No longer hiding his weapon, Mose waved the pistol at her door. “Shall we go in?”

  Her eyes met Rex’s in the rearview mirror, and she hoped he could read the message inside them: Do whatever you have to.

  Rex made his move as soon as they got out of the car. He couldn’t afford to wait, had no idea what might happen if he let this go on. At least outside, the children had room to scatter and hide, and if the gun went off there’d be a greater chance that a neighbor might hear it and call the police.

  But the man was prepared. Dodging Rex’s blow, he grabbed Mia by the hair and dragged her up against him. “You try that again, and she’ll be the first to die,” he snapped.

  “Run!” Rex stood in front of Jake and tried to shoo him away. He didn’t think this man would kill Mia over the loss of her brother. The kids didn’t matter that much to him. This wasn’t about them. But Jake wouldn’t leave—he sidled over to protect his mother.

  “Jake, do as I say!”

  “No.” The boy’s chest rose and fell so fast Rex could tell he was terrified, but he was equally resolute. “He’ll shoot my sister. Then he’ll shoot my mom.”

  Rex couldn’t believe he’d refused to obey. The odds were already stacked against them. He didn’t need Jake to get stubborn, even if he couldn’t help admiring the boy’s courage. “Jake!” He hated the risk he was taking but he had no choice. If they went inside, this man would shoot them all the minute he understood that they weren’t giving up Virgil.

  Then Jake surprised him. He shoved his mother so hard she stumbled back and fell over the planter behind her, and he started jumping and shouting and waving his arms as if he thought he could force the man to fire at him instead of his sister.

  Jake’s sudden reversal had taken the bastard off guard. Mose paused for a second. Apparently he couldn’t decide whether he should actually fire, or who he should fire at. He even glanced behind him as if he feared Virgil was already on his way out of the house and that was what had set Jake off.

  That brief hesitation gave Rex the opportunity he’d been looking for. Launching himself forward, he tackled the guy.

  Mia fell when they did, which probably hurt, but it wasn’t going to kill her. The man had to let her go in order to keep control of the gun he was trying to turn on Rex.

  She wiggled out from between them and ran off crying almost as soon as they hit the ground. While he wrestled Mose, trying to subdue him, Rex didn’t know where she went. He didn’t care as long as she remained safe. He hoped Laurel was taking her kids and getting them the hell out of here—he trusted she was. He knew how much they meant to her. He knew how much they meant to him, too, all of them, because he felt a huge surge of relief even as the gun went off.

  Laurel had a large rock in her hand when she crept toward the two men lying, one atop the other, on the ground. She’d yelled for her children to go next door and call nine-one-one, and they’d dashed off, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to leave Rex.

  Tears rolled down her cheeks as she drew closer. He’d been shot. She was pretty sure of that. But where?

  “Rex?”

  He didn’t answer. She got the impression he was struggling just to breathe and felt the tears come faster.

  “Rex, answer me.”

  Finally, he rolled off the guy and lay there, gazing up at her. Blood covered his shirt, but it wasn’t his blood. It belonged to the man who’d come to kill them. The Crew had lost another member. The sightless eyes of their attacker stared skyward as the red staining his shirt seeped farther and farther from where the bullet had entered his chest.

  Dropping the rock, she sagged to her knees at Rex’s side and buried her face in his neck.

  “Are you okay?” he murmured.

  A surplus of adrenaline had left him weak and shaky. She could tell by the limp way he lifted his arm to hold her, and because she felt the same. “I am now.”

  “I’m glad you changed your mind.”

  Rex glanced across the table at Virgil, who was watching him with a crooked grin. “What’d you say?” The pizza parlor where they’d met Virgil, Peyton and the baby for dinner was too loud to be able to hear unless he raised his voice a bit more. They were no longer in DC. Now that The Crew had found them, it wasn’t safe anymore. They had to decide on a permanent location but for the time being they were in Little Rock, Arkansas.

  “I said I’m glad you changed your mind.”

  Rex drummed his thumbs on the table. “About...”

  Virgil jerked his head toward Laurel, who’d left Rex’s side to refill her children’s glasses. “Staying with Laurel. She loves you, you know.”

  Leaning back, Rex returned his friend’s smile. “I know.”

  Copyright © 2013 by Brenda Novak.

  LOVE THAT: BRENDA NOVAK'S EVERY OCCASSION COOKBOOK

  .

  by Brenda Novak with Jan Coad

  GRILLED CHICKEN SALAD

  Each Serving: Cal, 622; Carb, 29g; Fat, 42g; Protein, 35g; Sodium, 794mg; Sugar, 2g

  Ingredients

  Polenta: 3 cups water, 1 cup cornmeal, 1/2 tsp. salt, 2/3 cup parmesan, cheese (grated), 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves (freshly chopped).

  Tomato Dressing: 1/4 cup white wine, vinegar, 1 tbs. Dijon-style mustard, 2 cloves garlic (pressed), 1/4 cup fresh basil (finely chopped), 1/2 sea salt, 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper, 1/2 cup and 2 tbsp. olive oil, 2 plum tomatoes (seeded and finely chopped),

  Rest of ingredients: 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 4 cups romaine lettuce (chopped), 2 cups mixed baby greens (chopped), 1 roasted red bell pepper (thinly sliced).

