Page 5 of Island Whispers

Chapter 2

Boone Reynolds sat in the tidy, unassuming office, studying the new Guardian Agency regional coordinator while she took a call. Jess Keller was sharp as a tack with an understated beauty that the long-sleeved shirt and dark cargo pants couldn’t disguise. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail now, but he imagined when she was a cop in Key West, it would’ve been wound tight into a more practical bun.

It wasn’t hard to imagine her in a police uniform. Her calm presence and pragmatic approach must’ve been good for the community she served.

Even though they’d just met face-to-face, he’d heard a lot about her through the Guardian Agency updates. In addition to her new role managing personnel and assignments in this part of the country, she was engaged and would be based here on this small barrier island where she’d grown up.

The ring on her finger flashed as she reached for a notepad. Boone gave her fiancé big points for good taste. The solitaire made a statement, laid a claim in a beautiful way no one could miss.

He had stuck around the Charleston area after his recent protection detail ended. Today he’d driven out here just to put a face to the name and shoot the breeze with Jess. And yes, he’d been hoping she’d find a way to add him to another local job.

He liked the area. He liked the weather and the people and the variety.

And who the hell was he kidding? He couldn’t get his mind off one specific woman. She’d been more appealing than any of the other gorgeous sights in the Lowcountry. It had been weeks and she still haunted him twenty-four-seven.

Of course, he’d tried to find her. And had come up empty. The atypical failure bothered him almost as much as losing track of her.

But she wasn’t a figment of his imagination. Although he didn’t normally do the one-night-stand thing, something about her had tempted him. They’d talked and danced and wound up in his hotel room. The night had been beyond spectacular. The chemistry and passion of their first kiss had rocked him. The pulse of desire, refreshing laughter and, oddly enough, the tenderness had left him undone.

In the best way possible.

They’d shared that instant connection usually reserved for the romance novels his sister favored.

And then he’d woken up and found himself alone.

The woman had left without leaving so much as a note. So maybe the electricity, heat, and the incomparable fun had only been on his side.

Blame his ego, but he couldn’t believe her enthusiasm during that amazing encounter was fake. Boone wasn’t accustomed to doubts. More than once, he’d been accused of having too much confidence and a brash attitude his bosses believed would get him in trouble someday. So far that bold and forward-momentum approach to life and the job had carried him through some of the toughest ups and downs with only a few scars to show for it.

It seemed his particular brand of commitment and work ethic was welcome in very few places. Once the shine wore off his military service, he found a place with the Guardian Agency and counted himself lucky for the skills he’d learned along the way.

Skills that should’ve made finding his mystery woman much easier.

Unable to shake off his curiosity about her, needing answers, he kept looking. Already he suspected he wouldn’t stop. She was that special, that different. He cycled through moments of Zen-like acceptance that it wasn’t meant to be, to nearly-frantic dives for a woman he was sure should be in his life.

Jess was still on the phone, and from the change in her voice, there was some sort of crisis. She looked up, her eyes sharp. She’d made a decision.

About him.

Put me in, coach. Anything to stay local.

That familiar rush flooded his system. Adrenaline at the ready, prepared to answer any call or excel at every task.

“Logan is on his way to you,” Jess said to the caller. “He’ll bring you back home. I’ll have security in place by the time you get here. Hang in there,” Jess soothed. “It’s all going to be fine.”

She ended the call and paused, eyes closed and hands gripping her cell phone. Then she took a deep breath, met his gaze. “Are you up for something new?”

“Yes.” He dipped his chin toward the phone. “Sounded like that might be personal.”

“It is.” She rubbed her temples. “My fiancé’s sister managed to witness a carjacking today.”

Crap. Crime sucked all the time, but when it was one of your own… “Is she all right?”

“Seems to be,” Jess said. “That’s the good news. But the police on the scene tell me the perp is an escaped convict. I don’t have the whole story yet,” she groused. “What we know is that this convict car-jacked another vehicle with a child in the back seat. Nash’s sister happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Jess paused. “Actually, maybe she was in the right place. Sounds like she helped the distraught woman and she definitely assisted the police.”

“How so?”