by Lexy Timms
“The windows were imported from Austria in the eighteen hundreds in pieces. The pieces were assembled and leaded on site.”
“That’s amazing.”
The priest walked up the steps where the railing was, knelt quickly and crossed himself. He gave a backward glance to Luke.
“Not Catholic, are you?”
“I’m not anything.”
The priest continued past the altar and into a side room.
“We call this the vestry. It’s where I dress for services.”
“Oh, I should leave.”
“No need. All I do is put on the chasuble and the alb. Here, give me those.”
“What are they?”
“The Eucharist and the sacramental wine for the service.”
“Better be careful there, Father. Your Boss might not appreciate someone like me handling them.”
The priest chuckled and took the bags.
“You mean that stuff on your jacket?”
“Well, they aren’t stuff. Those patches mean something.”
“I’m sure they do, like my vestments. If I remember my Greek literature, Hades was the god of the dead. Some people equate Hades with transformation. Oh, not like death, but the deep changes that happen from time to time in their lives.”
“That sounds about familiar,” Luke said, amazed the priest was even having a conversation with him.
“So are you going through one of those changes now?”
Luke looked away and nodded. He wasn’t going to lie to a priest.
“And you blame God?”
Damn, he had heard Luke outside. “No, it’s really her parents. The girl’s.” He tried to laugh. “It’s always about a girl, isn’t it?” He shook his head as the priest patiently waited for him to finish. “It’s just that they are very Catholic, and they don’t think someone like me is good enough for their daughter.”
“Really?” asked the priest, his face completely unreadable. “Have you broken the law?”
“No.”
“Drink or do drugs?”
“I drink socially, but I never do drugs.”
“Disrespected their daughter?”
“No.” He didn’t think he had.
“Disrespected them?”
“No.” He hadn’t seen them in over a decade. Well, aside from driving by to drop their twenty-eight-year-old daughter off at her house.
“You work?”
“I own my own business. It does well.”
“Then I won’t ask you who they are, because I might know them, and I surely will know their priest, but I’ll ask you one more thing. Do you love her?”
“Yes,” said Luke quietly. “I always have.”
“Then I’ll tell you a secret,” the priest said conspiratorially. “That’s all that matters.”
Luke shook his head. “That doesn’t seem to be the case.”
“No, it is always the case. It is the loving that is important. Achieving that, that is the purpose of life. Whether or not you are together isn’t the point.”
“Then I don’t see the point.”
Father Peters sighed. “It’s a difficult concept. On the other hand, I don’t think that once God brings two people together he means for them to be apart. That is why we say in the marriage vows “what God has brought together, let no man break asunder”.
Luke looked into the man’s eyes and the priest nodded. “Thanks, Father.”
“I hope things work out for you. Now,” the priest smiled, “unless you care to join me, I have to prepare for my service.”
WHEN EMILY PULLED IN her driveway from work she found a motorbike parked in her spot and Luke sitting on the rocking chair on the porch. Her heart sped and danced a crazy rhythm. “Luke? What’re you doing here?”
“Please hear me out.” He stood. “If you still say no, then I’ll walk away and never bother you again. There’s something I have to know.”
“What is it?” He shouldn’t be here. If Evan was lurking somewhere and reporting to the police, everything could be ruined.
“Why didn’t you visit me that summer?”
Emily hung her head. She knew what he was talking about and was surprised he hadn’t brought it up the other day. “My parents wouldn’t allow me. My dad, well, he was only trying to protect me.”
“From what?” He threw his hands up in the air. “And now? They won’t allow you to see me?”
“No! It’s just that things are complicated with Evan and my court case.”
“Fuck Evan!”
Emily looked at him, shocked.
“And for that matter, fuck the court case! Em, are you seriously going to tell me that you’re going to let bullshit like this get in the way of us?”
“Luke, please,” pleaded Emily.
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s time for you to grow up, Em. I’m a man, an adult, and I’m not going to play these high school games with you. You’ve got a problem, then solve it. That’s what adults do. I’m offering, if you want, to solve it together. But for the love of all that’s holy, stop thinking that pushing me away is going to solve your problems! It sure as hell didn’t solve a single thing for me.”
Emily swallowed hard. “It didn’t?” She had believed he was better off without her.
“Not at all! In fact, it creates a hell of a lotta new ones.”
“What do you mean?” She hated seeing him upset.
Luke bent over by the rocking chair. “Like what the hell am I gonna do with these flowers?” Luke straightened and held out a bouquet of a dozen white roses.
Emily stared at them, and then him.
“But that’s not the worst of it.”
She wanted to smile but his face looked beyond upset. “What is?”
“What am I going to do with this?” He pulled out a long flat jewelry box from his pocket.
“What is it?” Her heart thundered against her chest.
