Joy Ride: Powertools: Hot Rides Book #4 Read online

  Joy Ride

  Powertools: Hot Rides, Book #4

  Jayne Rylon

  Happy Endings Publishing

  Copyright © 2019 by Jayne Rylon

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means—including email, file-sharing groups, and peer-to-peer programs—without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  If you have purchased a copy of this ebook, thank you. I greatly appreciate knowing you would never illegally share your copy of this book. This is the polite way of me saying don’t be a thieving asshole, please and thank you!

  If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Refer to the don’t-be-a-thieving-asshole section above for clarification. :)

  V2

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-947093-07-2

  Print ISBN: 978-1-947093-08-9

  Cover Design by Jayne Rylon

  Cover Image by Wander Aguiar

  Editing by Mackenzie Walton

  Proofreading by Fedora Chen

  Formatting by Jayne Rylon

  Contents

  About The Book

  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

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Discounted Boxset - Hot Rods

  Discounted Boxset - Powertools

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  What Was Your Favorite Part?

  Jayne’s Shop

  Listen Up!

  About the Author

  Also by Jayne Rylon

  About The Book

  Sometimes the hardest thing to protect those you love from is yourself.

  * * *

  Walker and Dane are a team. Best friends doesn’t even begin to cover what they are to each other. Nothing can break the bond they forged during their tumultuous teenaged years or strengthened during their time in the military.

  * * *

  Except Joy. Dane’s first crush and Walker’s step sister, Joy has always had the power to throw a wrench in their lives even if she never realized her own allure.

  * * *

  So when she shows up at Hot Rods motorcycle shop, a newborn in her arms, nine months after they slipped and slept with her before leaving town to prevent another mistake… They know life is about to change for whichever of them is the father of her baby as well as the man who’s not as lucky.

  * * *

  Especially when they realize her father isn’t about to let her live the life she wants without a fight. Because no matter their own misgivings, they’d never let anything happen to the woman they’ve both loved for more than a decade. After all, they left her to protect her…even if it was from themselves.

  * * *

  This is a standalone book in the Hot Rides series and includes an HEA with no cheating. The series is part of the greater universe where both the Powertools and Hot Rods books are also set, so you can visit with many of your previous favorite characters and see what they’re up to now!

  Additional Information

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  A complete list of Jayne’s books can be found at www.jaynerylon.com/books

  1

  Joy had never been in so much pain in her entire life.

  She screamed. She writhed. She cursed God and the men who had done this to her.

  Then she clenched her teeth as she fought another excruciating spasm despite the way her vision dimmed on the edges. Was this what it felt like when you were dying?

  Thanks to her stepfather, she couldn’t even go to a hospital. Instead, she had to suffer.

  Just when Joy thought she couldn’t bear a single moment more, the agony relented. The soft, calming voice of her midwife penetrated her dark thoughts as the woman crooned encouragement in her ear. “Almost there. Be strong for your daughter. You’ll meet her soon.”

  Of course, Joy couldn’t comprehend the specific words so much as the tone they were uttered in. Her mind kept panicking and her exhausted body had long ago resorted to functioning off of adrenaline and instinct. She sagged against the edge of the inflatable pool that was supposed to make for a peaceful birthing experience.

  My ass.

  If it wasn’t for the baby she’d felt growing inside her for months now, even as her own love for the child blossomed, she would have given up. Let the blackness take her. Sometimes she wondered if it was smart to bring an innocent child into the world. Especially a daughter.

  What if she ended up as powerless as Joy herself? No. She would find a way to give her child a better life. Maybe she could even improve her own in the process.

  Joy hated the men who’d put her in this situation.

  Her stepfather.

  His dirty right-hand man, Clive.

  And especially whichever of the two guys she’d slept with who’d been the one to get her pregnant before abandoning her…yet again.

  Strike that. On general principle, she hated both of them, regardless of which had knocked her up.

  Another contraction wrung her midsection as if her own body was calling her a liar. Hadn’t it already proven she’d never be able to resist either of them?

  Worse, she hated herself for falling in love with them both even though she’d known neither of them would stay. How much different would this moment in her life have been if Dane or Walker or both were here to hold her hand and promise everything would be okay?

  Joy couldn’t help it. She began to weep. Normally she would shut those tears down, refuse to shed them or acknowledge how deeply Walker and Dane’s rejection had cut her, but right then she used the excuse of her physical pain to mask the impact of the far deeper emotional wounds she bore.

