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She’s a brash deputy. He’s an undercover agent. When sparks start to fly, a murderer might be the death of them.
Deputy
Sheriff Tanya Trouble can't help being pushy. In her dusty border town,
being a polite cop could get her killed. When a fifteen-year-old girl
is murdered, Tanya turns up the heat to track down the killer. She’s
convinced one of the town’s white supremacists killed the girl, but when
she starts lining up suspects she can't help but be sidetracked by a
sexy new ranch hand.
Ryker Thompson is smart and more than a
little cocky. The FBI agent figures that's why he's been sent undercover
as an arrogant right-wing ranch hand to investigate a sophisticated
human trafficking operation. But he never could've anticipated that a
brash deputy sheriff would name him as the prime suspect in an ugly
local murder. And he’s surprised by how arousing he finds her
suspicion...
When Tanya discovers Ryker’s true identity she
immediately tries to think of him as off-limits, but Ryker gives as good
as he gets and soon enough hot sparks are flying between them. After
their cases collide, can Trouble and Thompson surrender to their
attraction while putting a ruthless killer behind bars?
Tanya is
the first standalone book in The Trouble Sisters steamy romantic
suspense series. If you like smart characters, tough-talking cops, and
scorching passion, then you'll love Taylor Lee’s sizzling thrill-ride.
Excerpt:
“Who’s Captain America?”
Tanya
Trouble looked up from her double-decker, four-inch high cheeseburger
and glanced in the direction of her sister’s gaze. Swallowing a mouthful
of the greasy, charred meat, she upped the ante. “Don’t you mean
Thor? Damn, if I’ve ever seen a Chris Hemsworth double, it’s that hot
piece of ass.” Taking in the newcomer’s rowdy companions, she qualified
dismissively, “But, seeing the scurvy company he keeps, looks like
Sledge Perkins managed to suck in another n’er-do-well to protect his
land.” She added with a sneer, “No doubt he’s a race-baiting,
supremacist like the rest of them.”
Tatiana frowned at her. “You’re getting more cynical by the day, Tanya.”
Their
older sister concurred. “Tatiana is right, Tanya. You’ve been around
the bad guys so long that you can’t even enjoy a prime piece of beefcake
like that.”
Tanya snorted. “Hey, without even seeing it, I said he
has a hot ass.” She reached for one of the cheese-covered French fries
sharing the plate with her mammoth burger. Swathing the deep-fried
delicacy in catchup, she shrugged as she chomped on it. “Besides, all
chick magnets are the same. They know what to do to attract attention.”
“Which is?” Tara persisted.
Tanya
nodded at the subject of their attention three tables over and conceded
with a wink, “All they have to do is look like that.”
As she craned her neck to get a better look at the object of their attentions a man’s voice broke into their conversation.
“Do you mind if I join you ladies?”
Tanya
turned to see Bram Courtland approaching. As the slim man reached for
the chair beside her, Tanya didn’t have to wonder what caused the frown
tightening his stern face. Brushing his lips across her cheek as he sat
down, Bram focused on her heaping plate then glanced meaningfully at her
sisters’ salads. Not able to keep the annoyance out of his voice he
said with ersatz humor, “What am I going to do with you, Tanya?”
Knowing
what was coming, Tanya decided to cut him off. She smiled at him and
said disingenuously, “What makes you think you need to do anything with
or for me, Bram? As you can see I am in hog heaven. But then how could I
be anything else in that I’m digging into my all-time favorite meal.”
Bram’s
attempt to smile got trapped in his sneer. Obviously forcing himself
to be civil Bram turned to her sisters and put up his hands in
supplication. “Please, Tara, Tatiana, help me. Tell your little sister
that not only does her unhealthy entre clock in at well over a thousand
calories but also contains artery-hardening red meet and fat-laden
cheese.” He added with a grimace, “And that doesn’t even include those
French fries.” Before either of her sisters could respond, Bram glared
at her. “Really Tanya, who but you would put cheese on French fries?”
Tanya
shrugged, “Hey, don’t knock ‘em before you try ‘em. You might find out
you like them.” She added, “You know, Bram, once in a blue moon, you
might consider doing something different, if for no other reason than to
add a little excitement to your life.”
Apparently seeing her
disdain, Bram made an obvious attempt to soften his criticism. “I don’t
need food to do that, Tanya. You bring all the excitement I need into
my life.” Unable to let go of his pique he added, “It’s just that I care
about you. You have to know that food is bad for you in so many ways
not the least making it impossible for you to lose that weight you’ve
been trying ….”
