01 Winters Thaw (24 page)

She sucked in a deep breath and tried to hide her disappointment. He was right. She’d purposely put herself as far away from home as possible, so that she could indulge in these two nights. One weekend to confirm a few suspicions she’d always held in regard to her sexual preferences. Sawyer was going to put a wrench in the works.

She gestured at her outfit. “I would think my role here would be obvious.” For the first time, she allowed her gaze to travel over him as well. Her body heated with arousal as she noted how unbelievably sexy he was. He wore tight dark jeans and a black T-shirt that hugged his muscular chest to perfection. No one in the place would fail to read the dominance in his stance, the aura of power he projected.
 

On the surface, she was shocked to find her friend in a place like this, but there was another part—deep inside—that wasn’t a bit surprised. He belonged here.

“So you’re a Dom?” She fought the urge to laugh as she asked the absurd question. Of course he was.

His gaze drifted to her arm. He grasped her wrist, pulling it up and toying with the white wristband the host had given her upon arrival.

“You understand what this means, right?” he asked, gesturing to the bracelet.
 

Sawyer completely ignored her Dom question. It didn’t matter anyway. It had clearly been rhetorical. He was a Compton. Anybody and everybody from their neck of the woods knew that name was synonymous with alpha male.
 

She gave him an annoyed look. “Of course I do.”

It was evident from his tone he didn’t think she belonged here any more than Stacey. One of the reasons she’d planned this adventure far away from home, surrounded by strangers who didn’t know her, was because rumors spread like wildfire in their small hometown. She knew about Sawyer’s sexual proclivities, and she’d always wondered if she shared a few of them.
 

Besides, her
sweet
disposition didn’t inspire the more adventurous cowboys back home to ask her out, so her opportunities for exploration were seriously limited. Julie was right. She
was
a goody-goody.

Sawyer didn’t appear to like her answer, so he restated the obvious. “It means you are an unattached submissive who’s looking for a Dom. This wristband has declared it open season on you.”

She shrugged, unconcerned. “Sorry to shatter the illusion, Sawyer, but I think I can handle whatever this party dishes out. It’s not like I’m a virgin.”

He frowned. “You lost your virginity in the backseat of a Pontiac to Les Prescott after Compton Pass won the district football championship our senior year. The guy was a shithead. You should’ve chosen better.”

Leah laughed, though a ripple of desire slammed into her. It was always this way with Sawyer. Though they were just friends, there’d never been a time when she hadn’t felt his gaze on her. He’d scared off more than a few would-be boyfriends in her lifetime claiming they were
only after one thing
. Les had fallen into that category, but Sawyer had been playing on that championship team and had been a bit distracted that night.
 

Sawyer had appointed himself her personal guardian in third grade when Jordan Haskiell had shoved her down on the playground after she’d beat him in a footrace. As a result, Sawyer had endured an afternoon in the principal’s office and God only knew what kind of punishment at home after issuing Jordan a very physical, very painful warning of what happened to guys who messed with Leah. While Sawyer hadn’t pursued her romantically, he’d certainly taken the bonds of friendship to a new extreme.

Despite the fact they’d existed in different cliques at school, Sawyer hadn’t let social status stop him from being one of her best friends. He’d run with the jocks and cheerleaders, while she’d been firmly encamped with the brainiacs, less affectionately referred to as nerds by their peers. “How could you have known about Les?”

“I told you. He was a prick. He was bragging about it at school the following Monday.”

She flushed. She’d never heard of Les spreading rumors about her. “I didn’t know—”

Sawyer grinned. “Luckily, he started his boasting with me. I took him out behind the school and gave him a reason to shut his fucking mouth.”

His admission held a hint of humor, but she could tell he was angry. She decided to test the waters to see how screwed she was.

“Well, it was great to see you again, but Stacey and I were going to pop over to the bar for a drink.”

“I’ll go with you.” He confirmed her fear.

She smiled and shook her head. “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. You’re scaring off all the other Doms.”

His wolfish grin let her know that was his intent.
 

Her temper sparked. “God dammit, Sawyer. Go away.”

Stacey lightly touched her arm, alerting Leah that she’d spoken too loudly. Several people glanced in her direction and frowned. She was never going to achieve her goal at this rate.

Sawyer was the only person in the room who didn’t take offense at her faux pas. “You realize this is a weekend party?”

She nodded. It was starting to look like it would be a long two days.

Sawyer reclaimed her hand, slipping off the white bracelet.
 

“What the hell are you doing?” She tried to pull her arm free, attempting to grab the wristband back.

Sawyer’s grip was implacable. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a green bracelet. Suddenly, she felt dizzy. There was no way he would—

Sawyer slipped it around her wrist.

“No,” she whispered when he lifted her hand.

He’s faced down every demon…except one fast-talking Southern girl.

Lost in You

© 2013 Lauren Dane

Petal, Georgia, Book 2

It hasn’t been easy for Joe Harris to live down his not-so-honorable past, but the military made him a better man. He’s determined to make up for past mistakes, starting with coming home to care for his ailing father.

Things are going as planned until his best friend’s little sister comes barreling into his life. Funny, quick talking, smart, beautiful, she’s a temptation he tries—and fails—to resist.

When Beth Murphy hears Joe is back in town, she makes sure she’s the first on his welcoming committee. Though he tries to pretend he’s gruff and unworthy of her, she sees the man who spoils his dog, who touches her like she’s precious. Cherished. But there’s one wall she can’t break down—the truth about what’s happening at home.

