HERO TO THE RESCUE
Navy SEAL Matt Waterstone knows about keeping people safe. When his best friend’s sister is attacked, Matt promises no harm will come to Ashley Sawyer—not on his watch. But Matt’s not the only protective one. Ashley will do anything to safeguard the residents of the battered women’s shelter she runs. She’s sure she can handle the threats she gets in return. What she can’t handle is the way Matt scales the walls around her heart. Yet when she falls prey to a crime web far more sinister than she’d realized, trusting Matt could be the only way to survive....
“Tristan is the closest thing I have to a brother. He’s worried about you, and so am I. Let me help.”
Fear flickered through Ashley’s eyes as she whispered, “Someone almost ran me over.”
“Tristan said something about a letter,” Matt pressed.
Ashley nodded. “When I got home that day, there was an anonymous note saying that someone wanted his property back.”
His gut clenched. What kind of jerk threatened a battered women’s shelter? “Listen, I’m in town for a few days. Let me look into things.”
She smiled up at him. “Thanks, but I got the note more than a week ago. If there was any danger, something else would have happened by now.”
As they reached her car, her smile died. He didn’t have to ask if she still thought the threat had passed as she took in the smashed windshield of her coupe. Tucked under a wiper blade, the person responsible for the mess had left a clear message.
If I don’t get what’s mine, you’ll get what’s yours.
LIZ JOHNSON
After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a degree in public relations, Liz Johnson set out to work in the Christian publishing industry, which was her lifelong dream. In 2006 she got her wish when she accepted a publicity position with a major trade book publisher. While working as a publicist in the industry, she decided to pursue her other dream—becoming an author. Along the way to having her novels published, she wrote articles for several magazines and worked as a freelance editorial consultant.
Liz makes her home in Nashville, Tennessee, where she enjoys theater, exploring her new home and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her nephew and three nieces. She loves stories of true love with happy endings.
A Promise to Protect
Liz Johnson
MILLS & BOON
Before you start reading, why not sign up?
Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!
Or simply visit
Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.
But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
—2 Corinthians 12:9
For my Savior, who shows off His strength
through my weaknesses.
For my brother Micah,
who has been my champion and friend,
and my brother-in-law John,
who loves my sister like no one else could.
Thanks for being part of my family.
And for the men and women
who have served in the Armed Forces to
protect those who can’t protect themselves, including my dad and late grandpa, Clarence Dirks.
Contents
ONE
“When do you go wheels up?” Ashley Sawyer asked as she walked down the street toward the local grocery store several blocks away.
“I’m impressed,” her brother teased, the warm amusement in his voice coming clearly through the phone line. “You’ve been paying attention to the lingo.”
“And you’re avoiding the question.” Tristan had been deploying with his team of U.S. Navy SEALs since she was sixteen. She knew that when he didn’t answer a question, it was usually because he couldn’t. Stepping onto the curb, she asked, “Well, you and Matt just take care of each other, okay?”
Silence hung on the line for so long that she checked her phone to make sure she hadn’t dropped the call. “Tristan?”