“We’re doing shit backwards.”
“Now there’s an idea.” He grinned, and she rolled her eyes. “Come here. I brought you something.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out the gold chain. “I know it meant a lot to you.”
“You still had it?” She stared at the chain.
“Yeah. It’s broken, but it can be fixed.”
“Thank you.” She took it from him and clenched it to her heart.
He tugged her hand and Jackie leaned toward him. She braced her hands on the sofa and kissed his lips. They might be going about things in their own way, but it was the destination that mattered, and right now, he was where he wanted to be.
Epiogue.
Three months later. Trinity Hall Pub, Seattle, WA.
Jackie climbed out of her car, hit the lock button and quick stepped it into the pub. It was packed with regulars and the Happy Hour crowd, but Felix stood out even in the press of people. Tonight, he was manning the taps behind the bar, pouring out pints for patrons. She breathed a sigh of relief at his smile, glad to see that today was a good day.
His recovery hadn’t gone as smooth as they’d have liked, and he still wasn’t cleared for field work, which was why he’d begun picking up shifts at the pub. She would prefer to have him at home, but she could understand not wanting to be stuck at the apartment or her loft all the time while she was busy with work.
She shrugged out of her blazer and found a two-person table tucked in the corner. Aunt Liv strode up and leaned on the table. The smile and blond hair were hereditary.
“Usual, sweetheart?”
“Not yet. I’ll wait for Felix to be done, if you don’t mind?” She propped her chin in her hands.
“It might be awhile.” Liv gestured to the large, community table of regular trouble makers who’d assembled for the weekly trivia night. The pack dubbed the Dancing Princes were a good group, but she was too tired for their antics.
“I can wait,” Jackie said.
“Have it your way. I’ll bring you some water.”
“Thanks, Aunt Liv.”
Jackie leaned on the table and watched Felix move back and forth, serving pints and shooting the bull with the people. Soon their happy routine would change. He’d go back to work, and they’d spend weeks apart at a time, but the difference now was she thought they could weather the storm. She’d miss having him there, but soon enough she’d begin traveling and they’d find a new normal.
The letter her father had given her was the key to a different way of having the same life. Before, she’d worked with a variety of charities, focusing on a single project or disaster at a time. It was the only way for her to guarantee that the most of every dollar raised was spent on the purpose it was intended for. Now as the lead project manager for an umbrella charity she could vet and fund more things, thereby doubling her reach. And that was only the projection for the next year. In five years they could do ten times this much.
A plate of double fries and two burgers plopped down on the space while she blinked up at the man carrying the dishes.
“Hey!” She slid out of her chair and gave Felix a squeeze. “I thought you were going to be busy for a while?”
“Nope. I always have time for you.” He leaned down and kissed her.
She curled her toes in her pumps, relishing the feeling of butterflies inside her stomach. This would never get old.
Three months later. Sea-Tac Airport, Seattle, WA.
Felix strode off the plane, ready to be free of these guys. Change wasn’t easy, but nothing stayed the same. Still, he wasn’t eager to sit around with the others.
He checked the time and crossed to the nearest arrivals screen, scanning for the five o’ clock plane from Dubai.
Twenty minutes late.
Felix checked his watch.
Which meant Jackie would be landing any minute now.
He double checked the terminal and headed off to surprise her. When they’d last synched their schedules, he’d thought the earliest his team would get in would be tomorrow morning. He’d been completely surprised—and thrilled—at the way things worked out. Along the way, he stopped at a fast food restaurant and picked up a snack size serving of fries. He’d learned in the last few months what with their schedules, it was the little gestures that kept the love alive. Just because they’d jumped in deep didn’t mean everything was a cake walk, it just meant they had more to work through in the beginning.
He made it to the terminal as the first passengers disembarked. He dropped his bag into a chair and braced his hands on the plastic back, settling in to wait awhile.
Half an hour later, Jackie and two familiar faces strolled off, their heads together talking.
“Excuse me?” Felix stepped in their path and held out the fries.
Jackie glanced up at him, her eyes going wide.
“Felix!” She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him, like he was some sort of climbing challenge.
He laughed and handed the fries off to their newly eloped friends. Too bad they did it first, or Felix might have had to steal the idea.
“I missed you,” she said against his mouth.
“I missed you, too.” Two weeks was a long time to go, but in the scheme of things, he was angling to spend the rest of his life with this woman.
Matching scars. Matching hearts. Matching rings, someday. Forever.
You can stay up to date on the whole Alpha Team crew in Dangerous in Love and Dangerous in Action. Check out Heart of Danger to read Duke and Val’s story. And stay tuned in 2018 for Dangerous in Motion!
Sign up for the New Release Newsletter at www.SidneyBristol.com to get inside scoops and free books.
Explore the whole Aegis world in these series...
It all began with the Aegis Group.
Dangerous Attraction
Dangerous in Training
Dangerous Games
Dangerous Assignment
Dangerous Protector
Dangerous Heat (coming 2018)
In Dangerous Games it continued with the Gone Geek girls.
