~*★BLOG TOUR★*~ Her SEALed Fate by Lori Ryan

Synopsis

He thought he left the battlefield behind.

Logan Stone should be happy. More than happy, in fact. He’s Sutton Capital’s newest executive, working side-by-side with Samantha Page, the sexy, brilliant woman of his dreams. He’s no longer overseas in the line of fire, fighting alongside his brothers-in-arms as a Navy SEAL, but Logan is fighting a different kind of battle. One no one realizes he’s in. While he was focused on managing his PTSD, something much more sinister enters his world and he must battle to save Samantha’s life and their growing love.

With all the heart stopping action and heartwarming romance NY Times bestselling author Lori Ryan has come to be known for, this stand-alone installment to the Sutton Capital Series won’t disappoint romantic suspense readers and fans!

Lori will donate 100% of her proceeds from eBook sales of this book for two weeks to the Semper Fi Fund and to Patriot Paws. Purchase this book from August 17-28, 2015 to help support these incredible organizations helping veterans and military service members.

They fought for us overseas. Let’s support them when they come home.

PREORDER NOW! ALL PREORDER PROCEEDS DURING BLOG TOUR GO TO CHARITY!

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1NfFLHJ

iTunes: http://apple.co/1PcCaZx

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1JgZEhZ

B&N: http://bit.ly/1DPWD68

Her SEALed Fate Excerpts

“You know I like you, right?”

Okaaaaay. Not exactly what Logan expected to hear from Chad Thompson, head of Sutton Capital Security and Jack’s best friend and cousin. Logan glanced over at the big man standing next to him and frowned. They’d gotten to know each other over the past few months, since Chad and Zach were friends, but he had no interest in talking about Chad’s feelings. And, Chad hadn’t really struck him as the touchy feely type. The man had been an Army Ranger and he was built like a tank. He didn’t scream big giant teddy-bear.

“Uh, sure.” Logan took a step to the side, inching away from Chad. There was an odd glint to the man’s eyes.

“I’m just saying, I like you,” Chad said and then let his gaze move to where Logan’s had been moments before. Across the room, Sam stood talking to some of the other women who worked at Sutton. “But, it needs to be said, if you mess with Sam, I won’t hesitate to implement a few of the more interesting techniques for dismembering bodies I’ve got tucked away.”

Andrew Weston, Sutton Capital’s Chief Financial Officer, and the third in the trio of best friends who ran Sutton and owned the majority of its shares, sidled up on the other side of Logan. He sipped what looked to be whiskey or bourbon of some kind from a glass.

“Here, here,” he said quietly, raising his glass in a toast.

Logan rolled his eyes. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, gentlemen, and let me assure you, I have no intention of messing with her, but please. Don’t delude yourselves into thinking you can take me. Need I remind you of the fact that you’ve been out of the action for, what, ten years Chad?”

Logan had to admit, the conversation might have turned a tad juvenile after that, with he and Chad throwing insults at one another under their breath. Andrew cheered one side or the other on as the mood seemed to strike him.  It didn’t have to be said that Logan had heard the warning and respected it. They loved Sam like a kid sister. Logan might be unreasonably attracted to her, but he was very well aware that his head was in the wrong damn place to be starting anything with a woman. Especially a woman like Sam. One who mattered. Given the fact that he wasn’t even sure he should be walking around civilized people instead of locked up in a hospital somewhere talking about his feelings, he wasn’t relationship material.

Jack joined the men where they stood still debating the training and prowess of the SEALs teams versus that of the Army Rangers. All three men laughed when Jack opened with: “So, Logan, you know I like you right?” as his eyes cut across the room to Sam.

Logan shook his head. “Yeah, yeah. I got it. You’ll kill me in new and interesting ways. We’ve covered it. Chad’s most recent plan includes fileting me from head to toe and Andrew has promised to bring salt to the party.”

“Hey, I said salt and margaritas,” Andrew said with a grin.

Jack laughed. “I thought we’d take you out on the boat, chum the waters, and see if a SEAL could swim faster than a shark.”

