9780804119764: Dark of the Night
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0804119767 ISBN 13: 9780804119764
Verlag: Ivy Books,U.S., 2002

Inhaltsangabe

The daughter of a congressman running for president, Riley O'Brien has survived years in the political spotlight, until a bomb hurtles her into the arms of investigative reporter Jake Mahoney, but their growing relationship is threatened by dangerous secrets from the past. Original.

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Dee Davis is the author of After Twilight and Just Breathe. She has a B.A. in political science and history, and a master’s degree in public administration. During a ten-year career in public relations, she wrote television and radio commercials, three award-winning public service announcements, and multimedia presentations for several large organizations.

Davis is a member of the Romance Writers of America and various community volunteer organizations. Right now, the time she doesn’t spend at the computer is spent with her husband, daughter, and cat.

Visit Dee Davis on the Web at www.deedavis.com.

Aus dem Klappentext

only eight years old, Riley O Brien survived the unimaginable: the deaths of her mother and sister. As a result she vowed never to desert her father, a brilliant young congressman whose star was on the rise. Now, twenty-one years later, after trading her dreams of a normal life for his ambitions, Riley stands by her father s side as he makes a bid for the presidency. Growing up in the political spotlight, she has become an expert at hiding her feelings behind the surface of her regal beauty. But her defenses are about to be shattered.

Investigative reporter Jake Mahoney resents wasting his time covering an ice princess at a presidential campaign rally. But when a car bomb throws him literally on top of the candidate s daughter, Jake quickly realizes that Riley O Brien is pure fire. No one has ever gotten under his skin like this before. Their attraction is instant, and possibly fatal, as dangerous secrets from the past explode into the present, destro

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Atlanta, Georgia

She was one hell of a looker. A hot body encased in ice. Pure ice, if her demeanor was any indication. But that didn't stop him from assessing the sleek line of her hair, the full curve of her breasts. Oh, she was hot all right. She just needed the right man to set her free.

Not that he was the man. Jake Mahoney shifted his large frame in the folding metal chair, wondering why in hell press conferences were always held in places without proper air-conditioning, and with seats that could easily pass as torture implements. Maybe to keep the reporters from staying too long.

He suppressed a smile and turned his attention back to the ice queen. Mary Catherine "Riley" O'Brien looked every inch the part. Slim and aristocratic, she'd give Jackie Kennedy's memory a run for her money. Especially if Carter O'Brien managed to win the election. But that remained to be seen.

In the meantime, he was stuck temporarily on the political beat, trailing the senator's daughter. And pretty package or no, she was the kind of woman he'd just as soon be on the opposite end of the planet from. He'd been chewed up and spit out by better. And he had no intention of making the same mistake twice. Especially not with someone like her.

"Want to meet her?"

Jake pulled his gaze from the podium and turned toward the sound of the voice. Edna Winston's smile was crooked. "Of course I want to meet her. Why the hell do you think I'm here?" He tried to hide his embarrassment with gruffness, but he could see by the twinkle in her eye that she wasn't buying. She'd seen his reaction to Ms. O'Brien.

"Well, actually, I've been sitting here wondering just that. I mean this isn't your usual stomping ground."

"Politicos, murderers," he shrugged, "is there a difference?"

Edna didn't bother to answer, just sat with one eyebrow raised, waiting.

"All right. I'm subbing for Walter. He's indisposed or something. I didn't ask." Walter Finley's affair with the bottle was a well-known fact.

"So this is a onetime shot?" She tilted her head toward Riley, and despite himself he looked.

"Oh yeah." The words came out with more force than intended.

"Well, then I suggest you make the most of it." Again there was a hint of amusement in the older woman's eyes. "I have a meeting with her immediately after this. It'd be easy enough to introduce you."

Edna Winston was a tough old bird. Been around longer than anyone could remember. She was a hell of a reporter, gutsy and tenacious. She could ferret out information when it looked as if there wasn't any.

"And why would you want to do that, Edna?" He eyed her cautiously. She wasn't exactly noted for her charity.

"Because I like you, Jacob."

