forwarded and how, which will give us more information. If we don’t find anything, you can tell everyone that you’ve changed your mind without telling them what you’re doing.” “That might work.” I don’t want to commit to anything quite yet. The waiter comes up and places a small salad in front of us. “I didn’t want to interrupt, but today the chef is serving a light Caesar salad, the main course is our cioppino, and dessert is a simple lemon meringue cookie.” I’m shocked since we didn’t order and look up at Walker. He shrugs. “When you reserve the single dining room, you get the chef’s special. Is it okay?” “It’s perfect. I love everything they’re serving, and I particularly love cioppino.” I laugh. “I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t have much breakfast.” We go back and forth over the proposed idea, discussing the possibility of my doing this. Walker is definitely a politician, and he eventually sells me on it. He’s still convinced that it’s a member of my team, but I don’t think so. The fire oozes up in my belly, and I want to prove to him and the rest of the team that not one of the five is guilty. I trust them all completely, and none of them would betray me. “Caroline, I know you think we’re wrong. I want to be proven wrong. Tim Carpenter at the cosmetics company is an option, but if nothing else, we’re ruling them out.” “Thanks, Walker. I’ll do it.” When lunch is over, I’ve decided I like Walker. He may be a consummate politician, but he really does want the city I love to prosper and do well. He gives me a warm embrace. “I’ll have someone contact you on your cell about how you’re going to get started.” I nod. “We’ll talk soon.” As I drive home, I think about what lying to my team to prove they aren’t involved is going to do to the culture of my company. In the end, I feel like this is my best chance of figuring out what’s happened so I can keep my company alive.
Catch Up on the Series:
Forbidden Love (Venture Capitalist Book 1)
Promise (Venture Capitalist Book 2)
Desire (Venture Capitalist Book 3)
Temptation (Venture Capitalist Book 4)
Obsession (Venture Capitalist Book 5)
Flawless (Venture Capitalist Book 6)
Longing (Venture Capitalist Book 7)
Enchanted (Venture Capitalist Book 8)
About Ainsley St. Claire:Ainsley St Claire is a Romantic Suspense Author and Adventurer on a lifelong mission to craft sultry storylines and steamy love scenes that captivate her readers. To date, she is best known for her series Venture Capitalists. An avid reader since the age of four, Ainsley’s love of books knew no genre. After reading, came her love of writing, fully immersing herself in the colorful, impassioned world of contemporary romance. Ainsley’s passion immediately shifted to a vocation when during a night of terrible insomnia, her first book came to her. Ultimately, this is what inspired her to take that next big step. The moment she wrote her first story, the rest was history. Currently, Ainsley is in the midst of writing a nine-book series called “Venture Capitalist.” When she isn’t being a bookworm or typing away her next story on her computer, Ainsley enjoys spending quality family time with her loved ones. She is happily married to her amazing soulmate and is a proud mother of two rambunctious boys. She is also a scotch aficionada and lover of good food (especially melt-in-your-mouth, velvety chocolate). Outside of books, family, and food, Ainsley is a professional sports spectator and an equally as terrible golfer and tennis player.
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