Saturday, November 8, 2014

Road to Desire - Sneak Peak





Danielle

I STARED DOWN at my dashboard console and willed the check engine light to stop the infernal red glow. How I got where I was, I had no freaking clue, which meant I had no freaking clue how to find the freeway entrance to get home. “You are an idiot, Dani,” I whispered out loud.
As if on a mission from the devil, my nineteen ninety-nine Honda shuddered, then back-fired, slowing to a crawl as I inched forward down a non-descript side street. Why Portland didn’t have better signage was beyond me.
I jumped as my cell phone pealed in the silence of the car. Without looking at the screen, because really, I was trying not to end up dead in some obscure place I’d never been before, I flipped it open. “Hello,” I whispered.
“Why are we whispering?” Kim whispered back. My best friend of more than ten years giggled in the background.
I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. “I’m kind of lost and my stupid car won’t go over nineteen miles an hour.”
“So, no different than any other day,” she quipped. “How did the date go?”
“Sucked.”
“How bad?” she asked.
“Getting my eyeballs plucked out by crows while my fingernails were ripped off one-by-one would have been much more enjoyable kind of bad.”
“Ew, sorry honey.” Kim still managed to giggle again. “Did you have dinner?”
“No. I endured one drink and an appetizer and then faked a phone call. Seriously, Kimmie, the guy was a douche.”
“So, online dating’s not for you.”
“Dating, period is not for me.”
Kim chuckled. “Where are you?”
“I have no freaking clue,” I admitted. “Somewhere in Arbor Lodge I think.”
“Holy crap, girl, you don’t want to be lost there when it’s almost dark.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious.” I leaned forward to get a better view out of the windshield. “It’s totally deserted and I can’t find a street sign to save my life.”
“What’s around you?”
“Nothing.” I squinted trying to make out the light in front of me. The area was heavily commercial, so I wasn’t sure what business would be open past eight on a Wednesday night. “I think I see something. Crap. My contacts are killing me.”
“Pull over and take them out, silly. You have your glasses, right?”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to stop, Kimmie… what if I can’t get started again.”
“What if you can’t see what you’re about to hit?”
“Stop being so logical.”
Kim sighed. “Please, Dani, be safe. Pull over, put on your glasses, and call your brother.”
“Fine. I’m pulling over. Hold please.” Guiding my car to the curb, I put it in park. “Okay. I’m gonna hang up and call Elliot.”
“Good. Call me when—”
The phone went dead.
“Crap.” I took a second to pull out my contacts and slide on my glasses before I glanced in my side mirror and put the car in drive again. “Okay, old lady, please get me somewhere I can find a phone.” I inched out into the street again and rolled about three hundred feet before my car let out a sputter and a hiss and the engine died. “Okay. Okay. It’s okay,” I chanted. “We’ve been here before, girl. You can do it.” I cranked the engine and although it turned over, I couldn’t get it to fully engage. I tried again, got it started, but had barely pulled further to the side of the road when it died again. “No, no, no, no!” I cranked the engine again, but still no luck, so I put it in park again.
Grabbing my purse off the floor, I rummaged around for my phone charger, finding it and plugging it into the lighter, hoping for enough juice to call my brother. I pushed every button on my Nokia in an effort to power it up again, but it had been losing its charge quicker and quicker over the past few weeks and it was now officially dead. “Damn it!”
I dropped my head to the steering wheel and took a minute to feel sorry for myself as I imagined the six-o’clock news headline, “Young woman murdered after car breaks down in sketchy area of Portland. It’s surprising since she comes from law-enforcement royalty. Another statistic? It certainly looks that way.”
I’m not entirely sure how long I sat in my dead car and imagined my murder and death before a knock at my window had me squeaking in fright. I glanced out to see an extraordinarily gorgeous man leaning down with a sexy smile on his face. Tall with dark hair and a face that could only be described as beautiful, even with a day’s stubble, he looked quite a bit like Kevin Zegers, blue eyes and all. He wore a pair of faded jeans that looked like they were made for him, a white thermal, tight-fitting shirt that showcased his muscular chest a bit too well, causing my heart to race and my breathing to catch. A black leather jacket that cemented his sexy as hell look completed the ensemble.
