by Jayne Blue
“You look stunning, Stella. I think you’re overdressed even for this.”
I gave Huck a playful slap on the chest. “That’s exactly the wrong thing to say to a girl. No wonder you’re still single, Officer Hunk.”
Huck winced. “Shh. Someone might hear you.” He looked over my head at Stan. “What time is this show supposed to start?”
Stan looked at his watch. “Five minutes. And they’ll sure as hell start on time or throw the whole thing out.” Stan held an arm out to me. “You ready to head up?”
I looped one arm around Stan’s, the other around Huck’s, grateful for the solid strength and support the two of them gave me. I knew Mitch would need it from them today too. I took a deep breath to try and settle my nerves.
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
“You sure Mitch doesn’t want his family here for this? Or yours?” Huck asked.
I shook my head. “No. It’s fine. The less hoopla the better. That’s what Mitch said. Plus, he’s uh … going to have a lot of time off after today. We’re planning on heading down to Denver tomorrow to see his sister. We’ll go to Fort Myers over Easter break when Collingwood gets out.”
“You like the new job?” Huck asked as we started up the courthouse steps. Mitch was waiting for me up there, alone and probably scared to death though he’d never admit it. I swallowed past a lump in my throat.
“It’s perfect. I’m happy. That is, if we can just get through this last thing.”
Huck whistled low. “You’re one brave woman. You sure you don’t want to back out? Mitch would understand.”
I cocked my head and looked at him. Huck’s blue eyes flashed. “Well, it is my fervent hope that you’ll get the chance to know how much a day like today matters. Any chance that’s on the horizon for you? I know a few girls in town who’d love to meet you.”
“Oh no,” Huck said. “No chance. I like my life uncomplicated. No offense. Plus, I’m not staying in Northpointe after today. I’ve got a new assignment.”
“Is it top secret?”
Huck shrugged. “No. Babysitting a federal judge. Dreary. Mundane. Can’t wait for it to be over.”
“That’s the spirit,” Stan said as we approached the double doors. He opened them for me and gave me a courtly bow. I took a steeling breath and walked inside. No matter what happened, Mitch and I wouldn’t be the same when we walked back out.
We walked past the shoeshine stand and the flower shop.
“Oh wait,” Huck called out. “I wouldn’t be holding up my end if I hadn’t noticed.”
I cocked my head and raised a brow. Huck went ahead of us, took out his wallet, and handed a bill over to the cashier. He came back with a slightly wilted bouquet of daisies and baby’s breath. Smiling, he handed it to me. I went back up on my tiptoes and kissed him. Then we walked down the hall. My heels clacked on the marble floor. Stan took us to Courtroom Five where Mitch waited.
He swung open the doors. Mitch stood in front of Judge Langley’s bench, his hands folded in front of him. He turned to the side, caught my eye, and took my breath away. My Mitch was handsome and strong wearing the new black suit I bought him with the blue tie. As I got closer, his eyes twinkled with a hint of tears. My own eyes grew wet as well.
“Are you sure about this?” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss me.
“I’ve never been surer about anything in my life,” I said, looping my arm through his. Huck and Stan stood on either side of us as we all turned and faced the judge.
He was old with keen eyes and graying hair. Judge Langley, Mitch told me. One of the few good ones, he’d promised. Judge Langley cleared his throat and put on his reading glasses. Then he said the words that would make us man and wife.
It was fast. Just seven months. But it was really seven months and fifteen years. We knew if we kept on waiting, there would always be something in the way. Mitch got reprimanded for his run-in with Judge Pierce; because of it, he’d probably never make command. But I knew better. My Mitch never wanted it. He just wanted to keep doing the work he’d built. They couldn’t take that or his badge away from him.
We’d written our own vows and I turned to Mitch to say mine. “I promise to love you all the days of my life. In sickness and in health. I’ve loved you in some ways since the first day I met you. You’ve been worth the wait.” I said other things, but my throat felt tight as my tears started to flow.
Mitch squeezed my hand and kissed me again. We were early on that, but Judge Langley didn’t seem to mind. “I’ve loved you since the moment I met you. I was born for you and you for me. It took me far too long to figure that out and I promise not to be as dense about the rest of it. Standing here, I know I don’t deserve you.”
Huck and Stan muttered agreement. Laughing I turned to them and tried to look stern. Then I turned back to Mitch.
“I know I don’t deserve you, but I promise to spend the rest of my life trying.”
Smiling, I looked at my love. “The only promise I need is you coming home to me every night.”
Then Mitch kissed me. It was deep and filled my heart over and over again. Mitch was mine and I was his. We shared our love with the people we cared most about that day. Huck and Stan stood up with us. My new teacher friends from Collingwood came. Officers Smalls and Walling showed up. Judy Smith had even agreed to bring Tyler down. He looked so handsome in a brown suit too big for him. He gave me a thumbs up and a wide smile as we turned and faced the gallery. Ken Bardwell came too. He sat in the front row and when Mitch caught his eye, he cried the fattest tears out of any of us. And I was so happy to get to share this day with all of them.
