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To Lighten the Soul
Last Updated:
2024-08-06 07:18:36
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Collide A Glimpse of Sunshine
A little over an hour later, thanks to his lead foot and his ever-growing need to see her, Zane arrived at Common Grounds. He smiled widely as the little bell tinkled over his head announcing his arrival and he saw Maggie at the back of the cafe. Her back was to him and she was talking animatedly with a table full of customers. She was wearing a pink sweater set, linen pants and her ubiquitous pearls. He gave a wave to Sofia, their waitress, who had started toward him. He put a finger to his lips requesting silence. Sofia nodded and smiled, veering off to another table. Once Maggie had finished and stepped away from the table, he quietly came up behind her, grabbed her hand and spun her into his chest where he trapped her in a big hug. She gasped and started to push him away but broke into a wide grin when she recognized him. “Zane! What are you doing here?” she asked as she placed her palms flat against his chestZane grabbed a quick kiss on the cheek, unable to wait any longer to
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide An Unexpected Ride
The next morning Maggie was ready early. She sat on her knees on her sofa looking out the front window waiting for Zane to drive up. I’m acting like a teenager! Maggie laughed at herself. It had been a long time since she had been excited to see a man and living in such a small town, well, to be honest, the pickings were slim even if she had been inclined to date. Just as she was about to go check her makeup in the mirror for the thousandth time that morning, she heard a deep, rumbling sound coming down the street. Her eyes widened as a black motorcycle came to a stop in front of her house.“Oh, my!” she breathed, looking at all the chrome and black on the bike.The rumble brought JT out from the kitchen. “What the hell is that?” he demanded.Maggie’s mouth quirked up in a grin as she saw Zane’s face as he took off his helmet. ”That is apparently my ride, brother mine,” She bounced a little on her knees in excitement before heading for the door to welcome Zane. She threw the door ope
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide Welcome to Avalon
Maggie couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She had never imagined that riding on the back of a Harley could be so exciting. The vibration of the bike and having her arms wrapped around Zane’s lean, muscular torso all morning had her completely worked up. She had to fight to keep from letting her hands explore his chest under the leather jacket he wore. The scent of him in her nose while she was pressed tight to his back made her half crazed by the time they stopped for lunch. Zane pulled off into an area in the country that looked somewhat familiar, but she wasn’t sure as they had been riding for so long around highways and backroads alike. Reluctantly, she let go of him and let him help her off the bike. While she was removing her helmet, she saw him pulling a small cooler out of one of the saddlebags.“Were you a boy scout?” she joked. Normally she was the one who always came prepared for anything. She felt rather discombobulated just standing there with nothing to do.Zane’s mout
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide Love in the Wild
Zane’s sorrow started to melt away at Maggie’s touch. Just like it had when he had come to her after his difficult meeting yesterday. Her touch, her scent, her simple presence made the tension leak from his muscles and calmness overtake his brain. He didn’t understand how she did it, but he knew he was quickly becoming addicted to it. Maggie sighed and laid her head on Zane’s warm chest. He wrapped his arms around her and between the wine and their mingling heartbeats, they soon dozed. The sun moved causing shadows to lengthen. Zane slowly awoke with a cool breeze blowing a strand of Maggie’s hair across his face. After a few precious seconds of just enjoying her warm weight on his chest and running his fingers through her silky, chestnut strands, her eyes fluttered open and he met her slow smile with one of his own.“I could get used to waking up to that smile,” Zane said, his voice low and raspy from sleep. “I wonder how long we were out?”“I’m not sure but I don’t think it was too
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide Tell Me What You Need
“Maggie...” he growled at her in warning again, rubbing his hard length against her. Even though they were separated by two layers of denim, she shuddered a little but then she simply nipped his lip and pulled back slightly to give him a wild but amused expression.“Yes?” she purred at him.She fucking purred at me. This woman! Zane pushed up on his hands and looked down at her. She played with the button to his Levi’s as he took a deep breath and tried to regain a modicum of composure. “As much as it pains me to say it, and heaven help me it does,” Zane gritted out. “We’re going to need to stop soon or I’m not going to be able to.”“Who asked you to?” Maggie replied cheekily, running her fingers under the waistband of his jeans.My Southern belle looks so prim and proper on the outside but...Zane was about to put any thoughts of being a good man out of his mind when he suddenly heard a motor coming closer. He scrambled up to his knees pulling Maggie with him. She had just gotten the
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide Party Prep
