Tamed
SHE WAS OFF LIMITS UNTIL HER LIFE WAS ON THE LINE…Agent Shane Baker has denied his attraction to his best friend's younger sister for years. But when computer guru Makena Kingston’s latest online investigation stirs up a series of break-ins, Shane isn’t about to let the vulnerable beauty fend for herself. Makena refuses to be seen as anything but the alpha male’s equal…even as she finds comfort in his protective arms. But soon they uncover the threat to Makena is closer than either of them expected. With Shane’s bodyguard instincts on overdrive, he knows keeping his professional distance will be nearly impossible. Because even the most highly trained operative has his breaking point.
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Makena was off-limits.
Shane had done the marriage thing and failed miserably. The idea of trying something light and no-strings with Makena might work if she werenât his best friendâs baby sister and a woman he knew would expect more than a few nights of meaningless sex.
She deserved moreâdeserved better than him.
He worked long hours and traveled all the time. He loved his job with the Corcoran Team, the off-the-books undercover group that took on high-risk rescue jobs for companies and governments. He lived with danger. Thrived on it.
Dragging Makena into that lifeâno matter how hard it was to forget her face even as he traveled thousands of miles awayâwould be a mistake.
He needed to watch over her. No kissing. No fun. Just two old friends talking.
Now, if he could only get his brain and body on the same page.
HELENKAY DIMON, an award-winning author, spent twelve years in the most unromantic career everâdivorce lawyer. After dedicating all that effort to helping people terminate relationships, she is thrilled to deal in happy endings and write romance novels for a living. Now her days are filled with gardening, writing, reading and spending time with her family in and around San Diego. Stop by her website, www.helenkaydimon.com, and say hello.
To Allison Lyons for her patience, support and editing. I appreciate everything you do even though I sometimes forget to say it.
Contents
Makena Kingston had spent most of her life waiting for Shane Baker to wake up and notice her. Tonight she waited for him to pull into the guest parking space so they could have dinner.
Sheâd called him on a whim. A simple âCome over and weâll eat.â It seemed innocent enough. He had a few days off from the Corcoran Team, the undercover squad where he worked with his best friend, her big brother, Holt.
Sheâd asked this morning, and the hours since had ticked by in painful slowness. Now she glanced out the window over her kitchen sink, looking for Shane. Glancedâas in looked for the five hundredth time.
From this position she could see the steps down to a small lawn area and a much bigger gravel-covered spot. The brightly colored cottages sat in a row, close together, allowing for some privacy but not much. The close quarters and general lack of updating helped her afford the place.
Maybe fifteen feet separated her deck from the one next door. Sometimes she could hear her neighbors, a young married couple, argue. They did that a lot, and about everything. Makena often thought marital longevity might not be on their side.
The night fell over Lannaker Estates, the fancy name for the development of cozy single-level homes perched on a small hill overlooking the Chester River. This part of Maryland, the Eastern Shore, possessed the bucolic feel of a university town, which it was. Small and quaint, close to the Chesapeake Bay and about an hour and a half from Washington, DC. Nothing much happened in Chestertown, and she liked it that way.
For the five hundred and first time, she glanced out back on her Shane watch. This time she saw a dark SUV parked parallel to the neighbor coupleâs back porch. She couldnât make out the exact color thanks to the fading early fall sunlight. Probably just someone coming to referee the fighting coupleâs newest argument.
She could make out two people...wearing all black. That struck her as a little much for this time of year. Theyâd moved out of shorts weather, but the cool breezes hadnât started yet.
Yeah, all black and...she balanced her palms on the counter and leaned in closer. She blinked a few times as she tried to figure out what she was seeing. It was as if the two peopleâmen, she thought from their wide-shouldered buildsâstalked the house. They separated. One stopped at a utility box attached to the house and did something. She couldnât quite tell what. The other went to the back door and dropped down on one knee.
Then they raced. Stormed the back of the neighborâs house. She switched from the window at the sink to the one on the side of her house. With her back to the wall, she peeked around the window frame and watched a bulky figure run through the back of the house next door.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, and her chest ached from the force of her heavy breathing. When a bang rang out in the quiet night, she gasped. She fought to drag air into her lungs, but her body stopped working. As if the messages from her brain just kept misfiring.
She stood, frozen, as her gaze searched from window to window, looking for any sign of movement. Thoughts jumbled in her muddled brain and she tried to think. It was as if someone had thrown a blanket over her, slowing down every movement and blocking every thought. She needed to do something. She should...the phone.
