J. Critch - In The Boss's Bed

Hot for the boss...

Maya Connor was already embarrassed after a dare—and a shot of vodka—resulted in one seriously sexy kiss with an even sexier stranger. She had no idea that the man she made out with was hotel magnate and reputed playboy Jamie Sellers. Or that she would soon be working for him...

Maya won’t let anything get in the way of her ambition. And she’s determined to be taken seriously as she begins her career—and not give in to the heat that’s constantly driving her to distraction. Lust, that’s all it is. The more Maya and Jamie ignore it, the stronger it gets. But ending up in the boss’s bed won’t just be Maya’s wickedest fantasies come to life...it’ll be the end of her dreams.

“I should go...”

Jamie turned to Maya, brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Because of what just happened. I don’t think—”

Jamie reached over and touched her cheek. “Maya, stop. Us sleeping together won’t be a problem unless we let it be one. And what happened here tonight doesn’t have to follow us back home and into the office.”

She took a deep breath. She was relieved that it wouldn’t put a strain on their working relationship, but also crestfallen that this wouldn’t go anywhere beyond this one night.

“We’re both adults,” he continued. “And I think we both needed to finally get that out of our systems before we imploded. Don’t you think?”

“Yes, I do.” She had spent too many waking, and sleeping, hours lusting over this man.

Her boss.

Dear Reader,

I’m going to be honest, I’m pretty new to the world of romance. It was during a province-wide blackout in December 2013 when I read my first romance novel. My phone’s battery was full and I decided to buy ebooks to kill some time. While my friends played a board game, I searched for something to read, and I happened upon the romance section of the online store and came across some Harlequin Blaze titles. By the time the power came back on, I had finished six books. I was hooked!

One thing that attracted me to Harlequin Blaze was its strong, feisty heroines. A Blaze heroine has her own life, a successful career, an unbreakable, independent spirit, and—at first—she needs nothing from the hero...except for a few wild nights, that is. I admired that and much more about the classic Blaze heroine, and I kept that in mind as I wrote Maya.

Getting In the Boss’s Bed from my mind into your hands, dear reader, has been an amazing journey. This is my first book, and I hope you enjoy reading about Maya and Jamie as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Cheers!

Juanita

In the Boss’s Bed

J. Margot Critch

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JUANITA MARGOT CRITCH currently lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland, with her husband, Brian, and their two little buddies, Simon and Chibs. She spends equal amounts of time writing, listening to Jimmy Buffett’s music and looking out at the ocean, all the while trying to decide if she wants coffee or a margarita.

For Mom. You’ve always been my biggest fan and supporter, no matter what wacky thing I’m up to. I love you.

And Brian, my fierce, loyal, alpha-protector with beautiful hands. Thank you for supporting me, and being my first reader, my sounding board and my all-around favorite guy. Even though I didn’t use your idea for Dylan O’Driscoll: Gentleman Rake, I appreciate all of your input.

To my friends, who always understand when I say I’m writing and can’t leave the house.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

1

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5

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34

Extract

Copyright

1

I REALLY SHOULDN’T be here. The phrase looped through Maya’s brain. I really, really shouldn’t be here. The ice cubes in her glass clinked together as she stirred her vodka-cranberry drink and took a sip. The deafening, bass-heavy music and many sweaty bodies pulsed around her as she quickly crossed the dance floor to return to the booth where her best friend and roommate, Abby, was sitting alone, waiting for her. Feeling a headache coming on, Maya frowned and pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead.

“Could you at least pretend you’re having a good time?” Abby leaned in and yelled against her ear to be heard over the music. “This is the hottest club in Montreal, we both look fabulous and we’re getting a ton of male attention tonight.” As if to make her point, she waved to a group of men at a nearby table who were looking in their direction.

“I’m sorry,” Maya yelled back. She really wanted to go home. But she also didn’t want to ruin her friend’s night. Abby had put a lot of effort into dragging Maya out. Earlier that evening, at home, Maya had spent far too long styling her hair into waves, although the end result was supposed to have looked as though she hadn’t spent any time styling it. While constantly reloading YouTube tutorials, she had studiously worked until she achieved things called smoky eyes and contouring. It was then that Maya had decided it was all too much work, and was about to change into yoga pants and a tank top and curl up on the couch when Abby had selected her littlest black dress and strutted into Maya’s room proclaiming it the one.

“Maya, every guy in that club is going to be drooling over you in this,” Abby had assured her.

“Great,” Maya had replied, without much enthusiasm. “I hope all that saliva comes out at the dry cleaners.”

But she was forced to admit, thanks to Abby’s instruction and help with styling, makeup and hair techniques, Maya had never looked better.

“I’m getting such a headache. And I should really get home. Finals are coming up. And we’ve got that early class tomorrow—” Maya grasped for any reason to not be at Swerve Nightclub on a Thursday night.

“God, you’re practically agoraphobic!” Abby huffed in frustration.

“I’m not agoraphobic. I’m an introvert, and it’s super trendy right now. Thank-you-very-much.” It’s cute to be introverted, she thought defensively. Words she wouldn’t dare say to her friend. There were an abundance of articles and listicles online proclaiming such a thing. It’s good to have some mystery about you. And who is more mysterious than a girl who never leaves her house?

“Either way, you’re not going anywhere!” Abby pulled on Maya’s wrist until she was seated at the table with her. “Don’t worry about class. Dr. C. invited in some guest speaker, so it’ll just be some long-winded, ancient colleague of his. They’ll turn down the lights and we can nap in the back.”

Maya opened her mouth, but Abby plowed over her, running her fingers through her own flawlessly styled, bleach-blond pixie haircut. “We’re here to have fun. For the past few years, I’ve watched you lock yourself in your room, hibernate in the library and never take a minute to look up from your books. We are graduating in two weeks—” she reached out to grab Maya’s hands in her own “—and I need to see you act like the beautiful, exotic, sassy young thing that you are before we part ways, become old hags and never see each other or have any fun ever again.” Abby took a long pull on her beer. “We need to act young and stupid, this one last time,” she pleaded. “Be irresponsible. Live a little with me.”

Maya laughed. “Hey. I have fun.”

Abby raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced. “Staying home on Friday night and binge-watching Orange Is the New Black on Netflix isn’t the type of fun that a single twenty-five-year-old woman should be having. Especially a complete knockout like yourself. When was the last time you had sex?”