A Spring Break Treat- An Excerpt From Another James Man Love Story

 

 

 

                                                Get your copy of Homeland Security here!

Excerpt One:

The heavy door swung open. Fully expecting another black clad, automatic rifle bearing commando like the ones that had dragged her from her apartment, Katie's jaw dropped when a tall, broad frame wearing a tuxedo filled the space. His form almost completely blocked out any light from the hallway. Katie sucked in a breath.

"Good evening, Ms. McCoy." Tuxedo man stepped through the door, not making eye contact as he studied the file in his hand.

He didn't have to introduce himself. She knew exactly who he was. Oh crap. Would he remember her?

"I'd shake your hand or curtsy or something if I weren't attached to this stupid table." Katie scowled for effect but he still wasn't looking at her. Instead, he chuckled as he settled himself in a chair opposite hers, stretching his long legs underneath the table.

"Don't worry, Miss. Despite the fact that I missed a delicious prime rib dinner this evening I will not bite you." That explained the tux.

"You mean you don't always dress that way for an interrogation? Don't I feel special now?" she snapped, unable or unwilling to bite back the sarcasm as she sat as far back in her chair as she could.

Finally he looked at her. She saw the quick gleam of recognition before it disappeared.

He knew who she was.

"See anything you like?" Katie grumbled, resisting the urge to squirm under his blue gaze.

"What's your name?" the man asked casually, although Katie knew casual had nothing to do with it.

"You know my name. You just used it. Stop trying to butter me up and get down to business. I'm sure you know everything about me. I mean, I doubt those commandos of yours kidnap random women for fun on a Friday night. Or maybe they do?" She noticed the man watching her with the slightest hint of a smile.

"Are you always so defensive?" He eyed her again, as if seeing straight into her soul.

Her blood started to percolate a little in her veins under the intensity of his scrutiny. Aggravation, that's all. What other explanation could there be for the sudden rise in her internal temperature.

"McCoy. My name is Katie McCoy. And only when I have been kidnapped by a bunch of Special Forces wanna-be's. That tends to ruffle my feathers a bit, Mr…?" Two could play his game.

"James. Agent James."

"Your mother not like you much?"

He eyed her questioningly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She named you 'Agent', so she must not have liked you very much."

The man chuckled and she almost smiled in return until she went to push a stray hair behind her ear and realized handcuffs still held her to the steel table.

"It's Kaiden, Ms. McCoy. Agent Kaiden James."

"Agent of what agency?"

"Well, aren't you full of questions tonight?" He winked at her as he leaned back in his chair.

Katie scowled at him across the small space. "I always have a lot of questions when I am dragged from my home in my pajamas in the middle of the night."

Agent Kaiden James looked at his watch. The same military style, digital type Nathan used to wear. Katie scowled again. The memory of her ex-fiancé was not what she needed to be thinking about.

"It's barely nine in the evening, Ms. McCoy. I would hardly call it the middle of the night. Do you always dress for bed at dinner time?"

"I wasn't exactly expecting any company," she shot back.

"No, I suppose you weren't." He fiddled with his watch again, eyes narrowing as he studied the illuminated face. She didn't remember him being so pensive the last time they had met. Of course he had been under the influence of some strong narcotics. When would he admit that he knew her?

"Why am I here, Agent James?"

"Please, call me Kaiden."

"Fine, Kaiden, why am I here?'

"Do you really expect me to believe that you have no idea why you are here?"

"Yes, I do. Apparently making a frozen pizza is a capital offense in this part of the world."

 

 

Excerpt 2

In another place, under other circumstances, silk, satin and lace rubbing up on him would have been a turn on. At one in the morning, in a building that smelled of dust and must, nothing got turned on except his allergy response. He needed an antihistamine and a cup of coffee in the worst way. And maybe a sandwich. Or some fried chicken. His stomach rumbled at the thought of hot, moist fried chicken and buttermilk biscuits. He had missed dinner, after all.

