âItâs not like I can get pregnant all over again.â
âThis is a bad idea.â
âProbably,â Nicole said with a fleeting smile that did strange things to his insides. âBut at the moment I canât say I care. Weâre both adults and, given the situation, I think itâs only natural that weâve got⦠closer.â
She took a deep breath, and for the first time Ethan saw a hint of nerves.
She exhaled and twined her fingers together beneath her robe. His job was to protect her, not take advantage of her. But how could he resist what she was offering? Especially when she said, âI want this. I really do.â That was all it took.
To Joanna Wayne, Ann Voss Peterson, Elle James, Kathleen Long and Cassie Miles, for joining me in writing the six books of this series, and to Allison Lyons for conceiving these wonderful stories.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Though sheâs tried out professions ranging from cleaning sea lion cages to cloning glaucoma genes, from patent law to training horses, Jessica is happiest when sheâs combining all these interests with her first love: writing romances. These days sheâs delighted to be writing full-time on a farm in rural Connecticut that she shares with a small menagerie and a hero named Brian. She hopes youâll visit her at www.JessicaAndersen.com for info on upcoming books, contests and to say âhi!â
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Ethan Moore â A loner who freelances for Prescott Personal Security (PPS) as a bodyguard. Ethan doesnât consider himself part of the PPS team and has no intention of replacing the wife he lost years ago.
Nicole Benedict â When trouble with her biofuel project and ex-boyfriend drives her to cut loose for a night, Nic has no idea how much trouble sheâs going to wind up in, or how far sheâll have to go to save the child she and Ethan conceive that night.
Robert Prescott â The ex-British-intelligence founder of PPS has miraculously returned from the dead, only to find that things have changed while he was away. Now heâs fighting for his life on one front, fighting for his marriage on another.
Evangeline Prescott â Robertâs wife kept PPS running â and flourishing â while waiting for his return. Now that heâs back, she refuses to let him take over the investigation that could end with both of their deaths.
Clive Fuentes â Robertâs ex-mentor used him as a front for dirty business dealings, then tried to kill him when he got too close to the truth.
Stephen Turner â The head of media mega-corporation Tri Corp. Media (TCM) seems clean, but if thatâs the case, why do so many of the clues lead back to TCM?
Olivia Turner â Robertâs ex-wife, now married to the head of TCM, is an unhappy woman.
Chapter One
Colorado,USA
âIâm here to see Ethan Moore at Prescott Personal Securities.â Nicole Benedict resisted the urge to wipe her damp palms on her jeans. The lobby of the posh Denver office building was cooler than the summer day outside, but the air-conditioning did little to quell her nervous jitters.
The uniformed guard tapped the touch pad on his computer screen, selecting the roster for PPS. âAnd you are?â
âNicole Benedict. I donât have an appointment.â And it was a good bet Ethan wouldnât recognize her name.
Heck, sheâd be surprised if he recognized her face. It had only been a couple of months since theyâd met at Hitchinâ My Getalong, a hokey themed bar in the heart of the city, but the handsome, brooding stranger hadnât been real sober when sheâd hitched her getalong up onto the bar stool beside him.
Okay, neither of them had been real sober that night.
âSign in here.â The guard handed over a digital pad that reminded Nicole of the ones the courier guy used when he delivered her research supplies.
The thought brought a wince. Unless she found a new sponsor for her biofuel project at Donner High School, the research would be doomed before the school year started. Then again, ten weeks ago, the conjunction of the defunct sponsorship, her thirty-fourth birthday and the one-year anniversary of her ex-engagement to Jonah I-prefer-blondes Douglas had been the most important things in her universe.
How quickly things change, she thought as she used the plastic wand to scrawl her name, destination and the time sheâd entered the building onto the pressure pad. She glanced at the blank âtime outâ box and tried not to wonder how long her meeting would take. What Ethan would say.
Swallowing hard, she accepted a visitorâs badge from the guard and headed for the elevator. The deep blue carpet was springy underfoot. The elevator doors were made of copper-colored metal, and etched with repeating symbols that reminded her of the Navajo blanket on her bed. A classy plaque beside the call buttons bore the names of the megadollar companies that leased space in the downtown skyscraper. Prescott Personal Securities was listed at the very bottom, indicating that it was located on the top floor. Prime real estate.