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  “No, of course you’re not hideous. You’re actually quite—” Genevieve broke off abruptly and Drew could have sworn she was blushing again. But when she spoke her voice was all business. “It’s because of our age difference, Drew. I mean you’re young enough to be my…well, not my son but at least my younger brother. Who would believe we were married?”

  “I would if I saw us on the street.” Drew settled himself back on the edge of her desk and grinned at her. “I’d think you were an enterprising career woman who had snapped up a slightly younger trophy husband in order to train him right from the start. Men are like dogs, you know.”

  Genevieve gave him the barest hint of a grin.

  “Why? Because you have to smack them with a rolled up newspaper to make them mind?”

  “I was going to say because we liked to have our tummies scratched.” Drew gave her an innocent, wide-eyed look and then lowered his voice. “Among other things, of course.”

  She looked down again, her cheeks getting considerably pinker. “All right—say people did buy us as a couple. What’s in it for you?”

  Besides the right to touch my gorgeous and unobtainable boss without repercussions? Drew thought but didn’t say. He’d had plenty of fantasies about Genevieve in the time he worked for her and not all of them involved her being hit by a bus. But now obviously wasn’t the time to admit that. Instead he arched an eyebrow at her. “There’s a senior marketing position open and I want it.”

  Genevieve frowned. “I don’t know, Drew. You think you’re ready for that?”

  “I know I am—it’s what I’ve been aiming at all along. It’s one reason I’ve put up with working under you these past few years,” Drew said frankly. “You have to know you’re not the easiest boss, Genevieve.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not the easiest wife either, Drew. You might be sorry we made this deal once you realize that. But by the time we get to the resort it’ll be too late to back out.”

  Drew made a beckoning motion with his hand.

  “Bring it on, baby. I’ll consider it a challenge—like the Perth account you dumped on me the other day after Jared mangled it.”

  Genevieve looked thoughtful.

  “I supposed you did do a good job on that.”

  “I made a point of it. So what do you say, are we on?”

  She looked troubled. “I don’t know…I don’t like lying to Stewart.”

  “I’m sure you don’t, but who gave him the right to poke his nose in your personal business? Just because you work under him doesn’t make him qualified to judge what’s best for you and your relationships.” Drew crossed his arms and frowned at her. “I put up with a lot from you, Genevieve but do you think for one minute I’d stay here if you started trying to dictate my love life?”

  She frowned.

  “I guess I can see your point. God, I can’t believe I’m considering this.” She looked up at him. “Are you sure you’re up for this? This retreat goes right through Christmas, you know. Don’t you want to spend it with your family?”

  Drew shook his head.

  “Nah—my folks have my three older sisters and all their kids to keep them busy. They won’t miss me this once.”

  Genevieve still looked indecisive.

  “The counseling sessions at these retreats can get pretty intense from what I’ve heard.”

  Drew shrugged.

  “It’s one long weekend of holding hands and looking soulfully into each other’s eyes—how bad can it be?”

  Personally he probably would have pretended to be married to der Furer for a few days to get the promotion and it would be considerably easier with Genevieve. Despite being a cold bitch she was beautiful and it might be fun to see how much he could melt that icy exterior of hers before their three days and nights together were over.

  Genevieve sighed and put out her hand.

  “All right—deal. You pretend to be my husband at the Intimate Couples Retreat and I’ll promote you. But only because I feel you’re ready for it. Okay?”

  Drew clasped her slim, cool hand in his larger one. “Deal.”

  Genevieve looked into his eyes.

  “I’m trusting you on this, Drew. Don’t make me sorry.”

  He wasn’t sure if she was talking about the impending promotion or the fact that they were about to spend a weekend pretending to be man and wife but either way he didn’t intend to disappoint her.

  “I won’t.” He squeezed her hand slightly for emphasis, holding her gaze with his own. “I promise you, Genevieve, you won’t be sorry.”

  Want more? You can preorder Cougar Christmas HERE for this holiday season. : ) Hugs and Happy Reading!

  Evangeline

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  **Please note--these are Amazon/Kindle links. If you have a Nook or other reading device, please check my website for links to all other formats**

  Brides of the Kindred series

  Claimed (Also available in Audio and Print format)

  Hunted (Also available in Audio and Print format)

  Sought (Also Available in Audio and Print format)

  Found (Also Available in Audio and Print format)

  Revealed (Also Available in Print format)

  Pursued (Also Available in Print format)

  Exiled (Also Available in Print format)

  Shadowed (Also Available in Print format)

  Chained

  Divided

  Devoured (Also available in Print)

  Enhanced

  Cursed

  Enslaved

  Targeted

  Forgotten

  Switched

  Uncharted coming soon

  Mastering the Mistress (Brides of the Kindred Novella)

  Born to Darkness series

  Crimson Debt (Also available in Audio)

  Scarlet Heat (Also available in Audio)

  Ruby Shadows (Also available in Audio)

  Cardinal Sins (Coming Soon)

  Alien Mate Index series

  Abducted (Also available in Print)

  Protected (Also available in Print)

  Descended (Also available in Print)

  Severed (Also available in Print )

  The Institute series

  The Institute: Daddy Issues

  The Institute: Mishka's Spanking

  Compendiums

  Brides of the Kindred Volume One

  Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found all in one volume

  Born to Darkness Box Set

  Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows all in one volume

  Stand Alone Novels

  Purity (Now available in Audio)

  Stress Relief

  The Last Man on Earth

  Anyone U Want

  Shadow Dreams

  Mastering the Mistress

  Hunger Moon Rising

  Cougar Christmas

  YA Novels

  The Academy

  Warriors of the Alien Mate Index

  About the Author

  Evangeline Anderson is the New York Times and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Brides of the Kindred, Alien Mate Index, and Born to Darkness series. She is thirty-something and lives in Florida with a husband, a son, and two cats. She had been writing erotic fiction for her own gratification for a number of years before it occurred to her to try and get paid for it. To her delight, she found that it was actually possible to get money for having a dirty mind and she has been writing paranormal and Sci-fi erotica steadily ever since.

  You can find her online at her website www.evangelineanderson.com

  Come visit for some free reads. Or, to be the first to find out about new books, join her newsletter.

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