Harlequin Romantic Suspense April 2021 Karen Whiddon (best fiction books to read TXT) 📖

for hours on end. It would explain what looked like long pine needles piled in the corners of her windshield, plus the fresh pollen on the auto’s hood. They’d enjoyed hiking the one spring they’d been together. As well as what they’d done before and after the outdoor excursions. Sometimes, during.

Nope. Not going there. Since they’d split two years ago, he’d kept a tight leash on his mind’s wanderings regarding Dominique. She’d knocked him to his knees, something no woman before or since had ever done. And he’d promised himself he’d never again be so foolish, leaving his heart that vulnerable to a woman. Fortunately, his workload as CEO of Colton Protection left him little time to worry about being alone.

Dominique picked up her pace and he matched it, careful to stop into doorways or behind battered building corners as needed. He knew it was only a matter of time before she discovered he’d been hired to protect her, but Stanton wasn’t ready to come completely clean about the assignment he’d accepted from Rigo de la Vega, Dominique’s fortress of a father. Not until he had to. Dominique was in all likelihood going to give him a hard time about protecting her, and while he understood her viewpoint, he also had great respect and compassion for her dad. The man was frustrated by his daughter’s refusal to see how her job as an investigative reporter put her life at risk, and he was desperate to keep her safe. Whether Dominique wanted to be protected or not wasn’t on Rigo’s radar. Rigo’s words had been persuasive enough for Stanton to agree to accept the job. He’d reminded himself repeatedly over the past hours that was all this was. An assignment. A contract. It had nothing to do with his and Dominique’s past.

Sure, it doesn’t.

If he were to be honest with himself, Stanton was curious about where she was headed. He’d scoured the Grave Gulch Gazette’s digital archives for her reports from the last six months, which in fact was only a review of what he already knew. He never missed one of her articles. Dominique was a gifted journalist and while his business required mostly the nuts and bolts of crime reports to keep his clients safe, he always appreciated the more human, personal take that Dominique’s reporting highlighted. Whether she was covering a crime victim or a high school student who’d been awarded a university scholarship, Dominique put her all into every report.

Stanton hadn’t learned anything new from her reports, but when he’d checked out her social media page, his breath had lodged in his chest. Dominique had waved the equivalent of a red cape at the local cartel’s kingpin. She hadn’t mentioned the cartel or even drug dealing, but had made it clear she was going to uncover “every last criminal” who’d caused Charlie Hamm harm. And taken shots at GGPD, which made his head hurt for his sister, Chief of Police Melissa Colton. Then, as he’d scrolled further, he saw the “anonymous” posts threatening Dominique. He’d bet his professional reputation that the unknown posters were directly connected to the cartel. It made his gut twist to think about the sheer hatred aimed at her.

They’d parted ways two years ago and yet he’d never been able to let go of his instinct to protect her, to keep her safe. At least, that’s what he told himself. If he dug deeper into his emotions, the truth was probably more related to the fact he might still have some remnant of feeling for her.

They were over, though, had been for two years, and he wasn’t letting his thoughts wander back into that soul-sucking black hole. At least not during work hours. He had to stay in his lane, which for the foreseeable future was protecting Dominique.

And it was in her best interest to not alert her of his presence just yet. Letting her know he was here, and not leaving her side from here out, would cause a scene and draw the most unwelcome attention. Because no way in Hades was Dominique de la Vega going to accept his services without a fight. She insisted on doing things her way; this much, he’d wager, hadn’t changed about his ex.

Her figure swayed with what he’d affectionately told her once was her ability to hypnotize him with a single step. She was clad in dressy wide black pants and a belted, short white trench coat that emphasized her hourglass figure, and he had to consciously work to keep his head in the game. He was here to guard Dominique, keep her safe from the deadbeats who were blasting her social media with vile and vitriol. He might be called to protect her from the kingpin of a major drug cartel operating in Grave Gulch. Not to stare at her ass nor think about how her skin had felt under his fingers.

Reviewing what Rigo had told him, which lined up with what Stanton had read on her social media posts, infuriated him. She’d put herself at unreasonable risk, and if he had his way, he’d talk her out of pursuing this story. Or at least wait until the dust settled from the blowout that was certain to ensue once she realized he wasn’t going anywhere. His gut churned as he followed her, knowing dang well that Dominique was incapable of letting anything go if it involved unearthing the truth.

And then this morning’s post. What on earth had possessed Dominique to announce publicly that she was looking for sources and intended to uncover “corruption in the Grave Gulch Police Department”? It was pure madness on her part. Sure, she was a reporter and he was all for her exposés and her investigative journalism. Free press was important. But it was best to leave the riskiest aspects, including anything to do with hardened criminal figures, to law enforcement agencies, or LEA. Let the local, and national as needed, LEAs handle it. Except Dominique seemed convinced that