  “No, no. You’re doing fine. This should be it. You’re going to birth her head this time. Ready?” The midwife helped Joy focus on what was important. The future, not the past.

  The rest of her labor was a blur as pain threatened to blot out her elation. But in the end, when the midwife guided her into bed and handed Joy her precious baby, it was rapture that won out.

  In that moment she knew…all of it had been worth it.

  Every bit of discomfort—today and for years before—her heartbreak, and even being left behind by the two men she had always longed for. Every hurdle she’d cleared had brought her to this moment.

  “I swear I will love you like no one has ever loved me,” Joy promised as she traced her daughter’s cheek with the tip of her index finger.

  Her child would never have reason to doubt that.

  And if she had to prove it by fighting for them both to survive, that’s what she was going to do.

  As soon as she took about a three-day nap.

  “Rest now. I’ll stay until you’ve recovere
d enough to care for her on your own.” The midwife took a seat, smiling at both Joy and her baby as if she was proud of them. Joy wondered if that’s what it would have been like to have a mother who gave a shit about her daughter instead of only herself.

  She would never be selfish when it came to her baby.

  “Thank you,” Joy whispered, annoyed when her eyes fluttered closed, stealing the sight of her child from her.

  “What’s her name?” the midwife asked.

  “Arden.” Joy hadn’t planned to say that, but when she pried her eyelids open for one more glimpse at the baby in her arms, she knew it was the right answer.

  Now if only the rest of her problems were so easy to fix, she’d be set.

  2

  Six Weeks Later

  Joy beamed as she rocked Arden, who’d fallen asleep in her car carrier on the way home from her final post-natal visit. Sure, she’d wailed when she’d gotten her shots, but even that hadn’t riled her for long. She’d taken it like a champ and now seemed as docile as a kitten instead of the ferocious mini-dragon she sometimes transformed into. Wonder where she’d gotten that temper from? Oops.

  A soft chuckle fell from Joy’s lips.

  Despite how worried she had been for both the trip into town and the visit itself, the doctor had confirmed what she already knew: Arden was perfect.

  The most insignificant things about her daughter could hold her spellbound—a simple smile, the hazel color of her eyes, how tiny and precious every one of her fingers were. In fact, everything about the past six weeks had been magical.

  Alone, she’d bonded with her baby and had nearly forgotten about the world waiting outside their very temporary haven. They’d have to go soon; she’d probably stayed too long already. Joy finally felt strong enough to take on the challenge of finding a permanent place to raise her daughter and rebuild their lives.

  Today, she’d only imagined she’d seen Clive once while she’d exposed Arden and herself long enough to visit the clinic. Even then, she’d gotten her heart rate under control before her hands turned clammy or her stomach revolted. When driving home, she’d barely looked in the rearview mirror a half dozen times more than necessary. Progress.

  For the first time in Joy’s life, she imagined what it might be like to be…content.

  When days had turned into weeks and no one had broken down the cottage’s door or dragged her back to her stepfather’s house, she’d started to believe that maybe he didn’t care about her defection as much as she’d feared he would. It didn’t even hurt her feelings because it meant she and Arden might be free to start over and live their lives however they chose.

  Though they might struggle, especially right at first, Joy could make the most of a little to build something that was hers and hers alone. Beholden to no one. Unfettered by the repercussions that stemmed from dabbling in the gray areas of the law and the unsavory players that operated in that space. Like her stepfather.

  Joy took a deep breath and tipped her face upward, relaxed for a moment.

  She should have known that couldn’t last.

  A triple rap echoed through the bungalow that had been her safe haven. Loud enough and insistent enough to startle the baby awake. Which of course meant that Arden began to cry and that those cries were going to turn to wails if Joy didn’t do something to appease her daughter. Like pick her up or feed her or sing her a lullaby.

  In truth, those tactics might not work and the diva part of Arden, which she’d certainly inherited from her father, would emerge.

  Joy was going to murder whoever was out there disturbing their solitude.

  She stormed to the door, only remembering that no one knew she was there right before she’d nearly ripped the thing off the hinges so she could bark at the intruder. At the last moment, she hesitated, her fear returning as Arden’s cries grew more insistent in the background.

  Shit.

  No one had been by this old abandoned cottage in the entire time she’d been squatting in it. In fact, Dane had once told her that no one had been there in years until he and Walker had used it for some much-needed relaxation of their own immediately after leaving the service. Part of her had maybe even hoped that’s where they’d gone when they’d defected from her stepfather’s empire—and her—once and for all.

