Teased (The VIP Room, #1) (27 page)

“
Dax, I wanted to check in today, I
have several appointments scheduled for tomorrow. I had to fire one
of my artists so I’m short staffed,” Colton explained to the man,
who from the looks he was giving Colton, could care less about his
explanations.

Dax leaned back in his chair. “Is that
right?”

“
Yes.” Colton gave the probation
officer a sharp look. Vida was beginning to feel that he also was
sensing that something wasn’t right.

“
Aren’t you going to introduce us,
Colton?”

“
Dax Carter, this is Vida Bell. She’s
my fiancée.” Vida looked at him in surprise. She must have been
asleep when he’d proposed because she damn sure didn’t remember
it.

“
You don’t waste much time, do you,
Colton? The ink’s barely dry on your divorce papers and you already
have a new fiancée.”

“
Maybe not, but they are signed and
it’s legal,” Colton countered.

“
Have a seat, Colton. You too, Ms.
Bell,” Dax said, pulling open a folder on his desk.

“
I’m glad you stopped by. I had to
change your schedule, and now that you’re here, it saves me the
trouble of emailing it to you.” Dax leaned forward, handing Colton
a piece of paper that he picked up off his desk. Colton took it
from him.

Vida began to get worried when Colton took
several minutes, reading over it. She had promised she wouldn’t
leave without him to find Sawyer. If his probation schedule didn’t
give them enough time to get to Indiana and back, then he wouldn’t
be able to go. She wouldn’t break her promise to him, which meant
she could lose Sawyer forever.

“
I don’t understand.” Colton’s hoarse
voice drew Vida’s mind away from her worried thoughts.

“
Let me explain it for you. This
morning, your ex-wife went to the police with her lawyer and
confessed to the crime you committed. She is now under arrest,
since she is yet to be convicted, all charges against you cannot be
dropped. Your lawyer, who was notified, is currently taking care of
all the necessary paperwork. I should wait until this gets the
judge’s approval, but I see no need for further visits pending the
judge’s approval. In plain words, you’re a free man.”

“
Tessa confessed?” Colton
asked.

“
Yes, she even included in the
statement that you were under emotional duress because she was
carrying your child,” Dax explained to a shaken Colton.

“
I can’t believe after all this time,
she confessed,” Colton said unbelievably.

“
It’s her way of telling you she’s
sorry,” Vida whispered, her throat tight.

“
It’s a little late if you ask me. She
could have saved him three years in prison,” Dax said, clearly
unimpressed with Tessa’s gesture.

“
It’s not too late.” Vida stood up,
hugging Colton when he rose from his chair. Tessa had made it
possible for them to leave town without having to worry about
Colton getting in trouble for a parole violation.

Colton reached across the desk and shook his
parole officer’s hand. They turned towards the door.

“
Colton, if by some chance you decide
to leave town and run into any difficulty, give them my card.”
Colton and Vida both stopped, turning back to Dax. “I’ve been a
parole officer a long time, no one shows up early for an
appointment.”

“
Thanks, Dax.” Vida waited for Colton
to close the door behind them before throwing herself in his arms
again.

“
Let’s drop the keys off to Reverend
then we can hit the road,” Colton said as they got on his
bike.

The parole office was a twenty minute ride
away from the tattoo shop.

They pulled in the lot just as the last
client left.

Reverend was waiting for them inside.

“
I sent Carlito home. The boy’s going
to need his rest. I told him he’s working full-time until you get
back.”

“
He can handle it; he’s a good artist,
almost as good as you at his age,” Colton complimented his
friend.

Colton handed Reverend the shop keys.
“Thanks, Reverend. Take care of it for me until I get back.”

“
You know I will, brother. Be
safe.”

“
Always.” Vida laughed at the man hug
they gave each other before hugging Reverend herself.

“
You two better be going, not much
daylight left,” Reverend warned.

Vida turned to go outside, coming to an
abrupt stop.

“
Uh… Colton?”

“
Yeah?” Colton turned, grinning at the
sight outside.

Vida followed Colton out the door. The
Predators took over the whole parking lot. There were well over a
hundred bikes, some even had to park on the street in front of the
other businesses.

“
What’s up, Ice?” Colton said, shaking
Ice’s hand.

“
Reverend gave me a call, telling me
you’re headed out of town to find your old lady’s friend. We’ve
been bored sitting on our asses lately, thought we’d tag along for
the ride.”

Vida looked at the crew of rough men waiting
to ride with them. “Digger couldn’t get Sawyer away from this
musician because he had security. Want to bet we have better luck?”
Vida joked with Colton.

“
Sounds like Vida wants your help.
Thanks, brother.”

Ice nodded his head.

The men all moved their bikes back into
position as Vida put on her helmet and climbed onto the back of
Colton’s bike. When he started his motor, backing the bike up in
position, Ice moved forward to pull his bike next to Colton’s.

“
You might want this to keep you
warm.” Vida saw Ice hand Colton a leather jacket that looked like
the one’s the other men wore.

Colton took it from him, pulling on the
jacket he had taken off over three years ago.

Vida leaned forward to hear his words.
“Baby, you ready for this long ride?” Vida knew he was talking
about the ride to Indiana, but she was looking further down the
road, to the years ahead.

“
I’m ready.” Whether they got Sawyer
back safely or not, Vida knew she was ready to take whatever road
life had in store for Colton and her. They had each other now, and
however exciting and dangerous it was, their love would survive the
test of time.

Epilogue

Vida walked quickly through the strip club.
Her trembling fingers tightened on the belt around her waist. Going
up the staircase carefully, she didn’t want to trip in the high
platform shoes she was wearing and break her neck.

