After a long business trip, the last thing Spencer Preston wants is to attend a masquerade party. His plan? Get in and get out. However, an encounter with a hot she-devil changes his mind, especially when the siren behind the sequined mask is the prim and proper, no-nonsense, secretary he’s been fighting an attraction to for months. Suspicious of her dual lifestyle, he slips on his mask and sets out to discover her secrets.
Melody Jamison hates hiding behind her plain-Jane persona, but her last job ended in sexual harassment. To get a promotion at Preston Enterprises, she needs to show Spencer she’s more than just a pretty face. The only problem is, she’s got the hots for her boss. When a friend convinces Melody a masquerade is the perfect place to let her hair down without revealing her true persona, she agrees to night out. But she never dreamed she would meet a mysterious masked stranger who makes her body hum like only Spencer can.
But there’s a corporate spy running loose at Preston Enterprises and with Melody at the top of the suspect list, Spencer must continue the charade as her masked lover in order to uncover the truth. His hotter-than-Hades assistant proves reluctant to part with answers, yet more than willing to play with fire, drawing them into the flames of a sexual fantasy neither can forget.
*This book was previously published under a different title.
Excerpt:
“Good morning, Ms. Jamison.”
Oh, God. She wished he wouldn’t use that tone, all deep and smooth and hot. Sexy-hot. It made her wonder what he sounded like after he’d just made love.
“Mr. Preston.” Was that her squeaking?
He pushed off the doorframe, and Melody turned around to power up her computer. She sighed in relief and waited for him to close the door.
“Getting a head start on the day, are we?”
Startled, she swiveled in her chair and found him perched half on, half off the edge of her desk. She’d thought he’d been stretching his legs and was heading back inside his office. Instead, he picked up a pencil and idly tapped the eraser against his thigh. She couldn’t help but notice the way muscle bunched and eased beneath navy trousers as he swung his leg at a slow and steady pace.
Wary of his sudden casual approach, she gave him her best schoolteacher expression, brow cocked and lips pursed. “Yes, as a matter of fact.”
She nodded in dismissal and concentrated on the files scattered precariously across her desk. What had he been looking for anyway?
“Did you have a nice weekend?”
Her entire body froze with the exception of her heart, which missed a beat and then began to race. She lifted her gaze to his and searched for reassurance that he knew nothing about Friday night’s escapade. She’d learned the hard way that boys did kiss and tell. And who was to say the man she’d been kissing—among other things—didn’t know Spencer?
She cleared her throat. “I beg your pardon?”
“Your weekend. How was it?”
He waited, gray eyes twinkling expectantly but with no hint of shared knowledge. Still, she wasn’t about to discuss her weekend. Especially with him.
“I hardly think that’s relevant.” Melody rose from her chair, hugging the stack of files to her chest, and walked somewhat unsteadily across the room to the filing cabinet. She prayed he would go away as she opened the top drawer and focused her attention on the files in front of her. With shaking hands, she slipped the first folder into its proper place.
“Well, now. That all depends.” His deep voice came from directly behind her.
She sucked in a breath as he crowded closer. The heat from his body and the scent of his cologne enveloped her, bringing forth images of El Bandito. Spencer’s arm snaked around her waist, and his breath whispered against her cheek. Her eyes closed in expectation as she waited for his lips to seek out the sensitive spot behind her ear. All resolve to keep her sinfully sexy boss at a distance disappeared.
“I think you put that one in the wrong place.”
It took Melody a moment to register his words as he peered over her shoulder and pointed to the folder labeled Hawke, which had been filed behind Hendrix. Disusted at how easily her body responded to his nearness, she quickly corrected the mistake and slammed the drawer with an angry shove.
This was Spencer, not the masked bandit. This was the office, not an alcove in the Galloway’s garden. She opened the second drawer and purposely allowed her elbow to follow its motion, catching him soundly in the stomach.
“I didn’t put it there,” she grumbled, pretending not to hear his muffled grunt. That would teach him to mess with her files and to... To what? Make her feel what she shouldn’t feel? Want what she shouldn’t want?
She really shouldn’t blame him. Unless he was intentionally crowding her. Again she had to wonder if he knew El Bandito. Maybe he thought her an easy mark now and wanted to score on his own.
Spencer rested an arm on the top of the cabinet and grinned as he rubbed his belly, his long fingers making slow circles. “As I was saying, it all depends.”
“What are you talking about?” She had completely lost track of the conversation.
“Your weekend and the relevancy of whether it was good or not.”
Why wouldn’t he let the subject drop?
Melody filed the last folder and closed the drawer. She tried not to shake as she walked back to her desk and settled into her chair. Unfortunately, he followed again and stopped in front of her desk, casually folding his arms over his chest.
“You see, Ms. Jamison. The weekend is meant for you to get away from the pressures of your job, to relax and unwind. If you don’t do that, the consequences can be relevant to your job performance. Or so I’ve been told.”
“Is there a problem with my job performance, Mr. Preston?”
“On the contrary, you’re performance has been exemplary.” His voice was suddenly deep and husky.
Melody nearly choked even as her nipples beaded and her breasts grew heavy.
“I was just making a point,” he said in his usual, matter-of-fact voice, making her wonder if she imagined the sexier tone.
She shook herself mentally. “One could also make the point that too much relaxation, or should I say unwinding, could cause one’s job performance to suffer.”
“You may have something there. I have heard that too much unwinding isn’t good for the brain.”
She thrust a stack of papers at him, trying to get his mind back on business. “Let’s just hope all the unwinding you’ve done hasn’t affected yours. Here are several contracts I finished Friday that need your attention, along with four letters that need your signature.”
“I’m sorry if I offended you. I simply wondered how you spend your time away from the office. It occurs to me I don’t know anything about you.”
“And it should remain that way, Mr. Preston. Whether or not I unwind is none of your concern.”
He laughed as he took the papers from her and turned toward his office. “Quite right, Ms. Jamison. I’ll leave you alone. But you don’t know what you’re missing.”
Unmasked is available at Amazon!
Have a wonderful weekend, all!
Nona Raines
Thanks so much for the post! Spencer & Melody have been waiting a long time to get their story back out. They've been so patient and they are truly dear to my heart.
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