Ice

by Chelsea Camaron

Getting out of Ice’s new SUV, I smile at the two girls as I watch my man proudly wrap his daughter in a hug.

  “Ice!” I hear called out from our left.

  Both Ice and his daughter look over, and then Brooke screams, “Uncle Shooter,” and takes off running.

  A tall, built man with short, spiked blonde hair hugs her as a gorgeous brunette stands behind him with a young boy holding her hand. Grabbing my hand, Ice tugs me along to meet the man his daughter is talking to.

  After they do that man half-hug, back slap thing, the blonde man smiles at me.

  “Shooter, this is Morgan,” Ice introduces us.

  “Damn, never thought I’d see the day someone melted that permafrost around your heart. Congrats, asshole,” Shooter jokes while extending his hand to me.

  I give his hand a quick, friendly shake before stepping back next to Ice. My man made it clear a long time ago he did not like other men touching me. That includes innocent gestures, even from his friends, like the one who is giving me a knowing smile now at my actions.

  “Fuck you!” Ice replies in jest while wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

  Shooter also steps back and wraps his arm around the woman he brought with him. “Brooke, Ice, this is my ol’ lady, Tessie, and our boy Axel.”

  “Nice to meet you in person after talking on the phone so much.” Brooke bounces excitedly. “I can’t believe you’re actually here, Uncle Shooter.”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world, baby girl.”

  “She’s got the ring, so when are you givin’ her the name?” Ice asks Shooter, nodding at Tessie’s left hand.

  “As soon as she gives me a day and time to show up,” he proudly answers. Nodding my way, he says, “You better move that one in before someone else swoops in and snatches that prize right out of your hands.” Shooter gives me a playful wink.

  “Just needed to get these two graduated. After today, that’s a definite, brother.”

  Did he just say what I think he said?

  My jaw drops open in surprise for a second while I turn my head to face him and poke him in the chest with my finger. “Excuse me. I’m not moving in with you.”

  “Why the fuck not?” Ice asks, and I can hear Madyson and Brooke start to laugh behind us.

  “You haven’t even managed to tell me you love me, and we’ve been together for over a year; why in the hell would I move in with you?”

  His entire demeanor changes from one of joking to complete seriousness. He turns to me, cupping my face in both of his hands, forcing me to meet his stare. “I’m a man of actions because they speak louder than words. Sweetheart, you want the words, you need the words, you got them. I told you, once I see something I want, I don’t let it go. Morgan, I love you. I love you yesterday, I love you today, I love you tomorrow, and I will love you for the rest of my days.”

  The world around us seems to disappear. All I can see is the way his eyes glow with the depths of his emotions. Tears pool in my own eyes at hearing him say exactly what I have needed, what I have longed to hear for months now.

  Forgetting that we are surrounded by hundreds of people, including our family and friends, I fist his shirt in both of my hands and rise up on my tiptoes so we are standing nose to nose. “Kiss me.”

  “No. Say yes first,” he argues back.

  “Yes to what?” I challenge.

  “Moving in.”

  “I like it better when you tell me what I’m doing,” I reply, sassily, with a wink.

  He smirks at my innuendo at his bossiness in and out of the bedroom.

  Not wanting to ruin our moment, yet knowing it needs to be said, I give him the truth. I have to look out for my family, no matter how much I love the man in front of me. “It’s not just me, though.”

  As always, what he says next surprises me. “Sweetheart, my house is big enough for you, your sisters, my daughter, and the babies you’re gonna give me. Why the hell do you think I bought the SUV? I needed somethin’ big enough to tote all my girls around in.”

  “I’m givin’ you babies, huh?” I zero in on the most surprising statement of all and smile lovingly at him.

  “Yeah, after you tell me you love me, you kiss me, we get two diplomas for our girls, we spend some time with my friends, and you move in. Then, sweetheart, we are workin’ on baby makin’.”

  “How fast am I moving in?”

  “Tomorrow,” he answers adamantly. “Me and the boys will be at your place bright and early with our vans to pack you up and get you settled at my place.”

  “What about my lease on the condo?”

  “It’s about to run out, and you’re sure as shit not renewing. You’re meant to be in my bed every night, not halfway across town every other night. You got any other questions?”

  “Since you caught me up on the plan now, I think I can oblige,” I answer with a wide, playful grin. Then, biting my bottom lip shyly, I give him the words I have waited patiently to say to him. “I love you, Brett.”

  “About damn time,” he growls.

  Before I can say another word, his lips crash down on mine, fulfilling the next step in his plans. With the man I love wrapped around me, literally surrounding me with his warmth and love, I am more than ready to go through each and every one of his steps with him for the rest of our days.

  ~The End~

  Things aren’t always what they seem.

  There is nothing regular about the Regulators MC. Sometimes we don’t realize we were missing something in our lives until we have it. Join us next as Hammer copes with overcoming his injuries. He is not prepared to not only rebuild his body, but his life as well.

  Lucas Young, Riley and Kara Sullivan, and the rest of the Ex Ops team can be found in Secret Maneuvers and Stripping Her Defenses by Jessie Lane.

