Elle James - Bodyguard Under Fire

A Special Forces soldier meets the baby girl he never knew existed in this book in Elle James’s Covert Cowboys, Inc. series.

In a small town in Texas, everyone has a secret. Especially Chuck Bolton. Formerly a Special Forces soldier, Chuck now poses as a ranch handyman. His real mission? To protect his ex-fiancée, and the baby girl he never knew they’d created, from a malevolent masked man.

Who is behind the attack—and what could they possibly want with Peggy Jane (“PJ”) Franks? While the answer remains unclear, one thing is certain: Chuck never stopped loving PJ after she left him. And PJ, afraid of falling for the same man who broke her heart, doesn’t want to repeat history. But that’s the least of her worries when her enemy’s motive is finally revealed.

Chuck glanced at PJ standing with her back to him. “How was it? Your pregnancy, the delivery? I want to know.”

“I did fine.”

“I would have been there…”

“I know you would have. If you could have.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Chuck tipped Charlie into the crook of his arm and stared down into her little face.

“Your focus needed to be on staying alive,” PJ said. “What was the point in telling you?”

His anger stirred again. “The point is, I’m Charlie’s father.”

“And if there had been complications, what could you have done from Afghanistan?”

Chuck sighed. “Nothing.”

A long silence stretched between them.

“I won’t try to keep you from seeing Charlie,” PJ said.

Chuck liked the strong, determined woman she’d grown into in the year he’d been away, and found himself even more attracted to her than before. But he wasn’t as sure about where they stood, or if he trusted her with his heart.

Bodyguard Under Fire

Elle James

www.millsandboon.co.uk

A Golden Heart Award winner for Best Paranormal Romance in 2004, ELLE JAMESstarted 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 three-hundred-and-fifty-pound bird! After leaving her successful career in information technology management, Elle is now pursuing her writing fulltime. Elle loves to hear from fans. You can contact her at ellejames@earthlink.net or visit her website at www. ellejames.com.

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

This book is dedicated to my father who sacrificed a lot for his country and his family. He’s the rock in my life and I love him so much.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Chuck Bolton—Wounded soldier returning to Wild Oak Canyon to join Hank Derringer’s team, Covert Cowboys, Inc.

PJ Franks—Waitress at Cara Jo’s diner, going to night school to make a better life for her and her baby girl.

Cara Jo Smithson—Owner of Cara Jo’s Diner, new manager of the Wild Oak Canyon Resort, and PJ’s friend.

Hank Derringer—Billionaire willing to take the fight for justice into his own hands by setting up CCI—Covert Cowboys, Inc.

Emilio Montalvo—Wealthy Mexican investor with possible connections to a ruthless drug cartel.

Ricardo Iglesias—Mexican guest at the Wild Oak Canyon Resort with an interest in getting to know PJ.

Ross Felton—Hardware store owner’s surly grandson with a knack for all things to do with computers.

Dana Perkins—Woman who looks after PJ’s baby while PJ works and goes to school.

Brandon Pendley—Hank Derringer’s computer guru, responsible for setting up the Raging Bull Ranch security system.

Alana Rodriguez—A woman Hank Derringer helped escape from a bad situation twenty-five years ago.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Excerpt

Chapter One

Chuck Bolton walked to the edge of town, working the kinks out of his bum leg, his limp more pronounced after his two-hour ride on one of the resort nags, housed in the old-fashioned livery stable.

He hadn’t had much call to ride in the military, spending most of his time on foot or in an armor-plated vehicle, patrolling the villages and Taliban-riddled hillsides of Afghanistan.

He’d still be there had he not turned all Rambo and gone off the deep end. Some called him a hero. His commander called him an idiot for risking his life. But other than ending his military career, he couldn’t regret his vigilante justice on the Taliban stronghold he’d leveled to the ground single-handed.

After what they’d done to that kid...

Chuck shook his head to clear the images. That was the past. Wild Oak Canyon and Covert Cowboys, Inc. were his future.

On the edge of town, looking south, he drew in a deep breath of hot, dry air and let it out. Not many understood the lure of this parched desert or chose to live here. Outsiders didn’t last long, not with miles and miles of flat, unchanging terrain, with the Davis Mountains rising in the distance, appearing closer than they actually were.

Hell, Chuck might not have come back had he not been invited to join CCI, the secret organization billionaire ranch owner Hank Derringer had started recently. Wild Oak Canyon held too many memories, both good and bad.

Everywhere he turned he ran into mental images of PJ.

PJ riding a horse across the desert landscape, PJ smiling up at him from their favorite swimming hole, begging him to join her, PJ telling him she’d love him forever...

Forever had been all too short. She’d begged him not to volunteer for the rotation to Afghanistan, wanting him to wait until his unit was called up, giving them a little more time together before he was put into harm’s way. His Army National Guard unit hadn’t been due for rotation for another twelve months when a call went out for volunteers.

Chuck had insisted on going, telling her duty called and he had to go.

They’d argued, Chuck had said things he wished he hadn’t, his temper getting the better of him. Looking back, he could see that PJ had been scared, afraid of losing him. And he’d pushed her away so effectively she’d ended their engagement, throwing the ring in his face shortly before he’d left for predeployment training at Fort Hood.

God, he’d been so stubborn. If only he’d said he was sorry, they might be married by now. He wouldn’t be wandering the streets of Wild Oak Canyon in search of what he’d lost.

Yeah, and if wishes were horses, he probably would have been bucked off on his butt anyway.

Bottom line was that he was back. He hadn’t had the nerve to look up PJ yet and wouldn’t. That didn’t stop his gaze from searching every face passing by on foot or in cars and trucks.