~Editor's Pick~
Larissa is different. Getting shot was a wakeup call, and there’s no way she could just turn around the clock and go back to life before. Her friend, or boyfriend, hadn’t stuck around. He had run away.
The only person who had been willing to save her was George or Big Dick, or whatever he liked to be called.
Larissa is everywhere. No matter where he turned, Big Dick couldn’t get away from her. After running into her at a bar, he does the most ridiculous thing and makes a bet.
He has one year to get Larissa in his bed.
For some odd reason, Big Dick isn't being his usual cruel self, and Larissa finally sees the man beneath the leather cut. She never intended to start a secret affair, but she also couldn’t deny sneaking around with him was a lot of fun.
Until the truth comes out, and Larissa learns that everything Big Dick had been saying and doing to her was just to win some kind of stupid bet. Heartbroken and betrayed, Larissa refuses to talk to Big Dick again.
He made a mistake. He didn’t intend to fall in love with Larissa, and seeing her hurt is killing him. He's the only one responsible.
But, he gets a second chance, and this time, he is not going to blow it.
The only problem is, he took his eye off the ball and the enemy is now closing in. They are known for breaking the rules, and Big Dick is going to need to make a choice. Protect his club, or save the woman he loves. Where will his loyalties fall?
Two shots of tequila, and Larissa felt rough. She hadn’t been sick, nor had she slept in. Baking was a consolation, but it also wasn’t exactly helping right now, because the baked goods were making her a little queasy.
Her dad had stayed up and made her a hot cup of tea, which she had appreciated. They didn’t talk, and she certainly didn’t tell him she took part in a dare—a crazy, stupid dare, but one she couldn’t get out of her mind.
She did not want to think about that kiss with Big Dick. It could have been anyone walking through that door. She didn’t know what had come over her. She had looked to all the ladies, and it seemed they already knew she couldn’t do it. So, she did, without a question asked. She just got right in and kissed him.
Of all of the people to enter the damn bar, it had to be Big Dick. Although, that could have gone a lot worse. Kissing any of the other men at the bar that night would have been a nightmare. Kissing Smokey would have been so wrong. Carlos, Ugly Beast, and Hunter, all of them were taken, and she was no cheater. She believed in the sanctity of marriage. It was a sacred vow that should be protected at all costs, not brushed over as if it meant nothing. Marriage meant something to her. It always had and always would.
She finished serving the last of the morning rush customers, and so far, the bakery still had a lot to offer. With the shop empty, she quickly took a quick trip to the back to gather more baked goods to fill the stands so it was bursting to the seams.
As she was picking up the brownies, she heard the doorbell ring, alerting her to more customers, and she quickly rushed back to find George standing in the shop. It was then she realized in her mind that she had been calling him Big Dick. She took a deep breath. She liked that she always called him George.
“George,” she said. “Good morning.”
It was Saturday morning, and she glanced over at him, trying not to look at his lips. That kiss had been a dare, and it didn’t matter. George hated her and didn’t like her around the club, which is why she always stayed away. Although her friends had invited her, she tried not to visit the club so they could enjoy their time without her around.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said.
This made her frown. George had never been nice to her, and more often than not, he treated her like a pain in the ass.
“What can I get you?” she asked, putting the items she had gathered into place, and the tray on the back counter behind her.
“How about you and me going out for coffee?”
Again, this was new.
“Uh, no, thank you. I’m working.”
“What are you doing after work?”
“I’ve got an appointment with Hailey at the beauty parlor,” she said, still frowning.
“Why?”
“Because I asked Hailey to help me with some things, and she promised she would.”
She wanted to learn how to put on makeup. For Christmas her father had gotten her a beauty set. It had surprised her but also delighted her. He had listened to her constantly ramble on about the new beauty parlor and how much she loved it, and he had paid attention. That meant a lot to her. The only snag, like most things in her life, was the fact she didn’t know how to put makeup on. She felt like in most cases, mothers were there to help.
Her mother wasn’t around. Just as she hadn’t been there for Mother’s Day, or prom, or the day she had gotten her first menstrual cycle. Between herself and her dad, that had been an experience she didn’t want to repeat. Then came the sex talk.
At least her father had been honest. He hadn’t held anything back. He was the town pastor and took his role seriously, but at no point did he want his daughter to follow in his footsteps. He wanted her to make her own choices.
Which was what her mother had done. No one in town knew what had happened to her mother, but she did. Her father had always been truthful. Her mother had been a wild child, a whirlwind, and Jonah had fallen hard. He thought she had wanted a happy life, a marriage, a child, but it had lasted only a couple of years. Then her mother had felt trapped. She didn’t want to be attached to the same man and she didn’t want a kid around her neck. Without a backward glance, she had divorced her father and just left town, never to be seen or heard from again. They didn’t know if she was alive or dead.
Over the years, her father had gotten over her. Larissa knew that. The pictures of her had come down, to be replaced by the memories she and her father had made. She often wondered if her father was worried that she, herself, would be wild and want to run off into the sunset. Larissa was nothing like that. She wanted a happy life. To fall in love with someone who loved her just as much. A family. She had to stop saying what she wanted, because she was starting to think it wasn’t going to happen.
Larissa wanted to be the mother her own mother wasn’t.
“Maybe another time?” George asked.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why, what?”
“You’re confusing me, George. You don’t like me, remember? No one wants me around.” She laughed.
“Yeah, well, maybe I’ve changed my mind.”
