Hustle Him (Bank Shot Romance #2)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Chapter 1

Ramsey

“I can’t believe it’s snowing. Doesn’t mother nature know that spring started four days ago?”

“Jules, we can’t control the weather, babe. You know that. Did you have fun tonight? The Gunderson’s seem like good people.” My wife hated that I had taken the position and relocated us four months ago. I’d been a cop for ten years now and after working in the city for the last nine of them, we just wanted a slower kind of life.

I liked being on the force and putting away criminals, but where we lived before just wasn’t a place to raise a little girl.

“Daddy, when will we be home? Can I have a snack before bed?” My daughter, Katie, usually went to bed at eight. We were nearing eleven and she wasn’t exactly her cheerful self.

“About five minutes, sweetheart.” I peeked in the rearview mirror at my daughter. She hugged her teddy bear.

My wife, Jules, reached over and put her hand on my thigh. “They were nice people. I think you found the nicest people in the whole town on purpose, so that I would like this place even more.”

I looked over at her and smiled. “So, you do like it?”

She shrugged and looked out at the snow. “It’s beautiful here. Who wouldn’t want a goodnight’s sleep without fire trucks and police sirens every five minutes? The smells of the farms are a little hard to get used to, but it is nice.”

I put my hand over hers. “I know you miss your parents.”

“It would have been easier if they could have come too,” she admitted.

“As soon as they sell off the property they said they would. The market just isn’t moving that fast right now. Besides, you need to seek out the biggest bible thumpers so your mom can fit right in.” Sure, I was teasing her. My wife’s mother wasn’t that bad, but since her kids had all moved out, she became obsessed with the bible channel. The woman literally watched it the entire time she was awake and in her house.

I never had a problem with being a Christian. It was the way I was raised, but this woman drank her rum and Coke at ten in the morning and snuck cigarettes on the back porch, while gossiping to her church friends about what liars the rest of the congregation was. It was extremely disturbing.

Jules could talk about her mother constantly, but the moment I said anything negative she would go ballistic and it would start a huge argument. She claimed that I worshipped my non-drinking mother, but degraded hers. Since I hated arguing with my wife, it was best that I kept my opinions to myself.

We’d been together since we were sixteen years old. She was with me when I decided to go into the police academy. After being on the force for three years, she got pregnant with Katie. Even though times were tough, she stayed in college and got her teaching degree. Since we’d moved, she no longer had to work and could spend all of her time being a mother instead. Julia had a gift for making beautiful cakes and now that she had the time, she started making them for other people. The money wasn’t fantastic, but it gave her something to be proud of.

Our new kitchen was the perfect size for her to work in. We’d bought a house that was a hundred years old. The kitchen had been gutted out and was now all done in Amish Mission style cabinetry and granite countertops. I think that Jules was more excited about the kitchen then she was at our wedding.

It wasn’t the big bedroom, or the large soaking tub that sold her on the house. It wasn’t even the wrap around porch with swing, or the large great room with the stone fireplace. No, my wife was madly in love with our kitchen.

“Mom said she talked to the Conner’s the last time they visited. She says that they may make an offer on that rancher down the road.”

“The one with the large detached garage? Your dad will love that.” Her father loved to tinker. He could make anything.

“Yeah. Mom doesn’t seem too thrilled, but I think she just wants to get down here and be close to Katie, so she doesn’t really care what house they move to. You know she’s leaving the only house they ever lived in? It’s going to be emotional for her.” I think it was also hard for Jules to say goodbye to the house she grew up in.

“Daddy, can we build a snowman when we get home?”

“No!” Jules and I said at the same time.

“Sweetheart, it’s way past your bedtime. We can build one in the morning.” I knew she would have us up as soon as the sun was rising.

“Do we have a carrot?” She asked.

I looked at Jules and scrunched up my face. She shook her head and started to laugh. “For the nose, silly.”

“Oh! I don’t know, but even if we don’t, I’m sure we can figure out something else to use. Maybe our snowman could have a pickle nose instead.”

“Eww! No way! It can’t have a pickle nose.”

Jules turned around and laughed with Katie. “Daddy has silly ideas, doesn’t he?”

I looked back in the rearview mirror and saw my daughter laughing. “Why can’t it have a pickle nose? Maybe it might get hungry?”

I loved seeing her smile. It was my reason for life. From the moment that child took her first breath I knew I would never love anything more. She made any bad day forgettable and my heart was always the fullest when she was in my arms. Every time Katie and Jules laughed at my jokes, I felt overwhelmed with self-worth. We’d had tough times through the years, sometimes even fighting to stay together. At the end of the day, I knew that I could never want to be anywhere else.

“Snowmen don’t eat pickles, Daddy. They eat snow.” Katie laughed even more.

“So they eat their own hands? That’s gross!” I teased.

“Daddy!” She continued to giggle.

I looked back at my daughter and then over to Jules. One of my hands still sat over hers. “I love our life, babe. We’re going to be so happy here. I promi…”

“DADDY WATCH OUT!”

It was too late.

I turned to look at the dark road and saw the tractor trailer on its side, sliding right toward us. Out of instinct I slammed on my brakes, causing us to go into an uncontrolled spin. I heard my girls screaming and I started screaming too. The roads were too slick to be able to retain control. I knew it was just a matter of seconds, but for me, it seemed like it played out in slow motion. I tried to turn and look at Jules. Her eyes were huge with fear.

The impact was sudden and I hardly remembered what it felt like that exact moment. The sound of the metal making contact was piercing. I was suddenly cold and looking around to see glass everywhere. My shoulder was stuck to my seat by a large piece of shrapnel that had come off of the truck. I tried to jerk myself free except the pain was excruciating.