Logan had to grin at the creativity of the men who stood laughing around him. He saw Sam glance toward their group and his smile stilled. What the hell. He might as well be honest with these guys and let them know they had nothing to worry about.

“Listen, Samantha Page may very well be one of the sexiest creatures to walk the earth, but I’m not planning on dating her. You guys don’t have to—” And, that’s where he broke off, because he’d just watched Sam’s eyes go wide and round with surprise, as though she’d understood every word he’d said. Every damn word.

“Jack. Would Samantha by any chance happen to read lips?” Logan didn’t take his eyes off Sam as he asked the question, and she seemed to choke on her drink as he asked the question.

Jack could hardly speak and Andrew and Chad seemed to be completely useless as they laughed at his blunder.

“Sure does,” Jack finally said as Logan continued to stare at a now red Sam across the room. “Why do you think she sits in on every negotiation I go to? Real handy trick.”

Of course it is.

♥••*´¨`*•.☆•☆.•*´¨`*••♥

“It’s Ernie,” Chad called down and Logan figured he had seen him approach through the kitchen window upstairs.

He still used caution when opening the door, checking behind Ernie to be sure no one else lingered. The reporters seemed to have given up, at least for the day.

Logan looked down to see a leashed dog by Ernie’s side. Some kind of lab mix, by the look of it. The yellow dog stared calmly back at Logan. Leave it to Ernie to have the world’s calmest dog.

“Here,” said Ernie, thrusting the leash into Logan’s hand. “Hold him for me.”

Logan looked down at the leash and took a few steps back. The damn dog followed him. He supposed that made sense since he was holding its leash, but his steps had been more of an attempt to get away than an attempt to get the dog to follow him. It wasn’t that he didn’t like dogs. He did, actually. He just wasn’t at all interested in engaging with anything or anyone right now. And, that included Ernie and his dog. Sam invited him over. She could hang out with him.

“Sam’s upstairs,” Logan said.

Ernie didn’t answer him. He called up to Chad.

“Will you grab the bag from the back of my truck and bring it in. Parked outside, white Ford.”

Logan watched as Chad went out and lifted something from the back of Ernie’s truck. A heavy bag for boxing. What the hell was he up to now?

“What are you doing?” Logan asked as he stepped further back into the hallway. Ernie stepped in and locked the door behind Chad, then made a motioning movement with his head.

“Move, that thing’s freaking heavy. You gonna make your buddy carry this shit around all damn night or get out of his way?”

Logan stepped aside, the dog coming with him, but he turned to glare at Ernie. Ernie ignored him and walked into the basement room Logan had intended to take over as his own while he needed to be here. By now, Sam, and Zach had come down the stairs. Zach introduced Sam to Ernie, who greeted her like they were long lost friends.

Ernie looked up at the ceiling. “You got a drill, Sam?” he asked. Adding to Logan’s annoyance, she nodded and walked into the utility room that housed the hot water heater and furnace and came back with a large drill case in one hand and a tool box in another.

“Take whatever you need.” She put the cases down and came over to pet the dog, who greedily pushed into her arms for more. “What’s your dog’s name?”

Ernie didn’t bat an eye as he opened the drill case, sorting through bits for the right size.

“He’s not my dog. But, his name is Billy.”

“Whose dog is he?”

Logan got a weird twisty feeling in his gut at Sam’s question. Oh hell no. He wouldn’t.

“He’s Logan’s.”

He did.

“No he’s not,” Logan said, dropping the leash and taking a step away from Sam and the dog. The dog left Sam to go to Logan, pressing to Logan’s left side and shoving his head up under Logan’s hand.

“Sure he is,” Ernie said, “just look at him.” He waived a hand at Logan and the dog and damned if that dog didn’t press even further into Logan’s leg.

“No. He’s not.”

Sam started to laugh and Logan’s scowl only made her laugh harder.

Ernie was knocking on the low basement ceiling with his fist, and Chad joined in, searching for a beam to hang the bag on. They nodded at each other a few times, and Ernie marked a spot with a pencil. As he turned the chuck to fix the bit into place on the drill, he glanced up at Logan.

