Sneak Peek – Mountain Danger

“Hold it,” I said, my voice loud and clear. I had my service weapon raised and pointed at them.

The first guy spun around as the second pushed up from the floor, picking up a cowboy hat that had been beside him and placing it on his head. They stood side by side, their hands automatically going up. Their eyes widened, and they froze in place. Clearly they hadn’t expected me. Or my gun.

Now that I could get a good look at them, they surprised me, too. My detective’s eye made out the one on the left as early thirties, six-one, two hundred pounds of lean muscle. Black hair, equally black eyes. No identifying marks or scars that I could see, and he wore a black coat and dark jeans. Black gloves were on his hands, meaning he didn’t want to leave fingerprints. The other I pegged as same age, six-four, two fifty. Pure muscle. Light brown hair, closely shaved beard. Green eyes. Flannel shirt and jeans. Cowboy hat.

My woman’s eye said, Holy shit. They were drop-dead gorgeous. Magazine models but rugged. I doubted they ever set foot in a gym, probably chopped down trees and wrestled moose for exercise.

When I realized I was ogling, I cleared my throat. “You, move two steps to your right.” I waved my gun at the dark-haired guy, indicating which way I wanted him to go. He smartly did as I told him.

“Both of you, turn around.”

“Whoa, now. I’m all for the right to bear arms, but do you know how to use that thing?”

He did not just ask me that. I refused to respond, only glared.

“Don’t piss her off,” the dark-haired one warned his friend.

“Yeah, don’t piss me off.”

“You’re not going to shoot us in the back, are you?” the bigger guy asked.

“Turn around,” I repeated.

They did and I stepped closer. It was hard to decide who to cuff first. I was fairly skilled at self-defense, but they each had eighty or more pounds on me. I assumed it was better to cuff the larger guy first, so I set a hand at the center of his back, his heat radiating into my palm through his flannel. I felt the play of his muscles as he moved, starting to face me. “There’s been a—”

I grabbed his right arm at the wrist, bent it at the elbow to bring it behind his back in an arm lock, preventing him from turning around. With his wrist at his spine, I pushed it up toward his head, which would have his shoulder coming out of joint if he didn’t bend over. Instinctively he did just that, and I slapped one handcuff on his wrist but kept the arm pinned behind his back.

“Wait a minute!” the other guy said. “There’s been a mistake.”

I raised my weapon in my free hand and pointed it at Mr. Black Hair, but kept a tight hold on the bigger guy. “Don’t move.”

Mr. Black Hair froze but smiled, revealing a damned dimple. I blinked, mesmerized by his gorgeousness.

“All right. I won’t move. Careful with the gun,” he said.

Once again I bristled.

“There’s no need for handcuffs,” Bigger Guy said, his voice calm as he tried to slowly turn once more. I raised his wrist higher, making him groan at the discomfort.

“On the ground,” I told him, my voice just shy of shouting.

At first he wouldn’t go, but a little torque on his arm and Bigger Guy dropped to one knee, then the other, his body hitting the hardwood floor like a tree falling in the forest. I sat on his back, straddled him as I grabbed his other wrist and got him cuffed. I spun about on Bigger Guy’s back so I faced his feet, aimed the gun at Mr. Black Hair. No way was I taking my eyes off him.

“Don’t even think about blinking,” I warned.

He lifted his hands a touch higher, slowly shook his head. “No, ma’am.”

The front door opened, and Poppy came in, tugging off her winter hat. She made it three steps before she saw us. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth dropped open. “Holy shit.”

No one moved for a few seconds; then Poppy burst out laughing. “Oh, this is awesome.”

“Pops, tell your gorgeous friend to put her gun away,” Mr. Black Hair said.

Poppy held up her hand and kept on laughing. Tears slid down her cheeks. “Oh no. I’ve got to get my camera.”

“Pops!” Mr. Black Hair shouted.

“Fine. Eve, meet my brother, Shane. The guy you’re sitting on is Finch.”

