Ambush in the Everglades by Petie McCarty
Publication date: May 19th, 2019
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
Plenty of action-adventure in this romantic-suspense tale. Photographer Kayli Heddon is given the biggest assignment of her career--a photo essay on the Everglades Restoration--and a special airboat safari is arranged, so Kayli can get her pictures. What she doesn't count on is being stranded alone in the Everglades with her handsome and unpredictable airboat guide. Kayli is forced to learn some tough lessons. Trust means everything in the dangerous River of Grass, and a skilled partner makes all the difference in your survival.
Skye Landers takes the airboat safari gig as a favor to his cousin who is called out of town. Skye doesn't expect the governor's photographer to catch his eye, but Kayli Heddon is unlike any woman he has ever met. He knows he should keep his distance, but common sense flies out the window whenever she gets near.
Unfortunately, Kayli thinks honesty is the most important thing in a relationship--any relationship--and Skye Landers is a fraud. When secrets surface from his past, Kayli and Skye are soon on the run from more than just alligators.
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"Glad you could join us," Landers said sardonically and nodded at the biologists waiting aboard their boats.
Kayli deserved that jab for making them all wait, but no way would she tell the jerk she was on the phone with the governor. None of his business. She carefully stepped up onto the wide, flat bow and grimaced from the stab of pain in her shin. Her camera bag had found its way to the passenger seat, and she glanced up at Landers, but he busily rummaged in the duffel under his seat.
Her gaze darted to the front seat and back to him. "No seat belts?"
"Bad idea," he grunted. "In an airboat accident, you want to fly free." He shoved a thumb over his shoulder at the five-foot-long propeller slowly rotating a mere three feet behind his head with only a chain-link barricade in between.
The man had a point.
He handed her a pair of ear cups. "Put these on. Adjust the band to fit your head."
She tugged them snug over her ears. The other men, Brad included, had already donned their ear protection and looked like they belonged on an airport tarmac with bright orange carrots to wave a 757 toward the gate.
The three airboat engines cranked in unison. Even an idle speed, the tinny rumble of the powerful Chevy engines running straight exhaust raised goose bumps on her arms. She pulled the ear cup away from her right ear to see if the true sound was as loud as she imagined. She guessed right--the sound of three wingless airplanes waiting to take off.
The two district boats pulled away from the dock, but Landers' boat bobbed in place. She twisted in her seat to look back at the guide. He pointed to the dock cleats with a frown.
Oh boy. Some project manager I am.
Untying the boat was her job. She quickly yanked the two bow ropes free of the cleats and hopped back aboard. Landers just shook his head, his dangerous green eyes now covered with dark sunglasses.
The two larger boats were already moving up the channel and scuttling flocks of ibis, blackbirds, and coots off nearby emergent vegetation. Landers' airboat bumped clumsily away from the dock, and she inwardly groaned. She should have pushed off when she climbed back on board. Though unable to see his eyes, she knew Landers glared from behind his sunglasses, and now she couldn't even blame him. He no doubt regretted her picking his boat too.
Landers eased up the channel in the wake of the other two airboats. Kayli glanced back and yanked off her ear cups. "Where's the steering wheel?" she shrieked over the rumble of the prop.
He tugged his ear protection around his neck. "What?" he shouted.
"The steering wheel," she repeated, her voice rising.
"Right here," he yelled, squeezing the long stick in his hand. "I push forward to go right and pull back to go left." He pointed at his foot pedal. "The gas."
Her stomach dropped.
"Where's the brake?" she shouted, not caring her voice had gone shrill.
Skye Landers smiled wide for the first time. "There isn't any."
*****
When Skye Landers smiled, he was the most handsome man Kayli had ever seen.
And she wanted to slug him.
She had succeeded in trapping herself abroad a flying death boat with no brake, and Landers found that funny. If she lived through the next two days and his attitude didn't improve, she may very well slug him on general principles.
When he suddenly pressed down on the airboat's gas pedal, flew up the open channel, closed the distance between his boat and the others, and then squeezed between them with inches to spare, Kayli knew she had chosen the right boat. Her heart jumped to her throat as Landers threaded his boat between the district boats, but the look on Brad's face was priceless--especially when their prop spray dampened his perfectly coiffed hair.
Her guide was overbearing, rude, and one hell of an airboat driver. What a rush.
