Small-town Texas with high-stakes risks Alice Green lives with ghosts. A rogue cop whose mistake led to the loss of a young girl’s parents, Alice is haunted by the decisions that halted her sterling career. And now the same girl who lost her parents has been abducted. And Alice will stop at nothing to find her. Joshua O’Brien doesn’t want to tell his brothers—fellow inheritors of his deceased parents’ ranch—that he has bigger plans. Applying to work for the FBI brings the possibility of an exciting and illustrious career. But when he meets Alice, whose beauty is only surpassesd by her brain, it doesn’t take long for things to heat up. And while helping her crack a case might save a life…it could also cost him his own. Cattlemen Crime Club There was fire to her eyes now. Fire and spark. It was what he’d come to love about her. Hold on… Love? That was a strong word to describe his feelings. “I had a choice just like everyone else. Bad things happen to good people all the time and whatever happens in childhood isn’t a child’s fault,” Alice said, and he already knew he was in trouble with her. “But the day I turned eighteen, I figured that I had a choice about my life. I could blame my rough situation on everyone else and be miserable. Or I could take charge of my life and find happiness. Not that I’m all that great about that last part. I make mistakes, but I’m giving my best effort.” Alice stood toe-to-toe with him now. What she lacked in height she made up for in spirit. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said. Staring into those blue eyes was like looking straight into the sun. He was going to get burned. He just didn’t know how badly yet. One Tough Texan Barb Han USA TODAY bestselling author BARB HAN lives in north Texas with her very own hero-worthy husband, three beautiful children, a spunky golden retriever/standard poodle mix and too many books in her to-read pile. In her downtime, she plays video games and spends much of her time on or around a basketball court. She loves interacting with readers and is grateful for their support. You can reach her at www.barbhan.com. I feel hugely blessed to be a Harlequin author. Working with my editor, Allison Lyons, is truly better than any gift I’ve unwrapped during the holidays. The same rings true for my agent, Jill Marsal. Thank you both! Merry Christmas to Brandon, Jacob and Tori. I love all three of you. I hope you always know how very much! The best present in my life has been you, Babe. Thank you for always encouraging me to follow my dreams and enjoying every step of the way as much as I do. With you, every day feels like Christmas. I love you! Contents Joshua O’Brien eased his foot off the gas pedal. His Jeep shuddered before the power died. He was out of gas in a flash flood thirty miles from the family ranch in Bluff, Texas. He cursed his floating gas gauge as he pushed open the driver’s side door. Running two towns over to Harlan to pick up a box of donations to be auctioned off at his family’s annual Christmas Benefit wasn’t exactly his idea of an exciting Friday night. When the Nelson widow had opened the door in her red silk bathrobe and then offered him a nightcap, he’d been even less thrilled. Drawing the short straw to make that pickup—and deal with the seventy-year-old Mrs. Nelson—was just one in a long list of reasons that Joshua wasn’t cut out for the family business at the Longhorn Cattlemen Ranch and Rifleman’s Club and it made him miss his job in law enforcement that much more. Could he make his temporary leave permanent in order to stay on at the ranch? The decision could wait. He shook off his bad luck, grabbed a gas container from the back and trudged through the ankle-deep water. According to his phone’s GPS, there should be a gas station a few blocks ahead. He figured he could walk there and back quicker than one of his brothers could drive into town from the ranch to get him so he set out on foot rather than make a call for help and admit his own stupidity. It was the kind of pitch-black night outside that made it hard to see much past the end of his nose. His eyes would adjust in a few minutes. A bolt of lightning raced sideways across the sky, emphasizing layers of thick gray clouds as far as he could see. This storm wasn’t passing
