Exclusive Excerpt & Giveaway: Cristina Bruni – Seven Days

Love Bytes says hello and welcome to author Cristina Bruni visiting today to talk about new release “Seven Days”.

Cristina shares an exclusive excerpt and brought with her a wonderful giveaway for our readers!

Welcome Cristina 🙂

Reggie had a late start on the second day. Carlos took advantage of it to get up early and go running on the beach, but Reggie wasn’t a great fan of morning jogs, so he ended up having breakfast alone.

Later in the day he was scheduled to golf with Ricky Matthews, a boring and cocky forty-six-year old American, and Ronnie Rocher from Canada. He would have given one of his fingers to play with Russell Lee instead. It had always been his dream, and now he wished for it more than anything.

He was thinking about this while exiting the elevator, his hands deep in his trouser pockets—beige this time, the same color as his zip vest—as he headed into the restaurant.

In the doorway he halted and caught his breath.

Seated at a table at the end of the room, among a small group of players, was Russell, concentrating on his breakfast. He was next to a window and a ray of sun sweetly caressed his hair, making it shine, lighting up his features.

Reggie stared at Russell, his lips curling into a smile that was certainly the silliest ever, but he didn’t care. Seeing his idol, sun-kissed in the pale morning light, was like standing barefoot on the beach at sunset, observing in solitude the setting sun coloring the pearly sky orange.

He wished he could stay like that forever. Even observing Russell from afar produced a kind of physical turmoil in Reggie.

Forget him, he scolded himself. On the list of people you can’t fall in love with, he is number one…

Then somebody ran into him, making him jump. It was Hardy, leaving the restaurant with his caddie.

“Hey, sorry man,” he exclaimed, stretching out a hand. “No problem,” Reggie answered, watching him head over

to the elevators.

When he turned back to the dining room, his heart went crazy: Russell was staring at him, elbow on the table and a slice of toast brushing his lower lip.

Reggie looked over his shoulder, first right, then left, but

 

there was nobody else there. Russell really was looking at him. He panicked immediately. What was the wise thing to do?

Should Reggie greet him? Or pretend to be rude and ignore him? Was he supposed to consider Russell a friend or only an

acquaintance? Sure, even acquaintances greeted each other, so he didn’t have any excuses.

It was the Englishman who ended his self-doubting by greeting him with a nod.

Reggie replied with a tense smile and almost ran to the first free table.

Don’t blush, don’t blush, don’t blush.

After the waiter took his drink order, he stood up to go to the buffet. He was filling a bowl with fruit when the phone in his pants vibrated. It was Moses, his friend from the tour in Seattle.

“Hey! Everything fine? Did you meet somebody cool?”

Oh yes, he would have liked to answer; instead, he only replied that the tournament was going well, but he hadn’t met anybody interesting yet.

Lies!

He went back to his table, where he found his large coffee waiting for him. He had just put a spoonful of yogurt in his mouth when a shadow fell on his plate.

“Can I sit down?”

He almost choked. Russell’s voice felt like a caress on his neck. He started a long series of coughs that made him feel even more uncomfortable.

“Oh my, I didn’t think I was so scary.” Russell chuckled, taking a seat in front of him without waiting for permission. He set down a small plate with some slices of buttered bread.

“No, not at all,” Reggie clarified quickly. “It’s just that…well, I wasn’t expecting it. I was lost in thought.” Then he swallowed a large sip of his coffee, hoping it would help silence that shameful cough.

Russell Lee at my table! Amazing…

“I saw you sitting here all alone and thought I’d come and keep you company.”

Reggie almost fainted. What was all this sudden care for

 

him? It rattled him and made his head spin. And it also agitated something further down his body.

“I almost always have breakfast alone. Carlos likes to go jogging when time allows,” he explained, stubbornly keeping his gaze on the kiwi on his plate.

“I don’t think anybody should ever eat alone,” was Russell’s comment, said while he bit into a slice of bread. “Food is something precious, magic and sensual. And it must be shared.”

At that point Reggie lifted his head, meeting the Brit’s gaze. This man was amazing him more and more.

“So maybe I should change some of my habits?” “Maybe. Sometimes it’s a good thing.”

Another bite.

God, Russell Lee is even sexy while eating…

“But often it’s hard to let them go…” the Englishman added.

Reggie had the strong feeling Lee was speaking more to himself than to him, with a look that seemed full of discomfort and uncertainty.

