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AVAILABLE: Wednesday, March 11th
Winter Hale thought she’d escaped her ex—until he showed up watching her yet again.
Cornered at a Phoenix street fair, she grabs the only lifeline in sight: a leather-clad biker with danger in his eyes. Sergeant-at-Arms Bishop of the Sons of Sin MC doesn’t do rescue missions—but the moment she touches him, his instincts roar to life. One kiss, and she’s under his protection.
Winter’s terrified to trust again, but Bishop’s strength feels like safety. When her stalker turns violent, the club closes ranks, and Bishop unleashes the darkness he’s kept caged.
Keeping her alive will cost him everything.
Loving her might just save them both.
Winter fought the need to turn around and get a good look at whoever was following her. Instead, she watched every window she passed, thankful for once for all the huge windows that offered her an almost constant reflection of what was going on around her and who was behind her. She hadn’t seen them, just gotten the feeling someone was there. Now, she was trying to spot someone, anyone out of place or who didn’t seem to be here to enjoy the festival. The canopies denoting the different booths lined the street, making it hard to spot whoever was following her.
What scared her more was that she hadn’t seen him at first. She’d felt a tickle at the back of her neck and gotten the feeling she was being watched. That was what had made her look around more carefully. That’s when she’d spotted Kevin.
She’d only gone on a few dates with him before he’d started getting weird. Way more possessive than he should be. And she’d grown up among bikers. Was there anyone more possessive than a biker who’d found his ride-or-die?
Winter watched him, debating what to do. He was outside of the one hundred feet proximity limit they had just given him, barely. Calling the police would do no good. He wasn’t doing anything technically wrong. Even if it was creepy as fuck.
She headed in the opposite direction up Grand Avenue. Today was the annual Grand Avenue Festival. The street was lined with booths filled with artwork of all kinds. From the guy doing spray-paint pictures on old saw blades live while people watched, to a couple of women selling handmade items. Food trucks filled in gaps here and there but most were clustered at either end or at intersections where they had room to set up a few tables as well as extra trash cans.
Winter strolled up the street checking out booths and trying to look like she was doing the same thing as the thousands of others. She even stopped to watch the band set up in a school parking lot, leaving most of the lot for anyone who wanted to dance. She didn’t turn and look for him but as she visited booths and vendors, she had plenty of opportunity to watch for him without making it obvious. He seemed to be following her, yet always staying just outside the limit he’d been given. She’d ducked into a couple of shops, taken her time browsing, then stepped out again, only to find Kevin exactly where he’d been when she’d gone inside.
She thought the first time might have been a coincidence, then it happened again. By the time she emerged from the fourth shop, she had no doubt he was following her. Winter’s heart started to beat just a little faster as she gave up pretending she was shopping and headed up the street.
He was always behind her.
She didn’t know how far they’d gone but the world seemed to spin around her. This wasn’t good. If she passed out, Kevin could come in and claim to be her boyfriend and no one would be the wiser. She forced herself to stop for a moment. She found an empty spot of wall and leaned against it as she forced herself to take deep breaths, holding them for a few seconds before slowly exhaling. After a moment the world stopped spinning and she felt more in control. At least a little. She could think again. She needed to get back to her car, but to do that, she’d have to turn and pass him. She couldn’t do that and keep him from seeing how badly he scared her.
Unsure what to do, she pushed off the wall and continued down the street. About half a block up she spotted the solution to her problem. A group of men, muscled, tattooed, and wearing leather vests. She didn’t know any of them but one stood out to her. He was huge. At least several inches taller than her own 5’10”, with biceps as big around as her thighs. The only thing that broke up the stern, kill-you-rather-than-look-at-you vibe he had going on was the bright teal Mohawk pulled back in a complicated-looking braid. Even the patches on his cut were intimidating. One read “Bishop,” and she knew enough to know that was his road name, and not too bad, it was the one right below it that told her he was the one she needed. The one that read, “Sgt. at Arms.” The other men with him were no slouches, but that was the one who could do what she needed, she just hoped Dad had been right.
She took a deep breath, threw her shoulders back, and marched up to him, hoping this wasn’t a mistake. She could only hope her father hadn’t steered her wrong, at least not with this bit of advice.
“There you are!” she said, doing her best to sound like she’d been looking for him specifically. “I’ve been hunting for you.” She approached him, wrapped an arm around his middle, and stretched up as if for a kiss. “Please help me. My ex is following me despite a protection order. I’m afraid of what he’ll do if he catches me alone.” Winter kept her voice soft as she gave him desperate, pleading eyes.
“Sorry, Mama. I got hung up with club business."
