Synopsis:
FROM POPULAR ROMANCE AUTHOR AMBER MALLOY
Book two in the Spies R Us series
The only thing standing in the way of one perfect life is her torturous past.
Invited to speak for the United Nations, International Attorney Ashe Marcille is on the fast track. However, everything changes when she finds her law partner dead. Left with no option but to abandon her hard-earned career, she goes on the run.
Walker Knight, owner of a high-tech security firm, left the spy games years ago. A former agent for J8, he had no intention of returning to that life until the agency calls in one last favor. It should have been an easy job—pick up then drop off a lawyer with no questions asked. But, best laid plans…
Attracted to the attorney from the minute he laid eyes on her, Walker sets out to solve her case. Until he can figure out who wants her dead, he’ll have to keep her close…very close.
Excerpt:
O’Brien’s,
the Midtown Manhattan pub, aired the NBA playoffs on every television in the
bar. Walker Knight ordered another round of Jameson for his boys. His
crew—younger than him by at least ten years—congratulated each other on a job
well done.
“To the best security team this
side of the Pacific.” He lifted his drink for a toast.
“Come on, boss. We thought you
were going to say ‘in the world’,” a newbie joked.
“That’s a tall order. It’ll take
more than one job together for that.” Walker wanted to celebrate, just not to
the level of wasted. His crew had no problem staying up all night, but he
needed to catch some zzzs. “Next round’s on me.”
They’d spent eighteen hours on a
plane to the Middle East. In three short days the team had taken down a faction
of a religious sect named Glory’s Soldiers. Pleased with their quick
extermination of the zealots, WLK Security’s oil clients had provided them with
a major bonus.
As he was signaling for the
bartender to settle their tab, a newbie squeezed in beside him.
“What’s next?” the rookie asked.
With a total of three
partners—two from his school days and one silent—they ran a private security
firm. Walker led their missions and could always tell the adrenaline junkies
from the dedicated worker bees.
“Give it a couple of days,” he
lied. Walker honestly didn’t think he would see the guy again. The kid’s jumpy
nature grated on his nerves.
The bar cheered at the Knicks’
three-point basket at the buzzer. After signing the credit receipt, he chucked
deuces to his crew. Dead on his feet, Walker headed for the exit. He couldn’t
wait for his head to hit the pillow.
As his phone vibrated in his
pants, he fought the urge to ignore it, but habit forced him to fish it out of
his pocket.
“Walker,” he answered.
“Well, if it isn’t my Knight in
shining armor,” the woman cooed.
Walker stopped in his tracks.
That voice was straight out of his past. A form of Neverland—not all bad, but
not one he wanted to deal with.
A shoulder check from a drunk
blonde got him back into gear. She winked on her way past, and he smiled in
return but offered nothing more. “Thought I would never hear from you again.
How did you crawl your way back from the dead, Eden Morgan?” he said.
Excerpt 2
As he stepped onto the wraparound
porch to unlock the door, he promised himself to make this visit a quick in and
out. J8 wanted Ashe released into their custody. If the agency didn’t have a
history of turning and burning their targets, he would have given her up
willingly a few weeks back.
Walker reached for the ancient
lock and opened the front door to the blue-colored wood home. A full-on assault
of rich tomato sauce intermingling with the ocean breeze smacked him in the
face.
It had been closed off for the
better part of a decade, so Walker hadn’t stepped into it since his teen years.
Before Ashe’s arrival, sheets had covered the furniture. He took in the bright
tones of blue and cream that warmed the house.
Following the sound of voices
toward the patio, he noted the changes she’d made to the cottage since he’d stashed
her there. Once furnished in thick fabrics and dark tones, the light and airy
ambience enhanced the feel-good energy of his old summer haunt.
The sound of Ashe’s laughter drew
him into the kitchen, where pots boiled and bubbled on top of the stove. His
stomach rumbled from the heady aroma, but the sight of Ashe shook him to his
core. Walker hadn’t felt this type of attraction to a woman in years.
Clad in a bikini and a skimpy
cover-up, she stood outside the French doors. Wild, reddish-brown curls streamed
down her back. He’d suggested she change her appearance, but he’d had no idea
Ashe would resemble something out of a 1950s B-movie.
The absolute best genre ever!
“Are you looking to replace that
flooring upstairs?” Nosey neighbor Tom’s nasally tone snapped him back to
reality. “Dan, two streets over, is a whiz with carpentry.”
Ashe raked stray leaves from the
pool with the cleaning pole. “Not sure. I’ll have to check with—” She stopped
mid-sentence. “Speaking of the devil.”
Walker stepped out of the house,
and she greeted him with a smile.
“Walker!” Tom scrambled to get up
from the lounge chair. His nosey-ass neighbor had built his deck above
eye-level of the fence, a fact that hadn’t gone unnoticed by his grandparents.
“What’s it been…ten years?”
He waved for the old man to take
a seat before he fell over. “I haven’t been able to get out this way much,” he
admitted. Without his grandparents around, he’d felt no need to visit.
“Military, right? Then what?
Private work for the government?”
Walker didn’t answer. He could
tell the man didn’t know anything.
“Your fiancée here has been quite
the hit around the neighborhood.”
“How so?” he asked, intrigued
about Ashe’s title, among other things. She’d remodeled his grandparents’ home,
cooked and flirted with his lusty neighbor. Apparently, the gorgeous attorney
had been bored.
“What am I going on about? You
two haven’t had a proper greeting. Go on and give your fella a smooch hello.”
“We’re fine. We don’t need to—”
Walker began.
Ashe’s soft lips cut off his next
word. Against good common sense but not his will, he put his hands around her
waist and deepened their kiss.
A warm ball of lust spread
through his body. Revved up, he wanted more, but she pulled out of his grip
with a wink. “I’ve got dinner going. We’ll catch you later,” Ashe said to Tom.
“Oh, okay. Yeah, I’ve got a new
Jeopardy to watch anyway,” Tom muttered.
Walker grabbed her hand and led
her into the house.
With a sexy laugh, she hurried to
close the double doors. “Sorry about that. The snitch would have ratted us out
to the whole neighborhood by the time the ten o’clock news hit the air.”
Walker bit back a smile. “So,
we’re engaged now…”