“Open it.”
Emily took the box and opened it with trembling hands. She gasped. Inside was a small emerald cut sapphire on a silver chain. “Luke, it’s beautiful,” she whispered.
“Let me put it on.” He took the pendant from her hand and clasped it around her neck.
“Are you trying to bribe me?” said Emily.
“Not at all. I did think,” said Luke, whispering in her ear, “that a diamond ring would be pushing it. I bought this the day of the accident and... well, let’s just say it belongs around your neck.” He put his arms around her waist and kissed her gently. “Are you willing to give us a chance?”
Emily looked into Luke’s eyes, and knew she wanted nothing more.
A ring chime filled the air. Luke grasped at his right pocket and took out his cell phone. “Sorry, Em but I gotta take this.” He stepped back and began pacing on the porch. “What? Shit! Yeah, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” He looked at Emily with apologies in his eyes as he shoved his phone in his pocket. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to go.”
Emily stared at him bewildered. “Is everything all right?”
“Honestly, Em. I haven’t a clue. It’s some serious shit with the club.” He kissed her quickly on the cheek and bounded down the steps to his bike.
Emily watched Luke roar down the street and wondered how things were ever going to work out if when she was supposed to stay clear of the Hades’ Spawn Motorcycle Club.
What kind of trouble were they both getting themselves into?
~ THE END ~
Book II
ONE THAT GOT AWAY – NOW AVAILABLE
More by Lexy Timms
Book 1 in the Managing the Bosses Series
Description:
FROM USA TODAY BESTSELLING Author, Lexy Timms, comes a billionaire romance that'll make you swoon and fall in love all over again.
Jamie Connors has given up on men. Despite being smart, pretty, and just slightly overweight, she's a magnet for the kind of guys that don't stay around.
Her sister's wedding is at the foreground of
the family's attention. Jamie would be find with it if her sister wasn't pressuring her to lose weight so she'll fit in the maid of honor dress, her mother would get off her case and her ex-boyfriend wasn't about to become her brother-in-law.
Determined to step out on her own, she accepts a PA position from billionaire Alex Reid. The job includes an apartment on his property and gets her out of living in her parent's basement.
Jamie has to balance her life and somehow figure out how to manage her billionaire boss, without falling in love with him.
** The Boss is book 1 in the Managing the Bosses series. All your questions won't be answered in the first book. It may end on a cliff hanger.
For mature audiences only. There are adult situations, but this is a love story, NOT erotica.
Book One is FREE!
Sometimes the heart needs a different kind of saving... find out if Charity Thompson will find a way of saving forever in this hospital setting Best-Selling Romance by Lexy Timms
Charity Thompson wants to save the world, one hospital at a time. Instead of finishing med school to become a doctor, she chooses a different path and raises money for hospitals – new wings, equipment, whatever they need. Except there is one hospital she would be happy to never set foot in again—her fathers. So of course he hires her to create a gala for his sixty-fifth birthday. Charity can’t say no. Now she is working in the one place she doesn’t want to be. Except she’s attracted to Dr. Elijah Bennet, the handsome playboy chief.
Will she ever prove to her father that’s she’s more than a med school dropout? Or will her attraction to Elijah keep her from repairing the one thing she desperately wants to fix?
** This is NOT Erotica. It's Romance and a love story. **
* This is Part 1 of an 8 book Romance Series. It does end on a cliffhanger*
Heart of the Battle Series
Celtic Viking
Book 1
Celtic Rune
Book 2
Celtic Mann
Book 3
In a world plagued with darkness, she would be his salvation.
No one gave Erik a choice as to whether he would fight or not. Duty to the crown belonged to him, his father's legacy remaining beyond the grave.
Taken by the beauty of the countryside surrounding her, Linzi would do anything to protect her father's land. Britain is under attack and Scotland is next. At a time she should be focused on suitors, the men of her country have gone to war and she's left to stand alone.
Love will become available, but will passion at the touch of the enemy unravel her strong hold first?
Knox Township, August 1863.
Little Love Affair, Book 1 in the Southern Romance series, by best selling author Lexy Timms
Sentiments are running high following the battle of Gettysburg, and although the draft has not yet come to Knox, “Bloody Knox” will claim lives the next year as citizens attempt to avoid the Union draft. Clara’s brother Solomon is missing, and Clara has been left to manage the family’s farm, caring for her mother and her younger sister, Cecelia.
Meanwhile, wounded at the battle of Monterey Pass but still able to escape Union forces, Jasper and his friend Horace are lost and starving. Jasper wants to find his way back to the Confederacy, but feels honor-bound to bring Horace back to his family, though the man seems reluctant.
