Jagger did his best to enter the hospital room quietly and not bother Bianca. As he pushed the door open, he spotted Meredith sitting in a chair at her bedside."You don't have to be quiet," she told him. "They had to give her a mild sedative about twenty minutes ago. So she'll be out for a few hours.""What happened?" he asked as he sat her stuff down before walking over to kiss her forehead. As his lips touched the skin, she stirred slightly before relaxing into sleep. He could tell she was more relaxed because he didn't see her eyes moving behind the lids."She had a little bit of a freakout. Nothing major," Meredith assured him. "She was in shock and I think everything just crowded in on her. She really wanted you, and the on-call doctor told her that you hadn't arrived yet. Her blood pressure bottomed out, she started shaking, and her teeth started chattering. So they gave her something to calm her down. Nothing really heavy duty. Just something to make her relax."He nodd
Jagger sat on the porch of Doctor Jones' office.Waiting.He had allowed two weeks to go by. Two weeks in which he had wordlessly given Bianca the space that she requested. He had let her stay at her own apartment, not pressuring her to stay with him. The way she tensed every time he came near, the way she refused to meet his eyes, the way she shrank away from anything resembling a real conversation between the two of them. Now, he was ready to move forward—tired of waiting on her to admit she needed him. Instead, he was going to make her see just how much she needed him in this journey with her.Meredith had been right on many of the things she had assumed when she handed Jagger the card for Doctor Jones. He did have issues that needed to be worked on—just like he knew Bianca did. They had issues together. In the past two long, lonely weeks he had spent without her, he'd worked on himself. Now, more than any other time in his life, he was equipped to handle whatever she needed f
"Where are we going?"Jagger glanced over at Bianca and grinned. They were coming through on the other side of the hurdles that had been placed in front of them. It was nice to see her excited about something. "Just sit over there and look pretty," he told her, a full smile breaking out over his face as she huffed."Seriously. I'm worried that I didn't dress okay."He allowed his eyes to take in her body. The weather was finally beginning to get warm and what she wore was a reflection of that. A t-shirt covered her torso, a skirt stopped just about halfway between her knees and her upper thighs, and cute little sandals sat on her feet. The pink color of her toenails shined back at him, providing him with a glimpse of summer."You look fine, baby," he assured her."I'd still like to know where we're going."As he took the exit onto I-65, she saw that they were going south. "Can you figure it out?" he asked, as he reached over to take her hand in his."Are we going to Nashv
"So where are we going now?" Bianca asked as they walked from the rooftop sushi bar back to her car. "Are we heading on home? It's getting late," she said as she checked her watch."Not just yet," Jagger told her as he put his arm around her waist. "I have a plan for us. We're not actually going back tonight.""We're not?""Nope," he grinned as her mouth formed a little 'o' as what he was saying finally dawned on her."Well, where are we staying then?"He loved the fact that he could surprise her—even though she fought him at every turn. "I got us a room."Bianca grinned. "A room where?""At a nice hotel."The smile fell a little on her face, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. "You shouldn't have spent a bunch of money on this," she fretted, twisting her hands together."Hey." He reached to her with his hands and his fingers caressed her neck. "You let me worry about the kind of money I wanna spend on you."It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him t
Bianca held her degree in her hands, marveling at how it felt. She smoothed her hand over the case that covered the piece of paper she had worked so hard to earn. Tears burned the back of her eyes as her dream came to realization. It had been so long in coming that she at one time thought it would never ever get here. But it had. She hadn't given up, and she had really and truly made a dream come true. She stood in the clubhouse, holding it, gazing at it, not fully believing that she actually had it."Whatcha got there?" Jagger asked, as he came up behind her."I finally got my degree," she grinned up at him. "Awesome, baby! 'Bout damn time too. That pissed me off so bad when I realized you didn't get your actual one the day you graduated."Bianca laughed. "I know, I thought I was gonna have to keep you from going after the people in the front office."He blushed. "Well, you worked hard for it and you deserved it. Sorry, but it really did piss me off.""It's fine, it was c
VOLUME FOUR: WORTH THE BATTLENashville traffic sucked a big one—especially when it kept Layne O'Connor from getting to the one person in the world who had the power to make him drive seventy miles without questioning why. His fingers beat a rhythm against the steering wheel in time with the rock station he listened to. Today, the music that normally calmed him down set his nerves on edge. "Move your ass," he shouted as the person in front of him tapped their brakes. It was times like this he wished he could always drive his motorcycle. If he had been on the back of his bike right now, he could have maneuvered through this mess in ten minutes flat. Instead, he had been sitting in almost gridlock for over an hour. He'd also been flipped off more times than he cared to count, what he wouldn't give to show these drivers the kind of artillery he carried with him.A trip that should have taken an hour and a half at most was well into its second. Cursing loudly, he picked up the phon
