Hi! This is Lisa Marie Rice and I’d like to introduce you all to Pierce Jordan and Riley Robinson, the hero and heroine of my latest book—Midnight Caress, out June 20. Let’s talk to them, find out what makes them tick, and how they got together.

Pierce – How did you meet Riley?

Well, corny as it sounds, I was first attracted by a photo. There are three women who work in the IT department of my company, Alpha Security International – ASI. We call them the Queens. The three of them, plus Riley Robinson, worked together at the NSA, enduring the Boss from Hell. There’s a huge corkboard in their office with photos of the four of them from that period – Felicity O’Brien, Hope Ellis, Emma Holland and Riley – all over the board.

Now, the Queens are all beautiful women, but one just stood out for me. Riley. Not just beautiful but special. She stood out as if she were in 3D on the flat photograph. Crazy as it sounds, I’d stop by often just to see those photos, to see Riley. I’d stop by to get the Queens to talk about their time at the NSA just to hear stories about Riley.

Riley worked way across the country, in Washington DC. When offered, I leaped at the chance to carry out a job for ASI in Washington. I thought maybe I could stay over a few days and get to know Riley. Call her, introduce myself. I’m a good friend of her best friends. Ask her out for a coffee, ask her out to dinner, to a movie, whatever. Get to know her.

As it happened, before I had a chance to ask Riley out, I got an emergency call from ASI in Portland. Riley was in danger and I rushed to her side. The first time I saw her, she was running flat out to me, and soldiers were shooting at her. It was an unforgettable First Meet.

Riley – How did you meet Pierce?

My best friends, who worked for a company called ASI in Portland, Oregon, sometimes mentioned Pierce. He was the best friend of Emma’s partner, Raul Martinez. They liked and admired him, but I’d never met him. And then I found myself in a very dangerous situation. Soldiers were gunning for me in my workplace – the National Surveillance Organization where I worked as an image analyst. I was trapped inside the building and I sent up the Bat Signal to my buddies at ASI. They came through in spades, closing down the video surveillance in the building so I could escape and calling in the Marines. Or rather, calling in a SEAL, Pierce Jordan, who happened to be in DC for business. As fast a man could get to me, Pierce came. He not only came for me without hesitation, stepping into danger for a woman he’d never met, but he’d already put together an entire rescue and disappearance plan.

The first time I saw him was across a square with thugs gunning for me. The passenger door of his vehicle was open and as I dove in, he shot at them over me and we took off.

It was incredibly dashing, in hindsight. At the time I was terrified. But he saved my life, the life of a woman he’d never met before.

Now, that’s dope.

Pierce – What attracted you to Riley?

Hmm. I should be a gentleman and say her incredible smarts attracted me first. And her intelligence is indeed amazing and attractive. But, though I’m not a hound dog, I am a man, and honestly? Her looks attracted me immediately. She is off the charts beautiful, with fine features and light blue-gray eyes that captivate you. Slender, athletic body. God. Frankly? A dream. But even before I got to know her personally, I knew she was loyal, a good friend to women I admired, and she was definitely not just a pretty face. When all you have is just a pretty face, it gets old fast.

When I got to know her, the attraction intensified a billionfold. She is just so easy to be with, plus so incredibly interesting. She doesn’t play any games at all, you never have to worry about where you stand with her. Under incredibly stressful circumstances, her life in danger, she never broke down, didn’t even have a mood. She just tried to be as helpful as she could, a real partner.

Man, this is a woman in a million.

And, she’s mine.

Riley – What attracted you to Pierce?

What attracted me to Pierce? Where to begin? Remember, I work with male nerds who are many things, but brave isn’t one of them. I remember one guy I worked with at the NSA, Sully. He never worked with paper so when a paper dossier crossed his desk, he got a paper cut and he howled and rushed to the hospital. Sigh. My own father never accepted any responsibility for my mother or me. So, I wasn’t familiar with the kind of man who was brave, who always stepped up when he was needed, who protected.

Pierce was in DC when my buddies at ASI said I was in trouble and could he –

they didn’t even have to finish the sentence. He rushed off to help me, a woman he’d never met before, but who was a friend of good friends.

I was in REAL trouble, the kind that could get you killed, but he didn’t hesitate, not for a moment. My first view of him was as I was running across a big square to where he was waiting for me in a car. Soldiers were chasing me and shooting at me. Pierce shot back and saved my life.

The first time of many.

From that moment on, he was my guardian, my protector, my savior. In a deadly situation, I knew he would protect me with his life.

And, um, it didn’t hurt that he was extremely tall, dark and handsome.

And hot.

Lisa Marie Rice is eternally 30 years old and will never age. She is tall, willowy and beautiful. Men fall at her feet like ripe pears. She has won every major book prize in the world. She is a black belt with advanced degrees in archeology, nuclear physics and Tibetan literature. She is a concert pianist. Did I mention her Nobel Prize? Of course, Lisa Marie Rice is a virtual woman and exists only at the keyboard when writing romantic suspense. She disappears when the monitor winks off.