Dirty Little Secret

by Laramie Briscoe

  Dirty Little Secret

  Book #5 in the Heaven Hill Series

  By Laramie Briscoe

  Copyright © 2014 Laramie Briscoe

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Edited by: Lindsay Gray Hopper

  Cover Art by: Kari Ayasha, Cover to Cover Designs

  Photography by: MHPhotography Stock & Custom Photos

  Cover Models: Alexander Cheek & Mandy Hollis

  Proofread by: Dawn Bourgeois

  Formatting: Paul Salvette, BB eBooks

  Heaven Hill Series

  Meant To Be

  Out of Darkness

  Losing Control

  Worth The Battle

  Rockin’ Country Series

  Only The Beginning

  One Day at A Time

  Dedication

  To the people who work with me on every book…you make this just as exciting as it was the first time I pressed “publish”. Thank you to Lindsay, Kari, Paul, and the newer two—Mandy and Dawn. I truly appreciate everything that you all do to help me.

  Summary

  Sister

  Lone survivor

  Scared, but tough

  Christine Stone has lived through a lot since the day she was born. Her older brother left her without a backwards glance, leaving her with parents who wanted to use her to better themselves in their cult-like religious sect.

  Days after legally becoming an adult, she’s given to an older man for an arranged marriage that will change her life forever. Escape is the only way her life can be saved. When she succeeds and sets out to make a new life for herself, she meets Travis Steele—communications and security officer for the Heaven Hill MC.

  Loner

  Protector of secrets

  Level-headed and steady

  Travis Steele has been on the periphery of the Heaven Hill MC for a long time. Quiet, he takes his job seriously. He is the protector of the group, in charge with keeping family and friends safe.

  When one meeting with the sister of his friend turns into more, he struggles with where to draw the line. She needs a friend, and Travis prides himself in being what other people need, often sacrificing himself for others. As he discovers the life that Christine has been forced to live, it opens up old wounds, new wounds, and secrets that everyone thought long buried.

  Turning a chance meeting into love is hard, especially when everyone has a dirty little secret.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Books by Laramie Briscoe

  Dedication

  Summary

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue

  Excerpt from Heaven Hill #6

  Acknowledgements

  Connect with Laramie

  Also by Laramie Briscoe

  The Heaven Hill Series

  Chapter One

  “Where the hell does he keep going?”

  Jessica looked up from her laptop, her eyebrows drawn together in question as she looked at her two friends, Bianca and Meredith. “Who?”

  “Travis,” Meredith answered, turning around from the window. She leaned against the counter and folded her arms over her chest. “Every couple of days he leaves here like his motorcycle boots are on fire. He can’t get down that drive fast enough, and then he doesn’t come back for hours.”

  “Maybe he’s got a woman.” Jessica shrugged, turning back to the screen of her laptop.

  Bianca snorted. “Leave it to the romance author.” That had become the running joke on everything related to love, sex, and secrets. It was all Jessica’s fault.

  They shared a laugh as Tyler made his way into the kitchen. “What are you ladies cackling at?”

  “Jessica seems to think that Travis’s got a woman,” Meredith grinned up at her husband.

  “Oh really?” He grabbed Meredith around the waist and pulled her to him. He leaned against the counter, his big body providing a comfortable perch for his wife. “Why do you say that?”

  “He’s leaving here every couple of days, and he doesn’t come back for a few hours,” Jessica explained. “Plus, the other day when he was helping me switch over some of my metadata on my book, I caught a whiff of perfume off him.”

  Tyler lazily slung his arm around Meredith’s neck and leaned back fully against the counter beside them. His long legs braced against the floor, and he cut his eyes at the woman sitting in front of them. “Look, Felicity,” the ladies snickered as he used her pseudonym, “not everyone around here escapes with their lover boy every couple of days to have a forbidden tryst in a hotel room.”

  “Whatever.” She blew out a breath. “I’m just saying, he’s changed since I came here, and if you’re wondering where he’s going—my money’s on a woman.”

  Late October in South Central Kentucky was a crapshoot. Sometimes, the lingering heat of summer had a sharp hold on the region. Every once in a while, though, if they were lucky, October brought with it cool mornings and a crisp scent to the air that told all the residents that winter was coming. On this morning, Travis Steele knew that winter was coming. He could feel it in every part of his bones, could smell it rising up from the earth.