The drive back to Bowling Green didn't take as long as the drive to Nashville and for that Layne was thankful. His ankle and leg hurt if he was cramped in a car for very long, not to mention it just flat out irritated him. "Jess." He shook her arm, trying his best to be gentle, even though he could barely remember how."Yeah." She turned her head towards him, breathing deeply as she realized where she was. "Did I fall asleep on you? I'm so sorry.""You were tired, it's fine. I like driving in peace and quiet, with just the radio on anyway, unless I'm on my bike."Glancing out the window, she looked to the left and right. "Where are we?" There was a large building that looked like a hospital on her right."Liam's old lady had just gone into labor when you called. I got a text on the way back that she delivered. All the brothers are there; it's customary that I make an appearance.""I'm not going to pretend like I understand a damn word you just said." She popped a piece of
The room was still and quiet, the only sound coming from the bed where Jessica slept. Most people wouldn't be able to hear her breathing, but it was the only thing he could hear. At night when he had been overseas in the military, that was the one sound that kept him grounded—that let Layne know he was still alive. He clung to that sound again tonight; not sure why, just needing a sense of familiarity.Rolling over onto his side, he used his arm as extra support. The pillow he had for this chair wasn't that great and again reminded him of his time in the Army. There were a lot of things he had learned during his time there that he wanted to completely forget, but there were some things he also coveted. One of those things slept in the bed across from him."C'mon, some chick got Justin Timberlake to go to her ball. Why don't you ask Jessica Shea? You're a good lookin' guy, I'm sure she'll say yes."Layne laughed, shaking his head. It was a late night in Fort Benning, Georgia, and
The temperature in the cab of the truck was downright frigid as Remy drove to Tyler's house to drop off Addie first. Tatum refused to meet his gaze and that flat out pissed him off. If she was going to give herself to another man and then have the balls to sit in front of him like this, she should at least have the decency to meet his eyes when he looked at her."Am I going to have to explain to Tyler why I'm dropping you off at one in the fucking morning?" Remy glanced in the review mirror of the truck, looking back to where Addie sat in the extended cab."No," she shook her head, looking about as tired and unhappy as he felt. "He's at the clubhouse. He and Mom had planned to stay and they took Caelin with them."Well, thank God for small favors, because the one person besides Liam he didn't want to face off with tonight, was Tyler."You're lucky I don't call him and tell him where the hell you've been. How could you let her go up there with him?" he questioned her, the irrita
Tatum's heart beat through her chest as she followed Gavin upstairs to a much quieter part of the house. Her mouth was dry – the result of her nerves, or the alcohol she'd consumed – she wasn't sure which. Her hand gripped Gavin's tightly, but she knew it wasn't because she was excited, it was because she wanted to yank on it, and stop him from leading her into the empty bedroom. Part of her wanted to put a stop to it, the other part wanted to go through with this so she could throw it in Remy's face. Those stubborn traits she'd inherited from her dad were alive and well tonight.She glanced over her shoulder, spotting Addie pulling out her phone and making a call. The worried look on her friend's face told her all she needed to know. Addie was probably calling in reinforcements and her time had suddenly become very limited."You feelin' good?" his deep voice questioned in her ear, causing her hair to stand up and goosebumps to appear on her arms. This time it was different than wh
Remy was in a piss-poor mood, had been since the night of the Christmas party and everything that had gone down with Tatum. He bit off the head of anyone foolish enough to ask if he was okay. He'd been eating lunch by himself, and overall had been a miserable fucking loner. Even right now, while everyone else was partying their asses off, his big date was being in the gym and beating the ever-loving shit out of a heavy bag. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him the last few days.Hearing his fists connect with the bag felt good, even if it was muted by the gloves he wore. His arms burned, his shoulders and back ached, his chest heaved, and sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes; making them sting. The sting felt good though, because it distracted him from the guilt he felt for the way he'd treated Tatum. And that guilt was pressing down on him like he was trapped under a thousand-pound boulder.He'd felt every emotion on the spectrum since she'd walked out on him
