Julie Miller - Necessary Action

Learning to trust could bring them together—keeping secrets could tear them apart

Going undercover to take down murderous gun smugglers is what Duff Watson lives for. Until he tracks the ring to a Missouri farm…and meets paramedic Melanie Fiske. Now the KCPD detective has another critical task: winning over the curvy redhead who tempts him yet whom he can’t let himself trust.

Something about the protective ex-soldier makes Melanie believe he can help her find out the truth about her family. And the desire Duff awakens feels like the real thing. But when Melanie’s life is threatened, can she keep trusting—and loving—a man who lives a life of dangerous deception?

The Precinct: Bachelors in Blue

“You think I need backup?”

“Everybody needs someone watching their back. Especially stubborn redheads who keep poking at mysteries no one wants to talk about.” Duff circled the table. “You’ve officially got me.”

Melanie palmed the center of his chest and kept him at arm’s length. “I suppose you expect me to have your back now, too?”

“I expect you to keep being my friend.” He leaned into her hand, dropping his voice to a drowsy timbre. “But make no mistake, Melanie Fiske—I will be kissing you again.”

Anticipation skittered through her veins. “Friends don’t kiss each other like that.”

“You don’t want me to kiss you again?”

Her blush betrayed her. “You know I can’t hide that I like you. Maybe becauses you’re not one of them. Or maybe because you say what you think.” She snatched away the fingers that were still clinging to the firm muscles of his chest and turned a pleading gaze up to him. “Just don’t lie to me, okay? I want to be able to trust you.”

Necessary Action

Julie Miller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JULIE MILLER is an award-winning USA TODAY bestselling author of breathtaking romantic suspense—with a National Readers’ Choice Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award, among other prizes. She has also earned an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award. For a complete list of her books, monthly newsletter and more, go to www.juliemiller.org.

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For Tracey Marie Oberhauser.

Because you make my son happy.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text Learning to trust could bring them together—keeping secrets could tear them apart Going undercover to take down murderous gun smugglers is what Duff Watson lives for. Until he tracks the ring to a Missouri farm…and meets paramedic Melanie Fiske. Now the KCPD detective has another critical task: winning over the curvy redhead who tempts him yet whom he can’t let himself trust. Something about the protective ex-soldier makes Melanie believe he can help her find out the truth about her family. And the desire Duff awakens feels like the real thing. But when Melanie’s life is threatened, can she keep trusting—and loving—a man who lives a life of dangerous deception? The Precinct: Bachelors in Blue

Introduction “You think I need backup?” “Everybody needs someone watching their back. Especially stubborn redheads who keep poking at mysteries no one wants to talk about.” Duff circled the table. “You’ve officially got me.” Melanie palmed the center of his chest and kept him at arm’s length. “I suppose you expect me to have your back now, too?” “I expect you to keep being my friend.” He leaned into her hand, dropping his voice to a drowsy timbre. “But make no mistake, Melanie Fiske—I will be kissing you again.” Anticipation skittered through her veins. “Friends don’t kiss each other like that.” “You don’t want me to kiss you again?” Her blush betrayed her. “You know I can’t hide that I like you. Maybe becauses you’re not one of them. Or maybe because you say what you think.” She snatched away the fingers that were still clinging to the firm muscles of his chest and turned a pleading gaze up to him. “Just don’t lie to me, okay? I want to be able to trust you.”

Title Page Necessary Action Julie Miller www.millsandboon.co.uk

About the Author JULIE MILLER is an award-winning USA TODAY bestselling author of breathtaking romantic suspense—with a National Readers’ Choice Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award, among other prizes. She has also earned an RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award. For a complete list of her books, monthly newsletter and more, go to www.juliemiller.org .

Dedication For Tracey Marie Oberhauser. Because you make my son happy.

Prologue

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

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

“This is some kind of Valentine’s Day curse.” Duff Watson stuck his finger inside the starched white collar of his shirt and tugged, certain the tux the rental shop had given him for today was a size too small.

He wondered what his family would think if he tossed the red bow tie and unbuttoned the collar of this stupid monkey suit. His sister, the bride, would be ticked, and his father would be embarrassed, Grandpa Seamus would laugh, and he’d never hear the end of it from his brothers. So he endured.

Duff—no one had called him by his given name, Tom, for years—was all for celebrating his sister’s happiness. He’d even agreed to stand up as best man for her fiancé. But the only things that felt normal about Liv’s wedding day were the gun holstered at the small of his back and the KCPD detective’s badge stashed in his pocket. And, oh yeah, watching his two younger brothers, Niall and Keir, tagging along behind him as they escorted the bridesmaids down the aisle to join him at the altar.

The three Watson brothers, all third-generation cops following proudly in their father’s and retired grandfather’s footsteps, couldn’t be more different if they tried. Niall was the brain, a medical examiner with the crime lab. He seemed clueless about all the pomp and circumstance surrounding the wedding. He looked as though he was doing some sort of mental calculation about the distance to the altar or how many guests were seated in each pew. Keir was the social one, and he was eating this stuff up. He flirted with his escort and blew a kiss to the older woman in the second pew, Millie Leighter, the family cook and housekeeper who’d helped raise the four of them after their mother’s senseless murder.

Duff was the self-avowed tough guy. He didn’t have the multiple college degrees Niall did, and he’d never win a sweet-talking contest against Keir. But neither could match him for sheer, stubborn cussedness. Duff was the survivor. He’d been old enough when Mary Watson had died that he could see his father’s anger and grief, and had stepped up to help take care of his younger siblings, even after their father had hired Millie, and Grandpa Seamus had moved in to do whatever was necessary to hold the fractured family together. Hell, even now that they were all grown-up, he was still doing whatever was necessary to protect his family—listening to his baby sister when her devil scum of a former partner had seduced and then cheated on her, making sure the man she was marrying today was worthy of her. He’d written a personal recommendation for Keir to one of his academy buddies when the ambitious youngest brother had been up for a promotion to the major crime unit. And there was no end to the coaching Niall required as the shy brainiac negotiated the intricacies of interpersonal relationships.