Handcuff Me to Your Bed (Single Moms Deserve Happily Ever Afters Book 1) Read online

  Handcuff Me to Your Bed

  Book 1: Single Moms Deserve Happily Ever After

  Zoe Garcia

  Contents

  Book Description

  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

  Epilogue

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About the Author

  Book Description

  1

  I could not believe that asshole had made me late for daycare pick-up again.

  As I sped toward my daughter’s daycare, I seethed, leaning forward with both hands on the steering wheel and dodging in and out of traffic.

  Several cars honked at me, but I did not give a damn.

  I could not afford another $25 late fee for not making it on time when my credit cards were already dangerously close to being maxed out.

  Or worse, Sky getting kicked out of daycare completely because this was my third strike. As exorbitant as the cost of daycare was, I had to have it.

  So that’s why I had to get there, stat.

  I had five minutes before Mrs. Winslow enforced the late fee, and I had absolutely no doubt that she would. It was like that witch enjoyed counting down the seconds and adding the late fee to my bill the second she could.

  The problem? I was ten minutes away… but I could make it if I ran a red light or two and went sixty in a thirty-five.

  Good thing there were no schools on the way there…

  Normally, I was a pretty safe driver, especially if Sky was in the car. I never picked up or even took a peek at my phone. Even to check my notifications.

  But my asshole of a boss kept asking me to run reports and shit for him. Shit that it didn’t occur for him to do until it was almost time for me to leave.

  Asshole… asking me to run a report that would take a good twenty minutes when I was supposed to clock out in ten. Then having the balls to tell me that he hadn’t asked for that one, to please run the one he had actually asked for.

  Asshole.

  I cut someone off, and another car or three honked at me. I honked back. Generously.

  Another reason my boss was an asshole? He definitely did not pay me enough to cover my expenses and all the late fees I was racking up. If he kept this up, I was going to have to find another job, even if I hated losing my work bestie.

  Exasperated, I ran a red light just as it turned from yellow to red. Of course.

  I eyed the clock. Three minutes, but I was more than halfway there. I might just make it at this rate.

  I pressed my foot on the accelerator even more, really hoping there weren’t any cops around.

  And just like that, I saw the lights flashing in my rearview mirror.

  You had to be. Fucking. Kidding. Me.

  Two minutes.

  Yep, I was definitely going to be late.

  Thanks to this new asshole who had just decided to appear in my life.

  Where had he been the other day when that red Mustang had cut me off doing seventy in a forty-five?

  I pulled over and closed my eyes, trying to keep it together.

  I pressed my fingertips to my temples, but it was no good.

  Anger and frustration had my eyes watering, and I wished I could just disappear and have this day be over somehow.

  On top of Mrs. Winslow’s late fee, now I was going to have a $300 speeding ticket too.

  Which meant my already expensive auto insurance was gonna get hiked up.

  Fuck. This.

  A rap at my window had me slowly looking towards the sound and what I knew I would inevitably find there.

  The cop.

  Under different circumstances, I might have thought he was pretty good-looking with those bright blue eyes of his, not to mention broad shoulders and tattooed arms that made it very clear he worked out.

  He gave me a tight-lipped smile and waited for me to open the window.

  I exhaled and pushed the button, praying that I would keep it together, but things were looking pretty damn iffy.

  “Good afternoon,” he said. He looked not much older than me, and if I hadn’t been so upset and angry already, I might have tried to push my shoulders back a little bit, show off my cleavage, and try to sweet talk my way out this ticket.

  But something about the horrible turn this afternoon had taken and that smile of his with a hint of cockiness… nope. He could give me that ticket if he wanted.

  In fact, part of me wanted to dare him to.

  After my lack of greeting back, he went on, taking a look around my car. “Do you know how fast you were going back there?” he asked, glancing back towards the road. Then he chuckled a little bit. CHUCKLED. “I mean, it took me a minute to catch up to you and then you ran that red light too.”

  He’d seen that? Shiiiiit.

  This ticket was gonna be as much as my rent, apparently.

  I shut my eyes for a second, surprised that the tears were gone. Instead, I could just feel the frustration at the past hour boiling hot inside of me.

  Because I knew I was in this situation thanks to my boss.

  “Ma’am?” he said.

  I opened my eyes and turned to him. “Yes? Officer?” I added, the sarcasm practically dripping from my voice.

  That hint of a smile was back. His bottom lip quivered and his eyes practically fucking gleamed from amusement.

  The anger roiling inside me was about to overflow.

  I clenched my jaw to not say anything before thinking straight, but it felt about impossible. “Thanks to my boss, I’m late picking up my daughter from daycare,” I explained, giving him a cold stare. “I can’t afford another late fee or the fact that she might get kicked out completely.”

