Kina turned back toward the group. She loved this. She loved all of them. She cleared her throat and raised her glass. She waited until everyone did the same. Becky had to lean over and smack Sam on the back of the head to get her to pay attention. After everyone’s giggles died down, Kina said as solemnly as she could, seeing as she was three sheets to the wind, “To reality shows!”
Sam said “Reality Bitches!”
Jonathan added his own toast, “To all of us...friends forever—beyond reality!”
* * *
Read on for an exclusive excerpt from the first book in an exciting new series
Justice for Mackenzie
Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes, Book 1
Mackenzie walked over to the door and looked through the peep hole. Damn. The man standing at her door was so good looking, she felt a zing shoot through her body, ending between her legs. It was the same reaction she’d gotten the night of the charity event. He was looking right at the peephole as if he knew she was on the other side looking at him. Mackenzie took a deep breath and opened the door until the chain stopped it from opening any further.
“Daxton?”
“Yup. That’s me.”
Mackenzie shoved her hand through the small opening of the door and said, “ID please.”
Dax chuckled, not offended in the least. “Good girl.” He reached behind him and took his wallet out from his pocket and pulled out his driver’s license and put it into Mackenzie’s outstretched hand. “There you go.”
Mackenzie looked down at the plastic card in her hand. Daxton Chambers. Forty six years old. Six foot one and two hundred thirty pounds. She gulped. Damn, almost a hundred pounds heavier than she was. She went to hand it back and dropped it.
“Shit, sorry.”
Dax just laughed quietly and kneeled down to pick up the dropped license. “No problem.”
Mackenzie held out her hand again. “Ranger ID now please.”
Dax smiled even more broadly. “Damn, woman.”
Mackenzie faltered a bit, but bravely said, “IDs are easy to fake now a days, I just want to make sure.”
“Oh, I wasn’t complaining. No fucking way. I’m pleased as hell you don’t trust me. I’d be more worried if you did. Here you go.” Dax held out his Texas Ranger badge that he’d pulled from his other pocket. “I don’t go anywhere without it, just in case. Good thinking.” She took it from his hand and Dax could see her hands shaking.
“If it’s okay…I’ll just…” Mackenzie gestured back inside her apartment.
“Take your time, Mackenzie. I’ll be right here.”
Mackenzie shut and locked her apartment door and quickly walked over to her phone. She snapped a picture of Daxton’s Ranger badge and texted it to Matthew, Mark, and Laine. Laine knew she was going out with Daxton, but she wanted to inform her brothers as well. She told them she was going to dinner with Daxton, who was a Texas Ranger, and she’d be home later. She trusted Daxton was who he said he was, but she’d be an idiot to take him at his word. She wanted her brothers to know who it was she was going out with and what time she expected to be home. Even though she was thirty seven years old, she wanted to be safe. She’d call Laine when she got back home. It was their ritual whenever one of them went out.
Mackenzie thought hard about calling the local Ranger’s office and checking on Daxton that way as well, but then decided she was being an idiot. She’d seem him at the charity event with a table full of other officers. Hell, he’d been with the Highway Patrolman when she’d been pulled over. If Daxton was lying, he was an expert. Mackenzie went back to the door, took off the chain and opened it all the way.
“Hi, Daxton.” Her smile was bright and welcoming, as if this was the first time she’d opened the door that night and she hadn’t demanded he show his IDs to her and treated him like a criminal.
Dax chuckled. Damn she was cute. She pulled him out of his bad mood easily. “Hey.”
“Here’s your ID back. Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. You have no idea how hot that was.”
“Uh, what?”
“Yeah, hot. I see all sorts of shit in my line of work. I love knowing you’re cautious. I just wish more people were like you.”
“Oh, well, okay.” Mackenzie handed Daxton his Ranger ID back.
“What’d you do with it when you were in there?”
“Uh…” Mackenzie was unsure if she should tell him. “I don’t know…um…I’ve never dated a cop before.”
Dax stood there watching Mackenzie with an amused glint in his eye. “Okay.”
“And I’ve never been in trouble before. I mean, really in trouble. I got detention in high school once, but it wasn’t my fault. Stupid Darci Birchfield decided to pick on one of the guys on the chess team and I told her if she didn’t lay off him she’d answer to me, and she didn’t lay off him, so she answered to me and I got a full week of detention for it. But she never messed with him again. I had to endure Bobby telling me for the rest of our high school years thank you, and shit, he still sends me a Christmas card every year, but still…it was totally worth it.”
Daxton leaned against the wall next to the door, loving how fucking cute she was. He crossed his arms over his chest, holding his cowboy hat in one hand and settled in to listen to Mackenzie babble.
