Locked and Loaded (Bullet, #6)
Page 20
“But to hell with the dream. What’s more important is what’s right here. All of you. Each one of you. My brothers, my wife, our kids, all of you—you’re all my family, and you’re what matters. Yeah, the music matters and it’s what brought us together but at the end of the day? It wouldn’t mean a thing without the people.” He raised his glass. “I thank the universe for each one of you every day. I couldn’t do this without you.”
Zane blinked. Brad really was like a brother to him, but the man had been right—he loved Ethan and Nick just as much as Brad. Sure, they’d had their fights, some that had been downright vicious, but he’d rather it be with them than anyone else on the planet.
He looked next to the little girl in the highchair between him and Jennifer, the love of his whole fucking life. She meant more to him than she’d probably ever know, and he was starting to believe it was thanks to her that he’d finally been able to shake the demons that had been holding him in their grip for so long. If it hadn’t been for her love—and his fear of losing her for good—he knew he would be on the short path to destruction.
He looked in Jen’s eyes and beamed, but then he let his eyes drift back to Zoe. The little girl was holding a stainless steel spoon, wielding it as though it were Harry Potter’s wand, and it was apropos because her hold on him was nothing short of magic. He was entranced by this lovely little thing, and he never wanted to escape from her spell. He honestly didn’t know what he’d do without this little girl in his life. Every day he looked into her clear blue eyes, he knew he’d found heaven on earth.
And it was thanks to Jennifer. If his child was heaven on earth, her mother was the angel tending the gates. Zane’s heart swelled and he didn’t give a shit as he felt one warm tear fall down his cheek. He smiled through it. The cheers through the room as they continued toasting and drinking the apple cider made sure no one else would hear, but he leaned over and touched Jennifer’s cheek. “I love you. My heart is yours.”
She smiled, rubbing her cheek on his hand. “My heart is yours too, Zane.”
“Thank you for joining me on this journey but especially...thank you for the best little girl in the whole world.”
Right on cue, Zoe made a noise and threw her spoon on the tray. It clattered enough that it got everyone’s attention, and the room filled with laughter. Zane sat back down and touched his nose to his precious child’s. “Yes, thank you, sweetheart.”
“Good food, good meat—” Chris began, and Valerie looked at him with one eyebrow raised. Ah, a talented mom, anticipating her child’s next move. “Let’s eat,” he said, his face beaming, having escaped his mother’s wrath.
Ethan tousled his son’s head. “Yeah, let’s.”
Zane looked at his soon-to-be wife and daughter, knowing that this was just the first of many good times to come. He didn’t know what the future held, except for one thing—hope. And that was something it hadn’t held for him in a long time. He looked forward to seeing what would come next.
I NEED YOUR HELP!
Now that I have your attention, I want to tell you about something I’ve discovered over the years as an indie author. I can spend money on marketing or invest time in activities I think will help, but the bottom line is this: YOU help me more than any venture I could set out on. Yes, you. So how can you help me? It’s easy—I promise!
If you loved this book, would you consider...
* leaving a review on Amazon or whatever site you purchased it from or Goodreads (or both)?
* lending your copy of the book to a friend (all my books on Amazon US are lendable)?
* talking about the book to a friend or friends?
* signing up for my newsletter (see the next page)?
* purchasing another book from my catalog (30+ and growing)?
* connecting with me on the social media of your choice (see the next page)?
Thank you so much for any and all help you can give me. I appreciate it!
Jade
Stalk me! I don’t bite (well, not too hard anyway)!
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ITCHING TO READ MORE ROCK STARS?
The story that had readers dubbing Jade the “Queen of Rock Romance”
The Vagabonds Trilogy
On the Run
(Vagabonds #1)
What if your dream became a nightmare?
Kyle Summers enjoys a carefree childhood traveling the countryside with her parents...until she discovers the electric guitar. When she first wraps her hand around its neck, she knows she was born to play it.
When she discovers boys, she realizes she has a second passion.
But music always comes first, and when Kyle is recruited to be part of a young all-girl band, she jumps at her chance for fame and fortune. It isn’t long before Kyle discovers that all that glitters isn’t gold. Will she survive when she discovers the dark and seedy side of the music industry—or will it ruin her for good?
Vagabonds follows one young woman’s rise to fame past the pitfalls of sex, drugs, and easy money, through fortune and success to heartbreak and betrayal. Five girls build their band The Vagabonds from nothing but a hunger to create and quickly find that they are nothing but pawns in a larger game played by managers, agents, the press, the music industry, and all manner of unscrupulous, greedy people who want to feed on their triumphs. Friendships and lives hang in the balance. Who will survive?
On the Road
(Vagabonds #2)
All that glitters isn’t gold. Sometimes it’s plastic.
Kyle Summers hits the road with her band the Vagabonds, living the dream. Five young women are tossed into the limelight with little supervision, seemingly left to the wolves. Kyle is driven and headstrong, and—while she enjoys the temptations of sex and drugs on the road—music always comes first. In spite of her friends crumbling under the pressure and lack of support, the Vagabonds become a household name and enjoy success not experienced by people far beyond their years.
