Left in the Dust: A Standalone Bad Boy Romance (10 page)

The clock radio next to my bed started to ring at eight in the morning. My hand reached out from under the covers and searched around until I found the snooze button. Strong arms wrapped around me and a sculpted body spooned me from behind. I looked over to see Dust all naked and smiling next to me.

“Good morning, Kayla.” Dust yawned.

“I didn't think you were the type of guy to stay the night.”

“There's always a first for everything.” Dust kissed me and his morning breath didn't even bother me.

I rolled over and nestled in the nook between his arm and chest. “Can we stay in bed all day?”

Dust traced his fingers across the bare skin of my arm. “I wouldn't want anything more.”

Was this really happening? Did I really sleep with the biker? I wanted to pinch myself to make sure it wasn't a dream. I'd never felt this happy before. Not even when I graduated from med school or became a real doctor. I always thought I'd dedicate my life to my career—that it would be enough to satisfy me.

I didn't know what I was missing.

I felt this overwhelming love for Dust. I'd only known him for a short while but it felt right. Felt like we belonged together. But could this really work? We were so different. Could I stay with an outlaw?

“Do you think we could really work together?”

Dust lifted my chin until his gaze met mine. “Don't we deserve to be happy?”

I kissed him, feeling his strong embrace. “Yes,” I replied. “How about some breakfast?” I asked.

Dust nodded. “Sounds fantastic. I didn't know you knew how to cook.”

I laughed. “I don't actually. My sister Winona has been doing all the cooking even though she isn't very good either.”

Dust cocked an eyebrow.“She's the one that said she'll kill me if I hurt you, right?”

I sucked my lips in. “Yep, she's the one. I'm sorry, she's actually pretty harmless.”

Dust hid behind the sheets. “I think I'll stay here why you go find us some breakfast.”

I swung my legs over him and straddled his hips. “Don't tell me the great Dust King is afraid of a girl?”

Dust swung a pillow out of nowhere and hit me right in the face. He could barely contain his laughter. I scoffed and grabbed my own pillow, swinging with all my might. My hit didn't even phase him. Dust attacked with his tickling that rendered me useless. I fell over and Dust rolled on top of me, pinning my arms above my head. His dark eyes gazed into mine, his lips all serious.

“I'm never going to leave you, Kayla Holmes.” He bent down and bit my bottom lip.

“You better not, or I'll hunt you down,” I replied, kissing him passionately.

Maybe an outlaw and a doctor could actually be together?

It was the perfect day for a picnic. The sun was shining brightly and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. A huge crowd was gathering in the park for the annual picnic in Sacks County. I looked to the other end of our flannel blanket and Dust was sitting up, unloading our lunches from the picnic basket.

I lay back and soaked up the sun, holding my swollen belly. I stretched out my legs and arms, the diamonds on my wedding ring reflected back at me.

“How's our boy doing?” Dust asked.

“Kicking a lot out. I think he's ready to leave.”

Dust put his hand on my stomach.“He's definitely my son. Can't wait to get on a bike.”

“Yeah well he better wait until he's old enough.”

Dust surrendered and gave me a kiss. “Remember our wedding?”

“How could I forget? One hundred bikers and my small family,” I replied.

“I'm glad I got to meet your parents,” he said.

“I'm just glad that they finally made up with Winona. I felt so bad when we got engaged and I had to move out.”

Dust reached his hand over to mine. “Where is she by the way?”

I looked around and found her walking over with Chloe. “How's my little pumpkin?” Winona said, rubbing my belly.

Chloe kneeled down next to me. “What's his name going to be, Kayla?”

“We were thinking about Isaac.”

Her eyes glistened as she smiled and felt my belly. “He's going to be a strong boy just like his father.”

Dust nodded and I laughed. “Yeah but hopefully he doesn't come out with a Savage Beasts tattoo already.”

We watched the other MC members set up for the picnic. Big Mike brought over a giant barbecue and he was cooking burgers and hot dogs. Xander and Slade were sitting at a table arguing over whose Harley was better.

Dust lay next to me. “Are you happy, Kayla?”

I looked over at him concerned. “Why do you ask? Can't you see the smile on my face?”

“I know but I just want to know if you're truly happy being with me.”

I held his face in my hands. “We've had our ups and downs but I wouldn't change anything. We're about to become a family.” I put his hand on my belly and Dust felt Isaac kick. “We made that and he's ours.”

Dust almost started crying.
My strong King.
My heart couldn't handle the amount of love I felt for him right now.

“I love you, Mr. King.”

Dust kissed me. “Love you too, Mrs. King.”

THE END

Read on for the complete version of Jagged

Copyright 2016 Winter Scott

All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer: This ebook is a work of fiction. Any resemblance characters in this story may have to real people is coincidental.

No section of this book may be copied or reproduced without the author's permission.

Description

Carter

Taylor was the last good thing in my sad-sorry excuse for a life.

When I was sent to prison for a crime I didn't commit, I lost everything.

Now I'm out and it's time to pick up the pieces.

