Christmas Stalking

Christmas Stalking
Jo Leigh

KIDNAPPED, BODY AND SOULThe sexy Santa with the ice-blue eyes swept senator's daughter Jade Parker off her feet and into captivity. And soon Jade feared he'd also captured her heart. For although reporter Max Travis's tale of her father's guilt in a dangerous conspiracy couldn't possibly be true, the men gunning for Max–and now Jade–weren't a figment of his imagination. Suddenly Jade's rugged kidnapper was the only man she could trust.If you'd asked Max what he wanted for Christmas, he wouldn't have said a leggy redhead with an attitude. Now safety and justice paled in comparison to his vivacious prisoner. He wanted Jade, secure in his arms. But first they had to live long enough to unwrap the truth….

She watched her kidnapper sleep.

Her gaze moved down to the patch job she’d done on the bullet wound. Except for the blood that had soaked the comforter, it didn’t look bad. But his shorts had to come off.

Jade got the scissors and cut them straight up both sides. She hesitated before pulling them down, then realized she was being ridiculous. Which didn’t stop her from staring at him once she got his underwear clear.

With a jolt, she realized what she’d just done. She’d saved his life. Her kidnapper’s life. No. Max’s life. Her perception of him had changed. A lot. Maybe it was the fact that he’d called the police to tell them they’d gotten the wrong man. Or perhaps it was the fact that he’d been willing to let her go, at such great personal cost.

Damn, how could she care? She didn’t know him. Not really. But damn it, she did care.

Dear Harlequin Intrigue Reader,

Our romantic suspense lineup this month promises to give you a lot to look forward to this holiday season!

We start off with Full Exposure, the second book in Debra Webb’s miniseries COLBY AGENCY: INTERNAL AFFAIRS. The ongoing investigation into the agency’s security leak heats up as a beautiful single mom becomes a pawn in a ruthless decimation plot. Next up…will wedding bells lead to murder? Find out in Hijacked Honeymoon—the fourth book in Susan Kearney’s HEROES, INC. series. Then Mallory Kane continues her ULTIMATE AGENTS stories with A Protected Witness—an edgy mystery about a vulnerable widow who puts her life in an FBI special agent’s hands.

November’s ECLIPSE selection is guaranteed to tantalize you to the core! The Man from Falcon Ridge is a spellbinding gothic tale about a primitive falcon trainer who swoops to the rescue of a tormented woman. Does she hold the key to a grisly unsolved murder—and his heart? And you’ll want to curl up in front of the fire to savor Christmas Stalking by Jo Leigh, which pits a sexy Santa-in-disguise against a strong-willed senator’s daughter when he takes her into his protective custody. Finally this month, unwrap Santa Assignment, an intense mystery by Delores Fossen. The clock is ticking when a desperate father moves heaven and earth to save the woman who could give his toddler son a Christmas miracle.

Enjoy all six!

Sincerely,

Denise O’Sullivan

Senior Editor

Harlequin Intrigue

Christmas Stalking

Jo Leigh

www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jo Leigh lives way the heck up on a mountain in Utah with her own personal hero and her many chipmunk friends. She loves to hear from readers at http://www.joleigh.com.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Max Travis—When all the evidence points to him as a cold-blooded killer, Jade is his last and only hope.

Jade Parker—In order to save her father’s reputation, must she destroy the man she loves?

Senator William Parker—His terrible secrets have put his daughter in the crosshairs of a killer.

C. J. Harris—With billions at stake, he’ll stop at nothing—including murder—to get what he wants.

Joseph Retik—He only has one objective: to get rid of anyone in the way.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One

Pain woke him. A sharp poke in the ribs. Max Travis groaned as he struggled to open his eyes. Cold, biting cold, made his movements as stiff as the slab of rock beneath him.

“You can’t sleep here.” A cop, bundled in a heavy winter coat, stood scowling above him.

Max blinked, dizziness making it hard to focus, disorientation making it impossible to think. “Where am I?”

“On my beat, so get your ass up and out of here. I don’t care where you go, but you can’t stay here.”

Max put his elbow on the cold stone and pushed himself into a sitting position. Everything ached, and when he rubbed his eyes he found ice crystals on his lashes. He cursed as he fought to get his bearings, to figure out what the hell was going on.

The cop gave him one more jab in the side with his nightstick. “The soup kitchen is on Fourth. Don’t let me find you out here again.”