Never Tempt Danger

by Denise Robbins

  “What’s that?”

  “Kill you.”

  Lucas watched Mitchell as his threat hit home. Fear flashed in those dark, cold eyes, and then it was gone. Zakin’s upper lip quivered in a sneer. What a fool. Lucas took a tentative step forward.

  “Stop right there you asshole. Don’t move an inch unless you want to see me hurt your girlfriend,” Zakin warned and squeezed Gilly harder.

  Shit!

  DANGR rolled forward and paused.

  “Stop it Maureen,” Mitchell said, tightening his grip.

  He was going to break her neck. Gilly gasped for air, struggled to loosen Mitchell’s hold, and Lucas could do nothing. If he shot at the man, he could miss and hit Gilly instead.

  “Let her go!”

  “No way. She is my ticket out of here. Back off!” he demanded and waved the gun at Lucas.

  Gilly, make DANGR move! Nothing happened. Come on honey stay with me. Gilly’s eyes started to roll back into her head. “No!” Mitchell was going to kill her and he didn’t even know it. He had to do something.

  He mentally projected instructions. Fly DANGR! Fly! Nothing. Then all of the sudden… “Never tempt DANGR,” the mechanical voice said as the robot leapt, sprouted wings, and flew at Zakin.

  “What the—”

  That was all it took to distract Mitchell and have him loosening his grip on Gilly. She dropped like a rag doll to the ground and Lucas took his shot. The bullet struck him right between the eyes and Mitchell Zakin flopped backwards into the pool with a hard splash, arms out to his sides.

  Lucas ran to Gilly and knelt beside her. Oh, please, please be alive. Pressing two fingers to her carotid, he felt the strong throbbing of her pulse beat against him. With his head bent next to her mouth, he listened. She was breathing.

  “Wake up, Gilly.” Lucas slapped her cheeks. “Come on woman, wake up.”

  “Never tempt DANGR,” the robot sing-songed again.

  Her eyelids fluttered and she muttered something he couldn’t quite make out.

  “What?” He gave her good shoulder a slight shake. “Talk to me.”

  Gilly’s red lashes wavered and then Lucas was staring down into the most beautiful Irish green he had ever seen in his life. She smiled, weakly, but she smiled, and reached up to touch his face. “Never tempt danger,” she mumbled and went out cold.

  THIRTY-SEVEN

  She walked out of his life. The day the doctor released Gilly from the hospital, she left and refused to speak with him. He tried everything, but no matter what, Gilly rebuffed him. Why?

  “She said she loved me,” he mumbled into his beer.

  “Brandon,” Frank hollered across the bar. “Get our lad a bowl of the Irish to go with that Guinness.”

  Frank slapped the bar in front of him. “Get a grip, Lucas. Of course, my Gilly loves you, she always has. She just needs a wee bit of time to get herself back together, to get her strength back in order to deal with the likes of you.”

  Lucas leaned back on his stool, nearly fell backwards before he righted himself, and eyed the old man, Gilly’s grandfather. “Why is it you get that Irish brogue only when you’re in your bar?”

  Brandon set a bowl of piping hot stew in front of him along with utensils. It smelled heavenly. No, Gilly smelled heavenly, all peaches and Irish cream.

  “Oh, geez. Lucas, I’m not going to serve you with that dreamy look on your sad hangdog face.”

  Lucas gave Brandon the evil eye then dipped his spoon in the stew and took a large bite.

  “Frank talks like that in his bar because any place else they’d think he was off his rocker,” Brandon confided.

  Somebody slapped a hand on his back. Lucas looked up from his stew and saw Jake standing there as he helped his future bride, Charley, onto a barstool.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “We were invited, right Shugar?” Charley beamed up at her fiancé then down at him. “Cheer up, Lucas. It only gets better.”

  What did she know? She had Jake. All he had was his beer. He took a long pull on the deep, dark Guinness.

  “Howdy,” Jake yelled across the bar and waved.

  Lucas pivoted on his stool and saw Max and Samantha walking toward him and the others. What the hell was going on? “What are you doing here?” Lucas asked, addressing his question to Max.

  Sam leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. “We’re here to help you straighten out your life,” she told him and winked.

  The door opened again and when he looked up, he saw Ruby walk in with Mickey on her heels. “Hiya, handsome.” Ruby slung her thin arms around his neck and gave him a lip-smacking kiss.

  When she pulled back, Lucas glanced over her shoulder at the big man, his boss, who had one brow lifted. Then he tipped his head back and laughed. “Get over yourself,” Mickey warned. “Ruby is all mine.”

  Ruby turned and stepped into Mickey’s embrace and smiled up at him. “Always.”

  Okay, something was definitely amiss. Lucas straightened up, leaned back against the bar, and crossed his arms over his chest. “What is going on?”

  “A pint of Guinness for all,” Frank announced to the gathered crowd.

