UPDATE: The winner is…Mary McCoy!
*~*~*

“Most Wanted” by Darah Lace – A bounty on the line, a hunter who bedded then betrayed her, and a strip club—she’ll bare it all to get her man.

Most of the time, ideas for my books come from current events, love songs, or movies/shows like Bounty Hunter with Gerard Butler and Jennifer Anniston. I think about what would happen if circumstances were different, what if this happened instead of that, and my imagination takes over.

Every so often I’m motivated by the people around me. One of my friends (no names to protect the innocent—we’ll call her Jane) could inspire a series of books all on her own. She’s like a magnet to strange and random incidents, and she responds to them in ways that leave me gobsmacked. I mean, she’s an intelligent, rational, level-headed woman, and she’s the first one to question her reactions. We’ve laughed about and analyzed them. Needless to say, I live vicariously through Jane on any given day, and her life is fodder for characters I have yet to create and some I have.

Before I go any further, let me state that I love Jane to death, and she has given me permission to share some of her stories with you. For instance, Jane once walked out of a convenience store to find a strange man sitting in her truck. Instead of running back into the store or calling 911, she walked directly toward him. When the man saw her, he jumped out and tried to explain that he thought it was his. He had one just like it. Now, imagine the setting of a rainy day in Seattle. The man in her truck is an undercover cop or (if you like them dark) a mafia enforcer searching the heroine’s brother’s vehicle, and the heroine beats him with an umbrella. LOL Might have to use that one.

Another Jane moment came when she pulled into another convenience store (starting to see a pattern here) to pump gas. While she waited, two guys began fighting over a girl, a gun was drawn, and Jane ducked behind her car to video the brawl instead of running in the other direction. Her only regrets were 1) she didn’t have any popcorn while she watched the drama, and 2) she didn’t beat another bystander to the gun after the guy threw it in the ditch and drove away.

Jane also has a penchant for tea, and I’m not talking about the beverage. She’s like a bloodhound when it comes to digging up dirt on the internet or social media to find information that supports or dispels said rumors. She’s even tracked down a few fugitives. This particular magic (I call it that because I can’t even find the search bar on Google) inspired my bounty hunter heroine in “Most Wanted.”

Snippet from “Most Wanted”…

The door slammed behind me, shutting out the bright afternoon sun and leaving me blind until my eyes adjusted to the dark interior of the club. Alternative rock drowned out the noisy traffic. The air reeked of perspiration, stale beer, and sex, no doubt from the illegal activity going on in the back rooms.

All eyes focused on the redhead with big tits as she spun around the pole at center stage. I scanned the salivating patrons sitting around the raised platform. My acquisition was nowhere in sight.

I moved forward unnoticed, just the way I wanted it.

With my weapon tucked in the holster on my belt and hidden by my hoodie, I found a seat in the corner and settled in to wait. Warren Elkins had gone MIA after failing to appear in court on a drug charge. Intel from a squeaker said Elkins had a girlfriend working at Strip T’s.

The woman dancing didn’t fit the girlfriend’s description, but this was my only lead, so I was stuck here. Watching strippers work the pole wasn’t hard, but this dump reminded me I hadn’t gotten my dick wet in a while. Not that my contact list wasn’t full of willing options, but there was only one woman I wanted, and right now, she wasn’t so willing.

I’d gotten a taste of Mackenzie Loveless and wanted more. Plump lips that tasted like heaven and looked so fucking good around my cock. Long auburn hair I could wrap my fists in as I fucked her sassy mouth with my dick or my tongue. She’d begged for both. Amber eyes that flashed with anger, humor, or desire, then softened when I made her come apart in my arms, revealing a vulnerability I wanted—needed—to explore.

My cock hardened as I pulled out my phone to text her.

Me: Hey

Mac: Go fuck yourself.

The smile that tugged at my lips was the same as the last ten times she’d given me those anatomically impossible instructions. Maybe that was what I liked about her. She didn’t take shit from anyone, especially me.

I’d fucked up, and now she was making me work to get her back.

Me: Meet me for a drink.

“What’ll ya have?” A topless waitress who couldn’t possibly be old enough to serve booze shifted on spiked sandals beside me. Her plaid skirt barely covered her ass, and glitter pasties hid her nipples.

“Patrón.”

She nodded. “I’m Candy.”

Of course you are.

Candy arched her back, thrusting her tits at me. “Can I interest you in anything else?”

I looked her up and down, feigning interest. She might have information about the girlfriend, but it was too soon to start asking questions. “Maybe later.”

My phone vibrated as Candy left to fill my order, and a new girl—again, not the girlfriend—took the stage.

Mac: Nope.

Me: Why not?

Mac: I’m busy.

I sat up straight. Busy? With work or a random?

My jaw tightened as something unfamiliar surged through me. I was a possessive bastard when it came to something that was mine, but fuck, I’d never been jealous.

My thumbs stabbed another text.

Me: Don’t even think about sharing what’s mine.

Mac: Nothing I have belongs to you.

“Goddammit,” I growled, torn between doing my job or hunting her down to make sure she understood I owned every fucking inch of her. I knew where she lived. I’d driven by her house several times in the last five weeks.

As a Navy SEAL, my team and I had collected intelligence through special reconnaissance missions. We’d captured high-value enemy personnel and terrorists, which took determination and patience. When we’d separated from the military, that training had extended into a profitable recovery agency.

As a hunter, patience was a must, but maybe I’d been patient with Mac for too long. Maybe it was time for more than talking.

Me: I look forward to proving you wrong.

Three little dots danced at the bottom of the screen. They disappeared and then started again.

Mac: Take your best shot.

I leaned back, smiling again as the tension eased from my shoulders. Another wall down.

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About the Author

Darah Lace, the author of spicy contemporary and paranormal romances, enjoys a simple life in Texas with her husband and two dogs. She loves music, reading, watching a good romance, penning scenes that sizzle, and hearing from readers.

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