  Shooter can be found in The Hellions Ride series by Chelsea Camaron.

  About the Authors

  Chelsea Camaron

  Chelsea Camaron was born and raised in Coastal North Carolina. She currently resides in Louisiana with her husband and two children but her heart is always Carolina day dreaming.

  Chelsea always wanted to be a writer, but like most of us, let fear of the unknown grab a hold of her dream; she realized that if she was going to tell her daughter to go for her dreams, that it was time to follow her own advice.

  Chelsea grew up turning wrenches alongside her father, and from that grew her love for old muscle cars and Harley Davidson motorcycles. This just so happened to inspired her ‘Love and Repair’ and ‘The Hellions Ride’ series.

  When she is not spending her days writing you can find her playing with her kids, attending car shows, going on motorcycle rides on the back of her husband’s Harley, snuggling down with her new favorite book or watching any movie that Vin Diesel might happen to be in.

  For more information on Chelsea Camaron:

  www.authorchelseacamaron.com

  Sign Up for Chelsea’s Newsletter

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  Or you can send Chelsea Camaron an email at:

  chelseacamaron@gmail.com

  Jessie Lane

  Jessie Lane is the best-selling author of The Star Series, Big Bad Bite Series and the Ex Ops Series. She writes paranormal and contemporary romance, as well as Upper YA Paranormal Romance/Fantasy.

  She lives in Kentucky with her two little Rock Chicks in the making and her over protective alpha husband. She has a passionate love for reading and writing naughty romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention, or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to them.

  For more information on Jessie Lane:

  http://jessielanebooks.com/

  Sign Up for Jessie’s Newsletter

  Follow on Facebook Page

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  Add
Jessie to your circles on Google Plus

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  Or you can send Jessie Lane an email at:

  jessie_lane@jessielanebooks1.com

  Bonus Story

  This short story takes place in Chelsea Camaron’s Hellions Ride MC Series after the third book, Merciless Ride. If you love bad-ass bikers, and are ready for a ride like no other, then this is the series for you!

  Copyright ©2014 Chelsea Camaron

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

  in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

  Eternal Ride

  Two people once lost.

  Two people once broken.

  Two people who have endured the pain.

  One love brought them together. One love healed their hearts and made them whole again. One love carries them through both the good times and the bad.

  Shooter and Tessie have faced the shadows and demons that haunt their souls. They have built their life together on a solid foundation of love, friendship, and understanding. The only thing they haven’t done is make it official.

  Join them as they come together to commit to one another for the eternal ride.

  Chapter

  1

  Simple

  ~Shooter~

  “Are you sure I shouldn’t at least go back to work at Brinkley’s?” Tessie asks in all sincerity.

  Sincere or not, I look over to her from our kitchen table as if she has two heads. It is the same fight we have month after month.

  After she agreed to move in with me, she took time off to help her mom adjust and be at home more for Axel. Brinkley’s has told her she can come back to work anytime, but that is a decision I leave solely up to her.

  “Baby, come here.”

  She walks over slowly. When she is close enough, I reach out and pull her to my lap.

  “Why do we keep having this conversation?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispers. “Maybe because I’m stubborn.” She bites at her bottom lip, making my dick twitch in my jeans. God, she is even sexy in sweats and an old tank top. The littlest things turn me on with this woman. Hell, if I am honest, everything about her turns me on.

  “You wanna work, then work. You wanna stay home with your mom and Axel, stay home. Baby, you’re on the bank account; you see the statements. We aren’t rich, but we damn sure don’t struggle.”

  “That’s your money, Shooter,” she states calmly, just like she does every time we discuss money.

  My anger rises yet again over this same topic.

  “Tessie, is that my ring on your finger?”

  “Yes,” she answers, looking down at her left hand.

  “Is it my last name you will soon have?”

  “Yes, Shooter.” She blows out a frustrated breath.

  “Am I a man?”

  “Andy,” she chastises my smartass remark.

  “Baby, am I a man?” She nods at me. “Am I your man?”

  “Yes, Shooter, you know all this.”

  “Then tell me, why is it such a problem for me as a man to take care of you as my woman? To take care of my family? Are we not building something to be a family?” I watch her, trying to gauge where her head is.

  “Yes, Shooter. It’s just hard. I’m so used to doing it all. It’s hard to accept help.”

  Jumping up from my chair, I stand her on her feet.

  “Help!” I roar at her. She flinches, not used to me getting so worked up. “Fuck, Tessie! This isn’t help. This is us being together. Dammit, I take care of what’s mine. Last I checked, you are fuckin’ mine. Unless something’s changed that you need to tell me about …”

  Without a word, she rolls up on her tiptoes and kisses me. My frustration only adds to the passion as I suck hard on her bottom lip before pulling away, releasing her mouth with a pop.

  “Baby, if you need to work, then work. But, please, stop the shit over money. I get it, baby, I really do. Don’t call what I do help, ever. It’s not help; it’s being a man.”

  “Okay, Shooter.”

  “Okay, Shooter? That was a little too easy.” I raise an eyebrow at her.

  “I am yours, and you’re the type of man to take care of what’s yours. So I need to decide if I want to work for me and not about the money.”

