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CHAPTER ONE

Brisbane, Queensland

53 days post-apocalypse

Daniel looked down the barrel of the shotgun al set to blow his brains out and grinned These days, even a gun-toting, trigger-happy feht to behold, and she was perfect

Sunlight streah the kitchenShe all but shone with it, like an angel or a princess or so a little overdue for a bath and a lot on edge, but so of sweet relief rushing through him nearly buckled his knees

Tall and curvy, around thirty at a guess, and uninfected, she was by far the best thing he had ever seen in jeans and a t-shirt Not even the dried blood splattered on the wal behind her could diminish the picture she made

Sadly, his girl did not appear to share his joy

Wary gray eyes devoid of even a hint of elation watched hied; his smile did not waver “Hey”

“Gun on the floor Slow” Her voice sounded dusty with disuse “Eject the clip”

“Okay” Daniel did as told, keeping his happy face on her the whole tiave the old rucksack at his feet a nudge with the toe of his sneaker It currently contained the suoods, but she elcome to it “There are just a few cans of soup, and Irish stew Help yourself”

Plush pink lips parted as though she ht better of it The griood to know she wasn’t coht here and now That was nice Of course if her nerves got any worse, they ht be in trouble just the same

He softly cleared his throat, trying not to startle her “You’ve, ahh, got the safety on You see there?”

Daniel nodded to the dangerous firearm pointed his way and waited for the confusion to cross her pretty face, for the golden moment of distraction to appear It didn’t happen Her lips puckered, but not for kissing The withering glare confirmed it

God bless her She wasn’t falling for any of his bullshit Whichinto his arratification He wished And B was for the Bullshit, which had not gone down, thus leaving only C, for Clusterfuck

Then, everything happened at once

He grabbed the barrel of the gun with both hands and shoved it skyward Her reflexes kicked in, and her finger jerked hard on the trigger The resulting boo Heat seared the pal as if a brass band had set up shop in his head A shower of plaster dust rained down on the two of theood omen

While she coughed, sneezed and shook off the dust, he grabbed her He pulled her in against hiun with the other She and the gun definitely needed to part company, pronto His arainst his hips Testosterone and pheroed hot – the bulk of it heading due south His brain was on its own Fragrant or not, she felt beyond good spooned against him

So Very Good

Unfortunately, there was still thelike a lifeline