Charged

by Jay Crownover

  She buried her face in the side of my neck and I shivered as her icy nose rubbed back and forth below my ear.

  “You trust me to make the right one?” There was laughter in her voice and an alluring glint in her eyes as she pulled back and smiled up at me.

  I grabbed her face between my hands and lowered my mouth back to hers. “Right or wrong, think of the stories you’ll have to tell after you make it.” I couldn’t wait to be a part of every single one of them. She was the beginning, middle, and end of the best story I had ever been lucky enough to be a part of. She always made for interesting plotlines and dramatic twists. Whatever story we were living was never going to be boring or predictable, and there was no one else I ever wanted to reach the climax, or a climax, with. The silly analogy made my lips twitch as hers rubbed softly against them in a whispered thank-you.

  As long as my story and her story ended the same way and on the same page, with her and me together at the end of it, I didn’t care about the decisions we were going to have to make along the way, good or bad, because I knew all the important ones we would be making together.

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  I was reading the introduction Joanna Wylde puts in the front of all her Reaper books as I devoured her latest book. (I’m obsessed with her words, people! She is so, so good!) She says she never lets reality get in the way of the story and I kind of love her for putting that out there like that because I feel the same way.

  Quaid is a lawyer so there is a lot of court and legal jargon thrown around in this book. I made sure most of it was as accurate as I could, but there are some parts and some time frames that have been manipulated to fit within the confines of this particular story. The real legal system moves much slower and has more moving parts … I am aware … but the gist is on-point and I’ve said it before: sometimes truth makes for really boring fiction.

  So to any real legal eagles out there I apologize for any liberties I may have taken with your profession. I sure hope you enjoyed the end result!!!

  AVETT AND QUAID’S PLAYLIST

  Riders on the Storm - The Doors

  Tornados - Drive-By Truckers

  Hurricane - American Aquarium

  Ain’t No Sunshine - Bill Withers

  Blackhole Sun - SoundGarden

  Have You Ever Seen the Rain - CCR

  Like a Hurricane - Neil Young

  Lightning Bolt - Pearl Jam

  Only Happy When It Rains - Garbage

  Rock You Like a Hurricane - The Scorpions

  Set Fire to the Rain - Adele

  The Sun and the Rain - Madness

  After the Storm - Mumford and Sons

  Butterflies and Hurricanes - Muse

  Crying Lightning - Arctic Monkeys

  Dust in the Wind - Kansas

  Hurricane - Thirty Seconds to Mars

  Look Out Sunshine - The Fratellis

  She’s a Rainbow - The Rolling Stones

  Snow Falls in June - Ryan Bingham

  This Is a Low - Blur

  Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Truthfully this book may not have been written and definitely wouldn’t be as fun as it is if it wasn’t for Kristen Proby, Jennifer Armentrout, Jen McLaughlin, Karina Halle, Cora Carmack, Lindsay Ehrhardt, Heather Self, Ali Hymer, Debbie Besabella, Denise Tung, and Stacey Morgan. I needed a break. I needed an escape. I needed to decompress and to whine about life and words and all the things that were tangled up and confused in my head, making it a pretty unpleasant place to be. The story wouldn’t come and in my line of work that’s a pretty terrifying thing to be facing. I took a few friendcations and a few mental health days where I ran away from being an adult and responsibility for a while because clearly my coping skills were lacking. But I needed that space and I needed that time. I also needed to hear that I wasn’t alone and that things would be okay.

  These ladies all had a hand in helping get me back on track. They kicked my ass when I needed it and all around forced me to pull my head out of my ass … where it was pretty firmly lodged, I must admit. I have good friends who are good people and manage to keep me and themselves grounded and true when this business feels like it might swallow you whole—frankly, they are the best—and it’s nice to know that they won’t let me wander too far off the path I have been steadily carving out for myself since I started this journey three years ago. I owe them a lot and I am forever thankful that books brought them into my life. I’m not giving them up for any of the stuff and things.

  This book is lucky (I mean, the book is finished and I think it’s awesome so that makes it lucky by my standards … lol) number thirteen!

  I can’t believe it. So many words, and so much work in such a short amount of time, and it never gets old or boring to unleash my own special kind of crazy and magic on the book world. Thank you so very much for being here … regardless if this is your first book of mine or if you’ve been here for all thirteen. I can’t thank you enough for giving me the opportunity to tell my stories and to live out my biggest dream. Every single reader, blogger, author, professional, friend, and family member that has been here for this ride has had a hand in making something that seemed unbelievable and unrealistic my reality. That is so special and so important that there are never going to be enough ways to share my gratitude with you.