Zane rocked in his office chair staring out the window. He was supposed to be holed up working on his speech for the gala, but his thoughts wouldn’t deviate from Maggie. He thought back to their picnic last weekend, the way her lips felt on his, the way her body fit into his so perfectly. He couldn’t wait to see her all dressed up for the gala. She was so spectacular in just jeans, he couldn’t even wrap his head around how her curves were going to look in a ball gown, or out of one. A soft knock on the doorframe dragged his attention back to the present. “How’s it coming?” Carol asked, raising one eyebrow. He was abashed to be caught not working on his speech, yet again, by his eagle-eyed office manager.“Slow but steady,” Zane assured her.“Uh, huh,” Carol said, obviously unconvinced. “Anyway, I forgot to tell you. A woman came in asking after you yesterday afternoon. I told her you didn’t have office hours until Thursday but she didn’t want to make an appointment. It was weird. She
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide An Unexpected Visit
Zane rocked in his office chair staring out the window. He was supposed to be holed up working on his speech for the gala, but his thoughts wouldn’t deviate from Maggie. He thought back to their picnic last weekend, the way her lips felt on his, the way her body fit into his so perfectly. He couldn’t wait to see her all dressed up for the gala. She was so spectacular in just jeans, he couldn’t even wrap his head around how her curves were going to look in a ball gown, or out of one. A soft knock on the doorframe dragged his attention back to the present. “How’s it coming?” Carol asked, raising one eyebrow. He was abashed to be caught not working on his speech, yet again, by his eagle-eyed office manager.“Slow but steady,” Zane assured her.“Uh, huh,” Carol said, obviously unconvinced. “Anyway, I forgot to tell you. A woman came in asking after you yesterday afternoon. I told her you didn’t have office hours until Thursday but she didn’t want to make an appointment. It was weird. She
Last Updated : 2024-08-06Collide The Other Woman
“Hello there, handsome.” Zane’s head jerked up at the familiar voice from his office doorway. Shawna. It had been over a year since he’d had the misfortune to bump into Shawna again. He was afraid that his friends were right and he’d had a type, and Shawna had been it. She still had the big Dallas blonde hair and was showing off her long, tanned legs in a skirt that barely covered her ass, as usual. He had enjoyed that at one time, but now that he had Maggie’s effortless beauty to compare her to, he couldn’t understand what had attracted him to her. He noticed her dark roots starting to show at her crown and a hint of orange on her skin with the over-the-top spray tan.As he took her in, he couldn’t believe he’d ever found her attractive or worth his time. They’d only gone out a few times, but he had thought he was never going to get rid of her. She kept popping up in the most unlikely places and trying to hang all over him for months after he had told her they needed to go their sep
Last Updated : 2024-08-06
Latest chapter
Collide Epilogue
Three months later, Maggie was back in Dani and Levi’s barn, standing under the million twinkle lights. This time, however, it was for her own wedding. It wasn’t the large Texas wedding she’d had in her little girl dreams with the fairy princess dress, a crystal tiara holding a chapel length train to her head that would billow for a mile behind her, the minimum six bridesmaids – all in blush pink, of course, the ride to the chapel in a horse drawn carriage, and the sit down dinner afterwards for at least 300, but it was so much more. Maggie’s dress was a simple, Empire waist gown à la Pride and Prejudice, with lace panels in front and back and a few sparkling crystals surrounding the low-scooped n
Collide Fight for Her
Maggie reclined on her chaise in her room looking out her window at the hummingbirds flying around their feeder, zooming in for quick sips and zooming back out, their tiny wings nothing but a blur. She felt like her life had been like that for the last week, blurry around the edges. She resented the headaches that were her constant companions and would not allow her to sleep through the pain in her heart. Per doctor’s orders, she had not been allowed to come into the cafe even for a little while this week. She’d tried to read but that made the pain in her head worse. There wasn’t one TV program she could find that held her interest. She didn’t know how she was going to live through another week of this enforced rest. A quiet knock came from her bedroom door. “Come in,” she replied. She hoped desperately someone needed her for something. With nothing to distract her, she was slowly losing her mind. Her attention had nowhere to go except back to Zane and the events of last weekend.“He
Collide The Sound of a Heart Breaking
Maggie came back to herself in pieces. She smelled bleach and some other antiseptic and wrinkled her nose. Sun was beating onto her closed eyelids and her head was throbbing. She moaned and reached a hand up to her head finding a bandage at her forehead. It slowly came back to her. She was in the hospital. Someone had attacked her at the Mama Tried. “Zane?” she asked without opening her eyes yet. “Can we shut the blinds? My head is pounding.”He didn’t answer her, but she felt a shadow fall over her face and the brightness dimmed. She carefully cracked open her eyes. She blinked a few times to bring everything into focus and saw Dani and Levi standing over her bed.“Hey, Mags, how’re you feeling? Do you need some water?” Dani said softly to her.She started to nod but then stopped abruptly when pain shot through her skull with the movement. She raised her hand to her head again. “Ow. Yes please.”Levi poured her water from a plastic pitcher next to her bed and handed a cup to Dani. S
Collide Testosterone Poisoning
