Free Driven to the Limit by Alice Gaines Page A

chance to deserve their love, and she’d
sure as hell take it.
    “You’re scared, aren’t you?” Jake said.
    “Yeah. I guess.”
    “Everything will be fine,” he said. “You’ll reconnect with
your family. We’ll find jobs.”
    “Thanks to what you found in the file room, I can believe
that now.”
    He looked down into her face, his crystal blue eyes full of
adoration. “I always believed in you. Whatever you do, I’ll be there to cheer
you on.”
    “And keep me happy in bed, I imagine.”
    He laughed. “We do that for each other.”
    “I love you, you know.”
    “I love you too. Forever.”
    She kissed him then, taking the honey from his lips as if it
would be her last time. It wouldn’t be the last time, though. She’d have him
every day and every night for the rest of her life. With his love as a base of
support, how could she fail?
    A familiar roar came up the drive. She broke off the kiss
and looked in that direction. “That sounds like your engine.”
    “I’m sitting right here,” he said.
    She shaded her eyes. Someone -- a woman -- was approaching
the house on a motorcycle.
    Jake jumped to his feet. “ Lieber Gott .”
    Lauren also rose. “It’s another Mannhof. Do you believe it?”
    “I guess I have to.”
    It was another Mannhof. Very much like Jake, but not
exactly. It pulled right up to the terrace and stopped. The rider turned off
the engine and set the kickstand. After dismounting, she removed her helmet and
walked to Lauren, her hand extended.
    “Claire Wilcox,” the woman said. “I’m so glad we found you.”
    Lauren shook her hand. “I’m Lauren King.”
    “Yes, I know. We read about you in the newspapers.”
    “We?”
    The other bike shifted into human form, going through the
same process Jake did. Leather turned to skin, metal to bone and muscle. In a
moment, a naked man stood there. Beautiful in his own way, but no more stunning
than Jake.
    Jake let out a whoop of surprise and delight as the other
man approached him and wrapped him in a bear hug. The two of them launched into
a conversation in German, far too fast for Lauren to follow.
    Lauren looked at Claire Wilcox. “I thought there were more
Mannhofs, but I didn’t think I’d get to see one.”
    “I bought him a few months ago at auction. I knew at the
time Kid Dagger already had one, but I wasn’t sure where to look for him until
the news hit of his arrest.”
    “So you came looking for us?”
    “Of course. Wouldn’t you?”
    Lauren watched the two men. They acted like long-lost
brothers who’d finally found each other. “Did you know Jake would be able to
shift?”
    “I was pretty sure. If he could, I needed to recruit you.”
    Lauren must have looked surprised, because Claire chuckled
and unzipped a pocket in her leather jacket. She produced a business card and
handed it to Lauren.
    Lauren glanced at it. “You’re a CEO?”
    “Of a large company. I’m always looking for good people to
work for me.”
    “Wow.” Not the most profound thing to say, but it captured
the situation pretty well.
    “I’ll give you jobs in my firm, and the four of us will work
on a special project.”
    Saying wow again would definitely make Lauren sound language
impaired, so she just stared at Claire.
    “There are more Mannhofs out there,” Claire said. “And
special women who’ve proved worthy of such magical men.”
    “There must be.”
    “Let’s find the rest of them.”
    “And when we do?” Lauren asked.
    Claire gave her a knowing smile. “I imagine Klaus Mannhof
has a grand plan for his creations. Let’s discover what it is.”
    “Awesome!” Again, not what you normally said to a CEO, but
heck… it was awesome.
    “Will and I have an SUV at the motel,” Claire said. “Why
don’t you and I ride our bikes back there and make some plans?”
    Jake stopped talking to Will and turned to gaze at Lauren.
Imagine. She had her family back. She had a job and a future full of adventure.
And she had the love of