By
Debra Parmley

Marine Recon Gunnery Sergeant Jack “Gunny” Barr has retired and returned to Texas when he’s hired by The Brotherhood Protectors bodyguard service in Montana. His job is to protect the volatile actress Angelica Glory. She’s a bombshell and an obsessive stalker has fixated on her as a target. Lucy Wood, her shy assistant, has her hands full watching out for her. When the women are sent to Montana to lay low until the stalker is caught, Angelica has nothing to do but lay by the pool drinking rum and cola while trying to seduce the hunky bodyguard set to protect them or die trying. Jack and Lucy are drawn to each other, but working for Angelia leaves little time to see where their desires might lead. A dangerous stalker with a love obsession is determined to have the woman of his dreams.

Axel ‘Swede’ Svenson calls his friend Jack “Gunny” Barr with a job offer when the Brotherhood Protectors need more men. The job is protection for Angelica Glory, a Hollywood star who’s being stalked.

Although Swede had sent everything he had, Gunny did some searching of his own to get a feel for the situation. He found her assistant Lucy Woods to be intriguing and apparently doesn’t like cameras from what he can see of her posture around them.

Lucy had discovered the stalking, but it was very subtle at first. Roses daily for almost a month, but then there was the lingerie. It was then that she called Angelica’s agent Monroe to report it. There were also things happening with Angelica’s schedule that had Lucy documenting everything she does. Cancelled appointments that made it look like Lucy wasn’t doing her job.

Thanks to Monroe they were now on their way to Montana and Angelica isn’t pleased. Especially when she sees how remote they are. Then there’s the persistent guy who wants a date with Lucy she’s just been ignoring his calls and texts, Angelica is all she can handle.

When Jack interviewed Angelica he decides to interview Lucy separate. Angelica liked to be the center of all attention and he needs facts. As Jack and Lucy are going through the box where she has all the notes with the documentation of when and where they appeared, she gets another text from Grant. He just doesn’t take no for an answer.

Jack wants to know what upset her but doesn’t push. He also arranges for them to go riding when he’s off duty to give her a break from Angelica and to get to know her better.

This is a favorite scene.

“It’s safer to be back before dark.” Jack remained serious. “Because I’ve been on this trail already while you’ve never even been on a horse. And everything is more dangerous in the dark.”

Her smile dropped. “Will I be in the way of your work?” she asked quietly, worried.

“No, not at all.” He shook his head. “I wouldn’t have invited you if I thought there’d be a problem.” He held up a bag. “I had the cook fix us a picnic dinner. We’ll find a good spot, eat, and then ride back. Just an easy ride for your first time.” He stowed the bag on the horse’s saddle.

“That sounds like fun. Thank you, Jack.”

He gave her a warm smile. “You’re welcome, Lucy. Are you ready to ride?”

Jack’s question and the smile he gave her were impossible to turn down. “Oh yes.” She smiled back at him.

“Then let’s get you up on that horse.”

“Okay. What do I do?”

“Step over here, on her left, and take the reins in your right hand. Now, don’t pull them too hard or she’ll back up on you. Step up on the mounting block, grab the saddle horn with your left hand, and put your left foot in the stirrup. Then swing your right leg over.”

She followed Jack’s directions, and then she was up on the horse looking down on him, wondering what to do next.

“You good?”

She nodded. He mounted his horse and moved over next to her. “These horses know the trails so well, they could find their way back here in a storm. So don’t worry about the trail. Just enjoy the ride.”

“How am I going to get back on after our picnic? Will there be a mounting block at the picnic place?”

“No, but you have me to help you.”

“All right. Lead on, then.” “I’ll be riding beside you the first little way until I know you’re comfortable.”

“Thank you.”

The horses moved with a slow and steady gait. So slow, Lucy might have dozed in the saddle if not for her nervousness. All the newness of horseback riding, along with a first date with Jack, had her in a state of excitement.

Moving along the trail through the tall pine trees, she noticed everything at a different level than if they’d been walking. She was up higher now and sunlight came between the tree limbs. Birds sang as they passed and headed up the trail toward the mountain.

They reached a place that seemed perfect for a picnic. There was a stretch of grass in between several trees and a large rock to sit and eat on. They stopped their horses, and then Jack reached up to help her down.