Zane sat for a long time, holding Maggie’s hand and watching her sleep. He wanted to memorize every detail of her, her beautiful rosy skin, those plush pink lips that drove him to distraction, the way her silky chestnut locks spread out across the pillow. Her eyes were closed but he could visualize the chocolate brown orbs that changed to dark expresso when she wanted him. The unfathomable look in them when she told him she loved him. And her hands, the wonderfully small hands that were so soft but competent and graceful. Those hands that had the power to drive all his worries away and make him feel whole. He wished he could see her smile at him one more time. His eyes shone with unshed tears. He wondered if you could truly die from a broken heart. When he was sure she was sleeping soundly, he let go of her hand carefully placing it under the starched white blanket on her bed. He leaned over and let his lips brush her cheek, careful not to wake her. He took a deep breath filling his
Collide Concussive Forces
"Get security!" he yelled, turning to the woman he had pushed past to get into the ladies' room. She started to argue with him but then took in the sight before her. "I'm on it," she said and quickly moved through the crowd. “Maggie!” he yelled, falling to his knees next to her. She was on her hands and knees on the floor near the sink. Blood was pouring down her face and her eyes weren’t focusing. He could tell she was trying to stand but couldn’t get her feet under her.“Don’t try to get up, baby,” Zane told her. He eased her back down to sit on the floor and took her face in his hands trying to see where all the blood was coming from. He knew logically that head wounds bled copiously even from a tiny cut but, his heart stuttered in his chest at the sight of her beautiful face and gentle hands covered in red.“Zane?” she asked in a confused whisper. “How did you get here? Are we in the ladies’ room?”She tried to raise her bloody hands to her head, but he caught them. “It’s ok, swe
Collide Mama Tried
Saturday came before she knew it and Maggie found herself rushing to pack for the weekend before she was late. Her thoughts were unusually scattered and she couldn't seem to get her things together. Her current dilemma included her boots taking up too much room in her weekender bag causing her to not be able to get the zipper closed. “Aren’t you coming back tomorrow night?” JT asked, leaning on the door frame to her bedroom and watching her attempt to get her bag closed with amusement.Maggie glared at him over her shoulder. “Yes, I am, but we’re going to Mama Tried to see Morgan Wallen and I have to get.these.boots.to.fit,” she said punctuating her last words with the effort to get the teeth of the zipper close enough to catch.JT chuckled and went to her side, pushing her away from the bag with a hip. “Here let me fix it.” He reached in the bag, removed the boots and easily zipped up the case. “There, fixed.”Maggie stared at him, hands fisted on her hips. “I could have done that,”
Collide The Hall Pass
The last few months had flown by in a happy haze for Maggie with the wedding planning, her business going great guns and her nightly marathon Facetime sessions with Zane between visits, but with only two weeks left until Dani and Levi’s wedding, she was exhausted. There seemed to be a never-ending list of things to do and not nearly enough hours in the day to get them all done. I’ll just lay my head down for a minute.Sofia started to knock on the door jamb but then stopped abruptly at the sight in front of her. Maggie was at her desk with her head pillowed on her arms, fast asleep. She was really burning the candle at both ends. Sofia was worried about her. She’d never caught her sleeping at her desk before. She rarely even took a coffee break during the day. Maggie could do more things in a day than most people did in a week but even she apparently had her limits.She saw JT coming down the hall and put a finger to her lips. “Shhhh,” she whispered, closing the door softly. “She’s as
Collide Small Town Moves
Zane sat in his club chair, Jameson in hand, staring at the city lights from his window. He had picked up a book to read but couldn’t focus. He'd hated to have to leave her after her weekend together. The Shawna situation made him want to wrap Maggie in bubble wrap and lock her in his apartment where nothing could get to her, but maybe she was right. He had always been the one Shawna followed and harassed. He'd casually dated a couple of other women after her and nothing had happened. Maybe all these new and intense feelings he had for Maggie were just making all his protective instincts go into overdrive. Hell, he hadn't even really been aware he had protective instincts before Maggie. He sipped the smooth scotch and tried to convince himself that Maggie was right. She would be fine. He had to make himself believe it. It was the only way he could get anything else done. He glanced at his watch and saw he had two hours before Maggie would be done with her catering event and he could
Collide Charmed X Two
JT was just finishing up cleaning up after his prep work in the Common Grounds' kitchen when Sofia popped her head in. “Hey, boss. I finally got the final numbers from Jim at the bank if you have a few minutes to go over the menu with me,” she said brightly.“Sure, give me five minutes,” JT said. Sofia shot him a grin and nodded. With a flip of her dark, shiny ponytail, she was gone.JT smiled and shook his head as he wiped down his workstation. He’d never seen Sofia in a bad mood. No matter how onery the customer or how crazy the day got, she always had a smile on her face and a bounce in her step. And she was good at everything she did. He’d never tell Maggie, but he thought Sofia could give her a run for her money in the organization and customer service departments. The best decision they’d ever made was recently promoting her to manager of the cafe and assistant event coordinator for Common Grounds Catering.When he met her at the table a few minutes later, he moved over some pa
