Herding Cat: Stone Hard SEALs, #4

By Sabrina York

What Readers are Saying About Stone Hard SEALs
"Sabrina York knows how to write Alpha males"
"Who doesn't like hard-bodied SEALS in action?"
"I love an alpha male who fights just as hard for his woman as he does for his country."
"If you like sexy men in the military, bold women and HEA with a little danger thrown in-BUY THIS BOOK!"
"Snappy dialogue, hunky alpha heroes, plucky heroines, steamy hot sex, what more can one ask for?"

Craving an exotic escapade in the streets of Hong Kong? Join the adventure as former SEAL Garrett Schrodinger and business magnate Catherine Hightower battle enemies, explore rare and glamorous locales, and find the family they've both been missing.

Book Four in the Stone Hard SEALs Series: Herding Cat
It's insane to want him, this beautiful, strong, sexy man. Not just because her hot bodyguard is tasked with herding her safely through the exotic night markets of Hong Kong. And not just because she's his boss. But because they are worlds apart. What they have can only be a fling. It can't last forever. 

But Garrett has other ideas.

Binge on ALL the scorching adventures in the Stone Hard SEALs Series!
All books stand alone

Book 1: Ryder (Stone Hard SEALs Duet)
Book 2: Drake (Stone Hard SEALs Duet)
Book 3: Guard Dog
Book 4: Herding Cat
Book 5: Gun Shy
Book 6: Hot Rod

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sabrina York
• Release date: Feb 27, 2019
• ISBN: 9781941497432

Sabrina York

Sabrina York is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of hot, humorous romance. Her titles—Contemporary, Historical and paranormal—range from sweet & sexy to scorching romance. Her awards include: 2018 Holt Medallion, 2017 RITA Nominee, and 2017 NERFA.She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of 30+ years and a very drooly Rottweiler.Visit her webpage at www.sabrinayork.com to check out her books, excerpts and contests.

Book preview

Herding Cat

The scorching sequel to Guard Dog

A Stone Hard SEALs Novella

By Sabrina York

Text Copyright Sabrina York, 2016

All Rights Reserved

ISBN: 978-1-941497-43-2

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Cat Johnson, because she rocks.

Edited by: Carrie Jackson, who also rocks.

Cover Art by: Dar Albert, who rocks as well.

They should form a band.

Discover more titles by Sabrina York

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Herding Cat

It’s insane to want him, this beautiful, strong, sexy man. Not just because her hot bodyguard is tasked with herding her safely through the exotic night markets of Hong Kong. And not just because she’s his boss. But because they are worlds apart. What they have can only be a fling. It can’t last forever.

But Garrett has other ideas.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Epilogue

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CONNECT

Books by Sabrina York

Chapter One

When she stood up, so did he.

When she made her way down the aisle of the rolling deck, he followed.

When she stepped through the door of the Star Ferry to greet the setting sun over Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, he was right behind her. Herding her.

She should be used to it by now, being shadowed every moment of the day. And she was used to it...except when it was him.

He wasn’t that different from his brothers in arms, the other members of her security team. They were all big and burly. All bulged with muscles. All wore sunglasses and identical fierce expressions at all hours. They were all ex-military, mostly SEALs. They were gruff and scruffy and brusque. They towered over her.

She didn’t know why the energy field around her sizzled when he came near. Or passed by. Or looked at her.

It was as though they connected on some subatomic level. His ions and hers, drawn to each other. Stretching, reaching to touch across the chasm of time and space that separated them.

Or she was possibly delusional.

Maybe definitely delusional.

There was no evidence he felt anything for her. There was no reason he would.

In fact, given his stony demeanor, there was no evidence he felt anything at all.

Stoic was an understatement. Hell, the guy was a rock.

She allowed herself to reflect on that for a moment—far too long—before she brutally evicted the thought. Yeah, he was hard. And huge. And fricking gorgeous. Yeah, she was in the thrall of a monumental lust.

It begged the question—she found herself thinking as she stared out at the busy waters surrounding the busiest metropolis in the world, resolutely ignoring him—what made one man stand out from all the others on the planet?

Was it his scent? His heat? His soul? What was it about Garrett Schrodinger that made her pulse race? Made something in her stomach flutter? Made her brain seize like a teenybopper faced with her popstar heartthrob?

But she was hardly a girl.

Ah, and therein lay the rub.

She tipped her head and studied a passing ferry painted in the recognizable colors of white and green, headed back to Hong Kong Island. Like this one, it was crowded with tourists and commuters taking advantage of the city’s cheap transport, bustling with life.

She should quit thinking about him and focus on this experience. Though she’d been here before, it was as exciting as each and every other time she’d come. This was one of her favorite buying trips, and she had a full calendar of interviews and meetings set up with new vendors. This was an optimal opportunity to expand the family business.

She should focus on that.

She should.

But she didn’t.