Nobody called him Jacob, except his gran, and she'd been gone for a long, long time now. Still, he was here to do a job, and there was no sense looking a gift horse in the mouth. Even if it was more likely a gift cobra.

Her lips curled up at the corner, sort of a half smile.

If he didn't know better, he'd say the old broad had read his mind. "All right, Edna. I'm game. When this is finished, take me to the ice queen."

Riley O'Brien smiled politely, watching the crowd. Cannibals, every one of them. Carnivores. Waiting for the opening. One misstep, one misspoken word, and they'd be on her, devouring her, leaving nothing but bones behind.

The general public was gone, escorted out of the tent by members of Atlanta's finest. The risk of speaking at an abortion clinic had been calculated carefully against the gain of pushing forward her father's pro-choice agenda. The end result being Riley's presence as her father's emissary.

So it was one down, one to go. She'd survived the public speech, escaped the demonstrators, and gotten her father's platform across without incident. Which left the press. And given the choice of facing off with the protesters outside or the press corps in here, she'd take the pro-lifers any day.

She'd been in the spotlight most of her life, and she knew the drill, but that didn't make it any easier, any more palatable. Serving oneself up for slaughter every day was not her cup of tea. It was, however, unavoidable, and like everything else in life, she accepted it as a fait accompli. Part of the game.

"Miss O'Brien." The voice was decidedly male, deceptively soft and silky, southern steel encased in velvet. She shivered despite the warmth of the room, and her gaze collided with the deep indigo of his. Blue on black. His smile was slow, insolent, the hunter moving in for the kill. "You're a Catholic. And yet you're standing here at an abortion clinic, supporting reproductive rights. Don't you find that a little hypocritical?"

Daily.

Never.

There wasn't a simple answer. And even if there was, she wasn't about to share it with a room full of vipers who didn't give a damn about what she really felt. They were looking for headlines. Something to titillate the public, to make a name, to garner ratings.

She held tight to her guarded facade. There was no sense in letting them smell blood. With a deep breath, she smiled, keeping all her emotion safely locked away. He waited, his dark eyes knowing. The son of a bitch was baiting her. But she'd played this game with far more worthy opponents--and won.

With a glacial smile, she broke eye contact, her gaze encompassing everyone there. "I am a practicing Catholic, yes. And as a Catholic, I try to hold to the tenets of my faith. . . ." She paused, trying to order her thoughts, her eyes drawn unbidden back to the stranger.

"However, I also believe that life is about choices, Mister--" she glanced down at the seating chart and then back at the reporter. "--Mahoney. And I cherish a person's right to make their own. And that includes all people. Women as well as men.

"My father also supports a woman's right to choose. And in so doing, he is not considering the definition of life, he is, rather, considering the definition of freedom. Intellectual as well as physical. And that, Mr. Mahoney, is what America is all about."

There was a smattering of applause, and although she couldn't be certain, she thought she saw a flash of amusement in the murky depths of his eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm afraid we're all out of time. . . ." Maudeen Drake, her father's press liaison stepped up to the podium, and, with an almost imperceptible sigh, Riley stepped away, Maudeen's words fading to a hum. She'd survived one more round unscathed.

Her father would be pleased.

"Well that was a classic nonanswer." Jake watched as the lithe blonde exited through the curtained proscenium.

"You were expecting what--a heartfelt confession? Riley O'Brien has been successfully dealing with the press since she was old enough to stand behind a podium." He followed Edna as they wound their way among the emptying chairs.

"That's just the point, isn't it? She's been programmed. There's probably not an original thought in her body. Daddy's little girl through and through."

"Spoken like a true cynic." Edna's voice reflected her amusement.

"And you're not? Christ, Edna, I don't see how you deal with these people day in and day out. They're one hundred percent plastic."

Edna shrugged. "It beats your predilection for the dead."

"Homicide is a puzzle, Edna. You have to put the pieces together. But once you do, the motivations involved are pretty straightforward. Give me a corpse over a politician any day."

"As usual, Jacob, you're...

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Verlag
Ivy Books,U.S.
Erscheinungsdatum
2002
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0804119767
ISBN 13 
9780804119764
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
384
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
Nicht verfügbar

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