Be Your Everything [All for Love] (BookStrand Publishing Romance)

Be Your Everything

As an undercover insurance fraud investigator working with the local authorities, Matthew Bourke aka Manny Baker’s job is to build a case against the suspect, Gilbert Grayson. He cultivates Heather Graham, Grayson’s secretary, anticipating she will prove to be a valuable source as well as a pleasing diversion. What Manny doesn’t anticipate is that he’ll fall hard for Heather, just as she falls for him. He gives into the attraction, unable to wait until the investigation is over, when he plans to tell Heather the truth and ask for her understanding.

Manny seduces her. Accidentally finding out Manny isn’t who he says he is, Heather retreats and inadvertently tips off Grayson. The man has already killed once to cover his tracks, and her boss needs something from his secretary, something Heather doesn’t know she has. Manny searches for the love of his life, desperate to protect her and be her everything.

Genre:
Contemporary

Length:
37,233 words
 

Peri Elizabeth Scott

ROMANCE

www.BookStrand.com

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IMPRINT: Romance

BE YOUR EVERYTHING

Copyright © 2013 by Peri Elizabeth Scott

E-book ISBN:
978-1-62242-986-8

First E-book Publication: June 2013

Cover design by Harris Channing

All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED:
This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER

www.BookStrand.com

For my critique partner Jennifer Simpkins who writes love stories and encouraged me to submit
Be Your Everything
. Thank you.

BE YOUR EVERYTHING

PERI ELIZABETH SCOTT

Copyright © 2013

“I have an eleven o’clock appointment with Mr. Grayson. Matthew Bourke.” Holy crap, how did he manage to get through the door and across the room to her desk without her noticing? He hadn’t made a sound, or even pushed air ahead of him. The document she was typing wasn’t all
that
interesting. She hadn’t been concentrating
that
hard. And he was a big guy, not a small, sneaky sort of guy who might have slunk in. He took up a lot of space. And she was sounding like a ditzy blonde right inside her own head.

Heather Graham checked out Matthew Bourke’s ruggedly handsome features. His eyes were set deeply beneath dark brows, the black lashes surrounding milk chocolate eyes thicker and longer than any man’s had a right to be. She loved chocolate. His nose made a statement—Heather had a theory about noses. She thought they reflected a person’s character. His was an uncompromising blade, and sported a bump on the bridge, suggesting an unscheduled impact with an unforgiving object. That would make him determined and dominant, not easily swayed. Matthew’s mouth softened his look, the lips perfectly chiselled, sculpted yet soft and perfectly opposite to…

“Miss? My appointment?”

She blinked. And blinked again. Son of a bitch. The hottest man in her recent experience was standing not three feet from her and she’d been off in la-la land. She regrouped. What the hell was wrong with her? Asked and answered.
Hot. Hotter. Hottest.

“Of course.” Cutting her eyes to the computer screen Heather unobtrusively tapped a key. Matthew Bourke. Eleven o’clock. Stitching what she sincerely hoped was a professional smile on her lips, she nodded toward a chair set against the far wall of her office. “Please take a seat, Mr. Bourke. Mr. Grayson will be ready to see you in a minute.”

His back view was nearly as nice as his front. She took the opportunity to thoroughly check Matthew Bourke out, ensuring when he turned around to take his seat she was apparently engrossed in her computer screen. As was her wont, she catalogued her thoughts. It was how she came up with her best designs.
Tall, dark and handsome. Dark-brown hair, sable brown. Those chocolate eyes. Cheekbones to die for. Perfect mouth. Broad shoulders. Built. Nice ass. Really nice ass. Dresses well. Sexy voice. Sighs loudly.
She closed the document, declining the prompt to save it. What would she save it under? Hot Guy at Eleven O’clock? Eye Candy for Any Home? Heather suppressed a smile and checked the time.