As we took our first steps as man and wife, a hand reached out and closed around my wrist. Old Phil’s shining tears melted me. He sat next to Young Phil in a wheelchair to the side of the aisle. I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. He was thinner, his hair whiter, and one side of his face drooped more than the other. But he smiled and reached out with a trembling hand to cup my face. “You’re the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he said, his voice choked with emotion.
“Aw, let ‘em go Dad,” Young Phil said, winking. “They’ve got a plane to catch.”
“I love you,” I told Old Phil and shot a wink back at his son. Then I turned back and looped my arm through my husband’s.
“He’s right,” Mitch said. “You are the prettiest thing he’s ever seen.”
Mitch and I shared one other thing. A secret that made my heart soar as Mitch squeezed my hand and we started to walk down the aisle to the back of the courtroom. Our motley gathering of friends blew bubbles from plastic bottles as we walked by. I turned and threw my bouquet Huck bought for me. Our little crowd erupted in laughter and catcalls as Huck himself caught it and his face turned red.
Then Mitch and I left the courthouse together with the new spring sun shining in our faces. He held me close as we walked down the marble steps together. That tiny secret we shared fluttered inside my womb. New spring. New life. And we would share it all together.
THE END
A Message from Jayne Blue
Thank you so much for reading. Since the day I made the decision to commit to writing full time, I’ve had this series in mind. This story in particular is one I’ve been waiting to tell for such a long time. Men like Mitch are out there, fighting for our kids every single day and I’ve seen firsthand the toll it takes on them year after year. Some days they win, others they don’t. But these men and women are the real heroes of the world in my eyes.
Next up, you guessed it, Huck’s story! It’s called Marked and I’m so proud of it. Our very own U.S. Marshal, “Officer Hunk” Ray Huckman gets assigned to protect a federal judge who’s been targeted in an assassination plot. Seems simple enough, until he meets her. Judge Julia Key is tough, gorgeous, smart as hell, and harbors some deep secrets of her own. The attraction between Huck and Judge Key is combustible from the get go. And Julia’s one of the most complex female characters I’ve e
ver written. I can’t wait for you to meet her. You can find out more about Huck, Julia and Marked by clicking here.
Now, for more fun stuff! Keep reading. At the end of this message, I’ve included not one, but TWO bonus book excerpts to keep you going. The first is Ryder, the 8th book in my Great Wolves M.C. series. If you love hot, alpha male bikers and the strong women who love them, this series is gonna be right up your alley. These books are complete standalones and can be read in any order, just like the Tortured Heroes series. So, if you haven’t taken a chance on the Great Wolves yet, now’s a perfect time. Keep reading.
I’ve also included an excerpt of one of my earlier works, Torrid. If you like erotic billionaire romance, I’ve soooo got you covered with this one.
Be among the first to get notice, cover reveals, exclusive excerpts and links on the release of other Jayne Blue titles by signing up for my Jayne Blue’s Newsletter. You’ll get a FREE EBOOK as a welcome gift just for signing. Your email will never be shared and you may unsubscribe anytime you’d like.
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Love you,
Jayne Blue
http://www.jayneblue.com/
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Books by Jayne Blue
Tortured Heroes (Men in Uniform - Romantic Suspense Series)
Vice
Heat
Marked
Ripper
Book 5 (TBA)
Book 6 (TBA)
Great Wolves M.C. (Biker Romance Series)
Dex
Sly
Colt
Kellan
Sawyer
Brax
Stone
Ryder
Nash
Torrid Trilogy (featuring Jack Manning from “Owned by the Playboy”)
Book One
Book Two
Book Three
The Owned Series
Owned by the Playboy
Owned by the Candidate
Owned by the Spy
Owned by the Prince
Owned by the G-Man
The Complete Series
Hold Series (MMA Fighter Romance)
Ride Series (MMA Fighter Romance)
Bonus Excerpt
Ryder by Jayne Blue
Note: This is a prepublication sneak peek of the next book in my Great Wolves M.C. Series and subject to slight changes before it goes to press. Enjoy!
“I was the good girl daughter of a bad man…”
Meet Jules. She’s about to steal Ryder’s heart. And he’s about to bring down a rival club to let her do it.
Jules
Today, on my wedding day, I was wearing a bridal gown I didn’t pick out, to walk down an aisle of a church I didn’t attend, to marry a man I didn’t love.
I actually didn’t even like him. At. All.
Daddy had arranged it. He said marrying David Wexler was my duty to the family.
“Wexlers are one of the keys to my operations. They’re loyal to the family. Just like you are. Cheech’s ass would be in the pen if it wasn’t for them.”
Daddy said it more to himself than to me. Daddy wasn’t worried about convincing me. Cheech was his brother. I had no idea why Cheech would be in the pen. I didn’t want to know.
Daddy was the president of the Devils Hawks M.C. as long as I could remember. People did what he said or they got hurt or disappeared.
He’d kept me on the sidelines of his life and his club while he ruled every decision about my life. My mother wasn’t with the program so she was cut out.
Right about now I wished I could be cut out too.
