Second in a new contemporary romance series featuring hunky everyday heroes, from award-winning author Sara Humphreys
He could be the man to rescue her
Big city K-9 cop Ronan McGuire loves women, loves his dog, loves his job—but when old flame Maddy Morgan moves into his jurisdiction, he can’t think about anyone else. Ronan knows she’s way out of his league, but he’s determined to help Maddy live life to the fullest.
In more ways than one
With tragedy in her past, Maddy has immersed herself in work and swiftly made a name for herself in the hot New York City real estate market. She’s looking for safety, not love, but Ronan McGuire is as persistent as he is sexy, and his crooked smile is hard to resist. But all other concerns are wiped away when Maddy goes missing and Ronan and his bloodhound K-9 partner are tasked with finding her and bringing her home.
Excerpt:
Maddy stood on the corner and stuffed her hands into the roomy
pockets of her coat. She paused long enough to suck in a deep, cleansing breath
of cold air. Being around Ronan was quickly becoming a real-life roller coaster
ride. One minute it was easy and fun, the next, awkward and fumbling. Through
it all, however, no matter what part of the ride she was on, she had no desire
to stop. Maddy was intensely attracted to Ronan. It was carnal and primal and
made her feel completely out of control.
She wanted him, but she didn’t want to want him.
Ugh. She was a hot mess.
“I’m sorry about before.” She forced herself to look him in the
face. Curiosity and a touch of humor lingered there. “I didn’t mean it the way
you think I did.”
“I thought we were past that.” Ronan tilted his head and flashed her
that devastating smile. “Didn’t you get my charming text message?”
“Yes.” She couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up. “But I want to
be clear that I wasn’t implying you couldn’t afford to pay for dinner. In all
honesty, I’m feeling really nervous about this date and
sorely out of practice.”
“Oh! We’re being honest?” Ronan’s lips tilted. “Well, in the spirit
of honesty, I should fess up about something too.” He gathered both of her
hands in his. “My male ego took a hit when I saw your building, and then when I
saw your actual apartment…I guess I was feeling a little inadequate.”
“Why?” Her brow furrowed. “Your parents’ house is one of the largest
in Old Brookfield, and it’s no secret how wealthy they are. It’s not like you
grew up without money. Didn’t your great-grandfather invent the shoelace or
something?”
“The seat belt, among other things.” He laughed. “And yes, my family is
wealthy, but I’m not.
I’m a cop, Maddy. I make a cop’s salary. Let’s just say that my entire place
could fit in the lobby of your building. Twice.” He shrugged. “Hell, I was
worried Bowser wouldn’t want to come home with me after seeing it. He might be
a dog, but he has expensive tastes.”
“Very funny.” Maddy rolled her eyes.
“I am sorry for jumping to a stupid conclusion, but I won’t
apologize for being old-fashioned or for insisting that this is a real date.”
He tugged her closer and lowered his voice, a wicked glint in eyes. “Speaking
of which, we aren’t finished.”
“Ronan,” she said in a warning tone. “What are you up to?”
He raised his arm and tried to flag an oncoming cab that scurried by.
“Do you plan on telling me where we’re going?” Maddy tugged her coat
tighter against the bitter gust of wind. “Because I’m obviously not going home.”
“Nope.” Ronan took her hand in his and hailed another cab. “You aren’t
the boss tonight, Mads. I know you love being in control and calling the shots,
but let it go for now. I told you I was gonna take you out on a real New York
City date, and I meant it.”
“Fine,” she said, feigning annoyance.
By some small miracle, a cab barreling down the street toward them
pulled over. Ronan opened the door, and Maddy scooted in quickly. Ronan slipped
in behind her and whispered to the driver.
“You got it, man.” The cabbie hit the meter and pulled away.
“I have a love-hate relationship with surprises.” Maddy shivered and
adjusted the scarf around her neck. “I don’t even get a hint?”
“Nope.” Ronan sat on his side of the backseat with a smug smile on his
face and his hands folded in his lap. “No hints.”
Maddy adjusted her position and pressed her body into the corner, a
move meant to keep distance between them but also to allow her to study him. Except
that her coat fell open when she did, and since the hem of her skirt had ridden
up to precarious heights, it offered a generous view of her legs. She went to
cover them but quickly recalled the way she’d caught him staring at them back
at her apartment.
The emotional roller coaster had Maddy feeling more adventurous and
alive than she had in a good, long while. She could blame it on the wine, but
that would have been a lie. It wasn’t booze or loneliness. It was the man in
the cab next to her that had her head spinning and her body burning.
