Touch Slowly (Red Light: Silver Girls series) (29 page)

Time passed until her fingers grew numb from the cold weather and she got lost in her art. She only had one more to go when voices murmured behind her and snapped her out of her zone. Ignoring those that had found her, she finished the last shadow person standing beside a larger person and linked their hands.

She'd finished.

The scene was now complete, and the art rocked.

She tossed the rattle can to the ground beside her bag and turned around. Everyone who usually gathered at Emmett's trailer in the evenings stood looking at her, but it was the man in the middle who stood in front of everyone who she needed to talk with. In all her plans, she never thought she'd be speaking in front of everyone in the park.

"I-I realized a couple of months ago I wasn't done with the piece of art I started." She held out her hand, remembered the wet paint on her fingers, and dropped her arm to her side.

Emmett stepped up beside her, gathered her hand, while ignoring the paint, and led her to the wall. She leaned into him, nervous about what he'd think of her changing the mural.

She watched his eyes study each person she added, from Shayla in the bed of the pickup to Nick near the burning barrel. In front of Emmett's trailer, she'd painted him holding her hand.

His Adam's apple moved in his neck. "You put yourself in the picture."

She laid her head on his chest and his arm came over her shoulders and looped around her. "I thought if I was staying, I deserved a place by your side on the wall, too."

"What about the house? The real home you always wanted?"

She tilted her head and met his gaze. "I don't think I was ever really running away from living in a park, but trying to keep away from the truth that caused all my pain."

"No more pain?" He studied her closely.

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Do you want me to tell you the truth?"

"Always."

"There will always be pain when I think about my mother. The last six months, my thoughts have centered around you, your Mom, Dad, Pepper, the people here at the park, and my cousins. Those moments when I think about what she'd done to me are far and few between now." Her stomach fluttered, and she swallowed.

He pressed his lips against her forehead. "Wherever we end up, we're going to be fine."

"I truly believe that." She held him tighter and gazed up into his eyes. "I have something else to tell you."

"What?"

Her chest filled with love and she made a last-minute change to her plan. She moved to the other side of him, grabbed his hand and walked him up to the wall.

"Stay right there." She kissed him quickly and hurried over to her bag and picked up the black rattle can of paint, and then returned to his side.

With quick lines, she created another shadow person. Smaller, unidentifiable, and right beside her on the wall at knee level. Her hand shook when she let go of the nozzle. She turned to Emmett and found him staring at the wall, his eyes fixated on the spot she'd finished.

Her heart raced waiting for him to say something. Unable to hold in the news any longer, she said, "I found out last week when I went to the doctor. Remember when I told you we had to wait a little bit before going without protection when I decided to go off the shot and instead take the pills? During that unsafe time, you took me up to the mountain peak above the park, and we'd made love on the blanket atop the snow without a condom."

His eyes landed on her. She stepped closer and put her hands on his chest. "Say something, Emmett."

He moistened his lips and looked back at the wall. Then he turned his eyes on her again and said, "You're pregnant?"

"I know we never talked about having kids...or getting married, for that matter." She raked her teeth over her bottom lip. "You were so sure about us being together forever, and I'd decided to stay living with you in the park months before I even found out I was pregnant. I wanted the timing to be perfect to show you how much I love you, and then I found out the news, and I couldn't wait —"

He captured her lips and lifted her off the ground. She melted against him. Her queasy stomach relaxed and excitement filled her.

"My cousin is having a baby," shrieked Shayla behind Nova.

The crowd whooped and cheered, pressing in on them. Nova laughed against Emmett's lips and pulled her mouth away to throw her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. He gave her a smile that curled her toes and held her tight in a promise to never leave her.

"I love you," she shouted over the noise of the party going on around them.

He held her closer and in her ear, he said, "A baby? I'm going to be a Dad?"

She nodded. "Yes, Emmett. Yes."

