The Deputies: 3 Novella Box Set

by Olivia Jaymes

  Just like the entire town, Drake, Logan, and Ava were all at the grand opening of Sweet Revenge. The crowd spilled onto the sidewalk but somehow Logan had managed a table off in the corner where Drake had an excellent view of Tori. She was currently chatting with a few people from the town council while her helpers kept bringing out trays of mouthwatering goodies. Drake had already downed two cannolis, a brownie with fudge icing, a beignet, a bite sized cheesecake, and a tiny espresso flavored cupcake. He kept shoving food in his mouth every time the urge to go to her became unbearable. At this rate, they’d have to roll him out of the front door.

  “He’s pouting,” Logan stated with a grin in Drake’s direction. “Something’s gone wrong between him and Tori and he’s decided to make everyone’s life a misery. I’m told misery loves company. Not that I would know personally, of course.”

  “Of course not,” Drake mocked. “You’re a ray of sunshine. And I have not been a royal pain.”

  “Just because you deny it doesn’t make it not true,” Logan retorted.

  Ava shook her fork at both of them. “That’s enough. Drake, what is going on with you and Tori? She seems like a nice girl. You could do much worse.”

  Tori was a nice girl. But the past was all messed up with the present.

  “She’s sweet. And smart. Funny, too.” Drake paused, not sure how to put his thoughts into words.

  “Sweet, smart, and funny. Um, that sounds like a winner to me,” Ava said, clearly confused.

  Drake sighed and rubbed his eyes. He hadn’t slept well the night before. Or the night before that. Every day for the past week his conviction that Tori wasn’t the right woman for him had grown weaker and weaker. When he’d stomped out of her apartment, he’d felt as if he was doing the absolute right thing. Now he wasn’t so damn sure.

  “Ava, is it normal for teenage girls to fantasize about boys and marriage? You know, houses and kids? That sort of thing?”

  Ava tilted her head as she considered his question. “Yes. Some of my friends would write their name over and over with the boy’s last name. You know, Mrs. Ava Wright? Some would talk about how they were going to have a big mansion and hold fancy dinner parties in long flowing gowns.”

  Logan rubbed her cheek with the back of his knuckles and gave his wife an indulgent smile. “What did you fantasize about, good girl?”

  Ava covered her mouth and giggled. “I dreamed about marrying a rich, handsome man who owned a newspaper. I would be a Pulitzer prizewinning journalist and own a horse.”

  Logan frowned. “A horse? You never told me you wanted a horse, dammit. I can get you a horse.”

  Drake hid a chuckle at his boss’s adoration for his wife. If Ava wanted a fucking horse or even a monkey Logan, by God, was going to get it for her.

  “That’s what you got from that?” Ava was openly laughing at her husband but she lifted his hand and kissed the palm. “I love you for wanting to get me a horse but I changed my mind years ago. No horse, okay?”

  “That’s how it’s supposed to be, right?” Drake asked. “You have girly dreams and then you outgrow them. You don’t keep pursuing them into adulthood.”

  “Hmmm, that’s not always the case.” Ava took another bite of her brownie. “That’s pure bliss. But no, some dreams you never grow out of. I always knew I wanted to be a writer and I never stopped going after that dream. My sister always wanted to be a wife and start a family. She never gave up on that.”

  “Maybe your sister isn’t the best example,” Logan muttered.

  “Just because my sister hates my guts, and yours by extension, doesn’t mean she can’t make a good example of someone who mercilessly pursued her dream life.”

  Drake knew that Ava was on the outs with her sister and father after she helped Logan bring the vigilante to justice.

  “So what you’re saying,” Drake interrupted. “Is that it wouldn’t be strange if Tori had picked out a house for us, or say, named our children? That wouldn’t be creepy?”

  “Only if she actually made you do them.” Ava grinned and took the last bite of her dessert. “If she forced you into doing things you didn’t want to do then it would be weird. Unless it was her wedding. Personally, I never did this, but I know women who have been planning their wedding since they were twelve. You don’t mess with that. Period.”

