Anne Conley's latest release is LIVE!! Her newest series, Pierce Securities, is romantic suspense, and starts with a sexy BANG with Craze.
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He led her through the lobby of the office building and to the elevators. They rode to the third floor in silence, his hand on her elbow, burning through the shirt she wore over her sweater.
When they got off, an efficient looking red-headed woman greeted them. “Hey, Ryan. Simon’s waiting for you guys.” Her eyes perused Krista, but not in a threatening way. “Can I get you something? I have coffee, water, tea, and some muffins, if you’d like.”
She looked friendly enough, but Krista had no idea what was going on, or where she was. She knew why all this was happening, but still didn’t trust anybody. Ryan. Nice name. For some reason, she wanted to trust him. That’s probably why they sent him. His ruggedly handsome looks probably got
Ed Lowe and his accomplice all sorts of women to photograph when they weren’t busy with little boys.
She cringed at the thought as she shook her head. “No, thank you.”
Ryan looked at her. “You sure?” It was like he knew she didn’t trust him, and the hurt in his eyes was evident.
“Yeah, don’t think I can eat anything.” She didn’t care if his damn feelings were hurt.
Ryan turned to the woman. “Miriam, get her some coffee with cream and sugar. I doubt she’s eaten anything since yesterday.” Krista’s eyes snapped to Ryan and nothing but kindness showed. What the hell was happening to her? Confusion warred inside her. She didn’t want to like her damn captors, for fuck’s sake.
Anger spilled through her, finally. She was being held against her will by people she didn’t know, who undoubtedly worked for Ed Lowe. The man had money, and had obviously paid these people to bring her in. Where she was, she had no clue besides a physical address. But she didn’t know these people, and not knowing was worse than almost anything else. She embraced the anger, letting it overshadow the unknown, hoping it would help her somehow.
He led her to an office and knocked once before entering. It brought back memories of the last office she’d knocked on before entering. Krista couldn’t stop the relief that flowed, dwarfing her anger, when the door opened and Mr. Lowe and the other man were not there.
“Ryan, Ms. McLanaughan, have a seat.” A nice-looking man wearing a suit sat behind a desk in front of a large window. Ryan led her to a cushy chair across the desk from the man and sank into the one next to it. Gratefully, she managed to lower herself before her knees gave out. She didn’t know what to think anymore. She was lost, confused. All the smiling faces and nice-looking people trying to offer her things, like she was a guest and not a kidnapping victim, only made it worse.
Miriam came in a short time later with a tray full of coffee cups. She handed one to Krista and she took a tentative sip, grateful for the sweet warmth in spite of herself.
Finally, she found words to speak. “Do you guys work for Mr. Lowe?”
The man behind the desk looked at her over interlaced fingers. “Well, that is yet to be determined.
He’s given us a deposit to look for you, but I haven’t spent it yet.” He inhaled deeply while confirming her suspicions that he worked for Mr. Lowe. “Something was off about the transaction, so I suppose that all depends on you.” He held out his hand. “I’m Simon Pierce, of Pierce Securities. You’ve met Ryan.” He gestured to the man-candy sitting next to her. “Can you tell us what sort of information you stole from Mr. Lowe last night?”
A glint of light from outside passed over her eyes, just a flash, blinding her momentarily. She squinted in response and her hand reflexively rose to block it out. She watched something register in Simon’s eyes and everyone reacted in a simultaneous frenzy. Ryan’s enormous body tackled her, pinning her to the ground while Simon ducked behind his desk with a grunt.
“Quinten!” A spiderweb of cracks spread over the massive window and an ear-splitting crack sounded in the next second.
Ryan rolled on top of her, bundling her on the opposite side of the desk from the window while yelling, “Shooter!” Two men raced in, handguns drawn, taking cover behind chairs, turning over a table, and aiming out the window. One sprinted back out the door, presumably to go outside.
Krista’s mind raced, desperate to find answers, but it was futile. Her sleep-deprived mind couldn’t put the pieces together.
Ryan’s breath was hot in her ear, his body heavy on hers, holding her to the ground. When everything was quiet, he whispered in her ear, “You okay, Honey? You’re not hit, are you?” His hands started wandering over her as he lifted himself off her slightly to examine her for injuries. Of their own volition, her fingers grabbed at his t-shirt, unwilling to let him off her. His body on hers was a sudden shield of safety, comfort, and Krista was reluctant to let him go. She realized now the fear she’d felt earlier was misplaced. Ryan didn’t want to harm her; he was protecting her.
But who had just shot at her?
Adrenaline hummed through her body, and she at once wanted to throw him off her and pull him closer. His fingertips were a riot of sensation across her skin, and she writhed a little with her indecision before gathering her wits about her. This was not a sexual situation, and any writhing would be wholly inappropriate.
“No. I’m not hit. And no, I’m not okay,” she breathed, unable to find air with him on top of her.
Still, she couldn’t stop clutching his shirt. She gripped at composure, knowing she was about to lose every last vestige of calm she had, so she shut her eyes tightly, turning her head to the side. Krista took a deep breath, still clinging to Ryan, and opened her eyes.
When she saw her coffee cup spilled on its side—all her sweet warmth in a puddle next to it—and the stuffing of the chair she’d been sitting in spilling out a hole in the back of it, her walls crumbled and tears started to stream out of the corners of her eyes. “I didn’t do anything wrong!” Finally releasing Ryan, her hands clenched into fists and she beat the floor on either side of her. Krista was still pinned by Eye Candy—Ryan—whose face was inches from hers, staring at her with an unreadable expression on it.
“Hang on a sec. Let’s get everything cleared and you can get up.” Ryan was watching her, his blue eyes a dark cobalt color, his pupils dilated, making them almost black. The look warmed her again, and she felt the stirrings of inappropriateness again, but she closed her eyes against it all, squeezing tears out the corners. Tears were something tangible, something she could focus on.
Simon’s voice came from somewhere nearby. “I’ll be sending the bastards a bill for a new God-damned window. Motherfuckers.”
“Can you crawl to the door, Sugar?” He was helping her roll over, their moment apparently forgotten, if it had ever even been there for him.
Here's a trailer that introduced the entire series-- the characters, their stories, and a little bit of dialogue from each book.
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About Anne:
Anne has written her entire life and has the boxes of angst-filled journals and poetry to prove it. She’s been writing for public consumption for the last four years. Currently she is writing two romance series. In Stories of Serendipity, she explores real people living real lives in small town Texas in a contemporary romance setting. In The Four Winds, she chronicles God’s four closest
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