“What?” she gasped. “You’ve already done too much.”
I motioned over to Menace, letting him know it was time for his big reveal. When he came over, he reached into his pocket and brought out a set of keys. As he handed them to Marlowe, he said, “These are for you.”
“What are these for?”
“Your new office.” As Marlowe took them in her hand, Menace told her, “We got you a new desk and your own laptop. You’re all set for Monday.”
“Seriously?”
“Hell, yeah.” Marlowe would be helping Menace out with the nightly receipts and the inventory. While she wouldn’t ever know how we’d used the bar to launder the club’s money, her help would be invaluable to Menace. “I’m looking forward to the extra shuteye. Hell, I sure could use it.”
Marlowe reached up and hugged him as she said, “Thank you, Menace.”
“I’m the one who should be thanking you.” As he stepped back, he motioned his head over to Remington and Delilah. They were both holding up a shot of tequila, waiting for Marlowe to join them. “Enough of this mushy shit. You have some celebrating to do.”
“Yes, I do.”
Marlowe stepped over to me, lifted up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine. After a quick kiss, she winked, then turned and headed over to the girls. I stood there watching her laughing and talking with the other ol’ ladies, and I couldn’t imagine my life without her. She meant everything to me. As I reached into my pocket, feeling Marlowe’s last surprise, a warmth washed over me. I could picture us married, cuddling up on the couch watching TV and those good morning kisses to start the day. I could picture those inevitable arguments and the making up after. I could picture our kids with her beautiful smile and my streak of stubbornness. We would grow old together, never leaving each other’s side. Yeah, I could picture us together … forever.
The End
More from the Ruthless Sinners coming soon! Be sure to check out the excerpt from Holding On after the acknowledgments.
Acknowledgments
I am blessed to have so many wonderful people who are willing to give their time and effort to making my books the best they can be. Without them, I wouldn’t be able to breathe life into my characters and share their stories with you. To the people I’ve listed below and so many others, I want to say thank you for taking this journey with me. Your support means the world to me, and I truly mean it when I say I appreciate everything you do. I love you all!
PA: Natalie Weston
Editing/Proofing: Lisa Cullinan-Editor, Rose Holub-Proofer
Promoting: Amy Jones, Veronica Ines Garcia, Neringa Neringiukas, Whynter M. Raven
BETAS/Early Readers: Tanya Skaggs and Jessey Elliott
Street Team: All the wonderful members of Wilder’s Women (You rock!)
Best Friend and biggest supporter: My mother (Love you to the moon and back.)
Excerpt from Holding On
Prologue
“There a problem here?”
“No, there ain’t no fucking problem.”
“I wasn’t asking you.”
I’d been sitting at the bar having a drink with Rafe when a beautiful brunette caught my eye. She was standing next to the front door with a wide-eyed expression, making it pretty clear that she’d never been in a strip club before. Even in the dark, I could see that she was hot, smokin’ hot, but she looked completely out of place dressed in a trendy long sweater and jeans with knee-high boots. She hadn’t been standing there long when some asshole came up to her and started trying to make a play. I’d seen her shake her head, telling the guy no at least a dozen times, but he just kept at it. Concerned that he might do something stupid, I walked over and tried to intervene. Looking down at the petite brunette, I asked her, “Everything all right over here?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” she replied, while toying nervously with the odd-shaped silver pendant on her necklace. “I was...um...I was just trying to tell this gentleman here that I’m not staying long, so I don’t need a drink...but he keeps insisting.”
“Understood.” I looked back over to the dickhead who wasn’t taking no for an answer and said, “Time for you to move on.”
“This is some bullshit, man.”
“Move, or I’ll move you myself.”
“Fuck this,” the guy grumbled as he turned to leave. “I don’t need this shit.”
Once he was gone, I looked over to her. She continued to rub the pad of her thumb against the back of the silver pendant. “You okay?”
“I am now.” A soft smile crossed her angelic face. “Thanks to you.”
“You here alone?”
“No.” She released the pendant, letting it drop to the delicate line of her cleavage, then motioned her hand to the crowd behind us. “I’m here with my friend, Madeline. She’s looking for her boyfriend ... or soon to be ex-boyfriend.”
“He in that much trouble for being here?”
“Oh, it’s not just this,” she scoffed. “The cards have been stacking up against him for a while now, so I’m hoping she’ll give him the boot.”
“And you came along to watch the show?”
“Well, yeah.” She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I couldn’t let Madeline come here alone.”
“I see.” I glanced over my shoulder at Diamond as she danced on the stage. “So, what do you think of the place?”
Unable to help myself, I let my eyes skirt over her soft curves, and damn, she was fucking sexy. It was easy to see why the asshole didn’t want to take no for an answer. Hell, I was struggling myself, loving nothing more than to take her home and fuck the life out of her, but that wasn’t going to happen. This girl was the real deal, all class, the kind a man committed his life to and did everything in his power to make happy. As tempting as she might’ve been, I didn’t fuck with women like her. She gave me a light shrug and answered, “It’s great ... if you’re into this sort of thing.”
“And I take it you’re not into this sort of thing?”
“Umm ... not exactly. I’m more of a glass-of-wine-and-a-movie kind of girl.”
“I see.”
“Don’t get me wrong.” Her eyebrow inched higher, and she snickered. “There’s definitely something intriguing about all this.”
Her mannerisms were subtle, almost undefinable, but there was no doubt that she was flirting with me. I could see it in her eyes, in the way she moved, and the slight tremble of her voice, leaving me wondering why a chick like her would be into a man like me. I gave her a slight smile and replied, “That there is.”
I could’ve stood there and talked to her all fucking night, but unfortunately, fate had other plans. She was just about to say something when I heard Rafe call out to me. “Yo, Shotgun!”
“Yeah?”
I turned to see what he wanted and found him pulling a customer towards the back door. I could hear the anger in Rafe’s voice as he shouted, “I need a fucking hand!”