by Elle James
More than a dozen people were seated in lounge chairs, at the tables or standing near the barbecue grill.
Gabe McGregor spotted him and shouted, “He’s here!”
A cheer went up from all of the people there.
Andrew stood stunned for several seconds. Then Leigha grabbed his hand and pulled him into the crowd. “We’re having a barbecue. Come sit with me and Dix.”
His heartbeat ratcheted up, pounding against his ribs. Then he saw her and it was as if everyone else faded into the background.
Leigha led Andrew to where Dix sat at one of the tables.
As they approached, Dix stood, a smile spreading across her lips, her gaze sweeping over him. “You look great for having been shot,” she said, her voice soft, controlled.
“I thought you’d left.”
She shook her head. “I couldn’t.” Her eyes grew glassy and a single tear slipped from the corner. She brushed it away and reached for his hand. “I didn’t think I could stay in one place without feeling as though I were a captive again in a Taliban village. But when I thought of leaving Leigha, Brewer, Stratford House...and you, I couldn’t.”
Andrew drew her into his arms and smoothed his hand over her hair. “I’m glad. You’ve only been here a few days, but this big place wouldn’t be the same without you in it.”
Leigha squeezed between the two of them and looked up. “Does that mean Dix is staying?”
Andrew held Dix’s gaze.
Dix nodded. “Yes. If you two can stand to have me around.”
Leigha hugged her around the middle for a long time and then turned and hugged Andrew.
“What about your job?” Andrew asked softly.
She smiled. “My boss tells me I can base out of the West Coast office of the SOS.”
Andrew smiled. “That’s perfect, because I’m going to lease the west wing of Stratford House to SOS for their new offices.” He kissed Dix and stood back, grinning. “I told you I’d convince you to stay.”
“Yes, you did. And just look at all the friends you’ve made in the past few days.”
Andrew dragged his gaze away from Dix long enough to appreciate all the people he’d met.
Gabe McGregor, the sheriff’s deputy, and his wife, Kayla Davies, were there with their teenage son and newborn daughter. Sheriff Taggert and his wife, Nora, were talking with Tazer and Dave Logsdon, the dive boat captain. The newlyweds, Molly and Nova, were laughing with Creed Thomas and Emma Jenkins. Even the Kessler twins had come by.
Royce Fontaine stepped up to him and laid his hand on his shoulder. “Glad you’re on board with the whole SOS West Coast office being based out of Stratford House. Can’t think of a better place.”
Andrew nodded and smiled. “Me, either. It means I’ll have Dix close by.”
She leaned into his uninjured side and wrapped her arm around his waist.
Watching Leigha play with Nova and Brewer, Dix pressed against his side, and new friends gathered around, Andrew finally felt like he’d come home to stay.
* * *
As the sun dropped below the horizon, the guests, full of steaks and hamburgers, left for their own homes, stopping to congratulate Andrew and Dix on a case closed.
When the last person left, Andrew walked Leigha up the stairs to her bedroom.
Dix followed, feeling more settled and happy than she had in a very long time.
“Daddy?” Leigha leaned up to kiss him good-night. “Do you think Bennet will ever disappear?”
“Since I haven’t seen him, I couldn’t say,” Andrew said.
Dix smiled. “Even if he does disappear for you, Leigha, you will always have him in your heart.” Dix dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Sleep tight, sweetheart.”
“I will.” Leigha yawned and rolled onto her side, her arm draping over Brewer’s neck.
Dix walked with Andrew into the adjoining room. “After all that’s happened here, have you changed your mind about ghosts?”
Andrew turned Dix to face him and touched his lips to the tip of her nose. “You mean, do I believe in them?”
Dix nodded, loving how tender he was.
“Jury’s still out, but I’m leaning toward yes.” Andrew brushed his lips across hers. “What about you?”
She captured his face between her hands and stared up into his eyes, loving the blue depths more and more. “Yes. There’s no other way to explain everything that has happened. And I kind of like the idea of having a benevolent ghost looking out for Leigha.”
“And I like the idea of you being here with us. Anytime you feel the need for space, just let me know. I’ve got a yacht at the marina. We could sail away from everything.”
“If it’s all right with you, I’d just as soon stay here with you, Leigha and Brewer. I think I’m falling in love with all of you, and I’d like to see where it goes.”
“I knew it the moment you threw me on my back—you were the woman for me.” Andrew drew her into his arms and kissed her.