But Taylor has been keeping a secret.

Taylor

Carter was the biggest mistake of my life.

When he was sent to prison, I thought I had gotten away scot-free.

Now he's out and I can't let him back in.

But his hard body against mine.

His throbbing desire begging for me...

Time no longer mattered when I painted. Everything in my mind drifted away out to sea. My vision narrowed to a tunnel as the brush stroked against the blank canvas. Nothing came close to the calming effect of art. It put you on another planet—away from all the stress and distractions of the real world.

But there was no paint on the brush.

My hand made the movements of a conductor, guiding an orchestra, swiping the dry brush along the canvas, hoping for inspiration to strike. The white rectangle was telling me nothing. A faded image came into focus. I quickly dabbed my brush into some yellow and flung it onto the canvas before the image in my head dissolved. After some blue paint, I thought I finally had something.

A beach and an ocean, Taylor? That's so amateur. What were you thinking?

I sighed and dropped the brush to the ground. A painting of an ocean wouldn't be good enough for my first art show. I needed a piece that would wow the audience. Something that could evoke an emotion. Get people talking about me.

All that schooling and I couldn't come up with anything. A Bachelor's in Art couldn't help with being creative.

My phone rang. A welcome distraction. “Barbara Ann” by the Beach Boys boomed out of my vibrating phone. I checked the screen and smiled.

“Hey Ivy!”

“Taylor, why the hell haven't you called me?”

Ivy was my roommate freshman year of college. Even though she was also an art major, we couldn't have been more different. Ivy was too preoccupied with boys to really focus on art. Her idea of painting was throwing some streaks of paint on a canvas and calling it a day. I couldn't knock her for it though because she produced some really beautiful pieces. She had natural talent. I on the other hand did not. It took me weeks to produce a somewhat passable painting, sometimes not seeing the sun for days.

“I'm sorry, Ivy, I've been a little busy the past week.”

“Oh the art show is next week! How is the painting coming?”

I looked at the blank canvas and laughed. “Will anybody appreciate a framed white canvas?”

“Paint the words “The Beatles” and it will be just like the White Album.”

That was actually a pretty good idea. There were definitely people out there that loved that lazy approach to art. But it wasn't me.

“That's really good but I won't steal your idea, Ivy. I need to come up with my own.” I walked away from my work station and into the kitchen, glad to be able to breathe in a different room.

“How did you get in this art show again? I heard it's for some pretty big players.”

“My dad got me into it. Said he had to sell an arm and a leg.”

“Of course it was your father, Taylor.”

Ivy was making me feel guilty for being from a rich family again. Better to just change the subject. “Enough about me. Tell me how it's going with that guy...what was his name?”

“Greg? Oh, we've been done for a week now. I actually have a date with this super hot guy I met at a bar last night.”

Ivy was always neck deep in men. In college, she was known for sleeping around and nothing had changed since.

I rolled my eyes. “What's the new guy's name?”

Ivy couldn't wait to scream out his name. “Walter. He's an engineer or architect. One of those. Doesn't matter. The main thing is he has a brother that he's just as hot. And he's
available...
”

I already knew where she was heading and I wanted nothing to do with it. “No way, Ivy. I'm not going on a double date with you.”

“Come on, Taylor. You've been cooped up in that apartment for too long. You need to get out and see the world.”

She wasn't wrong. I couldn't remember the last time I actually left the apartment other than to get food. “Yeah but remember how the last double date went?”

Ivy huffed. “You're never going to let me live that one down are you?”

I giggled. “Nope.”

Ivy had tricked me into going on a double date with her. Tricked me as in taking me to a bar to “have a couple drinks” and then ambushing me with a guy.

“Just because the guy turned out to be woman didn't mean the date was bad.”

I bent over the kitchen counter and rested on my elbows. “Taylor really was an attractive guy.”

“Well I can promise you this next guy will be one-hundred percent male.”

“No thanks, Ivy. You go out and have fun.”

“You're going to have to get over him eventually, Taylor.”

Don't say his name. Don't say his name.

Ivy continued. “It's been years since he's been gone. It's time to move on. Find someone who makes you happy. I just want the best for you, Taylor.”

“I know. I know. I'm really just not in the mood to date anybody right now. This art show is the only thing on my mind right now. And I barely have any time to finish this painting.”

“I'm kind of glad we're not roommates anymore. I could never get any sleep when you worked for twenty-four hours straight.”

“Oh really? You could never get any sleep? How about the guys you would sneak into your bed every night? Try sleeping through all that moaning.” We sounded like an old married couple arguing.

Ivy laughed. “Sorry, I guess I went a little crazy in college.”

“God bless noise-canceling headphones.”

A knock at the door interrupted our conversation. “Hold on a sec, Ivy. There's somebody at the door. Probably my father coming over to teach me how to network or something for the art show.”

I unlocked the front door and opened it to a memory from my past. My jaw dropped and the phone dropped to the floor. I could still hear Ivy on the other line trying to talk.

Muscles, tattoos, and that cocky smile.

Carter was back.