Pushing her chair back, she stood to lead the way to her boss’s office and announce Hot Guy. Mr. Bourke watched her, just as he’d watched her type, intently. He seemed very aware of his surroundings and his gaze hadn’t made her feel uncomfortable. Not really. Heather wasn’t vain enough to think she was worthy of his attention. A man like Mr. Bourke could have any raving beauty crossing his path. She positively ogled him earlier, to his amused recognition and her subsequent embarrassment, but a cat could look at a king. There was her mother’s influence again, those eccentric quotes attached to her DNA right along with the programming for her hair and eye color. And her small breasts.

Tapping on Mr. Grayson’s door, opening it slightly at the sound of his muffled voice, she poked her head inside. She announced the arrival of his appointment, using Matthew Bourke’s proper name, smiling inside. As she turned around to invite Mr. Bourke to enter he was no more than six inches away from her and her inner smile froze. How did he do that? He was so close she could smell him, a heady bouquet of sandalwood, spice, and male. Heather fought against closing her eyes and inhaling like some fool from a laundry detergent commercial. Her sense of
humor
was irreverent at best, but even she couldn’t laugh at the way she felt in that very moment.

Stepping backward, invading Mr. Grayson’s sanctum, she did a little stutter step in dismay, feeling her boss’s annoyed stare pierce her. Heather was rarely allowed in there. Nervousness made her fumble for words, a failing virtually unknown. If she’d saved Mr. Bourke’s document she might have added
disconcerting, annoying, pushy.
Even great-looking guys had their foibles. He eased past her, the very heat of him evident, giving her a smile to make her girly parts tingle. Maybe not
annoying
. Heather stepped out, carefully avoiding Mr. Grayson’s eyes, and shut the door quietly.

Standing motionless and staring into space didn’t get any work accomplished, although the rumble of voices in her boss’s office was a nice counterpoint to her daydream.
Get with the program, girl.
With her luck, Mr. G would want something and come looking for her. If he found her mooning outside his office door, eavesdropping, it wouldn’t bode well. He was the first boss she’d worked more than a few weeks for, and Heather was determined to cultivate the stability. Her days of temping were over. Mr. G prized his privacy and had some strict rules for his staff. It wouldn’t do to screw up.

Heather decided to finish the morning off with an Internet search. Mr. Grayson’s latest statistics needed updating and he’d asked her to do a comparison of two other companies. It was a task better suited to a personal assistant or someone in research, but she was bored, in truth, and welcomed the variety. Although she was hardly feeling bored at that moment, but rather, edgy and restless. Maybe Mr. G would see her as filling Meredith’s shoes. She flinched. It was too soon to think about Meredith. She hadn’t known her very well because Meredith was as private as their boss, but the personal assistant was a nice young woman. And she’d been killed, right in the company parking lot, after hours, working late for Mr. Grayson. Heather pulled up the relevant data and studied it.

She tried. She really did, but nicely disturbing thoughts of Matthew Bourke kept intruding, helping her forget about Meredith’s untimely end. So she checked up on him instead. Her notations, made at the time he phoned for his appointment, informed her Matthew Bourke was a technical rep from the parent company back east. Had his voice hinted at its owner’s attributes? She couldn’t recall. In fact, she wondered if he’d called personally. Jameson and Company was a household name in insurance, so she went into the personnel directory and scrolled through the Bs until she found his moniker. Just as she’d noted, tech rep. Specializing in revamping systems. Mr. G was vice president of Benefits and Payouts so she supposed they were streamlining the process. Heather had a general grasp of all the departments at Jameson and Company because she’d temped in all of them.

Wondering how long he’d be liaising, she again checked the time. She went for lunch at noon, without fail, because that’s what Mr. Grayson wanted, the old tyrant, and she hoped Matthew Bourke’s appointment was finished before then, or dragged on until she returned so she might see him again. Cats and kings. He made her think of rumpled satin sheets and tropical islands with warm breezes and hot sand. The man made her think about doing something different with her life, other than being cooped up in an office all day. This was so not like her.