Terri Baker is through with men! But her abusive ex-boyfriend has other ideas. Meanwhile, she is grieving for her beloved German shepherd. She heads for the Grand Canyon to get away from it all. Three men are chasing her. One wants her money. One wants her life. And one wants her heart.
Russ Camino is a bounty hunter with a haunted past. He made a promise that he must keep, and he has no time for women. Not even when he meets one who makes his pulse race. When he discovers that the hit man he is following is after Terri, he knows that he must protect her at all costs.
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Chapter One
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"He pushed me!"
Terri flew over the guard rail, headed for a tumble into the Grand Canyon.
Somewhere in mid-air, adrenaline kicked in.
"It's true," she thought. "The world does slow to a crawl when you're about to die."
She saw the Canyon beyond the rim, its ochres, tans, and golds muted in the glare of the afternoon sun.
"I should be dying at sunset," she thought. "That's when the colors are most glorious."
She saw the ground floating up to meet her. She was going to bounce. She would hit the rim and flop off into the Canyon. "Not very graceful."
As that thought whizzed by, her body retrieved the memory of a long forgotten gymnastics class. "Tuck and roll." Muscle fiber and nerve endings worked together to twist her in the air. She put out her hands to meet the earth, and her body had every confidence that she would gather her legs beneath her and land like an athlete, agile and ready to spring back at her attacker.
Unfortunately, her mind was not informed of the game plan. One hand was still clinging to her tote bag. It thumped the ground beneath her. At the very moment her feet were scheduled to perform their maneuver, panic choked her and ruined her timing. When her feet landed, they skidded sideways in the gravel and slid right over the edge.
"Ouch! That's going to hurt," she thought as her bare legs scraped the rocks at the rim. "Note to self. In the future, do not wear hiking shorts to a disaster."
A part of her mind bubbled with hysterical laughter as she realized that the pain would be momentary. It would end at the bottom of the Canyon, a mile below.
"I dreamed about vacationing at the North Rim. I finally made it, and I've met a man worth loving. I am not ready to die!"
The outside world and her inner sense of time reconnected with a jolt. Her hands scrabbled for purchase, but she was sliding toward the abyss. Someone screamed. "That should be me," she thought.
It was.
Russ Camino is a bounty hunter with a haunted past. He made a promise that he must keep, and he has no time for women. Not even when he meets one who makes his pulse race. When he discovers that the hit man he is following is after Terri, he knows that he must protect her at all costs.
*******
Chapter One
*******
"He pushed me!"
Terri flew over the guard rail, headed for a tumble into the Grand Canyon.
Somewhere in mid-air, adrenaline kicked in.
"It's true," she thought. "The world does slow to a crawl when you're about to die."
She saw the Canyon beyond the rim, its ochres, tans, and golds muted in the glare of the afternoon sun.
"I should be dying at sunset," she thought. "That's when the colors are most glorious."
She saw the ground floating up to meet her. She was going to bounce. She would hit the rim and flop off into the Canyon. "Not very graceful."
As that thought whizzed by, her body retrieved the memory of a long forgotten gymnastics class. "Tuck and roll." Muscle fiber and nerve endings worked together to twist her in the air. She put out her hands to meet the earth, and her body had every confidence that she would gather her legs beneath her and land like an athlete, agile and ready to spring back at her attacker.
Unfortunately, her mind was not informed of the game plan. One hand was still clinging to her tote bag. It thumped the ground beneath her. At the very moment her feet were scheduled to perform their maneuver, panic choked her and ruined her timing. When her feet landed, they skidded sideways in the gravel and slid right over the edge.
"Ouch! That's going to hurt," she thought as her bare legs scraped the rocks at the rim. "Note to self. In the future, do not wear hiking shorts to a disaster."
A part of her mind bubbled with hysterical laughter as she realized that the pain would be momentary. It would end at the bottom of the Canyon, a mile below.
"I dreamed about vacationing at the North Rim. I finally made it, and I've met a man worth loving. I am not ready to die!"
The outside world and her inner sense of time reconnected with a jolt. Her hands scrabbled for purchase, but she was sliding toward the abyss. Someone screamed. "That should be me," she thought.
It was.
