Hot Shot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#5)
Page 24
“Shit,” Iceman said. The rest of the guys grumbled their agreement.
“At least we stopped Metaxas from selling arms to them.”
“Yeah, but someone else will do it. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Saw your face on the cover of the Enquirer,” Flash said. “You’ve reached new heights of fame, man.”
Jack shifted his stance. Yeah, that was the part of being with Gina he didn’t like, but he was dealing with it. The fact that the hottest pop star in the world was seeing a regular guy was big news and the media couldn’t get enough. For now, Mendez kept him shielded. As soon as he crossed the security barrier of the base, he was outside the media’s grasp, which certainly made things much easier. They knew he worked for the government, but they had no idea what he did. And they weren’t going to find out.
Gina had announced to the world that Eli was his child. He’d hated that violation of their privacy, but it was necessary in case any other members of the Metaxas family had ideas about Eli’s parentage. He’d called his parents before it happened and told them personally. His father had congratulated him. His mother cried. They’d come to visit Eli, and Jack had watched as the busy people he’d grown up with turned into the kind of grandparents who acted like the kid was the most fascinating thing in the world.
Which he was, but Jack hadn’t expected his parents to care. It was oddly touching that they did. No, his relationship with them wouldn’t ever be perfect, but he was learning to accept that.
The guys drank their beers and looked at the women. Mendez had taken him aside earlier and told him he didn’t have any news on Gina’s sister, but he wasn’t finished working his contacts yet. Maybe one day Jack would be able to give her some good news. He hoped so with all his heart. She’d made friends with the fiancées and wives of the other guys, but he knew she would love to find her sister too.
After a while, Jack felt a tug on his trousers. He looked down to find a pint-sized toddler standing there, one little arm held skyward.
“Daddy,” Eli said. “Up, Daddy.”
Jack bent and scooped his son up, love rushing through him, warming him all over. God, he was a lucky man. Gina’s eyes met his again, and he tipped his beer in a salute. She blew him a kiss.
“Who is the luckiest man on earth right this minute, buddy?” Jack asked Eli.
“Me!” Eli crowed.
“Yeah, okay, I can accept that. But I’m next in line.”
He carried his son over to his wife and put his arm around her. She hugged him back and Jack sighed. He had something to show her later. He’d gone just this morning and had her name and Eli’s inked on his skin near his heart. He hoped she liked it.
“Is it everything you thought it would be?” he asked her.
She looked up. “Which part?”
“You. Me. Marriage.”
She laughed. “We’ve been married for half an hour.”
“Yeah, and it’s been perfect, hasn’t it?”
“Oh yes. Every moment with you is perfect, Jack.”
“Because you make me better, Gina. That’s all there is to it.”
Eli wriggled as the puppy galloped by and Jack set him down.
Gina sighed. “He’s dirty.”
“Mmm, I’m dirty too.”
She laughed. “Tell me something I didn’t know.”
“I’d rather show you.”
“Think we can sneak off for a few minutes?”
“A few minutes? Babe, don’t you know I need hours with you?”
She squeezed him tight. “Good thing you’ve got forever then.”
He dipped his head to kiss her as hot emotion flooded him. “I do, don’t I?”
Thank You!
Thanks for reading Hot Shot! If you like the Hostile Operations Team, here are all the stories in the series thus far.
Book One: Hot Pursuit (A Novel) - http://amzn.to/1oIzTN4
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Book Two: Hot Mess (A Novella) - http://amzn.to/1ibmA5c
Book Three: Hot Package (A Novella) - http://amzn.to/1in4BZt
Book Four: Dangerously Hot (A Novel) - http://amzn.to/1ra5moG
Book Five: Hot Shot (A Novel) - http://amzn.to/URpQby
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Book Six: Hot Rebel
Coming in September 2014
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Continue reading for an excerpt from Hot Rebel, coming in September 2014.
Excerpt from Hot Rebel
Nick’s comm link crackled for the first time since this mission had gone to hell. “Need that firebird, Flash,” he grated before Ryan Gordon could speak. Jesus, this mission had been plagued with bad luck from the start. In the last few hours, a dust storm had interfered with their primary comm and sent them to backup. And now this.
“Called it in, man. HQ says it’s coming. What the fuck happened?”
Flash and the team were a couple of miles away, waiting for Nick and Dex.
