Janie Crouch - Leverage

“I want you,” he whispered, backing her up against the wall. “You are what I think I want and what I really want.”

“But you might change your mind.” Shelby began to look away again.

“I am not going to change my mind.” Dylan brought his hands up on either side of her head, burrowing his fingers in her damp hair. “I hurt you, because I’m so used to pushing everyone away, and I’m sorry. You are what I want. I won’t hurt you again.”

Dylan could see the doubt in Shelby’s eyes, and it killed him. He was afraid she would pull away. But she leaned toward him, putting her lips gently against his.

He kissed her back gently. But then the hunger—the heat —that had sparked between them since the first moment they’d met flared again. And all thought of soft and gentle was left behind.

To my “Shelby”: soul mates come in all different forms, in all different seasons. Thank you for the love you radiate and helping me see the beauty in everything. May the wine of our friendship never run dry.

Leverage

Janie Crouch

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JANIE CROUCHhas loved to read romance her whole life. She cut her teeth on Mills & Boon® romance novels as a pre-teen, then moved on to a passion for romantic suspense as an adult. Janie lives with her husband and four children overseas. Janie enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie-watching, knitting and adventure/obstacle racing. You can find out more about her at www.janiecrouch.com.

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Contents

Cover

Introduction “You hurt me, Dylan. Because what you think you want and what you really want are two different things.” “I want you,” he whispered, backing her up against the wall. “You are what I think I want and what I really want.” “But you might change your mind.” Shelby began to look away again. “I am not going to change my mind.” Dylan brought his hands up on either side of her head, burrowing his fingers in her damp hair. “I hurt you, because I’m so used to pushing everyone away, and I’m sorry. You are what I want. I won’t hurt you again.” Dylan could see the doubt in Shelby’s eyes, and it killed him. He was afraid she would pull away. But she leaned toward him, putting her lips gently against his. He kissed her back gently. But then the hunger—the heat —that had sparked between them since the first moment they’d met flared again. And all thought of soft and gentle was left behind.

Dedication To my “Shelby”: soul mates come in all different forms, in all different seasons. Thank you for the love you radiate and helping me see the beauty in everything. May the wine of our friendship never run dry.

Title Page Leverage Janie Crouch www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author JANIE CROUCH has loved to read romance her whole life. She cut her teeth on Mills & Boon® romance novels as a pre-teen, then moved on to a passion for romantic suspense as an adult. Janie lives with her husband and four children overseas. Janie enjoys traveling, long-distance running, movie-watching, knitting and adventure/obstacle racing. You can find out more about her at www.janiecrouch.com .

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Extract

Copyright

Chapter One

Sometimes a man just wanted to be left alone.

Dylan Branson didn’t think that was too much to ask. He’d served his country for years, both on American soil and off, and had the scars—both physical and emotional—to show for it. But that was behind him now. Far behind him.

Not that you would know it from the voice talking at Dylan from the phone.

Dylan held the phone out at arm’s length, staring at it as if it were a snake about to bite him. He’d rather be handling a snake. Seriously, give him a cottonmouth over what was at the other end of this phone line.

It was Dennis Burgamy, Dylan’s boss when he worked at Omega Sector, a covert interagency task force. A crime-fighting, problem-solving, get-stuff-done unit, made up of the most elite agents the country had to offer. And Dylan had been one of the best of the best.

But not anymore.

Despite its arm’s-length distance, Dylan could still hear Dennis Burgamy clearly on the other line. Dylan hadn’t held the phone against his ear in at least two minutes, but evidently Burgamy hadn’t missed Dylan’s input into the conversation because the other man hadn’t even noticed Dylan wasn’t talking.

Which was pretty typical of Dylan’s former boss. The difference now was that Dylan didn’t have to listen to the other man. Burgamy wasn’t his boss anymore.

Finally silence came from the other end of the phone. Dylan cautiously brought it back to his ear.

“Are you there, Branson?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” Dylan sat on the porch of the house he’d mostly built himself and looked out over the pinkish light of early evening hitting the Blue Ridge Mountains surrounding him on three sides. Those mountains had been the only thing able to bring him a measure of peace over the past few years since his wife’s death, and he tried to draw on that peace again now. To no avail. “You do remember that I don’t work for you anymore, right, Burgamy?”

Dylan’s statement was met with a dramatic sigh. There had never been any lost love between Burgamy and any of the Branson siblings. Dylan’s sister and two brothers were all active Omega agents, and all had butted heads with Burgamy at some point.

“You are in the charter airline business now, Dylan,” Burgamy reminded him. “I’m not asking you to do anything you wouldn’t do for any other paying customer.”

It was true. For the past four years Dylan had been flying customers and cargo wherever they needed to go all over the East Coast with his Cessna. But Dylan wasn’t so desperate for business that he wanted to be at Burgamy’s beck and call.

“I’m all booked. Sorry.”

“Look, Dylan...” Dylan recognized the change in Burgamy’s tone. Evidently Burgamy realized threatening Dylan wouldn’t get him what he wanted, so he’d decided to try a different tactic. “How about if you do this for us, then I’ll erase all record of Sawyer’s little incident last year.”

The little incident referred to Dylan’s youngest brother, Sawyer, punching Burgamy in the jaw and knocking his boss unconscious during an operation that was going wrong. Sawyer managed to keep his job at Omega, but only barely. And although Sawyer was able to keep his job, the occurrence would still keep his brother from ever being able to move up in official ranks. Of course, until recently, Sawyer had no interest in ever moving higher than the rank of agent. Doing so would mean a desk job, which had frightened him no end. But now that Sawyer was married to sweet little Megan and expecting a baby, a desk job might be more appealing to him.