“What about coming home with me?”
Both Audrey’s and Elena’s heads swiveled in the direction of the new voice. Standing off to the side of the bench nearest Audrey, in full dress uniform, stood Cam Harris. He was take-your-breath-away handsome, so tall and straight, the military way.
Audrey stared. Was he really here? She glanced at Elena. Her friend was gaping at him, too. Okay, so he wasn’t a hallucination, invented by her strong desire to see him after all this time. He actually was here, all six glorious feet of him.
She couldn’t read his expression. The sun was behind him. His cover shaded his face. Movement beside her told her Elena was beating a hasty retreat, mumbling, “I’ll just be getting along now.” Audrey bit her lip and continued to stare at him.
“Are you going to answer my question?” His voice was husky. She swallowed, rose to her feet, and moved to stand in front of him.
“You’re here. In uniform.” It was really him.
“Would you rather I wasn’t? Personally, I’d prefer a lot less clothes.” He was smiling, right up into those beautiful brown eyes. It was all the encouragement she needed. She launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck, wrapping her legs around his hips, and hiding her face in the crook of his neck.
“You came back, you’re not in the stockade, you’re not dishonorably discharged!” He’d caught her with barely a grunt, his arms enfolding her. His mouth found hers, devouring her lips. She kissed him sloppily in return, before kissing him all over his face.
At last he reared his head back to look into her eyes. “Tears? For me? I never thought I’d be the cause of your tears.”
She hadn’t known she was crying. “I’ve worried so much about you. You never called.”
“My phone burned in the cabin, remember? I wasn’t exactly free to go get a new one. And when I was, I decided I couldn’t leave this to a text or a call.”
She slid down his body but remained in the circle of his arms, swiping away the tears of joy from her face. If she hadn’t known how she felt about him before, she did now. He was her everything.
“And what is ‘this,’ exactly?” She traced his lips with one finger. He kissed the tip softly.
“I’m back on the job. General McNamara was instrumental in that. He wants me to continue my everyday work, but also to report to him on any unusual behaviors of soldiers. He feels the threat of the GUWP is real.”
“So, it’s not over.” Her insides clenched at the thought. At any given moment, someone, somewhere might be recruited into the organization, and all the shit would start over. They wouldn’t be safe, democracy wouldn’t be safe, until the head of the snake was cut off.
“No, it’s not. For one thing, that USB was never found. The general and I think it’s instrumental to solving this attack, and especially the threat to the military. So, because of all that, I need someone I can trust at my side, someone on the outside with listening ears and watching eyes.” His hands slid up her waist, coming to rest directly below her breasts. She began to tingle all over. “Do you know anyone like that?”
She cocked her head and said slyly, “Zack?”
He gave her a wicked grin, pulling her against him and lowering his head until their lips were an inch apart. “Zack can go to hell. I want you, Audrey Jenkins, at my side every step of the way.”
“And I want you, Cameron Harris. I love you,” she whispered, the words feeling right as they left her mouth. Just like it felt right to stand in the circle of his embrace at last. She looped her arms around his neck, looking into his smiling face, so close to her own.
“I love you, too,” he said, his words mingling with her satisfied sigh as he closed the distance between them and sealed the accord with a long and demanding kiss that promised many, many more to come.
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Acknowledgments
Writing a book is one thing; polishing it, making it shine, takes a lot more expertise than a single author has. I want to take this moment to thank some of the people who have made this book amazing.
First, I want to thank my editor, Heather Howland, for seeing the potential in me and Zone of Action’s first draft. Without your expert knowledge, this book wouldn’t sound as good as it now does. Thank you.
Thank you also to LJ Anderson, for the fantastic cover for Zone of Action. It’s mouth-watering good. The man on the cover represents Cam Harris to a T.
In addition, thank you to my publicist, Riki Cleveland. You rock at what you do, and I seriously thank you for setting up my blog tour, as well as all your other ideas that get my book in front of readers.
It takes a village to bring a book to life, and Entangled is the best village to belong to. Thank you.
About the Author
Cathy Skendrovich has always loved a good story and spent her formative years scribbling what is now called Fan Fiction. The current heartthrob of the time featured heavily in all her stories. Unfortunately, once she went to college, her writing took the form of term papers. Upon graduation, Cathy became a middle school English teacher. Along the way, she married her husband of now thirty-three years, had two sons, and moved to southern Orange County, California. She chose to work part-time in the school system there. She eventually joined the online writing site, Wattpad, and credits those followers for encouraging her to become a published author. She is a member of RWA and writes contemporary romance for Entangled. Her Entangled titles include Prisoner of Love and Protecting the Nanny. She also has two historical romances published through Literary Wanderlust publishers.
Also by Cathy Skendrovich…
Prisoner of Love
Undercover with the Nanny
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Zone of Action (In the Zone) Page 22