The sound in her ear cups rose from a rumble to a roar, and within minutes, she forgot everything except the wind on her face and the powerful vibration of the sixty-inch propeller a few feet behind her head. With their boat out in front, Kayli was vastly unprepared to greet the sweeping panorama coming at her at thirty miles per hour. Her feet were planted tight to the flat bow and a mere eighteen inches from the front edge, and she wore no seat belt. Scary and exciting, all rolled together in one heart-stopping package.
She was equally unprepared for the jolt she received when she cast a brief glance back at Landers to make sure he still piloted their speeding craft. He'd turned his ball cap around backwards, and his eyes remained hidden by his wrap-around shades, but his smile caught her completely off guard.
All man. All sexy man.
Kayli deserved that jab for making them all wait, but no way would she tell the jerk she was on the phone with the governor. None of his business. She carefully stepped up onto the wide, flat bow and grimaced from the stab of pain in her shin. Her camera bag had found its way to the passenger seat, and she glanced up at Landers, but he busily rummaged in the duffel under his seat.
Her gaze darted to the front seat and back to him. "No seat belts?"
"Bad idea," he grunted. "In an airboat accident, you want to fly free." He shoved a thumb over his shoulder at the five-foot-long propeller slowly rotating a mere three feet behind his head with only a chain-link barricade in between.
The man had a point.
He handed her a pair of ear cups. "Put these on. Adjust the band to fit your head."
She tugged them snug over her ears. The other men, Brad included, had already donned their ear protection and looked like they belonged on an airport tarmac with bright orange carrots to wave a 757 toward the gate.
The three airboat engines cranked in unison. Even an idle speed, the tinny rumble of the powerful Chevy engines running straight exhaust raised goose bumps on her arms. She pulled the ear cup away from her right ear to see if the true sound was as loud as she imagined. She guessed right--the sound of three wingless airplanes waiting to take off.
The two district boats pulled away from the dock, but Landers' boat bobbed in place. She twisted in her seat to look back at the guide. He pointed to the dock cleats with a frown.
Oh boy. Some project manager I am.
Untying the boat was her job. She quickly yanked the two bow ropes free of the cleats and hopped back aboard. Landers just shook his head, his dangerous green eyes now covered with dark sunglasses.
The two larger boats were already moving up the channel and scuttling flocks of ibis, blackbirds, and coots off nearby emergent vegetation. Landers' airboat bumped clumsily away from the dock, and she inwardly groaned. She should have pushed off when she climbed back on board. Though unable to see his eyes, she knew Landers glared from behind his sunglasses, and now she couldn't even blame him. He no doubt regretted her picking his boat too.
Landers eased up the channel in the wake of the other two airboats. Kayli glanced back and yanked off her ear cups. "Where's the steering wheel?" she shrieked over the rumble of the prop.
He tugged his ear protection around his neck. "What?" he shouted.
"The steering wheel," she repeated, her voice rising.
"Right here," he yelled, squeezing the long stick in his hand. "I push forward to go right and pull back to go left." He pointed at his foot pedal. "The gas."
Her stomach dropped.
"Where's the brake?" she shouted, not caring her voice had gone shrill.
Skye Landers smiled wide for the first time. "There isn't any."
*****
When Skye Landers smiled, he was the most handsome man Kayli had ever seen.
And she wanted to slug him.
She had succeeded in trapping herself abroad a flying death boat with no brake, and Landers found that funny. If she lived through the next two days and his attitude didn't improve, she may very well slug him on general principles.
When he suddenly pressed down on the airboat's gas pedal, flew up the open channel, closed the distance between his boat and the others, and then squeezed between them with inches to spare, Kayli knew she had chosen the right boat. Her heart jumped to her throat as Landers threaded his boat between the district boats, but the look on Brad's face was priceless--especially when their prop spray dampened his perfectly coiffed hair.
Her guide was overbearing, rude, and one hell of an airboat driver. What a rush.
The sound in her ear cups rose from a rumble to a roar, and within minutes, she forgot everything except the wind on her face and the powerful vibration of the sixty-inch propeller a few feet behind her head. With their boat out in front, Kayli was vastly unprepared to greet the sweeping panorama coming at her at thirty miles per hour. Her feet were planted tight to the flat bow and a mere eighteen inches from the front edge, and she wore no seat belt. Scary and exciting, all rolled together in one heart-stopping package.
She was equally unprepared for the jolt she received when she cast a brief glance back at Landers to make sure he still piloted their speeding craft. He'd turned his ball cap around backwards, and his eyes remained hidden by his wrap-around shades, but his smile caught her completely off guard.
All man. All sexy man.
About the Author:
Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World--"The Most Magical Place on Earth"--where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-a-dash-of-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.
Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.
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