The VIP room had just a few customers
already being taken care of by the regular servers.

“
You’re late. Your client’s been out
here twice to see if you were here yet,” Henry said
impassively.

“
Sorry,” Vita mumbled, going for the
private door. She slipped inside, closing and locking the door
before taking a deep breath and turning to her client.

“
I’m going to kill you for
this.”

“
Is that any way to talk to your
client?” Colton laughed.

“
If any parents from Axel and Roxi’s
school recognizes me, you’re dead,” Vida threatened.

“
Vida, baby, I hate to tell you this,
but you’re kinda putting a damper on my fantasy, talking about the
kids.” Colton leaned back against his plush chair. “It’s your own
fault, promising me anything for our anniversary.”

“
I didn’t think you would choose
this,” she said through gritted teeth.

“
Again, you’re killing my buzz. Henry
even made sure there are clean sheets on the bed.”

Vida turned bright red, unable to prevent
herself from looking at the huge bed against the wall.

“
Come on, where’s the woman I met and
fell in love with?”

Gracefully, giving in to her husband’s
fantasy, Vida reached out, pressing the button by the door. The
room filled with Colton and her favorite song. “Resuscitate
Me.”

Loosening her belt, she unbuttoned her
raincoat, showing the three piece stripper outfit she had ordered
online.

“
Damn woman, you look fine for a
soccer mom.”

“
Now you’re ruining my fantasy,” Vida
reproved him.

“
Come here and I’ll give you more than
a fantasy,” Colton promised.

Vida started dancing to the music, edging
closer to Colton at the same time that she teased him by removing
the top cover of her outfit. Showing the tiny red bra and panties
underneath, she leaned over him until her breasts lay against his
bare chest.

“
Actually, I had a different present
in mind for our anniversary,” Vida said, straddling his
lap.

Colton’s eyes were on her swaying breasts as
she unsnapped the tiny bra, baring her breasts that had grown
fuller with the birth of their children.

“
I can’t imagine a better present than
this,” he said, leaning forward to take a nipple between his lips,
but Vida evaded him by sitting down on his lap.

“
Colton.” Her shining eyes and
mischievous smile brought a lump to his throat. Taking his hand in
hers, she placed it against her bare stomach. “Have you heard the
saying double trouble…?”

Books By Jamie Begley:

The Last Riders Series:

Razer’s Ride

Viper’s Run

Knox’s Stand (coming in November
2013)

Shade’s (coming Spring 2014)

The VIP Room Series:

Teased

Sawyer’s (Coming Soon)

The Dark Souls Series:

Soul Of A Man

Enjoy an excerpt from
Jessie Lane’s book

Secret Maneuvers (Ex Ops Series)

Prologue

Annabelle

The Georgia summer night air was hot and
humid, but that didn’t stop me from cuddling as close as I could
get to the boy I loved most in this world. The sweet smell from the
azalea blossom that Bobby Baker had tucked behind my ear drifted
around me, creating a false sense of security. My chin was settled
on the back of my left hand as I lay propped up on his chest. With
so much weighing on my mind, I was distractedly staring into
oblivion over his body in the general direction of Bobby’s beloved
1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500.

The car’s black paint blended with the night,
but its white racing stripes glowed brightly down the center in the
soft moonlight. Bobby said the only thing that he loved more than
that car was me. However, that love wasn’t strong enough to stop
him from leaving me behind tomorrow.

He kept telling me that I was worrying too
much. That everything was going to be alright. No matter his
reassurances, the massive lump of dread in the pit of my stomach
wasn’t going away. That uneasy feeling you got when something
terrible was about to happen was haunting my every moment, and it
was only a matter of time before whatever it was would come to
pass. The question was, would I come out alright on the other end
of the impending catastrophe?

Sprawled on top of a blanket on the bank of
the creek, my mind was moving faster than the speed of light at
what lay ahead of us tomorrow. Bobby was holding me tightly while
he stared at the bright stars above us. The familiar sounds of the
critters in the forest, accompanied with the crickets around us,
did nothing to ease the heavy silence that Bobby and I were trying
so carefully to tip-toe around.

What felt like a thousand pounds of pressure
on my chest eventually became too much. I resigned myself to broach
the subject he was trying so desperately to avoid. “What time do
you leave tomorrow, Ace?”

Bobby’s hand tightened on my shoulder for a
second before he started stroking the bare skin above my tank top.
“I’ve got to be at the bus stop at seven.”

My chest seized up and the ability to breathe
suddenly felt impossible. Fighting my instincts to sob
uncontrollably was almost painful, but necessary, as I reminded
myself that tonight would be the last night we would have to spend
together for months. Tomorrow he was headed to Fort Leonard Wood in
Waynesville, MO for ten weeks of Army Basic Training. After that,
it would be at least fourteen weeks that he would be gone during
the next phase of training for an Infantryman position. Even longer
if he was selected to attend Ranger school. Months and months
before I could see, taste or touch him again. I had to reassure
myself in the most basic ways that Bobby Baker, one of the town’s
golden boys, was really and truly all mine; that someone like him
could, in fact, love a girl like me; to have the physical proof
from his hands and mouth as they touched me that I was not alone in
this world. Those were hard facts for me to accept when Bobby was
all I genuinely had here.

Sensing the direction of my thoughts he
grabbed my chin gently and turned it so that I was looking at him.
“Don’t think about it tonight, Belle. Tonight is just for us,
remember? Come here.” Rolling to his side, Bobby pulled me up the
last few inches so that we lay facing each other while he stroked
his fingertips down the side of my face. “Don’t feel sad, baby.
What’s our plan?”