Love on the Line Read online

  Love On the Line

  By

  J.M. Madden

  Copyright © 2012 by J.M. Madden

  EPUB Edition

  First published by Decadent Publishing 2012

  Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should delete it from your device and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is coincidental.

  This book contains content that may not be suitable for young readers 17 and under.

  A Note from the Author

  It’s very strange for me to go back and read my old work. I see all sorts of things I want to change or tweak. And my writing has grown since I started in 2010.

  This book was with a small e-publisher for a few years and I couldn’t do anything about what I wanted to change and tweak.

  Now that I have my rights back I’ve added a good bit of new content and given it a happier ending. I’ve made it more of a beach read. A sexy beach read, just FYI. So I hope you enjoy it!

  Jennifer

  Acknowledgements

  As always I have to recognize hubby for everything he does and the man he is. I love you dearly.

  Sandie, Karen and Mayas, you are phenomenal. Thank you for being so supportive of everything I do! And thank you for the great input!

  Robyn and Donna, I love you ladies. Thank you so much for squeezing me into your own busy schedules!

  And to the readers, you guys are amazing! Thank you so much for reading my work!

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  A Note from the Author

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Also by J.M. Madden

  About the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  ‡

  Lorna jogged her backpack higher on her shoulders as she practically threw her money at the taxi driver. “Thank you!”

  Grabbing her suitcase, she bolted into the Amtrak station, praying that she still had enough time to check in and get her bag stowed. She’d never ridden on a train like this before and she hoped they didn’t need as much time to check in as if you were flying. Did TSA cover trains as well as planes? If they did, she was in serious trouble.

  She snorted to herself, a little giddy. It was way too early in the morning to be pondering these heavy things. It was too early into her vacation. This getaway was meant to be an escape from everything—job worries, money worries. Difficult internal conversations were not conducive to fun.

  The lady that scanned her pre-printed ticket seemed super nice and told her that she only had a few minutes to get onto the train. Her cabin would be clearly marked and the attendant would help her with her bag. There was a single old guy checking bags for contraband at the entrance to the platform, but he barely even glanced inside before he pushed her bag back to her. Lorna wondered, a little embarrassed, if he’d seen that thing she’d thrown in last minute.

  Giggling—hoping she’d given him a thrill—she pushed through the turn-style, dragging her suitcase behind her. The promised suitcase attendants were nowhere to be seen. Presumably they were helping other riders.

  Hesitating, she waited on the platform, looking up at the massive passenger car. Pulling her phone from her pocket she checked the time. She still had a few minutes to spare. If none of the bag guys returned she could hoist the thing up the steps by herself.

  Lorna glanced along the length of the car, then up at the identifying numbers on the side. This was the right one. While she waited for someone to appear, she paced the platform a little, looking up at the windows, trying to count down to her cabin.

  That was how she spotted him.

  Lorna had promised herself that she would free her inhibitions this weekend, no matter what. A large group of her friends—most of her graduating class actually—were meeting her in Florida, but she’d already decided that none of the group would suit her plans.

  This man, on the other hand, would suit her purposes perfectly. Even bleary eyed from the early morning, something about him spoke to her. Dark brown hair, dark eyed, he was everything that appealed to her. Even from several feet away she could see how long his eyelashes were. Dark brown stubble coated his strong jaw and clefted chin, but it made him look more stylish than he probably meant to be. His head was propped on his hand, and his strong forearm was veined and muscled.

  He straightened in the chair and scrubbed his face with his hands. No wedding ring.

  Oh, yeah, baby. Lorna felt like she’d just been handed sex on a silver platter. Could it be this easy? Her heart raced with excitement. She scanned what she could see of the cabin but it didn’t look like he was riding with anybody.

  An attendant in a black uniform appeared to take her bag, giving her a claim tag, and Lorna climbed the steps. She walked down the hallway of cabins and deliberately passed the number printed on her ticket and stopped in front of the one she thought the man was in. Inhaling deeply, reinforcing her courage, she stepped into the small room.

  *

  Brady Frost refused to make eye contact with the woman that slipped into the cabin, but he couldn’t ignore the sexy fragrance that swirled around him. Maybe if he didn’t talk to her, she’d get the hint that he didn’t want to be sociable. Deliberately, he kept his head turned toward the glass window and watched people mill on the Columbia train station platform. This was the last stop the Silver Star would make in South Carolina.

  “Am I on the top bunk?”

  “Yes,” he answered reluctantly. Of course she wouldn’t get the hint.

  “Cool.”

  Great. A kid, no less. Reluctantly, he turned his head enough to glance at her.

  She may have sounded like a kid with her sweet voice, but she certainly didn’t look it as she knelt down beside him to rummage in a worn backpack. The back of her tight black pants pulled down around her firm ass, and the elastic of a bright pink bikini bottom came into view. Oh, hell. Long, straight dark hair hung toward the floor, curtaining her face.