I cranked my window part of the way down… he couldn’t kill me if he could only get his fingers inside, right?
“You lost, darlin’?”
His voice washed over me and I squirmed in my seat as I tried not to sigh at the slight southern twang. “Um, yeah. A little.”
“Not a great part of town for a pretty girl to get lost in.” He straightened, crossing his arms. “You got someone comin’ for you?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head. “Both my car and my phone are dead. So, that would be a big fat no.”
“Alright. Why don’t you come with me?”
“No, that’s okay.”
He smiled again. “Sweetheart, my club’s yard is right down the block. I’ll get some of my brothers to push your car into the lot where it’ll be safe and we can fix it for you tomorrow. In the meantime, you can get out of the cold and either make a phone call or I’ll take you home.”
I bit my lip and pondered my options. The definite probability of dying of starvation and exposure before morning, or the potential of being murdered by the best looking man I’d ever seen were pretty much all I could come up with.
“No one will hurt you, if that’s what concerns you,” he promised.
“I wish that made me feel better,” I admitted. “I mean, I wonder how many women have gone off with some tall, gorgeous man because he said he wouldn’t hurt them, only to be murdered? Super murdered. We’d never know, right? ’Cause they’re dead.”
His mouth quivered for a second before he burst out in laughter. “You’ve got a point, darlin’, but if you’re with me, no one’ll touch you.”
“Including you?”
He sobered, but his eyes were still alit with humor. “If that’s what you want.”
I rolled the window back up and gathered my purse and keys. I had a feeling I’d regret this sudden trust I was feeling toward him, but I didn’t really have much of a choice other than to let him help me, so I unlocked my door and climbed out of the car.
He held it for me and slammed it closed once I was on the sidewalk. I’d locked it before he closed it, not that it mattered… no one would steal a piece of crap car like mine and I kept nothing of value in it.
The wind had picked up since I left the restaurant, and I pulled my coat further around me as we walked down the street. “I’m Danielle, by the way. Um, Dani, actually.”
“Booker.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Booker.”
“Just Booker.”
“You mentioned your club’s yard.” I frowned. “What kind of yard?”
“This location’s our wreck ’n tow yard. Got other businesses in other locations,” he said vaguely. “Anything with an engine, we can tow, fix or build.”
I nodded. “And you said ‘club.’ I’m assuming it’s not a sewing club.”
Booker smiled. “Motorcycle club.”
I stopped. It took him a minute to realize I was no longer beside him, which gave me a partial view of the back of his jacket. Dogs of something. Dogs of Wonder? No, that wouldn’t be right… a badass motorcycle guy wouldn’t have Dogs of Wonder on the back of his jacket.
Well, crap!
He walked back toward me. “You okay?”
“Motorcycle club?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Like Hell’s Angels?”
Booker smirked. “In theory.”
I glanced up at him. “I should really go.”
“Go where, darlin’? There’s nothing around here for over a mile in any direction.”
“Clarify something for me. Are you a club because you have really nice bikes and like to hang out and drink beer on occasion, or are you like outlaws or something?”
“Since that’s club business, it’s none of yours.”
“Right.” I couldn’t seem to stop swallowing convulsively. “Just point me in the direction of the closest place I can make a phone call and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“About twenty-five yards in front of you.”
“You don’t understand,” I whispered. “I can’t go in there.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Maybe because my dad’s the freakin’ chief of police,” I snapped, before realizing I’d just spouted off something that could get me killed or kidnapped in a heartbeat, depending on whose hands that information was in.
“You’re shittin’ me.”
I shook my head. “I wish I was.”
“Well, fuck me.”
“No thank you,” I quipped. Retorts were my specialty, especially when I was nervous.
