Redemption Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

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  In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locations is purely coincidental. The characters are all productions of the author’s imagination. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18.

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  Table of Contents

  Copyright and Disclaimer

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  A Note from the Author

  Saving Her

  Hot Daddy

  Snow and the 7 Hunks

  Her Hunk

  Damaged (Sample)

  Accidental Daddy (Sample)

  About the Author

  REDEMPTION

  R.R. Banks

  I’m the new fire chief in town.

  But there’s one flame I can’t put out…

  My past haunts me.

  It chases me like I chase fires.

  But it can’t continue that way.

  I’ll be damned if I let my son end up damaged like me.

  This new town is just what we need.

  Little did I know a night of scorching lust would be my salvation.

  No names, no commitment, and blazing passion.

  That’s all it was supposed to be.

  Until I find my curvy vixen again.

  Gwen keeps my demons at bay.

  But what if she knew my secret…

  Would she or this town still want me here?

  Chapter One

  Garrett

  "Well, right now we're sharpening rocks to make spears and when we're done with that, we're going to go out into the woods and hunt Bigfoot for a while. If that doesn't pan out, we'll go drag racing down Main Street."

  "Jason--"

  "Seriously, Dad. You could have a little bit more faith in me. What type of person do you think I am."

  I'm kind of afraid to answer that.

  "I'm just worried about you."

  "We're eating pizza and playing video games. Both of Jeff's p
arents are sitting in the living room. All the doors are locked. I have my toothbrush and intend on brushing my teeth thoroughly after eating my allotted slices and the soda that will go along with them."

  "Not too much soda," I said.

  As if that was really going to have any impact on him.

  "I have my limits, Dad. I have my limits."

  I sighed, but there was a smile on my lips. It was good to hear my son sounding almost playful with me again. It had been months since he had been anything but sullen and occasionally blisteringly angry for what seemed like absolutely no reason most of the time. That was one of the main reasons that I was on the road right now, nearly at my destination, as I leaned forward slightly to stare through the windshield at the dark, narrow way ahead.

  "Alright. I'll pretend that you cut yourself off at one can and we'll call it even."

  "How many cans of soda do you drink with your pizza?" he asked with a hint of teasing in his voice.

  Four.

  "One."

  "Sure. Are you still planning on being back the day after tomorrow?"

  "That's the plan."

  "I'll see you then."

  "Night, Bud."

  "Night."

  I reached forward and ended the call on my phone where it was attached to the dashboard.

  "Where in the living fuck am I?" I asked no one in particular, which was good considering I was alone in the car.

  I thought that the way was going to seem familiar. It should have felt comfortable or at least looked like something I had seen before. The closer that my GPS told me I was getting, however, the less it felt like I knew where I was or where I was going. I tried not to think about it. The more I did, the more I had to remember the last time that I was in this town and everything that I had gone through. That had been so many years ago. I told myself that that was why nothing seemed as familiar as I expected that it would, not that I had been so traumatized when I left. I didn't want to think that those last few weeks had been so hard on me, that they would scar me or make it so that I wasn't able to remember the place where I grew up.

  It was the earlier years, the years well before my life as I knew it exploded, that was the reason I accepted the job offer and made the decision to move Jason and me to the tiny town that I was currently trying very hard to find. The last few months had only been part of a distinctly downward spiral that Jason seemed to be following, one that had taken him from the energetic and fun child I had raised mostly alone to a difficult teenager who was teetering over the edge of rebellion a little more each day. I didn't want to see him follow the same difficult path that I had. I didn't want to see him suffering. But I also didn't want to see him fall victim to the self-destruction that I knew could come, the self-destruction that I had been rescued from by the military. And by him.

  I didn't think of this as going home, though part of me thought that maybe I should. Instead, I thought of it as bringing my son to the place where I thought that he would have the best chances, where he could start over and get onto a better track. I felt a tightening of guilt in my stomach as I thought about this. I hadn't been entirely honest with Jason about the move. When I dropped him off with his best friend Jeff for a few days I told him that I was going to see about a new job. That wasn't a lie. There was a new job waiting for me in the tiny town of Silver Lake. I had leveraged my military and firefighting backgrounds to land the position of fire chief, finally bringing me up from the absolute bottom of the heap, where I had been with my family in the days before I left Silver Lake, behind me, for what I thought would be the last time.

  What I hadn't told Jason was that the new job was several hours away from the town where he had grown up and that I was actually going to find us a new house so that we could move right after the first of the year. I knew that he was going to be pissed. I wasn't really looking forward to that confrontation when it finally came time to tell him. I knew that the transition that was coming wasn't going to be easy for either one of us, but I expected that it was going to be the most difficult for him. The thought was enough to make my temples tighten in another stress headache, much like the ones that had inspired the nearly empty bottle of pain reliever that was taking up one of the cup holders in the center console right alongside a massive cup with now-cold dredges of coffee.

  Finally, I saw a sign rising up in front of me and knew that I was almost at my destination. There was only one hotel in the town of Silver Lake, which meant that my options for where to stay during my visit were limited to whether I wanted a room on the bottom floor or the top. I had opted for the top, but as I drove along the main stretch of the town, I wondered if I was going to be able to get into my room that night at all.

