Just a Whisper Away
Lauren Nichols
Silhouette Intimate Moments
June 2006
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Fourteen years ago, Abbie Winslow and Jace Rogan were young lovers, but the relationship between the local banker’s pampered princess and the son of the town tramp ended bitterly. Now L.A. lawyer Abbie is back in Pennsylvania, running from a deranged ex-client who’s leaving bodies in his wake as he crosses the country to get to her. As Abbie’s nemesis draws near and Jace, who’s risen to wealth and respectability, offers his protection, the sizzling attraction the lovers once knew burns hotter than ever. Soon they’re sleeping under the same roof, just a whisper away from a killer…and maybe, JUST A WHISPER AWAY from love.
Read an Excerpt from: JUST A WHISPER AWAY
Sighing, Jace brought her with him as he eased back against the kitchen counter and stroked her hair. His compassion for her was getting all mixed up with the primal feelings he’d been fighting all day. Standing here with her legs tucked between the spread of his, absorbing her warmth and her weight, was like a time-travel moment. Suddenly it was that college-summer again, and he was tugging her back toward the Ferris wheel at the county fair. He saw the high color in her cheeks, saw her shake her head no and insist that the wheel was too high and too fast. He’d teased her until she’d finally agreed to face her fears.
She’d clung to him like dew to clover that night, sweet and scared and vulnerable at first, then finally, laughing and excited. That night there’d been no hint of the tough L.A. lawyer she would become…just the girl he’d wanted for his own since she’d walked up to him needing help with her term paper. He’d felt strong and protective, and so turned-on if it hadn’t been for shirttails, the whole world would’ve known he was irreversibly hot for Abbie Winslow.
Now, unable to stop the beginnings of arousal and acutely aware that the temperature in the kitchen was rising, Jace eased her away a few inches and met her watery brown eyes. He wiped her tears with his thumbs. “Let’s go for a ride.” He needed to break this up before his emotions got out of hand. Because suddenly he realized that something in him had been waiting for the opportunity to hold her again, and that wasn’t good. He was losing his objectivity, remembering too much of the good stuff and shoving the bad to the back of his mind.
“Where?”
“Just into town to the Quikky Stopp. I have to fill my gas tank. If you smile for me, I’ll buy you a cup of fake cappuccino.”
“I don’t need cappuccino,” she said, tears in her voice. “I need absolution, Jace. I need to feel good about myself again, and I need to get rid of this clawing anxiety that won’t let me sleep and keeps my nerve endings vibrating like tuning forks! I need–” She stopped, then flushed deeply and glanced away.
And everything in Jace said “Uh-oh” because he was intimately acquainted with that clawing feeling, too.
The dizzying scent of pheromones filled the air, filled his nostrils, filled his mind. He didn’t know if she was aware of it, but as she’d spoken her hands had slid down from his shoulders to his forearms, and he swallowed, watching her thumbs move aimlessly over the hair below his turned-back cuffs.
“How can I help?” It was getting hard to breathe naturally, and his kitchen was shrinking to the size of a postage stamp.
She shook her head as though she didn’t know. But she knew. They both did.
Jungle drums pounded in Jace’s head, and he lowered his gaze to the fluttering pulse at the base of her throat. Then he returned to the fire in her brown eyes. If he’d had doubts before, he now knew for sure that her thoughts were swimming in dangerous waters, too.
That’s when the heat took over. That’s when he lost every speck of discipline he had and brought his mouth down hard on hers.
