This was important, and Cash recognized that. He and Harper, by the skin of their teeth, had made their first rent payment to Jagger and Bianca a few weeks before. The second payment was coming up in a few days, and he wanted to make sure they had enough. With Harper’s battery, and them having to buy a new one…that was an expense they hadn’t planned on. Then his mom showing up out of nowhere and threatening them. He hadn’t planned on that shit either.
Pulling up to the Trail, he took in his competition, quietly watching as people got out of cars and walked up to Rodrigo. Slim was there, and he knew he was his main competition. There were a few other guys who he’d never seen before, but he had to act like he was the shit; otherwise, they would think he was vulnerable, and he couldn’t be vulnerable here. Not where he was worshiped. If it wasn’t for this place, he and Harper wouldn’t be making it.
As she crossed his mind, he glanced over to the spectator area and saw her sitting with Remy. His brother had never been to the Trail, but he’d been asking for the past few weeks. If there was one thing he always was with Remy, it was honest, and if Remy wanted to know what he did in order to keep a roof over their head, then Remy would know.
Since they’d run into his mom, he had kept his distance from Harper, even though it hurt. It wasn’t normal and it didn’t feel good. He hated that his mom still had power over him, even if he didn’t want her to. Nat sat with the two of them, and he watched as Harper turned to Nat and then nodded in his direction.
Before he knew it, Harper was getting up and walking towards him. “Hey,” he greeted her.
“Hey yourself,” she answered, stuffing her hands in her jeans pockets.
They were awkward around one another, something they had never been before, and he hated it. He hated that his mother had caused this, and she had no idea. Even if she had an idea, she wouldn’t care. He wanted to fix it, but he didn’t know how.
“The reason I came over here is this has to stop.” She glanced up at him. “I can’t let you get into this car and drive the way you do without clearing the air. I know you’re pissed at your mom; I know you’re irritated with the way she left things. I get that, but I don’t want you taking it out on me.”
He ground his back teeth together. She had to do this now? Before he got into the car? “Now isn’t the time, Harper.”
“It is,” she argued, grabbing the hem of his shirt and squeezing it between her fingers. “What if something happens to you and there’s never another chance for us to make it right. I’m not asking for promises, Cash. I know the kind of guy you are, and I’ve accepted it without fail while I’ve lived with you, but I have to know you’re in this with me. I have to know you aren’t going to shut me out just because your mom made some threats. Letting her have that control over you does nothing to help anyone but her.”
He heard what she was saying, but there was a part of him that was so stubborn when it came to his feelings with his mom that he didn’t want to share it with her. “I know.” He sighed. “But I can’t turn that off.”
“Then let me turn it off for you,” Harper whispered as she used the shirt she still had between her fingers and pulled him to her. There, in front of everyone, she owned his mouth, taking what she wanted from him and not giving anything. She branded him, letting everyone know, without doubt, that he was hers and she was his. When she pulled away, both of them were breathing heavily. “Don’t punish me,” she ran her tongue along her bottom lip as she tried to control her breathing, “for something other people have done to you. Remy and I need you to be here for us, and that doesn’t mean only when it’s convenient—like other people have done to you.”
Suddenly it clicked. Treating her like others had treated him was not going to work. He said words he hardly ever said. “I’m sorry.”
She knew immediately he was, knew by the look in his eyes that he got it. “Thank you. I accept your apology.” She looked behind her, motioning with her head to Remy. “Now go kick some ass—your brother is going to eat us out of house and home.”
He laughed, throwing his head back as he let the feeling flow through his body. That was exactly what he had needed. “I know.” He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to him. “And I kinda need you to make us another cake. Even though I’ve gained about five pounds since we moved in, the only thing I’ve ever tasted sweeter than that cake is you.”
Smiling, she nodded her head. “Then there will be one with your name on it, Cash Montgomery. Every week, you’ll have something sweet.”
He smacked her on the ass as she sauntered back to the spectator area. “I’ll hold you to that, sweetheart,” he called after her, laughing as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.
Without knowing it, a stolen parking spot had given him the one thing he’d been missing in his life.
Rodrigo called them to the line, and he got his head back in the game. His family needed this win, and he’d be damned if he didn’t give it to them.
‡
Chapter Twenty-Four
“How are you two doing today?” Jagger asked as he approached Cash and Harper at Walker’s Wheels.
The two of them had been flirting for the last five minutes, Harper sitting on the hood of her car, Cash standing in front of her spread thighs. They broke apart when he walked over to them.
“Good,” Cash answered for the both of them, turning so he faced the member of Heaven Hill. “I suppose you’re here for rent?” They hadn’t been able to switch the lease over to their names; so in essence, Jagger was still paying the rent. They were giving him the money in order to pay it, and then he would, in turn, take the money to the landlord. They hoped in the end the landlord would agree to lease to them, after they had proven they would be able to pay on time for six months.
