Out of Darkness (32 page)

My Family: I couldn’t ask for better people to support me. Thank you so much for the unwavering support!

My Work Family: Thank you for being so excited for me!!

Lindsay Hopper: Thank you for sticking with me and making my stories so much better. I hope we both get where we want to be – and sooner than we think!

Kari Ayasha: I am so lucky to have found you! You do amazing work and deserve everything that’s coming your way!

I know I forgot some of you, but don’t think that I don’t appreciate everything you do…this takes a village and I’m so lucky to have my own!

—Laramie

Laramie Briscoe has loved romance novels since her grandmother gave her Dorothy Garlock’s Tenderness as a teenager. It sparked a love of reading and writing that’s manifested into this series of novels.

An avid TV and movie enthusiast, a nail polish hoarder, an obsessive book reader, and a lover of all things that sparkle and glitter. She lives in South Central Kentucky with her husband and her cat. She is currently editing the third story in the Heaven Hill series – due out late fall 2013.

She loves to hear from her readers! You can find her at:

Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/LaramieBrisceo

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLaramieBriscoe

Instagram:
http://www.instagram.com/Laramie_Briscoe

Pinterest:
http://www.pinterest.com/laramiebriscoe

Email:
[email protected]

Losing Control

Book #3 of the Heaven Hill Series

“H
as anyone ever told you that you should be a male model instead of a biker?”

Jagger Stone froze. The husky sound of that voice had haunted him for months. Since the Harley Drags in October to be exact. It was a hell of a story really, the way the two of them had officially met. After months of watching her at
Wet Wanda’s,
she’d been on the back of a truck that had been outfitted with a stripper pole. He’d caught her when she’d lost her footing and taken a tumble. She had been a lot drunk and a little naked. Since that day, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head.

“Anybody ever tell you it’s not good to sneak up on a biker?”

That same voice gave a low laugh that went straight to his groin. There was something about this woman that made his palms sweat and his heart kick up a beat. Never in his life had anyone affected him this way.

“‘Sneak up on a biker’ is a relative term. You didn’t even have your back all the way to the door. I’m sure you knew I was here.”

She was right, but it wasn’t because he didn’t have his back to the door. Since that day she’d fallen into his arms, he’d been hyperaware of her. No matter where he was, if Bianca Hawks walked into the room, he knew it. Every part of his body knew it. She was sure to be an itch he wouldn’t be able to scratch.

Ignoring her comment, he put a cigarette in his mouth and fired up his lighter. “What is a pretty little thing like you doin’ here?” He flirted. Of course he knew she worked there, that was one of the reasons he kept coming in.

Here indicated
Wet Wanda’s
, a bar that some of the other brothers tended to frequent. It was a dive at best. Women were sometimes up on the bar naked, and word had it you could get hand jobs or even better if you played your cards right. The clientele was right up his alley though, they loved to drink, and they loved to get rowdy when he came out to play his brand of country music that bordered on rock n roll.

Bianca rolled her eyes at the question. He acted like this was some sort of high class establishment. “Workin’. What does it look like?”

He loved the little bite of attitude she always gave him whenever they spoke with one another. He also knew that she thought she had hidden herself well from him. So he played along. “I didn’t know you work here. I come in here all the time.”

“I know, I see you playing.”

With any other woman that would have been an automatic home run into her panties. Especially in a place like this. With her, it didn’t even look like it impressed her. There was an awkward pause while he tried to figure out how to respond.

“Obviously, you’re not a fan.”

“Now I didn’t say that,” she smiled. “I just won’t fall at your feet. No matter how sexy you look on stage when you play a guitar.” With that she was gone.

He couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled up from his belly. With her, he didn’t ever know if he was coming or going, but he loved the verbal sparring they shared.

“You ready?”

Jagger dragged his gaze from Bianca’s backside and looked up at his brother, Tyler. He’d asked the question, but was obviously ready to go as he held his helmet in his hands.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Tyler laughed. “You gonna run outta here with your tail tucked between your legs?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? We conversed.”

“Sure you did. When that girl comes around, no matter when or where, you act like a teenage boy with a boner for the first time. You need to man up.”

