ability to accommodate the soldiers rather than sending a surrogate.
However, the first threat doesn’t come from terrorists with an axe to grind. Mexican banditos stop her tour bus heading toward Mayan ruins to shake down the passengers for their money and belongings. When one snaps a picture of her, he soon figures out there’s a much bigger payday. She knows she’s going to be kidnapped, but she didn’t know someone was on that same tour bus who had her back.
Wiley’s unconventional takedown of her would-be kidnappers exposes the fact her father didn’t honor her wishes to fly under the radar. And now that the cat’s out of the bag, Wiley’s made it clear he’s moving into her suite for the rest of their time at sea to keep her out of harm’s way.
Read an excerpt from Before We Kiss…
W illiam “Wiley” Coyote should have known the “piece of cake” assignment his team leader, Deke Warrick, had offered him would go sideways in a hurry. But he’d been lured by the promise of an all-expenses-paid cruise. A nice “fluffy” assignment after the last one spent escorting freighters through pirate-infested waters in the Strait of Hormuz. He was due a vacation and had envisioned slipping into a chaise on cruise ship’s deck while his target sunbathed nearby.
“Every time she steps out of her suite, the room attendant will buzz you. You keep on her tail, but not close enough she notices. Her daddy said she’d raise hell if she knew he’d hired security after she’d refused a special detail.” Deke had grinned. “I think he’s a little afraid of her.”
They’d barely left the port of Miami before Wiley had understood. The woman never stopped moving. Or talking. Sometimes loudly, if she didn’t like what she heard. If he could have worn earplugs, his first impressions of her would have been very different.
Poppy Shackleford was a pretty little thing. Blonde-haired, lightly tanned, curves in all the right places. And maybe five-foot-two in her espadrille sandals. He’d had a girlfriend charge two pairs to his credit card, so he knew darn well how what they were and how much the cork-heeled things cost. Although he could appreciate the sexy stretch they’d given her calves, he was still relieved that, so far, he’d managed to operate under the radar. He had no doubts she’d know exactly what he was there to do if she got one good look at him. Nothing escaped her attention. Not the too-steep ramps leading onto the ship when they’d embarked. Or the undercooked steak she’d been served last night in the dining room.
He’d begun to think she was deaf she talked so loudly, but then he’d realized her complaints were on behalf of her fellow passengers, and this cruise had been billed as a senior-themed cruise. Most of the thousand passengers were over seventy. The dinner conversation surrounding him last night had consisted of trading blood sugar levels, as his companions pricked their fingertips and fed droplets of blood into their readers. Afterwards, their conversation had drifted to the best fiber to promote healthy bowels and where the captain would store their bodies if they happened to pass during the night.
“No kidding?” Deke had said after Wiley had given him a status update early that morning.
Wiley’s jaw had ground shut at the snickering no hand over a receiver could muffle. “The Countess’s security seems pretty tight. There’s always someone nearby, although they’re better at blending in than I am.”
“You mean you didn’t pack any Hawaiian shirts?”
“Don’t own one,” he’d gritted out.
“How are you managing not to blow your cover?”
Wiley grunted. “I haven’t shaved, and I have my cowboy hat and boots.”
“So you’re sticking out like a sore thumb.”
“She won’t expect any security detail to stick out quite like I do.”
Deke grunted. “Just remember you have people positioned around the ship. Channel two if you need them.”
Which would
However, the first threat doesn’t come from terrorists with an axe to grind. Mexican banditos stop her tour bus heading toward Mayan ruins to shake down the passengers for their money and belongings. When one snaps a picture of her, he soon figures out there’s a much bigger payday. She knows she’s going to be kidnapped, but she didn’t know someone was on that same tour bus who had her back.
Wiley’s unconventional takedown of her would-be kidnappers exposes the fact her father didn’t honor her wishes to fly under the radar. And now that the cat’s out of the bag, Wiley’s made it clear he’s moving into her suite for the rest of their time at sea to keep her out of harm’s way.
Read an excerpt from Before We Kiss…
W illiam “Wiley” Coyote should have known the “piece of cake” assignment his team leader, Deke Warrick, had offered him would go sideways in a hurry. But he’d been lured by the promise of an all-expenses-paid cruise. A nice “fluffy” assignment after the last one spent escorting freighters through pirate-infested waters in the Strait of Hormuz. He was due a vacation and had envisioned slipping into a chaise on cruise ship’s deck while his target sunbathed nearby.
“Every time she steps out of her suite, the room attendant will buzz you. You keep on her tail, but not close enough she notices. Her daddy said she’d raise hell if she knew he’d hired security after she’d refused a special detail.” Deke had grinned. “I think he’s a little afraid of her.”
They’d barely left the port of Miami before Wiley had understood. The woman never stopped moving. Or talking. Sometimes loudly, if she didn’t like what she heard. If he could have worn earplugs, his first impressions of her would have been very different.
Poppy Shackleford was a pretty little thing. Blonde-haired, lightly tanned, curves in all the right places. And maybe five-foot-two in her espadrille sandals. He’d had a girlfriend charge two pairs to his credit card, so he knew darn well how what they were and how much the cork-heeled things cost. Although he could appreciate the sexy stretch they’d given her calves, he was still relieved that, so far, he’d managed to operate under the radar. He had no doubts she’d know exactly what he was there to do if she got one good look at him. Nothing escaped her attention. Not the too-steep ramps leading onto the ship when they’d embarked. Or the undercooked steak she’d been served last night in the dining room.
He’d begun to think she was deaf she talked so loudly, but then he’d realized her complaints were on behalf of her fellow passengers, and this cruise had been billed as a senior-themed cruise. Most of the thousand passengers were over seventy. The dinner conversation surrounding him last night had consisted of trading blood sugar levels, as his companions pricked their fingertips and fed droplets of blood into their readers. Afterwards, their conversation had drifted to the best fiber to promote healthy bowels and where the captain would store their bodies if they happened to pass during the night.
“No kidding?” Deke had said after Wiley had given him a status update early that morning.
Wiley’s jaw had ground shut at the snickering no hand over a receiver could muffle. “The Countess’s security seems pretty tight. There’s always someone nearby, although they’re better at blending in than I am.”
“You mean you didn’t pack any Hawaiian shirts?”
“Don’t own one,” he’d gritted out.
“How are you managing not to blow your cover?”
Wiley grunted. “I haven’t shaved, and I have my cowboy hat and boots.”
“So you’re sticking out like a sore thumb.”
“She won’t expect any security detail to stick out quite like I do.”
Deke grunted. “Just remember you have people positioned around the ship. Channel two if you need them.”
Which would
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