Murder or Margaritas

By M.E. Clayton

What happens when prison-orange really isn’t your color?

You opt for margaritas; blended, on the rocks...you really don’t care.

Landry
Life wasn’t so bad for Landry Novak. When she counted her blessings, they included loving parents, a wonderful childhood, a great sister, and a best friend that gave her free psychic readings. She was also gainfully employed, and with no partner or pets fighting for her attention, dinner could be a Pop Tart and weekends could be slept away. Really, life wasn’t as bad as it could be.

Nevertheless, Landry did have one dark spot in her life, and it was the twit that was now her new boss. Being the incompetent peacock that he was, he was no help to anyone. So, when her firm gets hired by Crawford Industries to audit an acquisition, the eye-candy is enough to make her forget about her dimwit of a boss, at least for a little while. After all, Rush Crawford is sex on a stick.

Rush
Life was exactly the way that Rush Crawford liked it. Though the very definition of a workaholic, he still had fantastic parents, a great relationship with his brother, and happy substitute children in his niece and nephews. So, with being both very wealthy and very single, he was afforded a lifestyle where he could do whatever the hell he wanted, and how was that not the perfect life?

Nevertheless, as perfect as his life was, he gets the surprise of his life when he’s knocked on his ass by one of the auditors that’d been hired to audit his newest acquisition. When women were a dime-a-dozen in his world, Landry Novak was definitely worth more than a goddamn dime. Beautiful and smart, she makes him feel things that he’s never felt before, and he’ll do whatever it takes to find out why.

When things aren’t so simple anymore...
When Landry’s best friend refuses to put a voodoo hex on her boss, she has no choice but to endure the audit with him, doing her best to remain professional. However, when Rush Crawford makes it known that he’s interested in her, remaining professional becomes a little harder to do. Still, by the grace of God, Landry’s able to keep it in her pants, refusing to lose her job over a sexy face.

When Rush is called away from the audit, he considers it a blessing. For all that he prides himself on his professionalism, he doesn’t feel very professional around Landry Novak. However, once the audit is completed, there’s nothing stopping Rush from going after her and doing whatever it takes to win her over. Luckily for him, he knew the way to her heart, and it wasn’t money or power; it was margaritas.

Note: This book contains adult situations, adult language, sexually explicit encounters, a psychic best friend, lots of margaritas, and wonky aura colors. If sensitive to any of the aforementioned issues, please do not purchase.

• Language: English
• Publisher: M.E. Clayton
• Release date: Aug 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215293409

M.E. Clayton

M.E. Clayton works fulltime and writes as a hobby only. She is also an avid reader and Pinterest addict. When she's not working, reading, writing, or on Pinterest, she is spending time with her family and friends, or her dog, Boy, or her cat, Seatbelt. She lives in California with her husband and enjoys doing nothing but reading. Seriously. She does nothing but read. However, that's how she likes it.

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Murder or Margaritas

Copyright 2023 Monica Clayton

Published by M.E. Clayton

All Rights Reserved

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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 recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. The entire content is a product of the author’s imagination, and all names, places, businesses, and incidences are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), places or occurrences, is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner, whatsoever, without the express written consent from the author, except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Formatting: Smashwords

Cover: Adobe Stock

Warning: This book contains sexual situations and other adult themes. Recommended for 18 years of age and over.

Table of Contents

Author's Note

Contact Me

Dedication

Prologue

1. Landry

2. Rush

3. Landry

4. Rush

5. Landry

6. Rush

7. Landry

8. Rush

9. Landry

10. Rush

11. Landry

12. Rush

13. Landry

14. Rush

15. Landry

16. Rush

17. Landry

18. Rush

19. Landry

20. Rush

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Author’s Note

Just a couple of things before I let you go and get your read on. While I am doing my best to work with better editing and proofreading software, all my books are solo, independent works. I write my books, proofread my books, edit my books, create the covers, etc. I have one beta who gives me feedback on my stories, but other than that, all my books are independent projects.

That being said, I apologize, in advance, for the typos, grammar inconsistencies, or any other mistakes I may make. Since writing is strictly a hobby for me, I haven’t looked into commitments in regard to publishers, editors, etc. My hope is that my stories are enjoyable enough that a few mistakes, here and there, can be overlooked. However, if you’re a stickler for grammar, my books are probably not for you.

Also, I am an avid reader-I mean an AVID reader. I love to read above any other hobby. However, the only downside to my reading obsession is when I fall in love with a series, but I have to wait for the additional books to come out. So, because I feel that disappointment down to my soul, when I started publishing my works, I vowed to publish all books in my series all at once. No waiting here…LOL. Now, the exception to that will be if enough readers request additional stories based off the standalone, such as in Facing the Enemy. At that point, if I decide to move forward with a requested series, I will make sure all additional books are available all at once. As much as this is a hobby for me, I am writing these books for all of you, as well as myself.

Thank you, for everything!