  “You gonna marry me sometime soon, then?” If she is going to concede so easily over the money, then now is the time to push my luck on the other topic we have not quite been seeing eye-to-eye on.

  The wedding. The wedding that I want to happen, like yesterday. Although the road to get us here was far from easy, I have never wanted something so much in my life—to have her carry my last name, to have her carry my babies, and most importantly, to have her share my life for always.

  “Shooter,” she whines, knowing this is yet another topic we will go in circles over.

  “What? I want you to have my name, have my babies, and sooner rather than later. Just sayin’.” I try to look innocent, but I seriously doubt she finds any of this innocent on my end.

  “So, take me to the court house. I told you this already.”

  Exasperating woman.

  “We are not getting married at the damn court house. First, I tend to avoid court houses. I don’t know any Hellion that will willingly go to one. Nor do I want one of the happiest days of our lives to be at a court house. That doesn’t work for me, Tessie. Second, your mom had one daughter. Baby, little girls dream of the dress, the man, the day, and so do their moms. What’s the problem with you having all that?”

  She sighs. “Shooter, weddings are expensive.”

  “Fuckin’ money. Why does everything come back to money, Tessie? I may not be rich, but damn, I’m not poor.”

  She reaches up, placing her hands on my chest. “Shooter, this isn’t about your money. I know you provide well for us. I know you want to give me the wedding of my dreams. It honestly has nothing to do with you. It’s me, Shooter. I can’t see spending some crazy amount of money on one day, even if it is the biggest day of my life outside of having Axel.”

  Tears pool in her eyes. God, I hate when she cries.

  “There was a time not so long ago when I counted pennies just to get by. There was a time when, yes, I went to the grocery store to use the coin machine just to be able to get milk and cereal for Axel.” As the tears fall, I reach up and run my thumbs under her eyes to wipe them away. “I can’t forget my struggles, Shooter. You make everything feel so easy it scares me sometimes. You take care of me in a way I’ve never been taken care of before. Even when I was a kid with Momma, we struggled. I’ve never known how to relax and not worry about having enough to get by until my next night with good tips or my next paycheck.”

  “What can we do so we aren’t at the court house, but you don’t feel like you’re breaking the bank? Tell me what you want.”

  “I want memories. I want family, friends, you, me, and Axel to have this together. I don’t want a church. I don’t want some big shindig. I just want simple.”

  “Baby, if it’s memories you want, it’s memories you’ll get.”

  Chapter

  2

  Miami

  ~Shooter~

  Sun, surf, and sand. Never would I have imagined Brett ‘Ice’ Grady coming to Miami and settling down. Things aren’t always what they seem, I guess.

  There is an anxiousness inside me as we make the drive southbound.

  Tessie is cute when she gets all nervous about meeting someone close to me. She has talked to Ice and Brooke here and there on the phone calls we have managed, but the whole meeting them is different. Hell, I thought she was going to cry when she met Fred, Tracie’s dad, for the first time. My woman feels deeply, loves harder, and takes on everything for everyone. She has brought Fred into our little family as if he is one of our own. He lost his wife and daughter, but he still has me, my girl, and our boy.

  Axel spends t
ime out at the garage with me, learning everything from the man who taught me when I wasn’t that much older than he is now. Life is good for a change, for all of us.

  Since the day we got the graduation announcement in the mail from Brooke, Tessie has been a little on edge. She fires away question after question daily about Ice and the rest of the guys. All of it takes me back.

  Throughout the years, we have done the best we could with our situations. I will never forget watching Ice hit his knees when our command gave him the news of Erin’s accident and death. He went home, sorted his shit, and carried on, even though he has never been the same. Then, when Tracie killed herself, he left little Brooke with his mom to help me sort my shit and try to figure out how to carry on.

  Over the years, we have kept in touch, and I have always been around to watch Brooke’s milestones. Time is passing by so quickly. It seems as if it was just yesterday we were trying to make it home in time for her kindergarten graduation. Yes, Brooke had eight Army Green Berets all side-by-side at her kindergarten graduation, watching her pig-tailed little ass get a blank piece of rolled up paper while wearing the tiniest cap and gown ever. While she smiled brightly at us, we all proudly smiled right back alongside Ice’s mom.

  That little girl captured all of us, and now I get to make the drive to be there to watch her wear a grown up sized cap and gown, once again walking across a stage for a rolled up piece of paper. Only when she smiles down at us this time, her grandmother won’t be there as her mother wasn’t there the first time. My chest tightens thinking of how things have changed over the years.

  Looking in the rearview mirror, I watch Axel as he plays some game on his tablet. What will it feel like the day he graduates? He is as much mine as he is Rex’s son. Speaking of which, things are good for us now. He understands why Tessie didn’t tell him and why I kept her secret, as well. Still, it is not my proudest moment, but I will always have Tessie’s back through anything.

  We have found a routine that works and have become a family unit of our own. Rex sees Axel when he is in town. We do stuff all together, and he keeps him on his own, as well. We spend important moments and holidays together so no one feels left out. That way, Axel truly gets everyone he is close to, all in one place.