Flash of Death (Code X, 2, Band 1726) - Softcover

Dees, Cindy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0373277962 ISBN 13: 9780373277964

Verlag: Harlequin Romantic Suspense, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

Trent Hollings has been secretly engineered to be the fastest man on earth. But when undercover forensics accountant Chloe Jordan walks into his life, with all her sexy reserve, time stands still for him. Not even the threat of retaliation from a powerful drug cartel can stop Trent from using his superhuman skills to keep her safe.

Chloe takes one look at Trent and sees everything she's ever craved and avoided when it comes to men: adventure…and lies. Still, she knows that it's only a matter of time before she surrenders to this smoking-hot man. But when the enemy finds them, Chloe is confronted with a truth that could destroy her love for Trent forever….

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Raised on a horse farm in Michigan, Cindy Dees dropped out of high school at 15 to attend the University of Michigan where she earned a B.A. in Russian and East European Studies. She became a U.S. Air Force Pilot, worked at the White House, and was a part-time spy during her military career. Her first novel was published in 2002, and she has published over forty more since then with HRS and HQN. She is a 5-time RITA finalist and 2-time RITA winner and has won numerous other awards.

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Chloe Jordan knew one thing: the combination of turning thirty and being one of the only single women at her little sister's wedding was thoroughly depressing—expensive-chocolate-and-cheap-wine-binge depressing. The hell of it was that she, as the maid of honor, emphasis on maid, old maid, had an ironclad obligation to be the life of the party. No matter how much she loved her little sis, this night officially sucked.

A chorus of spoons knocking on glasses startled her out of her momentary slip into melancholy. Shouts of laughter went up as the groom laid a smoking-hot kiss on the bride. Sheesh. Somebody throw a bucket of ice water on those two.

Chloe checked her bitterness. Sunny'd had a really crappy run of luck and deserved all the happiness she could get. The lucky groom, Aiden, obviously loved Sunny fiercely. Next up on her personal hit parade of depressing events was bound to be playing indulgent auntie to their perfect children. Yippee.

The band resumed playing too loudly to talk over, and thankfully a mob of guests piled out of their seats, relieving her of any duty to go out onto a painfully empty dance floor and "get things started."

It didn't help her mood that she'd had a little too much champagne and was starting to feel a little weepy. Sunny was so beautiful and radiant, and she was so proud of her little sis. Chloe noticed from her seat jammed in the corner that it had started raining outside.

One of the groomsmen got the bright idea to light up a cigar, and furthermore, to pass out cigars to all the other groomsmen. A cloud of noxious blue smoke enveloped her. Her stomach roiled ominously.

Enough was enough. She took her queasy stomach and crazy mood swings and fled the reception in search of fresh air. She burst out of the private club that was one of Denver's most exclusive addresses and inhaled deeply. But even the rain wouldn't give her a break and the skies opened up without warning. Her hotel was right across the street and she ran for it, racing down the club's wide steps. Streetlights glittered off the wet pavement as she dashed between cars.

She never saw it coming.

A big, dark SUV accelerated toward her out of nowhere, its engine growling hungrily as it shot forward. Its headlights were blinding and she stared into them in shock.

The impact was incredible, knocking her completely off her feet and sending her flying through space splayed out on her back. Something powerful wrapped around her torso, yanking her in a midair one-eighty so she landed on her stomach. She slammed into something…

…and didn't die horribly. Whatever she'd smashed into had definitely been hard but not nearly as unyielding as concrete. Her breath was knocked clean out of her, though, and she gasped frantically to no avail. Disoriented, she stared down at the man lying beneath her. Had she been thrown into him and knocked him down?

An engine revved and tires squealed behind her. She looked up in time to see a black, shiny, wet SUV disappear around a corner at a high speed.

She'd nearly died. And the man lying so still beneath her had probably saved her life by breaking her fall. Had she killed him? All of a sudden, she was able to breathe again. She sucked in a sobbing breath and rolled off of the man.

