Known to the K2 Special Services team as Romeo, ex-Navy SEAL Jake Buchanan has yet to meet a woman he didn’t like. There is one though who sets his heart to racing in a way the others don’t. She is off-limits, however, and his boss—her brother—has made that crystal clear.

Troubled by a childhood that still haunts her, Maria Kincaid goes searching for a father she’s never met—and stumbles into a nightmarish experience. With her life in grave danger, she reaches out to Jake.

Jake, a man who believes he isn’t capable of committing to one woman, knows he should stay as far away from Maria as possible. She’s in trouble though and he’ll just lend a hand, then return to his life as Romeo.

As Jake soon learns, some things are easier said than done.

 

 

“We have to find Mouse,” she said, her voice trembling.

If the asshole had found her cat, Jake didn’t want Maria to see the result. But he wasn’t willing to leave her behind. He grunted and set off down the hallway. Her bedroom door was ajar and the destruction there was the worst. Her bed had been sliced open, the contents of her dresser drawers upended, clothing ripped to shreds. She made a low keening sound, one that Jake feared he would hear in his nightmares. At least there was no mutilated cat.

“Mouse, here kitty, kitty. Come to mommy,” she softly sang.

So fast that Jake almost shot it before he registered what was coming at them, a gray and white ball of fur flew out of the closet and straight at Maria. The drawn out meooows and maaahhhs were accompanied by hisses that Jake took to be a scolding from cat to woman. He didn’t really blame the cat. The poor creature must have been scared out of at least three lives when the Devil decided to pay a call. Maria let go of Jake’s belt to wrap her arms around her cat.

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry. I should’ve come back and got you.”

Did he really just hear her say that? He turned to tell her what he thought about her returning alone, knowing Fortunada had her address. Her face was buried in the cat’s neck and the damned thing rested its paw on Maria’s cheek, his green feline eyes locked lovingly on her as he chatted away. The reprimand died on Jake’s lips.

“Stay here while I check the bathroom,” he said and left them to their reunion. He made a full sweep of the-one bedroom apartment, and as he took in the destruction of all that she owned, his rage grew. This was a warning from Fortunada to Maria. Jake longed for just ten minutes with the man, no guns or knives, just bare fists.

He took out his cell and called Detective Nolan. When he finished reporting the break-in, he returned to the bedroom. Maria sat on the floor, her cat still cuddled in her arms.

Her gaze swept the room, then she looked up at him. “I can’t live here, not even when this is over.”

“No, I don’t suppose you can,” he said, sitting on the floor next to her. Without warning, Maria pressed against him and sobbed. Jake tried hard not to notice the way her breasts bounced over his chest as she cried. It didn’t work. He noticed. He was a very bad man.

 

 

 

 

A native of Florida, Sandra once managed a Harley-Davidson dealership, before switching from a bike to an RV for roaming the open road (though she’s also chased thrills from sky-diving to upside-down stunt-plane flying). In addition to CRAZY FOR HER—a 2013 Golden Heart® Finalist for Romantic Suspense—and SOMEONE LIKE HER, her works include the Regency romance novels THE LETTER, winner of the Golden Quill Award, and THE TRAINING OF A MARQUESS, winner of the Golden Claddagh Award. A member of Romance Writers of America, she lives with her husband in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. She claims the only thing missing in her life is a cat to curl up on her lap while she writes.