Page 1 of Oh No, My Kidnapper Is Hot!

Prologue

Stryker lines up the crosshairs of his military-grade sniper rifle on Matthew Fern’s forehead. Fern is an accountant for a man who does not file his taxes. Fern took it upon himself to increase his own salary, unbeknownst to his employer.

For a while.

When the boss learned of the situation, he reached out to Stryker’s assistant with a request for a remedy. After further investigation, Stryker accepted the request.

The job is easier than the ones Stryker typically likes to take on, but his options are limited these days with his reputation having taken several hits recently. Not that it matters today. No, today Fern is merely a means to an end – a tool to get what Stryker is really after.

Millicent Christina Pomm. Bane of his existence.

Millicent – Millie to her parents, deceased; and her brother, estranged. Female. Caucasian. Twenty-six years old. Short blonde hair. Brown eyes. Five foot seven and thin. Too thin – painfully thin. Born in the midwest and never left. Did two years at Trist Community College before getting $10,431.67 in credit card debt, which forced her to drop out. She now works at Frier’s Diner full time as a waitress.

She sleeps in her car.

It would almost be sad, if she weren’t such a pain in my a–

Just as Stryker’s finger starts to squeeze the trigger, a bright green scarf obscures Fern’s head.

She’s arrived. Right on time, as always.

Stryker removes his finger from the trigger.

He takes a deep breath. Feels his eye twitch. Reminds himself of the plan.

Millicent is going to be his. Finally.

He packs up his rifle with less than the practiced efficiency he normally prides himself on. He stumbles over releasing the magazine and swears as he nearly breaks the firearm completely when he drops it in his duffle. The zipper protests loudly as he yanks it shut.

He can’t miss her.

He runs down the stairs, out the emergency exit, and into the alley. Wastes ten precious seconds tossing his bag into the front seat of the old electrician’s work van he uses for jobs.

His tools secured, he turns to the street, steps out, and sweeps Millicent Christina Pomm off her feet.

Chapter One

In a shocking turn of events, I have been kidnapped.

I find myself locked in a cage in the back of a grungy white work van. Not the most original choice for an abduction vehicle, if you ask me. He couldn’t spring for something a little less cliché? And a lot cleaner? I swear, bad guys these days have no sense of pride in their craft.

I shouldn’t be surprised. My entire life has been one bad joke after another. Why wouldn’t my kidnapping be too?

I mean, the man didn’t even execute a respectable snatching. Truly, the level of effort he put into it wasabysmallylow. And, sure, one could say that was my fault, what with the fainting and all, but you tell me how a girl’s supposed to react when perfection personified is suddenly right in front of her? SomaybeI reacted with an honest to goodness swoon, andmaybemy abductor used that opportunity to scoop me up and deposit me in the back of his rolling tetanus machine.

It was not my finest moment, I’ll admit.

And while he’s not the most original criminal, I do have to give him points for efficiency. Once he had me in, he shut the cage, slammed the door, and that was that. Millie’s been snatched.

No hesitation. No struggle. I was caged.

A bit embarrassing for me, really. My only excuse is that I am useless in the face of an attractive man.

And my kidnapper? He issmoking.

He’s huge. Tall. At least six foot four, possibly ten foot eleven. He has wide, wide shoulders, and his arms look big enough to lift a horse.

His eyes are what caused my downfall, though. They’re the darkest blue I’ve ever seen, framed by lashes any girl would kill to have. It’s no wonder I was struck stupid. I’m a sucker for a pair of fine eyes.

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