by Lee Rose
Being Free
Anna Marie Lopez just wants to escape the clutches of her obsessive ex-boyfriend so she runs away. When her truck breaks down in a small town in Arizona, she doesn’t expect to find an ally or love. All she wants is her truck fixed so she can move on and hopefully get as far away from her ex as possible. She hires Blake Murphy to fix her truck for her, not to get involved in her life or try to discover all her secrets. But she can’t deny Blake is a temptation she is finding hard to resist.
Blake Murphy is instantly attracted to the suspicious but beautiful stranger who is passing through his hometown. He doesn’t believe her story, that she is just on vacation for one minute. He can’t help but feel the chemistry between them but he also doesn’t trust Anna.
Maybe he should stick close to her and discover what is really going on? When he discovers the truth, will he help to save Anna?
Genre: Contemporary, Romantic Suspense
Length: 34,026 words
BEING FREE
Lee Rose
EROTIC ROMANCE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance
BEING FREE
Copyright © 2014 by Lee Rose
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62741-207-0
First E-book Publication: February 2014
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2014 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
About the Author
BEING FREE
LEE ROSE
Copyright © 2014
Chapter 1
Anna Marie Lopez banged her hand on the steering wheel of her pickup truck in frustration. If it wasn’t for bad luck, she wouldn’t have any luck at all. Her truck had been making strange noises for the last forty or fifty miles but since she was on a long stretch of deserted highway in Arizona she had kept on driving. Finally it had given out completely, refusing to move another inch. With a loud cough and a big puff of steam, it had stopped, and she had no choice but to pull over to the shoulder of the road.
She grabbed her backpack that contained her wallet and some money. Her suitcase was much too heavy. She would have to find a tow truck and come back. She opened the door and stepped out of the truck. The heat hit her in the face like a brick wall.
She glanced a few feet in front of her and saw a sign. The welcome sign read “Welcome to Shady Grove. Population 453.” Great. Anna wasn’t fond of small towns. She hadn’t had a definite plan in mind when she ran from her abusive boyfriend. Her goal had been to lose herself in the millions of people running around any large city she could get to. Small towns meant everyone was in your business and you had no privacy. All she wanted was to finally be free again.
She could see the paved road leading to town was straight ahead and there were buildings in the far distance. She put her long black hair up in a ponytail, threw on her white shades on, and got ready to walk. The hot sun shining down on her. She hadn’t even moved yet and she already felt sweaty. She looked down at her pink, short, flared skirt and short-sleeved white silk blouse. At least she was wearing white sandals instead of heels. She’d find a garage and hopefully her truck wouldn’t cost her all her money to fix and she would be out of here as soon as she could.
She hadn’t walked far when she heard a car behind her and she tensed up, ready to run. She made sure she moved to the side of the road so she wouldn’t get hit. She kept walking and looking straight ahead when she heard a deep male voice yell out at her.
“Need a ride, ma’am?”
“No, thanks. I can walk,” she replied without looking at the man talking. The last thing she wanted to do was get friendly with the locals. If possible, she wanted to remain anonymous and unnoticed until she got out of here.
“It’s pretty hot today, almost a hundred,” said the voice patiently. “I can take you to Murphy’s Garage in town. My older brothers and I own it. It’s about five or six miles out.”
Anna stopped and looked at the car. It was a shiny black medium-sized car. She put a hand over her eyes so she could block out the sunlight and see the driver. He had short, spiky, dark brown hair and dark black sunglasses on. He looked like he was in his late twenties. He was dressed in faded jeans and a football T-shirt. None of Santiago’s men would wear anything like that. Maybe he was telling her the truth and just wanted to be helpful.
“I don’t usually take rides from strangers. How do I know you’re not a Michael Myers wannabe?”
The man laughed. It was a rich deep laugh and she almost smiled. Almost. Instead she put a hand on her hip and waited for his answer. She really wasn’t that scared. She knew how to take care of herself if he tried something funny with her.
&
nbsp; He reached for something on his sun visor and pulled out a license before handing it to her. She stepped closer to the car and took it out of his hand. It was an Arizona state license. Victor Murphy. Age thirty.
