Tripped Out: A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella
Page 1
Tripped Out
A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella
By Lorelei James
1001 Dark Nights
Tripped Out
A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella
By Lorelei James
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2017 LJLA, LLC
ISBN: 978-1-945920-38-7
Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose
Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Book Description
Tripped Out
A Blacktop Cowboys® Novella
By Lorelei James
Where there’s smoke…
Stirling Gradsky abandoned the corporate rat race for a more laidback lifestyle. So it’s ironic she’s stuck working with a hard-bodied, know-it-all scientist who treats her like a stoner instead of a stone cold business woman capable of running a large scale cannabis operation. Dr. Hot and Tattooed with the big…brain needs to stop sampling their product; he’s under the half-baked idea that he’s the boss.
Dr. Liam Argent’s doctorate isn’t in chemistry, but from the moment he meets his sexy new coworker, there’s enough heat between them to short out all the lights in the grow house. First item on his agenda? Clearing up the sassy, blunt blonde’s hazy notion that she’s in charge.
Sparks fly as their attraction blazes. But can they weed out their differences without getting burned?
About Lorelei James
Lorelei James is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary erotic romances in the Rough Riders, Blacktop Cowboys, Mastered, Rough Riders Legacy and Need You series. She also writes dark, gritty mysteries under the name Lori Armstrong and her books have won the Shamus Award and the Willa Cather Literary Award. She lives in western South Dakota.
Connect with Lorelei in the following places:
Website
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Newsletter
Also From Lorelei James
Click to purchase
Rough Riders Series – Erotic Western Romance
LONG HARD RIDE
RODE HARD
COWGIRL UP AND RIDE
TIED UP, TIED DOWN
ROUGH, RAW AND READY
STRONG SILENT TYPE (novella)
BRANDED AS TROUBLE
SHOULDA BEEN A COWBOY
ALL JACKED UP
RAISING KANE
SLOW RIDE (short story)
COWGIRLS DON’T CRY
CHASIN’ EIGHT
COWBOY CASANOVA
KISSIN’ TELL
GONE COUNTRY
SHORT RIDES (anthology)
REDNECK ROMEO
COWBOY TAKE ME AWAY
LONG TIME GONE (novella)
Rough Riders Legacy Series – Contemporary New Adult Romance
UNBREAK MY HEART
PIECE OF MY HEART (FALL 2017)
Blacktop Cowboys® Series – Erotic Western Romance
CORRALLED
SADDLED AND SPURRED
WRANGLED AND TANGLED
ONE NIGHT RODEO
TURN AND BURN
HILLBILLY ROCKSTAR
ROPED IN (novella)
STRIPPED DOWN (novella)
WRAPPED AND STRAPPED
HANG TOUGH
TRIPPED OUT (novella)
Mastered Series – Erotic Romance
BOUND
UNWOUND
SCHOOLED (digital only novella)
UNRAVELED
CAGED
Need You Series – Contemporary Romance
WHAT YOU NEED
JUST WHAT I NEEDED
ALL YOU NEED
WHEN I NEED YOU
Single Title Novels
RUNNING WITH THE DEVIL – Erotic Suspense
DIRTY DEEDS – Contemporary Romance
Wild West Boys Series – Contemporary Romance
MISTRESS CHRISTMAS (novella)
MISS FIRECRACKER (novella)
Single Title Novellas
LOST IN YOU (short novella) – Contemporary Romance
WICKED GARDEN – Erotic Romance
BALLROOM BLITZ – Contemporary Romance
Mystery Novels Written As Lori Armstrong
Julie Collins Series – Private Eye Mystery
BLOOD TIES
HALLOWED GROUND
SHALLOW GRAVE
SNOW BLIND
DEAD FLOWERS (novella)
BAITED (novella)
Mercy Gunderson Series – Army Sniper/Native American Mystery
NO MERCY
MERCY KILL
MERCILESS
DOUBLE SHOT OF MERCY – Short Stories coming fall 2017
Acknowledgments from the Author
Huge thanks to Goldie from City Sessions in Denver, for setting up a fantastic personalized cannabis tour, led by Matthew, her knowledgeable and (patient!) associate. More thanks go to the folks at The Herbal Cure, for allowing us to experience their amazing grow house (Josh, your plant knowledge blew me away) and for the expertise of their budtenders in the totally chill dispensary. Thanks also to the Pure Dispensary for showing us the industrial side of CO2 extraction and the wide variety of THC & CBD infused products on both the medical and recreational sides. You ALL are truly ambassadors for the positive aspects of the legalized cannabis industry in Colorado.