“Yeah, he’s your new service dog. You got lucky. There’s normally a very long wait. He was working with another veteran nearby but for a number of reasons, the match wasn’t the right fit. The guy’s kid is allergic to him. The service dog organization I work with is going to get him a poodle instead. There’s usually a one year or longer wait for a dog. I talked them into letting you have Billy since you’re in the area. That way, he doesn’t need to get shipped back to them in Massachusetts. You will need to attend training with him, though, but that can wait for a while.”

The drill started up as Chad began setting up the heavy bag, and Logan remembered that Ernie and Chad had been friends. Maybe he shouldn’t have chosen Ernie as his counselor after all. Logan yelled over the noise.

“I don’t need a service dog. I don’t need any of this. I need you all to get the hell out and leave me alone.”

He saw Sam’s flinch, but he just kept going. He started to pace along one wall of the room, turning when he hit the end to go back to the other wall. He needed to get out of here. He needed gone. Now.

“I don’t need pity jobs or —“

He stopped and looked down. The dog had moved himself in front of Logan’s legs and was pressed up against him. He rubbed his head up and down Logan’s leg.

“What the hell is your dog doing?” Logan yelled, but the whine of the drill stopped halfway through his question and the room went silent as his too loud words met the emptiness.

“Your dog,” said Ernie calmly. “You’re getting upset.  He’s responding to it.”

The dog placed his mouth gently on Logan’s arm. Not biting or clamping down. Just holding his hand.

Logan stared at the dog.

“If you’re having a nightmare,” Ernie continued, “he’ll place his paws on your shoulders and lick your face to wake you. If you need him to, he’ll crawl right up in your lap and just let you hold him for hours. Some of it is trained and some just comes naturally to him. He’s really quite good at his job.”

Despite Logan’s dumb founded expression, Ernie just smiled down at the dog. “He’s got a natural aptitude for this work.”

“He’s fantastic,” Sam said, beaming at the dog. “Is he a rescue?”

Sam hadn’t batted an eye at Logan’s sour mood, and he wondered how many times he’d have to kick her before she’d give up and leave him alone. He didn’t know if he could stomach much more of it, so he hoped she’d give up soon. It wasn’t in him to be cruel to her, but he needed her to stay away from him.

“Yup,” Ernie answered. “The organization works with shelters. The shelter calls if they think a dog will pass the screening. If they take them into the program, they get training and are placed with someone needing their skills. If they fail the training, the group adopts them out. By then, the training they’ve had usually makes them great family dogs.”

While Sam and Ernie talked, Chad lifted the heavy bag up while Zach affixed the chain at the top of it to the large hook Chad had just installed. Ernie nodded and turned to Sam.

“What’s for dinner? It smells fantastic.”

“Paella,” she said with a smile and they all walked upstairs, leaving Logan and the dog watching after them.

He looked at their retreating backs, then up at the heavy bag, and down at the dog. Billy looked up at him with open brown eyes. Logan grunted at him and picked up the gloves Ernie had left against the wall. Slipping them on, he chose a position that allowed him to watch the door and beat on the bag at the same time, and started up a rhythm, letting the steady sound of the punches roll over him. Billy watched for a minute, then chose a spot in the corner and laid down. He rolled over on one hip, but his shoulders and head remained upright and alert. A sentry, Logan thought, and kept on pounding on the bag.

About the Author

Lori Ryan is a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romance with a twist of suspense. Her books range from sweetheart to steamy in heat level. Lori published her first novel in April of 2013 and has fallen in love with writing. She is the author of the Sutton Capital Series; the Evers, Texas Series; and the Triple Play Curse Novellas, a set of novellas with sexy baseball players at their core as part of Bella Andre's Game For Love Kindle World.

She lives with an extremely understanding husband, two wonderful children (with another on the way!), two mostly well-behaved dogs, and a lone little cat in Austin, Texas. It's a bit of a zoo, but she wouldn't change a thing. She loves to connect with her readers. Follow her on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to her blog.

Facebook | Twitter | Official Website