She handed it back to him and gave him a suspicious look. “What good will it do me to know your name if you take me to the desert and kill me?”
“Boy, you are a suspicious gal.” He gave her an amused smile, looking over the fancy way she was dressed. “Look, you can see the town from here. I swear not to touch you in the ten minutes it will take us to drive there. You look very pretty but not prepared for a long walk in a hundred-degree temp.”
Anna sighed. He had a point. It was really hot and she was already thirsty. She went around and got in the passenger side. The car looked neat and clean inside.
Victor noticed her looking around the car. “It’s newly restored and my pride and joy. A 1964 classic Chevy Nova. See, I wouldn’t kill you and get blood on my precious baby.”
Anna smiled and relaxed a little in the seat. “Well at least it has air conditioning for being so old.”
“Old?” he sputtered with mock anger. “It is a classic and not old. Don’t listen to her, baby,” he said, playfully patting the dashboard gently.
Anna rolled her eyes and muttered. “Men.”
As they got closer to the town she saw it had a country charm to it. A lot of the buildings were wooden instead of concrete. Benches, trees, and flowerpots lined the streets, giving it a welcoming feel. They drove through the main street, and a few people walked down the sidewalk, enjoying the summer day. Businesses were lined up along the street and it was so different from a big city. Anna found the place enchanting. She saw a couple of women pushing baby strollers and talking to each other. “It’s cute.”
“Who me? I know I’ve been told that a time or two,” Victor said smugly as he drove.
Anna laughed. It had been a while since she had felt like laughing and she had to admit it felt good. “The town, silly.”
She looked over at her rescuer and took a good look at him. He was a muscular man with wide shoulders. He looked like a football player. She couldn’t see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses but she would guess they were brown. “You’re okay, too.”
“Gee thanks. My head might just swell so take it easy with the compliments okay,” he answered with an amused chuckle. “Our garage is on the edge of town about half a mile down the road. Blake is the oldest, then Sam, then me. They do the mechanic work and I do the body work. They are very good and I’m sure they can get you back on the road again.”
“Did you restore this car with your brothers?” she asked with curiosity. “Since you’re not an axe murderer I can admit it is a nice looking car.”
“I did the body work, that’s what I like to do at the shop. I like taking an old forgotten car and making it look good again. Blake and Sam did the mechanics. Took us six months but it was worth it. They don’t have the appreciation for classic cars like I do. They drive plain boring pickup trucks,” Victor said proudly. “See that big gray building ahead? That is Murphy’s garage, our shop.”
Victor pulled up to the building and parked on the side and out of the way. He turned the car off and Anna got out of the car, taking a look around. The building was large and metal with huge garage doors that were wide open. A big white sign with red letters above the door said Murphy’s Garage. She could hear a radio playing music and the clanking sound of metal coming from inside the garage.
“Hey, bro.” Victor walked over to the open bay doors and yelled loudly over the music. “You have a customer.”
A man who looked similar to Victor came out of the dark garage and stepped into the sunlight. He was dressed in a dark blue jumpsuit. The first thing Anna noticed was that he was huge, taller than Victor. He stood at least six-four with wide shoulders. His hair was a light shade of brown with gold streaks but also kept very short. He was wiping his hands on a rag. His eyes were a pretty green color but Anna didn’t think he would appreciate hearing his eye color was pretty. Those striking eyes were currently raking over her body and she felt her stomach do a flip-flop in excitement. Her nipples got hard and her belly tightened with desire. This was not good. She was in this mess because she fell for the wrong man. Never again did she want to be in that place.
“I would shake your hand but I have oil on it. I am Blake Murphy.” He gave her a polite smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He had masculine appeal with a capital M but he also had a hard, rugged look that screamed danger. Anna had the feeling he was trying to size her up and was already setting judgment. She instinctively stepped closer to Victor. Victor just felt safer.
“Passing through?” he asked suspiciously.
Anna nodded, feeling very out of place and awkward. “I’m not from around here. I was passing through when my truck gave out. I’m hoping it’s nothing too serious and I can be out of here as soon as possible.”
“I picked her up by the welcome sign on the road leading out of town,” Victor added. “I can take the tow truck and go get her vehicle. I saw Sam’s car at the diner so I know he must be out to lunch.”
