Geri Krotow - Navy Justice

Undercover lover

A quiet, civilian life on Whidbey Island sounded great to navy lawyer Joy Alexander. But when navy SEAL-turned-FBI agent Brad Iverson shows up on her doorstep bruised and bleeding, she realizes it’s not so easy to leave the past behind. Even harder to forget are the feelings she once had for Brad.

Brad’s on an undercover operation, one that’s targeting potential terrorists...and unintentionally bringing danger to Joy. They’ll have to work together again, except this time it’s not only justice they’re after—it’s survival. If they make it that far, they won’t waste a second chance at love.

“Come here, Joy.”

His tone indicated that his thoughts were elsewhere.

“Have you heard a word I’ve said?” she asked.

“Come. Here.”

She heard him pat the sofa cushion next to him.

“Brad...” She allowed herself to feel how exhausted she really was.

“I’m not going to kiss you. Promise.”

Why not?

She took two short steps and lowered herself onto the sofa. Brad reached for her waist and pulled her down beside him.

She could feel the heat of his body through the thickness of her terry robe. He might not want to kiss her but she wanted to kiss him. Badly.

“Lean your head against me.” He wrapped his arm around her, and she put her head on his shoulder. After a few minutes she realized he was serious—this wasn’t going to be a lovemaking session.

“Brad? What exactly is this about?”

Dear Reader,

First, a big thank-you for purchasing this book, the next Whidbey Island title. The success of this series is all due to your incredible support and encouragement.

Ever since Joy Alexander was briefly introduced in Navy Christmas, I knew she had to have her own story. Joy is a former navy JAG who picked Whidbey Island as the place to settle and begin her civilian career as an attorney after a decade in the navy. Her plans for a quiet retreat into the community are overturned when a former work colleague, Brad Iverson, shows up at her kitchen door the same morning she’s starting her new job. Brad quickly becomes a big part of her life, just as he did when they worked together on a case to free a Guantánamo Bay prisoner who was wrongly accused of terrorist activity.

I like to explore how heroes and heroines react under different circumstances. For instance, Joy and Brad first met when she was an officer and he was enlisted; anything but a professional relationship wasn’t allowed. When Navy Justice opens, they’re both civilians. Nothing is keeping them from a relationship—except their inner conflicts. And, of course, a bad guy or two!

This has been the most challenging book to write in the Whidbey Island series so far, but also the most rewarding as Joy and Brad have to dig deep to find the right answers for themselves and the possibility of a life together.

For the latest on the Whidbey Island series, and my new series for Mills & Boon Romantic Suspense, Silver Valley PD, please sign up for my newsletter at www.gerikrotow.com. I’m also on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, and I blog regularly at the Mills & Boon Superromance authors’ site, www.superauthors.com. I hope to hear from you soon!

Peace,

Geri Krotow

Navy Justice

Geri Krotow

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Former naval intelligence officer and US Naval Academy graduate GERI KROTOW draws inspiration from the global situations she’s experienced. Geri loves to hear from her readers. You can email her via her website and blog, www.gerikrotow.com.

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For Margaret Mitchell, the best aunt a girl could hope for.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Joy’s Mac and Gruyere for Brad

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

0615 Monday Morning Whidbey Island, Washington

JOY ALEXANDER FORCED herself to ignore the clock and leisurely sip her morning coffee. She had more than an hour until her first day at the law firm—her first civilian job after a decade in the Navy. Since the law office was seven minutes away, tops, and she’d already showered, she could afford to enjoy the view a bit longer.

Five minutes. She waited for the satisfaction she usually felt when she thought about her new life, her new career. But this time she didn’t feel it. Had to be first-day jitters, that was all.

The blue of the water changed to gray as the Strait of Juan de Fuca glistened in the morning light. Even though she’d planned to make the switch to civilian life for the last three years of her career as a Navy JAG, right now it felt as though it’d happened in the blink of an eye. She stretched her arms over her head, enjoying the taut feel of her muscles after last night’s yoga class. She’d traded years of Navy PT tests and the sweaty gym for poses in a pristine studio, and she had no regrets.

The flutters in her stomach were purely physical reactions to her excitement at her new job.

The rumble of jet engines reached her ears a split second before two Navy F-18 Growlers shot across the sky, overflying her house, leaving the Whidbey Island airspace for the Pacific Ocean. She wondered if an aircraft carrier was waiting for them. She watched their shapes grow smaller as they gained altitude and distance. A second round of jet noise rushed over her house, but this was lower, slower. Turbojets. Sure enough, a P-8 Poseidon, followed by its predecessor, the P-3 Orion, flew by and their flight appeared slow and laborious after the showiness of the fighter jets.

The P-8 and P-3 platforms didn’t land on carriers, but instead performed reconnaissance and antisubmarine missions. No doubt a Naval exercise was afoot. She’d often observed the aircraft over the past year from her home base of Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island. They always made her feel comfortable—they were that familiar to her.

She tried to ignore the pang of nostalgia; it would do nothing but increase her anxiety about starting her civilian life.

Joy had no room for anxiety in her carefully structured routine.

Scanning the horizon yielded nothing in the way of wildlife, the real reason she loved sitting out here. Not one whale spout. A cargo ship and a smaller fishing vessel floated in the distance, and she wondered if the small boat was out there to whale watch. Maybe it belonged to an amateur photographer, hoping to get shots of the Navy’s power. Aviation buffs were serious about observing Naval flight operations and referred to the loud noise of the jets as the “Sound of Freedom.”

She certainly felt it was. She’d proudly been part of supporting the operators who served all over the globe in missions that ranged from humanitarian aid to the ugliest aspects of war.