Lia just wants him to meet her parents.
Why does this feel like the fight of his life?
SECRET DREAM
DELOS Series 1B
Lindsay McKenna
Releasing July 25th, 2016
Blue Turtle Publishing
Ex-Navy SEAL Cav Jordan faces danger daily in his job as a
security expert. He even faced down a gang of South American drug dealers to
protect his fiancée, Lia Cassidy. So why is he terrified of meeting her
parents? Having lived through his own horrible childhood Cav can’t understand
the situation is he is walking into. Lia just wants him to meet her parents.
Why does this feel like the fight of his life?
Novella: The continued story of Cav and Lia from Nowhere to
Hide, book 1 of the Delos Series.
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EXCERPT
EXCERPT
“Steve
Cassidy. Welcome, Mr. Jordan., We owe you a lot.” He gripped Cav’s hand, and choked out, “You
saved Lia’s life. Thank you…”
For a moment, Cav was stunned by the
sudden kindness emanating from the farmer’s expression who was thin, wiry,
sunburned and physically sinewy from the daily work he did. Gripping the farmer’s calloused roughened hand, he said,
“Nice to meet you, sir. And I was just
doing my job. Call me Cav?”
“Call me Steve.” He
clapped him heartily on the back, still clasping his other hand. “And you’re a hero to us, son. Nothing less.” Steve released him, keeping his hand on Cav’s
broad shoulder, watching Lia clinging to he mother, both of them in a tight,
loving embrace with one another.
Embarrassed by such a show of
emotions, Cav murmured, “Thank
you, sir.”
Steve gave him an assessing
look. “Just Steve will do.”
“Yes, sir….I mean, okay,” Cav stumbled. It was very different meeting people who were
strangers, but this was Lia’s parents and he didn’t want to fuck this up for
her. Awkwardly, he stood there, watching
tears roll down Susan’s face. He wasn’t
sure that Lia wasn’t crying too, such was the tight bond they shared. Obliquely, his mind leaped backward. Cav remembered the times his mother had
cried. But they were tears of pain. Tears mingled with blood from her nose, a split
lip or both after his father got done beating her up. How many times had Cav cried alone in his
room wishing she would run away with him from his monster father?
Steve clapped him on the
shoulder. “Let’s us guys go find your luggage, huh?” and he smiled
a little.
Good idea! “Yes,
sir—“
Steve laughed and patted him warmly
on the back. “You’re staying a week with us,
Cav. I’ll work that military side you
out of you by then. Come on, let’s hunt
up that luggage for our you and our Lia, eh?”
There was a male gruffness mingled
with warmth to Steve that made Cav want to open up to the man. He had a deeply weathered face, his blue eyes
the same color as Lia’s. The woman he loved had her mother’s same
color of hair, her father’s sparkling, mischievous looking eyes and her
smile. There was benevolence to Steve
Cassidy and Cav automatically found himself wanting to be close to this man who
exuded a male gentleness he rarely found in any man. “Thanks for coming to pick us up,” Cav said,
noting that the baggage from their flight would be spit out by Carousel
Two.
“We’ve been looking forward to seeing you two,” Steve
said, standing with his hands on his hips, watching the luggage starting to be
dropped off the conveyor belt. “Did you
have a good flight?”
“Yes. It was quiet.
That’s all I ask.”
“We don’t travel much,” he said. “With a farm, you can’t walk away from it, so
I’m glad you came for a visit.”
Cav felt Steve’s genuine sincerity. He hooked a look over his shoulder, seeing
Lia and her mother talking animatedly with one another as they walked toward
them. Susan had given Lia her smile and
her beauty, no question. He liked that
the mother had hooked her arm around Lia’s waist and they walked closely, their
affection for everyone to see. He knew
Lia’s affection himself and already, he could see how happy she was at being
home with her parents once more. They
breathed even more life into her, if that was possible. Compared to the ghost of a person she was in
Costa Rica months earlier, Cav was stunned at Lia’s natural radiance. She was sunshine to his darkened soul who
craved her.
“Uh oh,” Steve murmured, grinning as he turned. “I’m about to get attacked.”
For a moment, the word put Cav on
instant guard. But as he turned, he saw Steve opening his arms as Lia flew into
them, her arms wide open, joy radiant on her face as she clung to her
father. A lump formed in his throat as
he watched Lia being swallowed up by the big man who kissed her hair, kissed
that cheek that had that deep scar on it, his eyes only for his beaming
daughter in his arms. His gaze flicked
to Susan, who stood a few feet away, teary eyed, smiling, her lower lip
trembling as she watched Lia with her doting father. It hurt to swallow and Cav turned away,
remembering too much of the twisted and distorted family he’d somehow managed to survive. He’d never known a moment of affection from
his father. Only his fist. His hatred.
His anger always aimed at him.
See how it all began in Nowhere to Hide
Lindsay McKenna lives her life as a risk taker, and it shines through the
books she loves to write: romance, adventure and suspense. She started writing
at age thirteen and continues to hone her writing skills to this day. She sold
her first romance novel in 1981. The rest is history.
Because she went into the military, this experience became the
backbone of her writing—she is credited with writing the first military romance
novel (Captive of Fate, 1983, Silhouette Special Edition) and has created a
thriving sub-genre within the romance field! As a New York Times Best Selling
author, she has sold 23 million books and in 32 foreign languages in her career
thus far. Her many experiences in the U.S. Navy are backdrop for her
understanding of the military in general, and also her very successful Morgan’s
Mercenaries, which is an ongoing series in Silhouette to this day! Forty-five
books strong!
Lindsay has gone Indie in 2015 and has created a new family saga
on par with Morgan’s Mercenaries It is known as the DELOS SERIES. There will be
paperback and eBooks created under Blue Turtle Publishing, her company for her
fans. Readers who love Morgan and his family are bound to fall in love with the
Culver family. Delos is romantic suspense, which Lindsay is well known for. It
took her five years to create and bring DELOS to her readers. It was worth the
wait, but we’ll let you decide that.
Lindsay loves to hear from her readers and loves to know what
they’d like to see her write next. Stay up with the latest on the Delos Series
here. Please visit her Web site at www.lindsaymckenna.com. And be sure to sign up for her free
quarterly newsletter. It contains exclusive content found nowhere else on the
Net. Plus, giveaways and other surprises, to her loyal and faithful
subscribers!
Thank you for supporting SECRET DREAM!
ReplyDeleteWarmly, Lindsay McKenna