By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

When a young woman darts into traffic and into Dakota’s path, life takes a dark turn for both of them.

Bailey, recovering from the loss of her husband, retreated from life. Going to work and coming home was the extent of her days and weeks. Until she walks into work early one morning, witnesses a murder and flees into traffic, nearly getting killed.

The near death experience awakens the spark of life inside of her. So does the man in the car. A different kind of a spark.

For her safety, Dakota persuades her to move into the compound with him and the rest of the Legendary family while they track down the killers.

Bailey is forced to accept Dakota’s help. But can she stay safe long enough for the police to track down the killer? Or is the man who almost ran her over going to steal her heart?

Dakota is running errands for the compound when a women runs out in front of his truck. With rain coming down as it was he was lucky he didn’t hit her hard. The surprising thing is she ran away from him refusing help. Dakota if course is having none of that and follows her.

Bailey doesn’t want to tell him anything, but when he ends up taking her home she felt safer about not being overheard. What she tells him leads to him taking a closer look at her injuries and he discovers she had indeed been shot. Her stumbling most likely saved her life.

A hospital visit, a word with a detective Ice sends, and a couple more errands later has them arriving at the compound. Ice quickly gets her settled and everyone gets to work while she rests.

This is a favorite scene once Bailey wakes.

Bailey opened her eyes, feeling overheated, forcing her to push back the blankets. Only to cry out. Every movement hurt. As she rolled over, her back pain flared up again. The painkillers had helped, and she sure hoped the antibiotics would take care of any other problems. The last thing she wanted was an infection and a fever from the injury.

Of course, if she’d known she would get shot, she would’ve changed her outfit. On that slightly humorous note, she tried to sit up, using the headboard to keep her back rigid. Finally she made it, gasping with pain. She sat there and looked around the room, pleased to see it had the air of a home not a hotel. A bathroom was right in front of her. The only problem was getting to it.

Considering how weak she was, she used the headboard to pull herself upright, and then, using the wall for support, she slowly made her way across to the bathroom.

After using the facilities, she winced at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a nightmare. She quickly tried to straighten it. She looked tired, but she couldn’t do much about that.

She wasn’t sure if she should stay here or go downstairs, not knowing the house rules. She didn’t mind staying in her room, but it was hardly polite.

Determined to not make anyone regret helping her out, she slowly reached for a bathrobe and placed it around her shoulders. She took a deep breath, waiting for the pain. At the very least, maybe she could say hi and then come back. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway.

She didn’t have her purse or her cell phone, so she had no idea what time it was. She turned the corner and headed down a wider hallway. She marveled at the architecture reflected in this huge space—a whole lot of medieval castle elements. Seeing the elevator, she smiled. “I remember those.”

She stepped inside and read the numbers. She pushed the button for the ground floor and waited for it to take her downstairs. When the door opened again, she wasn’t sure where to go, but a lot of noise came from the right. She slowly made her way toward the commotion, taking another right, and ended up in a massive kitchen.

An older man prepped a single plate of food. He looked up; surprise crossed his face. Immediately he rushed over to her. “Are you sure you should be up?”

She reached out and grasped his hand. “I feel much better. I think it must be the painkillers,” she admitted.

He smiled, hooked her arm through his and said gently, “My name is Alfred. Come on. I’ll take you in to Dakota.”

He walked her slowly into the noisy dining room. She didn’t recognize anybody.

Alfred cleared his throat, and there was silence. Everyone turned to look her way. She retreated, but Alfred patted her hand. “Don’t you worry. You’ll fit right in, my dear. Everyone, this is Bailey. She’s awake and on her feet, even though she shouldn’t be.”

Dakota bounded up from the far side of the table and strode toward her. Relief washed through her at the sight of him. “There you are,” she cried.

He wrapped an arm carefully around her shoulders for support. “I thought you’d be asleep for hours yet.”

She smiled. “As much as I’d like to be back asleep, I’m awake. I wasn’t sure if I should stay in my room or come find you,” she confessed.

“You didn’t have to worry on that score. I’d planned to come check on you in a little bit.”

Ice stood, and her gaze traveled over Bailey, making a head-to-toe assessment of her condition.

Bailey smiled. “You have medical training by any chance?”

“Field variety but yes.”

Dakota slowly walked her around the dining table to an empty seat beside him.

“This has got to be the largest table I’ve ever seen in my life.”

“That’s because it’s four put together,” Levi said.

Bailey recognized a few of the faces now, but the others were all a blur from when Dakota had brought her here. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember most of you.”

Dakota pulled out the chair and helped her sit down. “How could you,” he joked. “They weren’t all here when you arrived.”

Seated, her back felt better. She smiled up at him with thanks and glanced around the table full of strange faces. “Thank you for the haven. My name is Bailey Hoskins,” she said more formally.

Dakota did the introductions, but the names came fast, and she knew she’d never remember them all. “It will take me a while to remember everyone,” she admitted.

“Don’t rush it,” a woman on the far side said. “By the time you figure it out, the rest of our team will be back, and you’ll be confused again. This is only half of us right now.”

Bailey knew her surprise showed on her face when the others chuckled. “Wow.” She turned to look at Dakota. “You said you worked for a security company?”

He nodded and pointed toward Ice and Levi. “It’s their company.”

Bailey looked over at the twosome and smiled. “So, it’s you I have to thank for the assistance.”

Ice said firmly, “No thanks required. It’s important you get back on your feet again.”

“Of course I really would like to know if you’re sure that the mayor was involved in the shooting,” Levi said, leaning forward. “He’s not my favorite person, so I won’t be too upset if he was.”

She winced. “It was him. I saw his face directly.”

Levi studied her for a long moment, then nodded. “Good enough for me.” He turned to Ice. “Another regime will fall.”

Ice chuckled. “This is just a miniregime.”

“I almost miss that. Toppling governments is a lot of work but fun.”

Bailey listened to the banter back and forth, but she wasn’t sure if they were joking or if they were serious. She figured it was a little bit of both.

Alfred arrived with a plate of food for Dakota. As soon as he set it down, he turned to Bailey. “May I get you a plate of the same?”

She glanced over at the roast beef and gravy and vegetables and could feel her mouth water. “Yes, please, if you have it to spare.”

Dakota chuckled. “If there’s one thing Alfred likes to do, it’s feed people. So it’s okay if he makes something fresh for you.”

She leaned over as Alfred walked away and whispered, “You’re lucky to have him.”

Dakota leaned back and said, “And we know it.”
Mayer, Dale. Heroes for Hire: Books 7-9 (pp. 465-469). Valley Publishing Ltd.. Kindle Edition.

Lots of action in this one as the compound once again gets infiltrated. Taking down the man responsible for all this is complicated.

The close confines has Bailey helping Alfred out in the kitchen and making friends with the other women who live there.

Her relationship with Dakota also starts heating up, I do love a great simmer to sizzle.

The next book in this series was actually part of the first Silver SEALs Series and I’ve already read and reviewed it so the next one up will be Tyson’s Treasure.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.