  Prepare polenta by bringing 2 cups of water to boil in a medium-sized pan. In a small bowl, mix the rest of the water with the cornmeal. Stir mixture into the boiling water. Simmer over medium-level het for 10 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in cheese and basil. Spread polenta into a pie pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

  Prepare dressing by combining all ingredients and shaking until mixed. Cut chicken into cubes. Use 1/4 of the dressing to marinade the chicken and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

  Place chicken on metal skewers and grill until chicken is cooked. Cut polenta into four squares and lightly brush both sides with olive oil. Grill polenta for about 4-5 minutes until polenta is crispy. Arrange pieces of polenta and chicken over the salad greens. Top with dressing and serve warm.

  .

  8 servings.

  Copyright © 2015 by Brenda Novak

  Chicken should be cooked until internal temprature is at least 165 degrees F.

  Marie Force is the New York Times bestselling author of contemporary romance including the indie-published Gansett Island Series and the Fatal Series from Harlequin Books. In addition, she is the author of the Butler, Vermont Series, the Green Mountain Series and the erotic romance Quantum Series. In 2019, her new historical Gilded series from Kensington Books will debut with Duchess By Deception. All together, her books have sold 6.5 million copies worldwide, have been translated into over a dozen languages and appear on New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. A frequent speaker, publishing workshop presenter, and a publisher through her Jack’s House Publishing romance imprint, her goals in life are simple—to finish raising two happy, healthy, productive young adults, to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can and to never be on a flight that makes the news. Join Marie's mailing list at http://marieforce.com/subscribe/.

  HEART’S KISS INTERVIEWS MARIE FORCE

  by Lezli Robyn

  We’d love to introduce our readers to Marie Force, who is—quite literally—a bright light in our field; a shining example of how to be successful in both the traditional and self-publishing markets, selling millions of books in her popular Gansett Island, Treading Water, Quantum, Fatal, Green Mountain and Butler, VT contemporary romance series. It is a pleasure to welcome her to Heart’s Kiss!

  Lezli Robyn: Marie, you have said that your mother’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis opened the creative floodgates on writing your first novel. I can imagine how important it was for your mom to be the first person to read the opening four chapters of your novel. How important is it for an author to channel their talent through their emotions, or vice versa, especially if they write romance?

  Marie Force: People ask me why I didn’t start writing fiction until well into my 30s. The answer I always give is because I didn’t have anything to say yet. I think you have to live a little and experience the wide range of emotions life has to offer to bring those emotions to life on the page.

  LR: Your first novel took you three years to write (off and on, with rewrites), your second 90 days to write, and you’ve written a 96,000 word novel within 39 days. Apart from us suspecting you are some kind of Wonder Woman of Words, do you think it is possible for a plotter to write as quickly as a pantser, if they have already planned out the trajectory of their plot? There seem to be pros and cons to both methods.

  MF: I honestly have no idea how it works for authors who plot their books. I’ve never done it, so I can’t comment on how the process works for them. But for me, every book is different. Some of them fly off the fingers and others have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, onto the page.

  LR: You have self-published your books—to great success—and traditionally published your books—also to great success. Which process has given you the most satisfaction, professionally and personally? There is a certain amount of prestige in selling your book to a traditional publisher, but to also garner such success on your own...that must be a thrill.

  MF: Any form of success in this business is thrilling, but there is a particular satisfaction to, for example, making the New York Times bestseller list for the first time with a self-published book—and hitting the top ten, no less. I have had great relationships with traditional publishers and continue to work with them to bring my books to a wider audience than I can reach on my own.

  LR: You chose to write your erotic Quantum series in first person and from both points of view—the only one of your multiple series in first person. Was it because you thought the sense of immediacy and connection a first person viewpoint provides helped your readers connect to a more erotically intimate plotline? Or was there another reason you made this choice?

  MF: Yes, I thought the story I wanted to tell in Quantum required the immediacy that first-person present POV provides. I used to hate first-person books, because most of the time they were told only from the heroine’s point of view. I want the hero in there, too, so that’s why all my first person books are told from both points of view. I’ve become a big fan of reading—and writing—first person, but only when done from the dual POV.

  LR: In your various series, secondary characters of earlier novels often end up becoming the lead characters in succeeding books. Did you write these secondary characters originally with the aim of eventually elevating them to leading status, or did the character evolve in such a way that you, or your readers, fell in love with them so much you realized they deserved their own story?

  MF: I don’t plan anything in advance, so I can’t say that’s intentional, but I do like to create secondary characters that can be used as leads in future books.

  LR: If you had to pick one heroine from all your novels, across all your series, and one hero as your favorites, who would they be? And would you think they’d make a great couple if their paths had crossed between the sheets of the same book?

  MF: Sam from the Fatal Series is my favorite character of all of them. She is a total TRIP to write because she’s more than a little crazy and funny and passionate about her work and her husband and son. She’s extremely entertaining to spend time with. My favorite male character is Mac McCarthy Jr. in the Gansett Island series, for many of the same reasons. If the two of them got together, they’d probably burn down the house with their antics.