THE RECRUITING TRIP
Book Description:
Aspiring college athlete Aileen Nessa is finding the recruiting process beyond daunting. Being ranked #10 in the world for the 100m hurdles at the age of eighteen is not a fluke, even though she believes that one race, where everything clinked magically together, might be. American universities don’t seem to think so. Letters are pouring in from all over the country.
As she faces the challenge of differentiating between a college’s genuine commitment to her or just empty promises from talent-seeking coaches, Aileen heads to the University of Gatica, a Division One school, on a recruiting trip. Her best friend dares who to go just to see the cute guys on the school’s brochure.
The university’s athletic program boasts one of the top hurdlers in the country. Tyler Jensen is the school’s NCAA champion in the hurdles and Jim Thorpe recipient for top defensive back in football. His incredible blue-green eyes, confident smile and rock hard six pack abs mess with Aileen’s concentration.
His offer to take her under his wing, should she choose to come to Gatica, is a temping proposition that has her wondering if she might be with an angel or making a deal with the devil himself.
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Did you love Making Her His? Then you should read Hades' Spawn MC Complete Series by Lexy Timms!
From Best Selling Author, Lexy Timms, comes a motorcycle club romance that'll make you want to buy a Harley and fall in love all over again.
Book 1
Emily Rose Dougherty is a good Catholic girl from mythical Walkerville, CT. She had somehow managed to get herself into a heap trouble with the law, all because an ex-boyfriend has decided to make things difficult.
Luke "Spade" Wade owns a Motorcycle repair shop and is the Road Caption for Hades' Spawn MC. He's shocked when he reads in the paper that his old high school flame has been arrested. She's always been the one he couldn't forget.
Will destiny let them find each other again? Or what happens in the past, best left for the history books?
Book 2
Emily Rose Dougherty had only fallen in love once, in high school with a boy her parents didn't approve of. Emily saw through the tough-guy façade, his leather jacket and motorcycle. She gave her heart to him. An accident on Luke's motorcycle brought things to a screeching halt when her parents forbade her to see him again.
Neither forgot about the other.
Fast forward ten years…
Luke Wade built a good life as the owner of a motorcycle repair shop and the road captain of Hades' Spawn Motor Cycle Club. When he reconnects with his high school love, Emily, things seem to be falling into place.
When dirty dealings within Hades' Spawn, problems created by Emily's ex-boyfriend and secrets from Luke's past threaten to blow Luke's life and his relationship with Emily apart, it suddenly feels like everything spiralling out of control.
Can Luke and Emily find a way to conquer the obstacles to their love or will they be to each other, "the one that got away?"
Book 3
Emily Dougherty and Luke Wade were in love in high school, but circumstances conspired to keep them apart. Ten years later they meet again and find their connection is just as strong and more searingly hot than ever.
Except Luke and his motorcycle club, Hades' Spawn, are hip deep in problems between the vicious Rojos one percenter motorcycle club and their associated street gang, the Hombres. When Luke's employee and best friend, Gibs, is slain in a brutal shootout, dark secrets from Luke's past claim him. He finds he has to make a deal with the devil just to keep Emily and his club safe. However, to keep Emily out of danger he must also to turn his back on her.
Emily has lost her car, her job, and had to seek an order of protection against her ex, Evan Waters. In the face of her family's disapproval she's determined not to lose Luke too. But will Luke's heartless rejection drive her away? Or will she keep the faith and hope Luke finds his way back to her before her own secret causes her to do the unthinkable?
Can Luke and Emily survive the hopeless tangle of club and gang politics, and the fierce reach
of the law to find their way back to each other?
Book 4
Emily Dougherty and Luke Wade were in love in high school, but circumstances conspired to keep them apart. Ten years later they meet again and find their connection is just as strong and more searingly hot than ever.
Events take a dangerous turn when Luke's uncle, Mexican drug lord Raymondo Icherra shows up and stirs up trouble.
Emily's pregancy turns high risk with her fainting and having continuous high blood pressure. While Luke deals with a problem with his MC club Hades Spawn, Emily is kidnapped by persons unknown.
As Luke searches frantically for Emily he learns the truth about his past and his parent's murder.
Read more at Lexy Timms’s site.
Also by Lexy Timms
A Chance at Forever Series
Forever Perfect
Forever Desired
Forever Together
BBW Romance Series
Capturing Her Beauty
Pursuing Her Dreams
Tracing Her Curves
Beating the Biker Series
Making Her His
Making the Break
Making of Them
Billionaire Banker Series
Banking on Him
Price of Passion (Coming Soon)
Investing in Love (Coming Soon)
Billionaire Holiday Romance Series
Driving Home for Christmas
The Valentine Getaway
Cruising Love
Billionaire in Disguise Series
Facade
Illusion
Charade
Billionaire Secrets Series
The Secret
Freedom
Courage
Trust
Impulse