I glanced up at Mr. Black Hair—Shane. He winked at me. Winked!

“You’re her brother? Why the hell did you come through the window?” I asked. I felt the cold air pouring in now that my adrenaline was fading. I knew Poppy had a brother, but I’d never met him before. Poppy wasn’t one for family photos about her house, and I had never known what he looked like. Until now.

“What was it going to be this time?” Poppy asked. “Ping-Pong balls in my bathroom? Plastic wrap the toilet seats? Ice cubes filling the fridge? Shampoo in the washing machine?”

“Nothing bad,” Shane said. “Only two hundred balloons in your bedroom.”

I saw the small helium tank on the floor by the window, most likely the first thump I’d heard when I was in the bathroom. Shane had to have been the second.

I climbed off Finch, put my hands on my hips. “You’re here to prank? Can’t you do that by using the door?”

Shane shrugged, then grinned. “We couldn’t risk setting off the alarm.”

That made complete sense. Sneak in through your sister’s window.

“It’s a birthday thing,” he added, as if that explained it all. “Mine’s in June, and this year Poppy put hundreds of caterpillars in my truck. I couldn’t find them all before they turned, and I had butterflies in there for a week.”

“That was a good one,” Poppy said. “I wondered when you were going to attack. Totally backfired though. Suckers.”

“Um, I’m the one handcuffed and on the floor,” Finch prompted.

“Oh, um… the keys are in my bag upstairs,” I said, flustered, looking down at the big, brawny cowboy sprawled on the floor. His hat had been knocked off.

“I’ll get them,” Poppy offered, still laughing as she went up the steps.

“Yeah, there’s no place for you to keep them in that outfit,” Shane murmured, his gaze raking over every inch of me.

I looked down at myself, realized what I was wearing. What I wasn’t wearing. Clothes. I had on a red bra and panty set and that was it.

I squeaked in utter embarrassment.

I’d gone into police mode and forgotten everything, including the fact that I was practically naked. Before I could panic or even grab a blanket off the back of the sofa, Poppy hurried down the stairs and tossed me the keys.

Her cell rang and she raced off to get it, quickly getting into a conversation about fairy lights and generators, so I assumed it was Kit.

I knelt beside Finch and opened the cuffs, keeping them once he was free. “Sorry about that.”

He pushed himself up so he was seated on the floor and we were eye to eye. Grabbing his hat, he set it on his head. He smiled, his green eyes raking over my face, then lower. “I’m not sorry. I had a pretty woman straddling me.” He leaned in close, lowered his voice. “I liked it when you were on top.”

I blushed to the roots of my hair at what he meant.

“I… um… need to find some clothes.”

Finch shook his head. “You don’t have to for our sakes.”

“That’s right. The view’s pretty damned fine,” Shane said, going to the window and shutting it. “I’m guessing you’re Eve Miranski, the detective. We’ve heard about you. I figured we’d meet someday, but not like this.”

Finch stood and I had to tilt my head back to look at both of them. Now that they weren’t sociopaths intent on doing Poppy bodily harm, I could appreciate how hot they were. How their clothes clung to their strong physiques. Their square jaws. Intense gazes. Big hands.

And I was still in my underwear. I started walking backward toward the stairs, my gun in one hand—lowered now—and handcuffs in the other. Now that they weren’t being held at gunpoint, their bodies were relaxed and their gazes wandered. I couldn’t miss the heat in their eyes. I also couldn’t miss one very obvious thing. No, two. They were both hard.

And big.

Big and hard.

My mouth was dry. “Okay, so… this has been interesting. Sorry to have, um, messed up your prank. I guess you’ll have to come up with a different one.” I stumbled around an end table. “I’ll… um… see you later.”

The watched me go, and I felt their gazes on every inch of my skin.

“Definitely,” Shane said.

“At the party.” Finch tipped his chin up. “You can ditch the gun but bring the handcuffs.”

 

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