Eventually, he lowered her feet to the ground, and she steadied herself against him to get her balance. Shayla swept in and gave her a hug, dancing her around in a circle. The tears came between the laughter.

Nick shook Emmett's hand and slapped him on the shoulder. Nova, caught in Emmett's smile, got picked up by her older cousin.

"Congratulations, cuz." Nick exhaled loudly. "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Nick." She slipped down to her feet, hugged him again, and Caren got to her before she could return to Emmett.

"Congratulations, Nova." Caren's voice tremored, and Nova would feel her embrace for days.

Everyone took their moment to share the good news, the excitement of a new life inside the park, the belief that love meant more than money and a fancy house.

That a community became a family.

Once everyone had their say and started the walk back to Emmett's trailer where they'd party all night or until Emmett carried her in the trailer, she turned to Emmett and linked her hand with his.

"Is this going to be possible? Can we do this?" she asked, knowing if anyone could make sure she succeeded it'd be Emmett.

He gave her hand a squeeze and started the walk back to the trailer. "All we have to do is go slow. Everything will work out because we love each other, and I'm not leaving."

She smiled into the night. One hand in Emmett's. The other hand over her flat stomach that would soon grow with the child they'd created.

"I’m gonna put a ring on your finger and marry you, Nova-girl," said Emmett.

She raised his hand clutched in hers and kissed his knuckles. "I'll say yes."

And, that was the truth.

Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading Touch Slowly. Now that you're over the shock of reading a prostitute romance book and hopefully see the working ladies as real people who deserve love —because everyone deserves love, let me share a little factual history with you.

Back in 1988 when the last bordello closed in my hometown of Wallace, Idaho, the sex workers had a little more freedom than I portray in the books. Once a week, early in the morning, they were allowed to go shopping. Fingernail polish, makeup, and candy were their favorite items to splurge on. Weekly doctor's visits were a must. The women had very strict rules when it came to hygiene, safety, and protection. At night, the ladies from several bordellos along the same street would go up on the roofs and talk with each other. They'd gossip about which Madam was the best, where they were traveling next, and brag about the number of men they had sex with because everyone knew the more men you serviced, the more money you made. They also didn't have to worry about men bothering them up on the roof, and they were out of sight from the tourists and residents. That's not to say everything ran according to plans. Sometimes, you can't stop love.

I encourage you to go to my website at
www.debrakayn.com
and look at the real life pictures posted of places in my books. Yes, even the bordello.

There's one more book in the Red Light: Silver Girls series. Fall Gently will release around the end of July or beginning of August. I'll pick a date soon and blast it around social media for you all.

I have more good news! I've recently finished my next series, and the first book will release late summer/early fall of 2016. Please follow me on Facebook, check in on my website, and find me on Twitter to get the latest news of what and where I'm going to be writing about next. There will always be DK books in your future.

Love,

Deb

T
op Selling Romance Author, Debra Kayn, lives with her family at the foot of the Bitterroot Mountains in beautiful Idaho. She enjoys riding motorcycles, playing tennis, fishing, and driving the men crazy in the garage.

Her love of family ties and laughter makes her a natural to write heartwarming contemporary stories to the delight of her readers. Oh, let's cut to the chase. She loves to write about 
REAL MEN
 and the 
WOMEN
 who love them.

When Debra was nineteen years old, a man kissed her without introducing himself. When they finally came up for air, the first words out of his mouth were...will you have my babies? Considering Debra's weakness for a sexy, badass man, who is strong enough to survive her attitude, she said yes. A quick wedding at the House of Amour and four babies later, she's living her own romance book.

