Her Defiant Heart (62 page)

"Welcome home, Logan," he said.

The End

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HIS HEART'S REVENGE

The Marshal Brothers Series

Book Two

Excerpt from

His Heart's Revenge

The Marshall Brothers Series

Book Two

by

Jo Goodman

USA Today Bestselling Author

Special Author's Cut Edition

HIS HEART'S REVENGE

Reviews & Accolades

"Goodman is a thoughtful and intelligent writer who can make her characters live and breathe on the page."

~All About Romance

"I could help you find that," Logan said matter-of-factly. He was leaning against the door to Katy's bathing room, his arms crossed casually in front of him and a smile on his lips that did not quite reach his eyes. He was still in his evening clothes and rather than appearing overdressed, he managed to make Katy feel underdressed in her own bathtub. "The soap," he said, pointing to where her hand had stilled beneath the water. "Do you require some assistance?"

"I certainly do," she snapped, angry enough to forget who her enemy was. She opened her mouth to scream.

Logan was kneeling beside the tub, his hand over her mouth, smothering her cry to a lamb's bleat.

Above his hand her eyes were wide and frightened. Logan saw it and wasn't moved to loosen his grip. When she began to struggle, he pressed tightly on the back of her neck. Her hands came up to claw at him but he averted his face, protecting it from her tapered nails. She pried unavailingly at his arms. Water splashed everywhere until Logan was kneeling in a puddle and his coat was soaked. "Have a care for your modesty," he warned her, his voice dry and calm. "You're losing all your bubbles."

His laconic, caustic observation infuriated Katy. She bit him.

Logan swore, yanked his injured hand away, and increased the pressure of his other hand on her neck. Katy was forced forward until her face hovered just above the surface of the water. She gasped for air, certain that Logan was going to push her under. She was surprised when she heard him speaking as calmly as he had a moment before.

"You have choices, Katy. You can settle down or you can scream all you want—under the water. You have five seconds."

"Bastard," she gritted.

"Two."

"Son of a—"

"Three."

"I should—"

"Four."

"What happened to one?"

"Five."

Katy sputtered as her face skimmed the water. "All right! Let me up! I won't scream again."

The words were garbled but Logan had no trouble making them out. He eased up. "I'll hold you to that promise. Break it and I'll put you under."

"Six feet?"

"What?"

She jerked her head away from him and this time Logan let her go. Glaring at him as he sat back on his haunches, Katy repeated herself. "Six feet under. As in dead and buried."

"The idea has merit."

Katy jerked in reaction to his softly spoken answer.

She looked at him sharply, trying to assess for herself how serious he was. He was giving nothing away. "You mean... you would actually..."

"I haven't decided."

So he had been considering it. Or was he still toying with her? Katy drew her knees up to her chest, conscious that all around her bubbles were evaporating. Thinking he was going to touch her, she pushed herself against one corner of the tub when Logan's fingers dipped into the water.

With a faint, cynical smile, he said, "Your bath's getting cold. You should get out of there."

"Go to hell."

Logan stood, chuckling under his breath. He stripped off his wet swallow-tailed coat, tossed it at a hook on the wall near the sink, and sat on the edge of the tub. He looked supremely confident, very relaxed. It was a pose guaranteed to raise Katy's ire and Logan was well aware of it. "Swear at me one more time," he said, "and I'll find that soap and you know where I'll use it."

His Heart's Revenge

The Marshall Brothers Series

Book Two

by

Jo Goodman

~

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His Heart's Revenge

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Meet Jo Goodman

Jo Goodman is a licensed professional counselor working with children and families in West Virginia's Northern Panhandle. Always a fan of the happily ever after, Jo turned to writing romances early in her career as a child care worker when she realized the only life script she could control was the one she wrote herself. She is inspired by the resiliency and courage of the children she meets and feels privileged to be trusted with their stories, the one that they alone have the right to tell.