>
“I know you won’t shoot me in the back,” Abby said.
“You try something stupid and you know I’ll come after you,” Jake responded.
She rolled her eyes. “Look, I’m not some Denver daisy who went out for a jog this morning. I’ve trained for six months for this. I’m in good shape.”
He didn’t want to think about what kind of shape she was in. He’d seen her long, toned legs and flat belly. He’d seen the muscle definition in her arms. Yeah, she was in damn good shape, all right. So good he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
She approached him. “Let me go.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m a cop, damn it.”
Jake didn’t want to have this conversation. It wasn’t his responsibility to judge her guilt or innocence or any of those gray areas in between. All he was supposed to do was take her back.
And he planned to do that, come hell or high water.
Dear Reader,
Once again, Intimate Moments invites you to experience the thrills and excitement of six wonderful romances, starting with Justine Davis’s Just Another Day in Paradise. This is the first in her new miniseries, REDSTONE, INCORPORATED, and you’ll be hooked from the first page to the last by this suspenseful tale of two meant-to-be lovers who have a few issues to work out on the way to a happy ending—like being taken hostage on what ought to be an island paradise.
ROMANCING THE CROWN continues with Secret-Agent Sheik, by Linda Winstead Jones. Hassan Kamal is one of those heroes no woman can resist—except for spirited Elena Rahman, and even she can’t hold out for long. Our introduction to the LONE STAR COUNTRY CLUB winds up with Maggie Price’s Moment of Truth. Lovers are reunited and mysteries are solved—but not all of them, so be sure to look for our upcoming anthology, Lone Star Country Club: The Debutantes, next month. RaeAnne Thayne completes her OUTLAW HARTES trilogy with Cassidy Harte and the Comeback Kid, featuring the return of the prodigal groom. Linda Castillo is back with Just a Little Bit Dangerous, about a romantic Rocky Mountain rescue. Finally, welcome new author Jenna Mills, whose Smoke and Mirrors will have you eagerly looking forward to her next book.
And, as always, be sure to come back next month for more of the best romantic reading around, right here in Intimate Moments.
Enjoy!
Leslie J. Wainger
Executive Senior Editor
Just a Little Bit Dangerous
Linda Castillo
LINDA CASTILLO
grew up in a small farming community in western Ohio. She knew from a very early age that she wanted to be a writer—and penned her first novel at the age of thirteen, during one of those long Ohio winters. Her dream of becoming a published author came true the day Silhouette called and wanted to buy one of her books!
Romance is at the heart of all her stories. She loves the idea of two fallible people falling in love amid danger and against their better judgment—or so they think. She enjoys watching them struggle through their problems, realize their weaknesses and strengths along the way and, ultimately, fall head over heels in love.
She is the winner of numerous writing awards, including the prestigious Maggie Award for Excellence. In 1999, she was a triple Romance Writers of America Golden Heart finalist and took first place in the romantic suspense division. In 2001, she was a RITA® finalist with her first Silhouette release, Remember the Night.
Linda spins her tales of love and intrigue from her home in Dallas, Texas, where she lives with her husband and three lovable dogs. Check out her Web site at www.lindacastillo.com. Or you can contact her at P.O. Box 670501, Dallas, Texas 75367-0501.
To Papi,
Because you couldn’t put it down.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 1
He smelled adrenaline the instant he walked into Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue headquarters. It hung in the air like spent powder after a gunshot. Rich and electric and as contagious as an airborne disease to a man who lived for the high.
Jake Madigan lived for the high.
His own adrenaline had ebbed and flowed since the 4:00 a.m. call that had rolled him out of bed. As head of the RMSAR equine unit, he normally didn’t attend the briefings. For most call-outs—a lost hiker or injured rock climber—Jake hauled his horse directly to the site, disembarked and took to the high country. This time, however, team leader Buzz Malone had made it a point to ask him to be at the mass briefing. Jake wondered what had drawn six men from their beds at four o’clock on a Sunday morning. He wondered if it had anything to do with the Colorado Department of Corrections van parked outside.
Shaking off the cold, he hung his duster on the coat tree, set his Stetson on top, and started down the hall where he could hear his fellow team members settling in. In most cases, he’d been told the briefings were informal and held in the galley. This morning, however, the galley stood empty, and light blazed from the war room. A room usually reserved for the press or high-profile operations run by government agency bigwigs.
Jake didn’t much care for government agency bigwigs.
He entered the war room and scanned its occupants, his eyes grinding to a halt on the two men at the front wearing wrinkled suits and grim expressions. He knew immediately the suits belonged to the D.O.C. van outside. He wondered if they’d lost one of their clientele; if they were more interested in getting their convict back—or covering their bureaucratic butts.
At the coffee station set up at the rear, medic John Maitland dumped caffeine into a disposable cup. Snagging his own cup from the table, Jake held it out. “You look like you’ve been up all night, Maitland.”
He filled Jake’s cup. “I drew baby-feeding duty last night.”
Jake wasn’t too keen on the domestic scene these days, but the thought of his teammate getting up in the middle of the night to feed a screaming baby made him grin nonetheless. Nine months ago John Maitland had been a confirmed bachelor. All that had changed the day he’d rescued a pretty redhead up on Elk Ridge. He was now married, with a three-month-old baby girl. Even sleep-deprived he looked happy as hell.
“Baby-feeding duty, huh?” Jake said.
“Beth is breastfeeding, but we’re supplementing with bottles at night so we can take turns with the night shifts. It was my turn last night.”
The word “breastfeeding” rang uncomfortably in Jake’s ears. Trying not to wince, he waited a beat then changed the subject. “What’s up with the D.O.C. van outside?”
“Inmate sneaked out a gymnasium window