It’s excerpt time! Since Undercover Heat releases one week from today, I thought you might like a little tease. Give you a sample of what you’ll be unable to put down next week. In the below scene, Kyra and Quinn have just moved into the house they will be sharing as part of an undercover FBI operation. They are pretending to be husband and wife in an effort to bring down a woman who has been running Ponzi schemes for years. The two agents aren’t particularly excited about sharing a house and a case, as you can see from the below interaction.
Enjoy, and remember, Undercover Heat releases on January 19th! You can add it to your Goodreads TBR here, or you can pre-order it here.
“Oh look, there’s our neighbor. Wave, honey.” He plastered a fake smile on his face and wrapped one arm around her shoulders as he waved with his other hand.
A woman stood on the deck in the yard directly behind them, holding a glass of red wine in one hand. She had bleached blond hair styled into a sort of bouffant and wore a red suit with a short, tightly fitted skirt and red stiletto heels. She waved back but made no move to walk across the yard to greet them.
“That the perp who’s been stealing hard-earned dollars from Dallas’s upper echelon? The queen of Ponzi schemes?”
“Yes. And from Detroit’s elite now, it would seem,” Kyra said. She was distracted by the feel of his arm around her shoulders; she didn’t trust Quinn not to hit on her again. “Why are you hugging me?”
“We’re married. Newlyweds. Don’t newlyweds like to hug each other?”
“I suppose,” she grumbled. “Listen, we need to establish some ground rules.”
“Ground rules?”
“Yes. Between us.”
“We need to establish ground rules?”
Was he making fun of her? She wasn’t sure, but she persisted anyway.
“This case, these living arrangements, it’s just the job. Do you understand what I mean?”
Quinn twisted his head and cocked one dark eyebrow. “Aren’t you worried our neighbor can hear you?”
“No. She’s, like, fifty yards away. I’m serious, Quinn. Do you understand what I mean?”
“I’m not sure what you mean specifically, but if you are trying to explain that this is just a case and we are going to be playing house for hopefully a very short period of time, I’m pretty sure I get it.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page. After Friday night, I admit I was a little worried.” She laughed nervously.
“What happened Friday night?”
“You don’t remember?”
He shrugged. “Saturday morning, I woke up with a woman in my bed and I don’t even remember how she got there.”
Great. He took my advice. For some reason, it irritated her.
“Okay, forget it, then.”
“Not a problem,” Quinn responded, and then he said, “Let’s see if we can get her to come over and say hi.” Before she could ask how he intended to do that, Quinn used the arm around her shoulder to pull her close. He twisted his body so they were suddenly face to face, and then with a lazy, teasing grin, he dipped his head, closed his eyes, and kissed her.
Kyra was so shocked at his behavior, she immediately put her hands against his shoulders and tried to shove him away.
“This isn’t very newlywed-ish of you, baby,” he mumbled against her lips.
She twisted her head to the side. “Stop it,” she said, her voice coming out almost like a hiss.
He stopped trying to kiss her, but he did not release her from his grip. “I’m not much of an expert on the subject, but I’m pretty sure newlyweds like to kiss.”
“They do, but that doesn’t mean you and I have to do it.”
“Aren’t we newlyweds?”
“We’re pretending, you asshole.”
“She’s coming.”
“What?” Kyra gave a small yelp and twisted in Quinn’s arms to watch the neighbor—her case—pick her way across the lawn in $200 heels.
“She’s coming over here because we were kissing?” she said in disbelief.
“Curiosity, I’m sure. Maybe she’s into threesomes.”
Kyra punched his arm.
“Ow,” he complained as he rubbed the offending spot. “Shit, that hurt.”
“Good.”
~~~
Want more? You can get it on January 19th! Not too much longer to wait… I promise – it will be worth it!
###
Hey – if you’re already madly in love with my books, consider joining my Street Team. They’re called Tami’s Tarts, and it’s a super cool group of readers/friends. Here’s the signup form.
Leave a Reply