Tatum's blue eyes took in the party-goers around her. In different parts of the room, she could see members of her graduating class, some kids that were now seniors, and a few college kids. God, this had never been her thing, she'd never found high school or college parties worth anything to her. She could see everything that went on at them and more, at the club parties. Plus, this was a mob mentality – everyone here went along with everyone else, and it was so boring. Nobody had any individuality. Normally, she'd have tossed the invitation in the trash can and not even thought twice about it. She would have spent the night at the club's New Year's party and have an actual good time with her friends and family.Tonight though, she was on a mission."Do you see anybody?" Addie asked as they surveyed the room.Tatum took a drink from the bottle of Strawberry Boone's Farm she carried in her hand. It was the bottom shelf stuff, guaranteed to get you loaded in the least amount of tim
Tatum had never felt anything like the all-consuming lust that blasted through her as soon as Remy grabbed her hip and pulled her deep into his body. She'd thought she had but damn, she was wrong. Her fingers grasped at his shirt, trying to ground herself in the feelings, when she felt his bare palms slip up under the hem of her dress. The sharp intake of breath, and the way he nipped at her lip indicated he'd discovered she'd worn a thong."Fuck, Tate," he moaned as he pulled his lips from hers.She almost cried as he abandoned her lips and smeared his mouth down her neck. She felt the sharp nip of his teeth down to the core of her body. It caused her nipples to tighten further against the lace of strapless bra, and before she knew what she was doing, she was rubbing up against him."Please, Rem," she gasped out when she felt one of his hands on her ass venture back over her hip, and closer to the wetness and heat she felt between her thighs."Has anybody touched you?" he grow
He knew the second she walked in, just like he'd known when she'd entered the bakery. Even seven shots of Pappy in, he could feel her, he knew she was there by the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up, the goosebumps he got on his arms and the way his dick stirred to attention. He wasn't sure what kind of hold Tatum Walker held over him, but it was strong, maybe dangerously so, like some sort of Jedi Mind Trick he'd never be able to resist. And dammit if his hand didn't shake as he took his next shot."Too much for you?" Drew asked as he noticed the slight tremble of the other man's hand.How did he tell the man sitting beside him, he was hard up for his little sister? Easy. He didn't."Nah, I'm good, but I gotta hit the head. Be back."Plan number two when plan number one didn't work? Run and hope she wouldn't follow. As much alcohol as he had consumed, he wasn't sure he could push her away this time. After all, he was only a man and he wasn't immune to the way she lo
He should have brought a date. Those were the first words Remy thought when he walked through the door of the clubhouse. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and all he wanted to do was turn around and head back to Cash and Harper's. Normally, he lived at the clubhouse, but he'd had dinner at their place tonight. He could relieve the babysitter watching Maddy, and he wouldn't have to worry about keeping his guard up.Couples were paired off, which meant anyone without a plus one would be inevitably thrown together. Looking up, he saw mistletoe was hung randomly around the room. Shit. Since he was the youngest, he seemed to be one of the few without a woman on his arm. Sure as the world turned, he'd find himself thrown toward someone tonight.Gazing around the room, he didn't see Tatum and for that he was extremely thankful. He'd been able to avoid her since the day at Harper's bakery, but it'd hadn't been easy. Not that she'd gone out of her way to be around him but they were in the sa
Remy told himself to slow down as he grasped her neck, hauling Tatum closer to him. He cautioned his lust-drunk body not to make a fool of itself. He warned his libido not to let this go too far. They were in the middle of the bakery, in the middle of downtown. Anyone could walk through that door from some dumbass off the street, to her brother, to her dad. But he couldn't stop, couldn't force his hand not to trail down her body and grasp her tight ass in his fingers. He wanted desperately to pull her lower half into his, wanted to shove his thigh between her legs and feel the heat he knew would be there. His tongue was forceful as it made its way into her mouth, testing how far she'd let him go.Turned out she'd let him go as far as he wanted to.His brain tried to warn him that this was progressing too quickly. It was getting too out of control, too fast. If he didn't watch it, he'd be picking her up and putting her ass first against the nearest wall. He was losing his mind, losi
Son of a bitch. Something in the way Tatum's gaze met his made him think he'd said those words loud enough she could hear them. But fuck, she looked amazing. Even more than she usually did. Tatum had been gorgeous for a long time, but with her hair in this new cut, she looked sexy, and almost… sophisticated. But this was Tatum. She'd never fully be a lady, not really. She didn't do dresses unless she had to, she didn't do caked on makeup, and she could hang with the guys – no matter how raunchy it got."Do you like it?" She asked again, this time looking much more unsure than when she'd started out. Very slowly, she ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a tousle.Remy cleared his throat, not sure how honest he wanted to be, but at the same time knowing he couldn't help but be honest. If he lied to her, she would know, and it would do nothing to help the situation they seemed to always find themselves in. The two of them always seemed to be either pushing or pulling at each ot