He was spot-on. She did love being in control. If she had to be at
the mercy of her overheated libido, then she would grab the wheel.
“That’s a damn shame.” Maddy sighed. “I do love a good…hint.”
Ronan, who had been looking out the window, turned—to argue with her,
no doubt. But when he caught sight of her bare legs, Maddy shivered beneath the
weight of his heated stare. His eyes, which had seemed greener in the
restaurant’s lighting, now gleamed smoky gray as they drifted slowly over her.
She couldn’t move. He pinned her there with his gaze, and in that instant,
there was nowhere else on earth Maddy would rather have been.
“Something wrong, Ronan?” Maddy lifted her knee, gently adjusting
her legs and doing nothing to cover them. “You look a little pale. Are you
feeling alright?”
“I’m feeling a few things”—his voice was gruff and strained—“but
none of them would be classified as alright.”
His heavy-lidded stare slammed into her, and the force of it drove all
the air from her lungs. Maddy couldn’t move. A hungry, almost feral look was
carved into his features. The lights of the city outside flickered over him and
highlighted the sharp angles of his well-chiseled jaw, wide cheekbones, and
firm, full lips. But what stood out were those intense, glittering eyes peering
intently from beneath jet-black brows.
“That so?” Maddy’s tongue flicked out and moistened her lower lip. “Then
how would you
classify them? What words would you choose?”
Ronan’s hand shot out with the same lightning-fast reflexes he’d
used to catch her in the park, but this time his touch carried a far different
purpose. It wasn’t safe or comforting. It was hot and demanding.
His wide palm seared along the exposed flesh of her bare calf, and
his fingers fluttered lightly beneath the crook of her knee. She gasped and bit
her lower lip when he leaned closer and rested his arm along the top of the
seat, closing in on her. He studied her intently, and Maddy fought the urge to
moan when his thumb brushed over her kneecap. Ronan lifted her leg ever so
slightly and ran his hand along the inside of her lower thigh.
She was cornered. Trapped between him and the door of the cab. Her
breath came in short jags, and her hands were clamped around the small evening
bag in her lap. Maddy was afraid that if she moved even one inch, the exquisite
sexual tension between them—the rising, burning swell of lust and need—would
shatter her into a million pieces.
“I’ve never been great with words,” Ronan murmured. “I’ll have to
show you instead.”
His hand moved higher up her thigh, and his hot breath, infused with
a hint of wine, fanned over her cheek and made her dizzy. His fingers pressed into
the sensitive flesh of her leg, gently but insistently, and Maddy moaned. When
he brushed his firm lips across the corner of her mouth, the dam broke.
On a groan filled with desperate carnal need, Maddy grabbed his face
and kissed him. His arm slipped behind her and held her close as his tongue
sought to possess hers. The kiss was rough and edged with passionate
desperation, as though neither of them could get close enough. She tangled her
fingers in his dark hair and uncrossed her legs as he deepened the kiss, his
hard, muscular body pressing her deeper into the seat. She reveled in the
weight and feel of him. All she wanted to do was get lost in the all-consuming
force that was Ronan McGuire.
Neither of them realized the cab had stopped.
“Yo, lovebirds,” the cabbie shouted. “You want I should keep the
meter running or what?”
Both of them were breathing heavily when Ronan broke the kiss. He
didn’t let her go. One hand remained curled possessively around the top of her
inner thigh, and the other was pinned behind Maddy’s back.
“Where are we?” Maddy said in a shaky voice. She slid her hands down
to his chest and grabbed the lapels of his coat before looking past him to the
window. “You planned on taking me to the Plaza Hotel?”
“Not the hotel! I was going to take you on a carriage ride,” he said
between heavy breaths. “But—”
“Driver?” Maddy’s lips curved into a smile. She was going to do
exactly what she’d told herself she wouldn’t. “Change of plans. Take us to 115 Central
Park West.”
“You got it, lady.”
Ronan pressed a kiss to her lips as the cab pulled away from the
curb. Then he sat up and adjusted her coat to cover her legs.
“I guess I do like being in control,” she whispered.
“I just discovered something, Mads.” Ronan curled his arm over her
shoulders and pulled her against him. “There’s only one thing I enjoy more than
surprising you.”
“What’s that?” She snuggled into his embrace and rested her head on
his chest. “Living up to your nickname?”
Congrats, Sara!
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