That said, any errors (or artistic license I took) in this fictional story are solely on me…
As always, to THE Liz Berry…you inspire me with your generosity and I thank the universe every day that I get to call you a friend J
To Evil Eye—Liz and MJ Rose—so thrilled I got to be here another year!
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Click here to explore
FOREVER WICKED by Shayla Black
CRIMSON TWILIGHT by Heather Graham
CAPTURED IN SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
SILENT BITE: A SCANGUARDS WEDDING by Tina Folsom
DUNGEON GAMES by Lexi Blake
AZAGOTH by Larissa Ione
NEED YOU NOW by Lisa Renee Jones
SHOW ME, BABY by Cherise Sinclair
ROPED IN by Lorelei James
TEMPTED BY MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
CARESS OF DARKNESS by Julie Kenner
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
TAME ME by J. Kenner
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Click here to explore
WICKED WOLF by Carrie Ann Ryan
WHEN IRISH EYES ARE HAUNTING by Heather Graham
EASY WITH YOU by Kristen Proby
MASTER OF FREEDOM by Cherise Sinclair
CARESS OF PLEASURE by Julie Kenner
ADORED by Lexi Blake
HADES by Larissa Ione
RAVAGED by Elisabeth Naughton
DREAM OF YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout
STRIPPED DOWN by Lorelei James
RAGE/KILLIAN by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
DRAGON KING by Donna Grant
PURE WICKED by Shayla Black
HARD AS STEEL by Laura Kaye
STROKE OF MIDNIGHT by Lara Adrian
ALL HALLOWS EVE by Heather Graham
KISS THE FLAME by Christopher Rice
DARING HER LOVE by Melissa Foster
TEASED by Rebecca Zanetti
THE PROMISE OF SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
Also from 1001 Dark Nights
THE SURRENDER GATE By Christopher Rice
SERVICING THE TARGET By Cherise Sinclair
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Click here to explore
HIDDEN INK by Carrie Ann Ryan
BLOOD ON THE BAYOU by Heather Graham
SEARCHING FOR MINE by Jennifer Probst
DANCE OF DESIRE by Christopher Rice
ROUGH RHYTHM by Tessa Bailey
DEVOTED by Lexi Blake
Z by Larissa Ione
FALLING UNDER YOU by Laurelin Paige
EASY FOR KEEPS by Kristen Proby
UNCHAINED by Elisabeth Naughton
HARD TO SERVE by Laura Kaye
DRAGON FEVER by Donna Grant
KAYDEN/SIMON by Alexandra Ivy/Laura Wright
STRUNG UP by Lorelei James
MIDNIGHT UNTAMED by Lara Adrian
TRICKED by Rebecca Zanetti
DIRTY WICKED by Shayla Black
THE ONLY ONE by Lauren Blakely
SWEET SURRENDER by Liliana Hart
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1001 Dark Nights story
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Table of Contents
Book Description
About Lorelei James
Also From Lorelei James
Acknowledgments from the Author
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection One
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Two
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Three
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue
Discover 1001 Dark Nights Collection Four
Discover the World of 1001 Dark Nights
Discover More Lorelei James
An excerpt from Unbreak My Heart by Lorelei James
Special Thanks
One Thousand and One Dark Nights
Once upon a time, in the future…
I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.
I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and
the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast
library at my father’s home and collected thousands
of volumes of fantastic tales.
I learned all about ancient races and bygone
times. About myths and legends and dreams of all
people through the millennium. And the more I read
the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered
that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually
become part of them.
I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher
and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I
would not be telling you this tale now.
But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off
with bravery.
