The only
man who can save her...
Special Forces agent Carter Rawlings
was back-and Dani Marlow's world was spinning in his wake. The local
arson attacks for which she was being blamed were only part of the
problem. The feelings Carter's reappearance had ignited threatened far
more dangerous territory-a past she tried to keep hidden, especially
from him. With the trouble on her land and Carter's tantalizing
presence, Dani had to think about her future.
Did she want to keep avoiding the
truth-that she loved Carter and wanted to make a life with him-or could
she finally face the stakes head-on, deal with her enemies and seal her
heart to that of the only man she's ever loved?
Jackson's Ridge, New Zealand
The noonday sun burned into the darkly
tanned skin of twelve-year-old Carter Rawlings's shoulders as he slid
down the steep scrub-covered hill just below his parents' house.
Grabbing the gnarled branch of a pohutukawa tree, he swung and launched
off a platform of black rock that jutted out from the bank, the tip of
one of the ancient lava flows that had made its mark on Jackson's Bay
and a string of other beaches stretching along the east coast of the
North Island.
Wincing at the heat pouring off the
sand, he loped down the beach to check out the new kid who had just
moved next door.
A pair of gulls wheeled above, shrieked
and swooped low, beady eyes hopeful. Carter slowed to a walk as his feet
sank into the cool damp sand that delineated the high-tide mark. Keeping
his gaze fixed on the thin body of the boy, he searched the pockets of
his shorts. "Sorry guys, no food today."
Normally he remembered to grab a slice
of bread for the gulls, but today it had been all he was capable of to
sit at the table once his chores were done and bolt down a sandwich
before being excused. The new kid was the first exciting thing that had
happened all summer. Maybe it shouldn't have been, but in Jackson's
Ridge, a tiny coastal settlement that had flat-lined long before he was
born, a new neighbour ranked right up there with the apocalypse.
The surf-casting rod the boy was holding flicked back, then forward.
Silvery nylon filament shot out across the waves. Bait and sinker hit
the surface of the water just beyond the break line and sank.
Great cast. Perfect. The kid had done
it like a pro, except, Carter now realized, the boy, Dani, who had moved
in the previous evening, wasn't a "he."
She had red hair scraped into a long
plait over one shoulder and a blue T-shirt plastered against her skinny
torso. Her faded cut-offs were soaked and she'd lost one of her sneakers
in the tide. He caught the glint of a tiny gold stud in one lobe. A
tomboy, maybe, but definitely not a boy.
He shoved his hand in the pockets of his shorts. "Hi."
For an answer she stepped into the
water foaming just inches from her feet and waded in until the water
eddied around her knees. Her rod dipped as she wound in slack line; a
few seconds later it shivered as something nibbled at the bait. She
moved forward another step, playing the fish.
Automatically, Carter studied the
swell. The waves came in in sets. Jackson's Bay was sheltered so it
wasn't usually a problem, but every now and then a big one arrived.
"Careful. There's a rip just there, sometimes it-"
Water surged, she staggered. A second
wave followed, forming a sloppy breaker, and with a yelp she went down,
the rod flipping into the surf.
Carter lunged, turning side-on to the
wave as his fingers latched onto her arm. The water went slack then
almost instantly surged back out to sea, the pull dragging the sand from
beneath his feet.
"Let go." Staggering upright she
wrenched free, dashed water from her eyes then dove into the next wave
and came up with the rod.
Cool. Carter wiped salt water from his
face as he watched her wind in the line. She hadn't needed his help. "I
guess you name's Danielle."
Her dark gaze was dismissive as she
strode, dripping from the water.
Carter didn't let it get to him. He had
never met a girl yet who could resist him, let alone one who hardly knew
he existed. He was used to girls noticing him: he had killer blue eyes.
Shrugging, he trailed after her as she
followed a line of scuffed footprints to a battered tackle box and a
beach towel. With cursory movements she examined the chewed bait
dangling from the hook and flipped the lock on the reel. His gaze fixed
on the set of her jaw and the fine sprinkling of freckles across her
nose.
Time for phase two. "Is Danielle your
name?"
A lean tanned hand slapped the lid on
the tackle box closed. "Get lost."
Bemused, Carter watched as she snatched
up the tackle box and towel, strode across the sand and took the rocky
path up to the Galbraith house.
She was tall for a girl-although
nowhere near as tall as he was-with a lean lanky build and a face that
would have been a knockout if she hadn't been scowling. According to his
mother she was the same age as he was, which meant she'd be in his class
in school.
Not Danielle, Dani.
He shrugged. The conversation hadn't
exactly been riveting, but...
He grinned as he strolled back home.
She liked him. He could tell.
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