Free The Navy SEAL’s Holiday Fling: Ballybeg Bad Boys, Book 3 by Zara Keane

as if he was weighing his words. “I really care about you.”
    A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “And I care about you, Liam. Now go get on a plane and make your daughter happy this Christmas.”
    He laughed and blew her a kiss down the phone. “I will. I l—like you.”
    “I l—like you too,” she teased, laughing.
    “Check flights for January. I’d like to invite you over to New York for a week or two.”
    Her stomach fluttered. “I’ve only just started working for Blush Shoppe. I’m not sure—”
    “I’ll talk to your boss. I figure she owes me a favor.”
    This made Jill smile. “Yeah, she does. Thanks, Liam. If we can swing it, I’d love to visit you.”
    “We’ll swing it. Take good care of yourself, Jill, and don’t take any risks.”
    “I won’t,” she whispered, struggling not to cry. “Have a good flight.”
    After she hung up, an unfamiliar sense of loneliness weighed on Jill’s shoulders. For the first time since she’d cheerfully turned down all offers to spend Christmas Day with various friends and relatives, she regretted not taking one of them up on their invitation. The day of rest and a good book that she’d been so looking forward to no longer held any appeal, and the idea of the ready meal of turkey slices, stuffing, and green beans turned her stomach.
    She swallowed past the lump in her throat and gave herself a mental shake. At least she was alive. Unlike the people who’d been killed yesterday, she had the luxury of spending a lazy day in front of the TV, even if it would be a day spent alone.
    After she’d finished the accounts, she pushed back her chair, yawned, and stretched. She was bone tired and looking forward to a shower and sleep, and not necessarily in that order. Jill locked everything up in the small safe at the back of the shop and fetched her coat. She was just wrapping her scarf around her neck when an apparition appeared in the stockroom door.
    Her heart leaped in her chest.
    A large man loomed in the dim light, holding a baton in one hand. It was too dark to see his features clearly, but a cold sense of dread snaked down Jill’s spine. Pulse pounding, she emitted a strangled scream and leaped back, stumbling over a display table of vibrators and landing hard on her left ankle. Pain shot up her leg. When she tried to stand, her left foot refused to bear her weight.
    “Shit, no.”
    The man moved closer, wielding the baton.
    Adrenaline kicked in. Gritting her teeth, Jill hopped over to the main cash register and grabbed a decorative paperweight containing Blush Shoppe business cards. She hurled it at the intruder and heard a grunt as it hit him on the middle of his forehead.
    But he kept coming for her.
    Leaning down, Jill grabbed several vibrators that had fallen on the floor when she fell over the display. She drew her arm back and threw the vibrators at him one by one like missiles, occasionally aiming one at the window where the two eejits of policemen stood outside, apparently oblivious to Jill’s predicament.
    The intruder moaned, rolled over, and tried to stand.
    Sweating and with a racing heart, Jill limped to a shelf packed with products. “Come on,” she said through gritted teeth. “Cooperate.”
    She pulled at the display with all her might until it started to topple over. Throwing herself out of harm’s way, she watched as the shelf fell and landed on the intruder’s legs.
    The man roared with pain. “You crazy bitch. What are you doing to me?”
    “I’m defending myself. That’ll teach you to screw with a sex toy seller.”
    At long last, the two policemen noticed the commotion and burst into the shop.
    “Where the fuck were you?” Jill shouted and burst into tears. “I threw vibrators at the window and you didn’t even react.”
    The man on the ground managed to free himself from the fallen shelves. He hauled himself to his feet, swearing and calling Jill every bad name under the sun.
    Jill stepped back, landed on her