  A trace of empathy flashed across his face. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I’m afraid that still doesn’t make it right to be going thirty miles above the speed limit and running red lights.” His expression turned more serious. “I’m sure you can understand how dangerous that is, not just for you but for other citizens on the road.”

  My jaw practically fell to the floor, but I quickly recovered. Had he not heard what I’d just said?

  This was my boss’s fault, not mine.

  “License and registration, please,” he went on, standing up straight.

  Seeing red, I reached into my purse and glove compartment and handed them over, refusing to look at him.

  He went back to his patrol car, and I let my head fall onto the steering wheel as I held on with my hands. Then I checked the clock.

  I was going to be way more than ten minutes late. I was already fifteen minutes late, and to top it off, my cell phone went off.

  Yep. It was the number from the daycare.

  I picked up and let Mrs. Winslow know I was on the way, and that yes, I knew this was the third strike and she was going to have to implement a $50 late fee because of how late I was and of course reconsider if Skye was a good fit for her facility after all.

  It took every ounce of willpower to not tell her what she could do to herself.

  Instead, I bit my tongue, apologized and sucked up like I had never done so in my life.

  After five more excruciating mi
nutes, the police officer walked back to my car.

  He handed over three tickets.

  Uh, what?

  I glanced at them quickly, seeing one for speeding, one for running the red light, and then another one for erratic lane change. “Really?” I turned to him in disbelief. “The first two weren’t enough? You just had to add this one?” I demanded.

  He opened his mouth to talk, but I didn’t let him.

  “Do you know how much my insurance is gonna go up after this?” I said, my voice getting louder with every second. “And to top it off, my kid’s probably gonna get kicked out of daycare, which I can hardly afford but have to have because I’m a single mother who has to WORK for an absolute asshole who decided he needed his BULLSHIT report TEN MINUTES before it was time for me to clock out. AND NOW YOU’RE GOING TO ADD THIS TO THE PILE OF BULLSHIT THAT HAS BEEN MY DAY?” I said, shaking the tickets in my hand.

  After my rant was over, I sat there, completely out of breath, deflated, and ready to cry. Meanwhile, he looked absolutely speechless.

  Had I just made things so much worse for myself? What had I been thinking going off on this police officer like that? The last thing I needed to be was arrested, and I had a feeling I was getting ridiculously close already.

  Add this to the list of top ten most stupid things I’d ever done.

  Scratch that. Easily top two.

  Fuck.

  I was afraid to look at him, but he held out his hand without a word.

  I gave him the tickets, looking for a clue of what he was about to do, but his expression was completely blank.

  He was gonna arrest me, wasn’t he?

  Shit. I got ready to cry (wouldn’t have to pretend now…) and beg for mercy.

  But then, what he did next left me speechless.

  He ripped up the tickets right in front of me. “I’m gonna give you a pass,” he began. “You’ve had a shitty day, and I’ve been there.”

  I opened my mouth to utter a huge thank you, but he raised his hand.

  “But there’s one condition,” he said.

  I sat up. “What’s that?” I asked, wondering what the hell it was.

  That gleam of amusement and a hint of a smile was back on his face. “Go out to dinner with me.”

  My mouth fell open again, and just when I was getting ready to yell his face off again, he spoke up first. “Now I won’t make you. I’m not that type of guy. And I’m keeping up my end of the deal either way. But I would love to take you out on a proper date.” He whipped a notepad and pen out of his front pocket and jotted something down and handed it to me.

  I took it without a word, utterly confused. “Um, okay.”

  He grinned wide. I noticed a dimple in his left cheek, and for a second, he seemed a little familiar. “Good,” he replied. “Hope you have a better day tomorrow.”

  With a final wave, he left me there, hopping back on the road.

  I stared at the paper in my hand. He’d written down his number. Apparently, his name was Jeremy.

  Not Officer Thickett.

  Jeremy.

  And I’d agreed to go on a date with him.

  Um… WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED?

  2

  I could hardly focus the rest of the afternoon.

  After burning dinner, I gave up and made us soup and sandwiches.

  Skye made a mess all over the dining table, and I got to work cleaning it all up.

  The more I thought about the whole encounter earlier, the less it made sense.

  So…

  I’d chewed him out…and he’d asked me out?

  I mean, he was cute. Very cute. But there was also something about him.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to go out with him.

  He’d said so himself that it was up to me, that he’d get rid of the tickets either way.

  But he seemed nice enough.

  So he wanted to buy me dinner. I could think of worse things…

  But then my mind kept going back to me being a complete mess, running mascara from getting upset, being all frazzled in a car with a solid inch of Cheerio crumbs on the floor…

  And he’d decided he wanted to ask me out.

  Plus he hadn’t even been sleazy or creepy about it.

  I was completely baffled.

