Impulsion: A Station 32 Fire Men Novel (42 page)

“And dance with me, but I’m good with jeans,” Harley said, pulling Wyatt closer.

“You think Mrs. Camille would be?” Easton said, raising his brow, then shaking his head as he walked away and began to inspect one of the trays of food.

Wyatt and Harley stood side by side and met every one of the people Garrison thought were important enough to meet Wyatt Doran. They sat through the toasts in the main party, every ounce of it, barely finding a moment to say a word to each other, but their gazes, the way they held each other said it all.

Just as Harley wished her father a goodnight, as he told the others to enjoy the party, Harley pulled Wyatt out the side door. She lost her heels before she ever left the patio.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m taking you to my slice of heaven.”

And she did. She pulled him to the stables her father had built for her, the stables that matched the Doran main barn to perfection. She pulled him all the way upstairs to the hay loft and fell with him on the loose straw.

Not caring about any suit he was in, he went to the floor with her, kissing her with raw reverence.

“Did you plan this?” she whispered.

“This,” he said as his hand slid up her thigh. “I’d be a liar if I said no.”

She laughed aloud. “Were you coming here to do this all the while? Did I worry for no reason?”

“I never want you to worry, Harley. If you find a reason to worry about anything, you share that fear with me.” He reached to caress her face. “I didn’t plan it. I just wanted to tell your father that I loved you, that I was always going to take care of you…this came along with that….”

She raised her ring finger. “Do you have any idea how special this ring is to my family?”

“No. Didn’t mean a damn thing to me until you said yes. Now
…now it’s priceless.”

She giggled as she felt his hands feather up her sides.

“Your mother is going to freak.”

“She doesn’t know how to do that, but she’s very happy for us.”

“You told her?”

“Last night, after dinner with your father.”

Harley’s eyes went wide as she realized why Collin had never gotten to her father, last night or today; he’d been with Wyatt.

“Clever old man, your father. He has a way with words; never know what he’s going to say.”

Harley held his gaze to say she agreed.

“You’re my world, Harley, my kingdom, my life. I will love you for all of time.”

She reached her hand to his face. “Wyatt…I loved you from my first breath…life came the moment I saw you.”

All at once, their lips connected in a powerful fever of flesh that carried just as much passion as it did love.

Hell was behind them, heaven before them. And no matter what, no matter how hard life ever became, they knew they could withstand it. Side by side, hand in hand, they could withstand anything.

Playlist

Kip Moore: Young Love, Backseat, Drive Me Crazy, Crazy One More Time, Fly Again.

Odessa: I Will Be There

Tiger Lou: Like you said

Half Moon Run: She Wants to Know, Need it

Dierks Bentley: I Hold On, Bourbon In Kentucky

Chris LeDoux: Look At You Girl

Band of Horses: No One’s Gonna Love You

http://authorjamiemagee.blogspot.com

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News Letter

“Web of Hearts and Souls”

Insight (Book 1)

Embody (Book 2)

Image (Book 3)

Vital (Book 4)

Vindicate (Book 5)

Enflame (Book 6)

Blakeshire

See (Book 1)

Witness (Book 2)

Synergy (Book 3)

Redefined (Book 4)

Rivulet (Book 1)

Imperial (Book 1)

I am still eternally grateful for every soul that encouraged me to write/ publish my debut novel Insight.... thank you once again.

I also want to thank my husband, Lem, for listening to my random thoughts and ideas as each of these stories came to life. He is not only the love of my life but the man who keeps me sane on this insane adventure. I want thank my children who inspire me to become more than I am today with a simple glance, and the echo of laughter and joy that surrounds me constantly.

I want to thank my very own Cami
lle Doran, Candy Magee, my mother in law, who without a doubt fully embraces the sport of kings, and ensures each that she trains, that she guides, does so as well.

I want to thank all of my wonderf
ul beta readers: Sabrina Wells, Steffini Walker, Michelle Dain, Crystal Meyer, Jennylynn D’Andrea,Alysia Kurtz, Carrie Porter, Elke Simmons, Amber Catlin, Kristyn Smith, Twanisha Franklin, Stephanie Brenzo, Deidre Turner, Jamie Love, Tyra Stevenson, Robin Brissie, Shaye Kurdziel, Lindsey Westfeild, Christine Smith, and Jennifer Vasquez.

GWE along with Todd Barselow for editing my daydreams.

Most of all I want to thank every single reader for sharing this adventure with me! I love you all and I am eternally grateful for your time and support! :)

Jamie Magee has always believed that each of us have a defining gift that sets us apart from the rest of the world. She has always envied those who have known from their first breath what their gift was. Not knowing hers, she began a career in the fast paced world of business. Raising a young family, and competing to rise higher in that field would drive some to the point of insanity, but she always found a moment of escape in a passing daydream. Her imagination would take her to places she’d never been, introduce her to people she’d never known.
Insight
, her debut novel, is a result of that powerful imagination. Today, she is grateful that not knowing what defined her led her on a path of discovery that would always be a part of her.

