Excerpt: 'Trust No One' by Jayne Ann Krentz

Jayne Ann Krentz shares a scene from today's new release, Trust No One.

First here's the blurb about Trust No One (courtesy of Putnam Adult):

It's no coincidence when Grace Elland finds a vodka bottle next to the lifeless body of her boss, motivational speaker Sprague Witherspoon. The bottle is a terrifying—and deliberate—reminder of the horrors of her past.

Grace retreats to her hometown to regroup and tries to put everything she's learned about positive thinking into practice—a process that is seriously challenged on the world's worst blind date.

Awkward doesn't begin to describe her evening with venture-capitalist Julius Arkwright. She has nothing in common with a man who lives to make money, but the intense former Marine does have some skills that Grace can use—and he's the perfect man to help her when it becomes clear she is being stalked.

As Witherspoon's financial empire continues to crumble around them, taking a deadly toll, Julius will help Grace step into her past to uncover a devious plan to destroy not only Grace, but everyone around her…

Jayne sets up our excerpt …

Jayne: I love that moment in the story when the heroine realizes she is going to take the enormous risk that comes with falling in love. As the writer, I never see it coming until it suddenly lands in front of me. This is that scene from Trust No One.

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Julius came to a halt in front of her and smiled a slow, wicked smile that was reflected in his eyes. He suddenly looked younger and almost carefree.

"Well, if it isn't Little Red Riding Hood." His smile widened into a wolfish grin. "And to think I never believed in fairy tales."

Grace glanced down at her red jacket. She felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

"Okay, the red coat and hood thing is sheer coincidence," she said.

"If you say so."

Julius was drenched with sweat and rain. The front of his gray pullover was soaked. His hair was plastered to his head. Rivulets of water mixed with perspiration streamed down his face.

Normally she was not keen on sweaty men. She knew some women were attracted to males who looked as if they had just emerged from a cage fight but she was not one of them. Julius Arkwright drenched in sweat, however, was an altogether different beast.

"You probably wonder why I'm out here in the rain, barring your path," she said.

"I'm going to take a flying leap and say the picnic basket has some significance."

"Yes, it does," she said.

"That leaves us with a high probability that you have deliberately intercepted me."

"A very strong possibility," she agreed.

He glanced at the closed lid of the wicker basket with an expression of deep interest. "What have you got in there?"

"A bribe."

"Who do you plan to bribe?"

"A consultant, I hope."

"What do you want the consultant to do for you?" Julius asked.

"Help me work up a business plan that will enable me to launch a new career, one that is challenging, exciting and fulfilling—preferably a career that will last longer than eighteen months. I want to find my true calling."

"I thought you were just trying to find a job."

"My aspirations are actually somewhat more aspirational. Do we have a deal?"

He plucked the picnic basket from her arm with a quick, deft motion. "You've got yourself a consultant."

Julius loped off with the picnic basket. She stood there in the falling rain and watched him until he vanished from sight around a wooded bend.

It's just a business arrangement, she told herself.

But it was possible that wasn't the whole truth. It was, in fact, conceivable that an objective observer would describe the situation in an entirely different way.

Some people—the unenlightened type—might say that she was flirting with the Big Bad Wolf.

Find out more about JAK and her books at www.jayneannkrentz.com.