Second Chances by Nika Dixon

As promised, the back cover blurb and excerpt from my latest release – SECOND CHANCES – the romantic suspense bestseller from Red Rose Publishing.

SECOND CHANCES
Sometimes the second time around can be deadly…

 
Jackson Hale is through with rescuing Casey Marshall. Her crazy stunts and complete disregard for her own safety goes against everything he believes in. But when she witnesses a murder, he’s duty bound to help. As he scrambles to keep her alive, he discovers the true woman beneath the crazy antics, and is left to question everything. If he can’t trust his eyes, how can he trust his heart?

Casey has spent her entire life trying to get Jackson’s attention. She discovers all it takes a dead body and a black hole in her memory. Together, on the run from hired killers, Casey realizes that the only way to keep Jackson safe is to push him away. Even if it costs her a chance at forever”¦and her very life.

EXCERPT:

Casey didn’t have a watch and didn’t want to keep the car idling just for the clock, so she dug Jackson’s cell phone out of his pocket. Snapping it open, she double checked the time.

Then checked again.

And again.

Fifteen minutes was going to be a really, really long time.

First she tried to think of the opening line to a song that was always on the radio lately, but she could only remember the chorus. Then she rifled through the glove box””nothing exciting there. An elderly man a couple of houses over shuffled out with his garbage. Then shuffled back up his driveway.

She checked the phone again.

A whole five minutes had passed.

She groaned.

Crawling over the shifter, she moved into the driver’s seat. The window was still open, so she hung her head out slightly and peered down the street.

A large, towering pine tree blocked out most of the ambient light leaving the car in a giant shadow. There were street lights staggered up and down the block, and a few of the houses had front porch lights or garage lights on. One place still had blue-and-green Christmas bulbs dressed around the eaves.

She sat back in the seat, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “C’mon, Jackson, hurry up.”

She stared out the window at the spot where he’d disappeared and willed him to reappear.

Sang a couple of nursery rhymes (they were the only songs her worried mind could remember).

Adjusted the zipper on her new jacket.

Rolled the window up.

Changed her mind and rolled it back down.

A dog barked nearby, so she stuck her head out of the window again, trying to gauge which direction the sound came from. After a few more sharp barks, someone off to the right yelled at “Bear’ to get in the house. The barking ceased.

Casey checked the cell phone again.

Eleven minutes.

Her heart started beating faster. He said he knew where the spots were, he just had to check them all.

Soon enough, she’d reached the fifteen minute mark, and panic bubbled to the surface.

What if something was wrong? What if there were people waiting? What happened to those men who’d broken into his house? They must have been be pretty pissed off. Did they know about Carson’s list? Was this some kind of trap? What if someone had seen him and called the police?

Her heart raced faster with each unanswered question.

Suddenly the hair on the back of her neck rose. She looked around wildly. No movement on the street. Nothing had changed. Through the silence she heard the sounds of her ragged breathing. There was no one out there.

So why did she feel like someone was watching her?

She stared into the shadows near the garage where she had last seen Jackson. Maybe she was just picking up on his return.

Stillness.

Hell, even the air was dead tonight.

She shivered. The feeling that something menacing was out there wasn’t going away.

She checked the time.

Sixteen minutes.

She cursed.

There was no way she was leaving, that much was certain. He’d made her vow to stay here. He didn’t ask for any verbal commitment about leaving. So technically she wasn’t breaking any promises.

Where the hell was he?

After counting one-Mississippi-two-Mississippi all the way to one hundred, she took a deep breath and climbed out of the car.

Standing beside the door, she crossed her arms in an attempt to ward off the chill but she wasn’t cold from the temperature. Something wasn’t right. Her entire body was covered in goose bumps.

She took a few tentative steps into the open street, hoping to hear something””anything””signaling Jackson’s safe return.

The sound of an engine starting startled her, and she nearly dropped Jackson’s cell phone. She spun around just as a large dark car shot away from the curb a few houses down.

Casey realized with growing horror that the car wasn’t only speeding up””it was aiming right for her! 

The next few seconds played out like a slow motion video replay. Frame by frame.

The taste of copper filled her mouth as adrenaline spiked her into a full-out run back towards the curb.

The car moved much too fast.

She’d gone too far into the middle of the street.

She wasn’t going to make it.

 

Nika Dixon
Riveting, Red-Hot Romantic Suspense
Feed your Romance Addiction!
www.nikadixon.com
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