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  U-Turn

  Bounty County Series: Book 4

  Maren Lee

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Due to profanity and graphic sexual content, this book is not intended for anyone under the age of eighteen.

  U-Turn - Copyright © 2018 by Maren Lee

  Editing by Laura Hull of Indies Ink

  Formatting by Jess Bryant of Indies Ink

  To my dirty minded readers.

  This one is just for you.

  Table of Contents

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  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

  Epilogue

  Another Author’s Note (mostly I’m begging):

  Other Books by Maren Lee:

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Author’s Note

  This book may be read as a stand-alone. However, it is Part Four of a series with recurring characters. If you haven’t read the earlier books and find you’re interested in Wesson’s “Wessonisms,” Jake’s spanking, or Justin’s assholery, you may want to take a trip back through the rest of Bounty County.

  Prologue

  It was hot and fucking humid.

  Humidity was not Katie’s thing. The first time her parents ever took her on a vacation back east and she felt the humidity engulf her like a disgusting wet blanket, she was certain she’d live in Idaho forever. Katie may have left Idaho after graduating nursing school, but she only moved right next door to Montana. Dry heat is where it’s at.

  Yet here she was. In fucking St. Louis, Missouri, sitting at a fucking baseball game with the sun blazing down and the oppressive soup of suspended moisture surrounding her. She was annoyed. Annoyed that she hadn’t realized when she agreed to accompany Brian to a stupid fucking conference in St. Louis that he’d spend more time at the conference than with her and their one outing together would be to a fucking baseball game. They were behind home plate. “Killer seats,” Brian tried to convince her. Katie didn’t give a shit.

  She was not happy. She’d been holed up in their hotel room and off wandering the humid streets of St. Louis all week long by herself. I gave up vacation time for this bullshit.

  Brian’s leg bounced up and down next her, getting on Katie’s last fucking nerve. She touched his leg and he looked at her. At least he’s handsome.

  “Can you fucking stop that already? You’re driving me nuts.”

  “Sorry, Kitten. I just get nervous watching my favorite team.” Katie rolled her eyes. Kitten. Brian was from Martha’s Vineyard. Yeah. That Martha’s Vineyard. No joke. He called her things like “Kitten.” And even more annoyingly, he liked to call her ‘Kate.’ He thought it was more professional than “Katie.” She understood what he was getting at, but ‘Kate’ wasn’t her actual name.

  Brian had gone to medical school and, oddly enough, developed a passion for rural medicine. He’d ended up being matched at Billings Regional, where Katie worked as a nurse, for his residency. He was already three years into his general surgery residency. He didn’t have student loans from undergrad or med school because apparently his parents (whom she still hadn’t met) were loaded. She and Brian hadn’t really talked about what he was going to do after his residency was over. She’d hoped they could at least stay in the area.

  “How long is this going to take? I’m sweating my ass off.”

  “Shhhhh. We are in public, Kate. Try not to use that language,” he admonished her.

  Jesus. “I always use this language, Brian. Sorry if I embarrass you around your rich, pompous surgeon friends.”

  “Lower your voice, please, Kate,” he implored.

  Katie rolled her eyes again. For fuck’s sake. Why won’t he stop with the ‘Kate’ thing?

  “My name isn’t Kate, Brian. My name is Katie. It is literally on my birth certificate as Katie.”

  Brian rolled his eyes. “That can’t be true. It has to be Katherine.”

  Nope.

  “Well, if you ever meet my parents, you’ll just have to ask them.” She shrugged her shoulders and decided to ignore him.

  “How about next weekend?”

  What? Really? Katie had been trying to get him to meet her parents for the past few months. He may be driving her crazy at the present moment, but Katie had grown a little fond of Brian Carson. Dr. Carson. He was so handsome and smart. A little cocky, but Katie liked that. All the nurses fawned over him. But she was the one who snagged him. Ha! Bitches. He’s mine!

  They’d moved in together a few months ago. His place, not hers. His was much nicer. And they’d tossed most of her stuff. His was nicer. Well, he is a doctor, Katie thought when he turned his nose up at the coffee table in her old living room.

  “Next weekend is great! You really want to road trip to Idaho?”

  “Road trip?” he asked, with an air of superiority. “No. Let’s fly.”

  “To Challis? No way. There’s an airport, but it’s just a small strip of grass.”

  “Great. Then we’ll take the Cessna.”

  Oh, god.

  “I’m not getting in that thing.”

  “Katie, it’s fine. I fly it all the time.”