She peeped at him through the fringe of her lashes, though she didn’t intend to. It stunned her to realize he was staring at her. Something feral sizzled through her veins. It might have been excitement, but she would deny that. She frowned at him and his lips quirked up in a tantalizing smirk. She tore her attention from the aggravating bristles on his cheeks and turned it to a sampan bobbing on the glistening waters, which danced with the colors of the falling night. She barely noticed the breathtaking beauty.

He was not supposed to be watching her. He was supposed to be watching around her. Searching for threats. Not ogling her bosom.

Not that he was.

But he was.

Probably.

Difficult to tell behind those mirrored glasses they all wore. The bastards.

She bit back the urge to scold him for looking at her, but only because she suspected he was trying to needle her into some reaction.

He did that.

Sometimes without trying.

We’re about ready to dock. The low voice to her left shattered the moment. It was a relief. Catherine forced her attention from Garrett to Scott. Now there was a bodyguard. He didn’t burn her with a glance. He didn’t make her lower limbs all quivery. He didn’t fill her mind with all kinds of ridiculous, erotic fantasies. He didn’t loom.

Garrett, however, did. Should we go down, ma’am?

She tried not to flinch at that ma’am. She hated being called ma’am. It scraped at her nerves. She arranged her teeth into something slightly resembling a smile. Catherine, she said through the clench. I told you to call me Catherine.

Garrett nodded; there was a ghost of a smile on his face. Yes, ma’am. He held out an arm. Shall we?

Catherine blew out a breath and then nodded, preceding her escort back inside as the ferry grated into its slip at the Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier in Kowloon. She made it a point not to touch him as she passed. But she did catch a whiff of his aftershave.

God. That aftershave should be illegal.

It could easily cause a riot.

The crowd surged toward the exits, but her party held back. There was no rush for them and, as her escorts had told her time and time again, crowds were dangerous. And while she doubted her brother-in-law would go to the effort to attack her here, so far from home, she’d been concerned enough about her safety to hire this security team from the Stone Hard SEALs protection service. It behooved her to follow their instructions.

And, Garrett aside, she did feel safer with them watching her back.

Even if Steven didn’t have the evil agenda she’d suspected him of since her sister’s untimely death, it was wise to take precautions when traveling in foreign countries. She’d done enough of that to know. Although, of all the cities she’d visited, Hong Kong was one of the safest.

Still, she was glad she wasn’t alone.

Most of the time.

She worried about her niece, Pansy, too. Worried enough to hire another of Ryder’s Stone Hard SEALs teams to keep an eye out for her back in the States. If Catherine’s instincts were right, Steven would do anything to inherit the family business, Flytower, the multimillion-dollar fashion line she and her late sister had created—and Catherine and Pansy stood in his way.

She could be wrong. Maybe her sister’s death had been an accident.

Maybe Steven wasn’t planning to launch a coup and steal the company he’d married into.

But she doubted it.

Steven was a snake. He had shifty eyes. She never trusted men with shifty eyes.

Besides, she’d rather be safe than sorry. And if she offended him by going to great lengths to protect herself and Pansy, he could just suck it. She’d never been on what one might call friendly terms with her sister’s much-younger husband.

Catherine had suspected, from the moment they met, that Steven was after Marla’s money.

Why else would a young, handsome, charming man woo a woman nearly twenty years his senior? And now...now that her sister had perished in a mysterious accident...all of her fears had been realized.

Well, most of them.

Catherine blew out a breath. She missed Marla so much. It was bad enough that she was gone, leaving a painful hole in Catherine’s world. The fact that the accident had never been explained, that Marla’s grieving husband had made a play for his young stepdaughter—which Pansy had rebuffed—and his ensuing attempt to take over the company made everything even worse.

It was horrible to think that had Marla not married Steven, she would still be alive.

But then, Catherine couldn’t prove anything.

Not yet.

As they filed along the aisle of the ferry toward the exit, the children of the family in front of her snagged her attention. Children often did. They laughed and giggled, flipping the seats as they passed. That was one of the really cool features of the Star Ferry. The seatbacks were adjustable so no matter which way the ship was traveling, you could always sit facing forward. One of the girls, an adorable little imp in a fancy pink dress, with her silky black hair pulled into two pigtails tied with ribbons, made Catherine’s heart ping painfully. Her grin was enormous and her laugh infectious.

It took some effort to bury the regret in her heart.

She’d been a mother once.

Her child had been a little girl.

Had she lived, she would be about the same age as this one.

But there was no point in wallowing in grief. That ship had sailed.

Hell, that ship had sailed...and sunk.

When they finally emerged from the pier, evening had melted into a stunning dusk.

It was funny how something as heinous as smog could create the most magnificent sunsets. Catherine took a moment to revel in the panoply over Hong Kong Island and Victoria Bay...until Garrett tugged her arm. Shall we go, ma’am?

She shot him a frown—was Catherine so difficult to say?—but nodded.

Their hotel was just down Nathan Road, and Catherine was in the mood for a walk, so they didn’t bother waiting in line for a cab at the ferry terminal. She made her way at a healthy clip past the clock