  Now he knew there was a plot playing out. Despite the nagging feeling in his gut, Lucas took the beer, held it high, and clinked glasses along with the others. Everyone yelled, “Sláinte!”

  As he tipped the pint back, he felt her. A tiny, niggling vibration in the pit of his stomach that tickled its way up to until it constricted his heart. He saw her, not in the flesh, but in his mind. Beautiful! He set the glass on the bar before he dropped it and turned to look at everyone.

  “Where is she?” he asked breathless.

  “Who are you talking about?”

  Lucas snatched the first shirt his hand could reach and tugged Jake down to eye level. “Where is she?”

  The big man smiled and chuckled. “You tell me.” Jake stood up and straightened his shirt. “He seems a little slow to me.”

  “She’s here.” Lucas bolted off the stool, his feet hitting the hardwood floor with a thump. He glanced around, searching. When no one moved, he darted past his friends, and behind the bar. He rushed through the kitchen forcing the wait staff to step back or get run over, and slammed through the back door.

  His feet skidded to a halt along with his heart. Gilly, dressed in a green silk dress, high heels, and her hair loose flowing behind her in a flame of red, stood not five feet from him. Beautiful!

  She smiled at him, her green eyes glinting in the summer sun. The heat he felt from her gaze jolted his heart and his feet. In five long strides, he was within touching distance, but he forced himself to stop. Not wanting to frighten her away, Lucas stuffed his hands in his pockets.

  “Hi.”

  Gilly giggled and his stomach flipped with giddiness.

  “Is that all you have to say?”

  Lucas heard the door behind him open and lots of feet shuffle out before it banged shut, but he ignored their presence and focused on Gilly. What could he say? What should he say?

  “How about telling me how you feel?”

  He grinned then and took a single step forward, his gaze never leaving hers. She had read his mind. “I love you.”

  Gilly moved away from the vehicle she leaned against and moved closer. His lungs constricted when she stood toe-to-toe with him.

  “That’s good to hear since I brought you a wedding present.” She tugged on one of his hands and dropped something into his palm.

  He glanced down and stared at the key in confusion then looked back up at Gilly. “I don’t understand.”

  His hand in hers, Gilly tugged him forward. “Look at it.”

  Lucas staggered backwards. It was a 1966 Pontiac GTO black with black interior and midnight blue racing stripes. “You…you rebuilt this? For me?” he asked in astonishment.

  “She had a little help,” someone shouted behind him.

  Over his shoulder, Lucas saw Ralph amongst his friends an
d co-workers. The old man tipped a glass in his direction and grinned from ear-to-ear. Lucas looked back at Gilly who still held his hand. He blinked, her words finally sinking in.

  “Did you…” Lucas cleared his throat and swallowed. “Did you say wedding present?”

  Her smile took his breath away.

  “That is if you will marry me?”

  “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  “Yes!” the crowd behind them shouted.

  “Well, will you marry me?” Her voice quavered.

  “Don’t tease me, Gilly.”

  “Believe me, I know never to tempt danger, Lucas Danger,” she said and giggled.

  “In that case…” Lucas swooped Gilly up in his arms and spun her around. “Yes! Absolutely!” he shouted to the world and his friends. “I will marry you.”

  Whoops and hollers split the air as their friends gathered in and around them.

  When Lucas finally put Gilly back on her feet, he cupped her face in his hands and thanked her for the two most wonderful gifts.

  “Two gifts?” Her brow crinkled above her nose. “I only brought you the car.”

  “Not the car, silly woman,” he said and pressed his lips to hers. “Your love is number one.” He kissed the freckles on her nose. “My new perceptive talent.”

  “Hmm.”

  Gilly kissed him, long, hard, and deep until he no longer had breath in his lungs and his head spun.

  How perceptive are you, Lucas? Can you tell what I’m thinking?

  Lucas broke free from Gilly’s embrace, saw the smug smile on her face, and confirmed what he had sensed. “We’re having a baby!” he announced. “We’re getting married and having a baby!”

  “Yeehaw!”

  “Congratulations!”

  “About time you take care of my Gilly!”

  Lucas laughed and kissed his bride-to-be senseless.

  ABOUT AUTHOR DENISE ROBBINS

  Denise Robbins, born and raised in the Midwest, migrated to Florida, and finally settled down to her home in New Hampshire that she shares with her kittens Mischief and Mayhem.

  From her back deck, she sits outside, listens as the old roller coaster from the local amusement park inches its way up the wooden structure on its clanking chains, and waits to hear the kids scream in terror and delight. The best mental therapy a girl could ask for. The long, cold winters in New Hampshire provide the serenity and motivation to write excitement into the night.

  After twenty years in the computer technology industry, Denise decided to use that experience and her passion for mysteries and suspense to write her first techno-romantic thriller novel, IT HAPPENS IN THREES and her subsequent novels, KILLER BUNNY HILL and CONNECT THE DOTS. In addition to writing, Denise enjoys scuba diving (only in warm water), snowboarding, and playing in her garden.