  He walked across the gravel driveway to where the garages sat. Instead of going through the clubhouse, he took a quick look around, hoping that no one saw him. If someone saw him, then they would ask questions and he would have to lie. Something he had been doing for months already; he already felt like a piece of shit. Lying to his brothers didn’t sit well with him, but these were extenuating circumstances and desperate times called for desperate measures. One more glance behind him and he entered the garage, got on his bike, put on his helmet, started it up, and off he went. Gravel flew behind him as he made his way down the drive. The faster he could get off Heaven Hill property, the better he would feel.

  Once he was out on Porter Pike, he opened up the throttle, going faster than he normally would. The tension in his body was palpable—the sneaking around, the secrets, they were all beginning to take a toll on him.

  Travis drove down Porter Pike, turned right at Lo
uisville Road, and then made his way out onto Highway 526. Pulling into a subdivision, he parked his bike in the driveway of a nondescript house before getting off and walking to the front door. Instead of the normal key lock, there was a number pad. Only he and the occupant of the home knew the code to get in.

  “Travis, is that you?”

  The cadence of the soft voice could be heard before it could be seen. Christine was still very jumpy when it came to having people in her personal space. That was one of the reasons he never called before he showed up, but he had a set schedule that the two of them had learned to agree on.

  “Expecting someone else?” He smiled slightly. It was a joke, a new thing in their relationship. It was only a few days ago that he’d tried joking with her. She had giggled just as softly as she talked, and it was then that he knew he would do whatever it took to make her do it again.

  “No.” She shook her head, her dark hair falling across her face.

  Outside, he could hear children playing up and down the street, but he couldn’t see them. Christine kept her blinds closed; she never opened them up, even when he was here with her. For the most part, she seemed scared to let the outside in.

  “It’s a gorgeous day,” he started, wondering what the answer would be this time. Sometimes she said yes to going out in public with him, but more often than not, it was a flat no. She usually didn’t go out unless it was to work or to get something she needed for her home. “It’s not too cold yet. Would you like to go out on the bike for a few hours?”

  In front of her, she clasped her hands, her fingers intertwining. “You think it’s okay?”

  “We’ll head towards Allen County if you want, maybe even cross the border into Tennessee. We won’t hit main roads, and we won’t see anyone that you don’t want to.” Travis wanted to spend time with her, as much time with her as he could, especially if it was on the back of his bike.

  “Just so long as we don’t head towards Franklin,” she whispered.

  He knew that Simpson County was a no-go for her. It had only been once that he had even suggested they go there, but all it had taken was once. She’d had a panic attack, the likes of which he’d never before seen.

  “I promise.” He held his hand out to her. He watched as her blue eyes roamed the tattoo that went from his wrist to his forearm and snaked up his bicep. She always looked at it. He wasn’t sure why and hadn’t yet gotten the guts to ask her. Making a come-on motion with his hand, he finished. “I brought you a bandana. We can cover your face until we get to Allen County, that way you don’t have to worry.”

  The tension that had caused her to stiffen released immediately. She always worried Jagger would see her or he would see her. Worse yet, one of the men that worked for him would find her. And she wasn’t stupid; she knew that those men were everywhere.

  Travis wasn’t sure yet if those people were a figment of her imagination or if they were real.

  A bright smile finally lit up her face, and just like it always did, it knocked the breath right out of him. “You ready?”

  Christine nodded, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. It was so different than the hair he had seen her with months ago at Wet Wanda’s, but then they’d come a long way from those first meetings. Travis had made sure that she didn’t have to take her clothes off to make a living. He’d made sure she had a roof over her head, food in her belly, and a dependable car to get her from point A to point B. He’d been responsible for all of it, including calling in favors. Those were favors he had thought long and hard about calling in, but knew at the end of the day, she would be worth it.

  “I am,” she finally answered, her voice still soft.

  “Then let’s go.”

  They walked outside, both getting on his bike. Once he was seated, he handed the bandana back to her and watched behind his shoulder as she put it over the bottom part of her face. Big sunglasses covered the upper part before she put the helmet on. No one would be able to make out who she was, and that was the way they liked it. The secret had to stay just that, until it was allowed to come out.

  Chapter Two

  Christine wrapped her arms tightly around Travis’ waist as they traveled back down Highway 526. It was getting easier for her to be near him, for her to trust him, the more often he came around. He was her savior. It was as pure and simple as that. During those dark days when they had first met, she wasn’t sure they would ever be at this place in their relationship, but they were. Hell, she hadn’t been sure there would even be a place for him in her life, but he had gently never taken no for an answer.

