Boss Without Benefits

Boss Without Benefits A BAD DOG ROMANCE THE MCGUIRE BROTHERS BOOK ONE LILI VALENTE Boss Without Benefits A Bad Dog Novel The McGuire Brothers Series By Lili Valente All Rights Reserved Copyright Boss Without Benefits © 2023 Lili Valente All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. This romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This e-book is licensed for your personal use only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, especially if you enjoy hot, sexy, emotional novels featuring firefighting alpha males. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work. Editing by Sandra Shipman. Cover design by Bootstrap Designs. Created with Vellum Contents About the Book Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Epilogue About the Author Also by Lili Valente About the Book Last night, I met the funniest, sexiest single dad on the planet. I also managed to get into the kind of co-ed naked trouble with him that involved a nurse, a shotgun, a feral turkey, and a pair of pliers. But all's well that ends well, and we already have plans to meet up again. It's early days, but I'm already thinking Drew might be The One. Then I show up to my new nanny gig and who steps out on the front porch, holding the cutest little redhead in the world? Yep, that's right. Drew is Andrew McGuire, my new boss, and he's not about to date the nanny. His daughter's happiness and stability are his top priority. Considering I just fell in love with this precious, motherless girl at first sight, I would be inclined to agree with him. If it weren't for one thing—my heart already has a Drew-shaped hole in it. I'm pretty sure I would miss him, even if we'd never met. But how to convince this amazing man that his heart—and his family—are safe with me? And that he should be my boss with benefits? Forever. Welcome to Bad Dog where the men are incredible, the animals are ridiculous, and the happy ever afters are super emotional and steamy! Boss Without Benefits is a Standalone Romance with Spice! For Nina. Thanks for the nudge. Chapter One MARGARET TATUM O’LEARY A woman in search of a fresh start where no one knows her name… Every small town has that one family. That one, marches-to-their-own-kazoo family that’s been the butt of town jokes for years. In the O’Learys’ case, it’s more like a century. My great-grandmother moved to Fair Shot, Kentucky in the 1920s, presumably hoping for a “fair shot” at a new life with her American husband. But thanks to her thick Irish accent and habit of saluting magpies to ward off bad luck, she was pegged as an odd one from the start. Then she started attending the funerals of people she didn’t know—another very Irish thing to do, she swore to my embarrassed great-grandfather—and quickly found herself uninvited to every social event not held at the Catholic Church. My grandmother didn’t have a shot of growing up to be anything but a spiritualist who talked to ghosts way before that was cool. After my grandfather died of a heart attack, she moved to the forest at the edge of town and reared my mother like a wild fairy. Mom got knocked-up at seventeen by a guy who bailed, leaving Gram, Mom, and a string of deadbeat boyfriends to do their best with me. Spoiler alert: the boyfriends didn’t care about raising a toddler. As far as I could tell, they didn’t care about anything but drinking beer and playing video games. Then Mom met Bruce, my sweet stepdad who mounts dead birds for a living. And there, in the woods, they brought forth six more children who they allowed to run weird and free, no matter what anyone in town had to say about it. The rest, as they say, is history. The O’Learys are the punchline of every Fair Shot town joke, the first suspects when strange crimes are committed—Gram did steal a headstone once but took it back when she was done cleansing it of bad vibes—and the last to be offered good jobs or juicy promotions. By the time I left, I’d been working at the local daycare for five years and was still the lowest paid worker in the center. I’d been passed up for advancement so many times I had Candace, my supervisor’s, “So and So is just a better fit” lecture memorized. I showed up early and left late almost every day, leaving my heart on the playmat with those kiddos, but it didn’t make a difference. No one seemed to be able to see past the O’Leary last name or the rumors that my six siblings all have different fathers. Which isn’t true—I’m the only one with a different father; Bruce sired the rest of this generation’s weirdos—but even if it were