Page 1 of The Hero She Loves

CHAPTER ONE

She hated waiting.

Like, really hated it.

US Marshal Jenna Sheridan tapped her boot on the tarmac. She resisted the urge to check her watch. Again.

“Why is it so cold?” Deputy Marshal Owen Briggs clunked down the steps from the private jet and joined her at the bottom.

“It’s Alaska,” she replied.

“But it’s spring. Summer will be here soon. It shouldn’t be this cold.”

He stopped beside her, pulling on a navy-blue windbreaker like hers. It hadUS Marshalemblazoned on the back.

Owen had been her partner for the last eight months. He was fit and trim, with dark skin, a handsome face, and short, black hair. She’d been training him, and he had a hell of a lot of potential. He was smart, which balanced out his habit of being a little over-eager.

They were here to collect a dangerous fugitive who’d come to Alaska to hide, but had been apprehended.

Two other marshals and the Alaska State Troopers were transporting him to the jet.

She looked at her watch. They were late.

Jenna wanted Kyle Olson secured and in the air.

Her cellphone rang, and when she saw the name on the screen, she rolled her eyes. She pressed the phone to her ear. “Sheridan.”

“You airborne yet?” Senior Deputy Marshal Vic McDermott’s voice rang with impatience.

“No,” she told her ex.

She hadn’t listened to her friends, or her own intuition, and had dated a colleague. Vic had worn her down with his pursuit. She’d actually admired his tenaciousness.

She’d thought it meant he really felt something for her.

Thank God she’d never slept with him. Clearly something in her hindbrain had known something was off.

They’d dated for just over a month. Sure, Vic was arrogant, confident, and opinionated, but he was a damn good marshal. She’d thought their bond over work would make them a good team. Her work was the most important thing in her life.

But their relationship had imploded quickly. It really sucked to come home from a tough work trip transporting dangerous criminals to surprise the guy you liked…and find him in bed with his neighbors’ twenty-year-old daughter.

Jenna had walked out the door and never looked back. Unfortunately, she still had to work with him.

“Get a move on, Sheridan,” Vic said.

“I know how to do my job, McDermott. They haven’t arrived at the plane yet.”

“They’re late.”

Thank you, Captain Obvious. “I’ll keep you posted.” She ended the call.

“Must be hard working with your ex.”

She shot Owen a sharp look. “He’s barely an ex. It was just a couple of dinners.”

The younger man held up his hands. “Sorry.”

She huffed out a breath. “Learn from my mistake, Owen. It can be hard work, especially when he’s an asshole.”

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