On the Job by Beth Kery Page A

already made my plans for leaving the Secret Service—for returning here—when all of the intelligence arrived on Tony.”
    She swallowed thickly, her gaze glued to his.
    â€œI knew it wasn’t going to be easy, seeing you after all these years and under these circumstances,” he continued gruffly. “But I have to admit, I’d forgotten just how stubborn you can be, Madeline.” His eyes narrowed on her mouth. “How beautiful. I didn’t plan on seducing you. I couldn’t stop myself, though. I did a lot of things that could have cost us this investigation because I was so bowled over by seeing you again.”
    She gave him an arch glance. “Are you saying you put your job at risk because of me?”
    His nostrils flared. “I put everything at risk. My job. I might have ruined everything with you, as well, after what I did out there on that yacht.”
    Her small smile faded. “You didn’t ruin anything, Walker. I’m here, in your arms. I’m not going anywhere as long as you don’t.”
    â€œI told you, I’m here to stay,” he rumbled before his mouth settled on hers. Madeline opened her eyelids heavily a minute later only to see him studying her with fiery blue-green eyes.
    â€œYou do understand, don’t you,” he said, rather than asked. “Why I reacted the way I did out there, Madeline?”
    â€œYes. I wanted to hurt you, after what you told me about Tony . . . and when I believed you’d come for your job and not me. I’m sorry.”
    â€œI’m sorry, too,” he admitted. He glanced out at the setting sun. “But I’m not, as well. You’ll never know how hard that was for me, seeing you and another man together.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œHow do you know?” he asked hoarsely.
    â€œI could see it in your eyes. The whole time. I could hear it in your voice. I see it now, as we speak.” She touched his cheek and he met her stare. “We did it for each other, Walker. We were acting out our own stuff, our own past. But we did it for Tony, too. What you did wasn’t a betrayal of your job. It wasn’t a betrayal of me, either. What we did was between us—Tony, you and me.”
    She leaned up and touched her lips to his lightly.
    â€œEverything from here on out is between you and me, Madeline.”
    â€œYes,” she whispered before his mouth fastened securely on hers.

Keep reading for an excerpt from
    ONLY FOR YOU
    A One Night of Passion novel by Beth Kery
    Available December 2014 from Berkley Books

Two and a half years ago
    His final project for the benefit ball cast admiring looks at her many reflections as she sashayed out of the room. Not without good reason, Seth acknowledged with wry amusement as he glanced at the Alien Ice Queen’s ass gloved in a clinging blue gown. The starlet paused in the act of appraising herself from all angles.
    She had ample opportunity to adore herself in the luxurious but garish dressing room where they stood. No less than a dozen gilded mirrors adorned the suite, including a large one on the ceiling. Daphne DeGarro, the heiress-turned-reality-show-star and hostess for the Cancer Research Benefit Ball, had opened several rooms in her Hollywood Hills mansion that night for the transformation of her guests. She’d reserved her risqué, decadently decorated dressing room for Seth, however. Earlier that evening, Daphne had led him to it with a sly grin. Seth had made her his first project, turning her into a magnificent, sexually flagrant Marie Antoinette, his creative instincts sparked by the woman’s opulent bad taste and brassy beauty. The benefit ball for cancer research was now in full swing in an almost equally gaudy ballroom and downstairs terrace.
    Seth was the last special effects makeup artist to finish. He was weary. He’d done his part for tonight. Between him and fourteen of his regular staff and two