Julie Miller - Protection Detail

A seasoned cop becomes the target of a killer. And so does the woman he’s falling for.

Detective Lieutenant Thomas Watson had been off air force active duty so long, he thought he was safe. Until a gunman crashes his daughter’s wedding, reawakening the warrior inside him. He hires nurse Jane Boyle to care for his injured father so he can focus on bringing the gunman to justice. While Jane is the ideal caretaker, her dark past has landed her in witness protection. And the more she’s embraced by this family of cops, the more danger she’s in. For a shadow from Thomas’s own past might be willing to lend Jane’s stalker a helping hand…

The Precinct: Bachelors in Blue

“You’ve been shot.”

She unbuttoned his cuff and gently pushed the plaid chambray up his arm to inspect the graze across his skin.

“I’m so sorry you got hurt. I never meant—”

As she turned the wounds into the light, their heated words topped each other’s. “You could have been run down. You could have been shot. When I give you an order, I expect you to—”

“Screw your order. I won’t let anyone else get hurt. He was after me.”

“—do what I say and stay safe. He was after me.”

Jane froze as they blurted the exact same words. She tipped her chin up to see the shocked look in his eyes that she imagined mirrored her own.

“I’m a cop. Bad guys don’t like me.” Thomas spread his fingers over hers. He dipped his head to put his face in hers and demand she look him in the eye. “But why would someone want to hurt you?”

Protection Detail

Julie Miller

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JULIE MILLERis 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.

For the Dixons and their Ruby, who taught our Maggie

that not all big dogs are scary.

Thanks for always saying hi to your shy neighbor.

I’ve loved all our conversations about the dogs.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text A seasoned cop becomes the target of a killer. And so does the woman he’s falling for. Detective Lieutenant Thomas Watson had been off air force active duty so long, he thought he was safe. Until a gunman crashes his daughter’s wedding, reawakening the warrior inside him. He hires nurse Jane Boyle to care for his injured father so he can focus on bringing the gunman to justice. While Jane is the ideal caretaker, her dark past has landed her in witness protection. And the more she’s embraced by this family of cops, the more danger she’s in. For a shadow from Thomas’s own past might be willing to lend Jane’s stalker a helping hand… The Precinct: Bachelors in Blue

Introduction “You’ve been shot.” She unbuttoned his cuff and gently pushed the plaid chambray up his arm to inspect the graze across his skin. “I’m so sorry you got hurt. I never meant—” As she turned the wounds into the light, their heated words topped each other’s. “You could have been run down. You could have been shot. When I give you an order, I expect you to—” “Screw your order. I won’t let anyone else get hurt. He was after me.” “—do what I say and stay safe. He was after me.” Jane froze as they blurted the exact same words. She tipped her chin up to see the shocked look in his eyes that she imagined mirrored her own. “I’m a cop. Bad guys don’t like me.” Thomas spread his fingers over hers. He dipped his head to put his face in hers and demand she look him in the eye. “But why would someone want to hurt you?”

Title Page Protection Detail 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 the Dixons and their Ruby, who taught our Maggie that not all big dogs are scary. Thanks for always saying hi to your shy neighbor. I’ve loved all our conversations about the dogs.

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

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

Thomas Watson’s face hurt from the effort it took not to cry when he saw his daughter in her wedding gown.

“It’s okay, Dad.” Olivia Mary Watson had packed up all her tomboy clothes, her gun and her badge and put on a beaded ivory gown that made her look every inch the grown woman he reluctantly admitted she had become. She reached up to cup his cheek and smiled, reminding Thomas of the wife he’d lost to a drugged-up thief’s bullet when Olivia was a toddler. “I will always be your little girl.”

She’d stopped being his little girl the day she’d become a Kansas City cop, like him, his father and her three older brothers. But a daddy was entitled to indulge his sentimental side on a day like this. They stood in the doorway of the changing room at the church while the pre-ceremony music played, but Thomas was remembering skinned knees, annoying big brothers and broken hearts that had required his advice, his patience and a hug.

“You’re beautiful. You look so like your mother.” He fingered the veil of Irish lace his bride had worn thirty-five years earlier when he’d been a raw lieutenant stationed in the UK on his first overseas assignment. Mary Kilcannon had been a civilian working on the base. A late-night rescue from a drunk fellow officer in a bar had led to them talking until dawn, a first kiss and true love. A month later he and Mary were married, and what should have been a lifetime together began. Thomas didn’t mourn his wife anymore, but he missed her. There were a lot of life moments he wished he could have shared with Mary. Like the wedding of their youngest child and only daughter. He kissed Olivia’s cheek. “She would have loved to have been here today. I know she’s watching over us.”

“It’s been twenty years. You’ve done your duty by us. We never wanted for anything with you and Grandpa and Millie to take care of us. But Mom would want you to find someone and be happy again.”

“I date,” he insisted.

“Escorting a female work friend to the annual police officer’s ball does not constitute dating.” She straightened his red silk tie, an homage to the February 14 date that all the men in the bridal party except for the groom himself were wearing. “You’re a handsome man. You’re fit. You’re smart, a rock of dependability and caring. Maybe you could ease up on the whole alpha male of the pack thing you’ve got going on. But that’s SOP for any senior detective I know, and besides, you probably needed that to raise the four of us. You have a nice house and a good job consulting with KCPD. The right woman is out there waiting to snatch you up if you’d let her.”

Thomas laughed. “Let your old dad get through marrying off my baby girl today before you start matchmaking for me.”