Shifter bear Grant had been crushing on his boss, Shayla since
the day they met. When the attraction no longer seems so one-sided, will Grant
walk away or risk will he risk everything to convince Shayla to take a chance
on him?
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Blurb:
A boss can't date her employee—simple as that. No matter how much
Shayla wants to unravel a few of Grant's mysteries and take her friendship with
the shy, sarcastic man to the next level, she's determined to keep her
fantasies of him to herself.
After bear shifter Grant lost his girlfriend and three best friends
in a fire, he did his best to shut himself off from everyone around him.
Falling for Shayla wasn't part of his plan, but after a kiss that leaves them
both speechless and hungry for more, Grant can't keep his desire for his boss
under wraps any longer. When things between the two of them get hotter than he
could have imagined, Grant wonders- will some of his darker desires be too much
for Shayla or will she embrace the needs he’s kept hidden for so long?
Excerpt:
What is it about Grant? Looking at the man beside her was no hardship; that was for damn
sure. He had the tall, broad body of a heavyweight UFC fighter, but he never
used his size to intimidate the people around him. Shayla wanted to sweep his
wavy, slightly shaggy dark hair out of his gorgeous brown eyes. His dark hair
and eyes complemented his bronze skin. He was hot, in a serious, dangerous kind
of way. But in the two and a half years he had worked for her, she had hardly
learned anything about him.
The waitress at the popular nature-themed restaurant, the Greenhouse
Effect, showed them to their table. The plants growing around all the walls and
columns made the place look like a wild garden. The smell of lavender and
jasmine mixed with the delicious scents drifting from the kitchen. She tried
not to drool, but breakfast seemed like eons ago. Shayla sat next to Sydney and
across from Grant. A too-tall centerpiece of yellow-and-purple flowers blocked
most of her view. Being short occasionally sucked. Grant moved the centerpiece
to the side and gave her a shy smile. His smile made her want answers, among
other things.
She knew he was from New Jersey and had gone to school in Wisconsin
before moving to Richmond, Virginia, to work with Brook’s Comprehensive, a huge
company that did everything from urban development projects to financial
management for celebrities and politicians.
“Why do you want to make such a big change from a large corporation
to a simple start-up company?” she’d asked him in the interview.
“Honestly?” He had paused then, the question hanging.
“Yes,” she’d assured him. She’d take honesty over smooth-faced,
calculated interview answers any day.
“I want to live somewhere I can have a house and some land. Maybe
spend more time outside. Also, I want a job where I can do more than just run numbers
for projects where I never see the outcome.”
The last part had seemed to come as a surprise to him. Maybe he
hadn’t really known he wanted something more than a change of scenery until he
had said it out loud.
His answer had been simple and honest instead of a long, drawn-out
elaboration about the projected success of new companies in the area or an
extensive list of projects he had helped to fruition. She could look at his
résumé for those kinds of details. He had wanted to be there, so she’d hired
him. Simple as that—after a clean background check and drug screening, of
course.
Grant the mystery man—a delicious mystery Shayla would like to
unravel, piece by piece, layer by layer. Ah,
but I can’t. I’m his boss. In a different lifetime, if we didn’t have the whole
boss-employee obstacle going on…. No harm in looking, though, just a
little, since he sat so close. She promised herself to keep her thoughts
G-rated—okay, maybe PG-13. Grant had a talent with numbers and paid attention
to detail. Also, he was a little shy and standoffish to a lot of people when it
came to anything other than work. Shayla wondered where he sometimes went in
his head, because, every now and then, his smile slipped from his face, just
for a second, before being replaced with one a little harder. None of my business, she reminded
herself.
She had really wanted to hug him this morning after seeing him so
frustrated but decided it might be wiser and more appropriate to show him there
were a few people on his side. Seeing him break things and try to be all strong
and humorous about it made Shayla want to unravel the Grant mystery even more.
It kind of hurt to watch him pretending to be fine, but all she could offer him
was lunch and good conversation. Hopefully, Mr. Strong and Silent—Sydney called
him that sometimes, although never to his face—knew Shayla and Sydney cared.
And Shayla did care. Because he’s a
friend. Just a friend.
Grant raised his soda in a toast. “To things not being worse,” he
announced with a rueful half smile. “And, uh”—he cleared his throat—“to good
company.” He nodded at Sydney, and when he met Shayla’s gaze, he held it. In
his dark eyes, she saw hunger, wide-open desire, and about a million other
things she couldn’t puzzle out. Grant looked at her that way sometimes, and she
did her best to ignore it. He might have a small crush on her, or he could have
a thing for petite, small-breasted girls possessing a great fashion sense.
Sydney broke the silence. “To good food and even better friends.”
She clinked Grant’s glass, and Shayla came back to reality and smiled,
pretending she wasn’t experiencing several different kinds of inappropriate
thoughts and feelings for a sexy, complicated man who was her employee and also
her friend. She needed to behave and remember things could never go any further
than a panty-melting gaze.
Author Bio:
A few years ago, I read my first romance novel and I was hooked, so much so that I decided to give the idea of writing a story a chance. My style is more gritty than sweet and I look forward to writing many more stories with strong heroines and imperfect but determined characters. Love, courage, hope, and second chances are a few of my favorite themes. When I’m not writing, I enjoy spending time outside and finding ways to avoid cooking. I live in beautiful Virginia with my husband, two daughters, and a sweet, hairy monster of a dog.
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