* * * * *
If you loved this novel, don’t miss other
suspenseful titles by New York Times
bestselling author Elle James:
DEADLY OBSESSION
PROTECTING THE COLTON BRIDE
DEADLY ALLURE
DEADLY LIAISONS
DEADLY ENGAGEMENT
DEADLY RECKONING
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SPECIAL FORCES SEDUCTION by C.J. Miller
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Special Forces Seduction
by C.J. Miller
Chapter 1
Alexandra “Hyde” Flores caught a glimpse of undercover operative Finn Carter in her peripheral vision. But as she turned her head, she saw that he’d vanished. The orange candles and strings of white lights inside the wedding tent created shadows and apparitions. Hyde’s life was haunted by ghosts of her past.
Her oldest sister Victoria was glowing and stunning in a thirty-thousand dollar, diamond-white couture wedding dress. Hyde knew part of her glow was that she was three months pregnant, and Hyde’s niece Thea would soon have a cousin. For the first time in Hyde’s life, seeing someone with the classic American dream made her envious.
She had been involved in complicated and dangerous missions for the last ten years and up until the end, she
had loved it. Her psyche was changing and craving normal. Normal was good and safe.
Hyde claimed a spot for herself at a high-topped table in the corner of the white tent with a great view of the dance floor. It gave her pleasure to watch her parents, her sisters, her new brother-in-law and her niece dancing with the extended family. She had been on the fringes of the family for so long that her absence wasn’t noticed.
A twinge of sadness nipped at her, but not enough to force her to mingle. Relearning social protocol in Bearcreek, Montana, was a throwback to her youth. Her job had trained her to read between the lines and to look for hidden agendas. She anticipated backstabbing and lies from the people she worked with. Her family, on the other hand, spoke plain and their only agenda tonight was to celebrate Victoria and Thomas.
Sensing someone watching her, Hyde turned and reached to where her gun was usually holstered. Her fingers came up empty and a mild panic threaded through her. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. It was a slim chance, but possible that she’d been found by an enemy looking for revenge.
Instead of an enemy, Hyde’s gaze connected with Finn’s. She closed her eyes, waited until her thoughts cleared and her heart slowed to a normal rate. Thinking of him got her going, a shot of adrenaline to her heart. She blamed the weekends they had spent together. Quick, steamy rendezvous and abbreviated goodbyes were their trademarks. She and Finn had carried on their affair for three years without any commitment, without anniversary celebrations or promises of a future.
It had been great while it had lasted. It was no longer what she wanted.
When Hyde opened her eyes, he was gone. Or rather, her imagination had stopped playing tricks on her. Finn wasn’t in Bearcreek, Montana. He was on his latest mission somewhere in the world. Hyde would never see him again. She was out of the spy game, and a life of secrets and lies was behind her. The pang of sadness that struck her had everything to do with her desire to have a normal, stable life and nothing to do with missing her former life—or Finn.
A masculine, strong arm slipped around her waist and though her instincts were to react defensively, she froze when Finn’s familiar scent wafted over her, the smell of soap and sandalwood. Memories of him naked, in the shower, in her bed, flickered through her mind. Her heartbeat faltered, skipped, and her breath backed up in her lungs.
His voice cemented his identity. That deep, slow drawl that replayed in her dreams for months after she saw him. He appealed to her as no one had before or had since.
“You have never looked more beautiful than you do tonight.”
Hyde whirled and came face-to-face with the man she had fallen for hard. A man she couldn’t have a serious relationship with, a man who was almost as daring and wild as she had been. He embodied everything she had wanted in a man. Strength, cunning and excitement had been at the top of her list and now she wanted to add stable, honest and calm.
Despite not having been invited, Finn was dressed for the occasion. Black suit and gray button-down with a silver and black tie. Understated elegance. His tie clip and cuff links matched, small green gems adorning them. His dark hair was slicked back, every hair in place. He looked positively dashing.
Her heart overreacted, like it always did. “The most beautiful? You have a thing for canary-yellow and carrot-stick-orange dresses?” Her bridesmaid dress was bright and fun and in colors Hyde rarely wore.
“If you’re the one wearing it,” Finn said.
“What are you doing here?” She hoped she had pulled off sounding casual.
Finn could be working an operation. An op in rural Montana would be unusual, but spies worked in every corner of the globe. Hard to imagine terrorist plots afoot in this part of the United States, but Hyde was justifiably paranoid. She had been lied to and double-crossed far too many times.
“I’m looking for you.” His hands slipped down to her hips and pulled her against his body. A mewling sound she recognized as hers escaped her lips. Their attraction was the one steady part of their relationship. Not a strong aspect to hinge a future on.
Hyde hadn’t met a man who held a candle to Finn. Tall and muscled, his dark hair had a touch of gray at his temples. He looked good clean-shaven and with facial hair. He had about a day’s worth of a beard.