  It Happens in Threes

  ISBN Print—978-1-60318-086-3 Ebook—978-1-60318-087-0

  Once burned, twice learned, did she dare trust again?

  Seeking to escape her stalking ex-fiancé, savvy computer expert, Ruby Goodman, flees to her family’s vacation home. Always a healing place, Florida is the best spot for her to reassemble the crumbling pieces of her personal and professional life in safety. But somehow her high school sweetheart and first love, Michael Augustson, always appears when she least expects—but needs—him most. This time the only man she’s ever truly loved needs her help to catch an international thief. But can she risk her life by becoming involved in his scheme? And does she dare to lay her heart on the line for a man who may disappear at any time?

  Forced into some ‘R and R’, unflappable special operative, Michael, takes refuge in Florida where he runs into his old love, Ruby. Brilliant and a whiz with computers, Ruby is the answer to his prayers. He needs someone to crack the computer systems of an elusive money laundering thief. While working with her, Michael finds it a challenge to keep his distance from Ruby because he fears his passion for her may endanger both their lives. The only way to keep Ruby safe is to keep her close. Is it because of the threat to her life? Or is it because the stubborn, independent and infuriating but passionate Ruby has become a threat to his heart?

  Killer Bunny Hill

  ISBN Print—978-1-60318-130-3 Ebook—978-1-60318-131-0

  A Killer is on her Bunny Trail…

  Shot while snowboarding, Samantha Spenser lands on a stranger’s doorstep without her memory, but with a shooter on her tail. Even after the stranger saves her from the gunman and offers her refuge, Sam begins to fear for her life when Max, holding a gun to her head, demands to know the location of his abducted brother. Is the man with the whiskey-colored eyes her savior who will protect her, or the shooter who wants her dead? If Samantha trusts the sexy man to unravel the mystery of her amnesia, will he discover she is an innocent bystander or a deceitful criminal?

  The last thing he wants or needs is the complication of a gorgeous snow bunny half dead from bullet wounds on his doorstep. Frustrated by the lack of clues and even more discouraged by the lack of help from his agency and his brother’s, special agent Maximilian Stone sets out in search for his kidnapped brother. First, he must solve the mystery of Samantha, the intriguing woman sleeping in his bed. Is there a connection between Snow Bunny and his missing FBI brother? Or was she brought in by a darker enemy to destroy Max before he can find them?

  Connect the Dots

  ISBN Print—978-1-60318-164-8 Ebook—978-1-60318-165-5

  Connecting the Dots could get her killed.

  CIA Human Intelligence Operator, Charley Duston gets the shock of her life when she opens her freezer to find the picture of her murdered ex-lover. Worse is the implied message: She is next. Not one to give into intimidation tactics, Charley is determined to uncover the truth behind her ex’s death and bring the culprits to justice. Not knowing whom she can trust, she moves to an undisclosed location where she can covertly investigate the death threats. Here she meets her new neighbor Jake Frisbie at gunpoint when she mistakes him for a carjacker. Attracted to the handsome, easy-going hunk, Charley knows her relationship with Jake would only put him in danger. She tries to fight off her feelings but finally gives in just before her world crashes and she is kidnapped.

  The beautiful, new neighbor entrances Jake but he can make no sense of her secretive nocturnal disappearances. As a Special Agent, he investigates her and is shocked to learn she is at the center of an international crisis. Despite common sense, he becomes involved with the young woman and when she disappears, he vows to find her. Risking his life, Jake ventures into the world of black sites and international intrigue to save the woman he loves and expose the responsible criminals. No matter how high up in the government they sit.

  Another gripping romantic suspense tale by Denise Robbins, coming soon...

  Phish .NET Stalkings

  All she wanted was to find love. Was that too much to ask? How difficult could it be to find one man, the perfect man for her?

  After dating the losers of the century, Jane decides there has to be a better way. She turns to an online dating service. After all, they guarantee a ‘happily ever after’ or your money back.

  Jane East, CEO of ‘Not So Plain Jane’s’ organic cosmetics wants to fall in love with a man who makes her toes curl when he kisses her. Instead, the one man who makes her toes curl also wears ladies’ pink underwear and a badge. The pink underwear she could probably deal with, but the badge is a different story.

  Ever since seeing her mother and granny Pearl murdered by men with badges, Jane has a fear of cops and anyone who carries a badge. Especially, because the killers are still on the loose and searching for her.

  Former FBI Cybercrime special agent turned small-town Chief of Police, Cooper Chance, gets caught with his pants down and his family jewels tucked in pink ladies’ underwear with lacy frills when he meets the woman of his dreams. That’s not his only issue. The woman has a fear of badges. If he can get past her guard, maybe he can save her life.