Authors: Karla Doyle
Tags: #happily ever after, #MFm, #motorcycle, #tortured hero, #ménage, #dark romance, #erotic romance, #contemporary romance, #tattooed hero, #married couple, #self published, #threesome
Crossing the Line (21 page)
“Hey, baby,” Derrick said, smiling and meeting her eyes. “What do you think—looks pretty awesome, right?”
“Derrick thinks it’s ready to ride.” Jamie looked over his shoulder at her from his seated position on the enduro bike. They’d spent the winter rebuilding it in the basement and had been tinkering with it out here since the moment spring arrived.
“Gonna take him over to the license office to write his beginner’s test Monday after school—assuming he’s finished his history essay by then.”
“I will be.”
Derrick clapped the boy on the shoulder. “Yeah, I know you will.”
God, the two of them practically glowed. It’d been over a year since Jamie had come to live with them. Watching them together, it seemed as if they’d known each other forever. As though Jamie was Derrick’s little brother, not a sixteen-year-old foster child.
She pulled a tissue from her pocket and dabbed the corners of her eyes. “Well, the bike looks great and I’m very excited about Monday, but I need you guys to wipe the grease off your hands—”
“Not on your jeans.” Derrick threw Jamie a rag as the boy’s hands moved toward his pants.
Good save by her husband. “Because Mrs. Benson and Michael will be here any minute and I want you to be able to shake hands.” At that, Derrick and Jamie shook hands, both of them grinning like little boys who thought themselves very clever. She rolled her eyes at them, but couldn’t help smiling.
She spotted Mrs. Benson’s silver sedan as it turned the corner, onto their street. Derrick was at her side immediately, his strong arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her close. She leaned against him, absorbing his strength and warmth. His heartbeat thumped beneath her ear. Strong and steady, like the man, but faster than normal. A match for hers, currently beating wildly inside her chest.
The car rolled to a stop at the curb. Their caseworker got out first, waving at them as she walked around the vehicle.
“Ready to do this again?” Derrick spoke softly, for her ears only. He knew how hard it’d been to say goodbye to their other foster child when Brooke returned to her biological parents. But he also knew how happy it’d made her, seeing the joy in the little girl’s eyes. Knowing she’d been part of that joy—that they both had.
The rear passenger door opened and Michael stepped out, onto the sidewalk. Not much joy on his small, pale face. Yet.
She smiled at the boy, then up at her husband. “I’m ready.”
“Me too.” This from Jamie, who’d materialized at her other side.
Together, they walked down the driveway, past the garden and the willow tree she and Derrick had planted two years ago.
“Making a wish?” he asked.
She shook her head. Smiled and squeezed his hand. “Nothing to wish for. Everything’s perfect the way it is.”
The End
Thank You!
Thank you for reading
Crossing the Line
! I hope you enjoyed Derrick, Hanna, and Jeremy’s story. I would greatly appreciate you spreading the word, including leaving a review or star-rating wherever you enjoy discussing books.
Sincerely,
Karla Doyle
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karla is a small town girl with some big city experience, happiest living somewhere in between. She studied fashion design in college and spent most of her adult life in that industry. These days, she lives a charmed existence with her two amazing kids, an incredible (and smokin’ hot) husband, and the best friends in the world. When she’s not writing the sexy stories that swirl around in her head, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, playing Scrabble, or cuddled up with a book, surrounded by a pack of pets.
Visit Karla’s website for her complete booklist and other information:
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Other Books by Karla Doyle
COPYRIGHT
ISBN 978-0-9921527-0-3
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Crossing the Line, Copyright © 2013 Karla Doyle
Cover by Emily Ugarenko
Cover photography by Curaphotography, Bart78/Bigstockphoto.com
Electronic book publication November 2013 Print book publication November 2013
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only, and may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your sole use, please purchase your own copy at a legitimate online retailer. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Karla Doyle.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is punishable by law.
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
The publisher and author acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks, service marks and word marks mentioned in this book.
The publisher does not have any control over, and does not assume any responsibility for, third-party websites or their content.
For questions and comments about this book, please contact the author at
[email protected]
.
Excerpt from Body of Work by Karla Doyle
Brian rolled to a stop on Sloane Street. He killed the engine and stared through the rain-covered window of his Jeep at the white bungalow. If he did this, if he knocked on Cassie’s door at a quarter to one in the morning, there’d be no going back.
A man could only take so much. The petite brunette had caught his eye from day one. She’d been torturing him for months—chatting, teasing him with comments that made
her
blush, openly flirting with him while she exercised. He’d have made his move immediately if not for his stupid contract.