He caught Katie's eye over a display of animal print push up bras. His blood warmed pleasantly as she smiled at him. A hunger of a different sort clenched in his gut.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I know it's late but I can't stomach the thought of anything that man touched on my skin. I want to grab a couple of things to hold me until I can get to the mall."

"Take your time. You might not be able to go home for a few days so grab what you need," Kaiden responded with more conviction than he felt. He nodded at a leopard print push-up in front of him. "That looks nice." It would look real nice on Katie. Forget about his allergy response, everything started to warm up.

"Agent James! I had no idea you had such a wild side to you!"

"I'm not all business all the time you know. And please, call me Kaiden already. I am pretty sure we have gone beyond formal. Not every woman I meet gives me a sponge bath." He winked at her as a blush formed on her cheeks.

"We probably shouldn't discuss that. Nurse-patient privilege or something." She reached for a deep emerald satin and lace set that would look like the jewel of the same tone against her creamy skin and bring out the green in her hazel eyes.

"I don't think there is any such thing. Besides, it's something I certainly enjoy thinking about."

He watched as the flush in her cheeks darkened by at least three shades. Kaiden couldn't help but wonder if Nurse Katie had ever thought about him. Of course not, you idiot, she was engaged! Still, during his stay in the hospital they had definitely shared a flirtation. Apparently it ended at flirting since she had a boyfriend the entire time. The pain meds had probably colored the experience, making it something more in his mind than it had actually been.

"All right then it must be off-limits for a secret agent to discuss such things with a suspect."

Kaiden laughed. "There is nothing secret about this agent. You know who I am and what I do and I'm fairly certain the only thing you are guilty of is bad judgment in men."

 

And just for an extra spring treat...Meet Clara, the James Matriarch with attitude...Excerpt 3

Clara peered out the door, squinting at him. "That you, Kaiden?" she called out.

"It's me, Ma! You got your glasses on?"

"You know I hate those things, boy. Besides, don't need glasses to see that monstrosity of a vehicle of yours. Didn't know I raised a boy with such self-confidence issues."

"Come on, Ma, you know I just like big trucks."

"You know what they say about a man with a big truck… he's compensating for other smaller things."

"Ma!"

Clara opened the door and stepped through, toting her favorite shot gun over her shoulder. "Come here, boy, and give your mother a hug."

With a glance at Katie, Kaiden jogged over to his mother and grabbed her up in a bear hug, spinning her around before setting her back on the ground. Clara giggled like a little girl. "Just like your daddy, you really know how to sweep a girl off her feet!"

"Only you, Ma. I don't seem to have that touch with the rest of the ladies."

Clara looked past him at where Katie still stood. "Well, now, look what the cat dragged in. I can't believe Kaiden found you again. I was pretty certain he was going to be pining after you for a lifetime. Dumb fool left the hospital without even getting your number!"

"Ma!"

"What? I'm an old lady. We say what's on our mind in case we lose our mind before we get another chance."

Katie's face reddened as she offered her hand to Clara. Clara chuckled but ignored the other woman's outstretched hand, instead grabbing her up in a hug. "No one's a stranger round here."

 

 

New Book and an Excerpt!

This is it! The final James man has finally found love. Aunt Clara can rest in peace! 

                                                             Check it out here!

Keegan James was all about his career in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Until he let his heart get in the way of his good sense and he started thinking about marriage and future. She was too, just with someone else. So, he did what any smart, jilted lover would do- quit his job and moved to the beach. Sort of.

About to start his new job with the Border Patrol, Keegan buys an old farm on a whim.  It needs a ton of work—or a total tear down—but he loves it and can’t wait to make it his new bachelor pad. Too bad the entire property is under investigation by the DEA for drug trafficking and the agent on the case thinks he’s involved.

 What’s worse? She’s smart, sexy and good with a gun.

