Knowing my luck, Laurel will probably marry him and have his babies just because she can, and then I’ll be forced to watch them live happily ever after.
CHAPTER ONE
Barrett Fulton
Five years later…
Ifucking hate shopping.
There’s not much I can’t order online, but when it comes to shoes, and in particular my boots that I’ll spend hundreds of dollars on and wear for years, I unfortunately have to venture out into the world to try them on until I find the perfect fit.
That’s how I ended up in the Village Shopping Center in Clayton one perfect fall day. I just had no idea that this one outing would set off a chain of events that would upend my entire life.
“Barrett?”
The sound of my name, my full name spoken by a feminine voice, instantly has me swiveling my neck around in search of the source.
When my eyes land on the red-haired beauty, a dagger spears through my heart, ripping open old wounds that never completely healed.
As she walks toward me, though, I finally notice her dainty glasses and the freckles scattered over her nose and cheeks.
“Lyla?” My sigh of relief could power a sailboat across the Atlantic Ocean. The redhead thankfully isn’t my ex-wife, just her little sister.
“Hi, I thought it was you,” Lyla Perry replies with a warm smile.
Reaching up to swipe the sweat forming on my forehead, I tell her, “For a second, I thought you were…” Saying or thinking her name is something I try to avoid at all costs. “I thought you were your sister.”
Lyla clutches the straps of the leather purse on her shoulder and shrugs shyly as she glances down at her blue-and-red-striped dress and canvas shoes with little dogs on them. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“No, that’s not…I’m not disappointed. It’s probably for the best that I ran into you and not her.”
“Right,” she agrees, giving me a smaller smile that’s full of pity. “So, how have you been? How long have you been out of the army?”
“I’ve been home a little over a year now, and I guess I’m doing okay.”
“It’s good to see you safe and sound, but what’s with the cowhide? Did you seriously join a motorcycle club?”
Now it’s my turn to look down at my own outfit – the jeans and leather cut that have become a part of my everyday look.
“Ah, yeah. I’m a member of the Savage Kings MC. There’s a new Rockland, Virginia, chapter.”
“I can’t believe you wanted to get yourself involved in outlaw biker shenanigans.”
For whatever reason, I’m not thrilled that she disapproves of my decision.
“Why not? What’s wrong with MCs? Isn’t your father still a member of the Devil Hounds?”
“Yes, and unfortunately, he’s no longer just a member. He’s the president. He lives and breathes for the club.”
“Wow. I guess it makes sense, though, for him to be in charge. He was always pretty intimidating…”
“I will never understand the senseless violence of the club.” She pokes her finger into the center of my stomach, making my abs tighten and causing something that’s long been dormant in my lower body to finally stir. “I thought you were better than that, Barrett.”
The tingles stop as soon as those words leave her mouth, making me think I imagined the sensation. She’s disappointed in me? I hate disappointing people.
“I don’t know about the Devil Hounds, but the Savage Kings are a good club,” I say in their defense and my own. “And my three brothers all joined, so…”
“So, they had to drag you into it too?”
“Something like that,” I answer rather than try to explain that the club is exactly what I needed to feel close to my brothers again after being gone for four years.
“Just so you know, my father is not happy about the Savage Kings setting up shop nearby. He’s been bitching about it since I got home.”
“Home? Where have you been?”
“Oh, I just came home from Lenox.”
“Lenox University? You’ve already graduated from college?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. You don’t seem old enough…”
“I’m not that much younger than Laurel. There’s just eighteen months between us.”
“Right. I remember now. What’s your degree in?”
She lets out a heavy sigh. “Nonprofit management.”
“Nonprofit? So, like you want to run charities?”
“I know what you’re thinking. My father likes to point out daily that it’s a completely worthless degree since it’s probably never going to make me any decent money. Not to mention that it’s been months and I haven’t had any luck finding a job.”
“That’s too bad. And I don’t think it’s worthless.”
“Thanks,” she says as silence falls between us. Lyla even glances toward the parking lot, formulating her escape from me. “Well, it was good seeing you.”
But I’m not ready for her to leave just yet. Seeing her brings back memories, good and bad, but they’re familiar all the same. And she hasn’t mentioned how Laurel’s doing.
That’s why I blurt out, “Actually, I know someone who wants to start up a nonprofit for military vets.”
Lyla’s emerald-green eyes light up with interest. “Oh yeah? Are they hiring? Are they local? Honestly, I don’t care where they’re at if you get me an interview.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Great! I can give you my number if you want so you can let me know. I’m so desperate I would take any position available anywhere in the country.”
“Sure,” I say as I hand over my phone for her to put in her number. While she’s distracted, I say, “I hate to ask this, but how is Laurel?”
“Oh, she’s still a spoiled little bitch,” Lyla responds without looking up from my phone in her hands.
“Yeah?”
She holds out my phone, and when I take it, she says, “And, um, she’s getting married again. October fifteenth at the fairgrounds.”
“Oh. Wow. I didn’t know,” I say. Slipping my phone into my pocket, I reach up to rub the rough scruff growing over my chin. “She’s getting married at the fairgrounds?” I repeat.
“I know, right? So weird, like they’re carnies or something. Apparently, it was the only place big enough to invite the whole town.”
“She wanted a guest list so big they had to book the fairgrounds? Damn, that is the total opposite of the little ceremony we had, with just family,” I remark.
“I’m sorry to be the one to have to tell you.” Narrowing her green eyes at me, she says, “You’re not going to crash it and object or anything, are you?”
“No, of course not. Just because I don’t ever want to get married again doesn’t mean I’m not happy for her.”
“Good, because you deserve better than her, Barrett. In fact, I could give you a hundred reasons why she’s a horrible person and you’re lucky that she’s no longer your problem.”