Website:
www.debrakayn.com

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/DebraKayn

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/DebraKaynFanPage

B
low Softly – Red Light: Silver Girls series

Touch Slowly – Red Light: Silver Girls series

Fall Gently – Red Light: Silver girls series, coming soon

Wrapped Around Him – Moroad MC series

For Life – Moroad MC series

His Crime – Moroad MC series

Time Owed – Moroad MC series

Falling For Crazy – Moroad MC series

Chasing Down Changes – Moroad MC series

Breathing His Air – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Aching To Exhale – Lagsturns Motorcycle Club

Soothing His Madness – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Grasping for Freedom – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Fighting To Ride – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Struggling For Justice – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Starving For Vengeance – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Living A Beautiful War – Bantorus Motorcycle Club

Laying Down His Colors – Bantorus Motorcycle Club, anthology titled Melt My Heart

Archer, A Hard Body Novel, book 1

Weston, A Hard Body Novel, book 2

Biker Babe in Black, The Chromes and Wheels Gang, book 1

Ride Free, The Chromes and Wheels Gang, book 2

Healing Trace

Wildly, Playing For Hearts, book 1

Seductively, Playing For Hearts, book 2

Conveniently, Playing For Hearts, book 3

Secretly, Playing For Hearts, book 4

Surprisingly, Playing For Hearts, book 5

Chantilly's Cowboy, The Sisters of McDougal Ranch, book 1

Val's Rancher, The Sisters of McDougal Ranch, book 2

Margot's Lawman, The Sisters of McDougal Ranch, book 3

Florentine's Hero, The Sisters of McDougal Ranch, book 4

Suite Cowboy

Hijinks

Resurrecting Charlie's Girl

Betraying the Prince

Love Rescued Me

Double Agent

Breaking Fire Code

I
n the shade of the blue tarp pitched off the side of an old travel trailer, sixteen-year-old Jeremy Aldridge sat in a woven, plastic chair oblivious to everything around him. Christina Nickelson noted the boy's solemn expression, one that he always wore, the new scratch along his arm, and the lack of parental supervision—that wasn't required twenty-four/seven for a boy his age.

As Jeremy's former social worker, she wanted to find a reason to bring her suspicions of abuse or neglect to the judge. Her head pounded from the heat of the sun filling her car. Nobody could convince her that Cam Farrell was a good father.

Unaware of her staked out on the road, Jeremy flipped through a magazine, his ankles crossed and propped atop a metal beer keg. An ache settled behind Christina's eyes, and she rubbed her temple. Officially, she'd closed Jeremy's case when full custody went to his birth father.

She glanced down at last year's photo of Jeremy clipped to her file. She swallowed the lump of emotions choking her. He held himself stoic from life's harsh realities, never letting anyone else view the hardships he'd endured in his short life. Maybe that's why she couldn't let Jeremy's case go. She understood his need to hide his feelings from everyone.

She lived with her own loss, loneliness, and fear. The first couple of years after she'd lost both her parents to murder were a blur. The anger, the hurt, the need to understand why life decided to play a cruel trick on her soon showed up and never left.

So far, Jeremy's young life was even worse.

His mom passed away of a drug overdose three months ago. Christina ran her thumb along the edge of the binder and lifted her gaze back to the teenager. His mother's death wasn't the first time she'd met Jeremy. She'd followed his life for the last four years when the school contacted her about unusual bruising.

It wasn't until Jeremy's father stepped up after being an absent father the child's whole life and brought the teenager to live with him that she became even more concerned. She slid the file under the driver's seat of her car. Something about the arrangement didn't feel right, and it wasn't the threat she'd received from Jeremy's dad to stay away from his son or the knife he'd put to her throat, threatening to kill her if she stepped foot on his property again.

When she'd collected herself from that horrifying experience, she'd witnessed Jeremy's wide-eyed shock at the violence by a father he'd never met before that day. She stared out the front window of her car. That reaction from Jeremy held more emotion than she'd ever seen him shed in front of someone before.

She knew that paralyzing fear intimately, until the most unlikely person taught her not to be afraid. If she hadn't reached out and received help, she'd still be stuck in the hell she'd found herself in. The least she could do was unofficially keep an eye on Jeremy and pay the help she'd received forward to someone else.