  “People crash those things all the time, Brian.”

  “I’m a really good pilot. I’m almost as good at flying as I am at being a surgeon.”

  “Really good pilots crash those things all the time.”

  “Are you ever going to fly with me?”

  “No.”

  Brian smirked. “We’ll see. I’ll convince you.”

  Katie shook her head. The fuck you will. We’re driving. Katie sat in silence and stared at baseball butts. At least there’s something fun I can do here.

  “Come with me,” Brian ordered as he stood up.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I got us special VIP passes.”

  “Why are you just now telling me this? We’ve been baking in the sun watching this stupid fucking game for hours.”

  “Shhhh. Katie. Come on. I wanted it to be a surprise.” He looked at her and smiled his million dollar smile. Ugh. He’s too handsome. Katie put her hand in his and let him lead her down the steps toward home plate. This is weird.

  They went down another flight of steps, directly to the field at a gate. “Brian, what are we doing? This isn’t a better view.”

  “Just be quiet and don’t ask questions for once in your fucking life, Katie,” he bit out at her.

  Oh, fuck no.

  Katie’s thoughts of murdering Brian were interrupted by a gentleman in a suit coat.

  “Dr. Carson! Good to see you again!”

  Again?
When has Brian met this guy before?

  “What are we doing?” Katie asked, trepidation in her voice.

  The man cleared his throat. “As part of the VIP package, you get to participate in a contest! If you can throw the ball to home plate, you win $10,000!”

  Jesus Christ.

  “Brian’s doing that.”

  “No, actually, you are. Brian is catching.”

  “I’m not fucking doing that.”

  “Kitten…” Brian’s voice was filled with disappointment and maybe a little bit of anger and frustration.

  “No. I’m not doing that. I can kick a soccer ball like I’m on fucking Team USA – the women’s team, the men’s team sucks – but I cannot throw a baseball. I’m not doing it. I know my limits!” Katie may have been throwing a hissy fit, but she was pissed. How dare he set this up without telling you!

  “Fine. Just fine. God damnit, Katie. You’re such a brat. I’ll throw it. You catch.”

  “Ugh! Why are we even doing this?” she gritted her teeth as the man opened the gate and they walked out as all of the men in tight baseball pants ran into the dugout.

  Katie walked toward home plate and got outfitted with catcher’s gear. Are you fucking serious? He’s not even going to be able to lob it to home plate. Why am I wearing this bullshit? Brian headed to the mound.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen! I’d like to direct your attention to the mound, I mean…home plate! Home plate!” What? Does this announcer not even know how this stupid game goes?

  Instead of Brian readying to throw the ball, he came running back toward her. What the fuck is going on?

  “What the fuck is going on, Brian?”

  He dropped to his knee. Oh fuck. Oh no. Oh no. Please don’t be doing this at a fucking baseball game in public.

  “Katie,” he said. He was mic’d up.

  “You’re mic’d up?” she asked. Thank God she was wearing catcher’s gear, so the giant video camera being stuck in her face couldn’t catch her look of panic.

  “Yes, Katie,” Brian smiled. His million dollar, made-for-tv smile. Fuck.

  They’d moved in together but they’d never talked about marriage. Katie didn’t even realize this was on the fucking radar.

  Fuck fuck fuck.

  “Katie, the past six months have been the best whirlwind of my life.”

  Six? Try five-and-a-half, bucko.

  “Would you do me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?”

  Shit. Katie panicked. What do I do? What do I do?

  “Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!” the entire stadium chanted. Fuck.

  “Katie?” Brian asked. “Will you marry me?”

  Shit. Seriously? I need a fucking second to think about this and not in public with thousands of people shouting at me and a giant camera in my face!

  “Katie? You're freaking me out, darling. I love you.” He gave her a tight smile.

  You love him, too…right? Katie nodded her head involuntarily, answering her own question.

  “Wow. Um. Yes?” she replied. It was more of a question, but no one seemed to care about the tone of her response. The entire stadium erupted into cheers. Brian stood up and took her catcher’s mask off and kissed her. He picked up her, swung her around in a circle, and then stopped to place a ring – holy fuck, what a ring – on her finger.

  “Congratulations!” the announcer cheered. Fireworks launched into the sky. Are you fucking kidding me? Fireworks? In the daytime?

  “Isn’t this awesome!” Brian shouted above the noise.

  Katie nodded her head again and plastered a smile on her face. So…awesome. She took a deep breath.

  What just happened?

