Beverly Long - Protecting The Boss

Her bodyguard might protect her business...

But what about her heart?

Designer turned entrepreneur Megan North is tantalizingly close to realizing the dream of a lifetime: opening four boutiques around the country. And someone seems desperate to stop her. That’s where security expert Seth Pike comes in. As dogged as he is dreamy, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect his gorgeous client. When business quickly turns personal, can he save Megan...before lurking danger overcomes them both?

BEVERLY LONGenjoys the opportunity to write her own stories. She has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business and more than twenty years of experience as a human resources director. She considers her books to be a great success if they compel the reader to stay up way past their bedtime. Beverly loves to hear from readers. Visit beverlylong.com, or like her author fan page at Facebook.com/beverlylong.romance.

Also By Beverly Long

Wingman Security

Power Play

Bodyguard Reunion

Snowbound Security

Protecting the Boss

Return to Ravesville

Hidden Witness

Agent Bride

Urgent Pursuit

Deep Secrets

The Men from Crow Hollow

Hunted

Stalked

Trapped

The Detectives

Deadly Force

Secure Location

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk

Protecting the Boss

Beverly Long

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-1-474-09356-9

PROTECTING THE BOSS

© 2018 Beverly R. Long

Published in Great Britain 2018

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Version: 2020-03-02

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Seth’s strong hand grabbed hold of her right biceps, and he pulled her into his body, somehow managing to keep them both upright.

“I’ve got you,” he said.

He was hot and sweaty and she was basically plastered against his right side. “Oh,” she said.

“Oh, indeed,” he murmured.

Her heart was hammering in her chest, and not only from the run and the near fall. She’d been physically aware of him since the first moment that he’d almost slid into her under the awning. And waking up in the same room had only exacerbated the tension coursing through her body.

She was needy. Aching with it, truly.

She tilted her head up. He leaned down.

His mouth was just inches away. So close she could feel his warm breath.

He was going to kiss her.

And then he straightened up and stepped away. “We should probably finish up,” he said. “I think there’s a mile or so left. Ready?”

Dear Reader,

I love road trips. The excitement of picking the destination and then planning the route. The routine of packing snacks for the car; a trip without a bag of red licorice at my side is really not a trip at all. The challenge of shoving suitcases and shoes and way too many things into the trunk because there’s nobody to threaten me with a fifty-pound weight limit and that I only get one carry-on bag!

Then there’s the drive and all the good things that come with that. Perhaps a glimpse of something unexpected like the field of prairie dogs in South Dakota or the joy of a sunset in Bryce Canyon National Park. Or a back road in northern Wisconsin that led to a little store selling the best jelly and pickled beets one might ever taste.

And what is better than the anticipation of arrival and then finally seeing new things or old friends, depending on the trip?

In Protecting the Boss , Megan North is about to take a big-time road trip. She’s going to open four boutiques in four different states in less than two weeks. Her bags are packed, and she’s got a plan! It does not include security specialist Seth Pike.

But there’s danger ahead, just beyond the bend in the road, and it’s going to take the two of them, working together, to make it back home alive.

I invite you to come along for the ride! I think you’re going to enjoy it.

All my best,

Beverly

My thanks to my good friend Margaret O’Connor Govett at Girls in Pearls Boutique for all things boutique related. Any errors are solely mine.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

Dear Reader

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue

About the Publisher

Seth Pike had two child-size teddy bears wrapped in clear plastic under one arm and a twelve-year-old bottle of scotch under the other. What he didn’t have was an umbrella, which meant he was going to get wet.

The rain, a welcome relief from the heat, was falling hard, practically bouncing up when it hit. Vegas, a mass of concrete and hard-baked earth in August, was unreceptive to Mother Earth’s goodness.

He had four blocks to go and it would be a damn miracle if he didn’t get his eye poked out by some fool who couldn’t control his umbrella in the strong wind that had come along with the rain. He spied the big green awning of one of his favorite pizza places and made a run for it.