Defender for Hire. Shirlee McCoy

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      SOMEONE WAS WATCHING HER…

      No matter how many times Tessa Camry moves, her mysterious tormentor always finds her…and leaves a grim reminder of all she’s lost. But this year, no longer content to deliver roses, her stalker wants her dead. When former army ranger Seth Sinclair becomes her bodyguard, he encourages her to stand her ground, even if it means letting go of long-held secrets. Seth realizes that Tessa may be his second chance at love, but their future depends on finding the man determined that Tessa never forgets the past….

      Heroes for Hire: Seeking the truth—at any cost.

      “Someone is after you, Tess.

      And I think you know who it is.”

      “I don’t!” she protested.

      Seth studied her silently, his eyes cold. “We’re dealing with a guy who sneaks around to do his dirty work. Someone who wants the world to see him one way, but who isn’t what he seems. A charlatan. Sound familiar?”

      She almost said it didn’t, because no one in her present life was like that.

      But there was someone from her past.

      An upright citizen on the surface but as evil as they came where it counted the most.

      Tessa stepped away from him, trying to clear her mind before she opened her mouth and changed her life forever.

      “What are you thinking?” Seth asked. He could tell she was right on the edge of telling him something—something big.

      “You just described my…”

      “Your husband?”

      SHIRLEE McCOY

      has always loved making up stories. As a child, she daydreamed elaborate tales in which she was the heroine—gutsy, strong and invincible. Though she soon grew out of her superhero fantasies, her love for storytelling never diminished. She knew early that she wanted to write inspirational fiction, and she began writing her first novel when she was a teenager. Still, it wasn’t until her third son was born that she truly began pursuing her dream of being published. Three years later, she sold her first book. Now a busy mother of five, Shirlee is a homeschooling mom by day and an inspirational author by night. She and her husband and children live in the Pacific Northwest and share their house with a dog, two cats and a bird. You can visit her website, www.shirleemccoy.com, or email her at [email protected].

      Defender

      for Hire

      Shirlee McCoy

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.

      —Mark 4:22

      To my family, because they know me well

      and love me anyway.

      Contents

       ONE

       TWO

       THREE

       FOUR

       FIVE

       SIX

       SEVEN

       EIGHT

       NINE

       TEN

       ELEVEN

       TWELVE

       THIRTEEN

       FOURTEEN

       FIFTEEN

       SIXTEEN

       SEVENTEEN

       EIGHTEEN

       NINETEEN

       TWENTY

       DEAR READER

       QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

      ONE

      Black.

      Not the color of love, friendship, admiration.

      The color of sorrow and death.

      Tessa Camry lifted the single long-stemmed rose from the hood of her car and tossed it into her yard.

      Five years.

      Five black roses.

      She glanced around the quiet neighborhood and saw nothing out of place. She never did. One rose every year to remind her. That was it. As if she needed anything to keep the memories from dying.

      She slid into her Ford Mustang, backing down the long driveway, her skin crawling. Five towns. Five states. And still the flower had found her. She’d come to expect that it would, but that didn’t mean she was happy about it.

      “It’s not like you went to a lot of effort to hide,” she muttered, her words echoing hollowly in the car.

      True. She hadn’t been hiding, but she hadn’t announced her location, either. No Christmas cards or phone calls—no contact with anyone from the past. Nothing to tie her to her college