Parker’s bedroom, I took one last glance at him, still asleep in the bed. No doubt it would be the last time I saw that particular sight.
The doorman downstairs let me borrow his phone, since I had nothing with me. No purse, no shoes, and no phone. I dialed a number from memory.
“Ryker, it’s me,” I said. “Can you come take me home?” I hesitated. “Please? I-I’ve made my choice.”
I stood in the lobby for the ten minutes it took Ryker to get there, trying not to think at all. I was tired, so tired, and all I wanted was to lie down. I felt jittery from exhaustion and nerves that were shot, but I thought I was holding it together pretty well…until I climbed into Ryker’s truck and laid eyes on him.
It was as though the tense ball of trepidation inside my chest evaporated. The expression on his face as he looked at me said more than words ever could about how he felt, and it was a huge relief. I’d been afraid that it might have been too late, that he wouldn’t want me anymore.
I managed a watery smile, tears stinging my eyes as I climbed into the truck.
“Shh, it’s okay,” he said, easily reading me. He pulled me over by his side and wrapped an arm around me. I cuddled into his chest and felt his lips press against my forehead as he drove.
By the time we’d reached his house, I was dozing against him. Ryker turned off the engine, then pulled me into his arms to carry me inside. The slam of the truck door woke me fully.
“You can put me down,” I murmured sleepily, rubbing a hand across my eyes. “I can walk.”
“Just hold on to me,” his voice rasped softly in my ear. “I’ve got you.”
So I did.
About the Author
A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Tiffany Snow earned degrees in education and history from the University of Missouri-Columbia, before launching a career in information technology. After nearly fifteen years in IT, she switched careers to what she always dreamed of doing—writing. Tiffany is the author of romantic suspense novels such as the Kathleen Turner series, which includes No Turning Back, Turn to Me, and Turning Point. Since she’s drawn to character-driven books herself, that’s what she loves to write, and the guy always gets his girl.
She feeds her love of books with avid reading, yet she manages to spare time and considerable affection for trivia, eighties hair bands, the St. Louis Cardinals, and Elvis. She and her husband have two daughters and one dog, whose untimely demise Tiffany contemplates on a daily basis.
You can learn more at:
TiffanySnow.com
Twitter @TiffanyASnow
Facebook.com/TiffanyASnow
Sage Reese is caught between bad-boy detective Ryker and sexy power player Parker. But when a brutal mobster wants to use her for the men’s mistakes, Sage must play to win—even if it means getting dirty…
Please see the next page for a preview of
Playing Dirty
Playing Dirty
Prologue
Parker watched as Ryker’s truck rolled to a stop in front of the building. Sage emerged from the entry, scurrying across the sidewalk barefoot before climbing into the passenger seat. The truck pulled away from the curb, lost to sight in moments down the avenue.
He’d heard the door close when she’d gone, leaving him alone in his bed without so much as a word of farewell.
Not that he could blame her.
She’d nearly died tonight. Had been moments away. Viktor hadn’t cared if he killed her or not. He’d put a fucking plastic bag over her head and slowly suffocated her.
Parker’s hands balled into fists just remembering how she’d looked when he’d pulled her out of that car. Deathly pale, her mouth bleeding from where Viktor had hit her, mascara smeared by the tears soaking her cheeks…
Sage deserved better. Far better. But Parker needed her in his life…in his job. No matter how tempting it was to want to slip into a more personal relationship with her, he knew he couldn’t. Relationships never lasted, and just when you thought you’d found the forever kind of love—it would end. And when it was over…she’d be gone. Permanently.
Better to let her go with Ryker, a man who’d wanted a wife and kids—a family—for as long as Parker had known him. Maybe it had been because he’d been raised by a single mom, but Ryker had talked of nothing else but wanting to fall in love and get married. Why he wasn’t married already, Parker had no idea.
Maybe he’d marry Sage.
That thought was like a kick