Marked in Mexico on First Sight Saturday

Marked in Mexico on First Sight Saturday

Posted on by • 6 Comments

Today on First Sight Saturday, I welcome Kim McMahill who is sharing her romantic suspense Marked in Mexico.

SETUP OF THE BOOK:
An idyllic Caribbean vacation turns deadly when hostages are taken at one of Mexico’s most popular Mayan ruins. The kidnappers believe the abduction will be a simple way to negotiate the release of a colleague from a Texas prison, but the stakes become much higher when they realize one of their hostages is the daughter of a powerful U.S. Senator and another, an ex-Army Ranger who has no intention of playing by the rules. After a daring escape the Senator’s daughter, Jessica, and the ex-Ranger, Jack, must endure a terrifying manhunt and a desperate fight for survival. While trying to stay alive in the unforgiving jungle they forge a bond that will last a lifetime and find love neither wanted, but were unable to avoid.

EXCERPT:

Jessica rolled over and sat up. She adjusted her bikini to make sure it was still covering everything it was supposed to, brushed the sand off of her body, and slathered sun block over her shoulders and arms to protect her fair skin. As Jessica held the bottle, debating about whether she needed any on her legs, she was hit square in the chest with a volleyball so forcefully it momentarily took her breath away.
“Sorry about that!”
The deep cocky voice made her drop the bottle. She glanced up and saw a man looking down at her with a crooked smile on his lips. He was much shorter than Phillip, probably only five-foot-eight or so, but looked just as fit. Jessica couldn’t help but notice his broad shoulders, well-defined muscles, and golden skin, glistening with sweat. His black hair was wet and unruly, and framed his narrow face, which was sculpted with high, sharp cheekbones. A dark-stubble covering his chin made him look as if he hadn’t shaved for days, but the look was good on him, though it made him appear a bit dangerous. She couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark glasses, but could feel them moving from her toes up the length of her body.
“Watch what you’re doing!” Jessica snapped.
Just as the man was beginning to feel guilty about ogling her shapely curves, barely concealed by her midnight-blue string bikini, and the careless hit which had left a red welt between her full breasts, the ball slammed into his gut, doubling him over.
Jessica enjoyed a bit of satisfaction as he winced and placed a hand to his flat well-toned abs. She hadn’t meant to sound so rude or to throw the ball quite so hard, but he had caught her off guard. She had come to Mexico to relax and was in no mood to deal with childish men, having had her fill of those back home. Hoping for backup since the man didn’t appear to be in any hurry to leave, she glanced over at Amber and was relieved to see her sitting up and paying attention.
Jessica opened her mouth to urge him to go away when two more men ran up behind the first.
“Is this creep giving you ladies any trouble?” asked the tallest man of the group.
Jessica eyed the man speaking. He was at least six-foot tall, muscular, and his head was shaved to a short stubble. Something about his smile put her at ease.
“No. He was just leaving,” Jessica replied.
“Well, he must be losing his touch then,” added the third. All three men began laughing and punching each other like junior high boys.
“I take it you’re all together, which is good. That way I can ask you to please all move along at once.”
“No need to be so antisocial. We’re just playing a little volleyball and trying to get enough people together to make it worth renting a boat to go sailing the day after tomorrow. We thought you ladies might like to join us. We really are quite harmless, cross my heart,” said the tallest man. “Just three friendly mountain climbing guides from Colorado trying to warm our aching muscles and have a little fun in the process, preferably with beautiful women like you two.”
Jessica rolled her eyes, though the three attentive men couldn’t see her reaction behind her dark glasses. No doubt Amber would be eating up the attention and she feared that if Amber involved herself in the conversation it would only make it more difficult to convince the men to move on and leave them alone.
“I’m sorry. My friend’s been working on a tough case and is still a little edgy and I’m fried from planning my wedding,” Amber cut in, as Jessica figured she would. “We’ve already made arrangements to go to Chichén Itza tomorrow, so I doubt we’ll feel like doing anything on Monday, Mr.…?”
“Zach Taylor at your service. This is my buddy Dave and the socially-challenged one who disturbed your sun bathing is Jackson, but you can call him Jack.”
The three men stepped closer, making Jessica feel small and vulnerable. She watched as Amber introduced herself and shook each man’s hand. Though she didn’t feel like being friendly, Jessica pasted a smile on her face and introduced herself, accepting each outstretched hand as well.
“We’ll let you lovely ladies return to what you were doing. If you change your mind about sailing, let us know. I’m sure we’ll be running into each other. We may even take a tour of those Mayan Ruins ourselves.” Zach winked before turning and jogging toward the volleyball game that was being held-up due to the errant ball.
Jessica watched the three men run down the beach, feeling a little bad about being so cold to them. Not every man is like Cooper or Phillip. I really need to loosen up.
“Climbers. That would explain the bods those boys have,” Amber interrupted her thoughts.
“Amber! You’re almost a married woman.”
“I can still look, just not touch. But, I don’t know what your problem is. If I wanted to get Phillip off my mind, there’s three perfect distractions. Now, which one would I choose?” Amber lay back down on her towel, rubbing her chin.
Jessica giggled, took her hair out of its ponytail, and shook it out so it hung down to the small of her back. They did seem like nice enough men, but she wasn’t interested. Until she found a way out of her predicament with Phillip, she didn’t need another man complicating her life, and she definitely wasn’t prone to vacation flings. All she wanted to do was relax and put her life in Maryland and her relationship with Phillip out of her head and spend some quiet time with her best friend, and that’s exactly what she planned to do.

END OF EXCERPT
Links:
Amazon:
Barnes and Noble:
YouTube Trailer:
Bio:
Kim McMahill started out writing non-fiction, but her passion for exotic world travel, outrageous adventures, stories of survival against the odds and happily-ever-after endings soon drew her into a world of romantic suspense.  
Here are other Books by Kim McMahill. All except The Lodge are available in print or ebook formats and are available through most on-line book retailers.
Big Horn Storm
Desperate Dreams
Deadly Ruins
The Lodge

Thanks for visiting today!
0000

6 Responses to Marked in Mexico on First Sight Saturday