The Vigilante Lover

Everything inside her went still.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping with the dishes.”

More like helping mow down her last remaining defenses.

Jen knew she should tell him to move or step away herself, but she couldn’t. He felt too good. The warm spice of his dark masculine scent had her wanting to turn and bury her face in his neck.

As they rinsed off the suds, he nuzzled his stubbled jaw against her cheek. Every nerve ending popped and the heat she’d felt all night edged into need.

“Man, you smell good,” he breathed. “I just want to eat you up.”

“Okay,” she said dazedly. A faint voice warned she wasn’t supposed to agree like that.

Dear Reader,

Some heroes just get you right there. For me, Walker McClain is one of those guys. Tall. Gorgeous. Broodingly sexy.

Walker last appeared on the page at his brother’s wedding, and that night he fell in love. In short order, he got everything he ever wanted—a beautiful wife, a baby on the way and a job as a firefighter and SWAT medic. He still has the job, but two and a half years ago his wife and unborn child were murdered during a brutal mugging by someone witnesses described as a homeless man. Over the past six months, several homeless men have been killed and set on fire. The cops’ prime suspect? Walker McClain.

Firefighter Jen Lawson snags the assignment to go undercover and find out if the murder of Walker’s wife transformed him into a vigilante. She’s touched by the devotion Walker felt for his wife and knocked off balance by an intense attraction to him. Still, Jen is determined to do her job…without falling for the man who might be a killer.

Since Walker first appeared in Melting Point, I’ve gotten a lot of mail from readers asking for his story. I hope you enjoy it.

Warmly,

Debra Cowan

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Like many writers, Debra made up stories in her head as a child. Her B.A. in English was obtained with the intention of following family tradition and becoming a schoolteacher, but after she wrote her first novel, there was no looking back. After years of working another job in addition to writing, she now devotes herself full-time to penning both historical and contemporary romances. An avid history buff, Debra enjoys traveling. She has visited places as diverse as Europe and Honduras, where she and her husband served as part of a medical mission team. Born in the foothills of the Kiamichi Mountains, Debra still lives in her native Oklahoma with her husband and their two beagles, Maggie and Domino.

Debra invites her readers to contact her at P.O. Box 30123, Coffee Creek Station, Edmond, OK 73003-0003 or via e-mail at her Web site, www.debracowan.net.

Many thanks to Cody Goodnight for answering my questions about firefighter and paramedic procedures. You were a tremendous help!

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

P resley firefighter Walker McClain did his best to slip back unnoticed into his firehouse, which was tricky considering the entire crew was gathered in an empty engine bay. It helped that everyone in the loose circle had their backs to him and that all three bay doors were open.

It was straight-up 7:00 a.m. on the first twenty-four hours of his new shift. He wasn’t late, but like the other firefighters he typically reported for work ten or fifteen minutes early, and people would notice that today he hadn’t. He’d spent two of his four days off working on his “obsession,” as his brother called it.

Even this early in the morning, September in Oklahoma had plenty of heat and humidity. Walker moved all the way inside Station House Three. Thumbing a bead of sweat from his temple, he eased up next to his buddy, Dylan Shepherd.

He could feel Shep’s steely gaze on him and kept his own attention fixed straight ahead on Captain Yearwood and the dark-haired woman beside him. He wasn’t telling Shep where he’d been. He didn’t want to see the looks or hear the questions.

“What’s going on?” he asked quietly.

Shep inclined his head toward the woman. “Her. That’s what.”

And she did have it going on, Walker admitted reluctantly. Even the PFD’s standard uniform of navy blue pants and a crisp, light blue shirt couldn’t conceal her sleek, tight curves. His gaze skimmed down her body, then took a much slower trip on the way back up. Long legs, slender hips, breasts that would just fit his—

“Everybody, meet Jen Lawson,” Captain Yearwood boomed, to be heard over the occasional street noise coming in through the open bay doors. He gestured to the group of seven firefighters, indicating the only other female on their shift, Shelby Fox Jessup. “You’ve met Jessup.”

The women exchanged smiles.

“Next to her is Farris, then Shepherd and McClain.” The captain, a lean man with gray hair and sharp, dark eyes, glanced at Walker. “McClain, you’ll want to get with Lawson.”