Reggie glanced at the table Russell had been sitting at a minute earlier. Several golfers remained there: Mackenzie, Donaldson (another English player who Reggie knew was a good friend of Russell’s), the Spaniard Sergio Correja and his caddie, and a couple of American players. Again, no Danielle. Reggie felt sad for Russell.

“Anyway, I came over to tell you something important I forgot last night.”

Reggie suddenly turned to him, without hiding his surprise. “Something important?” He didn’t understand.

“Yeah.” Russell paused in slight embarrassment. “I forgot to apologize for my asshole behavior on Wednesday. And also for Mack’s.”

Oh.

He blushed. It was a banality, but Russell was really making him feel important. He knew he had hurt Reggie and wanted to remedy it.

“Really, it’s fine,” he replied anyway, going back to his fruit salad. He didn’t want his face to betray the amusement he felt.

 

“I’m not important.”

And then something even more delicious happened.

Russell stretched out a hand and grabbed his in a light but intense contact. “But you are.”

The warm and enchanting voice, along with the strong hand brushing against his skin, created a mixture too difficult to handle. His body started trembling and his temples throbbed under a wave of excitement. Silently he thanked the managers of the restaurant for using long tablecloths that were able to cover his erection.

Reggie would have loved to run away but, at the same time, didn’t want to be anywhere but there. With his throat suddenly dry, he wished that hand would start moving up to his wrist, his arm, and more. He knew his desire was a pure fantasy. Russell Lee wasn’t gay and he knew this as a matter of fact, but his rational mind seemed to be on hiatus. And, after all, what

was wrong with letting his fantasy fly? Apart from maybe falling and getting hurt, very hurt…

So, in the same way he sometimes chose to shoot from the tee using the less suitable club on a windy day, he decided to be hazardous and risk it.

He moved his hand, praying to God Russell wouldn’t pull back, even if for a few more seconds, and turned his arm enough to let those strong fingers brush his palm, his wrist…

The wrist.

Reggie experienced a divine moment: when Russell’s fingertips skimmed his thin wrist, his body shuddered in ecstasy. If a simple finger brush was enough to make him excited, only God knew what would have happened if Russell nibbled at his neck, a nipple, or played with his tong…

“Sometimes, I can be a real asshole.” Puff.

Reggie had fallen from Heaven and his feet were back on the ground. It was useless to wonder what he would have felt, since nothing was further from reality than his sinful fantasies about the Englishman.

“Yeah, sometimes,” he agreed, pretending everything was okay.

 

 

 

Blurb:

During a golf tournament in Virginia, American golfer Reginald Weston meets Russell Lee, the British former world champion in the sport. The two men hit it off when Reginald takes Russell under his wing, teaching him the tricks of the game. As their friendship deepens, Reginald finds himself falling in love with the Englishman, though he knows Russell doesn’t feel the same. He’s painfully aware of the fact that Russell isn’t gay. But there’s more to Russell than meets the eye. He’s a troubled soul, plagued by monsters in his head telling him who he should be. He’s spent most of his life hiding his sexuality from the world so he won’t disappoint his homophobic mother. Is seven days enough time for Russell to break through the years of hurt and accept the new direction fate has in store for him and Reginald?

Publisher: JMS Books

GENRE: Gay Erotic Romance

LENGTH: 61,269 words

BUYING LINKS:

JMS

JMS (print)

AMAZON

KOBO

Barnes&Noble

Cristina Bruni lives in northern Italy with her husband and their child. She’s already published many M/M novels in Italy with Triskell Rainbow publisher. Since she was a young girl, her biggest wishes were being a mother and an author and now, after fighting for it for years, she finally succeeded in both. She loves travelling abroad, going to the cinema, reading Sherlock Holmes, luxury bags and playing tennis and golf. She’s madly USA-sick and UK-sick. She made her debut writing fanfictions and, now, her new wish would be writing love Male-to-Male stories for the rest of her life and living on a beach in Hawaii. Maybe dreams will come true again, sooner or later…

AUTHOR’S CONTACTS:

Blog https://cristinabruniauthorblog.wordpress.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/CristinaBruniAutrice

Twitter https://twitter.com/Cristina__Bruni

Instagram https://instagram.com/cristina.bruni/

Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7164783.Cristina_Bruni

Cristina brought with her an ecopy of Seven Days for one Lucky winner!
a Rafflecopter giveaway