I almost was. I went away to college. Those four years made me think I was free of the Devils Hawks. It lulled me into believing I could have a life. My own life.
Daddy was showing me how wrong I was. How in control of everything he was.
Daddy had evil deeds to do and I was just a tool to help him do them. Everyone around him was in service to his vision of the Devils Hawks.
“Daddy I can’t marry him. I don’t even know him.” When he’d told me what he was forcing me into I’d felt the hot sting of tears roll down my cheeks. At the same time the cold realization that I didn’t have a choice settled into my chest. If Daddy said to do something you did it. His club did. Everyone did.
My mother’s only advice to me about survival was to look the other way. She said she didn’t want to know more and advised me to take the same stance. Play dumb about the club she said. And I did. A teenage girl can easily only concern herself with her own problems. But I wasn’t a teenager anymore. This was my real life.
That ignorance was now costing my freedom. I had no argument to make. I had no escape plan. My life was Daddy’s to use as he wanted just as much as the men who wore the Hawk’s cut.
Fuck. That.
I wasn’t going to sacrifice my freedom or my life for my Daddy’s evil group of bastard bikers.
It was my life and I wasn’t going to be a slave to Daddy’s club.
For the last few days I’d been playing along until I could figure something out.
I wore the dress Daddy said to wear. I let David kiss me on the cheek at the rehearsal dinner. Thank God he wasn’t ballsy enough to kiss me on the lips in front of Daddy.
And here it was my “wedding day.”
I was fluffed, blow dried, curled, and glossed. They’d waxed stuff, plucked stuff, moisturized me and deemed me picture perfect.
I was a perfectly groomed caged animal.
Daddy had a couple of members drag me into the church. If I had a thought of running Boone and Headlock were there to stop me.
“You are the ugliest bridesmaids I ever saw.” I mouthed off. I probably shouldn’t but I couldn’t help it.
Headlock carried my bag and didn’t respond to my dig. I’d stuffed my bag with shit that had nothing to do with being on a honeymoon. I hope he didn’t think to look inside.
“Just get in the fucking church.” Boone was cold. They were both there to intimidate me. But something about Boone did the trick. Headlock looked like a wild animal but Boone, he was a mass of muscle. He wore his hair and his beard long but not a hair on his head was out of place. He had his hair pulled tight and his mouth pulled tighter.
“Is that any way to talk to a bride?” I said but I moved it along. I wasn’t sure if Boone or Headlock would hurt me. I supposed they would hurt me, but just not so you could see the bruises.
Had to have those wedding pictures you know.
We were nowhere near Southwood, Daddy’s territory. I knew that much. But I had no idea what town we were in.
Daddy wanted it to be picture perfect. He also wanted it to be in a place that was totally unfamiliar to me so the remotest chance of me having a friend or a lifeline was extinguished. My bridesmaids were Devils Hawks for God’s sake he wasn’t about to risk me having a girlfriend or an old teacher help me out of pity.
I knew were an almost a two-hour drive away from Southwood. But I didn’t know where the hell this church was. Daddy had also seen to it that the limo had tinted windows. Just another way to keep control over me. To keep me off balance. Were we still in Michigan?
I wondered who would marry me and David Wexler? What did this church owe the club? Or did Daddy give them a generous donation to ignore the fact that unholy matrimony was about to go down?
The limo stopped and I looked up. We had arrived. It was a pretty church, I had to admit, and it was in the country.
With each step up into the building the urge to scream became stronger. I wanted to stamp my foot or
claw at the lace of my dress, anything to release the frustration of being trapped.
Because trapped I was. Daddy hadn’t left me alone for one moment since he’d set me down this path. I’d been with him, or Uncle Cheech, and now Boone and Headlock. They were there to babysit me. No question about it. Whatever freedom I had in the last four years at college was ripped away. If I really ever had it all. I was a prisoner to Daddy’s orders. To the needs of the Devils Hawks.
Nothing had changed. Daddy was in charge and everyone around him did what he said. That included me above all. I was the good girl daughter of a bad man. And I did what I was told.
“They’re here to keep you safe. We’re having trouble with the Great Wolves M.C.” That was Daddy’s excuse for keeping me under lock and key.
Daddy had isolated me since I’d gotten back from college. He knew he was going to do this. He’d planned it perfectly.
Other than my initial session of begging to get out of it I was a mostly passive and compliant daughter. It was my only play. I needed to make Daddy think I was okay and had agreed.
It worked well enough. Because now, moments before I was supposed to walk down the aisle only Boone and Headlock handed me off to Ross.
The fact that only one person stood between me and escape was the best opening I would have.
“Ross?”
“Yeah, that’s my name for now.”
“Ah, well nice to know you Ross, before you become Hammer or Knuckles or whatever tough guy name they give you.”
The club gave you a nickname once you were patched in but now they called him probie.
Ross was skinny, smaller than Boone and Headlock by at least 20 pounds and now he was stuck with the job of standing outside the powder room of a church.
“Well I hope it’s not Knuckles. I would always forget the K.” I laughed for the first time in a while.
“Well, Ross, I’m sorry you got stuck with handmaiden to the bride duties.”