Beauty and the Geek
Mr. Purr-fect and the Geek
The Jock and the Geek
The Gamer and the Geek
The Adorkable Girl and the Geek
The Billionaire and the Geek (coming 2018)
When the Seattle office of Aegis Group opened the Twisted Royals took the stage.
The Origin Story
Alpha Prince
Her Prince
Bad Boy Prince
Noble Prince
Within Aegis Group, special teams take on special jobs, beginning with the Alpha Team.
Dangerous in Love
Dangerous in Action
Dangerous in Transit (coming 2017)
Dangerous in Motion (coming 2018)
Dangerous in Charge (coming 2018)
Stay tuned for the appearance of the Lepta Team, Troy Team and Omega Team.
For short reads, tune in this December for the Body of Danger novella series kick-off.
Heart for Danger (December 2017)
Mind for Danger (coming 2018)
Soul for Danger (coming 2018)
Heart of Danger: An Aegis Group Novella
Body of Danger 1
Christmas is a special time of year for Valentina. Nothing beats the lights and the food of her home town. Which is why she can't wait to share it with her best friend, who also happens to be her very attractive boss. Val vows that the only treat she'll give Duke this Christmas is one of Abuela's cookies. Except when they arrive home, no one is celebrating Christmas at all.
After suffering devastating losses, the only comfort Duke has known is in his work—at least that was until Val. Her vivacious personality has reminded him that life is worth living. Keeping their relationship friends only is the hardest challenge of all. When Val goes into a near panic at the abandoned streets of her home town personal feelings are put on the back burner.
&
nbsp; From the moment the friends arrive home it's obvious something is wrong, and it's up to Val and Duke to figure out what could have a whole town afraid to celebrate Christmas.
Dangerous in Love
Aegis Group Alpha Team 1
He follows orders.
A good SEAL, Shane York values chain of command. Following the rules means staying alive. All of that is wrecked when his team is sent to Jamaica on a hostage rescue. She’s not the mission, but they leave no one behind.
She breaks the rules.
Travel blogger Lacey Miles lives for today. Thanks to her unexpected rescue from certain death, she has a shot at tomorrow. She wants her mercenary captors to pay, and she has the evidence to ensure it—if she lives long enough to deliver it.
Opposites spark an unlikely romance in the heat of danger.
Delivering the intel and keeping the hostages alive becomes priority one for the Aegis Group Alpha Team. The last thing Shane and Lacey have time for is love. As the team races home and bullets fly, rules fall by the wayside and lines begin to blur. With a traitor in their midst, will love be a distraction or a strength?
Dangerous in Action
Aegis Group Alpha Team 2
He doesn't like complications.
Retired SEAL Shane Cohen believes pleasure and work can coexist. What begins as a typical save the girl and get home job is anything but. Soon it's not the girl who needs saving, it's his team.
Her whole life is complicated.
Playing the part of a madman's girlfriend nearly got Tanya killed. Two years undercover and the death of her partner have taken their toll. She doesn't know who she can trust, until him. The man who catches her when she falls.
Their no strings situation becomes a tangled mess of emotions.
It's a race against time to prove Tanya's story is real. If she's telling the truth, the whole eastern seaboard could be in danger. If not, Isaac could be falling for a woman more deadly than anything he's ever encountered.
Dangerous Attraction
Aegis Group 1
Ex-Navy SEAL Travis Ration is an expert hunter. Whether his prey is criminal or victim, he always gets his mark. He's no hero, just a man doing his job. It’s all he has after a felony conviction after a bad judgment call. When the FBI call in a favor and ask him to look into a serial killer over the holiday break, he jumps at the opportunity to fill the long, cold days with something besides regret and bad movies. In Las Vegas, he's on the hunt for a prolific serial killer no one wants to admit exists. The leads are dry and the evidence gone, until she walks into his life. Bliss Giles—curvy, sassy and everything he can't have.
What’s worse, Travis knows Bliss’ sister is the killer's latest victim. She fits the profile. Time is running out and the fastest way to retrace the killer's path is with Bliss at Travis' side. In the seat of danger. He vows to keep Bliss safe and his hands to himself, after all, a nice girl like her doesn't need a guy like him in her life. Too bad no one told Bliss Travis was off-limits. She tests his boundaries and pushes his control every minute they're together until he can't remember why wanting her is a bad idea.
The hunters become the hunted in this tale of serial killers and SEALs for hire. One broken man must unpack his baggage, a woman has make a leap of faith and a sister chooses to live in this new, romantic suspense serial by NYT & USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Bristol.
Warning: Hold onto your panties, because nothing is safe.
Dangerous in Training
Aegis Group 2
Disgraced Navy SEAL Mason Clark knows how to track his prey. He is an expert operative with a history of wrong-place-wrong-time luck. Landing a gig as a vacation bodyguard should have been an easy job—if he wasn't supposed to be protecting her body.
