The SOS Agency grants one Navy SEAL his most personal mission yet...
Home on leave at his family farm, Navy SEAL Cooper Johnson receives an unexpected assignment: to protect a beautiful socialite on the run from her abusive ex. Grieving his kid sister, a brave cop killed in the line of duty due to a faulty bulletproof vest, Coop is in no mood for workuntil he meets Meg Taylor. Soon, he finds that riding the land, lovely Meg safe beside him, is a surprising comfort to his heart. But when he discovers Megs dark pastand the evidence she possesses that her ex would kill to keep buriedit will take both the cowboy and SEAL within him to get the ultimate justice.
This was a man who wouldnt hurt her. Every bone in her body sensed this. He would die before raising a hand to strike her.
Perhaps even die fighting to keep her safe from others who did. Cooper Johnson was a Navy SEAL who had sacrificed much for his country, and his code of honor extended far beyond his military service.
In the end, he broke the kiss, drawing in a deep sigh, the blue of his gaze darkened. Trembling, Meg stared up at him, licking her lips.
He pressed a finger against her wet mouth.
Dont do that. Makes me want to kiss you all over again.
Whats stopping you?
A rueful grin touched his own mouth. Cooper tugged at the jeans that obviously felt too tight. A certain something thats urging me to do more than kiss you.
* * *
We hope you enjoyed this exciting installment in the SOS Agency miniseries!
* * *
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Dear Reader,
Who doesnt want a sexy cowboy Navy SEAL to come riding into her life to save her from the villain?
Meg Taylor doesnt.
Meg is a wealthy, but penniless, woman on the run from an abusive ex-husband who controls all her money. Meg wants justice, but the last thing she wants is hunky Navy SEAL Cooper to protect her.
Cooper Johnson is on leave from the Navy and takes Meg in as a favor to Jarrett Adler, whose SOS underground railroad promises Meg safe shelter. The troubled beauty shatters all his barriers and threatens the one thing he fears mostlosing his heart.
Domestic abuse is a crime that is too often hidden in the shadows of real life. Many women are afraid to leave their abusive partners. In past travels for my day job, Ive met poor women who were battered and abused by their husbands, and Ive worked with nongovernmental organizations that aid these victims. When the survivors have the means to leave their abusive homes and start a new life, their transformation is a wonderful thing to behold. They blossom like sunflowers, always looking upward at the light, instead of at the darkness of their past.
Meg and Cooper were two characters I enjoyed creating: a heroine and hero who deserve their happy ending. I hope you enjoy their love storyone of courage and loyalty, and learning to have faith in each other.
Happy reading!
Bonnie Vanak
Shielded by the Cowboy Seal
Bonnie Vanak
www.millsandboon.co.uk
*New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author BONNIE VANAK is passionate about romance novels and telling stories. A former newspaper reporter, she worked as a journalist for a large international charity for several years, traveling to countries such as Haiti to report on the sufferings of the poor. Bonnie lives in Florida with her husband, Frank, and is a member of Romance Writers of America. She loves to hear from readers. She can be reached through her website, bonnievanak.com.
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In memory of Lora Celmer-Donato,
who couldnt escape.
Contents
Cover
Back Cover Text
Introduction
Dear Reader
Title Page
About the Author
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Epilogue
Extract
Extract
Copyright
Chapter 1
The late-autumn snowstorm promised to be a killer and her car was dead.
Fat flakes swirled lazily in the wind outside the battered 2010 sedan. A curtain of darkness had fallen, turning the pretty country road ink black. She should have checked the battery before leaving Florida. Certainly it would have saved her from being stranded here on a lonely stretch of New Hampshire road.
Meg Augustno, she was Meg Taylor now; the August part of her life was back in Palm Beach with her soon-to-be ex-husbandtried the engine again. Nothing. She turned and looked at her traveling companion. Well, Sophie, looks like we are up a particular creek without a paddle or a life raft.
Woof!
Snug inside her pink-and-black Louis Vuitton dog purse, Sophie licked her hand. Shivering, Meg patted the dogs head. Shed stopped to let Sophie out for a rest break and the car had died. The icy rain had turned to snow, but not before soaking her blue suede jacket. Perfect for chilly nights in south Florida. Not so perfect for this.
