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“Would that be enough for you?” Dane asked.
“Anything that means I get to be with you and Emma is enough for me,” he said honestly. “I spent years watching humanity at its worst. If all I do for the rest of my life is give out tickets for jaywalking, I’ll be a happy man. As long as I can come home to you and Emma at the end of each day.”
He saw Dane’s eyes shimmer brightly and then he was being pushed onto his back. “I love you, Jaxon Reid.”
“I love you, Dane Winters” Jax said with a smile and reached up to run his fingers over Dane’s lips. “Let’s go get your daughter and go home.”
Dane studied him for a long, quiet moment before he kissed Jax softly and said, “Our daughter.”
The End
Finding Peace
Finding Series #3
Finding Peace is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Finding Peace by Sloane Kennedy
Published in the United States by Sloane Kennedy
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Cover Images: © Wander Aguiar
Cover Design: © Cate Ashwood Designs
ISBN-13:
978-1541062351
ISBN-10:
1541062353
ChapterOne
“Son of a bitch!”
Gray Hawthorne let off another string of curses as he felt the seatbelt slam against his chest, his foot jamming the brake pedal down as far as it could go. Although his gut was telling him not to jerk the wheel to the right, he did so anyway and his only indication that he hadn’t run over the big dog standing in the middle of the road was the fact that he didn’t feel his pickup truck’s wheels plowing over the dog’s body. And since the dog didn’t let out a scream of pain, he was hopeful he’d jolted out of his maudlin thoughts quickly enough to avoid causing the animal any kind of injury at all. His truck skidded to a stop on the gravel shoulder and he managed to twist the wheel enough to keep the vehicle from rolling into the ditch.
“Jesus Christ,” he muttered as he put the truck in park and tried to catch his breath. His whole body shook from the adrenaline rush of the near miss but he managed to lift his eyes to the rearview mirror. Damn dog was still standing in the exact same spot in the middle of the road. Although there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the back country road leading to his cabin, Gray knew that the dog would have a very short lifespan if it didn’t get its ass off the blacktop. Between the ranchers and the hunters that lived in and visited the area, a dog’s life was on the very low end of the value scale.
Gray managed to release the seatbelt that was still strangling him, though it took several tries. He checked for traffic and then got out of the truck. The dog was less than a hundred yards away barking incessantly.
“Come here, girl,” Gray called as he squatted. He didn’t know much about dogs, but he figured making himself seem as unintimidating as possible was the way to go. But it didn’t matter because even though the dog turned its big head his way, it didn’t budge and it never stopped barking. Between the close call and the anxiety that had been rolling through him long before he’d lain eyes on the animal, Gray felt an urge just to get in his truck and keep going. It wasn’t the good guy thing to do but that was a label he’d given up a long time ago when he’d learned that good guys didn’t win in his world. They didn’t even get to play the fucking game.
Gray rose and reached for the door handle before he let out another foul curse. He sucked in a breath and then began moving towards the dog, his eyes scanning the road both in front and behind him for cars.
“Come here, sweetie,” he called but the dog continued to ignore him. As he got closer, he could see it was a German Shepherd and that it was enormous. But it was also a mess. Mud caked its fur and even with its thick coat, Gray could see its ribs protruding. Gray tried lowering himself again but the dog didn’t budge. It did stop barking however, and Gray couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. The dog’s golden brown eyes shifted between him and the grove of trees just off to the side of the road. It was the same thing the animal had been looking at when his truck came flying over the slight rise in the road.
“Good girl,” Gray whispered once he was within a couple feet. To his surprise, the dog trotted up to him and sat down at his feet. But instead of barking, it began whining and when it pressed against his hand with its cold muzzle, Gray ran his fingers over the animal’s head. The second he removed his fingers, the dog barked and then took several steps towards the side of the road.
“Okay, Lassie, I get you,” Gray drawled. He followed the dog and wasn’t surprised when it disappeared down into the ditch. He was half expecting to find another dog, maybe an injured one, lying in the heavy brush that was so predominant in this area. But he knew as soon as he reached the side of the road and looked down that the curled up form lying among the foliage wasn’t a dog at all.
* * *
Luke Monroe felt cold all over even though it was unbearably hot outside. Except his face – it just felt wet…again. Damn dog. If the mangy mutt wasn’t licking his face, then it was going after any exposed skin it could find. He tried to roll away from the dog’s sticky tongue but pain seared across his side and he bit back a moan. He could feel sharp rocks digging into his body but couldn’t process where they’d come from. The last thing he remembered was walking along the side of the road, the hot pavement reflecting the heat back up at him so it felt like he was trudging through a furnace. There’d been a slight breeze but it had only made the dry heat that much more sweltering and he’d cursed himself for not having the sense to search out a couple more water bottles besides the two he’d stashed in his duffle bag.