Nikki has had to prove herself every step of the way to get where she is.  If her boss weren’t her  father’s best friend and her ex wasn’t a complete idiot, maybe it would have been different. As it stands, she is about to break the case of her career. And, possibly arrest the sexiest man she’d met in a really long time.

It eventually becomes obvious that Keegan isn’t her perp and  that drugs are exactly what’s being moved off his property.

 

Here's a little sneak peak....

 

Excerpt 1

"Have you thought about joining one of them online dating sites?' his mother inquired before he even had his seat belt on.

"Mom." He sighed as he turned the key and put the car in gear. "Give it a rest, would you please?" Keegan pulled onto the road and back toward the more populated area of the city and his temporary rental but Clara had no intention of letting anything rest.

"Come on, it's easy. You just fill out a profile and let the ladies find you."

Keegan groaned. "It's not that easy, Ma. Finding a wife is not like going to the grocery store. I can't make a shopping list of attributes and just fall in love because some computer program says I should."

"Well, nothing else seems to be working for you. Your brother found love; Logan is happy. I just want you to have what they have."

"I'm going to be pretty busy here for a while, Ma. There isn’t going to be time to have a relationship with anyone except my contractor and the construction supply company."

Clara sat back and folder her arms across her chest. "You would deny your mother the chance to know you are happy before she dies?"

"Let it go already, Ma. Please. I can't force someone to love me just to make you happy." Or for any reason at all. A lesson he had learned the hard way—at the expense of his career hard way.

"Well, you can't fault a mother for trying." Clara turned to look out the window and things became eerily silent. Whenever his mother was quiet too long, Keegan got worried. She was probably concocting some plan that he was going to hate.

"What about one of those foreign things? You know, brides from other countries?"

Keegan slammed on the brakes, sending the BMW into a slight fishtail before it came to a stop. Gripping the steering wheel, Keegan struggled to maintain his composure. Clara was his mother after all. "You. Want. Me. To. Get. A. Mail. Order. Bride?"

"Sure, why not? Hank, in my group has one. So does your Uncle Joe."

"What the hell, Ma?" He turned to look at Clara. "I'm not desperate! I'm perfectly happy with my life and I would suggest you let this drop now!"

"You would take that tone with your own mother?" Clara clasped her hands over her heart. "When my only wish is to see you happy and taken care of?"

Keegan put the car back in gear and started driving again. "Let it drop, Ma."

Clara let out a little sigh and folded her hands in her lap. "For now."

Excerpt 2:

Nikki followed Logan's wife out the front door. After being inside the windowless house, the morning sunshine seemed especially bright. As they walked around the side of what Nikki had thought was a small cabin, what she saw stopped her in her tracks. The view of the Blue Ridge Mountains was absolutely breathtaking. The greens of the trees against the blue of the sky and tendrils of early morning fog weaving in and out of the mountain tops painted a picture that no words could do justice.

"Wow."

Angie looked at her over her shoulder. "I know. It blew me away the first time too."

"How long have you and Logan been married?"

"Just about a year. We had a quick romance, I guess." Angelina laughed.

"That's what Keegan said about Kaiden and Katie."

"The James men are pretty intense and when they make up their minds about something they go after it. No messing around."

Nikki nodded. "They are intense."

"Keegan has already made up his mind about you. I can see it in his eyes. He is head over heels for you."

"We just met less than a week ago."

"I knew Logan loved me two days in. Of course, our courting period happened while we were on the run from mercenaries that wanted me dead so we may have felt a bit of pressure to get things out in the open." She laughed again and motioned for Nikki to follow her. A few hundred feet away was a patio with comfortable oversized chairs and an awning. Angelina lowered herself into one of the chairs and waved Nikki to the one beside her. "So much better to sit."

"I'm not sure I'll ever have a baby. Pregnancy seems so hard. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Angelina smiled. "No worries. It is hard. The hardest part is being on leave and not be able to go after the bad guys anymore. I would give my left arm—not my right because that's my gun hand—to be there when Salvatore goes down but they are right, I need to stay here."