  Thank you … a million thank youz … and a million more …

  Amanda (and Martha all the way across the pond), Jessie, Caroline, Molly, Elle, KP, Stacey, and Melissa … thanks for never wavering, for staying on course, for navigating the waters no matter how choppy and treacherous they may get. Thanks for your faith and belief when I have none of my own. Thanks for reminding me this is a team sport when I often feel like I’m playing, winning, and losing solo.

  Thanks to the best folks a girl could have … if you see them at an event with me give them a squeeze and tell them Jay loves them. You might want to buy them a drink while you’re at it because traveling with me and my bad juju is no picnic!

  Hey, Mike, you rock, and I wouldn’t have made it through this year without you, no joke. Thank you for always being rock solid, for being there, and for being my go-to guy for all the things.

  To all the authors who are so disgustingly talented and so inordinately gracious with their time and gifts, thank you for being my inspirations and my friends. You are all brilliant and who you are as people as well as storytellers is unparalleled. This huge thanks and virtual hug goes out to Jennifer Armentrout, Jenn Foor, Jenn Cooksey, Jen McLaughlin, Tiffany King, Tina Gephart, Tillie Cole, Joanna Wylde, Kylie Scott, Cora Carmack, Emma Hart, Renee Carlino, Penelope Douglas, Kristen Proby, Amy Jackson, Nichole Chase, Tessa Bailey, J. Daniels, Rebecca Shea, Kristy Bromberg, Adriane Leigh, Laurelin Page, EK Blair, SC Stephens, Molly McAdams, Crystal Perkins, Tijan, Karina Halle, Christina Lauren, Chelsea M. Cameron, Sophie Jordan, Daisy Prescott, Michelle Valentine, Felicia Lynn, Harper Sloan, Monica Murphy, Erin McCarthy, Liliana Hart, Laura Kaye, Heather Self, and Kathleen Tucker. Seriously, I admire every author on this list, and what they add to this business and to my writerly life. If you are looking for a solid book to read, I promise one of theirs won’t disappoint.

  Last but not least, thanks to my furry little entourage for being my heart. Woof!

  If you would like to contact me, there are a bazillion places you can do so!

  Check my website for updates, release dates, and all my events:

  www.jaycrownover.com

  I’m also all over the interwebs!

  Please feel free to join my fan group on Facebook:

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/crownoverscrowd/

  https://www.facebook.com/jay.crownover

  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJayCrownover?ref=hl

  Follow me on Twitter: @jaycrownover

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  https://www.goodreads.com/Crownover

  http://www.donaghyliterary.com/jay-crownover.html

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  Look out for the next smoking hot instalment in the Saints of Denver series: RIVETED, coming May 2016

  Even the hardest of hearts can be RIVETED by the blinding light of love when the right person comes along and shines bright and brilliant in the centre of a life lived dark and dreary …

  Church and Dixie’s story coming soon …

  Click here to pre-order RIVETED now

  Try the first smoking instalment in Jay’s Saints of Denver series, BUILT:

  Click here to buy now

  Want more from Jay Crownover? Introducing the Marked Men, with the first book in the series, Rule

  Opposites don’t just attract … They catch fire and burn the city down

  Click here to buy RULE now

  About the Author

  Jay Crownover is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Marked Men and Welcome to the Point series. Like her characters, she is a big fan of tattoos. She loves music and wishes she could be a rock star, but since she has no aptitude for singing or instrument playing, she’ll settle for writing stories with interesting characters that make the reader feel something. She lives in Colorado with her three dogs.

  Also by Jay Crownover

  THE MARKED MEN

  Rule

  Jet

  Rome

  Nash

  Rowdy

  Asa

  SAINTS OF DENVER

  Built

  Leveled (an e-book only novella)

  Charged

  WELCOME TO THE POINT

  Better When He’s Bad

  Better When He’s Bold

  Better When He’s Brave

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street

  Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  http://www.harpercollins.com.au

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East – 20th Floor

  Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

  http://www.harpercollins.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited

  P.O. Box 1

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  1 London Bridge Street

  London, SE1 9GF

  http://www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  195 Broadway

  New York, NY 10007

  http://www.harpercollins.com