Hey y’all! I’m Julia, and Love Bytes is being kind enough to let me drop by and share an exclusive excerpt of my new release coming March 20! It’s on preorder now at Dreamspinner Press, and it’s called The Wolf’s Man Friday!

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Jaxon. Good to see you.” The big boss, Richard, stood, then reached out to shake his hand.

Jax shook, wondering what he’d done wrong. He’d just finished up a job bodyguarding a really rich werebuffalo investment banker’s kid while he was on a vacation in Cancun.

He was rocking the best tan.

Still, he’d met Richard, CEO of Nose to Tail Inc. exactly once. At last year’s Christmas party in Steamboat. So why was he here?

Richard gestured to the chair across from his desk. “I imagine you wonder why I called you in personally.”

“I am. Makes me nervous, boss.”

“Well, don’t be. An old friend of mine has sent out feelers about retaining some protection for his nephew. He wants someone discreet. Someone who doesn’t look like a bodyguard. I want you to sit in on my call with him.”

“I can do that.” Oh man. How discreet was discreet, exactly? Did Richard want the guy to know he was here?

“I’ve told him via email that you’ll be joining us. Ron says the situation is rather delicate.”

“Yeah? Cool.” That was right up his alley. Delicate, that was him. Del. I. Cate. Sensitive too.

He grinned. Foxes were all about that stealthy shit.

Richard touched a button on his phone. “Can I get Ron Zeller on the line, please?”

“Ron Zeller, like the textile magnate Ron Zeller?”

“That’s the one.” Richard gave him a severe look. “Behave.”

“Yes, boss.” Like that was even remotely possible.

“Patching you through, boss,” said the disembodied voice of… oh, what was his name? Richard’s assistants changed often enough it was hard to remember.

Richard was a little growly. A touch.

“Thanks. Hello, Ron? This is Richard, and I have Jaxon here.”

“Thanks for returning my call, buddy. I need a babysitter for my asshole nephew with a death wish.”

Richard grinned, looking as if he was biting back a laugh. “This would be Sebastian?”

“It would. He’s trolling for my would-be assassins, Rich. Seriously. Like he’s ten feet tall and bulletproof.”

Rich. Who called the boss Rich? That was a brave man.

“Oh, dear. Well, I have all faith in Jaxon here. Say hello, Jaxon.”

“Hello, Mr. Zeller. Pleased to meet you.”

“You have a nice voice. You are a predator, yes? Seb won’t respond well to prey.”

“Well, I’m a fox. I know wolves can think of us as prey, but I hold my own.”

“I know a lot of foxes in the security biz. They’re well suited.”

“We are. Tell me about your nephew,” he demanded.

“Seb might as well be my son. I took him in when he was twelve years old and just wet behind the ears. He’s a brilliant guy—one hell of a designer, believe it or not. He gets that from his mother—but it scared him when I got attacked, and he’s lost his fucking mind. He’s out there with his packmate baiting assassins and showing his ass.”

“His packmate? Who is that?” Jaxon needed to know all the variables.

“Alan White. He’s a baby wolf and he thinks Seb hung the moon, and together they’re adrenaline junkies. I’m about to call Alan home on some project, but that won’t stop Seb.”

“Are they a couple?” That would make things more difficult.

“No. Not for lack of trying on Alan’s part, but no. They’re just best buddies, and they egg each other on.”

“Ah.” That was easier. Cull the one out of the picture, and he would just focus on the nephew. “So, what’s my way in?”

“He needs a personal assistant. He needs to do his job. Stop worrying about me. You can help him stay alive and get organized.”

“I can actually do that.” Whew. He’d trained at butler school. He could be a butler, a valet, a personal assistant, a personal trainer, and a ninja-fox bodyguard.

“I’m going to survive, and I’ll be damned if he has to spend his prime years defending me. He’s a good man, but he has to stop being foolish.”

“Indeed,” Richard said. “Youth can make a man feel invincible.”

“So can stupidity,” Ron muttered.

“Yeah, and it can make him extinct.” Jaxon nodded. “Where and when do I need to be?”

“He’s based in Estes and he’ll winter there, but he’s in Dallas right now, aggravating people.”

“Dallas.” Jaxon sighed. Hot and humid.

“For another three weeks. Then he has to go home.”

“Got it. I’ll get packed.” Jaxon glanced at Richard. “Is there a file?”

“There will be by the time you fly.”

“You’ll keep him safe?” Zeller asked.

“I will, sir. I have a very good success rate.”

“Good. He’s my heartson, and he’ll take everything one day. I need him to thrive.”

“Jaxon is the best I have, Ron.” From Richard that was high praise.

Jaxon rose, intent on getting his shit together and heading to Dallas.

“I’ll have the ticket sent to your phone,” Richard murmured.

“Thanks.”

Richard waved him off with a half smile, then went back to his phone call.

Jaxon started a mental list for packing. Khakis and button-downs… Was a bowtie too much?

He needed to seem innocuous, nerdy, harmless enough to ignore. A personal assistant extraordinaire. Glasses. Nondescript.

He chuckled softly. Okay, this could be fun. Seriously.

Jaxon figured he could use a dose of fun.

 

 

 

Blurb:

The last thing Sebastian Zeller wants is to be pack Alpha. But when the pack leader, his uncle Ron, is attacked, he has no choice but to leave his beloved Colorado mountains and fulfill his duty as Ron’s heir—at least until his uncle recovers. In the meantime, he intends to lure the attacker out… and make them pay.

When Ron gets wind of Sebastian’s plan to catch the attacker, he doesn’t like the idea of risking his heir. That’s where Jaxon Reedis comes in—he’ll balance protecting the dark and sexy werewolf with pretending to be his personal assistant. He’s walking a fine line that requires all his foxy wit and craftiness… and that’s on top of the inescapable feeling that he and Sebastian are meant for each other. When the attacker returns, will they be able to maintain their deepening bond when danger threatens to tear down everything they’re building?

 

Links:

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

Stories that leave a mark. Julia Talbot loves romance across all the genders and genres, and loves to write about people working to see past the skin they’re in to love what lies beneath. Julia Talbot lives in the great mountain and high desert Southwest, where there is hot and cold running rodeo, cowboys, and everything from meat and potatoes to the best Tex-Mex. A full time author, Julia has been published by Dreamspinner, All Romance Ebooks, and Changeling Press. She believes that everyone deserves a happy ending, so she writes about love without limits, where boys love boys, girls love girls, and boys and girls get together to get wild, especially when her crazy paranormal characters are involved. She also writes BDSM and erotic romance as Minerva Howe. Find Julia at @juliatalbot on Twitter, or at www.juliatalbot.com “The mountains are calling, and I must go”

 

Julia Talbot: http://www.juliatalbot.com

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