One afternoon, curious about the myth of the
Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to
see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar
(Persian: شهريار, “king”) married a new virgin, and then
sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written
and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand
women.
Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived
in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged
places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had
never occurred before and that still to this day, I
cannot explain.
Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have
taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can
protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to
protect herself and stay alive.
Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.
And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a
point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.
And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that
he might hear the rest of my dark tale.
As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new
one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before
you now.
Prologue
Liam Argent, age sixteen…
Lurking in the shadows of buildings, wearing a black hoodie, jumping every time a siren sounded in the distance…yeah, he was some cool customer, all right.
Ain’t like this is your first drug buy, Argent.
As if his conscience needed to remind him of that fun factoid.
Liam checked his calculator watch for the tenth time. Pointless, really. Dealers ran on their own schedule. When they said “Be there at ten,” it meant be there between nine and eleven o’clock. A few times, his source “Junior”—likely not even his real name—hadn’t shown up at all. His excuse was “family obligations.”
He swung his arms a couple of times to keep warm, which caused his coat to ride up his forearms, exposing his skin to the frigid night air. He’d grown four inches since last winter and now his coat didn’t fit. He hadn’t mentioned it to Gramma because she’d feel guilty that a new coat wasn’t in the budget for this month. He’d have to make do. Like he always did.
A Gran Torino pulled up to the curb. Liam waited, not sure if it was Junior since he never drove the same car twice.
The passenger window rolled down. Junior motioned for Liam to get in—all while the car kept inching along.
Liam didn’t hesitate, not even when his common sense screamed at him not to get into a drug dealer’s vehicle.
Ain’t my first drug buy, remember? he said snarkily to his conscience to shut it up.
The interior of the car reeked of clove cigarettes and bleach. Liam held his hands in front of the vents blasting out hot air, grateful for the warmth as he waited for Junior to speak first.
“Kid,” Junior said as he picked up speed and turned onto Hawthorne, “where are your gloves?”
“I…ah…left them at school.”
Junior harrumphed as if he didn’t believe him.
They kept driving until Junior found a spot he saw as safe to make the exchange. He threw the car in PARK and left the motor running.
Liam dug in the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out a crumpled wad of cash. Even the damp paper smelled of stale grease, courtesy of the restaurant where he worked. He cleared his throat. “Look, I’m ten bucks short. So, can I owe you ten next time? I promise I’m good for it. Or do you want to cut ten bucks’ worth out of the bag?”
Junior took the money and smoothed each bill out before shuffling them from the highest denomination to the lowest. Without looking up from his ritual, he said, “I ain’t the bank, letting you run a line of credit, kid.”
Liam said nothing.
“Nor am I in the bidness of dividing bags I already parceled out.” Then Junior looked him in the eye. “What’s your deal, boy? I get a message from you every two w
eeks. Always the same amount of product. No more, no less.” He gave Liam a head-to-toe once-over and frowned. “You ain’t got the desperate look of a full-time user, although that coat has seen better days.”
Liam remained mum.
“The dope ain’t for you, is it?”
“You warned me from the start that you didn’t want to know details about my life and shit,” Liam reminded him.
Junior shrugged. “Humor me.”
He said humor like yumor—not bothering to mask his Jersey accent.
“My gramma suffers from chronic arthritic pain. She can’t afford the pain pills or any other type of treatment. This stuff works.”
“Has she asked for that synthetic kind, what’s it called—Marinol?—that’s legal?”
He shook his head. “It’s still too much money. Your product is way cheaper.” Wait. Had he just insulted a drug dealer? “And way better,” he added.
“She gives you money for this?” Junior demanded.
“Some. I kick in the rest from my restaurant job. That’s why I’m short on funds this time because my hours got cut.”
“But Granny knows you’re buying her meds on the street?”
“It’s ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ with us.” He glanced away, hoping Junior wouldn’t see the lie. “She’s taken care of me since I was five. So when I do this, I feel like I’m taking care of her.”
“Jesus. You really are the wholesome kid you appear to be. Honesty is a rarity in my bidness. You wouldn’t believe the lies people will tell to get their next fix.”
Liam bristled. “I’m not scamming you. This is for my gramma. I don’t—”