Contact Me

I really appreciate you reading my book and I would love to hear from you! Now, unfortunately, because I do have a full-time job and one part-time job, plus a family that I love spending time with, I’m not very active on social media. However, for the sites I do participate in, here are my social media coordinates:

Website

News & Updates

Author Pages

Social Media Sites

Email

Newsletter Sign Up

Other Books

Dedication

For a certain someone that just needs a good laugh.

Prologue

I don’t understand, I complained. I think it’s a great idea.

Rowena sighed, calling on all her patience, I was sure. Still, she had no idea the crap that I had to deal with on a daily basis. Yeah, most everyone had a horrible boss story, but not like mine. Not only did I have a boss that didn’t know shit about what we did, but the jerk also didn’t know what the word loyalty meant. While we spent our days working long hours and being the bearer of bad news, he spent all day in his office, praying that none of us asked him any questions because the putz never knew the answer.

Landry, honey, Rowena said calmly. For the millionth time, I don’t serve alcohol when we do this because it’s best to perform the readings with a clear mind.

"I still don’t understand why I can’t drink?" I argued.

Because your energy is just as important as mine when we’re doing this, Landry, she explained, but hardly for the millionth time.

Still feeling annoyed with my life, I said, And this would hardly be the first time that you’ve ever given me a drunken reading.

Rowena shot me a look. And how did those predictions turn out?

I just think a margarita bar would go great in here, I suggested, the possibility of AA in my future.

Not everything can be solved with margaritas, Landry, Rowena drawled out.

Says you, I harrumphed.

Rowena eyed me. Maybe you just need a spa day.

Maybe I need that tweedled dick to get hit by a bus, I countered.

My best friend laughed. You know, you could always just look for another job, Landry.

Why should I? I asked seriously, and seriously needing a damn drink. I’m good at what I do, and I was happy doing it before Mr. I’m-Not-Qualified-For-This-Job got hired. I eyed Rowena back. I bet you his grandfather, or…eccentric rich uncle, or something like that got him the job. I mean, anyone with half a brain can see that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.

Okay, well, we’re just going to read your energy today, Rowena suggested. No spells, no bad juju, no praying to Satan, or anything like that. Plus, no negative energy.

Have you met me lately? I gawked. I’m the very definition of negative energy, and your refusal to supply your clients with alcohol is just feeding more negative energy.

Rowena laughed again. You’re hardly a client since I’ve never charged you for any of our sessions together.

She had me there.

Draping my arm dramatically over her table, I laid my head down. I need a drink, I muttered. A nice, cool, fruity, salt-laced drink.

You have work in the morning, she reminded me.

I sighed. Crawford Industries was taking over Grandland Hotels, and we were scheduled to conduct a financial audit of Grandland Hotels before the purchase finalization. It was going to be a long and tiring few weeks, but when I wasn’t dealing with my asshat of a boss, I actually liked my job. I was good with numbers, and I got excited when we found mysterious accounts that didn’t add up. It wasn’t quite CIA subterfuge level, but it was still exciting.

Can we give him an awful bout of diarrhea, at least?

No negative energy, she repeated, adopting the same tone that my mom did whenever she was fed up with me.

I looked up from the table. I wouldn’t be feeling negative if I had a margarita.

You are absolutely killing me, Landry, she sighed.

Speaking of killing-

Rowena threw a finger up to stop me. Hold that thought.

I kept my murderous thoughts to myself as she grabbed her phone, then dialed someone. I could feel my grin nearly split my face in two when I heard her say, It’s murder or margaritas.

Whooohooo! I cried out, throwing my fists up over my head in victory. There was only one other person that knew what that meant, and that was Rowena’s husband.

Hanging up, she looked over at me. He’s leaving work in about ten minutes, she chuckled. He promised to pick up everything that we need.

One day, I was going to have a husband just like hers; one that supported all of my craziness.

Chapter 1

Landry~

By the grace of God, I didn’t have a hangover. Rowena’s husband, Mark, had outdone himself last night, bringing us everything that we’d need for margaritas and a good time, and if I could clone the man, I would. There was nothing quite like a guy that supported your crazy and still adored you.

Plus, if supporting our alcohol-is-always-the-answer mentality weren’t enough, he had made sure to pre-order me a coffee this morning from my favorite café just one block from the Jacobi Auditing offices. Again, if I could clone the man, I would.

Pulling the door open to Jacobi Auditing, I ignored everyone around me as I made my way to the elevators. Jacobi Auditing was a financial auditing firm that employed several hundred people, and we weren’t exactly the friendliest or wildest group of people. We were auditors for Christ’s sakes, our solitary personalities making most of us good at what we did.

Now, while I wouldn’t necessarily call myself boring, I was a lot more serious than most people. My father, William Novak, was a corporate lawyer, and my mother, Susie Novack, was a forensic psychologist, so I’d been raised by parents that had instilled a serious work ethic in both their children. My parents had taken their jobs very seriously, and they still did. It was something that I could appreciate now that I was an adult with bills to pay.

My younger sister, Purdie, was lucky enough not to have to work, though I’d argue all day that motherhood was the hardest job out there. Her husband, Thaddeus Stratton, supported his