Repo Chick Blues Excerpt

I was watching a documentary-type reality show about auto recovery agents one day and was struck by the fact that there didn't seem to be any female recovery agents. I know they're out there, but they are few and far between. Watching the show, I learned that auto recovery agents love the adrenalin rush of stealing cars. The rush is like an addiction to them. Auto recovery is one of the most dangerous jobs out there.

I found this intriguing. I began wondering what kind of woman would be drawn to auto recovery. What kind of past she would've had to draw her to want to put herself into such a dangerous job. There are many jobs out there, why auto recovery. I couldn't let the idea go, and Leah Ryan was born :)

Then her boss/partner Callahan Parker was born, and the story got really interesting. *Grin*

Excerpt from Repo Chick Blues

We dropped the car off at the repo depot and exchanged it for the sleek bike Jack had made for the dorky loser who didn’t deserve it. It might be petty, but it bothers me when beautiful machines such as that bike and the gorgeous Rubicon Jeep Wrangler fall into the hands of spoiled brats who would never appreciate them.

Oh yeah, I’m bitter.

I needed to drive and Cal sensed this, so there was no argument from him when I donned a helmet and climbed onto the front part of the seat.

“I’m surprised you wear a helmet. You seem like such a daredevil,” Cal said, placing the other helmet over his head.

“I may be crazy, but I’m not stupid. Ever see a head that’s been smashed all over the road?

“Um, no.”

“You wanna keep it that way.”

“You’ve seen a head smashed all over the road?” He wrapped his arms around my waist.

“I used to run with a wild crowd. Some of them thought they were too cool for helmets. One of them looked anything but cool when his head was being scraped off the pavement.” I blinked
away the memory of that image. “The others began wearing helmets after that.”

I revved up the engine and headed north, speeding along the river. We bulleted down the highway with an icy wind against our faces. The faster we moved, the clearer my mind became. Tension fell away from me, leaving me feeling lighter.

We kept going until we reached Lake George. I pulled into a parking area across the road from the beach. The water looked black at this time of night and only a few stray wanderers made their way along the street. I climbed off the bike, pulled off my helmet and shook my head. With my short, wavy hair, there’s not much else I can do. It looks awry all the time.

When we walked across the road toward the lake, I couldn’t help but think how beautiful a night it was. I found myself wishing that we’d found our way there under different circumstances.
We headed down to the beach, feeling the sand slip and slide beneath our feet. It was a gorgeous night. The humidity level was low and there was just a slight nip to the breeze. Some would’ve wanted a sweater or light jacket on such a night but I welcomed the cooler air. It had been too hot for so long.

“It’s nice out here.” There was a touch of huskiness to his voice. He looked nice staring out over the dark ripples with the moonlight touching his dark hair.

I nodded. “I like it when it’s quiet like this.” It felt strange being out here with Callahan. I was reminded of awkward first dates. Although we’d had sex, amazing sex, neither of us knew quite what to say. All we knew was that we didn’t want to discuss work or drug lords who tricked innocents into prostitution.

I sat down on the sand, pulling my knees up and wrapping my arms around my shins, rested my chin on my knees. Silhouettes of seagulls moved in slow circles over the water. Their cries, caught in the wind, sounded lonely.

Cal sat down beside me. He picked up a small stone in the sand near his feet and tossed it into the water. “Too choppy for skimming.”

I had an unexplainable urge to go skinny-dipping. “But not for swimming.”

He turned and looked at me, his expression surprised and a little amused.

I leaned back on my elbows and crossed my legs, letting one move lazily up and down. This felt suspiciously like flirting. “Wanna get crazy?”

He looked around, making sure nobody was on the beach or watching nearby. A crooked smile came across his face. “Okay.” Cal was like every other red-blooded male out there. Most men would take their clothes off in a blizzard if a woman were willing to take her clothes off too.
I stood up, pulling my tank top over my head and dropped it to the sand. I walked toward the water, stripping myself of my sports bra, my jeans and my boots. Goose bumps appeared on my arms and legs and I smiled into the wind as I ran full tilt into the chilly water, splashing all the way.

It was so cold that I couldn’t breathe for a moment, so I dove beneath the surface and swam until I grew accustomed to the temperature. I popped back up and laughed, feeling a little hysterical, and when I turned toward the beach, I could see that Cal was already in the water.
“Wow,” I called out to him as he swam toward me. “You don’t waste any time, do you?”

“There’s a naked girl in the water,” he said by way of explanation, his breathing labored with his swimming movements.

I trod water until he reached me and then floated on my back, the water filling my ears and blocking most sound above the surface. Cal stayed near me, watching me with a goofy smile on his face. I hadn’t even noticed that my breasts had popped out of the water, gleaming white under the full moon. There was no way he could’ve missed them. I laughed again, my giggles sounding strange with my ears under water.

Finally I went back to treading, but a string of giggles escaped me and suddenly I couldn’t stop laughing. Callahan watched me for a moment, a strange smile on his face. When he’d decided that I hadn’t really gone crackers, he joined me. We laughed so hard that both of us swallowed some water, the two of us coughing and hacking, and still laughing. We had to swim back to where there was sand beneath our feet before we both drowned.

We stood in front of each other, neck deep in the lake, catching our breaths. We watched each other’s faces, not saying anything for a long moment, the air thick with anticipation. His eyes were softened by desire and he moved forward. I stepped back. I knew what we were about to do wasn’t a good idea. My need for him was taking over my common sense. Relationships were messy and we had to work together. The more we had sex, the closer we came to actually being in a relationship. Then, being me, at that moment I didn’t much care. I was just enjoying teasing the hell out of him.

Finally I moved forward in one fluid motion until our noses were almost touching. My breasts brushed up against his chest, thrilling my nipples. His breath was becoming ragged and he was trembling from holding back.

“Leah—”

I cut him off with my mouth, tasting drops of lake water on his lips. I kissed him softly, but wouldn’t offer him my tongue.

“You’re playing with fire,” he murmured against my lips.

“It’s okay. I’m in water.”

He lifted his hands to my waist, moving them over my back and down my ass. His hands were strong, rough feeling, even though they were softened by water. Callahan Parker was a tough nut. He kept his temper and ability to harm tightly harnessed. I respected him for this. I also found it sexy as hell.

He pulled back and looked into my eyes, his face a mix of emotions. “You scare the hell out of me.”

“I scare the hell out of me, too.” And that was the truth. Suddenly I felt cold. I began to shiver and my teeth started chattering.

He slid his hand up and rested it on the back of my neck, pulling my head toward his shoulder. I resisted a little at first, confused. Somehow, he knew exactly what I needed, even if I hadn’t known myself. He tried again, gently pulling, guiding my head toward his shoulder until I finally gave in. I let my cheek rest against him. Drops of water beaded his skin, chilling it. Strangely, I felt warm again.

At that moment, there was no place on earth I’d rather have been.

Any questions about the excerpt or Repo Chick Blues? Leave me a comment with any questions you may have or just what you think of the excerpt and I'll draw for a free download of Repo Chick Blues :)