His warm hands went around her waist as he lifted her to help her down, and then she was on the ground, face to face with him, her eyes wide with the nearness of him and the way he’d just touched her.

“Hungry?” His eyes searched hers as he spoke.

“Oh yes. Very.”

“Good.” He took the horses reins and turned away to find a tree to tie them to. “Don’t want them deciding to head back without us.”

“Do you think they’d do that?”

“If spooked and if they ran, yes.”

“Oh,” she said as he gathered the bag of food.

They both sat on the rock and he opened the bag. ”Let’s see what she fixed for us.” He pulled out two roast beef sandwiches on hard rolls, cheese cubes, carrot sticks and celery sticks, two apples, and two oatmeal cookies. “Looks good.”

“Yes, it does,” Lucy agreed. She picked up a sandwich. “I’m surprised she used rolls instead of bread.”

“Can you imagine how that soft bread would have held up with all the bouncing? Notice that nothing got smashed from the ride.”

“I do feel quite… bounced.” ​

He laughed, and she laughed with him.

​“It’s beautiful here,” she said with a sigh. ​

“Yes it is.”

“Have you been riding a long time? I know you said you’re from Houston, Texas. But that’s a big city. Did you grow up around horses?”

“Yep. We lived on the outskirts of Houston, not inside the city. Had my first pony when I was five.”

“Oh wow. You were hardly even in school yet.”

“Cherokee was his name. I rode him bareback, rode him so much, I used to sleep on him.”

“Wow. So you’re a Marine and a cowboy.”

He grinned. “Yes ma’am.”

“I thought you seemed to fit here. Kind of like you belonged. Do you have horses?”

“No. I do good to keep a house. Away on deployments for so many years didn’t leave room for horses or a dog or any other kind of animal back home.”

“Have you thought about it since you got out?”

He looked through the trees and down the hill, through to the field where two horses were grazing. “I could settle here in Montana.”

“It really is beautiful. And it’s so peaceful here.”

“You needed to get away.”

“Yes, I did.”

Both of them knew how much Lucy needed a bit of peacefulness and a break from Angelica.

They ate, drank water from the canteen, and enjoyed each other’s company and the quiet surroundings.

“We’ll have to head back soon. So you don’t turn into a pumpkin.” He winked at her.

She laughed. “Yes, we wouldn’t want that. Unless you like pumpkin.”

“I like the taste of pumpkin, and I’m sure you would be delicious.”

She blushed, realizing he was talking about more than food. “Well, I hope I am.”

He leaned forward and kissed her lips, a soft, sweet brush of the lips as she closed her eyes, and then he sat back.

She opened her eyes and gazed into his.

“Sweet,” he said. “Very tasty.”

Smiling from ear to ear, inside she was full of joy and wanted to jump up and down shouting, “He kissed me! He kissed me!” Instead, she just smiled that happy smile and let the joy flow through her.

He got up and held out his hand. “Ready to head back?”

“Yes.” She placed her hand in his, ready to go, though she wished they didn’t have to. It would be nice to stay out under the stars, watching the night sky with him. But maybe they could do that another time.
Parmley, Debra. Montana Marine Brotherhood Protectors World. Kindle Locations (805-867) Kindle Edition.

I love the way this story develops, even with Angelica’s demands. The way Jack handle her is perfect and Lucy could certainly learn from that.

There’s definitely a big twist in this one, and I should have seen it coming a mile away, but I didn’t.

I ‘ve missed a couple of books of Debra’s in this world, I’m going to have to catch up.

5 Contented Purrs for Debra!

Debra Parmley

Debra Parmley writes military romantic suspense, contemporary romance, western historical romance, holiday romance, fairy tale romance, and 1920’s romance. She has 28 romance books out. She also writes fantasy, young adult, and children’s books as Debra Bishop. A Gemini, she thrives on writing more than one genre.

She lives in a motorhome full-time with her husband as they travel the U.S. and shares her adventures on her Beautiful Day Traveler blog. Debra has sold travel, walked the plank of a pirate ship off the coast of Grand Cayman, swum with dolphins in Moorea, and set foot in 13 countries. Debra is the founder of Shimmy Mob Memphis which raises funds for the local domestic abuse shelter. She was the host of Book Lights on Blog Talk Radio and interviews cover models on Cover Model Corner. Debra believes that “Every day we are alive is a beautiful day. “