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Mr. Romance

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       Adam Fernando Russo has always loved women and thought he would never want to settle down with just one. New York Society has dubbed him Mr. Romance for his romantic adventures. He finally decides he's tired of the procession of endless women. In order to find the perfect one, he makes a list. However, after that his women fall prey to a murderer that apparently doesn't want Adam to settle down. The murders seem unrelated. Nothing about them are the same, except one thing. They have all just returned from a fabulous weekend rendezvous with Mr. Romance. 

    The police question Adam, and after they determine he has an airtight alibi for all the murders they are at a loss. Adam and his trusty assistant Katie solve the mystery concerning the link of all the murders. They're connected with classic movies, and the place Mr. Romance takes his date is the key of how the woman meets her end.

    Adam and Katie come up with a foolproof plan to catch the murderer. They set a weekend get a way for Paris using the classic movie Charade as their example. But as luck would have it their plan goes astray.

Unedited Excerpt

       Adam watched Katie leave in a hurry, then frowned. She always seemed to be in a hurry to get away from him. She was the best assistant he'd ever had. She could run his company almost better than he could.

Lately, he'd been noticing little things about her. Like the way when she turned just right her loose skirt would reveal an outline of a slim hip, or her blouse would reveal the fact she had breasts that would fit perfect in his hands. Her hair was a beautiful shade of gold. She always had it pulled back from her face either in a ponytail, or a braid left to drape down her back. Those god-awful glasses, where in the world did she find them? He couldn't even tell what her face looked like. They were so distracting that he didn't see anything else. It was almost as if she wanted to appear ugly. It was such a waste.

Swiveling in his chair, he looked at his favorite poster of Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. He'd loved the movie Gone with the Wind. He sighed, wondering what was wrong with him. He had the perfect life, one most men envied. He had women fighting for him to take them out. He traveled to exotic places. He never went out with the same woman twice, well mostly.

He loved his work he made sure the companies he took over, retained their employees. He had the money and the means to help in any disaster. Yet he had been feeling restless the last couple of years.

He sighed for a second time and swiveled back toward his desk. He was afraid his mother had been right. She had told him that he'd grow bored with the variety of women and would long for one woman to share his life. Every night he went home alone. He longed for someone to talk too. He had servants. They all left before he came home. Mrs. Jenkins left him food in the warmer when he was going to eat in, but mostly he ate out so he didn't have to eat alone. 

 The women he took out were all intelligent businesswomen, most of the time. They tended to be self-absorbed and he spent the evening listening to it's all about me. In the beginning, he had set out to do that. Knowing that all women loved to have a chance to be the center of attention, having his undivided attention. Having their every whim catered to, and filling that need had been wonderful, for a while. Watching the soft blush or the radiant expression when they received his attention, it had gotten old.

He wanted to have someone greet him in the evenings. Someone to play scrabble with by the fire. He wanted to wake up every morning with someone snuggled up to him. Why the hell am I thinking thoughts like this, I must be nuts to want to give up what I have.

The truth was, he wasn't even looking forward to his trip to Napa. The woman he was taking owned her own company, was a former Miss America, and breathtakingly beautiful. Yet he just couldn't muster any enthusiasm for the trip, other than looking forward to trying some new wine, for God's sake.

       Okay Russo, what is it that you want? He thought hard. What would it take for one woman to make him want to settle on her. He couldn't think of any of the women he'd dated that he would want to spend more than one evening, let alone a lifetime with. He pulled out a pen and a scrap of paper. He'd make a list and see if he knew anyone who would fit the bill.