Deadly Dance Page 31

  It was the kind of day that made a kid want to skip school. And suddenly Simon was struck with the thought that everything was right with his world: the past firmly behind him and the future beckoning bright. It had been a long time since he’d felt hopeful about anything. Hell, with his past, who could blame him? But maybe it was time to move on. There wasn’t much point in letting the past or the future hold too much sway. Better to live in the now.

  He laughed at the philosophical turn of his thoughts. Had to be the hospital. All that life and death crap. He stopped for a moment at the door to a large waiting room. Inside, a small army of what looked like nurses were triaging patients, most of them non-ambulatory, with bleeding wounds and broken limbs.

  Of course, the blood was fake, and the moaning and groaning more about theatrics than pain. A disaster drill. He’d seen a notice in the elevator on the way up. Judging from the chaos ensuing inside the room, he’d have to assume it wasn’t going all that well. But if it had been the real thing, the hysteria would have been much worse.

  But this was just play-acting, and, thankfully, he didn’t have a role to play. With a rueful smile, he turned to go, then stopped, his brain conjuring the picture of a blue-eyed blonde in blue scrubs.

  Frowning, he turned around again, certain that the image must be wrong. That his mind had merely superimposed a memory onto a stranger. He rubbed his leg absently as his gaze settled again on the woman. She had her back to him, her sun-streaked ponytail bobbing as she talked to another woman wearing scrubs. She was waving her hands, her slim fingers giving additional meaning to her words.

  Even from behind, he knew that his instinct had been dead-on. It was in the way she stood, the way she moved. He’d have known her anywhere. And then she turned, as if somehow she’d felt his presence, her eyes widening in surprise and then shuttering as she recognized him.

  His mind screamed retreat, but his feet moved forward, taking him across the room until they were standing inches apart. Behind her, out the window, he could still see the river, the blue of the sky almost the same color as her eyes.

  “J.J.?” he queried, the words coming out a gruff whisper, his mind and body still on overdrive as he tried to make sense of her being here in New York.

  “I go by ‘Jillian’ now,” she said, her voice just as he’d remembered. Low and throaty. Sexy. “It’s easier.” There was a touch of bitterness in her words and a tightness around her mouth that he’d never seen before.

  He paused, not exactly sure what to say. It had been a long time. And he hadn’t thought he’d see her again. Memories flooded through him. The smell of her hair. The feel of her skin beneath his fingers. An image of her standing with Ryan in her wedding dress, eyes full of questions, Simon’s heart shriveling as he chose loyalty over everything else.

  J.J. was Ryan’s girl. She’d always been his. Since they were practically kids. And one drunken night couldn’t change that fact. Ryan was his best friend.

  And he’d failed him twice. Once an eon ago on a hot summer night, and the second time, years later, in a compound in Somalia. He’d managed to avert disaster the first time, common sense and loyalty overriding his burgeoning libido. But in Somalia, he hadn’t been so lucky, and because of his decisions, Ryan was dead. J.J. had lost her husband. And there was nothing Simon could do to make it right.

  “I can’t believe you’re standing here,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s been a while since I saw you last.”

  “Five years,” she replied, the words a recrimination.

  “You look the same,” he said, wishing to hell he’d never seen her. He didn’t need this.

  Again she laughed, but this time with humor. “You always were a flatterer.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess some things never change,” he said, studying her face. There were faint lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth. And her hair was longer and slightly darker than before. But over all, she looked like the girl he remembered. Except for the smile.

  J.J. had always been smiling, dimples flashing. Or at least that’s the way he’d chosen to remember her. But the last time he’d seen her, she’d been anything but happy. He remembered the pain on her face as she’d accepted the flag that had been draped across Ryan’s casket. Simon had promised to come by later that day. But instead he’d left town. And never looked back.

  “You look good too,” she said, her eyes moving across his face. “So what brings you to the hospital?”

