The "Research" Trip

By Christina Rose Andrews

Conventions in Hawaii were supposed to be business mixed with fun. It's why commercial real estate broker, Serena Khan, and her romance novelist husband, Frank Elliott, decided to attend one at the Seaside Villa Resort. Unfortunately, Serena's trip has been all work with no play.  And worse, the Seaside Villa Resort is nothing of the kind. Luckily she's got a husband who knows just what to do to make their Hawaiian vacation a whole lot more memorable.   And a lot more fun!

This is a short story with an established couple featuring light bondage and food play with a happy ending. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: RoseLark Publishing
• Release date: Dec 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386547907

Christina Rose Andrews

Christina Rose Andrews is actually two friends, Lark and Rose, writing underneath one penname.  A native of Colorado, Lark currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She is the mother to three fur babies: London, Shikamaru, and Pazu. She has an adorable godson and several very neglected plants. She graduated from East Grand Rapids High School. While at Central Michigan University, she initially studied Education and even made it to student teaching before realizing the career wasn’t for her. She graduated with a degree in “Do you want fries with that?” otherwise known as History and Earth Science. She’s a bit of Jack of all Trades, which is oddly useful when it comes to writing and gives her several real life analogues for characters and plots. In her spare time, she likes to help put on large fandom conventions and hang out with family and friends.  Rose is a New Yorker through and through. She is the proud parent of a well-mannered potted plant and the aunt to an adorable set of twins and a cute pit bull puppy. While most of her family went to Harvard, she bucked tradition and went to Haverford, where she received a degree in “How to be a Cult Leader” aka Religion and Psychology. After graduating, she pursued a master’s degree in Library Science at Pratt Institute. Currently, she works as a librarian in the suburbs of New York City. When she’s not on the train to work, she likes to read, play video games, and have tea. Because TEA!!! Lark and Rose met in an online writing community in 2009 and promptly had an argument.  After that, it was a long slippery slope into co-authorship.  They chose to write cross-cultural romance since it was something close to their hearts and it was damn near impossible to find stories featuring characters they wanted to see.  Both Lark and Rose are proponents for destigmatizing mental health, solving problems through conversation and listening, and creating real characters -- not caricatures.   ​They have presented at internationally recognized events.

Book preview

THE RESEARCH TRIP

Christina Rose Andrews

Copyright © 2017 RoseLark Publishing

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

The Research Trip

What was the point of holding a convention in Hawaii if all you ever saw were windowless walls in rooms smelling of stale coffee and expensive aftershave?

Stifling the urge to run her fingers through her hair, or worse, sigh audibly, Serena surreptitiously checked her watch, wondering when she could finally escape from this inane meet-and-greet. She’d already exchanged all the business cards she’d wanted with the other real estate professionals and hotel owners looking to sell their properties. Now, all she thought of, no, daydreamed about, was a long hot bath, room service, and someone to rub her aching feet, not necessarily in that order. Her patent leather nude Manolo Blahniks were the epitome of fashion, but agony on her arches. However, in a man’s world like high-value real estate, Serena needed the extra height just to be taken seriously. Standing at five feet even with an hourglass figure, many of the men tried to use her as an armrest in a classic dominance display while they made disparaging comments about her clothing and heritage. She was sick of the whole thing.

Have you found any interesting prospects, Mrs. Khan? a voice came from over her left shoulder. "I’m surprised