  LR: And lastly, what is next for you, for 2018? What do your readers have to look forward to?

  MF: I have new books coming in all my series, including the long-awaited fifth and final book in my Treading Water Series. I will also be winding down the Quantum Series with the last two books.

  Copyright © 2018 by Lezli Robyn.

  EXCERT FROM DELIRIOUS

  by Marie Force

  Kristian

  Her skin brushing against mine sends a charge of heat through me. Stunned all over again by my unprecedented reaction to her, I pull my hand back, though that’s the last thing I want to do. “Aileen….”

  “Did I do something wrong, Kristian?”

  The question shocks me. “What? Why would you ask that?”

  She takes a deep drink of her wine, as if seeking liquid courage. “I can’t help but notice that you are, or you were before Maddie got hurt…different.” She swallows hard. “Toward me. So I wondered if maybe I did something—”

  “No.” That she could think such a thing is unbearable to me. “No,” I say again, more emphatically this time. “It’s not you. It’s me.”

  “Nothing good ever comes of that statement,” she says with an ironic laugh that’s followed by a sigh.

  I’m making a goddamn mess of this, so I decide to level with her. “You could do so much better than me, Aileen.”

  She stares at me, her eyes big with shock. “Why would you say such a thing?”

  I could give her so many reasons, but I decide to go with the most important one. “You deserve better.”

  “Do you know why I wanted to move here?”

  Thrown off by the change in direction, I say, “Because Nat and the others talked you into it?”

  She shakes her head. “It was primarily because you live here.”

  Closing my eyes, I rest my head back against the chair. I shouldn’t be here. I don’t deserve her sweetness, her honesty or her blatant desire. But God, I want it. I want it all so badly, I burn with the need for more of her.

  “Should I not have said that?” she asks in a small voice.

  I keep my eyes closed as I shake my head.

  “Did I read this wrong?”

  “Aileen….”

  “I’m sorry. I’ll get your shirt into the dryer so you can go.” The rustling sound of her getting up has me opening my eyes and reacting.

  Like before, when Maddie fell, I’m moving before I decide I should. I grasp Aileen’s arm, catch her off balance and bring her down to my lap, my lips landing on hers before either of us can take the time to ponder the massive implications. I cup her face in my hand and try to remember to be gentle with her. My inner Dominant needs to stand the fuck down. There’s no place for him here.

  When I use my tongue to coax her lips apart, she whimpers, another sound that goes directly to my cock, which has been hard since she moaned about the time. I kiss her with months’ worth of pent-up desire that’s made all other women pale in comparison to her since the day I met her. I don’t want anyone but her, and now that she’s warm and soft in my arms, I want to show her what she’s come to mean to me.

  My heart is pounding and my palms are sweaty. I’m light-headed, off balance and out of whack. Everything about this is new to me, as is the craving desire that swamps me when her tongue brushes against mine for the first time. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! I’m so screwed. One taste of her has me addicted. It’s never going to be enough. In the scope of two seconds, everything I want to do with her and to her runs through my mind like the dirtiest movie I’ve ever seen.

  That has me pulling back from her, gentling the kiss, putting a stop to this before it gets even more out of control. I stare at her swollen lips and the stunned expression on her face. “Does that answer your question?”

  “I seem to have forgotten the question.”

  Smiling at her witty reply, I say, “You asked if you read this wrong.” I kiss her again, tipping my head to better the angle. “You didn’t. You read it exactly right.” I force myself to keep my hands still when they would love to wander. I want to touch her everywhere, but her little girl is sleeping inside, and this is not the time for that. However, in the last five minutes, I’ve begun to accept that this, whatever it is, is going to happen, whether I think it should or not.

  “Something is different, though,” she says, her lips hovering near mine, her hand caressing my face as she gazes into my eyes. “You are different.”

  It is both upsetting and exhilarating to realize she already knows me well enough to see that I’m troubled. “I don’t mean to be.” Nuzzling her neck, I breathe in the fresh, clean scent of her. It’s not perfume or anything other than her. “I couldn’t wait to see you again.”

  “Then where were you yesterday?”

  “I was….” I start to tell her I was sick, but I can’t. I can’t lie to her. “I had myself convinced that this couldn’t happen. I still don’t think it should.”

  “Why?” she asks imploringly. “Is it because I have kids? I wouldn’t expect you to take them on or—”

  And then I’m kissing her again, because I can’t bear to hear any more about her being afraid I don’t want her because of her kids. I kiss her voraciously, forgetting that I’m supposed to be gentle and soft with her. She makes me so fucking crazy. “Your kids are adorable, well-behaved and beautiful, like their mother.”

  She snorts with disdain. “I’m not beautiful. I’m scrawny and pale, and my hair is growing back curly, and I have no idea what to do with it.”

  Her description of herself enrages me. “You are beautiful.”

  “So are you,” she says, her voice husky and sexy. “If you knew how much time I’ve spent thinking about you since the day we met, you’d run away from here and never look back.”