LITMIR.BIZ

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      “Give the guy a prize. And you’re the fish boy from the Cape Churn Marina. Sorry if I don’t recall your name.” She rocked beneath him, wrinkling her nose, looking not in the least sorry about forgetting his name. She arched her back, pressing her breasts against him. “Get off me.”

      “I will.” He couldn’t help his body’s natural reaction to this beautiful woman’s breasts rubbing against his chest or the way her pelvis rose with each attempt to unseat him. “I’ll let you up as soon as you promise not to throw me again.”

      She seemed to think about it, finally saying, “I promise. Now move.” Her words were strained, tight and insolent.

      To Dave, her whole attitude proved to be more of a red cape flung in the face of a bull.

      Her last visit to Cape Churn she had been aloof, distant to everyone and completely unruffled by the terrorist threatening the small town.

      She’d also given him one brief glance and then treated him as if he were a pesky fly to be shooed away. Her whole attitude had rubbed him the wrong way. He’d blown it off, knowing she wouldn’t be around long. But here she was, back in his town. Lying beneath his body.

      Interesting.

      Now that he knew she wasn’t a threat, he wasn’t as eager to let her go. Especially since he wasn’t entirely sure she’d keep her promise. Dave smiled down into her angry face.

      “I promised,” she reminded him. “You can move.”

      He chuckled. “I don’t know. I’m thinking I need to check you over...for injuries, of course.”

      “I can take care of myself,” she insisted.

      He eased to the side, his hands sliding across her arms. “You could have a broken bone.”

      She slapped his hand away. “I think I could tell if I had a broken bone. I’d feel the pain. And right now the only pain I’m feeling is the pain in my neck. And that’s you.” She shoved him back and tried to stand.

      As soon as she did, her face blanched. She swayed and would have fallen had Dave not risen with her and grabbed her on her way down.

      He scooped her up in his arms. “All kidding aside, you need to see a doctor.”

      “No!” She fought, her feet kicking out. She almost kneed him in the face.

      Dave grunted, struggling to keep his grip. “Really, you took a pretty significant spill. You might have a concussion.”

      “No hospitals, no police... Can’t trust...” Her eyes rolled back and she passed out. From a wiggling, spitting she-cat to a deadweight, she lay in his arms, her body completely limp.

      Great. Now what was he supposed to do with her?

      He loaded her into the passenger seat of his truck and went to stash her motorcycle behind a bush on the side of the road until he could get back to pick it up. First, he had to get Nicole Steele some medical attention. He punched a number on his cell phone and waited.

      “Emma?”

      “Dave, is that you?” Emma’s voice sounded concerned. “Everything okay?”

      “I don’t know. Where are you?”

      “At the Seaside Café with friends. What do you need?”

      “Meet me at my boat at the marina ASAP.”

      “Dave, what’s going on?” she asked.

      “Just meet me there and I’ll explain.” He clicked the phone off, shifted his truck into Drive and hurried to the marina, his safe haven. The one place he felt at home. Hopefully, once Emma got there, she’d talk sense into this woman and get her to see a doctor.

      He glanced down at her still body, sprawled out across the bench seat of his old truck. For the first time since he’d known her, she appeared vulnerable, not the kick-ass female that looked like a model but could knock the stuffing out of any guy who thought she was a cream puff. Hadn’t she just kicked his butt?

      Then why was every protective instinct in him coming to life? The woman obviously didn’t want his help, though she needed it, considering she was out cold. Wasn’t she?

      Dave pressed two fingers to the base of her throat and held his breath, waiting for the thump of blood passing through her veins. He let out a long-held breath when he felt the steady thrum of life. So she wasn’t dead. The fact she was unconscious couldn’t be good.

      Hopefully, Emma could get her to go to the emergency room. An ambulance could pick her up and she’d be off his hands and out of his truck. He didn’t particularly want to be saddled with her, but having hit her with his truck, he figured he at least owed her the courtesy of getting her medical attention, even if the accident had been her fault. She’d run the stop sign.

      Dave knew Steele and her teammates were some kind of government special agents, he just wasn’t sure which branch—FBI, CIA or something else. She’d arrived a few months ago to help stop a terrorist plot going down in Cape Churn. She’d worked with two other men: Creed Thomas and Casanova Valdez.

      Whoever they were, they were on their game, something Dave could appreciate. When he’d been a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces, he’d been equally dedicated to his country and his commanding officers. Until his unit had been fed faulty intel and bad orders.

      It was while he’d served in Afghanistan he’d learned that getting too close to someone, male or female, left you vulnerable to the devastating pain of loss. He was better off keeping his distance.

      When he pulled into the parking lot of the marina, three other vehicles were already there. A Jeep and two other SUVs.

      Emma was the first to greet him, stepping up to his door as he climbed down from his truck. “Where’s the fire? Why the secretive call?”

      He moved aside.

      The overhead light shone down on Tazer’s light blond hair.

      “Nicole.” Emma’s eyes rounded. “Is she...?”

      “She’s alive, just passed out.”

      Emma rounded to the other side of the truck and opened the door, climbing up on the running board. “What happened?”

      He told her about almost running her over and that she’d taken a spill from her motorcycle.

      Casanova Valdez stood behind Emma, holding Molly McGregor’s hand. “What the hell was she doing here anyway? I thought she was on assignment.”

      “Nicole.” Emma tapped her arm gently. When she didn’t respond, she lightly slapped her face. “Nicole,” she said sharply.

      “Let me.” Valdez switched places with Emma and said in a stern voice, “Tazer, quit foolin’ around. It’s time to go to work.”

      Dave’s fists clenched and he stepped forward, ready to punch Valdez’s lights out for being so forceful when the woman wasn’t capable of holding her head up, much less going to work.

      “Nova?” Nicole blinked her eyes open and stared up into her fellow agent’s face.

      “Yeah, it’s me. You look like hell.” Valdez held out his hand and she grabbed it, letting him pull her into a sitting position.

      “Way to make a girl self-conscious,” she grumbled.

      He snorted, giving her a derisive grin. “Like you’ve ever been that.” His lips turned downward. “What the hell happened? I didn’t know you were scheduled to be here.”

      She pressed a hand to the back of her neck. “I wasn’t.”

      Creed Thomas stepped up behind Valdez. “Tazer, what’s going on?”

      “I was hoping you could tell me.” Her voice was stronger, clipped and, if Dave wasn’t mistaken, strained.

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