Off the Treadmill, Book One: The Depression Machine

By D.C. Chagnon

Karen is stuck in a vicious cycle of working herself into a stupor. For the past few years, she has simply been going through the motions of her daily life. Her recent divorce is the last thing she wants to think about, and becoming a workaholic is her only respite from the draining emotions coupled with her changing life.
However, a chance assignment on the account of a Mr. Brian Wilson opens doors for Karen that she would have never expected. After a passionate night on Brian’s yacht, Karen’s inhibitions are starting to slip, and the secret admirers that are surrounding her from every angle are coming from all directions to get a taste of Karen’s vibrant new lusts.
A date at a jazz bar, a shopping spree, and some fleeting flirtations are all in a few days’ work for Karen now that she is off the treadmill and actually getting somewhere. By the end of her journey, not even Karen’s closest friends will recognize this powerful businesswoman.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Mulle
• Release date: Jul 17, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310690808

D.C. Chagnon

D.C. Chagnon was born in a quiet little town in Tennessee, and this was also the place where her love for the romantic and exciting was born. The author remembers days spent running on hillsides and swimming in brooks, and endless hours spent reading books that were her escape from the mundane. It was on a fateful summer day when the teenager wrote her first romantic short story as a submission for a local paper’s contest. Signed under a pseudonym, her story that told of summer and the sun, of a friendship gone beyond its limits, and heart-aching tragedy, garnered praise and the first prize for the young story-teller. She was eighteen, and on that day, she decided that she wanted to write for the rest of her life. The author is happily enjoying the married life with her husband of five years and their two young children. She is an avid traveler and has sought every opportunity to tour places halfway across the globe. While at home, the author makes it a full-time commitment to be a mom, but also spends a lot of her time coming up with new story material. She is often heard saying how difficult it is to balance being a wholesome house mom while writing erotic fiction on the side. While she outwardly claims her inspirations to be the likes of renowned novelists Lisa Kleypas and Anne Rice, she does admit to being a fan of the more current works such as those of the Fifty Shades of Grey author and the Twilight series. On her off times, she can also be seen reading the more wholesome works by Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams.

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Off the Treadmill, Book One: The Depression Machine

By D.C.Chagnon

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Copyright 2014 D.C. Chagnon

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Other Books in the Off the Treadmill Trilogy

Off the Treadmill, Book Two: Breaking Free

Off the Treadmill, Book Three: Out of Bondage

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Other Books by This Author

Chapter One

The night was clear and full of stars as I drove home along the coast. It was another long day at the office, and I had worked myself into a dazed stupor once again. I was legally drunk on exhaustion. I followed my headlights home, not really in a hurry to get there, since there was nothing, and no one, waiting there for me. I pulled into the parking lot of my complex and cut the engine. Gathering my purse, laptop and files I stumbled from my car to my door.

Once inside I set my things down and kicked off my shoes, took off my blouse and unhooked my bra. Probably the best sensation of the evening was that simple gesture of freeing my breasts from the bondage of the bra. I turned on some music, and got a large glass of Merlot. After a shower and a bite to eat I worked on the files I had brought home until I could no longer see to read and went to bed. Another day over.

For the last eight months, since my husband left me, this had been my life. I worked myself into a stupor, drove home, worked myself blind and then went to sleep. The weekends were the worst. I could never seem to bring enough work home with me to keep me occupied for the entire two days, and God save me from three-day weekends. I was good at my job—it was the only area of my life I understood and still had confidence in.

The feeling of being discarded, tossed aside from the divorce was devastating if I thought about it too long.

In the morning I went to the gym. I worked the stair-master and the treadmills. The treadmills were like