You've Got Male

You've Got Male
Elizabeth Bevarly

Can you really find the perfect man online?Avery Nesbitt thought she might have struck online-dating gold–Adrian was perfect onscreen. But as the adage goes, if something seems too good to be true…. Before Avery knows it, a flesh-and-blood man calling himself Dixon breaks in to her home. Apparently she's been under surveillance by his agency for some time, and now she's in deep, deep trouble.Dixon has worked for OPUS for years, and he's wanted to get his hands on Adrian Padgett for most of them. He assumes that Avery is part of Adrian's criminal pursuits. But could she possibly be as innocent as she's claiming?One thing's for sure–if Avery agrees to go undercover for OPUS, she and Dixon will be working in very close quarters….

The unthinkable was happening!

Andrew—the smart, witty, creative, articulate man with whom Avery had fallen passionately in love—was cheating on her.

A month ago she’d known their first encounter must have been destiny. Fate. Kismet. It was simply Meant To Be. What difference did it make if they’d never actually met in person? Who cared if they’d never actually spoken to each other? Their cyber relationship was a meeting of minds, a melding of souls, a blending of hearts.

Until now.

Now he was typing nauseating pop-culture-infested lines to some cheap bit of cyberfluff with the screen name Tinky Bell. A brainless ninny who said things like “ur 2 kewl.”

The hideous massacre of the English language aside, Avery couldn’t believer her Andrew was talking about TV shows! He didn’t even watch TV!

But the clincher was Andrew using with Tinky Bell the same words that won Avery’s heart.

Well, she’d fix Andrew. Not only would she dump him, but she’d give him something to remember her by. Oh, yes. She’d create just the right farewell gift…one he and his precious computer system would never forget.

You’ve Got Male

Elizabeth Bevarly

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

For Mom, with love.

Because it’s been too long since I dedicated a book to you.

Thanks for so many things. You’re the best.

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Acknowledgments

I have many people to thank for this one.

First, thanks to Liz Bemis of Bemis Web Design for helping me get all the technical jargon and equipment right, thereby enabling me to make Avery the computer whiz and Webhead that she is. Some of the technology and equipment that both OPUS and Avery use I made up myself, but it’s okay, because making up stuff is my job. If I did get anything wrong with the real stuff, it’s my fault, not Liz’s.

Thanks to Wanda Ottewell, my fabulous editor, for helping me buff the rough spots and see the gaps, and make everything in the story nice and neat. Thanks to Tracy Farrell and HQN Books for giving this book such a wonderful home. Thanks to Steve Axelrod for helping me find that home.

I’d also like to thank the incredibly nice, patient, generous David Dafoe, of Pro-Liquitech, whose lovely donation to Turning Point for Autism won him a brief appearance in the book. For more information about all the great things Turning Point does, visit their Web site at turningpoint1.com (don’t forget the 1!). It was great fun being able to invite a real person to the party at the Nesbitt estate.

Thanks, too, to good friends (you know who you are) for daily support and camaraderie and laughter that goes above and beyond the call of friendship. Without you guys, I’d be like Avery at the opening of chapter four.

And finally, as always, thanks to David and Eli, my lifelines. My life. Without you guys, I’d be lost.

I love you both bunches. Hug. Kiss. Pat.

You’ve Got Male

CHAPTER ONE

AVERY NESBITT WAS IN LOVE. Madly, passionately, wildly in love. She was besotted. She was bedazzled. She was befuddled. She was in love as she’d never been in love before.

And it was with a man who went beyond dreamy. He was smart and witty. He was creative and articulate. He was handsome and sexy. He always said what she needed to hear, right when she needed to hear it. He knew her backward and forward, just as she knew him inside and out. And he loved her exactly the way she was. That, more than anything else, had sealed her fate and ensured that her love would last forever. Andrew Paddington made Avery feel as if nothing in her life would ever go wrong again. He was just perfect in every way.

The bastard.