Jagger shrugged. “I do alright with the ladies.”

Tyler put his arm around Jagger’s shoulder, much like an older brother would do. He could tell that the Native American was about to impart some wisdom. “You do alright because you don’t have to try. You flash those pearly whites and give that little boy grin you got, and they usually fall at your feet. This one’s gonna take some work.”

Not wanting to say anything that would give his feelings away, Jagger did little more than nod and get on his bike. Before he fastened his helmet, he cast a look back at the little bar and couldn’t help but notice Bianca standing in the doorway.

Their eyes met for several long seconds before she broke the spell and walked back inside. His gut churned as he watched her. Tyler was right. This one was going to take a lot more than him flashing the dimple in his right cheek. He just had to decide if it was worth it or not.

Bianca had gone back inside, but that didn’t stop her from looking out of a side window until she could no longer see the tail lights of the bikes. She sighed. Jagger Stone was one hot man. He turned her inside out half the time with just a grin. It was becoming an unhealthy obsession, one that had been born at one of the most embarrassing times she could ever remember in her life.

“Did he leave?” her friend Jasmine asked as Bianca turned from the window.

“Unfortunately. Hopefully, he comes back soon.”

“I’m sure he will. Maybe if you were a little bit nicer to him, he might come back a lot sooner.”

Bianca couldn’t help the grin that came to her face. She liked to keep him on his toes, and she usually came off as bitchy. “I don’t meant to be, but I can’t help it. He’s too pretty for his own good.”

The two of them laughed and went back to serving drinks to the local group that had gathered in the bar.

Hours later, Bianca sat behind the wheel of her late model Mustang beating it to within an inch of its life. Her hands ached as she griped the steering wheel and did her best not to bang her head into it.

“Why me?” she wailed.

The cold January air seeped into the interior of the car making her teeth chatter. She’d dressed in only enough clothes to be decent in order to get the best tips at the bar, and now she was regretting it. Tucking the jacket she kept in the backseat around her body, she popped the hood and cursed as she jumped out into the elements.

She didn’t know a whole lot about cars, but what she saw when she looked under the hood caused her stomach to pitch. Oil was everywhere. She fought back the initial reaction of crying. Bianca Hawks didn’t cry when the going got tough. She just sucked it up and went with the punches, doing the best she could with what she had. Before she could slam the hood down on the car, she heard the roar of bikes.

She breathed a sigh of relief as they went by. Save the group that she was comfortable with, bikers tended to creep her out. When she heard the sound of a lone one coming back around, she tensed. The man who rode the bike was covered from head to toe, and he had a bandana around his face. He came to a stop in front of her and pulled his bandana away from his face.

“Hey,” Jagger grinned, causing her to jump.

“You scared the ever-loving shit out of me. But I am so glad you aren’t gonna murder me, I can forgive you.”

“What’s wrong with it?” he asked, coming around to stand beside her in front of the car.

“Oil’s everywhere, and it just died on me. I really need to do some maintenance on it, but I can’t really afford it.”

He fiddled around inside of it and then closed the hood. “It’s not goin’ anywhere tonight, darlin’. I’ll call Liam tomorrow and see if we can get it into the shop. Do you need me to take you somewhere?”

She eyed her bare legs and then his bike. “I’d love a ride, but I’m really not dressed for it.”

Without saying a word he stripped off his leather chaps and handed them to her and then handed her the leather jacket he wore over his body. Underneath, he had on a long sleeve thermal shirt, along with his cut.

“You’re gonna be wearing a patch on your back, but this is all I got.”

She knew after hanging around with this group what that meant and just how much of a gentleman he was being by doing this for her. “Thank you,” she told him sincerely as she put the chaps on over her bare legs and shrugged the jacket on over her body.

“You’ll have to give me directions, but I’ll get ya home in one piece,” he yelled over the roar of the bike.

She wrapped her arms tightly around him and hung on as they sped off into the night. As with many times in her life, this night hadn’t exactly turned out the way she’d planned.

Meant to Be

(First in the Heaven Hill Series)