Title: Protecting Caroline (Book #1 in the SEAL of Protection series)
Blurb: Matthew “Wolf” Steel hated flying commercial. Luckily his job as a Navy SEAL meant he didn’t have to do it very often. He’d been unlucky enough to be assigned a middle seat on the cramped jet, but fortunately for him, the woman next to him was willing to switch seats with him. Hoping for a relaxing flight, Wolf was pleasantly surprised at the good conversation and sense of humor the woman had as they flew 36,000 feet over the countryside.
When Caroline boarded the plane to Virginia to move across the country for her new job she never expected to be seated next to the hottest guy she’d ever seen. She also never expected he’d be so easy to talk to. She knew he’d never be interested in talking to her if he hadn’t been trapped in the seat next to her, but it was a nice way to spend a long plane ride.
Neither Wolf nor Caroline were prepared for a terrorist hijacking of their plane, but if Caroline thought that would be the last time she’d see, or need, Wolf, she’d be sorely mistaken.
Excerpt: Finally the phone in Wolf’s hand vibrated. They’d sailed close enough to the United States to be able to receive a signal. Thank God he had a message! He eagerly drew the phone up to his ear, hoping to hear Caroline’s voice saying she wanted to see him again.
“Hi Matthew, it’s me, Caroline…um…Ice…” At first Wolf was thrilled to hear her voice, but confused about why she was whispering. Then his blood ran cold. What the hell? Oh shit. His Caroline was in trouble. Listening to her soft voice quavering in fear was heart wrenching. She’d been in trouble and called to reassure him. Jesus. She knew he couldn’t help her, but she’d called anyway. Wolf couldn’t even think. Him, the Navy SEAL, had no idea what to do.
He spun, took the stairs two at a time, and burst into the day room. All five members of his team looked up sharply, instantly alarmed. They’d never seen Wolf so frazzled and it put them on high alert.
“Caroline,” was all he could get out. He was breathing hard and was definitely panicked. Mozart and Abe came over to him and Wolf just held out the phone. Abe grabbed it and played the message on the speaker for them all to hear.
No one said a word until Mozart uttered, “Fuck.” It looked like she’d called about twenty four hours ago. Twenty four freaking hours ago. There were no other messages from her. No one wanted to say it, but they all knew that wasn’t a good sign.
They couldn’t get off the ship for at least another four hours. They had to dock and get clearance. Benny, Cookie, and Dude hadn’t met Caroline, but with everything they’d heard enough about her from the others, they were just as concerned about her as Mozart, Abe, and Wolf were. Well, maybe not as concerned as Wolf.
Wolf immediately dialed the number Caroline had called from. He listened to it ring and ring and ring. When her message came on, he didn’t bother to listen to it. As much as he wanted to hear her voice again, he wanted to hear her in person, not a recording. He hung up and called back. He had no idea how many times he would’ve kept calling her back, probably until one of his team members confiscated his phone, but luckily the third time he’d hit her number she finally answered.
“Hello?” She answered tentatively.
“Caroline?” Wolf said urgently, hoping like hell it was her. How she’d become so important to him in such a short time, he had no idea. But there it was. It was the moment he’d heard her whispered voice and realized he wasn’t there and couldn’t help her that he knew she was his. Period. His.
“Yes, this is she,” Caroline said shakily. She hadn’t recovered from the break in at her apartment and didn’t recognize the voice on the other end of the line.
“It’s me, Wolf…er…Matthew. Are you okay? Jesus, Caroline. Talk to me.”
“Matthew!” Caroline breathed a sigh of relief. Oh my God, she was so relieved to hear his voice she had to sit down. She collapsed on a chair that luckily was nearby, then remembered the message she’d left for him. “Are you back? Are you calling to see when we can get together?” Caroline tried to play dumb and pretend Matthew was calling about a date. Maybe he hadn’t checked his voice mail yet. She wasn’t thinking straight because he wouldn’t know her number if he hadn’t checked his messages. She also knew by the tone of his voice when he’d asked if she was all right, he’d heard the panicked message she’d left.
“What the hell, Caroline?” He practically roared at her. “Are you all right woman? What the hell is going on?”
Caroline winced. Shit. Maybe she shouldn’t have called him from her apartment after all. He sounded pissed, not excited to hear from her. She leaned over in the chair clutching her stomach. Her lower lip trembled and she closed her eyes.
Buy Link: Amazon
Wow! I love the excerpt! Looks very interesting.