He cocked his head. “You wouldn’t be disappointed, babe.”
I pressed my lips into a thin line, willing my mouth to stay shut.
Booker chuckled. “The shop’s clean, sweetheart. Totally legit, although, probably better I take you home than you have your daddy pick you up.”
“It would be my brother, actually… or Kimmie. Kim’s my best friend. Not that you care who my best friend is.” I took a deep breath, rambling was not a good option right now.
He smiled again. God, he had a nice smile. Of course, it was the panty-dropping kind, but for now, I wouldn’t react…my undies must stay firmly in place. “There’s only six of us here right now, so we’ll get your car into the lot, get your info, and I’ll take you home.”
“I should call my brother.”
“Then we’ll get your car into the lot and you can call your brother.”
I nodded and let him lead me through a large parking lot surrounded by eight-foot high fencing complete with barbed-wire on the top. I followed him into the warmth of a sparse but clean waiting area. It looked like the waiting room in my local oil change place, which for whatever reason surprised me. I’m not sure what I was expecting. Maybe centerfolds from Playboy circa 1984 plastered on the walls?
“Phone’s on the counter,” Booker said. “Dial nine for an outside line.”
I nodded and picked up the phone, dialing as he pulled open a door and yelled, “Mack! Need you in the front.”
“Hello?” Kim answered, sounding confused.
“Kimmie, hey it’s me.”
“Ohmigod, Dani!” Kimmie exclaimed. I could hear the sounds of the restaurant she worked at in the background. “I was worried sick. I take it your cell phone died again?”
“Yeah.” I glanced to my right and could see Booker talking with someone across the room out of earshot. “It’s officially dead, dead.”
“Where are you calling me from?” she asked.
“Um, some wrecking place I managed to break down in front of.”
“Of course you did,” Kimmie said with a chuckle. “Did you call Ell?”
“Um, I can’t.”
“How come?”
“The shop is owned by a motorcycle club,” I whispered, and glanced at the door again to make sure Booker wasn’t listening.
“So?” she whispered back.
“Hello, I’ve seen that Sam crow show… they’re not entirely above board.”
Kim burst out laughing, the tell-tale snort indicating she was unable to control her mirth.
“Kimmie,” I hiss.
“Ohmigod, Dani, you are precious. Truly,” she said, and laughed again.
“Oh, shut up,” I snapped. “You know if I call Elliot, he’ll get all—”
“Dani? Keys, babe,” Booker demanded.
I jumped a little because I hadn’t seen him walk back over to me. “Um, hold on a sec,” I said to Kim, and rummaged in my purse for my keys. Winding the car key from the rest of my keys, I handed it to him and he nodded then left me again. “Okay, I’m back.”
“Who was that?” Kim asked.
“One of the men who works here.”
“Um, he knew your name and he called you babe. I’m thinking you’re being purposely obtuse.”
“His name’s Booker,” I said.
“He sounds delicious.”
“Meh,” I lied.
“Call Elliot, Dani. Or I can come get you when I get off in an hour.”
“No,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll call Ell.”
“Good. Borrow his phone and call me when you get home, okay? I’ve gotta grab my orders.”
“I will.” I was midway through dialing my brother when Booker returned, so I hung up and forced a smile.
“You call your friend or brother or whoever?” he asked.
“Kim. Yes. She’s still at work. I was just about to call my brother.”
“Why don’t you do that and then you can give me some information while we wait for him.”
I nodded and picked up the phone again. I got his voicemail. “Hey Ell, it’s me. I broke down in Portland and was wondering if you could come get me. I’m at… ,” I glanced up at Booker for assistance, and he handed me a card. I rattled off the address and phone number of Big Ernie’s Wreck ’n Tow, and then hung up again. “Voicemail.”
“Picked up on that, babe,” he said.
My cheeks heated. “Right.”
Booker stepped behind the counter and handed me a piece of paper with Big Ernie’s logo on it. “Write down your address and phone number and I’ll call you when we know what’s wrong with your car.”
