Wednesday's Warriors - Aloha to Lindsay McKenna and BROKEN DREAMS (Delos Series Book 4)

Captain Alexa Culver takes one look at shy, quiet Marine sniper Gage Hunter and feels an instant connection. But Gage has demons in his past that keep him from giving it to their mutual attraction. Alexa believes Gage is worth fighting for, and begins to slowly chip away at his defenses.

Gage Hunter has lost everyone he has ever loved. Lonely and broken, the last thing he expects is to meet someone like Alexa Culver. The redheaded beauty is confident and outgoing and makes Gage feel emotions he thought long buried. But before he risks revealing his heart to her she is kidnapped by the Taliban while on a humanitarian mission. Can Gage reach her before he loses his chance for love forever?

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Lindsay McKenna lives her life as a risk taker, and it shines through the books she loves to write: romance, adventure and suspense. She started writing at age thirteen and continues to hone her writing skills to this day. She sold her first romance novel in 1981. The rest is history.

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Lindsay offers an excerpt from BROKEN DREAMS ...

Captain Alexa Culver saw three soldiers ease from the bar, their eyes on her. She was going to say something when Marine Corps Sergeant Gage Hunter put himself right in front of her, standing there like the bristling, quiet alpha he was.

She stood near his right side and behind him. This wasn’t the first time she’d been hit on in a canteen at Bagram Army Base. As an officer, she had the rank, and Alexa was more than prepared to use it, but Gage, as if reading her mind, lifted his hand, opening it toward her.

“Let me handle this?” he asked, giving her a sideward glance.

There was something deadly about his demeanor. Alexa gave a brisk nod and watched him turn away, facing the three enlisted soldiers, who were so drunk they bumped into one another as they approached.

The canteen suddenly quieted, and Alexa felt anger stirring in her. She hated this kind of shit. Always had. And in the past, she’d handled it just fine on her own. But there was something reassuring about Gage as he stood there loosely, his large hands hanging relaxed at his sides, his piercing gaze on the three soldiers.

There would be no fight here today if Alexa had anything to say about it.

“That’s close enough,” Gage said in a quiet but firm voice.

The three soldiers halted. The red-haired one snorted.

“Get the fuck out of the way, dude. We want to talk to the lady.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to you,” Gage said, his voice low, almost friendly. “Why don’t you three go back to the bar and finish off your beers? The lady and I are leaving.”

Alexa silently cheered Gage on for his diplomacy. She liked that he didn’t get threatening, all huff and puff. The confusion in two of the three soldiers’ expressions told her Gage had made contact. The red-haired one, however, wasn’t having it. He was drunk enough, stupid enough, to push harder. And Gage stood about five inches taller than the soldier. Alexa knew that when someone was drunk, details like that failed to register.

“You can leave, dude,” the red-haired soldier said with a broad wave of his hand. “But she stays. She’s ours,” he sneered, glaring up at Gage.

One corner of Gage’s mouth twitched. “What do you say we take this outside and settle it, then, because the lady is with me.”

The gauntlet had been thrown down so quietly that Alexa barely heard the veiled threat in Gage’s tone. She looked at the rest of the men in the canteen. They were all leaning forward, straining to hear him speak. Someone behind the bar shut off the music.

Silence.

Dead silence.

Alexa gulped, her gaze shooting from Gage’s harsh profile to the soldier, who was barely able to stand, six feet away from him. Before she could step in and say anything, Gage turned, cupped her right elbow, and guided her around where the soldiers stood. His gaze never left the red-haired one until they were past him.

The rest of the men in the canteen stepped aside, allowing them passage to the door. Gage pushed it open, guiding Alexa outside, his hand still firm on her elbow.

Sunlight, bright and blinding, hit Alexa. Gage continued down the wet sidewalk, which had earlier been shoveled clear of snow on both sides. Now, in midafternoon, it was melting on the desert base. The wind was breezy, and Alexa was glad to be near Gage. He was like a mountain preventing the cold air from reaching her.

“I like your style,” she told him, looking up at him as she pulled on her aviator sunglasses.

“He was too damned drunk to know up from down,” Gage said, shaking his head in disgust.

“I saw him latch on to the hog’s tooth you’re wearing.”

“I was hoping he would.”

Once they reached the broad sidewalk that curved along the wet asphalt two-lane street, Gage released her elbow. He didn’t want to, but knew he should. Even though he wore civilian clothes, Alexa was in uniform, and her captain’s bars were clearly visible on the shoulders of her flight suit. He checked his stride for her sake, keeping her on the inside of the street. He kept watching Humvees move slowly up and down it.

“I could have handled that confrontation, Gage.”

“I know you could.” He shot a glance down at her. “And I can just hear you asking why I didn’t let you do it.”

Her lips curved. “You’re good, I’ll give you that.”

A slow grin appeared. “Hey, I promised your brother Matt that I’d take care of you after he left. My word is my bond.”

A good, clean feeling flowed through Alexa. He’d put on a pair of wraparound sunglasses, his baseball cap low on his brow. Gage Hunter was a badass in disguise, and she suddenly grinned.

“Just another thing to like about you.” She saw him cock his head in her direction, knowing his gaze was locked on her even if she couldn’t see it. “You’re a badass,” Alexa said, watching his lips twitch. This man did not give a thing away. Why? What made him close up like that?

“The enemy thinks so.”

“So did those three idiots in the canteen.”

More books in the series ...