An Excerpt from Handcuffs and Lies

I'm supposed to be doing laundry and packing so we can leave to go on a short vacation tomorrow, but I'm procrastinating. Big time. I'm sure no one is surprised by this. ;) To further my procrastination, I thought I'd post an excerpt of Handcuffs and Lies which comes out Tuesday, August 4th from Resplendence Publishing!


Michael could barely tear his eyes from Tori’s lips. They were glossy and parted and it was all he could do to keep from pushing her against the door and tasting her again.

She opened her mouth, but he shook his head. He needed to get the hell out of her house and away from the press of memories. He might not remember much of the night he'd spent with her, but he remembered enough.

“Don’t. Say. Anything.” He pushed off the door, picked up the backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the house. “Let’s go.”

What should have been a fifteen minute drive took over an hour. He was exhausted, but he wanted to make sure they hadn’t been followed. The last thing he needed was for Lucky’s guys to find out where he really lived. He’d promised Alex he’d keep Tori safe, and he couldn’t do that if they knew where to find her.

He sighed. He could have paid for a hotel for her. He could have slapped her into protective custody whether she wanted it or not. He could have done a lot of things, but instead, he’d chosen the stupidest one of them all. He’d chosen to bring her home where she could be a constant threat to his common sense and sanity. Good thinking, Mike. Real good thinking.

Pulling into his garage, he shut off the engine and closed the door behind them. He didn’t miss how quickly she scrambled off the bike—away from him. Unbuckling her helmet, she handed it to him and retrieved her knapsack from the saddlebag he’d stowed it in.

“All right, you’re in charge. What’s next?”

He unlocked the door to the kitchen and went inside. What was next was that he was going to lie awake all night with a hard-on that refused to go away while the source of that hard-on pouted in his guest room. He was pretty sure that’s what was happening next.