“This is my sister’s wedding.” Even with the table between her and the throng of guests, someone would notice him. Finn was impossible to overlook. He hadn’t been invited to the wedding and if Victoria spotted him, she would know it and ask questions. Hyde didn’t want to answer questions about Finn. She had too many of her own. When it came to Finn, her emotions were a tangled mess.
Finn was an accomplished liar, but he wouldn’t know the details of the cover story she had told her family about her career. Her family believed she was a sales rep for a luxury car company and having become road weary, had made a career change. Believable, except when evidence to the contrary, like her former lover and world renowned spy, showed up out of the blue at a family function.
“This is a big day for your family, and I don’t want to intrude. I’ve missed you,” he said. He took her hand and led her away from the table and out of the wedding tent and into the open fields of her family’s farm.
The farm spread over fifty acres, and her sister’s wedding was being held in one of the most scenic areas. Hyde used to lay a blanket out under the stars in this exact spot and stare at the sky. The longer she gazed, the more stars she could see, and as a child, she had believed she could see outside the galaxy if she watched long enough.
“I can’t leave my sister’s wedding. It’s not over,” she said.
“I can’t wait another minute to be with you. If you miss the bouquet toss, does that matter? Did you want to be the next to be married?” he asked.
For the first time in her life, Hyde did want to be married. She hungered for family gatherings and going to the gym and appointments at the salon. “I could catch it.” She was the oldest unmarried woman in her family. Well, the oldest unmarried woman who had never been married.
“I had to see you. Kate West was right,” Finn said, referring to the wife of the man who ran a black ops company they contracted with periodically. The West Company was a first-rate special operations firm that hired experts as the situation called for them. The West Company made it their business to handle problems quickly, efficiently and quietly. Hyde and Finn liked working for the West Company. They had professional and personal connections with the firm.
Hyde focused on what Finn was saying. “Kate was right about what?”
“You’re not part of this life anymore,” Finn said. “I see it on your face. I see it in the way you look at me.”
Finn must know her better than she had believed. “I am retired from my former career.” Hyde had a good relationship with the West Company and because she and Kate had formed a friendship, Hyde had wanted to do more than disappear and ignore phone calls. An explanation had been in order.
“Your sister is married. Is that what this is about?” Finn looked at her intensely and she had to catch her breath. She and Finn had always created fireworks when they were together: in the bedroom and when they fought.
Hyde linked her hands behind her. She didn’t want to touch Finn or reach for him. They wanted different things and her new life would bore him. “I have decided I don’t want to be in that line of work anymore.” Her sister’s wedding reinforced her decision had been the right one, but it hadn’t been the initiating factor.
Finn folded his arms, and the bunched muscles in his biceps reminded her of how it felt to be held by him. A shimmer of desire piped through her. In Finn’s arms, she had never felt safer and she could let down her guard for a few hours with him watching her back. He was a fighter. He was strong. He was passionate about everything he did, including his affair with her.
“I need to talk you out of this,” F
inn said.
“I’m not changing my mind,” Hyde said. If he intended to rope her into taking another job as a spy, he would be disappointed.
Finn inclined his head. “What are you planning to do? Get a job in an office?”
Office work was on the list of possible jobs to investigate. She could work forty hours per week, clock out and spend the weekend binge-watching television and running errands and doing chores. “I have marketable job skills.”
“I know you have job skills. I’m questioning if they apply to any jobs in this small town.”
She hadn’t had enough time to explore her options. She didn’t want to think about her decision again or justify it. If anyone could talk her out of this course of action, it was Finn. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for checking on me. Burn my address. I don’t want anyone following me here.” She had made enemies and some held grudges.
Finn drew her against him. “No one followed me here. Whatever happened, tell me and I’ll fix it.”
The pleading in his voice nearly felled her. He couldn’t fix what had happened. She could not name the emotion that passed through her, but her heart clenched. “I don’t want to be a spy anymore.” Speaking the words was a relief. She realized she had worried about what Finn would think and she waited for the disappointment or an argument.
Finn’s face remained frustratingly neutral. He blinked at her. “I’m going after Reed Barnett and I need you.”
Reed Barnett, international drug kingpin, murderer and all-around bad man. Hyde agreed he needed to be taken down, but she had no intention of getting involved. A Reed Barnett operation was far too dangerous and complex. After what had happened during her last mission, Hyde was staying on the safe side of the street.
“I can’t be involved,” Hyde said. She wouldn’t consider it and she didn’t want the details. Tracking and hunting Reed Barnett was a suicide mission. The man had money and a private army and arms en masse. It was rumored he owned a private island.