  “Checkup.” He sighed, absently rubbing his injured leg. “But it’s all good. I’m healthy as a horse.” And babbling like a fucking idiot. She’d always been able to reduce him to baser levels.

  “I’m glad,” she said. “I heard you left the team.”

  “Didn’t have much of a choice.” He shrugged. “But I landed on my feet, and I’m doing okay. What about you? You a nurse now?”

  “Something like that.” She nodded. “Speaking of which, I suppose I ought to be getting back to it.”

  “Right,” he said, the silence that followed stretching awkwardly between them.

  And then with an apologetic shrug, she turned back to her “patients,” and Simon forced himself to walk away. Hell, the past was better left buried. Hadn’t he just been having that exact thought?

  He stepped back into the corridor and then, despite himself, turned for a last look. She was bending over a man with a rudimentary splint on his arm, her fingers gentle as she probed the imaginary wound.

  Almost involuntarily, his gaze rose to the window, his senses sending out an alert. A high-pitched whine filled the room, the glass on the windows shaking. The sky disappeared as the window turned black. For a moment everything seemed to move in slow motion. And then all hell broke loose as the windows shattered and something rammed through the side of the building, the walls shredding like corrugated paper.

  People screamed, and Simon called her name. “J.J.—Jillian.”

  One minute she was standing there, eyes wide with confusion and fear.

  And the next, she was gone.

  THE DISH

  Where authors give you the inside scoop!

  From the desk of Vicky Dreiling

  Dear Reader,

  HOW TO RAVISH A RAKE stars shy wallflower Amy Hardwick and charming rake William Darcett, better known as “the Devil.” I thought it would be great fun to feature two characters who seem so wrong for one another on the surface but who would find love and happiness, despite their differences.

  Miss Amy Hardwick is a shy belle who made her first appearance in my debut historical romance, How to Marry a Duke. When I first envisioned Amy, I realized that she was representative of so many young women who struggle to overcome low self-esteem. Amy doesn’t fit the ideal image of the English rose in Regency Society, and, as a result, she’s often overlooked by others. But as I thought back to my days in high school and college, I remembered how much it helped to have girlfriends who liked and supported you, even though you didn’t have the flawless skin and perfect bodies airbrushed on the covers of teen magazines. That recollection convinced me that having friends would help Amy to grow into the woman I knew she was destined to become.

  Now, during her sixth and quite possibly last London Season, Amy is determined to shed her wallflower image forever. A newfound interest in fashion leads Amy to draw designs for unique gowns that make her the fashion darling of the ton. All of her dreams seem to be coming true, but there’s one man who could deter her from the road to transformation: Mr. William “the Devil” Darcett.

  Ah, Will… sigh. I confess I had a penchant for charming bad boys when I was in high school and college. There’s a certain mystique about them. And I’m certain that the first historical romance I ever read featured a charming bad boy. They really are my favorite type of heroes. So naturally, I decided to create the worst bad boy in the ton and throw him in sweet Amy’s path.

  William Darcett is a younger son with a passion for traveling. He’s not one to put down roots—just the occupa
tion for a bona fide rake. But Will’s latest plans for another journey to the Continent go awry when he discovers his meddling family wants to curb his traveling days. Will refuses to let his family interfere with his carousing and rambling, but a chance encounter with Amy in a wine cellar leads the wallflower and the rake into more trouble than they’re prepared to handle.

  This very unlikely pair comes to realize that laughter, family, and honesty are the most important ingredients for everlasting love. I hope you will enjoy the adventures of Amy and Will on their journey to discover that even the unlikeliest of couples can fall madly, deeply in love.

  My heartfelt thanks to all the readers who wrote to let me know they couldn’t wait to read HOW TO RAVISH A RAKE. I hope you will enjoy the fun and games that finally lead to Happily Ever After for Amy and Will.

  Cheers!