“I am, but I wanted to ask you two how it’s going.”
Cash and Harper exchanged a look. Both of them exhaled deep breaths and glanced at the older man. “Good,” he answered.
“But hard,” she interjected from where she sat behind him. “There are things we never even thought of, and there are things we probably haven’t thought of yet.”
Jagger laughed at that answer. “It’s never easy, none of it, even when you think you have it all worked out. There’s always that chance that something will come up you haven’t planned for. I’m not saying that to scare you, but I’m telling you that so you’ll continue to be realistic.”
Harper hopped off the car and opened the passenger’s side door before rifling through her purse and pulling out a checkbook. She wrote Jagger a check and handed it to him, smiling proudly. “Month two is in the bag though.”
Jagger grabbed the check and stuffed it into his pocket. “I never doubted either one of you. It’s time you both start believing in yourselves. You’ve got this if you let yourself off the hook. You don’t have to be perfect. You’re nineteen and twenty-one. There are still a million things that are going to happen in your lives, but you’re making it work, and you should be proud of one another.” He turned on his heel and walked back towards the shop.
“He’s right, you know,” Cash said as he put his arms back around Harper’s waist. “We should be proud of ourselves. Nothing is ever going to be easy, but we’re facing everything head-on. We’re living together and not killing each other. Right now Remy is good, and I feel like we’re making a family with him. If someone had told me this would be my reality three months ago, I would have laughed in their faces, but the fact of the matter is—I’m happy with you, Harper.”
Her heart beat heavily in her chest. It wasn’t a declaration of love or even a promise they would be together in a year, but it was enough. Neither of them had room to promise the other anything. They were two young kids just trying to make it in the world, and she recognized that for what it was. “I’m happy with you too, Cash. You and Remy,” she amended, leaning up to kiss him softly on the lips. “Although, he and I are going to have to have a talk about him stealing the chocolate chips I u
se for baking.”
Cash circled an arm around her neck and brought her closer to him. “Umm, Remy may have learned that from me.”
She laughed as he leaned in and kissed her on the neck. “Then I guess I can make an exception to the rule every once in a while.”
That was the best definition he’d ever heard in his life. In every way, they were all exceptions to the rule. The rules of life, the rules of love, and the rules of society, but he knew without a doubt they would make it work.
They didn’t follow rules. They made their own.
‡
Epilogue
Harper reclined on the couch, wrapped in Cash’s arms, as Remy sat in the recliner they’d gotten from a friend of theirs. The three of them were watching a couple of DVDs Harper had picked up at Red Box on her way home from work.
“We should have watched the chick flick last,” Remy grumbled as he covered up in a blanket. “This sucks.”
“Hey.” Harper laughed, throwing popcorn at the youngest of their crew. “I watch that stupid anime you like all the time. This is something you can do for me, little man. If you keep bitching, there will be absolutely no more pancakes for you.”
Her threat did not fall on deaf ears. If there was one thing she cooked the boys had come to love, it was her Saturday morning pancakes. Cash was the first to admit he’d probably put on five pounds from those alone.
“She’s got your number there, brother.” Cash leaned his head back against the arm of the couch, enjoying their family night. The past few weeks had been so busy they hadn’t been able to spend much time together. He’d missed these moments. Wrapping his arm around Harper’s waist, his hand spanned her stomach, pulling her tightly back against him.
“Tonight, after he goes to sleep, you’re mine,” he whispered in her ear.
The promise was enough to cause her body to respond; goosebumps rose all along her arms, and she pulled the blanket that covered them tighter.
*
Two hours later, Remy was knocked out, and Cash had carried him to his bedroom. While Harper waited on him to come back, she picked up around the living room. Bending over, she grabbed Remy’s blanket, folded it, and put it on the back of the recliner. When she straightened, she met the hard body of the man she called boyfriend. It had taken them a while to get here, a while for them to realize that was exactly what they were. That they were meant to be a part of each other lives. Once they had admitted it to each other, there had been no stopping the forward progression of their relationship. They may not have much, but damn were they happy.
“He’s out.” Cash turned her around so they faced one another.
She grinned up at him, twining her arms around his neck and pulling their bodies closer together. “Good, I thought I was never going to get you alone tonight.”
He backed her up until her thighs hit the couch, pressing her down into it as he layered his body over hers. If there was one thing she loved about him (even if they hadn’t said those words yet), it was how he could envelope her and make her feel things she’d never felt before. His arms enclosed her; the only thing she could smell was his aftershave, and then the only thing she could taste was him as his mouth captured hers.
Digging her fingers into his shoulders, she grasped hard and pulled him closer to her. Separating her thighs, she made room for him there, inviting him to take her the only way he knew how. Pulling his shirt over his head, she ran her hands down to his pectorals, stopping at the metal that adorned him there, using her fingers to stimulate the sensitive skin. She grinned when he groaned, and his mouth ate at her harder.
