“Got an envelope for you,” Jake said as he set the tray with bacon, eggs, and toast down. The fragrant smell of the coffee made her mouth water. She picked it up and took a sip as Jake handed her the envelope.
She turned it over in her hand. There was a spidery crawl of handwriting on it, but no name, just an address. She slipped it open and pulled out a card. A picture fell out too and she picked it up. A young boy hugged a rugged old man with tattoos and a bandanna and motorcycle leathers.
“It’s Duke. How’d he know where to send this?”
Jake shrugged. “I may have let him know where to send it. But don’t worry, it’s just a PO box.”
She opened the card and read what it said.
Dear Eva,
Thank you for the tattoos you did for me. Sorry about your sister. Wish I’d had the guts to say something sooner. I wasn’t there when he killed her, but I knew he’d done it when he needed us to lie for him. I went along with it because it’s what I knew. I have no excuses, but I want you to know this little boy right here made me want to be a better man. And so I am, with help from God, every day. Bless you and congratulations on your wedding.
Duke
“Wow,” she said, handing the card to Jake even while she teared up. “Guess you can never be too sure about anyone, huh?”
“You can be sure about us.”
“Yes, I definitely can. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Jake.”
“Don’t say stuff like that when your eggs are waiting.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ll get cold when I bury myself inside you and make you scream my name instead of eating them while they’re hot.”
Eva grinned. “Maybe I want to scream your name. You ever think of that?”
His answering grin was wickedly hot. “That’s what I hope for every fucking day of my life.”
“We can heat the eggs up later.”
“That’s my girl,” he said, moving the tray to the floor and attacking her body with all the delicious moves he had in his arsenal.
Life with Jake Ryan was never going to be dull. And that’s exactly the way she wanted it.
THE END
DISCOVER THE LILIANA HART MACKENZIE FAMILY COLLECTION
Click to purchase
Spies & Stilettos by Liliana Hart
Trouble Maker by Liliana Hart
Rush by Robin Covington
Never Surrender by Kaylea Cross
Avenged by Jay Crownover
Bullet Proof by Avery Flynn
Delta: Rescue by Cristin Harber
Hot Witness by Lynn Raye Harris
Deep Trouble by Kimberly Kincaid
Wicked Hot by Gennita Low
Desire & Ice by Christopher Rice
Hollow Point by Lili St. Germain
DISCOVER THE WORLD OF 1001 DARK NIGHTS
Collection One
Collection Two
Collection Three
Collection Four
Bundles
Discovery Authors
Blue Box Specials
Rising Storm
Liliana Hart’s MacKenzie Family
HOT ADDICTION
Hostile Operations Team, Book 10
By Lynn Raye Harris
Click here for more information
Coming April 11, 2017! The explosive NEW story in the Hostile Operations Team series! Dex “Double Dee” Davidson first made his appearance in HOT REBEL, Book 6 of the series. Now he gets his own story!
Five years ago…
Dexter Davidson checked his watch for the thousandth time that morning. It was nearing noon and his bride-to-be was over an hour late. His father stood in the chancel, his rented tuxedo making him appear distinguished and genteel rather than rough and worn like the farmer he was. But the look on his face was what killed Dex the most. It was one of pity and a growing resignation.
“Fuck this,” Dex growled as he clenched his jaw tight and walked down the aisle, between the rows of pews where the guests waited for the ceremony to start. The chapel doors were open to the outside because it was springtime and warm. But it was also raining. A soft, gentle rain, but rain nonetheless.
Perhaps the rain had caused a delay. Dex stood in the open door and took his phone from his pocket. Annabelle still hadn’t answered his texts. He sent another one, just in case, and felt his heart shrivel just a little bit more when no answer came.
He tried calling but it went to voicemail without even ringing. “Belle,” he said, his throat tight and his eyes stinging, “where are you, baby? I’m worried. Please let me know you’re safe. If you’ve changed your mind, it’s okay. Just let me know.”
It wasn’t okay if she’d changed her mind, but what else could he say? Annabelle Quinn had been his girl for the past four years. He’d fallen madly in love with her in an instant. He’d known her most of his life, had ignored her for much of it because she was his little sister’s best friend, but one day, pow!, she’d smiled at him the way she had a million times before—and he was done for. He’d been hers from that moment forward.
And now they were supposed to be getting married. He’d come home on leave from the Army at Christmas and asked her to marry him. She’d said yes. She and his sister had planned everything while he went back to Afghanistan and did his best to stay alive. He didn’t know how long he stood there before he felt a presence beside him.
“I’m sorry, Dex.” Katie put a hand on his arm. “She’s not coming.”
He wanted to deny it, but the look on Katie’s face told him all he needed to know. He felt hollow inside. Empty. Because he knew she was right. He’d known it for a while now.
His sister’s eyes were shiny. He took the phone from her hand and stared at the text message on the screen until the words blurred together and his heart burned away, turning to ash.
Belle: I can’t, Katie. Please don’t hate me, but I can’t. Tell Dex I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let it go this far. I’ve thought for a while that marrying him wasn’t right, that I’m not the woman for him—I should have been brave enough to say so. He deserves more than this. Tell him.
Dex stood there for a long moment, his gut roiling with emotions he didn’t know how to process. He dropped the phone and strode out into the rain while Kate called after him. He put his uniform hat on, shoved his hands into his pockets, and kept walking down the muddy road. Away from the country church that Annabelle had insisted was the place she wanted to be married.
He didn’t know where he was going or what he was going to do when he got there. All he knew was that his life would never be the same again.
ON BEHALF OF 1001 DARK NIGHTS,
Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~
Liliana Hart
Scott Silverii
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
InkSlinger PR
Asha Hossain
Fedora Chen
Kasi Alexander
Pamela Jamison
Chris Graham
Jessica Johns
Dylan Stockton
and Simon Lipskar
Table of Contents
BOOK DESCRIPTION
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
Hot Witness: A MacKenzie Family Novella Page 8
