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𝙀𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙆𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧. If it was just her, she would hide out until the threat passed, but as identical triplets, she feels compelled to protect her sisters. After the killer tracks her and her sisters down, Ella is forced to turn to the one man she has never gotten over. Jake Leeds destroyed her, but she knows he can keep her alive.
Jake Leeds's work as an undercover operative has wreaked havoc on his life. When Ella comes to him, he is determined to save Ella from certain danger. He doesn't blame Ella for being angry, but he can't tell her the truth about the night she thinks he cheated on her, or national security would be at risk.
𝘾𝙖𝙣 𝙀𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙅𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚? After a night of passion, it's unclear if they can truly move forward together or if the secrets of the past will keep them apart. 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣.
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"I wasn’t sure who made the first move, but we were locked in a clinch, his lips on mine, my tongue probing deep as his hands roamed over my back and down to my ass. I shouldn’t be doing this. We weren’t together and having sex with Jake wouldn’t erase the hurt and betrayal I’d experienced. But I wanted him.
Jake pulled away from me and put space between us. I missed the heat of his body, the firmness of his touch. His breath heaved as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and I could easily see the conflict in his eyes.
“Ella, I can’t do this unless we’re making progress on our relationship.”
I opened my mouth then closed it. We didn’t have a relationship. I shook my head and tried to come up with something to say. “How…how can you think I’d get back with you? You cheated on me.”
“I didn’t,” Jake spat out. His voice sounded strained, like he was holding back his anger.
“Then why did you fly all the way to England for a date?”
“It wasn’t—” He wiped his hand over his face and groaned. “There was no date. I was just there. I don’t know why the papers decided to make more out of it than it was. I’m not and never have dated or slept with her. I swear—”
Anger boiled over. “You are lying about something. I see it in your eyes. If you ever expect there to be anything other than sex between us, you need to tell me the truth.”
I couldn’t stay out here with Jake. I wanted him too much, and I was way too angry to control my emotions. I turned, taking off back down the hill toward the cabin.
“Fuck!” Jake yelled, and I flinched, but I didn’t turn back to him.
I needed space. I knew this wouldn’t work out. I couldn’t trust him, and he wouldn’t tell me the truth about what happened with him and that woman in England.
The cabin was still locked, so I decided to walk up the path to the road. I would have to return to the cabin and face Jake eventually since there really was nowhere for me to go. I wanted there to be a path forward for us, but he continued to lie to me. It was so obvious it hurt.
The path wound around stands of trees and thick bushes. At one point the crunch of leaves and twigs made me jump, but then I spied a bunny hop out from behind the bush. The area was darker than before when I was on the hill behind the house. The sun set faster in the hills, and I guessed it was close to going down since the light was fading fast.
Another rustle of bushes to my left made me turn to see which tiny forest animal was making noise. I expected a bunny or maybe a fox but was shocked to come face to face with another human. If it was Jake, I would have laughed the experience off. But the man wasn’t Jake. His face was draped in shadows, making it hard to see. Was this the man I’d seen in the parking garage? Was he here to kill me?
Fear hit hard, and I took a few steps back, almost tripping over a rock on the path. The guy’s hand snaked out and grabbed my shirt, bunching the material in his hand as he hauled me closer.
“Well, well, what do we have here?”
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Read the FIRST CHAPTER today!
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USA Today Bestselling author Julia Bright writes contemporary military suspense romance. Julia lives in the south where “bless your heart” is an insult and “shut up” shows love. Julia has been reading since they could open a book and has taken the passion for words and combined it with the love of travel to create stories full of passion and excitement. If you love a good book with a fantastic happily ever after, you’ll enjoy a Julia Bright novel.
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