Which led him back to the decision at hand—to knock on her door or drive away?
He scooped the cell phone from the passenger seat. Weighed it in his palm and took another glance at her house. Light escaped around the edges of her closed curtains. If he didn’t grab this opportunity, the odds of him getting another like it were slim. Fuck it, he was going for it.
Still raining and no sign it planned to let up. The drops cooled his skin, not the fire churning in his gut. He made short work of the distance to her door, each long step knotting his insides a little more. Yeah, he was nuts to do this. Nuts and committed to seeing it through. Worst-case scenario, she’d tell his boss and he’d get fired. Yeah, that’d suck—on multiple levels. He stopped a couple inches shy of the doorbell. Looked at the pink-covered phone in his hand and considered its owner. Her eyes, her smile, her body. The way everything inside him came alive when she laughed with him at the stupidest thing. Totally worth the risk.
He swallowed hard at the muted sound of the chime. Resisted the urge to press his face to the glass and look through the small window in her front door. Twenty seconds later, he rang again. Maybe she hadn’t heard it. Or maybe she was hiding in a corner, waiting for him to leave. Another minute and he’d assume the second and haul his ass back to the car.
The outside lamp came on. Cassie’s eyes popped into view in the lower portion of the window. They locked with his, instantly changing from a cautious squint to wide with surprise. The tip of her nose appeared, then her top lip. She had to be standing on her toes now. The rest of her mouth followed, curled in a smile. That’s all it took—he was a goner for the thousandth time.
The thunk and scrape of metal as she unlocked the door ramped up the tension in his gut. When that door opened, things were going to change, one way or another.
Her soft voice and pretty eyes greeted him through a narrow crack. “Brian? What are you doing
here
?”
“You dropped your—” The door inched open. Wide open. Holy hell, there went his jaw, all the way to the ground. He’d seen Cassie in gym clothes and street clothes. Hot, sexy, adorable—those descriptions all fit, depending on the moment. Cassie in a silky, Oriental-patterned robe that barely reached the tops of her thighs and didn’t close all that well in the front, wet hair framing her face…a word didn’t exist to describe the sight. “You’re dripping.” Oh yeah, smooth opening statement right there.
“So are you.” She giggled as a fat drop of water fell from his nose.
“It’s really coming down.”
“Thanks for the late-night weather update. Is that part of a membership upgrade?”
Messing with him now, was she? Exactly how he liked it. “Only for my favorite member.” He pulled her cell from his pocket and offered it up. “You dropped this.”
“Oh my god, where? I didn’t even notice it was missing.”
Restraint, he needed a bundle of it. In reaching for her phone, Cassie’s robe gaped enough to give him one hell of a view. Add that to the charge that ran up his arm when their hands brushed and he nearly forgot the question. “Ladies’ change room, near the lockers.”
“How’d you know it was mine?”
He forced his eyes upward and—bam. Caught in the act of ogling her body.
Classy, man.
The door ought to be slamming in his face any second.
Instead, she waved the phone side-to-side. “Hmm?”
“I tapped the email icon. Didn’t read anything, but I figured cassiebunny69 had to be you.” The blush she got was unmistakable. “You might want to consider a passcode for your phone.”
“Guess I got lucky that you found it, not somebody else.”
Got lucky
—his cock liked those words. At this point, his cock was a hell of a lot more optimistic than the rest of his soaked-to-the-skin self. “You going to the gym tomorrow?” A reasonable question to ask at one in the morning while standing in the pouring rain, right? Not too obvious.
“I’m not sure…” She turned the phone over and over in her hand. “Will you be there?”
“I will.”
“What time?”
Time to play this out, see where it led. “Whenever you need a spotter.”
“You’re not working?” She stared up at him, pretty eyes getting bigger when he shook his head. “You want to…work out with me?”
“Actually, I want to do a hell of a lot more than work out with you, Cassie.” Lightning cracked behind him and the street lost power. Fantastic timing, nature. He could barely make out Cassie’s silhouette, let alone read her expression. For all he knew she was frozen in front of him, too scared to respond or make a move. “Go inside and lock the door. I’ll see you at the gym sometime.”
“Brian, wait…” A small, soft hand latched on to his arm. Pulled him closer, over the threshold, close enough to smell the shampoo she’d used and feel the waves of heat rippling from her freshly showered body. Close enough for him to make what could end up being a huge mistake.
Want to read more?
BODY OF WORK
is available now.
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