Millionaires are my guilty pleasure. As you can probably tell since, y’know, I keep writing about them. There are just so many kinds of ‘em! Broody, manwhore, mysterious, cold, rebellious, Your-Wife-is-Hot-I’ll-Pay-You-One-Million-Dollars-for-a-Night-with-Her ones… See? A plethora of millionaires to choose from! But it’s not just me who has a fascination with them. Movies and television shows are full of them. One of the richest and most ruthless men ever to grace day time TV? Victor Newman. We loooove to hate him. The guy from Slum Dog Millionaire… Never seen the movie, but it has “millionaire” in the title. Oliver Queen from Arrow (Ooh. Wait. Didn’t he lose his money?) There’s just something about them that is powerful, captivating and sexy… And if we were honest, more of that has to do with their charisma than their bucks. But like The Highlander, there can be only one…or my case five. Favorites, that is. Aw, cut me some slack. I thought that segue was pretty clever. snicker

Anyhoo, my top five millionaires. I guess you can sum them up with the beginning of a dirty joke: Two superheroes, a vampire, a Dom and a john walk into a bar…

* Bruce Wayne – Honestly, I think Bruce Wayne’s appeal is his mystery. And the two faces he present to the world. On one hand, he’s a carefree, high-wheeling, too-much-money-and-not-enough-things-to-do-with-it playboy millionaire. And on the other, he’s a masked, frighteningly intelligent vigilante who prowls—or glides, or drives, or sneaks—through the streets of Gotham, taking out the bad guys. The blurred lines of justice he walks—or glides, or drives, or prowls—are just hot! He keeps the two personas of his life so separate no one has caught on that playa-playa Bruce is actually The Bat! Either he’s truly a genius or needs a room of his own in Arkham Asylum, ‘cause the boy’s got a serious personality disorder going on. But since he’s all muscle-y and twisty, we’re going with genius…

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* Tony Stark – You know what I really love about Tony Stark? He’s a real “when life hands you ish, plant roses” kinda guy. I mean, his heart is irreparably damaged and slivers of metal are floating around in his chest, capable of killing him if he makes the slightest movement. And what does he do? Go all “woe is me” and curls up in a ball and rock himself to sleep sucking his thumb? Nope. He invents a thinga-majiggy that keeps him alive and the metal out of his heart. I know…it’s way more complicated than that, but I was a liberal arts major. But then, does Tony stop there? Oh hells-to-the no! Then he invents a suit that gives him the ability to fly and shoot beams of…something that really hurts people…out of its palms and feet. I mean, yoooo! Okay, so he can be arrogant…and overbearing…and a know-it-all. But shooooot. The man is an AVENGER! He saves not just lives, but galaxies! And he does it all with a snark that’s award winning. THIS is a millionaire!

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* Christian Grey – Okay. I’ma be real. Never read 50 Shades of Grey. But I did see the movie… Peeping that delicious looking V—and I’m not talking about Anastasia’s va-jay-jay—was enough to have me trucking it to Redbox. BDSM proclivities aside—‘cause no way in not-heaven would Christian Grey have persuaded me to enter that Red Room—he had this…allure. This hold-me-close-no-don’t-get-too-close vibe that drives me crazy with a hero. In a good way, of course! His eyes, the way he stares at her, his need to be near her, touch her, inhale her… Sigh. It was…intoxicating. I’m not lying. I don’t blame Ana for signing that contract. I would’ve, too. Except my revisions would’ve included a limitless supply of Cherry Cokes and Cheetos…

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* Edward Lewis – Oh, my favorite john millionaire. He made solicitation almost romantic, didn’t he? Yes, he picked Vivian up on the street for the night. And yes, he paid her money to be his companion for the week. Aaand yes, he gave her money for a whole new, upscale wardrobe… Wait. Where was I going with this? Oh right, right! Though their relationship started out as a business transaction, he never treated Vivian like anything less than a lady. He not only showed her how the other half lived, he ended up giving her the fairy tale, treating her like the princess others couldn’t see—including herself. And did I mention the new wardrobe…

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* Edward Cullen – Dude has a piano in his room. I could stop right there and end this blog. But I can’t. ‘Cause he’s also a vampire! Now I could end this blog, but I still won’t. He may look no older than eighteen, but since he’s been alive longer than a century, the guy has seen some things. And knows some things. And done some things. Like wreck beds with the best of ‘em. Edward has that worldly, yet weary aura. The one that screams, “I’m lonely, and I need the right woman to be my heart, my passion, my freedom.” Sign. Me. Up. He’s intense, deep, sensitive, and able to provide a honeymoon on a deserted island. A deserted island that the family owns, by the way. Plus, he has superhuman speed, strength, hearing, sight, and a psychic power that could come in handy because, y’know, he’s immortal if you don’t behead him or set him on fire… My kinda vampire millionaire!
So there you have it! My chart topping money men. Was that crass? Sometimes I can’t tell. My social cues are all skewed due to the whole hermit thing I have going on…

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Naima Simone’s love of romance was first stirred by Johanna Lindsey, Sandra Brown and Linda Howard many years ago. Well not that many. She is only eighteen…ish. Though her first attempt at a romance novel starring Ralph Tresvant from New Edition never saw the light of day, her love of romance, reading and writing has endured. Published since 2009, she spends her days—and nights— creating stories of unique men and women who experience the first bites of desire, the dizzying heights of passion, and the tender, healing heat of love.

She is wife to Superman, or his non-Kryptonian, less bullet proof equivalent, and mother to the most awesome kids ever. They all live in perfect, sometimes domestically-challenged bliss in the southern United States.

Naima can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and NaimaSimone.com.