Jagger pulled his bike into the driveway of his new-ish home. Sometimes when he walked in, he could smell the fresh paint and the hardwood floors. It still hadn't stopped giving him a sense of pride; the fact he and Bianca had managed to buy themselves a home. Neither one of them could wait until the weather cleared and they were able to get outside and do some landscaping. When they'd signed the papers, he'd held her while she'd cried and damned if he hadn't thought about crying himself. It was a purchase neither one of them were sure they would ever be able to make, but they'd saved and lucked up on a piece of land they could afford. Building the house had been a struggle, but in the end they'd gotten the majority of what they wanted. What they didn't get, they knew they could add as the years went by.He spotted her car parked beside the back deck and grinned to himself. He couldn't wait to get her out of her own head, and get her onboard with all his fun plans.Before he'd left
"You wanna split a pitcher?" Christine asked Meredith and Bianca as they were seated at their table.Two enthusiastic yesses made her laugh as she ordered."If we make it through that one, I got the next," B raised her hand. "It's been a rough few weeks."Meredith gave an unladylike snort. "Tell me about it. This close to Christmas, people get insane and unfortunately, CRISIS starts filling up," she sank into the side of the man in her life, Tyler Blackfoot, leaning in as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders."I had to shut off my phone," Christine sighed as she leaned forward and snagged a tortilla chip, dipping it in the salsa every table was given."What the fuck for?" Jagger asked as he reached forward and grabbed his own chip. "Who cares about their hair this close to Christmas? We haven't even got our shopping done yet."Three sets of eyes drilled their laser focus into him as all three women shot him a look. "What?""Sometimes I wonder how we're related," Christi
One of the awesome things about being on Christmas break was that Bianca could stay up late and watch the sets Jagger played at Wet Wanda's. Between lesson plans, grading papers and evening events at school, these past few months she'd had responsibilities that kept her away from his shows for the first time since they'd been together. They'd both been resigned to the fact that as she advanced further in her teaching career, they had different job obligations that might conflict from time to time.Bianca shifted in her seat. She still hadn't told him about the opportunity she had to possibly go and teach in New Orleans. She'd applied for the special seminar, not for a minute thinking she would be picked, but they'd sent her notification a few days ago. It would mean a week during the summer in the Big Easy, and she wasn't sure her small-town guy would go for it. She was proud of herself, and it hurt not to share in her excitement with him, but she knew when it was time to talk about
"Do you wanna come to Nashville with me today?" B spoke into her phone as she navigated morning traffic on Porter Pike, a few days later. Just because she was off work didn't mean everybody else in Warren County was, but today she had time to be patient if she needed to be. It was a nice change from the constant rush of her everyday life. Instead of getting pissed off at the asshole who had just turned in front of her, cutting her off, she let her foot off the gas and flipped him off under the dashboard. If she'd been rushed, Bianca would have laid on the horn, cursed loudly, and boldly flipped him off in plain view.There was a sigh on the other end of her line, followed by a soft curse. She could hear fingers beating on a keyboard. "Why the hell not? The muses aren't talking to me today anyway. Can you come pick me up at my office?"Jessica, Layne's wife, was an ex-actress who made her living now as a hugely successful romance writer. Lately, she'd gotten even more popular and he
"Tyler here today?" Jagger asked as he made his way into the office of Walker's Wheels. So far the only person he'd laid eyes on was the man who sat behind the desk – their boss and club president – Liam Walker. If Tyler wasn't around, this would definitely be the man he could talk to, but Tyler was famous in the club. Anyone who had a problem went to him, because he always knew the perfect thing to say.Liam held up a finger, finishing whatever it was he worked on before turning his eyes up to his employee and friend. Taking in the irritated look on Jagger's face, he frowned. "You okay? He took the wrecker out to pick up a car," Liam glanced at the clunky watch on his wrist. "Should be back anytime now though."Jagger nodded, but didn't say anything. Instead he took a seat in the chair opposite Liam. If Tyler was on his way, he didn't want to burden the person who kept the business and club running like a well-oiled machine, not to mention he didn't really want to get into this tw
"Thanks for inviting me over for cookie day!""Thanks for coming," Meredith opened her front door, ushering Bianca inside.Once she stepped in, Bianca could hear the noise from the kitchen. Between the adults and the children, it sounded like they were having a great time. "Sounds like a party."Meredith shook her head, a rueful grin on her face. "We have some margaritas, because we're all gonna need it when this is all over. We're just drinking slowly."Bianca laughed. Unlike the rest of them, she worked with kids all day; granted her students were older, but every once in a while, they could still get on her nerves."Hey!" She yelled to the group of women and children that had gathered. There were a ton of hellos shouted back, including a few "Aunt B's!" that made her heart clench. She loved these kids with everything she had. "Who wants me to help them?" Again lots of screams as she gratefully accepted a margarita and sat down at the kitchen table."So where's Jagger tod
"Who goes first?" B asked as she put her gift just outside the living room so he couldn't see it. She knew if he saw the shape, he'd know exactly what it was and she'd worked really hard to keep it a secret. The day it had been delivered, he'd almost seen it because he'd come home from work early. She'd be damned if the surprise was going to get spoiled, today of all days."You," he patted the seat next to him, motioning her over to sit beside him.She was kind of disappointed because she really wanted to give him the guitar, but she also didn't want to give away how big the gift was just yet. Seeing the excitement in his eyes, she wondered what in the hell he'd gotten her. He hadn't looked this smug since the night he'd proposed.Walking into the room, she had a seat next to him, watching as he pulled a beautiful looking bag from the gifts. He'd really upped his wrapping game since they'd gotten married, and she knew if he continued, she'd hand all the wrapping over to him in th
LIAM & DENISELiam Walker stomped his feet on the front porch to dislodge the snow around the bottoms of his motorcycle boots. What was supposed to be a weak cold front had actually ushered in a few inches of snow, surprising everybody living in Bowling Green.As he entered his home, it struck him how different things had been since a random day in August. Before that day he'd been a confirmed bachelor, all he'd cared about was his bike, his club, and his job as a mechanic at the family shop.A twist of fate had introduced him to a single mother with thirteen-year-old twins and when life had pushed them together, they'd fallen in love. Now, they all lived here, in his house. The four of them were finding their way as a family and damned if the kids hadn't taken to calling him Dad. It was enough to make his head spin.What had once been a deathly quiet home when he entered, now was usually alive with the bickering of two teenagers and their mom, trying to help them come to a pea