Before he could finish his sentence, Tanya rose to
her feet shoving back her chair with a loud scrape. Turning to her
sisters both of whom were fighting to contain their grins, she said,
“Don’t know about you two, but my dinner is crying out for a beer
chaser.” She added, “Although you probably prefer wine with your
salads. How about it, Tara? Tatiana? White, red or maybe one of Dante’s
‘porn star martini’s’? Come to think of it, that’s what I prefer.
I’ve already had a beer.”
Ignoring Bram’s obvious displeasure, Tanya
began to make her way through the crowded tavern to the bar. Not
bothering to look back, she knew Bram was furious although he’d be doing
his best to appear merely understandingly aggrieved. She thought to
herself for the hundredth time what a stupid name ‘Bram’ was. Granted
it was better than ‘Bramford’ which was his full name. God, Bramford
Preston Courtland. Jesus, how pretentious could anyone get? Granted it
was his parent’s fault not his, but he could have chosen a nickname.
Maybe, called himself “Ford” which was marginally better than
Bram--ford. Unfortunately she knew the only thing Bram liked better
than his name was his title. And yeah, Dr. Bramford Courtland had a
nice ring to it.
Or at least she’d thought so when she’d agreed to
marry him. At the moment that agreement seemed long ago and not for the
first time--questionable. Rubbing at her bare ring finger, she was
surprised that Bram hadn’t focused on that omission. Apparently her
eating habits concerned him more than her sartorial ones. She guessed
she should be thankful. The flamboyant ring had surprised her from the
first time she saw it. But knowing how expensive it was, it seemed tacky
to question Bram’s showy choice. And she had to admit that all of her
girlfriends had been appropriately wowed with the multi-carat wonder.
The problem was given what she wore to work, the blindingly bright rock
frankly looked out of place.
Putting aside her irritation with her
fiancé--which she admitted was not an uncommon state of affairs, she
shoved her way through the crowd surrounding the bar and motioned to the
bartender. Holding up three fingers, she hollered, “Three porn star
martinis, Dante, for me and my sisters.”
The cheerful bartender shot
her an open grin and hollered out, “You got it hotstuff, I mean Deputy
Trouble. What about the doc? What does he want? His usual milk and
cookies?”
Tanya shrugged and shot the grinning bartender a cheeky
smile. “No, hold the cookies, Dante. The doc is on a diet. The better
to berate me with.”
Dante chuckled and added with a wink, “Don’t you
dare let that huffy pill-pusher talk you into a diet, hotstuff. I
wouldn’t want you to lose an inch of those bodacious curves filling out
that uniform of yours.”
Tanya laughed at his description given that
her uniform consisted of blue jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt and leather
jacket that couldn’t have hidden her curves if she’d wanted them too.
At least the badge hooked on her belt gave her some much needed
gravitas, or so she hoped. That hope was shot to hell when Manny Davis,
sitting a couple tables over, said loud enough for anyone who chose to
hear, “Yeah, little deputy copper, we wouldn’t want the tiniest of the
Trouble sisters to lose an inch of those suckalicous curves of hers,
would we, men?”
At the chorus of grunts and catcalls from his table
companions Tanya thrust her chin in the air. Pointedly looking at the
leering man who was leaning back in his chair, his legs stretched out in
front of him, she pinned a dismissive squint on his crotch. “Be
careful, Manny who you’re calling tiny or I might have to get out my
ruler to prove a point. By the way, that’s my dick ruler, buddy. The
one I use for assholes like you. It measures in millimeters.”
At the
shouts of laughter from the men close enough to hear their exchange,
Tanya tossed her head accepting the cheers from the rowdy crowd at the
surrounding tables, many of whom were her drinking buddies. As she
saucily surveyed Manny’s group, she saw that the newcomer she and her
sisters had been ogling was studying her. Hoping that her surprise
didn’t show on her face she met his gaze refusing to look away.
Swallowing hard she admitted that the sexy stranger was even more
gorgeous up close than she’d thought from her across-the-room appraisal.
Now just a few feet away, she acknowledged that the sun-streaked,
dirty-blond hair shagging his collar and the rough beard shadow on his
tanned face only underscored the startling blue of his eyes. Jesus,
Tanya thought with a groan, even Chris Hemsworth would have to go a
piece to keep up with this hottie. Given his muscular body apparent in
his casual pose, Tanya decided she’d need to toss in Charlie Hunnam and
Brad Pitt to capture the entirety of the compelling stranger. It didn’t
help that it was clear from his narrowed gaze and half smile he was
appraising her as openly as she’d been checking him out earlier. When he
flicked his fore-finger and nodded confirming that he’d had seen her
interest, Tanya shrugged and looked away. She hoped the heat she felt
storming her cheeks wasn’t apparent to him although she knew that it
was.
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