The fun Bio: I’m an obsessive daydreamer. Lover of loud alternative music. Addicted to Red Bull. I love to laugh until it hurts. Fall is my favorite season. Black is my favorite ‘shade.’ Strong believer in the saying: there is a reason for everything, therefore I search for ‘marked moments’ every moment of every
day…and I find them. Life is beautiful!

A Novel

Janelle Stalder

Prelude

An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one. – Charles Horton Cooley

It’s funny how life can take an unexpected turn. It seems like no matter how carefully we plan things, or envision where our lives will go, something can happen to turn it all on its side. Love can do that. Love can make people do things that are completely out of character and push them to limits they didn’t even know were possible. They say all you need is love, but how true is that?

When you love a person so much that being with them feels like you can breathe easier, when just their nearness is the oxygen inflating your lungs, is that the kind of love where it
’s all you need? Where hunger is something insignificant compared to the need and appetite you feel for only that one person?

Or does love make fools of us all? Is it simply infatuation and lust clouding our sense of judgement? Or is that just what cynical people think?

***

Colt knelt beside me, his lips moving over and over again, my name falling from them. I couldn
’t hear him, my ears now ringing so loudly I was afraid I might have gone deaf. I watched as Colt’s body jerked violently, falling beside me. His lips still moved, caressing my name as though it were the only prayer he knew. We lay beside each other, our blood pooling around us, and I couldn’t help but think we looked like some modern version of Bonny and Clyde. I reached out my hand and found his, gripping it.

It
’s funny how life takes an unexpected turn.

One

Life imitates art far more than art imitates life – Oscar Wilde

Olivia

The blank canvas glared at me mockingly
. Go ahead
, it taunted.
Paint something
. I blew a piece of my bangs out of my eyes and sat back, the unused paintbrush dangling in my hands. What the hell was wrong with me? I’d been home for a week now and hadn’t been able to paint one thing. It was unheard of!

“You
’re such an asshole, Olivia Banks.” I looked up to see my best friend, Ella, standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, mouth turned down in a frown. Her clear blue eyes narrowed as I met her gaze.

“Well hello to you too,
” I said with an easy smile.

She sputtered, walking further into my room. “Don
’t you ‘well hello to you too’ me! I just saw your mother down at Bulk Barn and
she
had to tell me that you’re home. And guess what?”

I knew what, but I played along. “What?
”

“Seems you
’ve been home for a
whole freakin’ week
! What the hell, Olive?”

I turned back to my yet-to-be-even-started painting and decided that it was useless. There was no way I
’d get anything done with Ella here, not that I was getting far before she arrived. Placing the brush on the easel, I looked back at her, guilt sitting heavily in my stomach.

“I
’m sorry,” I offered. She rolled her eyes, throwing herself down on the edge of my bed. “Look,” I started, “it really hasn’t been a whole week. I got home Saturday, and I’ve just been so busy unpacking and getting settled that I haven’t had time to call anyone.”

“It
’s Saturday, Olive,” Ella replied in a bland voice. “So, yeah, it has been a whole week. And that excuse you just gave me? Complete bullshit. You’ve been gone now for two years, and when you finally come home you can’t take five minutes out of your ‘busy’ schedule to call your
best friend
?”

Okay. So she was mad. I got it. I
’d be mad too if the situation was reversed. The truth was, I hadn’t been home for so long I was worried that things would be too different between us. Sure, we spoke on the phone off and on, and we’d send each other emails and cards for our birthdays and what not, but after being away for so long one would assume things would be a bit…I don’t know…awkward.

I
’d been away at the best art school in the country for my sophomore and junior years. I felt – out of touch with things back home. And it was a small town, so being away for two years pretty much made you a leper in everyone’s books. I had no idea what was going on with most of the people I had grown up with. Well, except Ella. Damn. I really should have called her. Now I felt like an ass.

“I really am sorry,
” I said, getting up to sit down beside her. “You have every right to be mad at me. I’m a terrible friend. I guess I was just afraid to see people again.”

She turned to look at me with her big eyes all round and puppy-dog-like. It was like a physical punch to my gut. I was used to that look, it had gotten us out of trouble countless times in the past, especially if it was one of our dads who was giving us crap. I don
’t think any man with a beating heart could look at her sad face and not give in to her every whim. It was a talent really. I wish I had it.

“Even me?
” she said with a small pout. I shrugged, speechless. “I’ve been waiting for forever to have you back, Olive. I’m so damn happy you’re here I want to crawl out onto your roof and scream it to the whole neighbourhood.”

“Please don
’t do that,” I said quickly.

“Fine. The point is, we
’re best friends, no matter how long we’ve been apart. You shouldn’t be scared or worried to see
me.
We’re BFF’s. That second ‘F’ stands for FOREVER, Olive. Forever. Got it?”

I laughed, hooking my arm around her neck and giving her a tight squeeze. How could I have ever thought it would be weird between us? It
’s Ella. We’d been twin souls since she moved here in grade four and we both showed up the first day of school wearing the same purple dress with white polka dots. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what is.

Ella rested her head on my shoulder. “I
’ve missed you, Ollie. Things were so lame without you here.”