“Hey, Slash. How was your day?” she’d ask.
He’d set down his briefcase and kiss her on the check, suggesting they cook dinner together. Maybe he’d even try to teach her to make gnocchi...again. While they were cooking, he’d tell her about his promotion. She’d remind him that even though she was new at offering emotional support and understood he couldn’t share classified information she’d be happy to listen when he worried about the latest injection vulnerabilities or insufficient encryption techniques. They’d discuss which was the more important of the two and then make a mental list of actions they’d take if faced with such a crisis.
Later, while lying in bed, they might talk about the upcoming move and their new house. He’d pretend to argue with her about who would get the sink on the left in the master bathroom, then let her win once he figured out which side she really wanted.
Eventually he’d close his eyes, her body warm next to his, strands of her hair soft against his cheek. He’d sleep, really sleep, because somehow life had become more than just a series of problems to fix for someone else. It had become about him. About her.
She centered him...somehow she always centered him.
And he loved her for it.
* * * * *
Stay tuned for the next
Lexi Carmichael Mystery series,
No Living Soul,
coming January 2017
Acknowledgments
A novel is rarely a solitary effort and this book is no exception. Thanks to all of my true-blue tech head family: my nephew, Kyle, who works at Google; his wife, Julia, who works at Yahoo; my brother, Brad, who is brilliant at all things tech and storytelling; my sister, Sandy, who is a great writer and always knows everything about everything (really!); my mom and dad, fantastic editors and Lexi’s first fans; my niece, Katy, who also beta reads for me; my sister-in-law, Beth, who watched Lucas more times than I can count so I could do the writer thing; and Carina Press editor extraordinaire, Alissa Davis, for knowing Lexi and the gang inside and out and always making the BEST freaking suggestions. Love you all! oxoxo
Also available from Julie Moffett
and Carina Press
in the Lexi Carmichael series
Suggested reading order
No One Lives Twice (Book 1)
No One to Trust (Book 2)
No Money Down (Book 2.5, novella)
No Place Like Rome (Book 3)
No Biz Like Showbiz (Book 4)
No Test for the Wicked (Book 5)
No Woman Left Behind (Book 6)
No Room for Error (Book 7)
No Strings Attached (Book 8)
And stay tuned for the next book in the Lexi Carmichael Mystery series from Julie Moffett,
No Living Soul (Book 9), coming January 2017.
Also from Carina Press
and
Julie Moffett
Scottish Historical Romance
The Thorn and the Thistle
Her Kilt-Clad Rogue
About the Author
Julie Moffett is a bestselling author and writes in the genres of mystery, historical romance and paranormal romance. She has won numerous awards, including the 2014 Mystery & Mayhem Award for Best YA/New Adult Mystery, the prestigious 2014 HOLT Award for Best Novel with Romantic Elements, a HOLT Merit Award for Best Novel by a Virginia Author, a PRISM Award for Best Romantic Time-Travel and Best of the Best Paranormal Books of 2002 and the 2011 EPIC Award for Best Action/Adventure Novel. She has also garnered additional nominations for the Daphne du Maurier Award, the Colorado Romance Writers’ Award of Excellence and the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Her book A Double-Edged Blade was an Amazon #1 bestselling novel.
Julie is a military brat (air force) and has traveled extensively. Her more exciting exploits include attending high school in Okinawa, Japan; backpacking around Europe and Scandinavia for several months; a year-long college graduate study in Warsaw, Poland; and a wonderful trip to Scotland and Ireland, where she fell in love with castles, kilts and brogues.
Julie has a BA in political science and Russian language from Colorado College, an MA in international affairs from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and an M.Ed from Liberty University. She has worked as a proposal writer, journalist, teacher, librarian and researcher. Julie speaks Russian and Polish and has two sons.
Visit Julie’s website at www.juliemoffett.com or follow Julie on social media.
Facebook: Facebook.com/JulieMoffettAuthor
Twitter: @JMoffettAuthor
Instagram: Instagram.com/julie_moffett/
Fall in love with Lexi Carmichael, geek extraordinaire and trouble magnet, in the Lexi Carmichael Mystery series!
“No Woman Left Behind is first-rate run, combining thrilling cyber suspense, treacherous military maneuvers and a barely-out-of-the-box romance that’s headed for potentially hostile territory, all relayed in the delightfully self-deprecating voice of sweet geek Lexi Carmichael.”
—USA TODAY, Must-read romance
The Lexi Carmichael Mystery series
NO MONEY DOWN (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, prequel novella)
NO ONE LIVES TWICE (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book one)
NO ONE TO TRUST (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book two)
NO PLACE LIKE ROME (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book three)
NO BIZ LIKE SHOWBIZ (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book four)
NO TEST FOR THE WICKED (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book five)
NO WOMAN LEFT BEHIND (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book six)
NO ROOM FOR ERROR (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book seven)
NO STRINGS ATTACHED (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book eight)
NO LIVING SOUL (A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, book nine)
Who knew hacking could be so dangerous? Come along for the ride and get your geek on!
Order your copies now!
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
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Follow us on Twitter: Twitter.com/CarinaPress.
If you think accidental sleuths make the best detectives, you’ll love The Ladies Smythe & Westin!
The Ladies Smythe & Westin series by Lisa Q. Mathews
A clueless twentysomething party girl and a feisty senior form a most unlikely sleuthing duo in Lisa Q. Mathews’s cozy mystery series.
CARDIAC ARREST (The Ladies Smythe & Westin, book one)
PERMANENTLY BOOKED (The Ladies Smythe & Westin, book two)
“CARDIAC ARREST is sweet, sassy, and smart. Senior sleuth Dorothy Westin and impetuous young Summer Smythe make an endearing team in this sparkling debut.”
—Cleo Coyle, New York Times bestselling author of The Coffeehouse Mysteries
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com.
Other ways to keep in touch:
Facebook.com/CarinaPress
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Looking for another female sleuth? Meet geek girl Mia Connors in The Geek Girl Mysteries series!
The Geek Girl Mysteries series by Julie Anne Lindsey
Follow The Geek Girl Mysteries series as IT Manager Mia Connors swaps her tortoiseshell glasses for a magnifying glass as she seeks to uncover clues to clear her name, help solve cases that stump even the FBI and get a chance for a happily-ever-after.
A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER (The Geek Girl Mysteries, book one)
A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO ARSENIC (The Geek Girl Mysteries, book two)
A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO JUSTI
CE (The Geek Girl Mysteries, book three, October 2016)
“Anyone looking to step further than the usual cozy crime story will enjoy this book, and geek girls won’t need a second invitation when they see a fun title like A GEEK GIRL’S GUIDE TO MURDER.”
—Fresh Fiction
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers and much more!
Visit CarinaPress.com.
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Twitter.com/CarinaPress
CarinaPress.com/newsletter
We think you have a good book in you!
Do you write in the below genres? Harlequin’s Carina Press wants to see your manuscript.
• Contemporary Romance
• Romantic Suspense
• Historical Romance
• Paranormal Romance
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Submit today!
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ISBN-13: 9781459290464
No Strings Attached: A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, Book Eight
Copyright © 2016 by Julie Moffett
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and in other countries.
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