Hannah Stevens. His boss's virgin daughter. Their lust is forbidden and a relationship is out of the question—but what happens in Mexico is their secret. Getting lost between the sheets is their one and only goal, until Hannah's friends are brutally kidnapped by a human-trafficking ring. Things quickly spiral out of control when the kidnappers put Hannah in their cross hairs.
Mason is a man ready to put it all on the line to rescue the woman he loves. Love and honor are put to the test in this new, romantic suspense series by NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Sidney Bristol.
Warning: Deflowering virgins doesn't come with volume control.
Dangerous Games
Aegis Group 3
Ex-Navy SEAL Zain Lloyd is good with his hands and even better with his head. As the chief intelligence officer for the private security firm, Aegis Group, it's his job to tackle problems before they costs his friend's their lives. Which is why R&R time away from the high-stress environment is always a top priority, and a week at ComicCon is just what this closet-geek wants most, until a fateful elevator ride with the woman of his internet fantasies.
Andrea Clark can't trust anyone, least of all the mysteriously sexy man she meets outside of her trashed hotel room. But Zain might be her only hope of making it through the convention and home alive. He's her very own superhero, made of all the stuff to make her fall fast and hard. With no safety net in place, she can only pray that Zain will catch her when she falls.
A web of lies and deceit ensnare two lovers. Zain must use more than his brain and quick fingers to put a stop to the doxxing and death threats before a killer emerges from the ranks of Andrea's friends.
Warning: The geeks do it better.
Dangerous Assignment
Aegis Group 4
Veteran Navy SEAL Luke Briar has a solution for every problem, except when his latest job goes sideways. Things were so much simpler when all he had to worry about was how to put a smile on Abigail's face, though nothing he does chases the shadows from her eyes. Now Luke and his lovely new partner must protect a pair of criminals from people trying to kill them.
Abigail is a lie. Everything about her is false, but keeping the truth from her partner is becoming increasingly difficult. Her mission was simple, kill two internationally wanted criminals and get out. But she wasn't counting on him. Luke. He awakens parts of her she long thought were dead. But people like her don’t get second chances at life, and her betrayal will crush any happiness they might have had. Falling for Luke can't happen.
When the tables are turned and someone else gets to Abigail's targets before she can, all hell breaks loose. Luke doesn’t know if the woman he’s fallen for is a terrorist or something worse. Explosive desire isn't a license for murder, but he can’t live without her. With the authorities closing in, Luke must decide who to trust—law or love.
Warning: Explosive chemistry ahead.
Dangerous Protector
Aegis Group 5
Retired Navy SEAL Marco Benally knows the cost of right and wrong, and he's willing to pay the price. After his family's home is stolen out from under them by a company covering up their illegal activities, Marco takes matters into his own hands. No cost is too great to reclaim the generational homestead. Even if that means someone else has to take the fall. Or that's what he tells himself until he meets her. The woman with the tight skirt, tall heels and darkness in her eyes. One night, one lie to get the evidence he needs and then it's over. Or at least that's what he tells himself.
Fiona Goero survives by following very careful rules. She's lived more of her life in Witness Protection than out of it. As one of the Internet's Most Wanted for helping the FBI put away a group of hackers, she is never safe. She's the traitor. The hacker who turned against her own. For one night she wants to indulge her every desire. To be held. To feel again. What should have been a passionate encounter becomes a snarled mess of lies and spies. Someone close to her is not only using her, they're trying to kill her. Her one-night-stand might be the only thing between her and being six foot under.
Marco is a man on a mission to set things right before Fiona discovers that not all of the danger can be laid at her enemies' feet. The greatest danger Fiona faces just might be from Mar
co—the man she's falling for.
Warning: Stubborn heroes fall the hardest.
Book List
Aegis Group
Dangerous Attraction
Dangerous in Training
Dangerous Games
Dangerous Attraction
Dangerous Protector
Dangerous Heat (coming 2018)
Aegis Group Alpha Team
Dangerous in Love
Dangerous in Action
Dangerous in Transit
Dangerous in Motion (coming 2018)
Dangerous in Charge (coming 2018)
Gone Geek
Beauty and the Geek
Mr. Purr-fect and the Geek
The Jock and the Geek
The Gamer and the Geek
The Adorkable Girl and the Geek
Twisted Royals
Alpha Prince
Her Prince
Bad Boy Prince
Noble Prince
Tarnished Heroes
Spy Games
Hot Rides
Drive
Shift
Chase
Bayou Bound
Picture Her Bound
Duty Bound
Bound Memories
Bound & Tamed
Other BDSM Titles
Committed
Bound with Pearls
Collar Me in Paris
Festive Seduction
Electric Engagement
So Inked
Under His Skin
The Harder He Falls
His Marriage Bargain
Standalone Titles
Falling for His Best Friend
Dream Vacation (free read)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
It can never be said that NYT & USA Today Bestselling author Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life. She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and fostering cats.
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