“Cash.” She moaned, tilting her head back against the arm of the couch. She loved being consumed by him. It was her favorite place in the world. Grinding against his lower body, she gasped, feeling him against her. As she moved her fingers to the waistband of his jeans, there was a loud noise outside, like someone was coming up their stairs.
“Cash.” She moaned again, licking her lips. “Someone’s here.”
“They can fuckin’ leave.” He nipped at her ear. “I’ve been waiting all day for this.”
So had she, but when the person outside knocked at the front door for the third time, she pulled away. “They’re going to wake Remy up. Just go get rid of them.”
“Fuck.” He groaned, leveling himself up from the couch. Not bothering to put his T-shirt back on, he walked over to the front door and pulled it open.
Surprise registered as he saw a sheriff’s deputy there. To his knowledge, he hadn’t done anything and neither had Harper. He’d kept himself as clean as he could on the Trail. “Can I help you?”
“Cash Montgomery?” he questioned.
“That’s me.”
“These papers are to inform you that you’ve been served.”
“Served with what?” His brain worked overtime. There was nothing he could be served on. They were broke, but they didn’t owe anyone a damn thing.
“Janet Sawyer is serving you in the case of custody for a Remington Sawyer.”
Motherfucker, she was taking him to court for his brother. The emergency protective order, he’d gotten Liam to secretly obtain had pushed her over the edge. He didn’t have anything to say to that, so he slammed the door and leaned back against it. It was hard for him to swallow, and his breaths were coming fast. Harper stood before him saying something he couldn’t understand. It was like she was speaking from a million miles away until finally her words were understood.
“We’ll figure this out, Cash. Whatever we have to do, we’ll figure it out. She’s not going to get him.”
He felt her close her arms around him, but he couldn’t return the hug. He couldn’t make himself move. All he could do was think, and that thought was that his mother would have to kill him to get Remy. He would give him back willingly over his dead body.
Book #2 in the Trilogy is coming in June!
About the Author
Laramie Briscoe is the best-selling author of the Heaven Hill Series & the Rockin’ Country Series.
Since self-publishing her first book in May of 2013, Laramie Briscoe has published over 10 books. She’s appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling E-books Lists on iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. She’s been called “a very young Maya Banks” (Amazon reviewer) and her books have been accused of being “sexy, family-oriented, romances with heart”.
When she’s not writing alpha males who seriously love their women, she loves spending time with friends, reading, and marathoning shows on her DVR. Married to her high school sweetheart, Laramie lives in Bowling Green, KY with her husband (the Travel Coordinator) and a sometimes crazy cat named Beau.
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Heaven Hill Series
Meant To Be
Out of Darkness
Losing Control
Worth The Battle
Dirty Little Secret
Second Chance Love
Rough Patch
Beginning of Forever
Rockin’ Country Series
Only The Beginning
One Day at A Time
The Price of Love
Full Circle
The Red Bird Trail Trilogy
Flagger
Collision
In-Tune
Also by Laramie Briscoe
Meant To Be
Heaven Hill Series #1
Prologue
Denise Cunning
ham pulled back the curtains covering the window pane in her front door with shaky hands. The knock that had sounded moments before wasn’t the gentle knock of a friend over for a visit. Staring back at her through the glass, she saw two Warren County Sheriff’s deputies holding papers. Dread rolled up in her throat as her stomach began to churn. She let the blinds fall and took two deep breaths before she unlocked the door and faced the men standing on the other side. As she stepped out, the brightness of the sun assaulted her eyes, the warmth of the summer day made it even more difficult to breathe past the lump in her throat.
“Denise Cunningham?” The taller of the two asked.
Not trusting her voice, she could only nod her head in acknowledgement of who she was.
With cold efficiency, he handed her the papers in his hands. “Denise Cunningham, I’m serving you with papers from Kentucky Housing.” He produced a pen and requested her signature.
In minutes it was over. The scene she had dreaded most over the last few months had come to fruition. Unless she could come up with six months back mortgage, she would lose her home. She stood frozen in shock as the officers walked away from the door and headed back to their patrol car. It almost made her laugh – the fact that they felt she, a single mother, was dangerous enough to warrant two deputies. As they pulled away, she realized her neighbors watched. Shame and embarrassment caused her face to burn as she slammed her door shut.
Tears came now, along with shakes that wracked her body. “God, please help me,” she whispered as she opened the packet of paperwork they had left with her. “What am I going to do?” Through the tears, she read the legal papers in her trembling hands. The amount due was more than she had seen in years. Especially now that her hours had recently been cut. She was officially screwed.
The shrill ringing of her cell phone broke into her freak-out. A number she had never seen before displayed on the screen, and she wondered if she should answer it. Along with the money she owed on her home, she owed thousands to credit card companies. They had also begun to hound her. Should she take the chance and answer it or let the voicemail pick it up? As she debated, her finger hit the accept button of its own accord.
Flagger Page 10