“Are you planning to wreck it?”
He smiled and shook his head. “We’ll tow it over to the auto repair shop and fix it there.”
“One of the other businesses, I presume?”
“Yeah.”
I nodded. “I won’t be able to answer, but you can leave a message and I’ll call you with a good number.”
He nodded and I scribbled down my information. I couldn’t imagine what the repairs on my car would be, but as a kindergarten teacher, I could pretty much guarantee they’d be out of my budget. I jumped again when the phone rang… I was seriously wound up with nerves that only a bottle of merlot was going to come close to calming.
“Big Ernie’s,” Booker said, and then smiled at me. “Yeah, she’s here.”
He handed me the phone. “Hello?” I said.
“How the hell did you end up at a scrap yard in Arbor Lodge?” Elliot demanded.
I watched distractedly as Booker and three other men walked outside and toward where I left my car.
“No clue,” I admitted. “I was in the Pearl and thought I was going toward Vancouver, but I guess not.”
“For someone so smart, your sense of direction is pathetic.”
“Yes, I’m well aware,” I grumbled.
“Where’s your phone?” he asked.
“Dead.” I sighed. “Like as in dead, dead.”
“I’m buying you a new one.”
“You don’t need to do that,” I argued… for the umpteenth time.
“I know, sis, but your stubbornness is starting to mess with my schedule,” he said.
I smiled. I loved my brother, even when he was annoying. “Starting to?”
He chuckled. “I’m in the middle of something; can you hang out for a while?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll grab a cab.”
“Which will cost you the same as a phone,” he said.
“Point taken big brother. I greatly thank you for your astute observation.”
“Grab a cab to the station and I’ll drive you home from there.”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll head home.”
“Dani,” he said with a sigh.
“Elliot,” I mimicked, and smiled. “Seriously. It’s all good. I promised I’d call you and I called you. I might work with five-year-olds, but I’m not one, so don’t worry.”
“Oh, you’re funny. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Swing by later if you want. I’m just going home. I have to be at work early tomorrow, so it’ll be an early night for me.”
“How about I grab you a burner and then I’ll order you a decent phone later.”
“Thanks, Ell. I’ll pay you back,” I said.
“We can argue about that later. I have to go.”
“Okay, ’bye.” I hung up and slipped behind the desk in search for a phonebook.





YOU NEED SOMETHIN’ darlin’?”
I jumped (again) and turned to find myself practically chin to navel with the very large man Booker had been speaking to earlier. I looked up and grimaced. He was blond with deep blue eyes and a full beard that begged to be touched. I refrained. Instead, I tried for friendly. “Hi. I’m Dani.”
“Hi, Dani,” he said, and smiled.
“Hi,” I repeated, stepping back for space, but only managing to run into the lip of the desk. I refused to wince in his presence, but I did bite the inside of my cheek hard enough to draw blood.
“You said that.”
“Um, yeah. I did. Great observation skills.” Ohmigod, he is not a five-year-old. Get it together, Dani. “Um, sorry if I wasn’t supposed to be back here, I was looking for a phonebook.”
“You’re looking for a phonebook,” he said, and stepped closer to me.
I mean, really. Where the hell was I going to go? He’d just boxed me into a corner. I took a deep breath. “Yes. A phonebook. Do you have one? I need to call a cab.”
“You need to call a cab.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. “Yes, I need to call a cab. My brother can’t pick me up. He’s still at the station.” Why did I feel the need to offer so much information?
“Station?” Mack frowned. “As in police station?”
Crap!
I bit my lip. “Will you please let me by? You’re making me nervous and all I want to do is to call someone to pick me up and take me home.”
“I’ll take you home,” Booker said as he walked back inside, a scowl on his face directed at “big biker man” in front of me. “And get the fuck away from her, Mack. You can see she’s freaked.”
“Did she tell you her brother’s a cop?” Mack demanded.