Meg removed the wet jacket and tossed it onto the backseat. Clad only in a thin yellow sweater and black linen trousers, she kept shivering. She went to rub her arms and winced.
Her left arm still felt tender. Prescotts fists had landed there two weeks ago, shortly after she confronted him about her discovery that hed shipped out defective body gear manufactured by Combat Gear Inc., the company shed founded to provide quality, low-cost body armor to US soldiers and law enforcement personnel. Not only did he authorize the shipments months ago, but hed filed the incorporation papers for Combat Gear Inc. with her first and middle initials, Margaret Elizabeth, and her maiden name, Franklin, as the CEO.
She was the one responsible for any deaths resulting from use of those vests. She had to make this terrible wrong right.
Prescott disagreed. When shed threatened to call the authorities, he beat her. The bruises were myriad rainbow colors instead of black. She could silently endure his growing rages.
But she would not stand for others getting hurt because of her product.
Shed called her former college roommate, Lacey Adler. Asking for help was the hardest thing shed had to do since burying her grandmother a week ago. Lacey told her about her charity that helped women flee their abusive husbands.
Shed asked for a safe house in New England, and Lacey had given her directions to a remote farmhouse in New Hampshire. Cooper Johnson, a Navy SEAL friend of Laceys husband, Jarrett, agreed to give her shelter through Project SOS Securities, his security firm.
Cooper would give her a place to stay with Sophie as long as she needed. Shed be safe. Coop, as he was called, was great with dogs.
Meg hated relying on strangers. But she needed a hiding place until she could obtain the proof that Prescott knew the body gear was defective.
If Prescott didnt find and kill her, the New England storm surely would.
Now, they were parked alongside a dark road, no one in sight. She glanced down at her fashionable clothing. Perfect for leaving Palm Beach and avoiding suspicion from any of her neighbors.
Not so perfect for braving the chilly temperatures of the north. She tried turning the ignition again. Nothing.
After putting Sophie on the backseat, Meg climbed over the console and joined her. She reached for her grandmothers antique quilt, her most precious possession, and wrapped it around them both. Sophie wagged her tail and licked Megs face, as if to offer reassurance.
Shivering, she curled up next to Sophie, the cold spiking her body like steel nails, and said a little prayer for some kind stranger to find them.
And not her soon-to-be ex-husband.
* * *
Cooper Coop Johnson rubbed the shoulders of the quivering mare. Easy, girl, he murmured.
Betsy was going on thirty, and had a mild case of colic. Colic had already killed one horse on the Sunnyside Farm, and he wasnt about to see his baby sisters favorite mare succumb to it. He walked her around the barn, mindful of her arthritis, rubbing her down, hoping the heavy blanket would help.
Jarrett, his former squad leader from the teams, had asked him to give refuge to a woman in trouble. Coop agreed because he would do anything for his ex-boss, but family came first these days. Hed taken leave from the Navy to help his mom run the bed and breakfast while her sisters family visited relatives in Oregon. Mid-November was the slow time, so his aunt, uncle and their three sons decided to combine a family wedding with a much-needed vacation while Coop helped out with the farm and inn.
Theyd closed the inn after his oldest sister, Brie, had died. Fiona, his mother, had reopened it two months ago, but with the approaching winter, only a few guests had registered. Keeping horses was expensive. Summer boarders helped pay for food and overhead. Those boarders had packed away their mounts into shiny trailers and headed south.
Probably to Florida, where it was warm.
Or Palm Beach, where it was warm and wealthy, where his assignment was supposedly traveling from.
Meg. He didnt know anything about her, other than the photo Jarrett sent and the fact that she lived in wealthy Palm Beach and she needed a place to stay while her divorce was being finalized.
No one would take her in because her dog was vicious and bit people.
Jarrett said Megs money was all tied up until the divorce and she couldnt afford a pet-friendly hotel. Coop doubted she was in trouble. The photo Jarrett sent showed a brunette woman who looked like a beauty queen dripping in diamonds. But it wasnt his place to judge, just give her shelter.
All Jarrett had told him was that Meg had a dog that Coop needed to train. He refused to share anything else out of respect for Meg, who was supposed to arrive six hours ago.