  Awareness sparked in his tired body. Fate had sent him on a long, difficult hunt. Maybe she’d seen fit to throw a tight little co-ed into his lap as compensation for the difficult recovery. I could only be so lucky.

  The girl tucked her sleek hair behind her ear and glanced at him, then smiled when she realized he was watching. She shoved out a slim hand. “I’m Lorna. McNight. I’m on my way to Orlando and Cocoa Beach for a vacation. Looks like we’ll be bunking together for a few hours.”

  “Brady Frost.” His big hand swallowed hers and she seemed reluctant to let go.

  “Where are you headed to, Brady?”

  “Tampa.”

  She nodded once and smiled. “I’ve been there before. Beautiful.”

  Not as beautiful as she was though. Sooty lashes framed dark navy blue eyes, and he fought not to grimace. She brimmed with energy, in spite of the un-godly hour, and that excitement pinkened her lean chee
ks with vitality. Pale gloss slicked her lips and she grinned at him before finally releasing his hand. She pushed to her feet and shrugged out of her light jacket. The sleeper cabin was tiny, and he found himself within inches of a tan strip of belly as her white tank top rode up with her movements. A blue sapphire stud winked at him, nestled into the hollow of her belly button—startlingly similar to the color of her eyes.

  Brady curled his hands over the armrests of the chair and forced his gaze out the window and away from her tempting shape. She probably wouldn’t appreciate an old guy like him ogling her, especially as rough as he looked right now. For a solid week he’d been chasing a bail jumper, moving at all hours of the day and night to track the man down. His jaw ached with a bruise from the man’s fist and itched with the beginnings of a beard he hadn’t been able to shave, and his hair was a mess from catching up on sleep on the hard lower bunk.

  The intercom droned in the hallway. Though he couldn’t make out the words, he knew the train was preparing to depart. Beneath him, the vibration of the diesel began to build. Brady opened his mouth to tell the girl to hang on when the train suddenly lurched into motion. She staggered and tried to maintain her balance, but she tripped on the bag at her feet. She splayed her hands to break her fall, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Brady snagged her wrist, and, with a strategic tug and twist, her perfect ass landed square in his lap. If he’d been any less strong, the maneuver wouldn’t have worked. He choked back a laugh as he remembered his earlier thoughts. Thank you, Madam Fate.

  Unable to help himself, he wrapped his hands around her tiny waist. Her ass was as perfect as he imagined. Lorna twisted to peer over her shoulder at him. “They don’t give you much warning, do they?”

  Brady couldn’t drag his gaze away from her face. He’d never been struck unresponsive with a woman before and he couldn’t figure out why he was now. Yes, she was gorgeous, and had a bangin’ body, but she was just a kid.

  Her eyes dropped to his lips as if she thought about kissing him, and that awareness that had rolled through his body seconds earlier intensified. It centered in his groin. Knowledge darkened her gaze as she felt his body respond to hers, but she didn’t move away. She stayed where she was, even shifted sideways to be more comfortable. Brady forced his hands open and rested them on the arms of the chair, leaving her the option to move. “Didn’t mean to manhandle you.”

  She shrugged her bare shoulders, and he noticed a second bright pink bra strap under the tank. “I don’t mind a little handling by a man. Besides, you rescued me from a fall.”

  Brady grimaced at the word ‘rescue’. Not his cup of tea anymore. A slender finger brushed over the bruise on his right jaw. “Did somebody disagree with you?”

  He grinned slightly. “Not for very long. I dragged his ass to jail.”

  Interest widened her eyes. “Are you a cop?”

  “Bail bondsman. And I run transports for the local police department.”

  “Fascinating.” Her gaze dropped to his abdomen, and the t-shirt he had on. “Are you carrying a gun?”

  Brady debated the wisdom of satisfying her curiosity. “No, it’s in my bag.”

  They rattled over a bump and his gaze was drawn to her breasts as they bounced gently with the motion. He must have stared longer than he thought because a shudder rolled through her and her eyes drifted shut with a sigh. She took a deep, quivering breath. Beneath the thin cloth of her shirt, he could see that her nipples had tightened into points.

  When he looked up, she stared at him hard. “I graduated with my business degree last week, Brady. I’ve worked like a dog for four years—doing everything on my own, paying everything on my own—so I told myself that I would live this trip up and enjoy life, and not worry about the consequences.”

  Brady nodded once, appreciating the desire he could see in her expression. He could understand her need to break away.

  “One of the things I told myself I would do was find a good-looking guy to give me the attention I’ve denied myself all this time.”

  Brady’s dick hardened to the point of pain, but he forced his expression to stay calm. He’d seen and heard a lot of crazy things in his career and this sounded like one of them. Yeah, he was decent enough looking but he wasn’t lucky enough to be propositioned like this.

