by Hope Conrad
Basically, I told Katie every stupid mistake I’d ever made, beginning with pushing away well-meaning foster parents who tried to help me after my parents died and ending with me pushing her away, which she of course already knew. She’d listened. Then she’d taken my hand and asked when she was going to be able to meet my friends, because the members of Nailed MC sounded like even bigger bad asses than me.
Of course, I’d responded, “Challenge accepted” and swept her into my arms.
I still hate that my friends are once again shackled to King because of me, but together we’re working on wiping their debt free.
I watch Katie as she steps off the stage and I don’t take my eyes off of her as she returns to her chair with the rest of her graduating class. She catches my eye and blows me a kiss. I love it, but it’s not good enough. I check my watch, and exhale with impatience. I just want to see her up close, and congratulate her with a kiss.
I nudge Dee with my elbow. “Do you mind holding Riley for a sec?”
“Sure. Where are you going?” she questions as I kiss Riley’s forehead, making her giggle, then gently shift her onto Dee’s lap.
“I’m going to surprise Katie. Thanks, Sis.”
She hates it when I call her that, or at least she pretends to, but she feels like a sister to me now, so she’ll have to deal with it. I hunch over so I don’t block the view of the people behind me as I make my way to the end of the aisle.
* * *
Katie sits in the back row of her graduating class, and I’m not supposed to be over here, but what are they going to do? Take her diploma away? No. That won’t happen. They’ll have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.
I crouch low as I approach her from behind. When I’m within touching distance, I peer over her shoulder and whisper in her ear, “Hey.”
She jumps in her seat, and the students on either side of her turn to see the commotion.
She smiles wide even as she whispers, “You scared me. What are you doing over here?”
In response, I hold out my hand, and my heart clenches at how quickly and easily she takes it.
She climbs out of her seat, and squeezes between her abandoned chair and the girl’s beside her. I guide her behind the bleachers like we’re high school kids sneaking off to make out.
“What are you doing?” she scolds me.
I turn to her with a mischievous grin, and she immediately knows what’s up. She plants her hands on her shapely hips. “Thomas?”
She doesn’t always call me Thomas. Usually she does it when she’s teasing or scolding me, but whether I’m Street or Thomas to her, I don’t care. I’m fucking hers no matter what she calls me.
“What?” I shrug and approach her, placing one palm on each side of her waist.
“Did you bring me here to kiss me?”
“Can I talk you into more?”
She giggles then wraps her arms around my neck. “Talk? No.”
I lean forward and kiss her. She’s wearing lipstick, and I can taste the cherry base on my own lips. I make it short and sweet before pulling away and smiling. “That’s all I wanted.”
She pouts. “Really? So you’re not going to try to talk me into more?”
I’m surprised, but I’m not an idiot. “Talk? No.”
“Then what are you waiting for?”
God, I fucking love this girl.
Ten minutes later, after some serious making out and heavy petting, we emerge from under the bleachers. Her hair is mussed. Her lipstick gone. With a breathy whisper in my ear, which leaves me stunned, she gives me a final kiss then makes her way back to her seat. Once again, I’m lost in the way she moves. In the way she walks. In the way she can make my heart flutter faster than she can make my cock harden and throb.
I’m lost in the way I lust after a perfect happy ending, which means at least sixty years of married life followed by what I hope will be dying in our sleep in each other’s arms.
It won’t be easy. It hasn’t been easy thus far, but it’s a dream I can believe in. It’s a dream I have to believe in, because when it comes to life and love, she’s my only option.
She is my princess.
She’s my biggest fucking fantasy come true.
She and Riley.
And our baby in her belly she just told me about.
COMING NEXT IN THE HARD AS NAILS SERIES:
Hard Case (Book 2)
Rich, smooth, and powerful.
Slate Rawlings keeps mobsters out of prison, but now he’s tasked with defending an innocent woman who makes him imagine all the naughty things he can do to her…
Slate battled his way to the top and now he’s the most successful lawyer in the city.
His clients have pasts even darker than his, so he avoids honest, decent women.
The moment he sees kindergarten teacher Rose, however, he’s overcome by desire. She has blue eyes, pale skin and legs made to wrap around his hips. He wants to
push her sweet body against the wall and f**k her until she cries out in complete surrender, but she deserves better than the monster hiding inside him.
Only Slate can’t leave Rose alone because he’s the only one who can save her.
And eventually he knows he won’t be able to resist temptation.
Blackened soul or not, he’s going to make Rose his in every way imaginable.
Hard Core (Book 3)
Built, tempting, and deadly.
Axel Jackson is an ex-marine, haunted by what he’s done, but when he sees her, he dreams of the man he can become…
When Axel returns home, he’s shrouded in darkness, unable to forget the blood that stains his hands or the screams that haunt his dreams. When a dark force from his past offers him a job, he wonders if taking it will be his salvation or his downfall.
Then he meets Alyssa, a waitress working at a strip club, and he steps in just in time to save her. She’s beautiful, with her dark hair and darker eyes, with a body made for sin. He has to protect her, but he can’t love her.
She’s too good for him. Too innocent, too pure.
He knows he should let her go so she can find a better man.
But all he wants is to claim her, body and soul.
Hard Place (Book 4)
Haunted, determined, and desirable
Jericho Grant never thought he’d survive the fires of hell only to get a shot at possessing her, his very own angel…
After surviving unbearable loss, Jericho is gifted a second shot at happiness, which includes Delia Faith, a fresh-faced, golden-eyed stepsister who adores him. She’s sweetness and light, and Jericho never imagines she can be his, but he swears to protect her, even from himself.
Then fate intervenes, ripping Jericho’s world apart again, and he has no choice but to push Delia away in order to keep her safe. When she walks out of his life, he fully embraces his true nature, certain he’ll be lost in darkness forever.
Years later, a grown-up, sexy-as-sin Delia strolls into Jericho’s garage, demanding answers.
He warns her he’s not strong enough to turn her away a second time.
When she returns, he goes all in, determined to prove what he’s always known: no one can ever love her the way he can.
Hard Act (Book 5)
Brilliant, scarred, and enticing…
Davis Young is a wealthy, handsome, financier with a secret longing for the forbidden, including the daughter of his sworn enemy…
An orphan with few options, Davis ends up in the service of King, a dangerous mob boss. His only consolation? Occasional sightings of King’s daughter, Bella Prince, an icy blonde who’s always looked through Davis as if he doesn’t exist–until she doesn’t. Davis falls for her, the woman who heats his blood like no other, only to be betrayed.
Years later, Bella shows up for help, and in a moment of weakness, she reveals she never betrayed him and she’s longed to be his. In his bed. In his arms. Even on her knees. A strong woman, she’s dreamed of Davis dominating her in a way s
he’s never allowed a man to do before.
Davis is more than happy to give Bella what she wants, because it’s what he wants, too.
And when several forces, including her father, try to take Bella away from him, Davis declares war.
He’s always been a soldier at heart. For Bella, he’ll form an army to defeat their enemies and make her his.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hope Conrad writes sultry, intense contemporary romance. Her Hard As Nails series features her favorite kind of heroes: bad boy alpha males whose quests for redemption are fueled by their love for the strong women who take them on.
www.hopeconrad.com
Hard Time
Copyright © 2016 by Hope Conrad
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
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