Shannon here: Jodie Bailey shares an excerpt from her latest Romantic Suspense, Undercover Colorado Conspiracy. Comment or answer the question in this post to enter the drawing for winner’s choice of ebook or print copy. Release date – Feb 20th. Deadline to comment: Feb 17th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Jodie:
Excerpt from Undercover Colorado Conspiracy by Jodie Bailey:
When she started to walk away toward the main lodge, Phillip grabbed her bicep. “Slow your roll, McFly.”
Thalia sighed heavily and stared past him, her lips pursed with impatience.
Should he really be noticing her lips?
Phillip shook his head to fling the thought away. “What just happened?”
Her eyes flicked to his then to whatever was so interesting in the parking lot behind him. “I was acting, and it worked. Work is something we should be doing, by the way.”
She started to step around him, but he tightened his grip. “How long have we been together?”
The question caused her to stiffen, but she didn’t pull away.
Too late, he realized how the phrasing sounded, more like they were a couple than a team.
“Right now, I’m wondering if it’s been too long.” She pinned him with a hard gaze, her dark eyes issuing a challenge he couldn’t quite decipher.
The statement cut. So did the cold determination in her expression. Whatever had happened, she was intent on burying it…and him.
Well, Phillip was equally intent on stealing the shovel. He couldn’t let her cover this up. She’d broken through, released something that had needed to breathe. If he cared about her at all, he wouldn’t let her shove it into a dark hole.
“Thal, I know you better than anyone.”
Sniffing, she tipped her head and stared at the sky, then closed her eyes. A strand of her brown hair clung to her eyelashes and fell across one cheek. She huffed, drawing her eyebrows together. “It was embarrassing.”
Rare emotional fragility peeked through, unguarded. This time, it seemed to be by choice.
Thalia was always on guard, always watching for threats, always cautious about her surroundings.
But not now.
With her eyes closed and her head tilted, she was vulnerable to attack. It was Personal Safety 101. It was a posture that should only be taken with…
With someone you trusted.
A rush of adrenaline squeezed his heart. Thalia trusted him.
She. Trusted. Him.
She believed he would keep her safe, would do whatever it took to protect her. So much so, that she had made herself vulnerable.
While she was more than capable of taking care of herself and took pride in that fact, she was now letting him be her protector.
The magnitude of the moment hammered through Phillip’s heart. For the first time ever, she was being her unfiltered and unguarded self with him, handing him every part of who she was.
Did she even realize it?
His emotions settled in to the truth he’d been trying to articulate to himself earlier. He trusted her as well. Completely. She wouldn’t turn on him or become someone else. She would always have his back.
She was the one person he’d never doubted and had never questioned.
She was Thalia. Unlike any woman he’d ever met. Beautiful. Competent. Strong.
What he did next… What he said next… It would change everything.
He had a choice. He could let the moment fall and shatter in the brittle air, and they’d keep right on going as they’d always been, but it would never be the same.
Teammates. Partners. Friends. And he’d know, beneath it all, there was the potential for more. That would always be between them.
Or he could risk it all.
That strand of hair laying across her cheek… His fingers ached to brush it away.
He was suddenly incapable of taking a full breath. If he walked away and let things stagnate in the status quo, he might never breathe again.
“You should never feel embarrassed around me.” His words scraped out in a hoarse whisper. Sliding his hand down her arm, he laced his fingers with hers and pulled her to him. Barely brushing her cheek, he thumbed her hair back and let it fall beside her ear. He trailed his fingers down to her chin, tipping her head slightly, giving her every opportunity to retreat.
Her breath hitched. When her eyes fluttered open, they looked straight into his with a depth of emotion he’d never seen before.
There was no doubt. He was completely gone over her…for her…about her.
Her fingers gripped his tighter and she drew him the rest of the way to her, meeting him halfway in a kiss that spoke everything he wanted to say but couldn’t put into words.
Question for Readers: One of the “fun” things in Undercover Colorado Conspiracy is a running
conversation about trying brown sugar maple bacon while on vacation. What’s the most memorable food you ever ate while on vacation?
About Jodie: Jodie Bailey is an Army wife and Army mother-in-law, a mom, and a teacher who believes Mountain Dew, dark chocolate and a trip to the Outer Banks will cure all ills. In her spare time, she reads cookbooks, rides motorcycles, and searches for the perfect cup of coffee. She is the author nearly two dozen novels, including the RT Reviewers Choice Award winner Crossfire and the USA Today bestseller, Deadly Cargo. Jodie lives in North Carolina with her husband and Hattie, the world’s most stubborn huskador pup. Learn more & connect:
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About the book – Undercover Colorado Conspiracy:
An undercover mission turns into a fight for survival.
To expose a crooked adoption agency, military investigators Thalia Renner and Phillip Campbell pose as a married couple at a mountain resort. But when they become the target of unknown enemies and deadly assaults, they wonder if their cover has been blown. As they investigate, they learn the truth is far more sinister…and the consequences could cost them their lives.
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Come back Feb 13th for Tanya Eavenson!
I remember we went to Cincinnati Zoo to see Fiona the hippo and we left there and were hungry, so we thought we would try some chili and boy were we both surprised to take a bite and taste cinnamon, we both didn’t like it.
OH my. I’m not sure how I’d feel about cinnamon in chili. I’ve heard of people using unsweetened cocoa powder, but cinnamon would be different.
My favorite genre! Food – hm – Sushi in Moscow! The size of them surprised me – they were HUGE 🙂
Oh wow! Sushi in Moscow! That’s a cultural blend that was probably really fun!
Glad to have you here, Jodie. We went to an outdoor festival in Texas years ago and ate fried rattlesnake. It was SO GOOD!!!! The best meat I’ve ever tasted. I’ve wanted more ever since but have never found it again. So tender and yummy!!!!
Thanks for inviting me to drop by! I’m not sure I could get my mind to let my mouth eat rattlesnake. Our friend is making kangaroo chili for a cookoff in a couple of weeks and even that gives me pause. 😉
For me, I think of two memorable foods from our vacations. One is our bucket list trip to Maine and getting to eat all the delicious lobster. Living so far from any coast, it was pure heaven to say at least once that I got to eat all I wanted and the memories still stays with me even after several years having past. Another one is in our fondness of traveling to Amish communities is all of fabulous fresh baked goodies – especially some of the biggest and best taking cinnamon rolls I think from any where on earth. I can just smell cinnamon and my memory flashes to all those tasty morsels of sweet heavenly goodness.
Can’t wait for the opportunity to read and review “Undercover Colorado Conspiracy”. Thank you so much for the fabulous chance to win a print copy!
I wish I liked seafood, because I bet fresh Maine lobster would be amazing! We used to live near an Amish community in upstate New York and, wow… everything they make is so incredible. I miss the little grocery store they had near our house where everything was homemade and so wonderful.
funnel cake
I LOVE funnel cake. It’s my favorite “fair food.”
Paella when I was in Spain.
I bet Spain had some amazing food! I’m not a big seafood girl, but fresh seafood was probably the best there.
I remember trying escargot for the first time on a cruise and thinking it was delicious.
The two I remember were Deep Dish pizza in Chicago and Amish Shoofly pie in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I didn’t really care for either one. They were interesting to try however.
I have a winner! Lela White won the drawing. I appreciate Jodie for being my guest and everyone else for stopping by.