Deadly Engagement. Elle James

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      Reader favorite Elle James knows suspense…and her heroes are trained for danger…

      But secret operative Creed Thomas isn’t prepared for Emma Jenkins. Creed needs the diving expert to locate a sunken boat off Oregon’s rocky coast and lure out an elusive terrorist. But he doesn’t need the fiery attraction that tempts the by-the-book agent to break every rule. Emma is everything the man in him wants and the agent in him can’t have.

      As an impenetrable fog blankets the seaside town, one thing is clear: Creed is all that stands between a terrorist and the unspeakable act of violence he’s sure to commit. When the moment comes, will Creed be forced to choose between saving his country…and the woman he loves?

      “I like the women I date to stay safe.”

      Emma’s brows rose. “We’re not dating.”

      “According to some people, we are.”

      “Creed, what are you afraid of?”

      “The man on that yacht was shot and left to go down with the ship. If there was anything on that boat worth killing for, it likely went down with it,” Creed said.

      Emma frowned. “That doesn’t mean we’ll be targeted next.”

      Creed stared at her, at her gray eyes dark and troubled. He tilted her chin upward. If the man he was after thought Emma had anything that belonged to him, he’d pursue her relentlessly. “Promise me you’ll be careful. And you’ll call if you need me.”

      He was already on the precipice, standing far too close to her. The thought of something happening to her sent him over the edge.

      In one motion he pulled her into his arms, crushing her lips with his. He kissed a path down to the base of her thoat, where her pulse beat erratically.

      “Creed, this is wrong.”

      No, that was far from the truth. For the first time, nothing felt so right.

      Dear Reader,

      I had fun building the little vacation seaside town of Cape Churn and populating it with characters you’ll see again. But the most fun I had in Deadly Engagement was researching the scuba diving and boating aspects of the book.

      I took scuba lessons about twenty years ago and have yet to scuba dive in the ocean. I took my open-water dive in a murky lake, and I’ve snorkeled in Cancun, Hawaii, Guam and Florida, but never scuba dived in the ocean and never in Oregon, where the Pacific Ocean is cold and requires a wet suit to maintain body warmth. However, it’s on my bucket list. I had pictures of equipment, dive boats and rocky coastlines bookmarked while I pounded away at the keyboard.

      While writing this book, Cape Churn became such a part of my life I wanted to join Emma Jenkins and Creed Thomas Ruckman aboard the Reel Dive on the hunt for the cargo aboard the Pelageya and then go in search of the Anna Maria. What an exciting journey!

      Nothing like a little suspense to make the setting even more interesting, right?

      Happy reading!

      Elle James

      Deadly Engagement

      Elle James

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      ELLE JAMES

      A Golden Heart Award winner for Best Paranormal Romance in 2004, Elle James started writing when her sister issued a Y2K challenge to write a romance novel. She has managed a full-time job and raised three wonderful children, and she and her husband even tried their hands at ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas) in the Texas Hill Country. Ask her, and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with an angry 350-pound bird! After leaving her successful career in information technology management, Elle is now pursuing her writing full-time. Elle loves to hear from fans. You can contact her at [email protected], or visit her website, at www.ellejames.com.

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      This book is dedicated to my family, whose loving support has encouraged me to continue to pursue my writing career. My husband, who believes in my abilities and asks, “Why aren’t you writing?”; my sister, with whom I brainstorm and share my successes; my father, because he taught me the value of hard work; my mother, who is my first line of defense beta reader; my oldest daughter, who reads my work and always looks forward to the next story; my son, who is proud of his mom and her writing; and my youngest daughter for keeping me on my toes. I love you all!

      Contents

       Chapter 1

       Chapter 2

       Chapter 3

       Chapter 4

       Chapter 5

       Chapter 6

       Chapter 7

       Chapter 8

       Chapter 9

       Chapter 10

       Chapter 11

       Chapter 12

       Chapter 13

       Chapter 14

       Chapter 15

       Chapter 16

       Excerpt

      Chapter 1

      Creed Thomas Ruckman’s smart phone buzzed and he pulled the rental SUV he’d picked up at the Portland airport to the side of the road just outside Cape Churn, a quaint Oregon seaside town. The caller ID displayed Blocked Sender. Probably The Man, his boss, who’d sent him on the red-eye flight from Alaska late