Searching for the truth…

Disgraced investigative journalist Pip West is devastated when she discovers her best friend’s body face-down in a tranquil lake. When cops and federal agents determine that her friend overdosed then drowned, Pip knows they’re mistaken and intends to prove it.

Special Agent Hunt Kincaid doesn’t trust journalists and has no patience for Pip’s delusions, especially since her meddling could reveal why the FBI is interested in her friend’s last days. The dead scientist worked at the cutting edge of vaccine research and might have a connection to a new, weaponized, vaccine-resistant anthrax strain that just hit the black market.

…just turned deadly.

Pip is thrown off her game by grief and her unexpected attraction to the handsome federal agent. Hunt battles the same unwelcome pull, determined to resist the heat that threatens to consume them both. But the more Pip digs, the closer she gets to both the sexy FBI agent, and to a bioweapons terrorist who’s more than capable of cold-bloodedly sacrificing anyone who gets in his way.

Excerpt

Hunt backed the SUV out of its spot and pulled up beside his truck, where Pip stood waiting, composing herself.

He jumped out and helped her into the high seat, trying to keep his eyes off the molded jeans and skintight t-shirt.

Then his stomach growled loudly and Pip laughed. “Hungry?”

She had no idea.

Her eyes danced and those damned freckles made her look sweet and innocent and so goddamned cute.

He reached up and cupped the back of her head, pulling her toward him so he could kiss her. Electricity and heat flared between them.

He traced the seam of her lips with his tongue and she opened tentatively.

He wanted to take the kiss deeper but waited. Waited for her to hesitantly taste him and explore him. Let her lead.

They’d both almost died today and that basic need to prove that he was very much alive surged through him.

It was a natural reaction. He knew that.

She gripped his jacket and pulled him closer, mouth angling with a hunger that seemed to match his. She tasted rich and sinful, and sweet as sugar.

His hands slid up her sides and he was immediately hard as stone.

Dammit. What the hell was he thinking?

He gave a shuddering breath and pulled back. She blinked in surprise. Lips red and slick.

He shouldn’t have kissed her.

She was upset. Emotional. His boss and his friends had all told him to steer clear. Even so, he wanted to kiss her again and never stop.

“Wow.”

He laughed. “Yeah. Wow.”

She swallowed. “You’re a good kisser, Agent Kincaid.”

He laughed again and moved a half step closer. “Pretty sure you should call me Hunt after that.” He reached up and wiped a smudge of lipstick from the side of her mouth.

That mouth of hers gave him all sorts of ideas. X-rated ideas. Ideas that would get his ass kicked at work.

But, God, she was sexy. From virtually the day he’d met her he’d wanted her. Which made him an asshole.

“You ruined my makeup. And there I was looking so good.” She rolled her eyes.

Regardless of tears and smudged makeup, she was the prettiest girl he’d ever met.

She flipped down the sun visor to check the mirror and something small and plastic fell into her lap.

He reached out and picked it up using the edge of his t-shirt. Pete Dexter’s goddamn plastic entry keycard for Blake University. “Mind if I take that?”

“What is it?” Pip looked confused then seemed to register it was an ID card. “Okay.”

He couldn’t explain, which made him feel doubly guilty for kissing her, especially as he’d used a ruse to search her friend’s houses. An honest ruse, but a ruse all the same.

“I’ll follow you back into the city.” His stomach growled again. He wasn’t sure when exactly he'd last eaten. “Wanna grab some dinner in Atlanta?”

Pip huffed out a mix between a groan and a laugh. “I probably shouldn’t.”

“It’s only dinner, Pip.”

Her gaze locked on his and her smile dropped. “We both know that’s not true, Hunt Kincaid.” Her voice suggested hot naked sex rather than food and Hunt fought the reaction his body had to the idea.

She’d called him on the bullshit he’d even been selling himself.

He nodded. “We should get going.”

Dusk was falling. He didn’t want to be on the road around here at night if he could avoid it. Too many chances for misadventure. He shut her door, and stepped away.

Maybe she was right. Maybe they’d already crossed a line but they could still step back from taking it any further. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t want to go there. He did. Although it was probably best for his career if he pretended she was just part of a case. Not someone whose scent aroused him beyond rational thought.

He got in his truck and slipped Pete Dexter’s keycard into an evidence bag. Shit. He’d been sure he was onto something, but it looked like the guy had been telling the truth about giving Cindy the card after all.

Hunt turned his truck and followed Pip back along the track. Keeping his distance was probably a smart idea.

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About Toni Anderson

New York Times and USA Today international bestselling author, Toni Anderson, writes dark, gritty Romantic Suspense novels that have hit #1 in Barnes & Noble's Nook store, the Top 10 in Amazon and Kobo stores, and the Top 50 in iBooks. Her novels have won many awards. A former Marine Biologist from Britain, she inexplicably ended up in the geographical center of North America, about as far from the ocean as it is possible to get. She now lives in the Canadian prairies with her Irish husband and two children and spends most of her time complaining about the weather.

Toni has no explanation for her oft-times dark imagination, and only hopes the romance makes up for it. She's addicted to reading, dogs, tea, and chocolate.

If you want to know when Toni's next book will be out, visit her website (http://www.toniandersonauthor.com) and sign up for her newsletter. If you want to read other fascinating stories about life in a city that, during winter, is sometimes colder than Mars, friend her on Facebook: (https://www.facebook.com/toniannanderson).