  From the desk of Amanda Scott

  Dear Reader,

  What happens when a freedom-loving Scotsman who’s spent much of his life on the open sea meets an enticing heiress determined to make her home with a husband who will stay put and run her Highland estates? And what happens when something that they have just witnessed endangers the plans of a ruthless and powerful man who is fiercely determined to keep the details of that event secret?

  HIGHLAND LOVER, the third title in my Scottish Knights trilogy, stars the fiercely independent Sir Jacob “Jake” Maxwell, who was a nine-year-old boy in King of Storms, the last of a six-book series beginning with Highland Princess. Lifting a fictional child from a series I wrote years ago to be a hero in a current trilogy is new for me.

  However, the three heroes of Scottish Knights are friends who met as teenage students under Bishop Traill of St. Andrews and later accepted his invitation to join a brotherhood of highly skilled knights that he (fictionally) formed to help him protect the Scottish Crown. I realized straightaway that the grown-up Jake would be the right age in 1403 and would easily fit my requirements, for several reasons:

  First, Jake has met the ruthless Duke of Albany, who was a villainous presence in Scotland for thirty-one years (in all) and is now second in line for the throne. Determined to become King of Scots, Albany habitually eliminates anyone who gets in his way. Second, Albany owes his life to Jake, a relationship that provides interesting twists in any tale. Third, Jake is captain of the Sea Wolf, a ship he owns because of Albany; and the initiating event in HIGHLAND LOVER takes place at sea. So Jake seemed to be a perfect choice. The cheeky youngster in King of Storms had stirred (and still stirs) letters from readers suggesting that an adult Jake Maxwell would make a great hero. Doubtless that also had something to do with it.

  Jake’s heroine in HIGHLAND LOVER is Lady Alyson MacGillivray of Perth, a beautiful cousin of Sir Ivor “Hawk” Mackintosh of Highland Hero. Alyson is blessed (or cursed) with a bevy of clinging relatives and the gift of Second Sight. The latter “gift” has caused as many problems for her as have her intrusive kinsmen.

  Alyson also has another problem—a husband of just a few months whom she has scarcely seen and who so far seems more interested in his noble patron’s affairs than in Alyson’s Highland estates or Alyson herself. But Alyson is trapped in this wee wrinkle, is she not? It is, after all, 1403.

  In any event, Jake sets out on a mission for the Bishop of St. Andrews, encounters a storm, and ends up plucking Alyson and an unknown lad from a ship sinking off the English coast two hundred miles from her home in Perth. The ship also happened to be carrying the young heir to Scotland’s throne and Alyson’s husband, who may or may not now be captive in England.

  So, the fun begins. I hope you enjoy HIGHLAND LOVER.

  Meantime, Suas Alba!

  www.amandascottauthor.com

  From the desk of Dee Davis

  Dear Reader,

  I’ve been a storyteller all of my life. When I was a kid, my dad and I used to sit in the mall or a restaurant and make up stories about the people walking by or sitting around us. So it really wasn’t much of a leap to find myself a novelist. But what was interesting to me was that no matter what kind of story I was telling, the characters all seemed to know each other.

  Sometimes people from other novels were simply mentioned in another of my books in passing. Sometimes they actually had cameo appearances. And several times now, a character I had created to be a secondary figure in one story has demanded his or her own book. Such was the case with Harrison Blake of DEADLY DANCE. Harrison first showed up in my Last Chance series, working as that team’s computer forensic expert. It even turned out he’d also worked for Midnight Rain’s John Brighton at his Phoenix organization, even though the company was created at the end of the book and never actually appeared on paper.

  Interestingly enough, Harrison, although never a hero, has received more mail than any of my other characters. And almost all of those letters are from readers asking when he’s going to have his day. So when A-Tac found itself in need of a technical guru, it was a no-brainer for me to bring Harrison into the fold. As he became an integral part of the team, I knew the time had come for him to have his own book.

