Touching the Boss
by Mallory Crowe
Date of Publication: September 10, 2015
Blurb
Tall.
Dark.
Handsome.
Sexy.
Criminal.
All words Lori Briggs can use to describe her billionaire boss, Michael Devaroux. Without enough evidence to go to the police and not enough in her paltry savings account to quit on a moral basis, she's forced to work with the criminal mastermind until she can get a new job, but he has plans for her that go far beyond the office.
Dark.
Handsome.
Sexy.
Criminal.
All words Lori Briggs can use to describe her billionaire boss, Michael Devaroux. Without enough evidence to go to the police and not enough in her paltry savings account to quit on a moral basis, she's forced to work with the criminal mastermind until she can get a new job, but he has plans for her that go far beyond the office.
Michael Devereaux is the glue that holds his volatile family together. Between his hotheaded brother and criminally crazy cousin, Michael needs to be calm and collected at all times. Even the times that require working with the FBI to bring down the family enemies. Until the FBI can finish their work, he needs to play the bad guy and keep Lori from spilling the things she knows to the wrong people.
Michael needs to spend as much time with Lori as possible to make sure everything goes according to plan, but the more she comes to trust him, the harder it is to keep his lies straight. Will Michael ever be able to put love first when family is the only thing he's ever had?
Available From
Excerpt
Lori deleted file after file on the laptop in front of her. Kyle Drum apparently had quite the collection of adult videos. And, hey, Lori was all for letting off steam once in a while and getting to know one’s hand a bit better. But this collection was on a work computer. And it had caused at least two different viruses and countless malware programs to be installed.
Hell, with the amount of time it would take her to clean up this damn thing, they might as well toss the stupid computer and buy a new one.
She let out a sigh and clicked on the control panel, but a pop-up suddenly appeared and a woman with more plastic on her body than fat appeared and started to pull off her shirt.
“Oh, for the love of—”
“Is this how you normally spend your days?”
Lori twisted around in her chair and her eyes went wide at the sight of the man who stood at the entrance of her cubicle.
Not just any man. Michael Freakin’ Devereaux. Her jaw dropped, but no sound managed to come out.
“Are you just going to let her keep going then? I think she’s about two seconds away from putting that cucumber—”
Lori reached behind her and slammed the laptop shut without even glancing behind her. She plastered on a smile and tried to pretend everything was normal. “That’s not my computer. Just cleaning off some viruses.”
He nodded but didn’t look the slightest bit convinced. “Ms. Briggs, do you mind coming upstairs with me?”
Upstairs? What the heck was upstairs? He couldn’t be firing her for this. She could explain. If he would only listen for a few seconds, she could clarify everything. Tell him that Kyle had been let go and she was trying to get the computer back to factory specs. Everything had a perfectly reasonable explanation! “Okay,” was all that came out as she pushed herself up on shaky legs.
Giveaway!
Enter to win a $50 Gift Card during this tour!
To follow along with the rest of the stops, click here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Goodreads | Amazon
Excerpt #2
About Mallory Crowe
Previous Books In The Billionaires In The City Series
Business-school student April Morgan is ready to
graduate--from school, from the secretary pool, and from never-gonna-happen
fantasies involving Sam Hunt, her hunky billionaire boss. But when Sam’s
girlfriend of the week pushes her too far, April finds herself quitting on the
spot with only a mountain of student loan debt to keep her company. In steps
Sam’s worst enemy, his father, with a job offer she can't refuse.
Sam was born into privilege, but refused to live life with a silver spoon in his mouth. After a decade of hard work, he’s on the verge of taking his business public and proving to his tyrannical family that he can make it without their help. When he finds out that April is working for his father, he knows she’s been turned into a pawn in his father’s twisted games.
Despite Sam’s warnings, April is determined to prove she doesn’t need him to make in New York City. But when she finds documents that could lead to Sam losing everything he’s worked for, April realizes that she and Sam have to work together to save the empire they’ve both worked to build.
Sam was born into privilege, but refused to live life with a silver spoon in his mouth. After a decade of hard work, he’s on the verge of taking his business public and proving to his tyrannical family that he can make it without their help. When he finds out that April is working for his father, he knows she’s been turned into a pawn in his father’s twisted games.
