Unfinished Business
A Totally Bound Publication
Unfinished Business
ISBN #
978-1-78430-375-4
©Copyright Isabelle Drake 2014
Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright December 2014
Edited by Sarah Smeaton
Totally Bound Publishing
This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Totally Bound Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Totally Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2014 by Totally Bound Publishing,
Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN
Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Totally Burning
and a
Sexometer
of
2.
What’s her Secret?
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Isabelle Drake
She ran away from the town that wouldn’t forget, to a city that doesn’t forgive, right into the arms of the guy who insists she set things right.
Less than a year ago, Hayley Jones made a scandalous decision that sent her packing. She left her country hometown, moved to the city and made a new life for herself. But it’s hard being someone else when the real you has some unfinished business.
Hayley knows taking care of the unresolved piece of her past could stir up more trouble and humiliation, so she dodges the truth and puts her energy into her new friends and job. That strategy works for a short while but people from her past start showing up in her present.
Life gets even more complicated when she realizes she’s falling for Nick Noel, a guy who knows she’s running from something, and continually challenges her to be herself. But Hayley is afraid of what will happen if Nick finds out who she really is and what she did back home.
Dedication
For Melissa Ford Lucken, who understands things such as these better than most.
Acknowledgements
With thanks to Dana Nussio, for laughing out loud at the right times, and
Sarah Smeaton, for believing in this story from start to finish.
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Coors: Molson Coors Brewing Company
Goodwill: Goodwill Industries International Inc.
Red Wings: Ilitch Holdings
Sperrys: Sperry-Topsider; Wolverine World Wide, Inc.
Criminal Minded
(Boogie Down Productions): L. Parker, S. LaRock
Lollipop
(Lil Wayne): Dwayne Carter, Stephen Garrett, Darius Harrison, Jim Jonsin, Rex Zamor
Twizzlers: The Hershey Company
Sex and the Single Girl:
Helen Gurley Brown
Glamour:
Advance Publications
Mack truck: AB Volvo
Clifford the Big Red Dog: Norman Bridwell, Scholastic
Grand Theft Auto: Rockstar Games, Inc.; Take-Two Interactive and Capcom Co., Ltd.
La-Z-Boy:
Gatorade: The Gatorade Company, Inc.; Quaker Oats Company
Sesame Street: Sesame Workshop
Cruella Deville: Dodie Smith
Facebook: Facebook, Inc.
Reddit: Reddit Inc.
DS: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
ESPN: ESPN Inc., The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation
Power Puff Girls: Cartoon Network Studios; Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
Abercrombie: Abercrombie & Fitch
Portlandia: Broadway Video and IFC Original Productions
VS (Victoria’s Secret): L Brands Inc.
Feel Good Inc.
(Gorillaz featuring De La Soul): 2D, Murdoc Niccals, D. Jolicoeur
Oreos: Mondelēz International
Ann Taylor: ANN, INC.
M&M’s: Mars, Inc.
Pop Rocks: Pop Rocks Inc.
Diet Coke: The Coca-Cola Company
InStyle
: Time Inc.
The Love Boat: CBS Television Distribution
Sabrina the Teenage Witch: CBS Corporation
CHiPs: Rosner Television and MGM Television
Marlboro Reds: Altria Group, Inc.
MTV: Viacom Media Networks
YouTube: YouTube
Stan
(Eminem, ft. Dido): Dido Armstrong, Paul Herman, Marshall Mathers
Sponge Bob Square Pants: United Plankton Pictures Inc. and Viacom International Media Networks
Twitter: Twitter, Inc.
Instagram: Facebook, Inc.
Old Navy: Gap Inc.
iPad: Apple, Inc.
Redbook
: Hearst Corporation
Carhartts: Carhartt, Inc.
Vernors: Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc.
The Pontchartrain Hotel: The Pontchartrain
The Greektown Casino: Greektown Superholdings, Inc. Greektown Newco Sub Inc.
Starbucks: Starbucks Corporation
The Walking Dead:
Twentieth Television, Inc.
Payless: Payless ShoeSource ; Golden Gate Capital, Blum Capital
JC Penny: J. C. Penney Company Inc.
Pillsbury Bake-Off
: General Mills
The Men’s Wearhouse: The Men’s Wearhouse, Inc.
Oldsmobile: General Motors Company
Justified
: Sony Pictures Television Inc.
Charlie’s Angels
: Sony Pictures Television Inc.
The Dukes of Hazzard
: Warner Bros. Television; Time Warner Inc.
Hot Damn!: John DeKuyper & Sons
Cowboy
(Kid Rock): R. J. Ritchie, Matthew Shafer, James Trombly, John Travis
F-150 pickup truck: Ford Motor Company
2001: A Space Odyssey
: Arthur C. Clarke and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Bud: Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.
Bud Lite: Anheuser-Busch InBev N.V.
Wonder Woman: DC Comics
Saturn Sky: General Motors Company
Round Up: Monsanto Company Inc.
Where’s Waldo: Candlewick Press
Jeopardy
: Sony Pictures Television Inc. and CBS Corporation
Macy’s: Macy’s, Inc.
Wild Turkey: Davide Campari-Milano S.p.A.
Ford: Ford Motor Company
Chevy: General Motors Company
McDonald’s: McDonald’s Corporation
Purple Heart Clothing: Purple Heart Clothing Apparel
Hot Topic: Hot Topic, Inc.
Carlo: Carlo Rossi Vineyards, Modesto, CA.
Fox Theatre: Olympia Entertainment; Ilitch Holdings, Inc.
Chapter One
Black Vinyl: Hard Pressed and Ready to Go
It’s Thursday night and I’m hanging out at a record store. It’s the kind of place you’d only find in Detroit. Three months ago The Twelve Inch Groove didn’t exist. It was storage area in the back of the bowling alley. I don’t mean just any bowling alley. I mean the Midtown bowling alley that also has an upscale restaurant on one side, a bar filled with regulars up front and a club upstairs where anybody from Whitey Morgan to DJ Assault will be on stage. Two weeks of cleaning and moving crap around, and bammo, it’s a store.
Sure, you have to weave through the bowlers to get here but as long as you keep off the lanes and don’t mess with the barrel-chested guys hurrying to get their next pitcher of Coors before their turn rolls around, traipsing through is no big deal.
“You like this track?”
On my left is what looks to be a walking ad for Goodwill. Baggy pants, huge Red Wings shirt, but short, clean-cut bleached hair. Two-tone Sperrys. It’s like he can’t make up his mind. Can’t commit.
On second thought, maybe I have something in common with the guy. Commitment and I aren’t on speaking terms, apparently. I pay attention to the music blaring from the speakers. “I think it’s from
Criminal Minded
.”
“BDP. Ooooold Skooooool.” He smiles, obviously happy with the way he can stretch out words.
Nice teeth though.
I flip through the Retro Classics, wondering if it’s possible to develop any sort of relationship based on a good set of teeth. Seems doubtful but who knows? Maybe. Anything is possible in Motown. Especially in the spring when everyone is emerging from the winter darkness like—well in this guy’s case—trolls from under a mud-coated, concrete overpass.