  That’s why she’d picked the place when she fled.

  Not that she’d had a lot of options with Arden on the way and very little cash in her pocket. Still, there was no use in pretending she wasn’t there when Arden made it obvious someone was home. So instead she peeked out the sidelight, then froze.

  Clive.

  How the fuck had he found her and what was he doing here now?

  She wasn’t going to give in to him without a hell of a fight. She’d come too far to go back.

  Schooling her pulse to remain steady, Joy mentally reviewed her preparations. She wasn’t entirely ready yet, but she’d known this could happen. There was a duffle bag of emergency supplies in the trunk of the car at all times. She just had to get him to leave or be distracted long enough that she could grab Arden and put the escape plan into motion.

  Where they would go next, she had no clue. It didn’t matter as long as it wasn’t with Clive.

  “Come on, Joy.” He spoke to her through the door as if he were an innocuous, rational human being. Something she knew to be an utter lie. Pure evil like him shouldn’t even be within a mile of her innocent child. “I know you’re in there. I spotted you in that piece of shit town and figured you had to be here. What were you doing at that doctor’s office anyway? And whose baby is that? Open the door so we can talk.”

  Ah, shit. She’d concocted a million different stories, but in the end, she figured the truth might work the best to deter Clive. Make herself as undesirable as possible to him. Besides, he was persistent and nosey and a complete toady. He would at the very least tell her stepfather every last word of what he discovered today. So she might as well give him the message she needed passed along anyway.

  It could be her only chance to extricate herself from their world for good.

  Joy prayed she was making the right decision. She looked over her shoulder at Arden and knew her baby was worth the risk. After a deep, shaky breath, she opened the door.

  “Your father has been worried sick about you.” Clive leaned on the jamb as if he was harmless—a neighbor dropping by to shoot the shit instead of a henchman who could drag her back to an existence she didn’t approve of and punish her for daring to break the rules. She didn’t miss how he positioned his body in the path of the door to prevent her from shutting it again.

  “Angus is not my father,” Joy snarled. Now that she was a parent herself, she couldn’t see how the man who’d married her mother and ruled them like a ruthless dictator could ever be called that.

  “He’s obsessed with finding you and making sure you’re safe.” Clive cleared his throat, as if even he couldn’t stomach that lie. “It looks bad on him that he doesn’t know where you went. You know he can’t have that. He counts on his reputation to keep people in line. There’s talk that maybe his enemies got to you and that makes him seem weak. He’s furious.”

  “Now that I believe.” Angus was the president of Wildfire, an outlaw motorcycle club that was mostly a front for lucrative, if primarily illegal and always shady, dealings. He’d stayed on top all these years by being ruthless and never letting anyone circumvent his authority. Joy and her mother—who had foolishly married the bastard—included.

  Fear was the main instrument he used to ensure compliance. While her mother had been willing to trade her independence for a twisted form of security, Joy was not. No longer. She stood straighter, clenching her fists. “And you’re going to return me to him and reap the rewards. Am I right?”

  “Think about this, Joy. How are you going to support yourself and a baby on the couple thousand bucks you stole from me? Which, by the way, you could have just asked me for. Money is nothing; there’s plenty of it ar
ound. You know I’d have given it to you. I owe you that at least.” Clive leaned in as if he was going to hold her hand.

  She snatched it away before he could try. And yeah, he done more damage to her than that covered. She didn’t even feel bad about the cash she’d swiped on her way out of town.

  Joy prepared to employ the self-defense tactics she’d learned in her lessons from Walker and Dane. Too bad she hadn’t been able to shield her squishy heart from them as well as she knew how to guard her body. “I don’t know how I’m going to get by yet, but I’ll figure it out.”

  “Did you come here hoping for protection from Walker and Dane? Are they here?” Clive licked his lips as he peered around her. He damn well better be nervous about that prospect. They hated Clive even more than she did.

  “They’re around,” she lied.

  “Is the baby Walker’s?” Clive raised a brow. “That would be a hell of a game changer. The only person your father would love to have back more than you is him and if his son had an heir for Wildfire…”

  Joy honestly couldn’t say, because she didn’t know for sure. Shame washed over her, goading her to lash out twice as hard. “Don’t you fucking talk about my baby. Don’t even think about her or who her father is. Just forget you saw anything and get out of here. Leave us alone and go home, Clive. With Walker, Dane, and me out of the picture, you can have what you always wanted. To take over after that man is dead. If you’re really lucky, one of the rival clubs will off him sooner rather than later.”