by Leslie North
Lee placed his hand on the small of her back and plucked the small photo out. The entire family—three early teenage brothers and both parents—stood in front of the house on a sunny day. “I talked our surly neighbor into taking this.” He handed her the picture. “It was the last family photo from when things were still good. A couple months later, our mother got sick.”
“I’m sorry.” She kissed his cheek. “That’s tragic…but not as tragic as those shorts.” She snorted, lightening his heart. “What were you thinking?”
He laughed and shrugged. “What can I say? I didn’t have you around to stop me from fashion blunders.”
“If only I can get you stop wearing T-shirts and jeans when we travel,” she muttered.
“Never.” He squeezed her to him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Her eyes softened, filling with the very love she professed. “You make me happy.”
He captured her lips, but a squeal of childish giggling made him break away to find his niece gurgling with gibberish as she peered at Rachel who sat with her on the loveseat.
Turning toward the living room, Lee interrupted the story swapping. “Hey, Harris, Chance, are you sure selling the house is the right thing to do?”
Silence descended. “We just talked about this,” Chance answered. “We agreed on it.”
“I know.” Lee nodded, taking the picture from Viktoria. “But…now that we’re rebuilding and having families of our own, maybe it’s time to start adding new memories to the place.”
Harris plucked the old Polaroid camera off the mantel and jiggled it. “Let’s start with a new family shot.”
Excited murmuring followed the group as they trooped out the front door.
Lee waved to the older couple sitting on rocking chairs across the street. “Can I ask a favor?” He snatched the camera from Harris and waltzed down the driveway, just like he had done all those years ago with a different neighbor. “Can you take our picture?”
Mrs. Landry rose from the seat and beamed. “I’d love to. It’s so nice to see you boys smiling again and finding love.” She took the camera. “Your parents would be so proud.”
Yes, they would.
Harris and Chance had pulled up the for sale sign and they all took forever to settle into place.
Holding Viktoria tight as he smiled at the camera, Lee couldn’t help feeling they all had a bright future ahead of them.
The End.
End of Ranger’s Protection
SEAL & Veteran Series: Book Three
PS: Do you love hot blooded SEALS? Then keep reading for an exclusive extract from Ride with the SEAL.
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About Leslie North
Leslie North is the USA Today Bestselling pen name for a critically-acclaimed author of women's contemporary romance and fiction. The anonymity gives her the perfect opportunity to paint with her full artistic palette, especially in the romance and erotic fantasy genres.
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BLURB
When ex-SEAL Camden Thursday enters the garage at two in the morning, he’s intent on grand theft auto. Instead he’s confronted with more than a hot car—there’s a sexy mechanic too. His high school crush, wrench in hand, projects a “Dangerous Curves Ahead” warning far more tempting than any joy ride, but Camden isn’t here to try the road less traveled. He’s here to jack a car and prove he can do more than manipulate computer code for the black ops service he works for: Norse Security. So while Camden is looking to get physical on this job, he was hoping for someone to punch, not someone to plunder...
Everly Knight is the baddest bad girl in town. As the daughter of a mobster and a name in the auto industry for hot cars, she could rest on her laurels and let her reputation proceed her. However, Everly has a deep dark secret: she wants nothing more than a shiny, new, legal garage all of her own. She’s just a few thousand away from cashing in and figures that one last illegal car theft could finance her legal dreams. That is until the geek from her past shows up as a hunky hero; letting Everly see that it’s possible to become more than just a tough girl.
Camden may be all muscle, but it’s Everly who can stall the entire operation. She holds him hostage and offers an ultimatum: Take her on the ride or find himself a sitting duck for the mob. It’s not a hard choice when the bombshell revs his engine. But with warring goals and secret missions, they’ll find themselves fighting for their futures and racing toward a love they never saw coming.
Grab your copy of Ride With The SEAL (Norse Security Series Book One) from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com
EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT
Chapter 1
Camden Thursday was over-prepared, as usual.
Still, despite hours of memorizing code and enough binary hacks to make his eyeballs explode, nothing could have prepared him for what he was looking at now. Sure, he’d expected the tech in the Aeon Turbo G90 to be mind-blowingly impressive—given it was the most advanced vehicle on the roadways today and the federal government had the only prototype in the world. Or at least they had until the damned thing had been stolen and ended up here at Knight’s Body and Repair—quite possibly the seediest garage in Washington, D.C. What he hadn’t expected, however, was the female mechanic apparently trying to hijack the thing out from under his nose at two in the morning.
Luckily, Cam wasn’t just a computer whiz Brainiac—as the other guys at Norse Security seemed to think. He was also a former Navy SEAL with the brawn and physical training to handle any situation. Breaking himself out of that geek hacker box they’d put him in was the main reason why he was here. Well, that and this was his first mission for his new employer, a chance to prove to himself and the other guys he was just as GI Joe as the rest of them, that he was more than the resident “tech guy” on their team, more than a brain on legs.
Silently, he waited until the woman was busy fiddling with something under the vehicle’s hood, then crept over to grab her from behind in a bear hold, preventing her from using that nasty looking wrench in her hand on his skull.
“What the fuck?” she gasped, struggling to escape from his hold. “Let me go!”
He managed to corral her kicking legs between his own muscled thighs and pinned her against the car, holding both the woman’s wrists behind her back in one hand while reaching for her utility light with the other. Cam aimed the light at her face to see her better and—
Holy shit!
Of all the people to run into tonight, it would have to be his high school crush.
Everly Knight still looked as beautiful as he remembered—all long, thick dark hair and big, brown doe eyes. She seemed to recognize him too, if her disdainful once-over was any indication. That surprised Cam, since he looked a lot different than he had twelve years ago. Adding one hundred pounds of new muscle would do that to a guy.