  Lorna grinned at him fiercely and shifted until she pressed into his erection. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to try to control his body, but it did no good. “Lorna,” he coughed, trying to clear his throat. “I don’t know if this is a good idea. You’re just a kid, and I don’t know if I want to…”

  “I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen,” she interrupted, her voice determined. “I’m twenty-four years old, now. Old enough to know what I want. As soon as I saw you from the platform, I wanted you. You’re not wearing a ring, so you’re not married. Are you attached to anyone in any way?”

  After several long seconds of debating the merits of being truthful, he shook his head.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ‡

  Lorna smiled smugly, crossed her arms, grasped the hem of the white tank and ripped it up over her head. She tossed it to the floor near the cubicle bathroom. “Besides, what else are we supposed to do for six hours?”

  Well, fuck. How the hell was a guy supposed to do the honorable thing when he had the nicest set of C’s he’d ever seen inches from his face? He glanced out the window, worried that someone might see, but they were already speeding along the tracks. Carolina pines flashed past. The horn wailed as they went over another empty railroad crossing.

  Lorna waited for a response, but she seemed to see the acceptance in his eyes. Pushing away from his lap, she crossed the few feet to the door and flicked the lock. There were no windows to the inside of the train, so he had no worries that anybody would see what was going on. “Are you sure this is what you want? To be fucked on a train by a guy you don’t even know?”

  She winked audaciously at him and his cock twitched. It had been a long time since he’d been so quickly attracted to a woman. Perhaps it was her confidence that he would do what she wanted that appealed to him so strongly.

  For way too long he’d done what he was supposed to do. Her enthusiasm and ability to disregard authority appealed to him. A lot.

  Lorna didn’t give Brady a chance to change his mind. Turning back, she cupped her breasts in her hands and teased the tips with her fingernails, feeling a shudder run down through her. The two little triangles of fabric of the bikini bra were barely enough to cover her plump breasts, but Brady didn’t seem to mind. His poor bruised jaw slackened, and his bright chocolate eyes flared with heat. Quite a difference from a few minutes ago when she’d first entered the sleeper. It was obvious he’d been sleeping and didn’t want to be bothered. When she’d seen him from the platform, though, she’d known he was the one to break her long, self-imposed drought. Good looking, older, obviously in great shape. Extremely appealing to her eye. In general, mature; the exact opposite of ninety percent of the male population she’d gone to school with.

  The pulse of the diesel engine rumbled through her feet and into her body. Because she was so suddenly aware, it was like a huge vibrator had been turned on, jostling her sensitive body as it rumbled over the tracks. Her heart rate began to speed up.

  Brady hadn’t moved from the chair by the window, but he watched her every expression. The erection she’d felt under her ass pressed against the front of his jeans, and Lorna realized she was wasting time. Moving slowly, she bent over at her hips and danced her yoga pants down her legs, then tossed them to the bathroom doorway and smoothed her hands up the flare of her hips. The bikini was brand, spanking new and she looked better than she ever had, thanks to too many nights of not eating properly while she studied. Brady apparently thought so as well, because he groaned slightly as he watched her hands.

  “Please fucking tell me you have protection, because I certainly don’t.”

  Lorna grinned and bent to her pack. She p
roduced a sealed box of condoms. “Plus I’m on the pill.”

  Brady pushed out of his seat and Lorna was surprised at how big he actually was. Well over six feet, and tense with muscle. He wasn’t as overblown as some of the jocks in school, but she had a feeling his strength was earned on the streets, fighting, and not in the gym. Dark brown hair flecked with silver was cut close to his head, but it was mussed in the back. Night black brows shadowed his brown eyes as he looked down her body. “This is your last chance little girl. You better be damn sure this is what you want.”

  Lorna’s heart softened, even as she tried to stay detached. This was supposed to be just sex, a release of tension. He was a good guy if he was asking, though, and she appreciated the consideration. “I’m sure.”

  Broad hands came up to cup her jaw, and without hesitation he pressed his mouth to hers. Lorna fought her surprise. She stood before him in a barely-there bikini offering sex, and he wanted to kiss her first. As his hard lips moved over hers, she was glad. Never in her life had she been kissed so thoroughly. Awareness danced down her body, sending chill bumps across her skin. She opened her mouth, hoping he would do the same. His tongue glided against hers, invading the depths of her mouth. In and out he swept, imitating what she knew was coming. One hand left her jaw to trace down her neck, her chest, and her excitement spiked. She arched her back, encouraging him to touch her breasts, but he avoided them deliberately. She moaned into his mouth. “Please,” she whispered.

  Brady ran his broad hand down her side to cup her hip. His fingertips found the edge of her bottom and followed it down the crack of her ass. Lorna squirmed, wishing he would quit tickling and touch her.

  The train rattled over another crossing, and she lifted her hands to rest them against his chest. Oh, he’s so strong. Unable to help herself, she slid her hands beneath the t-shirt he wore and ran them up his warm skin. His nipples were buried in a thick mat of hair, but he rumbled in his throat when she found and tweaked them. The shirt aggravated her, so she lifted the hem and urged him to slip it off. It was tossed into the clothes pile by the bathroom, and Lorna had her first eyeful.