But Kyle realizes two things—one is that her relationships are hollow without love, but she and CJ, her main love interest, are only on-again, off-again at best, leaving her feeling unfulfilled. The second is that Kyle quickly grows weary of dealing with egos and prima donnas, and she feels helpless while watching her band fall apart.
Can she save her band—and her relationship with CJ—or will she end up alone and forgotten?
On the Rocks
(Vagabonds #3)
The explosive conclusion to the Vagabonds trilogy!
After playing second fiddle in the all-girl rock band the Vagabonds, lead guitarist Kyle Summers decides to break out on her own and puts together a band that helps her shine as a solo act.
But the road is uphill and success seems elusive. She begins to question herself and her talent, wondering if she should sell out to win the adoration of her old fans or stubbornly follow her heart and continue to languish in relative obscurity.
On-again off-ag
ain love interest CJ Slavin helps Kyle get her new band off the ground but refuses to commit to their relationship, once more leaving Kyle feeling alone, unloved, and unimportant, and those emotions lead her to do rash, irrevocable things on the road, things that could drive CJ away for good. Will they finally admit their feelings to one another and forsake all others or split for good, and will Kyle finally find the fame she’s been working her ass off for or will she leave it all behind, a broken woman?
Excerpt from On the Run:
“What are you doin’ here?”
CJ grinned. “Free country, right?”
“Closed session.”
“I thought you’d make an exception for a big star like me.”
I tilted my head. Oh, my God, when and how had I learned to flirt? “Yeah, I think we will...for a big sexy star like yourself.”
“Sexy?”
Yep, I’d said it. “Video says it all, right?”
He laughed. “I guess.”
We started walking, maybe because of a need to remove ourselves a little from the group because, after all, who wants to flirt and make moves on someone else under the scrutiny of several people? “When are you guys leaving for tour?”
“Saturday morning.” We took two more slow steps before he said, “You?”
“End of the month...so soon but not soon enough for my taste.”
We paused once we got backstage. It was dark and quiet and I realized I had this man alone...all by himself and just for me. “Peter said something about trying to have our two bands do a show or two together near the end of our tour.”
My words came out fine but they didn’t sound right to my ears. “That would be cool.” My mind was other places.
His words didn’t sound right either because I think his thoughts were in the same place mine were. “Nice nose piercing, by the way.”
Maybe it was unnecessary because his face was already closer to mine, but I pulled the neck of his t-shirt into the ball of my fist and said, “Would you shut up and kiss me already?” I pulled him the rest of the way to my face but he was moving too. Still, like a fucking tease, he paused with his lips just centimeters away and his eyes scanned mine. He laced the fingers of his right hand through my hair, almost as if to anchor me, and I closed my eyes. I could feel the heat of his lips before they actually touched mine, and when they did, I felt my entire body tense up and my soul began to sing. My mouth opened to take him in and his tongue traced my upper lip, teasing once more, making my body tense up again. My core felt like it was vibrating and catching on fire while my insides were turning into a puddle. I could feel my heart begin to thud in my chest as though it were going to explode, and I touched his tongue with mine. Holy shit, he tasted delicious, and I knew right then that I could do this all day. But then we stopped and I sucked in a breath, and it was hard to reach the bottom of my lungs. I forced myself to relax my hand and splayed my palm against the shirt on his chest. It was then that I noticed my panties were wet.
He opened his eyes, a tiny smile turning up the corners of his lips. “That what you had in mind?”
Still hard to breathe. “Yeah.” And speak. My mind was officially blown.
You might also enjoy these
BOOKS BY JADE C. JAMISON
Savage
Substitute Boyfriend
Finger Bang
Quickies: Sexy Short Stories and Other Stuff
Old House
Then Kiss Me
MADversary
Laid Bare
Fabric of Night
Stating His Case
TANGLED WEB SERIES
1 Tangled Web: A Steamy Heavy Metal Novella
2 Everything But
Punctured, Bruised, and Barely Tattooed (companion novel)
3 Seal All Exits
BULLET SERIES
1 Bullet: An Epic Rock Star Novel
2 Rock Bottom
3 Feverish
4 Fully Automatic
4.5 Christmas Stalkings
5 Slash and Burn
6 Locked and Loaded
NICKI SOSEBEE SERIES
1 Got the Life
2 Dead
3 No Place to Hide
4 Right Now
5 One More Time
6 Lost
7 Innocent Bystander
8 Blind
9 Fake
WISHES SERIES
1 Be Careful What You Wish For
VAGABONDS TRILOGY
1 On the Run
2 On the Road
3 On the Rocks
NONFICTION
Indie Writer Companion
COMING IN EARLY 2016:
Lies (Nicki Sosebee #10)
Boiling Point (Feverish #1.5)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jade C. Jamison was born and raised in Colorado and has decided she likes it enough to stay forever. Jade's day job is teaching Creative Writing, but teaching doesn't stop her from doing a little writing herself.
Unfortunately, there's no one genre that quite fits her writing. Her work has been labeled romance, erotica, suspense, and women's fiction, and the latter is probably the safest and closest description. But you'll see that her writing doesn't quite fit any of those genres.
And Jade is a-okay with that!
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