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Chapter
One
Myrabella Tueller walked out of the John Wayne International Airport into a beautiful late-spring Wednesday morning. The birds chirped, the sun was bright, the temperature was perfect, and she swore she could smell the California laurel—a vanilla scent mixed with grains.
Myra never had time to stop and smell the roses—or green laurels. She didn’t have time now, but she did let herself pause, close her eyes, and let the warm sun and soft scent wash over her.
She’d finished a security detail in Dallas late last night and assumed she’d have a break.
Never assume.
Her dad’s voice was often in her head. He gruffly teased her and all her siblings, but under the joking was a layer of strength, loyalty, and dedication to family, God, and country. Her dad was tougher than steel and he had trained her to be stronger than tungsten.
Her boss, Charli, had sent a text at three a.m. asking if she was available for another job, bonus pay because of the short notice and unique assignment. Myra would have to pretend to be dating someone famous as part of the security detail.
When Myra woke at five a.m. to lift weights in the hotel gym, she’d of course responded with a happy yes. Every dollar she earned changed her siblings’ futures. Meeting someone famous was exciting, and what did she care about pretending to date someone? She could thump any man she knew who got out of line.
Any man except Ike Porter, but she tried not to think about him. He avoided her as if she carried a Saturday Night Special in her purse not the Sig Sauer P365 XL she proudly carried.
Charli responded that she already had Myra booked on the nine-eighteen flight to Orange County where more details would be forthcoming. Charli apologized that her private jet wasn’t available, but she had secured a business class seat for Myra.
Myra appreciated the thoughtfulness, but she wasn’t concerned about luxurious flight accommodations. The flight from Dallas to Southern California was less than three hours. She’d grown up on a sheriff’s salary with five younger siblings and her mother leaving them for heaven when Myra was ten. Being from Cody, Wyoming, Myra’s idea of vacation was camping in the mountains, boating on the lake, or a rare day of snow-skiing. Flying anywhere, even in coach, was a privilege for her.
She opened her eyes and strode toward the passenger pickup area. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the Black Lincoln Navigator parked at the curb, tricked out by Tippin of course. Tippin thought he was Q from James Bond. Sometimes she and the guys joked that Tippin was more brilliant and inventive than Q.
It wasn’t the impressive vehicle that got to her, or the wonder of what gadgets Tippin may have included. It was the man reclining against the souped-up SUV that made her world spin.
Her crush—no, her challenge, her annoyance, maybe her idol or infatuation. Could he be all five blended together?
Ike Porter. Retired Army Ranger Lieutenant, the only op who kept his distance and didn’t either flirt with her or treat her like one of the guys.
Unfortunately for her, Ike was the most appealing man on earth.
Dang him.
He appeared to be casually waiting for her while posing like a male model of tough security specialist and retired military hero. Ike would probably stay even farther away from her if he knew her thoughts. Her dad would be stunned that she would let down her guard and ‘crush’ on some guy like a silly teenager. Especially someone she worked with who she needed to demand respect from.
Myra would never admit to anyone she thought Ike was beautiful, most especially him. She couldn’t afford to be consumed with any man, and a man working for the same security company was even more of a red flag. She needed to excel at this job, keep getting requests through Charli for the ‘Warrior Woman,’ making a difference in the fight against evil, and earning the kind of money that would pay for college or trade school for each of her siblings.
But Ike …
From the first time she’d met him, his blue eyes had mesmerized her. The connection she’d felt when they shook hands had shot through her like lightning. From her head to her toes, she had believed she’d met the man who was the perfect match for her—tough enough to improve her fighting skills, serious but able to laugh at her teasing, and tingly warm to the touch.
That first day, he’d released her from the handshake and from his blue gaze quickly. She’d been startled back to reality and mortified by the weird belief that they had some ‘connection’ and he was her future.
Ike had kept his distance from her after that initial meeting, which she should appreciate. She wasn’t the ‘settle down and date and get married’ type. A family of her own terrified her. What if she got killed on an op and left her husband and children alone? She knew how rough it was to be raised without the tender nurturing of a mom. Not that she was any kind of tender nurturer. She was more likely to slug somebody in the shoulder and tell them to buck up and get back in the fight than give them a hug and put a band-aid on.
Myra was proud of her hard-earned expertise. She knew how to fight, protect, tease like a buddy with the guys on her team, but she stunned her own male compatriots and the ‘bad guys’ when she proved how well a woman could shoot, combat like an ultimate fighter, and react in intense and dangerous situations.
If only she knew how to flirt with Ike.
No! She wasn’t going to flirt with anyone. She was here for a job.
Interesting that he was the one picking her up for this unknown assignment. Even though his pose was casual, Myra knew he was coiled for battle and ready to respond to any threat. His blue eyes and honed senses missed nothing.
Ike was the toughest and most impressive op she’d ever interacted with.
He also made her stomach flip flop every time their eyes met. Those piercing blue eyes … delectable.