  Where is everybody? It's not even ten.

  The entire town around me seemed to be asleep. There were no cars with me on the road and no people walking along the sidewalk. Most of the buildings were completely dark or had only one or two lights burning inside. It was the week of Thanksgiving and I knew that within a few days Christmas lights were going to burst to life throughout the town, but for now, the entire space seemed desolate and empty.

  It's downright fucking creepy.

  I drove around to the back of the hotel and gathered my bags before walking to the door, expecting it to be locked so I would have to spend the night either sleeping in my car or driving around trying to find another hotel. Fortunately, I saw someone standing behind the counter as I approached the door and was able to walk in and check in.

  Twenty minutes later I was back in my car. The quiet was too much for me and for the tense thoughts running through my mind. I needed something to relieve my stress and to get my mind off everything. Having a night without responsibilities wasn't something that I got very often, and I wanted to blow off some steam and have fun. That, however, was something that wasn't going to happen in Silver Lake. Even if every member of the town hadn't apparently pulled on their sleeping caps and buried themselves in bed for the night, I didn't want to threaten my reputation in the town even before I had a chance to build it. The town was full of prying eyes and well-established families with very strong opinions, which meant that anything that I did was going to spread faster than the flu. Even if I was going to eventually drink the hot milk and settle into small town living, I was going to make the most of the time that I had left.

  Hoping I wasn't going to be caught by the one sheriff who I imagined would be wandering around on these roads, I kept one eye on the road in front of me and one on my phone where it was propped in its stand as I searched for a hotel with a vacancy. By the time that I made it to the larger town two over from Silver Lake, I had a reservation and even more of a desire to let loose for the night. I tossed my bag into the room, changed clothes, and headed out. Unlike in Silver Lake, this town actually seemed alive. It didn't take long for me to find a bar with lights and music pouring from the door and a parking lot full enough to make it look like there were more people inside the bar than there were in the entire town I was preparing to live in.

  I parked and walked inside, scanning the room as I did. I had taken only a few steps out of the slight chill outside into the stark contrast of the heavy warmth inside when my eyes fell on her.

  Holy shit. That is exactly what I need tonight.

  She was sitting at the end of the bar, leaned forward on her elbows as she twirled a swizzle stick around in a drink. Her eyes were down, looking at the nearly full glass in front of her as she seemed lost in her own thoughts. I took a step toward her, but before I could get close to her, I saw a short man with the first three buttons of his shirt unbuttoned and enough grease in his thinning blond hair to fry chicken step up beside her. He leaned to the side against the bar and ran his tongue over his teeth. He looked her up and down, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was visibly pulling away from him. I continued toward them, pushing my way through the crowd without taking my eyes off the gorgeous woman and her unwelcome visitor. He r
eached up and ran his fingertips along the curve of her shoulder just as I stepped up behind her.

  The woman stumbled back from her stool to get away from his touch and ran into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her waist first to catch her as she stumbled, then to hold her close as a thought popped into my mind.

  "Hey, Baby," I said in my best romantic hero voice.

  I spun the woman around in my arms as the slimy guy looked on. She looked startled as she faced me, but I didn't hesitate. I dipped her back and crushed my mouth down on hers, moving one of my hands up to cup the back of her head so I could lift her mouth further against mine. I felt her lips part under mine and dipped my tongue into her mouth, sweeping across the sweetness of her tongue. The kiss was instantly explosive, filled with heat and longing that made my belly tighten and my mind cloud. She tasted like everything that I craved, everything that I needed that night. I finally tore my mouth away from hers and set her upright on her feet again.

  "I'm sorry I'm late," I said. "I just couldn't get away."

  She nodded and looked at the man, then back at me.

  "It's alright," she said. "I haven't been waiting too long."

  I looked at the man. He was still standing there, but now staring at us, open-mouthed.

  "You see?" the woman said. "I told you that I couldn't possibly accept a drink from you. I was waiting for my boyfriend. I'm sorry."

  I kept my arm wrapped tightly around her waist as I extended a hand to him.

  "Thanks for keeping an eye on her, Pal. I appreciate it."

  The man didn't take my hand but grumbled under his breath as he turned and stalked away through the crowd further into the bar. I couldn't hear everything that he said, but I managed to catch a few words that weren't going to win him any love and affection. I watched as he sank back into a darker section of the bar and sulked near a pool table, his eyes still slicing through the dim lighting at the woman I was still holding. I waved at him and she giggled, turning her back and putting her hand over her mouth to muffle her laughter.

  "Is he still looking?" she asked a few seconds later.

  I nodded.

  "Yep. Maybe I should sit down with you for a bit."

  She glanced up at me and I saw her full lips curved in a smile.

  "Well," she said, a hint of mischief in her voice, "if you have to."

  We slid into place on the barstools in front of us and I looked at the drink that she had left sitting on the bar when she tried to get away from the unwelcome attention. She was eyeing it as well, seemingly unsure about whether she should continue sipping it. I reached for the glass and put it aside.