by Talty, Jen
“You were going to leave?” she asked, her voice filled with hurt.
“I was worried my mother would put a bounty on my head and I’d never be free of her, and I’d be putting you in constant danger.”
“She’s dead,” Ashley said with a harsh tone. “While I never wish anyone dead, that woman—”
He pressed his fingers to her lips. “She wasn’t human. She was pure evil. Trust me.”
She curled her fingers around his wrist, her soft skin sending heat across his body.
“My father told me part of what happened when you were seventeen.”
Jasper’s breath hitched. He was still humbled by her father’s reaction to his identity when they’d first met, and again this weekend.
Joshua Riggs was truly a great man.
“I remember when he came home from the so-called training mission. His face was all bandaged, and he’d broken his arm. Watching him rehab was why I wanted to become a physical therapist in the first place.” She stretched out her legs and palmed his cheek. “It’s as if fate said we are destined to be together.”
Tears stung his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried. His mother had told him only weak men cried. When he’d been seven, he’d fallen and cut his leg, needing stitches. His mother, in order to teach him a lesson, stitched him up herself, and every time he cried, she’d slap him, telling him this would make him a real man.
There was so much of his past he’d tucked neatly away in a box inside his mind. He thought locking it up meant he could forget.
But he’d never forget, and maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.
“For years I hid in the Army and now as a trooper. I never got close to people for fear that one day my mother would show up at my doorstep. I took mission after mission, and volunteered for everything, making sure I never had anyone that would miss me too much if I were gone.”
“That’s no way to live,” she whispered.
“I know that now.” He fanned this thumb over her cheekbone. “But I scared myself today. I worry that if you hadn’t been there, I might have killed her myself, making me no better than her.”
The way her mouth tipped upward stole his breath and stopped his beating heart.
“She would have killed us both, given the chance. But you’re nothing like her, not even close.” Ashley pressed her hand on his chest. “You’re the kind of man young boys aspire to be like and that fathers want their daughters to end up with.”
“Are you trying to make a grown man cry, because you’re coming awfully close.” While the tears that threatened to break free were of the happy variety, he didn’t want to shed them. All he wanted to do was take this woman into his arms and love her forever. He draped his arm over her shoulder, pressing her back to the sand, his lips only centimeters from touching the most decadent mouth known to man.
Her legs wrapped around his body as the water rose up the sand and kissed their toes.
“I love you, Jasper Miles.”
“I love you more.” Beneath all the lies, he’d found true love.
Epilogue
One year later…
Jasper took the crying baby from the doctor’s hands and placed him on Ashley’s chest.
“Want to cut the cord?” the doctor asked?
An hour ago, Jasper wanted to run screaming from the room. His lovely wife almost never swore and in the course of twenty minutes, she’d dropped the f-bomb easily a dozen times, and every single one had been directed at him.
“Will it hurt the baby?”
“You should be more concerned if it will hurt the mommy,” Ashley said with a smile, holding their son against her body, kissing his forehead.
“Here.” The doctor handed Jasper a pair of scissors, and Jasper snipped the cord, tears rolling down his cheeks.
He had a son.
“Does this baby have a name?” the nurse asked as she took the child over to a bassinet and started to clean him up and check his vitals.
“His name is Joshua Jasper Miles,” Jasper said proudly. “Named after his grandfather, and a man I’m proud to call Dad.”
Thank you for taking the time to read HIS DEADLY PAST. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to leave an HONEST review on Amazon and/or Goodreads
Sign up for my Newsletter (https://dl.bookfunnel.com/6atcf7g1be) where I often give away free books before publication.
Join my private Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/191706547909047/) where she posts exclusive excerpts and discuss all things murder and love!
Never miss a new release. Follow me on Amazon:amazon.com/author/jentalty
And on Bookbub: bookbub.com/authors/jen-talty
Books by Jen Talty
NY State Trooper Series
IN TWO WEEKS
DARK WATER
DEADLY SECRETS
MURDER IN PARADISE BAY
TO PROTECT HIS OWN
DEADLY SEDUCTION
WHEN A STRANGER CALLS
Brand New Novella for the First Responders series
A spin off from the NY State Troopers series
PLAYING WITH FIRE
PRIVATE CONVERSATION
Other novels
REKINDLED
JANE DOE’S RETURN
THE BUTTERFLY MURDERS
The Aegis Network
THE LIGHTHOUSE
HER LAST HOPE
THE LAST FLIGHT
THE RETURN HOME
Coming soon!
THE MATRIARCH
The Collective Order
THE LOST SISTER
THE LOST SOLDIER
THE LOST SOUL
Coming soon!
THE LOST CONNECTION
Special Forces Operation Alpha
BURNING DESIRE
BURNING KISS
BURNING SKIES
BURNING LIES
BURNING HEART
BURNING BED
The Brotherhood Protectors
ROUGH JUSTICE
ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES
ROUGH RIDE
The Twilight Crossing Series
THE BLIND DATE
SPRING FLING
SUMMER’S GONE
WINTER WEDDING
Witches and Werewolves
LADY SASS
ALL THAT SASS
Coming soon!
NEON SASS
PAINTING SASS
Boxsets
LOVE CHRISTMAS, MOVIES
UNFORGETABLE PASSION
A NIGHT SHE’LL REMEMBER
SWEET AND SASSY IN THE SNOW
SWEET AMD SASSY Prince Charming
Novellas
NIGHTSHADE
HIS DEADLY PAST
A CHRISTMAS GETAWAY
About the Author
Welcome to my World! I’m an Award-Winning and Bestselling Author of Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, and Paranormal Romance. DARK WATER, book 2 in the NY STATE TROOPER series hit number 10 in Barnes and Nobel overall. THE BLIND DATE hit number 1 in the Contemporary Romance/Kindle Worlds List on Amazon. JANE DOE’S RETURN won both THE MOLLY and the BEACON before being published by the WILD ROSS PRESS.
I first started writing while carting my kids to one hockey rink after the other, averaging 170 games per year between 3 kids in 2 countries and 5 states. My first book, IN TWO WEEKS was originally published in 2007. In 2010 I helped form a publishing company (Cool Gus Publishing) with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer where I ran the technical side of the business through 2016.
I’m currently enjoying the next phase of my life…the empty NESTER! My husband and I spend our winters in Jupiter, Florida and our summers in Rochester, NY. We have three amazing children who have all gone off to carve out their places in the world, while I continue to craft stories that I hope will make you readers feel good and put a smile on your face.
Visit my website at http://jentalty.com
Sign up for Jen’s Newsletter (https://dl.bookfunnel.co
m/rg8mx9lchy) where she often gives away free books before publication.
Join Jen’s private Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/191706547909047/) where she posts exclusive excerpts and discuss all things murder and love!
