He leaned down and captured her lips with a kiss. She pushed him away.
“What they hell are you doing?”
“Ending the fight. I’m not even sure how to do this, so I thought I’d skip straight to the make-up sex.”
She looked at him, and for half second, he thought she was going to yell at him again. Instead, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bedroom.
Jamie’s palms were sweating at the court hearing. David hadn’t shown up at the house at all. Jamie was worried he wouldn’t show up to court, but he was waiting for them.
“You two all made up?” he asked.
“Yeah. Where have you been?”
“I thought I’d give you two some privacy. You ready?”
“What do you think is going to happen?” Jamie asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine. I told you I don’t do family law. I have no idea how this works.”
The judge entered, and everyone stood. The tension was thick in the air.
The judge looked down her nose at all of them. “You may all be seated. I had an interesting visit last night.”
David coughed next to Jamie, and he saw the edges of the judge’s lips twitch.
“It appears that several weeks ago, DFS was contacted by Garrett’s school concerning some unusual bruising and marks. DFS visited the home and determined that the child was safe there. However, the officer who visited the home contacted me last night and asked that I meet with him. He brought with him a gentleman by the name of Andres Fletcher. You know him, yes, Mr. Green?”
“I do.”
“Excuse me, Your Honor,” interrupted Zoe’s attorney. “But we agreed that any evidence gathered by the PI was inadmissible.”
“That we did. But this was evidence that was brought to me not by Mr. Green, but by a government official. The evidence he presented was disturbing and unsettling. Not only was there drug paraphilia on sight in the home, but I have pictures of Garrett playing outside alone, obviously after dark. Mr. Fletcher informed me that he sat outside the home that evening for several hours. Garrett was outside for at least two hours, and when he tried to go in the house, Zoe would not let him in. This was near midnight. Only after he cried at the door for another fifteen minutes would she let him in. When I spoke with Garrett, he expressed his desire to live with Mr. and Mrs. Green. Normally, that doesn’t carry a whole lot of weight as kids will often want to live with the parent that offers the most freedom, but Garrett used key words like safe, comfortable, and love.
“I understand now why Mr. Green went after full custody, and so it will be granted under one condition. He must stay in South Carolina. I understand that you travel quite a bit for your employment, and Garrett may travel with you, but he must be enrolled in school here and not out of the state for more than three months at time. Zoe will be granted limited supervised visitation for one year until unsupervised visitation will be reconsidered. Mr. Green, Garrett is in my office and ready to go home whenever you are ready. Court is adjourned.”
Jamie felt a weight lift off his shoulders. Garrett would be safe. With him. He felt a little breathless. Bethany squeezed his hand, and he engulfed her in a hug.
Garrett was going home with them.
Garrett tugged on one end of a rope toy, and Hexa pulled at the other. She wasn’t about to give it up. Finally, Garrett let go and sat on the couch next to Bethany.
“How come I’m here again?” Garrett asked.
In all the craziness, Jamie hadn’t had time to explain things to Garrett yet. When they entered the house, Garrett had eyes only for Hexa, and so Jamie let him play first. Bethany kept waiting for him to bring it up, but he never did. Not even during dinner.
“That’s something your dad is going to have to explain.”
Jamie sat on the other side of Garrett. “You’re going to live here with us from now on. Will that be okay?”
Garrett’s eyes lit up. “Really. You mean it? I don’t have to go home anymore?”
Jamie nodded. “This is your home now. You’ll still see your mom, but probably not very often.”
Garrett threw his arms around Jamie’s neck. “Thank you.”
Bethany wasn’t quite sure how she fit in. They’d gotten what they wanted, and she was pretty sure Jamie wanted to stay with her, but she was still insecure with where she stood after their fight.
“Okay, time for bed,” he said, and Garrett looked at him with wide eyes.
“Can Hexa still sleep with me?”
Jamie smiled. “Sure, kiddo.”
She let them go upstairs first. She wanted Jamie to have that time alone with Garrett. She grabbed the wine and turned off the lights. She was setting out the glasses when Jamie wrapped her in a hug from behind. “I wonder how much longer we’ll be able to do this.”
She spun. “Why would we have to stop?”
“Because I don’t know about you, but I think Garrett needs a little sister.”