“Okay, I also got in trouble at work last year for telling one of the other managers to go fuck himself, but that wasn’t my fault either. He was totally harassing one of the lesbian women I work with. Calling her a dyke and shit like that. That’s just not cool. I mean really, in today’s day and age that crap is totally uncalled for. So I told him off, explaining how a dyke was actually an artificial wall used to regulate water levels, and called a levee here in the States. Okay, I probably also used some other not-so-nice words as well, but he turned around and complained to HR about me, when he was the one being an asshat. I was sent home for a week, paid, while an investigation went on, but was called back after only three days because Ginger totally told HR what a dick Peter was and that I’d been defending her and since everyone in the office backed Ginger, they ended up letting Peter go and not me.”
Mackenzie paused, biting her lip. Shit. She’d done it again. She tried to finish her thought quickly. “So, I’ve never really been in trouble, or even been around any cops, other than the charity thing each year, so I have no idea what’s legal and what’s not, so I’ll tell you what I did, if you promise not to arrest me. I’m claiming ignorance here.”
“What’d you do, Mackenzie?” Dax asked with no rancor in his voice.
“I took a picture of your ID and sent it to my brothers and best friend so if I end up dead in a ditch somewhere tonight they’ll know who it was that took me out. I totally planned on deleting the picture when we got home, though. It’s not like I was gonna put it on the Internet for someone to make a fake ID from or anything.”
“Good for you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. But you know, that name could be totally fake. If I did want to kill you and dump your body and your brothers or friend checked me out, they might not ever find me if I used a fake name.”
“Damn.” Mackenzie liked this guy. “So what should I have done instead?”
“Called the Ranger Station and checked me out. Told them you’re about to go on a date with a man that claims to be a Ranger and that you have a badge and you want to know if it’s legit or not.”
“I totally was going to do that!” Mackenzie exclaimed excitedly.
“Why didn’t you?” Dax asked curious.
“Well, because it felt like a shitty thing to do…not trust you when you gave me your ID without giving me crap about it.”
“Do it now.”
“What?”
“Do it now. Call. Check me out.”
“But you’re standing right there. And I believe you.”
“Do it.” Dax’s voice was unrelenting.
“Oh all right. Jeez.”
Pre-order it now: Justice for Mackenzie
Daxton Chambers, a member of the oldest and most distinguished law enforcement agency in the state of Texas, could never understand why people kill. But this new case, where someone was kidnapping and burying women alive, was a whole new level of depravity. As a Texas Ranger it was his job to keep San Antonio safe, but whoever this was, always seemed to be one step ahead of him.
Mackenzie Morgan lived what she considered a normal life. She worked at a non-profit agency, hung out with her best friend, had an annoying, but loving, family, had a tendency to ramble when she was nervous. She wasn’t looking for a man, but when Dax storms into her life, and won’t take no for an answer, she’s all in.
Meeting Mack, and finding out just how perfect she was for him, wasn’t a part of Dax’s plan…but he’d be damned if he was going to walk away from the most interesting and fun woman he’d met in a long time. Unfortunately, anyone Dax cares about is suddenly in danger. It’ll take every ounce of knowledge he’s gained from years in law enforcement to keep Mack alive.
**Justice for Mackenzie is the 1st book in the Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series. Each book is a stand-alone, with no cliffhanger endings.
* * *
Discover other titles by Susan Stoker
Badge of Honor: Texas Heroes Series
Justice for Mackenzie (Aug 2015)
Justice for Mickie (Nov 2015)
Justice for Corrie (TBA)
Justice for Boone (TBA)
Justice for Milena (TBA)
Justice for Kinley (TBA)
Justice for Sidney (TBA)
SEAL of Protection Series:
Protecting Caroline
Protecting Alabama
Protecting Fiona
Marrying Caroline (novella)
Protecting Summer
Protecting Cheyenne
Protecting Jessyka (July 2015)
Protecting Melody (Sept 2015)
Protecting the Future (Dec 2015)
Beyond Reality Series:
Outback Hearts
Flaming Hearts
Frozen Hearts
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About the Author
Susan Stoker has a heart as big as the state of Texas where she lives but this all American girl has also spent the last fourteen years living in Missouri, California, Colorado, and Indiana. She is quite the romantic and even met the love of her life on "Hotmail classified" before online dating and sites like match.com even existed!
Susan has been reading romance novels since middle school and once crossed out the names of the main characters in a book and changed them to her own and to the name of her crush. She's been writing scenes for years, developing her unique writing style.
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Frozen Hearts (Beyond Reality Book 3) Page 18