Blake nodded to his brother but kept his eyes on Anna. “He’s meeting Melody for lunch again.”
Victor sighed. “He’s been seeing a lot of that girl.” He went inside the building and got the keys. He came back out and gave Blake an amused smile. “Watch her. She is suspicious of every little thing. She accused me of being a Michael Myers wannabe and called my car old.”
Blake didn’t smile but he looked at Anna with a little more admiration. “Shows she is smart. A woman traveling alone can’t be to blasé about her safety.”
Anna gave Victor a superior smile but he just laughed at her and jumped in the tow truck. She wanted to ask him if she could go, too, but he left so quickly. She was left standing there alone and feeling very uncomfortable. Blake Murphy didn’t look like the type to indulge in a casual friendly conversation.
“Come inside to my office. It’s much too hot to stand out here in the hot sun,” he offered politely and she felt odd being alone with him. He didn’t smile and joke around like Victor did. He had an aura about him that felt intense. She could easily see him as one of Santiago’s muscle men. That put her on the alert.
“Do you have a name?”
“Anna,” she said simply and followed him through the garage and into a small office in the back. The surface of the desk was covered in papers and very messy. How did he get any work done with that mess? The organizer in her yearned to clean it. She sat on a chair in front of the desk, holding on to her backpack nervously. There was a very small window so it was a little dark in the room and only one door leading back out to the garage. Blake took a bottle of water out of a mini-fridge and handed it to her. She thanked him and opened it. The cold liquid felt so good going down her throat. She had driven for a long time without stopping, hoping she would make it to a large city. Then she had planned on dumping the truck since it was registered under a fake name. She had been hoping to find a temporary job soon but now all those plans were on hold until the truck got fixed. She cursed her bad luck once again.
“Do you have any idea what happened to your truck?” Blake asked sitting behind his desk. She didn’t like the way he suspiciously looked at her. It made her feel very uncomfortable and it was hard to sit still. She tried to smooth her skirt down and checked to make sure she wasn’t showing too much leg. Now she wished she had buttoned her blouse up as far as it could instead of leaving some cleavage showing. She knew his gaze lingered on her cleavage and it both excited her and intimidated her. Anna sighed. She wanted to give out as little information as possible but she could tell this man was much more observant than his younger brother was. “It wasn’t in the best shape from the beginning. I bought it used and it started running hot right away and losing water. I bought one of those liquid things to plug up a small leak in the carburetor.”
Blake interrupted her and the corner of his
mouth lifted upward. Not exactly a smile but he was no longer frowning at her at least. “Liquid things?”
Anna smiled back at him. Whereas Victor seemed to like to joke and laugh, Blake looked like he didn’t smile much.
“I admit I’m no mechanic. It was getting hot and losing water so I walked into the auto part store. The man behind the counter suggested this liquid stuff to plug the leak he said I had in my radiator. It was fine for a while, then about fifty or so miles back I began hearing little noises, but I was out in the middle of nowhere so I just kept driving and made it here.” She didn’t think it was wise to mention that she had thrown her cell phone out the window back in Reno.
Blake gave her a concerned look. “Yeah. I’m glad you made it this far. There is nothing but desert out there for miles. You would have been in real trouble then. Don’t you know it’s dangerous for a young woman to travel alone? Where is your family?”
Anna bristled. She didn’t need a safety lecture. He knew nothing about her journey or what she had been through. “Don’t you know not everyone is lucky enough to have someone who cares about them?”
“Where you going?” he asked, leaning back in his seat, ignoring her sarcasm. Anna didn’t know how trustworthy he was. She had learned the hard way that just because someone seemed nice didn’t mean they really were.
“Maybe Scottsdale or Phoenix,” she answered vaguely, shrugging her shoulder carelessly. “Just taking a summer road trip, nowhere special.”
* * * *
Blake leaned back in his chair with his arms behind his head. He appeared to be relaxed but he wasn’t. The very attractive young lady sitting in front of him was lying through her pearly white teeth. The moment he had laid his eyes on her, lust had hit him square in the chest and he had stopped breathing for a moment. Then he got angry at himself. He didn’t need this shit. He had just broken up with one conniving female and wanted to be left alone.