"Is there anything you would like to say to him? I mean, I could pass on a message for you when we get him."

"A well placed knee to his crotch would make me exceptionally happy."

Nikki grinned. "You got it. I mean, as long as those boys don't go all macho on me and cut me out of the action."

"Ah, so that's what's bothering you."

"Come again?" Nikki tried not to sound annoyed but she wasn't very successful. She sounded like a bitch even to her own ears.

"I read people very well. You were pretty pissed in there."

She shrugged. "I was. Am. This started out as my investigation. I know I have to share it with the ATF but honestly, they have all hijacked it totally. I'm just an onlooker now and I'm the one that did all the leg work."

"You know why, right?" Angelina smiled and patted her arm.

"Because I am a woman?"

"Oh, no. The James men are not like that, Clara would kick every one of their asses off the side of this mountain if they were."

Nikki sat forward and looked Angelina in the eye. "Then what the hell is wrong with them? Do I threaten their masculinity or something?"

"Nope."

"Then what?"

"I told you, Keegan is in love with you."

Nikki shook her head. "No, he isn’t. We just met."

"Doesn't matter. He has decided you are the one and once a James decides they love someone, you are instantly inside their circle of wagons, so to speak. They are protecting you now."

"I don't need protection. I want to do my job."

"Then stand up to them. Don't let them shut you out. Even though they aren't trying to do that, they will in a heartbeat if it keeps you safe. Logan about lost it when I was shot. He wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom alone for months. I had to sneak away when he was asleep to go to the supermarket. They love hard, those guys, but they love with every fiber of their being."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for all that."

"I wasn't either but they grow on you. Or wear you down. One or the other." Angelina chuckled as she appeared to slip away for a moment into a private memory. "Anyway, if you don't mind me saying, it is my opinion that you are more ready than you think you are. I see the way you watch him and the way he touches you whenever he can and it makes you blush just a little. Keegan is a really good man, Nikki. I hope you won't be scared off by his intensity. He needs someone like you to even him out."

 

 

 

 

New Release!

 

Jeremy Flagg, takes his love of superheroes and comic books and adapts them for an older, darker, more mature audience in Nighthawks (March 1^st, 2016; Limitless Publishing), the first book in the Children of Nostradamus series. A cross between Minority Report and X-Men, Nighthawks blends a not-so-pristine future with the trials of superhuman fugitives. 

It’s been twenty years since Nostradamus predicted the end of the world. Since that day, a small percentage of people have emerged with extraordinary abilities. Fearing their gifts, the government has dedicated a branch of the military to capturing, researching and terminating the superhuman threat. The Children of Nostradamus who evaded capture flee to New England, a radioactive wasteland created by domestic terrorists. 

In 2032 a letter from Eleanor, a dead psychic and former aide to the President of the United States, reaches Conthan on the night of his controversial art gallery opening. As protestors and supporters clash, chaos breaks out and he discovers he is a Child of Nostradamus, a person with extraordinary abilities. Guided by the letter of a dead woman, he finds himself trapped between hunted super humans and a research center controlled by the government. Caught in a war between species, Conthan must decide what humanity he is willing to sacrifice in order to survive. 

Influenced by the comic books and dark fantasy he read as a kid, Jeremy Flagg has found a way to take these heroes and weave them into a fast-paced apocalyptic novel. Nighthawks invites the reader to witness the humanity behind the powers and the tough decisions they make for a greater good. 

About the Author

Jeremy Flagg has written several books including the young adult Suburban Zombie High Series as well as a non-fiction book memoir, I.Am.Maine: Stories of Small Town Maine. He lives and writes in Metrowest Massachusetts.

Children of Nostradamus (Nighthawks, Book1) is currently available for order on Amazon: http://amzn.to/1L1cQso