“Well, if it isn’t Geek Squad. All grown up and looking for trouble,” she said, her gaze narrowing. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“The name’s Camden. Camden Thursday.” He stared down at her, noticing a slight bump on the bridge of her nose that hadn’t been there before, like maybe she’d been in a fight or broken it. He frowned. “And I can ask you the same thing. This doesn’t belong to you.”
“Not yours either.” She squirmed against him and damn if it didn’t set off an array of interesting sparks through his bloodstream. He’d been without a woman for too long, that had to be it.
The last thing he needed right know was to starting thinking with his cock instead of his brain. He was more than capable of handling a mission on his own, same as Kevin and Hunter. And he wouldn’t prove his point by screwing an old flame. Even if she’d been up for it, which judging from the glare she was shooting him right now, she wasn’t.
Cam took the wrench from her hand, just in case she got any ideas about whacking him with it, then released her. He stepped back but still kept a wary eye on Everly. From her grease stained jeans and rumpled black T-shirt, it was pretty apparent she’d been working on the Aeon, but why? There’d been nothing wrong with it when it was stolen. At least that’s what he’d been told. “What do you want with that car?”
“What do you want with it?” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest and highlighting her magnificent rack.
“You gonna answer all my questions with more questions?” Cam slapped her wrench against his palm, hoping to dispel some of his nervous energy. “It’s two in the damned morning.”
“Maybe.” She picked up a nearby rag and wiped her hands. “And thanks for update.”
Cam exhaled slow and prayed for patience. They’d grown up in the same tough neighborhood, both from the wrong side of the tracks. Her dad had owned this auto body shop back then too, Cam remembered. Rumor had it he had ties to the mob and they ran a chop shop on the side out of this hole in the wall garage. Cam glanced around the grungy place, through the stacks of ragged tires and used vehicle parts scattered about and noticed the crooked, rusted metal sign tacked to the wall proclaiming “Knight’s Body and Repair. We pay for scrap metal.”
He’d bet good money they were still in the “salvage” business now, if Everly’s peeved glare was any indication. She gave a dismissive sigh then tossed her towel aside and went back to poking around under the hood of the Aeon. Was she stripping it for parts already? He couldn’t let that happen. Norse Security’s contract with the feds was for the car returned intact and in good working order. And with the software working, of course. For that’s where the Aeon’s real value was—the high-tech computer chips inside the car. Which made this the perfect mission for Cam.
“Funny seeing you again after all these years?” Everly said, her tone as flat as her stare.
“Hmm.” Cam set the thick, steel wrench aside and determinedly kept his gaze from roaming over Everly’s well-formed ass sticking out from beneath the hood as she worked. What he needed to concentrate on was getting inside the car and driving it the hell out of here, but he couldn’t do that with Everly tinkering around under the hood. There had to be a way to get her to move. And if there wasn’t, then dammit, he’d move her. He wasn’t a man who typically got handsy with women, unless they specifically asked him to. His momma, single and poor as she’d been, had still raised him right. But Cam was on a tight schedule and Everly seemed in no hurry whatsoever to finish up whatever the fuck she was doing with the Aeon’s engine. It occurred to him that she was stalling for time, same as him, and that if this place was a front for the mob and she was after this stolen vehicle too, then most likely she wouldn’t let him take it without a fight.
He looked around again, wondered how long it would be until the mob showed up to claim their prize. Not long, he guessed, based on the fact the car was sitting out in the open with no attempt to hide it. Best to make his move fast.
Cam’s gaze darted back to the hood and he found Everly watching him now too, the gleam in her dark eyes calculating, whip smart. He remembered that about her too. He’d always been a sucker for intelligent women.
In the end, they both made a dash for the drivers’ side door handle at the same time, then wrestled awkwardly to get into the vehicle. So much for avoiding confrontation. Once the door was open, they battled to claim the drivers’ seat. Somehow, Cam managed to beat her into it, but that didn’t stop Everly from sitting down on top of him, right in his goddamned lap.
Man, good thing the guys couldn’t see him now. Getting turned on by a squirming suspect trying to jack him out of his mission goal. No way would Everly get this car.
No. Fucking. Way.
And yeah, maybe she did feel good, her sweet curves rubbing against him in all the right places. Didn’t mean he was giving up this fight anytime soon. Hell, no. He was a SEAL for fuck’s sake. He’d trained to endure the harshest torture, the most brutal conditions. Bumping and grinding against Everly Knight in a stolen, top-secret vehicle was a walk in the park compared to that shit. Nothing on earth would keep him from getting this vehicle under his control and getting it back to the Norse Security Offices as soon as possible. And no one—not God, and certainly not beautiful, bewildering Everly Knight—was going to stop him.
Cam wrapped an arm around her waist and leaned forward to hiss in her ear. “You trying to drive this car or ride me ‘til I cum, sweetness?”
She gave an angry snarl. “Get your fucking hands off me and get out of my car!”
“Your car?” He snorted. “Last time I checked, this vehicle wasn’t registered to you. It’s the property of the United States of America.”
“Yeah? Well, that means it isn’t yours either.” Everly dug her nails into his forearm, teeth bared, and Cam growled. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. “And I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were the last man on earth, asshole.”
“Want to bet?”
They wrestled some more until it started feeling way too good and Cam’s body reacted in kind. Everly too seemed to be breathing a bit harder than before and her skin looked flushed. Cam rested his forehead against her back and caught her scent—cinnamon and vanilla and a hint of motor oil. She stopped struggling for a moment. He smiled and took advantage, giving Everly one last hard shove and managed to push her out the door before he slammed it shut behind her. The locks slid into place with a satisfying click.
Grab your copy of Ride With The SEAL (Norse Security Series Book One) from www.LeslieNorthBooks.com