Despite Sam’s warnings, April is determined to prove she doesn’t need him to make in New York City. But when she finds documents that could lead to Sam losing everything he’s worked for, April realizes that she and Sam have to work together to save the empire they’ve both worked to build.
Premier business consultant Simon West can turn around any
struggling billion dollar corporation in New York City, but he can’t get what
he wants most: revenge against Mark DuFord. The slick investment banker's shady
dealing led to Simon’s best friend’s suicide. Wealthy, and well-protected by
the political influence he’s been able to purchase, DuFord has become
untouchable—or so he thinks. But when DuFord’s former girlfriend asks Simon for
help, he knows that Grace Bell is the weapon he needs to finally destroy his
enemy completely. All Simon has to do is pretend to love her.
Grace Bell knows that approaching hot-shot Simon West to save her business is a long shot, but she’s desperate. After growing up with a family that expected her to be a happy housewife, she’d proved them all wrong when she became the go-to event-coordinator in New York City. But after the tabloids took a completely innocent picture of her with a married senator and misinterpreted the situation, she’s losing clients left and right. When she approaches Simon and begs for his help to resuscitate the business she put her heart and soul into, she never expects him to agree. Or that the payment would be posing as his lover as an excuse to get close to her ex.
Simon knows if he goes forward with his plan, it's only a matter of time before Mark realizes what they're up to and Mark’s enemies have a way ending up broke, in jail or six feet under. As Simon and Grace grow closer, Simon must decide if putting her in the line of fire is worth avenging the past.
Grace Bell knows that approaching hot-shot Simon West to save her business is a long shot, but she’s desperate. After growing up with a family that expected her to be a happy housewife, she’d proved them all wrong when she became the go-to event-coordinator in New York City. But after the tabloids took a completely innocent picture of her with a married senator and misinterpreted the situation, she’s losing clients left and right. When she approaches Simon and begs for his help to resuscitate the business she put her heart and soul into, she never expects him to agree. Or that the payment would be posing as his lover as an excuse to get close to her ex.
Simon knows if he goes forward with his plan, it's only a matter of time before Mark realizes what they're up to and Mark’s enemies have a way ending up broke, in jail or six feet under. As Simon and Grace grow closer, Simon must decide if putting her in the line of fire is worth avenging the past.
As the CEO of a multi-billion dollar retail chain, Victoria
Green isn’t used to asking for help, especially not from too attractive for
their own good repairmen like Dean Carey. After Victoria is attacked at her own
party and Dean fights off the culprit, she’s forced to tell him her secret:
Victoria’s father is on his deathbed, and her brother, who nearly ran the
company into the ground, might be willing to do anything to make sure
controlling interest goes to him.
Dean wants nothing to do with the ice princess CEO, even if he can’t keep his eyes off certain… assets of hers. He’s got enough on his plate between trying to get enough work to pay the bills and raising his little sister who’s growing up much too fast for his liking. Despite his misgivings, when Victoria offers him a blank check if he will keep his mouth shut about what he saw and shadow her until she can hire a more qualified bodyguard, he can’t bring himself to turn down that kind of cash.
Over the next few days, Dean learns Victoria isn’t as cold as he first thought and Victoria realizes that Dean is so much more than a handyman. But someone wants her dead and if they don’t figure out who and stop them, they might never get their happily ever after.
Dean wants nothing to do with the ice princess CEO, even if he can’t keep his eyes off certain… assets of hers. He’s got enough on his plate between trying to get enough work to pay the bills and raising his little sister who’s growing up much too fast for his liking. Despite his misgivings, when Victoria offers him a blank check if he will keep his mouth shut about what he saw and shadow her until she can hire a more qualified bodyguard, he can’t bring himself to turn down that kind of cash.
Over the next few days, Dean learns Victoria isn’t as cold as he first thought and Victoria realizes that Dean is so much more than a handyman. But someone wants her dead and if they don’t figure out who and stop them, they might never get their happily ever after.
Billionaire heiress Emma Devaroux has been living a
safe-yet-mundane existence in Georgia for too long, but when she learns her
sister, Joslyn, has been arrested, she heads to New York City to find out what
really happened. Unfortunately, as an unemployed debutante, she’s not exactly
qualified to be leading an investigation. But help is at hand in the form of
the handsome, former military man Jace Lance who happens to be the one who got
her sister arrested in the first place.
