By
Heather Slade

When politics tears them apart,
passion keeps them together.

Cope

Intelligent, fiery, and sexy as hell,
She’s everything I’ve ever wanted,
But her stubborn, liberal agenda makes me want to throttle her.
She needs to put that pen away and stop reporting such crap.
I’d love to shove something else in her hand.

But I can’t.
As a senator’s son
And a handler for the CIA,
I must tread carefully
And keep my distance.

But her body and brains
Make it very difficult.
I want her in ways the American people would not like.
But when her life is jeopardized,
It becomes my business, my job, to protect her,
In any way I can.

Ali

Strong, determined, and smart as hell,
He’s everything I’ve ever wanted,
But his stuffy, money-hungry conservative agenda makes me want to scream.
He needs to forget about the wallet and start caring about people,
People like me.

As a reporter for a liberal paper,
I have to remain neutral,
But one thing is certain:
He’s more charming and attractive than any conservative out there.
I have to keep my head
And not get distracted,
Even if he makes it extremely difficult.

When I need his help,
His protection,
I can’t deny the truth.
All I want is to be HANDLED by him.

Ali has just moved to D.C. when she meets Cope. She didn’t expect to meet him until the trial starts. However meeting him in the café across the street from her building and him being a jerk just pisses her off. Their meeting at the Courthouse doesn’t go much better than the first, but she doesn’t get thrown out of the building. She also meets AP reporter TJ Hunter. When Cope greets TJ he calls her Stella and for some reason calls her Tally.

For Cope and Irish there’s a lot riding on this trial. Being as it involves espionage and the CIA, there would be no one allowed in the courtroom especially not the press. After a frustrating morning with Cope wondering if he was going to end up in jail with Irish he notices Ali having trouble with her car and offers to help.

He almost forgets about her when he sees an AP headline and starts to seethe. He has to go to his office first but he would help Ali out. At least until he forgets about her.

Ali waited two hours and finally decided to leave and do it herself. After spending much money she gets her car towed and herself home. Only to be greeted by Lindsay from the café and then Cope.

This is a favorite scene.

The driver pulled up to my building, and I crawled out of the back seat, dead tired and laden with my messenger bag, my gym bag, and some other stuff from my car that I’d thrown into a paper bag. I was about to walk into my building when I heard someone shouting.

“Miss, miss, wait!” I turned around and saw Lindsey from the café running toward me, carrying yet another bag.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“This is from… damn, I’m out of shape.” She tried to catch her breath. “Anyway, this is from Cope. You just missed him.” She took another deep breath. “He was waiting to give it to you himself, but then he got a call.”

“Look, Lindsey, right?”

She nodded, still trying to catch her breath.

“This is really sweet, but I’ve had a really long, really hard day, and I don’t have much of an appetite.”

“He told me. At least his part in it. I’ll tell you, he really feels awful about it. Just take this. It’s dinner, plus stuff for breakfast and lunch tomorrow. By the looks of you, it’ll probably last you all week.”

“By the looks of me?” I asked, not bothering to hide my scowl.

“You’re tiny. You probably don’t eat more than a bite or two at every meal, am I right?”

I was dead tired, my feet were killing me, I was starving even though I’d lied and said I wasn’t, and I was irritable. Nothing I was going through was the fault of the woman who’d run across the street to give me food.

I smiled and shook my head. “You’d be surprised how much I can pack away. My grandma always said I had the appetite of an offensive lineman. Thank you for this. I really do appreciate it.”

“There’s silverware in there and napkins, plus instructions for heating it all up. Oh, and there’s dessert too. I’m sorry you had such a shitty day.” She tried to hand me the bag, but with everything I was carrying, I had no way to take it.

“You want me to bring this upstairs for you?”

“No, thanks. I’ll get it.”

I looked up when I saw the man who’d left me sitting in the lobby of a building for two hours, about to cross the street. “I gotta go. Thanks again.” I stuck out one finger, and she hung the bag on it.

“You sure you don’t want help?”

“Nope, I got it. Thanks,” I said, hoping my finger wouldn’t bend back any farther before I got upstairs.

I rushed in the revolving door and over to the elevator, willing one of them to open when I hit the call button with my elbow.

“Ali,” I heard Cope call out, but pretended I didn’t. Not that it mattered, because the damn elevators seemed to all be stuck on the tenth floor. Where the hell was the doorman, anyway?

“Ali, I’m glad I caught you.” I wasn’t. I heard a ding and the sound of doors opening.

“I’m sorry about earlier. Things really hit the fan, and it took a lot longer—”

“Tell the truth,” I said, stepping into my escape route. “You forgot all about me.” I set the bag of food down on the floor and rummaged around for my key card, only remembering I needed it when the elevator didn’t move. In that time, he’d stepped inside.

“You’re right. I did forget.”

I found the card and looked up at him. “Okay. Well, thanks for the food.”

“Can I ride up with you? Help you with that?”

“No, I got it.”

Someone else rushed into the elevator and stuck his card in the slot. “What floor?” he said, looking first at me and then at Cope.

“Thirtieth.”

The man hit the button for twenty-four and then the one for thirty. I didn’t speak again until he got out.

“How did you know my floor?” I said as soon as the doors closed. They opened again, and he still hadn’t answered me.

“Well?” “I’ll explain when we’re inside.”

“Inside? You’re not coming inside.” I did my damnedest to pick up the bag of food while juggling the rest of my crap.

“Quit being so stubborn and let me help you.”

Cope grabbed the food and then took my messenger bag off my shoulder. He motioned toward my door, because he knew which one it was. That alone was enough to give me a panic attack.

I stuck the key card into the slot in the door, and when it clicked, Cope grasped the knob and held it open for me. I stepped over the threshold, dropped the bags I was still carrying, and held out my hands for the two he had.

“Thanks for your help.”

He shook his head, turned his body sideways, and walked past me and into the kitchen.

“Hey! I didn’t invite you in.” The heavy door slammed behind me as I stalked after him.

He set the bags on the kitchen counter, and instead of walking back out, he sauntered toward the windows.

“Come here,” he said, motioning to me.

“What?”

“Come here,” he repeated, waving his arm. I walked as far as I comfortably could.

“Here,” he said again, pointing.

“Just tell me.”

“I’m not going to tell you; I’m going to show you how I know.”
Heather Slade. Handled: An Everyday Heroes World Novel (Kindle Locations 363-407). AN EVERYDAY HEROES WORLD NOVEL.

Taking care of Ali’s car has Cope driving hers to the courthouse while she drives his. An accident puts an interesting twist on everything, especially when Ali’s apartment is broken into.

We meet Desi, Ali’s bestfriend who comes to help her out while she recovers, but then ends up leaving for a business emergency leaving her in the hands of Cope and his mother.

In spite of everything, these two have a chemistry that just jumps off the pages. Both have secrets having to do with the trial, but Ali’s is the one that could ruin any relationship that begins. Decker, Buck and several other of the ‘Invincibles’ provide protection for Ali as tensions increase.

From the very first page this story grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. With intense intrigue and a sizzling relationship fraught with secrets, guaranteed to leave you with a book hangover.

5 Contented Purrs for Heather!

Heather Slade

My books are filled with things that bring me joy: music, wine, skiing, families, artists, and cowboys. Not always in that order.

I’m an Amazon best-selling author, and a PAN member of Romance Writers of America. I speak, teach, blog, am an executive sommelier, and all-around entrepreneur.

I grew up an east coast girl, and then spent half my life on the west coast. Now my husband, our two boys, and I happily call Colorado home.