Tempted into Danger
“Keep the asset safe or die trying.” When a simple mission to deliver the beautiful and brilliant Vanessa Crosby to a safe house goes horribly wrong, ICE agent Diego Santero’s life gets complicated.Keeping the anti-crime analyst safe from the notorious mercenaries after her program will put everything he’s worked for at risk. Relentlessly hunted and not knowing whom to trust, Diego takes Vanessa on the run, deep into the heart of the deadly Panamanian rainforest.Vanessa reminds herself that she’s just another asset to the ruggedly handsome black ops agent…until their intense situation leads to a release of passion neither expected. But even if they make it out alive, how can they ever have a future together?
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âKeep the asset safe or die trying.â
When a simple mission to deliver the beautiful and brilliant Vanessa Crosby to a safe house goes horribly wrong, ICE agent Diego Santeroâs life gets complicated. Keeping the anti-crime analyst safe from the notorious mercenaries after her program will put everything heâs worked for at risk.
Relentlessly hunted and not knowing whom to trust, Diego takes Vanessa on the run, deep into the heart of the deadly Panamanian rainforest. Vanessa reminds herself that sheâs just another asset to the ruggedly handsome black ops agentâ¦until their intense situation leads to a release of passion neither expected. But even if they make it out alive, how can they ever have a future together?
âWhy shouldnât I kiss you again?â she demanded. âGive me one good reason why we shouldnât do something we both want. And donât you dare deny it.â
He whirled on her. The look on his face was dark, pained. âYou need a reason?â
She raised her chin a notch. âYes.â
Three steps and he was before her, his hands on her shoulders. His eyes squeezed closed, and he lowered his forehead to hers. She wasnât sure if touching him would help or hinder his ability to get the words out, so she held herself still.
He brushed his thumb across her cheek. âBecause one kiss with you wouldnât be enough for me.â
âAnd thatâs a problem?â
âHell, yes, itâs a problem. Becauseâ¦â He went silent.
âTell me.â
âBecause all the things you deserve, I canât give you any of them. I canât even tell you my real name.â
Dear Reader,
I love setting my books in locations so vibrant and fascinating that the stories couldnât happen anywhere else in the world. Panama, the setting for Tempted into Danger, is just such a place.
This small strip of landâan isthmus, if you recall from your grade school geography lessonsâis an epicenter of history, business, cultures and wild jungle. It is a true cross section of diversity, where the American dollar is the official currency, yet the roads are measured in kilometers. Where international banking and tourism flourish, but so does international crime.
When Diego Santero, the hero of my story, flies a helicopter over the Panama Canal into the rainforest, I want you to feel like youâre right there with him. Okay, maybe not the dodging bullets part of the helicopter chase scene, but the part where youâre soaring over untamed wilderness, with the Panama City skyline and Pacific Ocean behind you and the Atlantic Ocean in front of you as you race across the sky in an adventure for the ages. And when the pilot is as lethally sexy as Diego Santero? Well, thatâs the stuff great romance novels are made of. Open up the pages of this book and youâll never be so tempted to fall straight into the arms of danger.
Happy Reading!
Melissa Cutler
MELISSA CUTLER
is a flip-flop-wearing Southern California native living with her husband, two rambunctious kids and two suspicious cats in beautiful San Diego. She divides her time between her dual passions for writing sexy, small-town contemporary romances and edge-of-your-seat romantic suspense. Find out more about Melissa and her books at www.melissacutler.net or drop her a line at [email protected].
Every day around the world, women and men put their lives on the line in defense of freedom and the innocent. The story is dedicated to them.
Contents
Chapter 1
Panama
Gotta love Uncle Sam. He carried a big stick and an even bigger ego, which was the only explanation Diego Santero could think of for the presence of an actual freakinâ sign on the door of the Department of Homeland Securityâs ICE attaché office advertising its presence in Panama City.
Not that Diegoâs ego was any less bloated than the federal stiffs who issued him a salary, but at least he had the common sense to practice discretion. Too often his life and the lives of his crew depended on it.
Diego breezed past the officeâs main doors without slowing, striding around the rear of the building to an unmarked entrance. Flipping the bird to the goons watching him through the security camera, he slipped his key card through the slot, verified his fingerprints on the scanner, then shouldered the heavy door open.
The first floor corridor reeked of bureaucracyâthe stale odor of air conditioning and burnt coffee and the dust of constantly shuffled reams of paperwork. He peeled his sunglasses from his sweat-sticky face and tucked them in his shirt pocket, squinting up at the fluorescent lights lining the corridorâs ceiling.
Most people preferred a climate-controlled office to the humid heat outside, but if ever there was a man not cut out for white-collar work, it was Diego. Thank God the U.S. Navy had offered him an alternative when he was an eighteen-year-old punk. A childhood spent under the fluorescent lights of the New Jersey public school system had been enough desk work in government buildings to last him a lifetime.