  “You’ve got to let me help you,” he begged. “I can’t stand the thought of you taking your clothes off for these men every night. Your brother is one of my best friends; I can’t let you keep doing this.”

  She wanted to believe that there were good people in the world, that not everyone wanted something from her that she couldn’t give, but unfortunately that had never been the case in her life. Trusting someone was the hardest thing for her to do, and four weeks into a friendship felt like a very short amount of time. “What kind of job did you say it is?”

  “A receptionist and front-counter girl at the Curly-Q in town. They could probably fix your hair,” he blurted out.

  A smile played at the ends of her lips. Her hair did need help in a bad way. “I’ll think about it.”

  As they came to a stop at the Louisville Road intersection, Travis leaned back. “Left or right? We can get there both ways.”

  The night he offered her the job had changed everything and had led them to where they were at this moment. Right would take them toward town and the possibility of seeing people she knew…left would take them deeper into Warren County until they would have to turn east. This decision would be important, and it would mark a step in either her recovery or her staying complacent.

  “Let’s go right,” she said just loud enough for him to hear over the sound of the bike.

  Travis didn’t give her a chance to question whether this was what she really wanted to do or not. As soon as she said right, he lifted his feet off the ground and pointed them in that direction. He could feel the bite of her fingers, even through the leather cut he wore, the closer they got to the interstate and Porter Pike.

  Fear rolled up into her throat. “Don’t go that way!”

  The words were shouted next to his ear, and he made a split decision to go through town. They could take the bypass and then Scottsville Road all the way out to Allen County. “We’ll go through town, it’s fine.” He did his best to reassure her.

  Pushing her head against his back, she hid, not wanting to see any of the cars that passed them by. Slow tears made their way down her cheeks, and she again cursed the name of the man that had made her this way.

  Travis loved the drive to Scottsville. It was long enough that he could open up the throttle but not necessarily have to worry about going too fast. They pulled into the city limits and passed some home cooking restaurants before going out further into the county. This was one of their favorite things to do together, and they had been doing it once a month for the past few months. Pulling into their first stop, they got off the bike, him helping her with the helmet and taking the bandanna from her face.

  “You want some honey today?” he asked as they made their way to the Amish roadside stand. Several dotted the landscape, and they had a set route that they always took. There were a few that had special things that she liked to get, and he always made a point to stop at those. This was the last week the stands would be open, as cold weather would be making its way into the region soon.

  “Yes, please,” she answered softly, politely, as they made their way up to where the honey sat.

  The woman who ran the stand recognized the two of them. “Christy,” she called to them, her voice heavily accented. “I have one special for you.”

  Christine, not used to anyone giving her a nickname or calling her out in a crowd, looked scared for a moment.

/>   “Hey, you’re good,” Steele told her, casually putting his arm around her shoulders.

  “I know, just took me by surprise.”

  She waited patiently for the girl, who looked to be around the same age as her, as she brought the jar of honey over. “Thank you so much, Naomi!”

  “My pleasure, I like to take care of my good customers.”

  Travis reached into his jeans and pulled out the money for everything they purchased, handing it over to the young girl. “Thanks, Naomi,” he smiled to her.

  “You come back next season, and I’ll have even more for you.”

  Christine glanced over at Travis. She hated to be presumptuous, but she would love to come back with him, would love to know that next season they would still be taking these rides together.

  “We’ll be here,” he nodded as he grabbed their sack and walked them over to the bike.

  “If you have plans, it’s okay,” Christine told him. “I can find my way out here in my car.”

  Travis shook his head. “Nope, I got plans with you.”

  It had been this way since the day he’d picked her up on the side of the road and taken her to the CRISIS house. “You don’t have to keep hanging around me, Travis,” she told him softly. “You got me a house, a job, a car. I’m not a pet project.”

  “Never thought you were.” He shrugged and got back on the bike.

  “Surely to God, there’s some other woman you’d rather be hanging around with. One that opens the blinds to her windows, maybe?”

  This was the first time she’d brought up any of her nuances, and he would be crazy to let it pass. “Why do you do that?”

  “’Cause I don’t want him to find me.” She immediately hugged her arms around her middle to ward off the chill she suddenly felt.

  In all the time they’d hung out, he’d never been able to find out who him was; he only knew that the man she sometimes referred to had made a huge impact on her life.