  Chapter 1

  1 month later

  Ryan felt like all of the air had been sucked out of his lungs.

  Fuck. I can’t breathe.

  “You okay, Ryan?” Jake asked. They were at their good friends’ engagement party. People were everywhere. Every single one of his off-duty coworkers were there, as well as a few of his on-duty coworkers in uniform.

  But he was not okay. He felt light-headed because his coworker Jake had just shared news that weakened his muscles. Stopped his heart. Took his breath from his body.

  Get out of here.

  “Ryan?” Lane, Jake’s wife, followed up, passing the couple’s one-year-old baby to her husband.

  Ryan cleared his throat. “What? Yeah. Yeah. Totally fine. It’s hot. Is it hot out here?”

  Lane smiled. “It is a little hot. But it's August in Montana, Ryan.” Lane shrugged. “Smoky too. Freakin’ wildfires.”

  “Yeah, maybe that’s it. I’m gonna head out. See you two later. Tell Wesson and Molly I said congratulations.” He tipped his beer to his friends.

  Lane gave him an odd look. “You sure you’re okay, Ryan? You should go tell Wesson and Molly that yourself.”

  Fine.

  “Yeah. You’re right. I’ll go grab a kiss from the bride-to-be just to piss off Wess.” Ryan forced a grin.

  “Have a good rest of your weekend, man,” Jake offered.

  Ryan nodded and then forced his legs to cooperate as he walked across the yard to where Wesson and Molly were standing, chatting with his boss, Brenden, and his boss’s wife, Sierra.

  “There’s my next victim!” Sierra laughed and pointed at Ryan, her eyes twinkling with mischief in the hot sun.

  Ryan groaned. “Please, dear god, no. Please leave me alone, Sierra.” She was a self-proclaimed matchmaker. To Ryan’s mind, all she did was find the two most single people the closest to each other and pair them up, but she swore it was a science. And everyone gave her credit for being amazing at it, though Ryan wasn’t convinced.

  “I don’t know, buddy,” Wesson grinned. “It’s worked out pretty good for me!” He slipped his hand around the trim waist of his future bride and squeezed her to his side. Molly blushed. She was gorgeous and sun-kissed in her white cotton dress, a preview of how she would look as a bride. Wesson was a lucky man. And from the look on his face, he knew it.

  “Congratulations, you two.” Ryan tipped his bottle at the blushing bride and groom. He was genuinely happy for his friends.

  “Come on, Ryan. Let me find someone for you. I have someone in mind. She lives in Billings, but you’re okay with a commute, right?” Sierra gave him a pouty face.

  Fuck. Billings. The one woman he actually wanted did live in Billings. And she was apparently engaged to be married to someone else, a fact just revealed to him by her brother, Jake.

  Katie Hamilton. His former secret fuck buddy. Just a booty call. Yeah right. More like the love of his fucking life.

  Fuck fuck fuck.

  Ryan had been in denial for far too long. Fuck, he’d been in denial since they first started their fling. He’d been with the City of Imminence Police Department then, working behind the scenes with Internal Affairs to bring the entire corrupt department down. Katie had been his lifeline, his sounding board, and his source of relaxation during a time when his stomach had been tied up in knots. Inexplicably, when the new mayor came in to clean house, Ryan had been cut loose too. Thankfully, it hadn’t been too long before Brenden had agreed to take him on with the county sheriff’s office. Katie had been through that transition with him too. So the fact that he was fucking lying to himself all this time that she was just a booty call? You’re a dipshit, man.

  He’d been miserable the last nine months without Katie. The sex had been amazing. Earth-shattering. Magic. But that wasn’t all. She was smart, funny, hard-working, strong-willed. She refused to put up with his shit, liked all the same movies he liked, and loved to try new foods with him.

  Fuck.

  But Katie was young. Too young. Eighteen years younger, in fact. And Ryan couldn’t let it go. He’d been married before. Two kids the result. He hadn't wanted to do it again. Not. At. All.

  But now? Yeah, within the last five minutes, Ryan was suddenly reconsidering his stubborn
position because Katie was marrying someone else. Fuck no. She can’t. I have to stop her.

  Ryan gave Sierra a smile, but it was one he didn’t fully commit to. “No offense, Sierra, but I’m good right now. I’ve got too much on my mind to think about trying to keep a woman happy.”

  I’d do anything to make Katie happy, though. Anything? Even have kids again? Start over at 42? Fuck.

  “Women aren't that complicated,” Sierra responded.

  Everyone stopped and looked at her like she was insane.