“We got company, that’s what. They took out the opposition commander. Our guy got away.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. No sign of the shooter or his team.”
“Don’t worry about them,” Kev “Big Mac” MacDonald broke in. “Get the fuck out and we’ll let HQ sort it out.”
Like Nick would do anything differently. But, yeah, if he could get a glimpse of this asshole, he’d take the chance.
“Birdie’s ETA is fifteen minutes. You guys all right?”
“Yeah,” Nick said as he and Dex busted out the back door of the building they’d been squatting in and made for the next zone they’d set up.
The sun was setting and long shadows lay across the desert landscape. The heat of the day still shimmered on the horizon, and the sounds in the town were subdued. A goat bleated somewhere. Nick’s head jerked up as something moved to his left. But there was nothing and he kept running.
Dex made it first and burst into the building they’d scouted days ago. There was always the chance someone had taken shelter in the last few days, but the building was abandoned and the chances were slim.
Dex headed for the long bank of windows at the rear and hunkered down inside the wall. Nick could hear shouting coming from outside now. It was still a few streets over, but moving closer.
The door they’d come through just a few seconds ago shot open and both men raised their weapons automatically.
A woman in a burkha stood there, silhouetted against the setting sun. Nick wondered if it was the same woman he’d seen earlier, but then he realized this one didn’t have a basket like the last one.
“Fuck me,” Dex breathed softly at the sight of a rifle cradled in her arms.
The wo
man ripped away the face covering and tipped her chin up, and Nick shook his head as if to clear a mirage.
“Not just now, boys,” she said in perfect English. Or as perfect as a Southern accent could come to it anyhow. “We’ve got a company of tangos on our heels, or hadn’t you noticed?”
*
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And if you want to find out where it all began, keep reading for an excerpt from Hot Pursuit…
Excerpt from Hot Pursuit
The music changed, the beat slowing. Evie took a step backward instinctively, but Matt caught her hand and held it tight. She tugged once, then stopped. They faced each other across a few feet of space. Around them, couples began to slide together, fitting into each other.
Evie’s pulse beat harder. Her skin sizzled where they touched, his big hand engulfing hers, his palm calloused in a way that shocked her. He was a Girard—rich, entitled—and he had a workman’s hands.
“One dance.”
Her insides melted a little more. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”
But what she really wanted to do was say yes.
His eyes were bright. “Why not? We’re adults now, Evie. No one’s getting hurt here.”
He said it like it was so easy, but was it really? Wasn’t she still vulnerable on some level? She was down on her luck right now, feeling like a loser, and here he was, the same gorgeous, cocky, beautiful creature he’d always been.
Except, no, he was more than that, wasn’t he? There was something behind his smile now. Something dark and sad. Pain flared in his gray eyes and then was gone so quickly she wondered if she’d imagined it.
It shocked her. She suddenly wanted to know what had happened to him. She’d heard about him being held captive by terrorists. How could he not be affected by something like that? Of all the things she’d expected Matt Girard to do with his life, putting himself into danger had not even occurred to her. He had everything. Why would he want to risk his life that way?
She remembered when his mother had died. He’d been twelve. Mama had taken her to the wake out at Reynier’s Retreat. There were so many people crowding the beautiful rooms of the mansion. The house was heavy with sadness and thick with grief, and it had scared her. She’d escaped to run down the wide lawn. She’d known where to find Matt. He’d been curled inside the hollow of a tree they’d found a few years before.
He’d been dressed in a black suit, his dark hair slicked back carefully, his gray eyes wide and wounded as he looked up at her. Her heart had lifted into her throat then. She’d only been eleven, but she’d felt something in that moment that rocked her world—and would continue to rock her world until she was sixteen and shattered by his casual cruelty.
But not that day. That day, she’d slid into the hollow and sat down beside him. When she’d put her arms around him, he’d turned his face into the crook of her neck and wept.
Evie sucked in a breath. How could she walk away from him now, knowing there was something behind those eyes? He was hurting again, and she didn’t know why.
“One dance, Evangeline,” he said softly when she hesitated. “Make a soldier’s night. I just got back from the desert a few days ago. I’d like to dance with a pretty woman and forget about that hellhole for a while.”
Evie swallowed. “That’s not fair.”
He grinned. “Because you can’t say no now?”
She nodded.