  And of course, as his story developed, he needed help from his old friends. So enter Madison Roarke and Tracy Braxton. Madison was the heroine of the first Last Chance book, Endgame. And like Harrison, Tracy had been placed in the role of supporting character, as a world-class forensic pathologist.

  What can I say? It’s a small world, and they all know and help each other. And finally, we add to the mix our heroine, Hannah Marshall. Hannah has been at the heart of all the A-Tac books. A long-time team member, she’s always there with the answers when needed. And like Harrison, she made it more than clear to me that she deserved her own story. With her quirky way of expressing herself (eyeglasses and streaked hair) and her well-developed intellect, Hannah seemed perfect for Harrison. The two of them just didn’t know it yet.

  So I threw them together, and, as they say, the plot thickened, and DEADLY DANCE was born.

  Hopefully you’ll enjoy reading Harrison and Hannah’s story as much as I did writing it.

  For insight into both Harrison and Hannah, here are some songs I listened to while writing DEADLY DANCE:

  Riverside, by Agnes Obel

  Set Fire to the Rain, by Adele

  Everlong, by Foo Fighters

  And as always, check out www.deedavis.com for more inside info about my writing and my books.

  Happy Reading!

  From the desk of Katie Lane

  Dear Reader,

  Before I plot out the storyline and flesh out my characters, my books start with one basic idea. Or maybe I should say they start with one nagging, persistent thought that won’t leave me alone until I put it down on paper.

  Going Cowboy Crazy started with the concept of long-lost twins and what would happen if one twin took over the other twin’s life and no one—save the hot football coach—was the wiser.

  Make Mine a Bad Boy was the other side of that premise: What would happen if your twin, whom you didn’t even know you had, married your boyfriend and left you with a good-for-nothing, low-down bad boy?

  And CATCH ME A COWBOY started with a melodrama. You know the kind I’m talking about, the story of a dastardly villain taking advantage of a poor, helpless woman by tying her to the railroad tracks, or placing her on a conveyor belt headed toward the jagged blade of a saw, or evicting her from her home when she has no money to pay the rent. Of course, before any of these things happen, the hero arrives to save the day with a smile so big and bright it rivals the sun.

  For days, I couldn’t get the melodrama out of my mind. But no matter how much the idea stuck with me, I just didn’t see it fitting into my new book. My heroine had already been chosen: a favorite secondary character from the previous novels. Shirlene is a sassy, voluptuous west Texas gal who could no more play the damsel in distress than Mae West could play the Singing Nun. If someone tied Shirlene to the train tracks, she wouldn’t scream, faint, or hold the back of her hand dramatically to h
er forehead. She’d just ask if she had enough time for a margarita.

  The more I thought of my sassy heroine dealing with a Snidely Whiplash–type, the more I laughed. The more I laughed, the more I wrote. And suddenly I had my melodrama. Except a funny thing happened on the way to Shirlene’s Happily Ever After: My villain and my hero got a little mixed up. And before I knew it, Shirlene had so charmed the would-be villain that he stopped the train. Shut off the saw. Paid the rent.

  And how does the hero with the bright smile fit into all of this? you might ask.

  Well, let’s just say I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

  CATCH ME A COWBOY is available now.

  Enjoy, y’all!

  Trust is the ultimate weapon

  Lara thought working a world away would heal her. Yet volunteering to treat the sick and injured in revolution-torn central Africa can’t stop the shattering memories of losing the man she loved. A night with sexy security officer Rafe Winters seems the perfect temporary escape—until insurgents attack her clinic and Rafe becomes her only way to survive…

  A novella available wherever ebooks are sold

  ALSO BY DEE DAVIS

  Dark Deceptions

  Dangerous Desires

  Desperate Deeds

  Daring (novella)

  Deep Disclosure

  Raves for Dee Davis’s A-Tac Series

  DEEP DISCLOSURE

  “The bullets are flying in this fast-paced, high-octane, romantic adventure. Don’t miss Deep Disclosure—it’s Dee Davis at her best!”