Check out the first book in the Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Series
Snowfall and Secrets
Tess had made a lot of mistakes in her short life. She thought she got it out of her system after high school, but apparently at twenty-five, she was still as dumb as she was at eighteen. Maybe more. This was definitely the stupidest thing she’d ever done.
After the plane touched down on the nearly frozen northern Michigan runway, she turned her phone on and discovered twenty messages from her mother and four sisters. They all said the same thing.
“Come home.”
She’d lived in Southern Florida her entire life. But she had to get away from there. Though she sure picked a crappy time of year. The second week of January wasn’t exactly smart.
Passengers at the tiny airport disembarked down a stairway instead of into the airport. As she stepped off the plane, she knew she made not one big mistake, but two. Prior to this moment, she’d never been in weather under forty degrees. This was probably below zero. She wasn’t prepared for cold like this.
The wind bit at her face and hands as she ran for the airport. She had gloves on, but they were useless against the chill. Lost in thought, she waited for her bags. She would need to stop at a store to get a better coat before she headed to the island. Never mind that she blew most of her savings on the best winter weather gear she could find in Miami, which wasn’t the place to buy for a Michigan winter.
A hand tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and found herself having to look up at a man with chiseled features. She sucked in a breath. She always had a weakness for tall, dark, and handsome.
“Are you Tess?” he asked.
She nodded. If this was her boss, she was in so much trouble.
“Are you Dr. Jorgenson?”
He chuckled. “No, I’m Lukas, and I’m a little young to be the superintendent of a school. Doc doesn’t leave the island during the winter. I’m your landlord.”
She nearly burst out laughing. She was so in for it.
“How’d you recognize me?” she asked.
“You’re the only one not dressed for the weather. Doc said you were from Florida, but I thought you’d have more sense than this.”
Tess wore a wool coat over a sweater dress, ankle length leggings, and knee high black boots. She was more covered than she’d ever been in Florida. Yet she was still freezing.
Before she could answer, he continued speaking.
“Do you have a heavier coat and gloves in your suitcase?”
Tess shook her head. “I bought the best I could find.”
He frowned. “The shops are closed. You’ll have to come back to the mainland later and get more gear. In the meantime, you’re gonna lose a couple of fingers. Seriously, are those the only gloves you have?”
She nodded and looked down at her thin gloves that matched her dress. She had four other pairs, but they were all the same kind, and trying to layer them didn’t make much sense. She knew he was right; her fingers were in danger.
Lukas hefted the two
massive purple suitcases into the bed of his truck. He hoped like hell he had an extra pair of gloves in the cab, otherwise his fingers wouldn’t survive because there was no way he was going let her freeze to death on the back of his snowmobile. Doc would never forgive him. Though, if she was this ill-equipped for the northern Michigan temperatures, she might be on the first plane back to Florida.
“Did you bring any snow pants?” he asked her as he rummaged behind his seat. He didn’t find any gloves, but he found hand warmers.
“Oh, no, I don’t ski.”
He chuckled. Doc was probably going to be looking for new teacher in less than a week. Lukas had another full-face hat too; at least she wouldn’t completely freeze. Also, his body would protect hers, especially if she hung onto him. Not that he minded. He hadn’t seen a body like hers in years. She had legs that went on for miles, and he seriously wondered if that rack was real. They didn’t make girls like her in Michigan. No, she definitely belonged somewhere with palm trees and bikinis.
“Do you have any pants?” he asked.
“What do you call these?”
He looked at her legs again because he didn’t want to waste the opportunity.
“Tights. You need pants. Do you have jeans? Sweat pants? Since you don’t have snow pants, you’ll need to layer a little bit.”
“I brought a few pairs of jeans.”
They pulled into the long-term parking lot. He dropped her and her bags off at the ferry waiting room. They kept it open and heated most of the year, even when the lake froze over.
“Find three or four pairs of pants and put them on over each other.”
Tess gave him a tight grin. “Okay, I’ll try.”
Try. How does one try to put on jeans? He shook his head. Women.
He parked the truck and jogged to the waiting room. The wind chill was around negative twenty degrees, cold, even for someone used to it. Tess had one suitcase open, and she was rolling on the floor, fighting with a pair of jeans.
