This Good Man
A man of integrity…or not? The moment Captain Reid Sawyer helps social worker Anna Grant with a sticky situation, she's hooked. He's gorgeous and clearly interested in her. Yet even as he pursues her, she senses he's holding back. For someone who prizes honesty and doing the right thing, how much of his evasion can Anna tolerate? Her trust in Reid is further shaken when he confesses what he's done to protect his newly discovered brother. Is Reid really one of the good guys?Then he's involved in a hostage situation. Suddenly, she fears she could lose him before telling him how she truly feels!
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A man of integrityâ¦or not?
The moment Captain Reid Sawyer helps social worker Anna Grant with a sticky situation, sheâs hooked. Heâs gorgeous and clearly interested in her. Yet even as he pursues her, she senses heâs holding back. For someone who prizes honesty and doing the right thing, how much of his evasion can Anna tolerate?
Her trust in Reid is further shaken when he confesses what heâs done to protect his newly discovered brother. Is Reid really one of the good guys? Then heâs involved in a hostage situation. Suddenly, she fears she could lose him before telling him how she truly feels!
She couldnât look away from Reid now.
Anna wanted him to kiss her more than she could remember wanting anything in a long time.
His head bent slowly, either because he was giving her time to retreat or because he himself was hesitant. She quit blinking, only stared into his eyes. And then his lips touched hers. They were cold, but his puff of breath warmed her face.
A sound seemed to vibrate in his chest, and he tilted his head to fit their mouths more closely together. Anna reached out and gripped the sleek fabric of his jacket, her knuckles bumping something hard. Was he carrying a pistol under there? But right this second, she couldnât bring herself to care. Her eyes closed and she reveled in the astonishing feel of him nipping at her lips, his tongue stroking the seam until she opened her mouth and let him in.
And then it only got better.
Iâve created many troubled heroesâheck, theyâre my specialty!âbut Reid Sawyer is one of my all-time favorites. He was more of a challenge than some to write, too, because heâs not an angry man, he doesnât lash out and he rarely if ever raises his voice. Most people see him as cool, strong, unemotional. He feels driven by duty and, yes, vicarious revenge on a brutal father. In fact, he sees himself as damaged, incapable of real emotion, especially the softer kinds. This is a man who is utterly self-contained, capable of suppressing any powerful emotion almost before it appears.
Maybe thatâs what made it so satisfying to challenge his beliefs. First he discovers he has a younger brother who needs him, and then he falls in love with a woman despite himselfâand the poor man doesnât recognize whatâs happening to him! Hmm. Come to think of it, he may be the perfect man: calm, competent, protective, quiet and tidy. Well, okay, a guy who says âI love youâ once in a while is nice, too!
I never plan my books by thinking, âthis one is about the hero,â or âthis one is about the heroine.â But most often they come out that way, with the focus most intensely on one character or the other. Sometimes Iâm really taken by surprise. Iâve got to admit, though, with only a couple of exceptions, my favorites among my books are hero-centric ones. So maybe I should plan betterâ¦.
Hereâs hoping you, too, fall in love with Reid while youâre saying goodbye to Angel Butte, Oregon, the setting for what was originally intended to be a trilogy but grew to five books. And you never knowâI may decide to revisit Angel Butte one of these days!
Janice Kay Johnson
An author of more than eighty books for children and adults, USA TODAY bestselling author JANICE KAY JOHNSON is especially well-known for her Mills & Boon Superromance novels about love and familyâabout the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her 2007 novel Snowbound won a RITA® Award from Romance Writers of America for Best Contemporary Series Romance. A former librarian, Janice raised two daughters in a small rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She loves to read and is an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter. Visit her online at www.janicekayjohnson.com.
Contents
THE SHOPPING MALL in a suburb of Spokane was new since Reid Sawyer had grown up in this northeastern corner of Washington State. Reid glanced around, approving the choice of this end of the mall. The boy didnât know him. Heâd been smart to pick someplace busy enough to be safe and yet deserted enough that they wouldnât draw attention. The kid had good instincts.
The thought was followed by a soundless grunt. The boyâs instincts had been honed in the same hard school his own had been. Of course his wariness had been sharpened to a razor edge.
It was the same instinct that had Reid choosing a hard plastic seat with its back to a wall. The seats were situated at the corner of an L where, by barely turning his head, he could watch both the little-used mall entrance in one direction and, in the other direction, a wing that eventually dead-ended at a Macyâs. The small stores closest to him didnât depend much on browsers, which meant that, down at this end, traffic was light and teenagers few and far between. Pearle Vision, Regis Salon, Sleep Country USA, a vitamin and food supplements storeâall destination businesses. Reid could almost relax. He settled down to wait.