Jace thinks Emma is crazy for even considering working with him since he’s the
one who stopped Joslyn from killing his former client. However, he can’t deny
that the sexy southerner is in over her head when her tycoon cousins try to
hire him to make sure Emma doesn’t find out the truth about what really caused
her sister’s murderous actions.
As they begin to uncover the truth together –and get to know each other
intimately – it becomes clear that the more answers they get, the more danger
Emma is in. Jace is determined to protect her, but how can he keep her safe when
her whole family is in on the conspiracy?
Goodreads | Amazon
Excerpt #2
“You son of a bitch,” said a familiar female voice. “What
did you get me into?”
“Lori Briggs?”
“Hunter just showed up at my apartment, thanks to you. I
don’t like random guys knowing where I live. How would you like it if I blasted
your address to anyone who wanted it?”
He sat up straighter and rubbed his temple. “I didn’t give
him any of your information.”
“I know that! But they wouldn’t even know who I am if it
weren’t for you! This is all your fault.”
“Hunter came to your apartment and threatened you?”
“Not exactly…but that’s not the point.”
He clenched his jaw. He knew her point. Hell, he probably
got her need for privacy more than most. Thanks to his high profile in the
city, his cell number and address were things that very few people knew. Which
brought up the question… “How did you get my number?”
“Oh, you have no idea how much I could find out about you if
I really wanted to. All I need is some Wi-Fi and a computer.”
“Hold on. Don’t do anything rash.” The last thing he needed
was some crazy woman who knew her way around firewalls with a vendetta against
him. Funny, since he hadn’t gotten the crazy vibe from Lori. She’d seemed more
innocent and freaked out by what he was asking her to do.
“Rash like accepting a job offer from an international crime
syndicate? Or rash like setting up a dating profile for you with your private
cell number and address listed?”
Mother fucker. “Are you serious?”
“So it is an international crime syndicate? I was taking a
shot in the dark there…”
“No, it’s not an intern—” He cursed under his breath. This
wasn’t going anywhere. “Where are you? This would be better discussed in
person.”
“So you can threaten me again?”
“So I can talk some sense into you. I can explain everything
that happened today.”
There was a pause on the line. “I don’t think that’s a good
idea.”
Michael was already up and grabbing his keys and wallet from
the table in the foyer and heading out the door. “Where are you? I’m already on
my way.”
“You can’t come here. I’m in my pajamas.”
He frowned. “I’m sure you’ll have time to change.”
“But I’m not home.”
She was in pajamas and not home? “Are you at your
boyfriend’s place?”
She snorted through the phone. “I don’t have a boyfriend.”
A rush of satisfaction shot through him at her admission,
but he didn’t let himself dwell on the unexpected feeling. “I’m officially
confused.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re not coming here.”
“Fine. You can come to me then. You know my address already,
right?”
“I can’t go to your place like this! I know that building!
The doorman will laugh me right out of the lobby!”
He rolled his eyes. Why was this so difficult? “The doormen
are paid lots of money to not laugh at anyone. Just come over and we can sort
this all out. I’ll pay your cab fare.”
“I’m not meeting you alone somewhere. You could kill me.”
Michael paced in front of the elevator, still not sure whether
he was leaving or not. “I promise I’m not going to kill you.”
“That sounds like something a murderer would say.”
And now he had the sudden urge to hit a wall. “Lori! There
will be at least three people who see you coming into the building. You’ll be
safe.” There was another pause and Michael held his breath. Was he finally
getting through to her?
“Okay, but you better not judge me for wearing pajamas
over.”
This woman couldn’t be serious. “This is a joke, right? Is
Luke behind this?”
“Do I sound like I’m laughing?”
“Just…get over here.”
Mallory Crowe has lived in Michigan her whole life and has been in love with romance ever since she'd skip to the end of every novel, just to make sure the hero and heroine survived and ended up together.She lives with her husband and three dogs. When she's not writing, she's spending too much time in front of the TV, hiking, or working with various animal rescues.
Find Mallory Online
Hosted by:
No comments:
Post a Comment