  But more than anything, I was relieved and grateful that he’d ripped up those tickets.

  And Mrs. Winslow must have taken one look at me and finally decided to have a little compassion for me because she said she wasn’t going to kick Skye out of daycare.

  So after a complete shitshow that afternoon, the entire day had turned completely around and I could hardly believe it.

  When I woke up the next morning, though, and dropped off Skye at daycare on my way to work, I kept thinking about the whole thing.

  Did I even want to go to dinner with this guy?

  A big part of me said I’d already told him yes so I’d be the asshole if I suddenly changed my mind.

  Another part of me hated the idea of going out on a date at all.

  I’d been on enough dates with jerks or douchebags to last me a long time. Not to mention ghosted by seemingly good guys with all the right intentions. Those experiences had hurt worst of all. There was a reason I hadn’t gotten back into the dating game in a while.

  Between my full-time job and taking care of Skye, I wasn’t about to waste any of my time on guys who just weren’t worth it.

  When I pulled into work, I still felt torn. I pulled my phone out to text the guy and got as far as typing out who I was (crazy lady from yesterday afternoon) and asking him when he wanted to take me to dinner, but then I quickly hit the backspace key on the whole thing.

  My work bestie, Alexa, came over during our lunch break, a large salad in hand. I grabbed my sandwich and fruit and gave a big sigh.

  She sat with me. “What’s up?” she asked. “Something’s bothering you.”

  Alexa and I had worked together for about six months, but already, she knew me so well. She was a single mom too and part of our single moms group.

  AKA my best friends in the whole world. The only people, besides my parents, who I could really trust and count on.

  I glanced at her. “You mean besides this already long day?”

  We continued eating, and she let me be. She knew I’d come out with it sooner or later.

  Finally, I told her about the whole thing, the cop stopping me and me blowing up and then him asking me out.

  Her jaw dropped. “So…let me get this straight. Hot, tattooed, ripped cop asks you out instead of hauling your ass off to jail, and you’re…wondering if you should go out with him?” She feigned a confused expression, and I tossed a grape at her.

  Of course, just then, my boss walked by and gave me an annoyed look. Apparently, enjoying my lunch break was too much for him.

  I waited until he was gone to roll my eyes.

  He was lucky I hadn’t walked in here this morning and gone straight to his office to chew his ass out.

  I still had that $50 daycare fine to pay.

  With a shake of my head, I turned back to Alexa. “I don’t know. I’ll probably go out to dinner with him, but I just know that it’ll be a huge waste of time. That’s time I could be spending with Skye or getting stuff done at home. So I keep hesitating to text him.” Lord knew it was a challenge to keep our place clean with a 2 year old. She was like a mini tornado, always “helping Mama.”

  Alexa gave me a surprised look. “You haven’t texted him yet? I thought you just hadn’t gotten back to him yet. Girl, you gotta text him! You can not let an opportunity like this go to waste.”

  I scoffed. “An opportunity, huh?” I replied. “To what? Let yet another cocky, big-headed jerk try to get in my pants on the first date without even offering to pay the check?”

  But Alex grinned. “You never know. Maybe you’ll at least get some good sex out of it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Highly doubtful.”

  Alex stared at me expec
tantly.

  “Ugh, fine,” I said, grabbing my phone and pushing away my food. “I’ll text him. Maybe he changed his mind and decided he doesn’t want to go out with that crazy bitch who yelled at him yesterday.”

  I typed out the text again and sent it. Kept it short and casual. Hoped he got the hint that I wasn’t particularly excited.

  But five minutes later, as we finished up lunch, my phone buzzed.

  Jeremy: Hey :) how’s tonight? 7pm?

  I showed Alexa. “See what you did? Now he wants to go out tonight? What am I supposed to do?” I demanded.

  She laughed. “Say yes, duh.” She bopped me on the head. “If your parents can’t babysit, I’m available. So you better say yes. Like right now.” With that, she sauntered off, clearly pleased with herself.

  Great.

  At least I could go ahead and get this over with.

  I mean, he wasn’t even that cute…

  3

  Officer Thickett, or Jeremy as he insisted, wasn’t cute.

  He was fuckin’ hot.

  I almost did a double take when I saw him at my front door.

  If he looked hot in his uniform before, now my mouth was absolutely watering.

  He wore a long-sleeve button-up that tempted me to rip it right off plus jeans and cowboy-style boots. Plus his aftershave smelled amazing, and I could tell he was freshly showered.

  Five minutes in, on our way to the restaurant, I fought to push away the naughty thoughts about riding him so I could make small talk back.

  Once he found a parking spot, he came around and opened my door.

  Already, this date had exceeded my expectations.

  He hadn’t ogled me like so many other guys AND he was a gentleman?

  I shook my head.

  No, I was just here for one dinner. That was it.