  Tori had never forced him to do anything. At all. He was starting to feel pretty stupid and kind of like a jerk. For the second time in their short relationship, he’d walked out on her after sex. He might have waited around until morning this time but he’d still left her. She might not give him another chance. A third chance.

  Son of a fucking bitch.

  “Is that what she did? She creeped you out?” Ava asked. “Is that why you’ve been pretending not to look at her for the last hour?”

  Drake flagged down a passing waitress with a tray of lemon squares. He had that urge to throw himself at Tori’s mercy this very minute.

  “I guess so. She admitted she’d built me up into this godlike man with all these fantasies about our life together. It kind of freaked me out. Then I wondered if it was really about me at all or just about the image she really wanted.”

  Logan almost snorted up his coffee. “You, a god? Holy shit, Drake, if you find a woman that thinks of you that way? God help her, you should grab her up.”

  Ava elbowed Logan. “What Logan is trying to say is that when you live with someone you are exposed to all their flaws.” Ava shot her husband a narrow-eyed look. “The kind of flaws that make you crazy. But if you love and admire them in the beginning, it’s not so bad.”

  “Still love me, baby?” Logan taunted. “Even if I snore?”

  Tucking her hand into his elbow, Ava smiled serenely. “More and more every day. I couldn’t sleep without your special snore. Something would be missing.”

  Logan turned to Drake triumphantly. “That’s why you should be glad she’s fantasized about you. I snore like a fucking buffalo but she loves me anyway. You can’t buy that, man. It’s a gift you have to earn.”

  His boss had turned a shade of red, but Drake knew the words were true. Tori said she could see the man he was now but she still cared about him. If he could talk to her, maybe he could get her to accept his apology.

  “Thanks. I really needed the advice.” Logan, who had turned back to a normal shade, nodded his acknowledgment. “Now I have to figure out how to grovel and get back in her good graces.”

  Logan grinned. “Might as well just cowboy up and do it. You will eventually and every day you wait is probably making her madder. Nip it in the bud and say everything is all your fault. You might not sleep alone tonight.”

  Drake looked around the packed bakery and knew this wasn’t the moment. He’d wait until everyone left and talk to her. He would be extra charming and hopefully she would see he truly was sorry. He never should have left that day.

  His feelings for Tori were too strong to be ignored or denied. She was everything he’d dreamed and fantasized about, in one woman.

  Chapter Ten

  “I’m exhausted,” Tori groaned, falling into a chair in the kitchen of the bakery. Glancing at the clock on the wall, she slumped in the chair and stretched out her legs, propping them on a shelf. “I can’t believe it’s almost midnight. It was like no one wanted to leave.”

  Kasi tossed a towel onto the counter and rubbed her lower back. “Believe it. The little moochers weren’t leaving until they ate every single thing you’d baked. They all waddled out of here with smiles on their faces. It looks like you’ve turned the entire population of Corville into sugar addicts. And you’re their dealer.”

  “Exclusively, I hope. Thanks for sticking around and helping me clean up. I wanted Teri and Alice to get some rest. They’d been up helping me since about four this morning.”

  “So have you,” Kasi reminded her. “You have to be running on pure caffeine, sugar, and adrenaline at this point.”

  That was what Tori had been running
on the last week, if the truth be known. Since Drake had rejected her and walked out, she’d worked like a demon from sunup to sundown until she fell into bed too tired to think about the debacle that was her love life. Eventually she’d have to deal with it but for now? She’d pretend it never happened.

  Except he’d shown up today. Trying to avoid him, she’d cheerily chatted with anyone and everyone. She couldn’t stop her gaze from straying over to him every now and then. He’d been deep in conversation with Logan and Ava Wright every time. It had looked to be a serious discussion and Tori couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about.

  Perhaps Drake was telling them that she should seek counseling? He’d been pretty freaked out when he’d left, almost running out the door. She hadn’t expected him to be happy about hearing the details of her crush, but she hadn’t thought he would run either. At least not after the night they’d had.