“Detective, actually,” I corrected and then dropped my head. I needed to shut the hell up.
“Move the hell away from her,” Booker repeated. I took a minute to look at him and his expression was a little scary. He gave his friend a look like he would kill him if he didn’t do as he said. Instead of making me nervous, it made me feel protected. Another clear indication here was something inherently wrong with me.
Mack grinned, raising his hands in surrender as he stepped away from me. I skittered around the desk and back out in the open, keeping my purse in front of me… for what I’m not sure. I just felt a little protected somehow.
“Come on. I’ll take you home,” Booker said.
“No, it’s okay. If you can just call me a cab, it’ll be fine.”
Booker shook his head. “We’re closed, darlin’, and it’ll take a while for a taxi, so let me just take you home.”
I swallowed.
“What?” he asked.
I glanced at Mack and then back at Booker. “I’m… um… aren’t bikes really dangerous?”
Booker seemed to share another secret look with Mack before they both burst out laughing.
I pulled my purse closer. “Well, if you’re going to stand there and laugh at me, then I definitely want to call a cab.”
Apparently, I’m freaking hilarious when I’m scared out of my ever-blessed mind, because Mack laughed harder.
“I’ve got my truck,” Booker said, once he’d sobered.
“With or without a tarp in the back?”
Booker frowned. “What?”
“Nothing. Never mind.” I figured if he was going to murder me there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot I could do about it at this point. “Yes, a ride home would be much appreciated.”
Booker nodded and waved his hand toward the roll-up door.
“Nice to meet you,” I said to Mack and headed outside.
“You too, babe,” Mack said to my back.
Booker led me to his Ford F-150, and I turned to face him. “Can I borrow your phone please?”
“What?”
“Your phone. May I borrow it for a second?”
He reached into his pocket and handed it to me. “Knock yourself out.”
I stepped in front of the truck and took a photo of it, along with the license plate, texting the photos to Kim so she’d know who was driving me home and when I was leaving. At least if he did murder me, they’d be able to track down my killer.
“Thanks,” I said, and handed the phone back to him.
He smiled his sexy smile again and pulled open my door. I wasn’t expecting his gallantry as he waited for me to climb inside, but I covered my surprise. I didn’t realize badass biker men did that kind of thing.
Booker climbed in beside me and started the engine while I buckled up. He didn’t say anything as he guided the truck away from Arbor Lodge and I took a moment to take in his ride. It was new with all the bells and whistles, so to speak. Leather seats, wood inlay, and a kick-ass stereo system… at least it looked like a kick-ass stereo system. It was currently off.
About ten minutes passed and I had about all the silence I could handle. “Your real name’s not Booker, is it?” He glanced at me and shook his head before focusing on the road again. “Are you going to tell me your real name?”
“Austin Carver.”
“Oh,” I said, unable to hide my surprise.
He smiled. “Not what you were expecting?”
“Not really, no. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice name. Sweet sounding, but I guess I expected you be to Maverick or something like that.”
“Maverick?”
“What’s wrong with Maverick?”
“Only a pussy would ever go by Maverick.”
“What if that’s the name his parents gave him?” I challenged.
“Then, if he weren’t a pussy, he’d change it.”
I bit back a smile. “I won’t tell Maverick’s mom you said that.”
“You know a Maverick?” he asked.
I nodded. “He’s one of my kids. I teach kindergarten.”
“Fuck me. Of course you do,” he grumbled, and pulled onto the freeway.
I gathered my purse close to me again. For some reason, the fact he didn’t seem to like my choice of employment bothered me. It shouldn’t. He didn’t know me and he was probably a criminal for Pete’s sake, but I was the one who felt embarrassed.
“What’s your group’s name?” I soldiered on, my inability to stay silent when I was nervous working against me.
“My group?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Your club. Whatever.”
He studied the road again. “Dogs of Fire.”
“Why did you pick that?” I asked.
“I didn’t.”
“Why did your group… I mean, club, pick that?”
“Don’t know.”
