The Echelon

by Jillian Dodd

  “Who are you texting?” Lorenzo asks, pulling himself out of the pool and looking completely delicious as the water beads down his tanned torso.

  “It’s William Gallagher.”

  “Intrepid?” he says, immediately looking concerned as we both hear a helicopter off in the distance.

  I glance up in the sky in the direction of the sound. “It’s getting closer.”

  “Is he coming for you?”

  “Uh, I don’t know.” I grin at him. “But I do remember the time when you came to pick me up from the royal yacht in your helicopter. It was quite the impressive display of jealousy.”

  “You weren’t fooled?” he asks, pulling me into his arms.

  “Nope.”

  “Yet you ignored my advances,” he whispers as his lips graze my neck. “I won’t ignore them now.”

  He sits in a chaise, pulls me onto his lap, and kisses me.

  “I’d say you have about ninety seconds.”

  “You are quite demanding, Huntley, my love. You’re already acting like a queen.”

  “Maybe we should consummate our marriage before they get here.”

  He lets out a hearty laugh. “I believe we have fulfilled our duties in that regard.”

  Moments later, one of the crew is on the deck. “Sir, a William Gallagher is requesting permission to land on the helipad.”

  “Permission granted,” Lorenzo replies. When I start to get up, he holds me tight. “You, on the other hand, have not been given permission to go anywhere.”

  I arch an eyebrow at him, causing him to roll his eyes.

  “I think we should have a duel,” he says.

  “So you can try to prove you’re stronger than me?”

  “I already know that I’m stronger.”

  “Yes, of course,” I say, “but you don’t have my killer instinct.”

  “Is that a threat?” he says with a laugh.

  I reply with a shrug, but then I kiss him again.

  “You’re trying to distract me with your lips.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “It’s not going to work,” he says, sliding his hand across my backside and finding my lips again, proving just the opposite.

  But, when the helicopter lands, I stop kissing him. “Let’s go see what can’t wait.”

  We get up, but Intrepid is out on the sun deck before we get a chance to go meet him.

  “The Danish prince needs our help,” he says by way of greeting, looking quite serious.

  “We’d better go then,” Lorenzo says.

  “We?” I ask.

  Lorenzo gives me a shrug.

  “Why not?” I say. “You are good for my cover.”

  BOOKS BY:JILLIAN DODD

  The Keatyn Chronicles®

  USA TODAY bestselling young adult contemporary romance set in an East Coast boarding school.

  Stalk Me

  Kiss Me

  Date Me

  Love Me

  Adore Me

  Hate Me

  Get Me

  Fame

  Power

  Money

  Sex

  Love

  Keatyn Unscripted

  Aiden

  That Boy Series

  Small-town contemporary romance series about falling in love with the boy next door.

  That Boy

  That Wedding

  That Baby

  That Divorce

  That Ring

  The Love Series

  Contemporary, standalone romances following the very sexy Crawford family.

  Vegas Love

  Broken Love

  Spy Girl® Series

  Young adult romance series about a young spy who just might save the world.

  The Prince

  The Eagle

  The Society

  The Valiant

  The Dauntless

  The Phoenix

  The Echelon

  By Jillian’s daughter, Kenzie Hart

  Young adult travel romance.

  Girl off the Grid

  Beautiful and heartbreaking love story told in verse.

  I Fall Apart

  ABOUT:THE AUTHOR

  Jillian Dodd is a USA TODAY bestselling author. She writes fun romances with characters her readers fall in love with—from the boy next door in the That Boy trilogy to the daughter of a famous actress in The Keatyn Chronicles series.

  She is married to her college sweetheart, has two adult children, and has two Labs named Cali and Camber, and she lives in a small Florida beach town. When she’s not working, she likes to decorate, paint, doodle, shop for shoes, watch football, and go to the beach.

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