  She’d trusted him enough to do really kinky stuff with him and he’d walked out at the first sign of trouble. She was probably better off without him.

  But she was still miserable.

  “We’re closed tomorrow so I’ll get some sleep,” Tori replied, pulling herself back to the here and now. “Then the day after it will be twelve hour days. Just like New York.”

  “You’re the original workaholic. I could never do that.” Kasi shuddered and leaned on the counter.

  “I wouldn’t do it unless I loved it. Besides, it’s not like I have much of a social life.” Tori’s tone was dry. “I might as well work.”

  “Drake James is a jerk,” Kasi sniffed with disdain. “If he can’t see how lucky he is to have you, well then, fuck him. That’s all I have to say.”

  “Ahem.” A deep voice cleared its throat from the doorway and both women hopped up.

  Drake! The air was sucked from her lungs as she took the sight of him in. He looked absolutely gorgeous in his well-fitting jeans and button-down shirt. Shit.

  “How did you get in?” Tori gasped.

  It was an incredibly lame question when she really wanted to ask him “Why are you here?”

  “You left the front door unlocked. Luckily there’s nothing in the front room to steal. I think the town ate you out of house and home.”

  Tori crossed her arms protectively over her chest. She wasn’t going to be a chew toy for Drake James today. Frankly, she wasn’t in the fucking mood.

  “Can I help you, Deputy?” she asked, her tone stilted and a trifle frosty. He’d made his decision and she would damn well deal with it.

  Drake looked down at the floor for a moment then looked up, his blue eyes dark with some emotion she couldn’t name.

  “I’d like to talk to you, Tori.” He paused for a moment and seemed to pick up the hostile vibrations in the room. “Please?”

  Well, shit, he said please.

  Kasi grabbed her purse from a hook on the wall and slung it over her shoulder. “This would be my cue to leave.” She shook her finger at Drake. “If you hurt her again, so help me God I will hunt you down and make it look like an accident. There isn’t a jury of single women in this state that will convict me anyway. Are we clear?”

  Drake didn’t even crack a smile. Instead he nodded solemnly and took off his hat. “I’ll behave. I promise.”

  “You better,” Kasi mumbled under her breath as she bustled out of the kitchen leaving Tori standing there with Drake. She didn’t know why he was here, and she didn’t want a rehash of the last morning.

  “So…talk.” Tori lifted her chin ready for the right hook he was bound to throw her way. He was too good at hurting her and then running out.

  Drake set his hat on one of the stainless steel counters and seemed to be looking for the right words. Finally he looked her right in the eye. “I don’t want to name our kids with the same first initial. If that’s what you had in mind, it’s a deal breaker. My brothers and I all have names that start with ‘D’ and I’ve hated it. I won’t do that to one of my kids.”

  Tori’s stomach fluttered with hope. Drake was kind of smiling as if he had hope as well.

  “That’s fine. Anything else?” she croaked, too nervous to speak.

  “Yeah.” Drake leaned back against the counter but he looked anything but relaxed. His jaw was tight and his shoulders were stiff with tension. “I’ve always dreamed about living in a big house in the country. With a dog. No cats. I’m not a cat person.”

  A smile was blooming on her face and her heart was beating faster. “How many kids?”

  “Four. Maybe five. We could have a horse if you wanted one.”

  Drake was smiling now too. He straightened up and took a few steps toward her.

  “A horse? I’ve never thought about that, but I wouldn’t mind. Would I get to name it?”

  He came closer so she had to tip her head back to look up at him. “We would name it together. Just like the kids and the dog.”

  “Who did you dream about sharing this life with?” Her question came out as barely a whisper. She was shaking with fear and excitement all at the same time.

  His fingers caressed her face and then tangled in her curls. “A woman who thinks I’m a hero. I’m told it’s pretty rare. But there is one more thing, Tori.”