“You don’t know why they picked it?” I studied his profile and saw his jaw lock. “Sorry, not my business.”
He neither agreed nor disagreed.
“Do you need my address?” I was unbelievably desperate for conversation, apparently.
“I have it.”
“Right,” I mumbled. Of course he did. I’d written it down for him. I studied him again. God, he was beautiful. I licked my lips and focused back on the road. “So, do you work at Big Ernie’s?”
“Sometimes.”
“So, it’s not your regular job?”
“No.”
“You’re obviously not a mechanic,” I mused.
“Why do you say that?”
“You’re too clean,” I blurted out. “I mean, your hands aren’t caked with black oil and stuff. Sorry. Never mind. It’s none of my business.”
He chuckled.
“What’s so funny?” I demanded.
“You don’t like silence, do you?”
“I like silence… just not when I’m nervous. Crap. Never mind. Ignore me.”
“Babe, I’ve been trying to ignore you since the second I saw your piece of shit car crawling down my street,” he said.
I gasped, my irritation rising to dance with my nerves. “Well, you didn’t need to come and rescue me. I didn’t ask you to.” He chuckled again and I blinked back tears, feeling both angry and insecure at the same time. “I’m sorry if my talking bugged you. I was just trying to be friendly,” I continued, because, seriously, I was obviously a glutton for punishment. “It’s what nice people do when other people help them. They ask them about their life and find common ground in an effort to make conversation.”
“Is that what they do?” he asked.
“Typically, yes,” I whispered, and turned toward the window.
I managed to keep my thoughts to myself as we drove into Hazel Dell and down the private driveway into my apartment complex. Not the greatest part of town, but also not the worst. It was what I could afford and it worked for now.
“This is me,” I said, pointing to the stairway that led to my second floor unit.
“I’ll walk you up.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I know,” he said, and climbed out of the truck.
Gathering my purse, I pulled my jacket closer around me and pushed open the door. Booker stood on the other side and, again, waited for me before closing the door and walking me upstairs. I unlocked my apartment door and pushed it open, flipping the light on before stepping inside.
“Thank you for everything,” I said.
“I’ll call you tomorrow or Friday about your car.”
Crap, right. I was going to have to pay for my stupid car to be fixed. “Yes. Um, I forgot to ask. Do you take credit cards?”
He frowned, but then nodded his head. “Yeah, babe, we take credit cards.”
I relaxed. “Okay, good. Thank you. Well, it was nice to meet you, Austin. Thanks again for everything.”
He gave me a chin lift in response and turned and sauntered down the stairs. I know for a fact he sauntered, because I leaned out my front door and watched him leave. His long, muscular legs and perfect butt made me sigh, and I realized he probably heard me, so I ducked back inside and closed and locked my door, leaning against it to catch my breath.

* * *
Booker

Booker was fucked. Royally fucked. The second he saw the pretty little blonde trying to force her car down the street, he’d known he’d help her. Couldn’t really stop himself. She was gorgeous. Petite, curvy, big tits, nice ass, and she smelled incredible, but it was the glasses that sent him over the edge. He could envision her in thigh-highs, pearls, and those glasses while she straddled and rode him.
When he’d coaxed her out of her car and she’d started talking, her obvious sense of humor showing even though she was terrified, he’d watched in fascination as every emotion she was feeling showed on her face in real time. He couldn’t remember ever meeting a woman more beautiful… and fucking innocent. Kindergarten teacher and daughter of the chief of police. Shit.
He dialed Mack’s number and then started his truck.
“Yo.”
“You got the car over to Ducky’s?”
“Yeah,” Mack said. “It’s fucked up. Might need to rebuild the engine.”
“Fuck.” Booker headed onto the freeway. “I’ll be there in twenty.”
He hung up and stared out at the road in front of him trying to figure out how the hell he was gonna get out of this, and whether or not he really wanted to.



This has been a sneak peek of Road to Desire, Dogs of Fire Book #1