"Are you okay?" she asked urgently.

His eyes blinked open, and silver eyes stared up at her, laser-intense. Eyes she recognized. Ohmigosh. He was one of Aiden's groomsmen. Trenton something. Hollings. That was it. She'd heard some of the other guys call him Trent.

"I'll live," he rasped. "You?"

"I'm fine. You broke my fall. I'm so sorry—"

He cut her off. "No need to apologize. Who was in that car?"

"I don't know. I didn't see anything, and then those headlights were coming at me. I guess the SUV hit me and sent me flying into you."

"Actually," he murmured, sitting up carefully, his dark hair tousled and sexy, "I'm the only thing that hit you. I knocked you out of the car's way at the last second. Had that SUV hit you, something that heavy moving that fast would have killed you instantly."

She stared, stunned anew. He really had saved her life. For a man who'd just been knocked flat by a human-sized flying object, he popped to his feet with a speed and grace that shocked her. A hand materialized in front of her eyes.

It was big and tanned and calloused in stark contrast to the pristinely starched white cuff and onyx cufflink above it.

She took his hand and floated to her feet.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked, his voice deep. Rough with concern.

She looked down at her red silk gown ruefully. The side seam had torn from the hem almost all the way to her hip. Her slender leg was entirely exposed. "I'm fine. But I can't say the same for my dress."

He looked down critically. "I like it better like this. A woman with legs like yours should show them off."

Her startled gaze lifted to his, and he smiled at her. But not just any smile, rather a sizzling hot one that promised a long night of steamy seduction if she was interested. She about fell off her three-inch stilettos in shock. Trenton Hollings was flirting with her? The hottest groomsman out of a whole batch of ridiculously hot men? No way.

He offered her his forearm, and she looped her hand around it in minor shock. The hard muscles beneath the soft Italian wool contracted sharply. "Ready to try crossing the street again?" he murmured.

"I swear, I looked both ways. I never saw that car coming. One second the street was clear, and the next, there it was, running me down."

Trent nodded, frowning. "I believe you." His frown deepened as they stepped gingerly back out into the wide boulevard. They managed to cross to the other side of the street without incident, although her escort did pause as they reached the far curb to take a long look back over his shoulder at the scene of her near miss.

"What's on your mind?" she asked cautiously.

Her words seemed to jolt him out of his reverie and he gave himself a little shake. "Getting you up to your room in one piece and cleaned up is on my mind."

She looked down at herself in alarm. Just how bad did she look? As if it mattered. She was darned lucky just to be alive, for goodness' sake. They stepped into a hotel elevator, and in the small, enclosed space, her tall escort dwarfed her. She was not short herself at five foot seven, plus three inches of heels, but he still had several inches on her. He was muscular without being thick. His shoulders filled out his tuxedo nicely, and well-defined biceps flexed within his sleeves. No wonder the impact of him slamming into her had knocked her halfway across the street.

"Do you save women from being run down a lot?" she asked to fill the silence.

His mouth twitched in humor. "Not often."

"What do you do when you're not doing that?"

He shrugged. "I'm a bum."

She blinked, startled. "You clean up pretty well for a bum."

A full-fledged grin flashed her way, all but knocking her off her feet again. Nobody got teeth that perfect and white without expensive orthodontic work. And that tuxedo was no rental monkey suit. It was cashmere with Italian lines exquisitely tailored to his athletic physique. Not to mention Sunny'd told her how wealthy and successful all of Aiden's groomsmen were, not so subtly hinting that Chloe should pick one and go for the gusto. The guys had all gone to college together, apparently....

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Harlequin Romantic Suspense
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0373277962
• ISBN 13: 9780373277964
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 224
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: HarperCollins Publishers, Product Safety Manager; enquiries@harpercollins.ie; ; HarperCollins, Macken House, 39/40 Mayor Street Upper; Dublin 1; D01 C9W8; Irland