“You okay?” he asked, choking back a laugh.
Her cheeks reddened as she shook her head.
“They won’t go on over the leggings.”
“Do you have anything that isn’t skin tight?” All of the pants sitting around looked to be the same size.
She pouted. It looked adorable. Those lips of hers practically begged to be kissed. “No.”
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, listen, I’m going to the truck to get something. In the meantime, take off those silly tights and put on a pair of jeans. They’ll keep you warmer. Maybe you can get a pair of leggings on over your jeans.”
“They aren’t as stretchy as they look, but I’ll see what I can do.”
Lukas tried to think of the best way to keep her warm on the drive across the lake. He grabbed the blanket and hand warmers he kept in the cab. Dammit. The snow pants would have to be sacrificed. His legs would be cold when he got home, but at least she’d have all her body parts.
Tess looked just as underdressed as before. He took off his snow pants and handed them to her.
“Don’t you need these?” she asked. How sweet of her to be concerned.
“Not as bad as you do. I’ve got long underwear under my jeans. Do your boots have a lining of any kind?”
“No, but I brought a pair of Uggs. Let me find them.” She opened the other suitcase, and it looked like all she had was different kinds of boots and tennis shoes. Most of them would be useless on the island until May. He shook his head. Silly girl.
Lukas sighed when he saw her socks. “You’ll need to buy some wool socks too. Those will never keep your feet warm. Better dig out a few more pairs.”
A nervous giggle escaped her. “At this rate I’ll be wearing half my suitcase.”
He nodded and yawned. He had to be up early, and this was taking longer than he planned. Especially since her plane was an hour late.
After Tess put her suitcases back together, he carried them outside and loaded them on the sled he towed behind his snowmobile.
“You get on first,” he said, handing her a helmet. She took it without question and sat on the back the snowmobile. He wrapped the blanket around her and then climbed on in front.
“Get as close as you can and put your hands inside my coat.
“What the hell?” she asked.
He chuckled. “Listen, princess, it’s not like I want your hands all over me, but if you don’t, you’re going to lose a few of those fingers, and you need those fingers to teach.”
She pressed herself against his back, wrapped her arms around his waist, and slipped her hands up the front of his coat. He hissed, not quite prepared for the cold, or the feelings of desire that crept up. It was going to be a long ride.
Want to keep reading? You can purchase the book here:
www.kimberlyloth.com/snowfall
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Kimberly Loth can’t decide where she wants to settle down. She’s lived in Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, Utah, California, Oregon, and South Carolina. She finally decided to make the leap and leave the U.S. behind for a few years. She spent two wild years in Cairo, Egypt. Currently, she lives in Shenzhen, China with her husband and two kids as a full time author. She loves romantic movies, chocolate, roses, and crazy adventures. She’s the author of Amazon bestselling series The Dragon Kings.
The Thorn Chronicles
Kissed
Destroyed
Secrets
Lies
The Dragon Kings
Obsidian
Aspen
Skye
The Kings (Coming Dec 2016)
Omega Mu Alpha Brothers
Snowfall and Secrets
Pyramids and Promises
Folly and Forever
Monkeys and Mayhem (Coming Jan 2017)
Thank you to my family for their unwavering support—Will, Xandi, AJ, Mom, Matt, Tiffany, and all of my extended family. You are the best.
Thank you to those who help me turn my manuscripts into real books—Kelley, Suzi, Brittany, Donna, Rebecca, and Colleen.
To my book tribe, thank you for everything—Mandy, Kristin, and Karen.
Virginia, you are amazing. Thank you for being my second half. I couldn’t do this without you.
As always, my superfans are incredible. Thank you for being awesome— Alie Morgan, Amber Krogh, Amber Reid, Andrea Hubler, Brandi Williams, Brianna Snowball, Danyelle Wadsworth, Dawn Foster, Debbie Rodriguez, Denise Austin, Donna Wolz, Jennifer McIntosh, Jordan Teerman, Kayl Pajela, Kelly Tress, Laurie Murray, Mary Martin, Michelle Sullivan, Patti Hays, Shelly Ash, Shelly Small, Stephanie Pittser, Tori Hoffert, Zoe Cannon
Folly and Forever (Omega Mu Alpha Brothers Book 3) Page 17
