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    Deadly Proposal: An Ian & Merideth Investigation: The Girl in the River, #1
    Deadly Proposal: An Ian & Merideth Investigation: The Girl in the River, #1
    Deadly Proposal: An Ian & Merideth Investigation: The Girl in the River, #1
    Ebook105 pages1 hour

    Deadly Proposal: An Ian & Merideth Investigation: The Girl in the River, #1

    By Reese Patton

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    About this ebook

    A Relationship Destined to be Off the Record...

    Ian Stirling, publisher of the Daily Herald, is rich, powerful, and undeniably sexy. Never good combination in any man. Especially in a man who's about to offer a job of a lifetime to young reporter.

    Merideth Gardner is tenacious, curious, and brilliant. When she leaves her interview at the Daily Herald ready to give up on her dream of working for a daily city paper fate intervenes. All she has to do is help Ian convince his grandfather that he's given up his philandering ways.

    Seven days. She only has to pretend she's in love with Ian for seven days. And on the seventh day she'll get her prize—a job as a reporter.

    It's a simple business transaction. An exchange of services. But then the story changes and Merideth finds herself doing the one thing she knows she can't do—she falls for Ian. Will Ian go on the record with his feelings for Merideth? Or is their relationship destined to be off the record?

    Deadly Proposal delivers a racy and suspenseful serial. Perfect for when you want a hot story but don't have a lot of time. Read the first part of The Girl in the River while it's Hot!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVoxAmoris Books
    Release dateJan 14, 2018
    ISBN9781386852315
    Deadly Proposal: An Ian & Merideth Investigation: The Girl in the River, #1

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      Book preview

      Deadly Proposal - Reese Patton

      GITR01-Deadly-Proposal-ebook.jpg

      Deadly Proposal

      The Girl in the River Book 1

      BY REESE PATTON

      THE BARNES FAMILY

      The Rebound

      The Rescue - Coming Soon

      Immaculate Reception

      The One with all the Thanksgiving Turkeys - Coming Soon

      The One with All the Christmas Trees

      COPPERWOOD

      Dirt

      Pick

      Honor - Coming Soon

      IAN & MERIDETH INVESTIGATIONS

      The Girl in the River

      Deadly Proposal - Book One

      Deadly Services - Book Two

      Deadly Protection - Book Three

      Deadly Retreat - Book Four

      Deadly Confession - Book Five

      STAND ALONE NOVELS

      Ties that Bind

      Visit www.ReesePattonBooks.com and sign up for Reese’s Newsletter to gain access to exclusive content, free stories, and much more!

      VoxAmoris Sassy Crime Stories

      Published by VoxAmoris Sassy Crime Stories an imprint of VoxAmoris Books

      This book is an original publication of VoxAmoris Books.

      Copyright © Reese Patton, 2017

      Originally published as Girl in the River - Page One

      VoxAmoris Books supports copyright. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. By purchasing this book, you are supporting writers and allowing Publisher Name to continue to publish books.

      For more information about Reese Patton, visit ReesePattonBooks.com.

      Identifiers: ISBN 9781948603010 (ebook) | ISBN 9781948603027 (paperback)

      Cover art: images despositphotos.com

      Cover design by R Patton

      PUBLISHER’S NOTE

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      In Journalism, there has always been a tension between getting it first and getting it right.

      Ellen Goodman

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      One

      Merideth Gardner smoothed the black wool pencil skirt over her abdomen and hips. It was snug. She recognized it was too tight for a job interview, but it was also the skirt. All women owned one piece of clothing that both looked amazing and boosted their confidence. The pencil skirt was that article for Merideth. If she could see a way to justify wearing it, she did. It had made appearances at both weddings and funerals. And one brunch, but that was only because it was laundry day, and she used the excuse of not having any clean clothes.

      She swiveled in front of the mirror, checking her appearance for the smallest flaw. The tailored cotton blouse didn’t have a single wrinkle and the stockings she opted for instead of pantyhose were straight and smooth. She tried out various postures and facial expressions until perfecting a look she called controlled disinterest. The only thing left was keeping up the facade and not bursting into a fit of giggles from at the absurdity of it all.

      After graduating from Columbia with a degree in journalism, Merideth slogged her way through one internship after another until she found her way into a junior researcher position paying only marginally better than the unpaid internships. After three years of gaining experience in what everybody—including her parents—claimed was a dying industry, she landed an interview with one of the largest print publishers still holding ground. Granted, it was a junior copy editor position in the online entertainment department. But anything was better than checking other reporters’ facts and sources.

      She breathed in deeply and slipped her feet into the disturbingly high, black heels. If she wanted to work in an entertainment department, she needed to look like she understood entertainment and trends. With a final look in the mirror, on the hunt for a speck of lint—or God-forbid a flaw necessitating a change of clothing—she nodded in satisfaction at her reflection.

      Merideth grabbed her messenger bag and purse before hurrying from her apartment. Normally she rode the subway everywhere, but tackling the congested trains was the last thing she wanted to do. Once on the street she hailed a cab and gave the driver the address. And then promptly realized the downside of taking a cab. She had plenty of time to fret about what would happen if she didn’t get the position.

      Her meager savings crept closer to double digits each day. Her present salary barely covered the rent on her studio apartment. Groceries had long passed into the realm of luxury. Merideth needed this job. Not only because she liked eating, but also because without it she’d have to move back to Iowa and live in her old room at her parents’ house while she wrote for the small-town weekly. Not a thought she wanted to dwell overly long on.

      The city passed by the cab’s windows—people rushing to offices, panhandlers waving near-empty cups at intentionally oblivious pedestrians, and cars slogging through traffic. Before silencing the problems running roughshod through her thoughts, she permitted herself one last concern. She’d miss the city.

      The journey in the cab took less time than Merideth expected. She planned on arriving the requisite fifteen minutes ahead of time, but the taxi pulled in front of the Daily building with over thirty minutes to spare.

      Merideth stepped out of the vehicle with a deep breath and handed the fare to the driver. It might very well be her last cab ride in the city. She searched the block, hoping to find the dark green circle guaranteeing an expensive cup of coffee. Not that she could afford a fancy drink, but a few dollars for coffee was a more favorable prospect than loitering outside the building and being asked to leave the premises before she even had her interview.

      Of course, the chain didn’t disappoint. Not that she expected it to. In a big city, you could hardly go one block before seeing the telltale green sign. The store sat across the street, so she hurried to the crosswalk and waited for the white stick figure to appear on the light. Sure, some pedestrians braved the traffic and crossed against the light, but Merideth wasn’t one of them. She liked to tell people she had a healthy aversion to cars, or more specifically, to being hit by cars.

      Customers lined up to the door. Each person waited patiently as they moved forward with the efficiency of an assembly line. Merideth stepped behind the last person and dug out her wallet from her purse. Two dollars for a cup of coffee and if she took the subway home instead of a cab, she’d be under budget for the day. Besides, it didn’t matter what she looked like after the interview.

      While she overestimated the time it took for the cab to make its way through the city, she dramatically underestimated the time getting a simple cup of coffee took. By the time Merideth added the necessary cream and sugar to

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