“Good for me then.”
“Just one dance and we go our separate ways, got it?” Because she didn’t want to feel this tangle of emotions again. This tiny blossoming in her heart that said she was going to be in so much trouble if she didn’t shut it down quickly.
“If that’s what you want.” His voice was rough.
He took her other hand then, ran his palms up her arms to her shoulders. Little sparks of sensation swirled in her belly, lighting her up like the Fourth of July. He pulled her into his arms right there on the edge of the dance floor.
Evie braced her hands against his chest, pressed back when he tried to bring her closer. It was already overwhelming to be so close to him. To feel his heat and hardness next to her body.
To feel everything she’d once wanted so much.
“I don’t bite,” he murmured. “Unless you want me to.”
You can read this book for FREE right now: http://amzn.to/1oIzTN4
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
USA Today bestselling author Lynn Raye Harris lives in Alabama with her handsome former-military husband and two crazy cats. Lynn has written nearly twenty novels for Harlequin and been nominated for several awards, including the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart award and the National Readers Choice award. Lynn loves hearing from her readers.
Connect with me online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLynnRayeHarris
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LynnRayeHarris
Website: http://www.LynnRayeHarris.com
Email: lynn@lynnrayeharris.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
AS ALWAYS, THERE ARE people to thank. I couldn’t do this series without Mr. Harris, who keeps me as straight as possible on military stuff (though I take liberties as necessary for the story). I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: a real military Special Operations team wouldn’t have as much freedom as my guys have. But my world, my rules, right?
Gretchen Stull has proven to be not only the World’s Most Wonderful Assistant, but also an amazing (and lightning fast) beta-reader.
With the very first cover in this series, Frauke Spanuth created an outstanding brand that readers know immediately, and she quite possibly outdid herself this time. I don’t know how she finds the perfect photos, but she always does. And then she makes magic!
Jean Hovey and Stephanie Jones, aka Alicia Hunter Pace, are always there for brainstorming and general listening when I need to complain or whine. They also enjoy a good hockey game, which thrills Mr. Harris to no end.
Anne Victory is not only a great copy editor, but she’s also become a friend. She cracks me up with her witty remarks peppered throughout the manuscript. If there are editing mistakes in this book, it’s very likely because I failed to change something she told me to change. It happens.
Thanks to wonderful friends and indie authors Kathleen Brooks, Ruth Cardello, Melody Anne, and Sandra Marton, who encourage me on this path and who are always there to answer questions or just hang out when we’re at conferences together. You ladies make everything so fun!
As always, thanks to my readers. You make writing this series a blast! I hope you love Jack and Gina as much as I do—and stay tuned, because there’s another story coming soon…
COPYRIGHT
Hot Shot
Copyright © 2014 by Lynn Raye Harris
Cover Design Copyright © 2014 Croco Designs
Photo of male model Copyright © Jenn LeBlanc/Illustrated Romance.
ISBN: 978-0-9894512-6-0
Other Books By Lynn
The Hostile Operations Team Series:
Hot Pursuit – Matt & Evie
http://amzn.to/1oIzTN4
Hot Mess – Sam & Georgie
http://amzn.to/1ibmA5c
Hot Package – Billy & Olivia
http://amzn.to/1in4BZt
Dangerously Hot – Kev & Lucky
http://amzn.to/1ra5moG
Hot Shot – Jack & Gina
http://amzn.to/URpQby
Hot Rebel – Nick and Victoria
(Coming September 2014)
From Harlequin:
Heiress’s Defiance
Carrying the Sheikh’s Heir
Gambling with the Crown
The Change in Di Navarra’s Plan
A Façade to Shatter
His Royal Love-Child
A Game With One Winner
Marriage Behind the Façade
The Girl Nobody Wanted
C
aptive But Forbidden
Strangers in the Desert
The Man With the Money
Behind the Palace Walls
Kept for the Sheikh’s Pleasure
The Devil’s Heart
The Prince’s Royal Concubine
Cavelli’s Lost Heir
Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge
Unnoticed and Untouched
Revelations of the Night Before
For more information about all of Lynn’s books, visit her website at: http://www.lynnrayeharris.com/books/
Table of Contents
About This Book
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
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Epilogue
Excerpt from Hot Rebel
Excerpt from Hot Pursuit
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Copyright
Other Books By Lynn