  His deep voice sent shivers up her spine and she had to swallow hard to get the words out. “What is it?”

  Drake bent his head and his lips were oh so close to hers. If she stood on tiptoe they would be kissing.

  “She has to let me worship her as well.”

  A tear of happiness slipped down her cheek. “Oh shit, I said you weren’t going to make me cry again.”

  “I’ll try never to do that, honey, but I’m a guy and I’m going to screw up. But I feel more for you this moment than I have for anyone in my entire life.”

  She shoved at his shoulder. “Say it.”

  Drake grinned and picked her feet off the floor. It was a formality, really, as she’d already felt like she was floating on air. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Tori. Fast and hard. I sure as hell wasn’t ready for it. Or you. But I’m a goner, babe. Take pity on me?”

  “I know exactly how that feels, Deputy. One look at you when I came back to town and I didn’t know right from left. I think we deserve each other.”

  He fused their lips together and kissed her slowly and thoroughly as if they had their entire lives to do this. When the kiss ended, they were both breathless and flushed.

  “Say it,” he demanded, a smile curving his lips. “A man needs to hear it just as much as a woman does.”

  “I’ve fallen in love with you, Drake.” She cupped his jaw with her hands. “For the second time in my life. I think this one’s going to stick.”

  “It better,” he growled. “I have a lot of making up to do. You need to be courted properly, woman. We can’t keep going around and ripping each other’s clothes off. It’s not right.”

  Tori was happier than she’d ever been in her life. She reached up and popped a few buttons open on his shirt. “Are you sure? It seems like the natural thing to do. Maybe you can court me…tomorrow?”

  Drake chuckled, his expression wicked. “Tomorrow is a good plan. Tonight this deputy needs to take you into custody. It looks like I’ll be taking personal responsibility for your troublemaking ways.”

  He lifted her onto the counter and insinuated himself between her thighs. “I just can’t be a good girl, Deputy. I think I need another lesson.”

  Tori giggled as Drake reached into his back pocket and pulled out his handcuffs. “It will be my pleasure, Tori. I always dreamed of a woman who knew how to have fun.”

  It wouldn’t always be fun and games but he was her fantasy man, and she damn sure intended to be his fantasy woman. Together they would make reality a little more special each day.

  She’d come home to the man she loved. Deputy Drake James was nothing like she’d thought but better than anything she could have ever dreamed in a million years.

  The End

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  Cowboy Command

  Cowboy Justice Association

  Book One

  Sometimes you have to die to be born.

  One minute Katie is eating lunch with her sister, the next she barely escapes a car bomb meant to kill her. If that wasn’t enough, someone sets fire to her home and burns it to the ground. Luckily, Federal agents are going to give her a new identity until she can testify against the man who wants her dead. They change her name to Presley, her hair color to brown, and her shorts and sandals to jeans and cowboy boots. She’s not thrilled about being sent to a small town in Montana to hide, but she wants to stay alive.

  Sheriff Seth Reilly is doing a favor for an old Army buddy. He’s promised to watch over a woman whose life is in danger, but he didn’t plan on her being so young and beautiful. He’s tempted, but she’s a bundle of trouble. Seth likes his women calm and sedate. Presley is the kind of woman who would keep him up at night and make him crazy. Too bad he’s starting to enjoy it.

  Passion flares between Seth and Presley, heating up the cold Montana nights. Knowing they only have a short time together, they vow not to fall in love. But when danger finds Presley, Seth will risk everything to keep her safe until she can testify. Will Presley get her old life back or start a new life with Seth instead?

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  Justice Healed

  Cowboy Justice Association

  Book Two

  You can’t go home again, but if you do, pretend you want to be there.

  Dr. Madison Shay has left Chicago and moved back to her small town roots to take over her father’s medical practice. She’s not the skinny, gawky red haired, four-eyed girl any longer but it sure feels that way. She still remembers the painful teasing from her classmates and always feeling like she didn’t belong. She wants this time to be different but deep down she knows she’ll never be part of the cool crowd.