On the night the nature of his father’s illness becomes painfully, publicly apparent, Joe does the right thing—push Beth as far away as possible. But if he thought she’d go away quietly, he’s about to learn she’s made of sterner stuff.

Warning: Slow-talking, sexy mechanic with a drawl, looking to get a Murphy right out of her underpants. Quick-talking woman who knows what she wants and has a weak spot for the aforementioned slow-talking mechanic and his dancing dog. Bad words. Polly Chase behind the wheel again.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
Lost in You:

What he needed to do was take a ride. He’d been dealing with his father, the move, getting all the stuff in place for the shop, and none of it was fun. Joe was tired of everything. He took a glance over to where Buck had sacked out, his face near his bowl should anyone try to take it. The dog snuffled his annoyance when Joe bent to stroke over his head but groaned a little when he got his ears scratched.

“I’ll be back in a while. Don’t sleep too much.”

Buck opened one eye and then closed it again on a sigh. The sound of Joe’s keys would have sent his normally high-energy dog jumping. But he’d been playing with the dog next door while Joe had been painting earlier and had taken several runs with Joe to the shop and out to his parents’ place and clearly had had enough.

Joe got that. He wished he could lie near his bowl with a bottle of beer and sack out for hours too.

Joe snorted as he stood, looking out his kitchen window over Main Street. He’d finally finished unpacking the last boxes earlier that morning, and while he wasn’t totally moved in, he’d already come home.

Petal had been part of Joe Harris for his entire life. Even when he’d been halfway across the world, he’d never been too far from Petal’s streets. So when he backed the motorcycle out of the garage and started it up, he knew exactly where he wanted to ride.

It was a warm day. Sunny and clear, and once he’d gotten a little out of the main part of town, the scent of grass and trees replaced everything else. The hum of the road beneath him soothed nearly as much as the full-throated growl of the bike. He might have turned his life around, but a guy still had to have some fun. The bike was part of that fun. He’d miss his every-Sunday group he had back in Dallas, but he had so much to do now that he’d moved back home he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to find a new group. But he would eventually.

He needed to remind himself of that. Right now things seemed overwhelming, but they’d mellow. He’d find a routine. Get his dad some help. Get his business up and running. Maybe even find some time to date around, or at the very least have sex.

For now, the road had to be enough.

For now, it was.

“You missed a spot.”

Beth sent a look to her brother William. “Volunteer labor is notoriously imperfect. It’s a sad fact of life.” She rinsed off the window she’d been washing on his truck.

“You want to borrow the truck, you gotta wash it. That’s the deal.”

“I did wash it.” She turned the hose on him, and he jumped with a hoot, sending kids hurtling into the yard, giggling and soaked. “And now I washed the owner. You want I should break out the soap and get behind your ears?”

He grinned and shook his head. “I’ll get even for that.”

“One day maybe. But for today, I am queen.” She tossed the cloth back into the bucket and bent to turn the hose off, pausing to squirt the kids again.

“Thanks for the truck wash. And for watching the kids last night.” Her brother winked before he looked over the yard. His kids were out there running through the sprinkler along with several of her nieces and nephews belonging to their other siblings. She’d had them all at her apartment the night before for a sleepover so their parents could have a date night. She loved each and every one of those munchkins, and it was a lot of fun to have been able to spend so much time with them.

Still, when she left William’s she planned to go back to her place and take a long nap.

“No big. We made cookies and had popcorn and watched
Mary Poppins
a few times over.”

“We still pretending you watched that one for the kids?”

“Plenty of sprockets young enough that I can keep that up a while longer.” She grinned.
Mary Poppins
was one of her favorite movies of all time. She hadn’t ever seen it as a kid. Her parents weren’t much for Disney movies for their kids. That and they never had a VCR or anything like that. She’d discovered it when William’s oldest had come along. By that point, years later, she’d seen it so many times it’d become a running joke in the family and she didn’t care.

There was something fine and lovely about Mary Poppins with her perfect voice and quest for happiness in whatever task set before her. Plus, dancing penguins.

A low-throated growl of a motor sounded before she caught sight of the motorcycle that pulled up at the curb out front.

William raised his hand to wave, smiling.

“Who is that?”

“Joe Harris,” William called back over his shoulder.

Holy sweet baby Jesus.

Beth stood still, unable to move or tear her gaze away from Joe as he swung his leg over the bike to stand. And that was before he took his helmet off and all that golden hair spilled out. Her parts came to life as she swallowed hard, taking in the bulging biceps, straining against the soft-looking blue T-shirt. Tattoos made her wonder if he had any hidden out of sight. Powerful thighs filled out faded and worn jeans. His boots were more work boots than cowboy boots, but they worked too.

Worked, much like the sunglasses hiding eyes she remembered were green. He looked dangerous. And hot. More hot than scary. Definitely hot.

He was the exciting older bad boy her brother used to run around with. In other words, total teenage-girl fantasy fodder.

“Hey, Joe Harris, what brings you here today?” William approached his friend and Beth had to rush to catch up.

She was glad she did because Joe smiled at William, showing perfect white teeth.

“Needed to get out for a ride. Thought I’d stop by when I came back through town to say hey.”

He looked to Beth and she licked her lips nervously. And that was before he slid his sunglasses down, exposing those intense eyes as he took her in.

“Welcome back to Petal, Joe.” She managed to talk to him like she’d talk to anyone else. Mainly because she was trying to pretend she wasn’t imagining him naked and bringing her cake.

Ha. She was
totally
imagining him naked bringing her cake.