Excerpt of Flashpoint by Nicki Greenwood

Hakon stared after Faith, wondering what was wrong. The woman switched gears faster than a Formula One race driver. He locked his vehicle, and then stalked down the trail after her.

It took him all of two seconds to decide he should have been the one walking in front. Faith strode ahead of him, dodging ruts and potholes with sure feet. Her hips swayed with each step in a compelling rhythm that drove his body into a riot. He imagined drawing her back against him, kissing that spot behind her ear where tendrils of golden hair had fallen loose ....

She stopped dead and turned around with wide eyes. Had he said something out loud? He thought he’d seen a flash in her eyes a moment ago. There it was again, though before, he could have sworn her eyes had been silver—

“Aren’t you supposed to be in front of me?” she asked.

Desire and doubt vanished. “I would have been, if you hadn’t bolted off in the first place.” He stepped around her and went on without pausing. “Next time, let me go first. Clear?”

“Get up on the wrong side of the bed?”

He didn’t bother telling her he hadn’t slept at all. Her presence had echoed through the walls of the inn like a resonating bell, one moment consuming him with the need to go to her, and the next, driving him away in a fit of resentment.

She was money. His ticket to freedom, nothing more.

Maybe if he kept telling himself that, he might start to believe it.