Harley pulled into the yard, slammed the truck into park and stormed out of the cab. Banging the door closed, though satisfactory, did little to ease her temper. She swore each of her men where the kind of men you could use as a blue print to build a bigger and better idiot. And that included Travis Montgomery, the biggest idiot of them all. Limping up to the front porch, she yanked open the screen only to run into yet another example of idiots gone wild. Shit! Why didn't it ever occur to her before that she was surrounded by them?

"Hey, Harley. You're back already?" Tanner smiled down at her, but it quickly turned into a frown when he got a good look at her. "What the hell happened? Where's your bike?"

"Don't ask," she muttered, shoving past him and heading for her bedroom. There was a tub full of hot water calling her name and she was in the kind of mood to seriously injure anyone who dared attempted to get in her way to it.

"Bo and the guys went out looking for you," he hollered behind her.

Thanks for the heads up, she thought rolling her eyes. Turning on her heel, she put her hands on her hips and gave him a scowl that could curl paint. "I know, Tanner. When they get back, tell them to go to hell." His mouth fell open at her venomous retort, but she didn't care. Whirling back around, she opened her bedroom door and banged it shut behind her, locking it for good measure.

Leaning against it, she sighed. Every inch of her body hurt. Even thinking seemed to be too much effort at the moment. She snorted. At least she had an excuse to not be in top form, but her men...they had none for that display of male ego they'd put on out there on the side of the road. Desi was right. Men were over possessive assholes who didn't have the brains God gave a grasshopper.

Slowly, she eased herself off the door and made her way to her bathroom. Grimacing when she got a look at herself in the mirror. She looked like roadkill. Literally. Shaking her head, she went to the old claw foot tub and cranked on the water as hot as it would go and dumped in a healthy pour of her favorite jasmine bubble bath.

As the bathroom filled with heavenly scented steam, she slowly unzipped her leather jacket and peeled it off. A muffled whimper came out of her when the material pulled away from the dried blood on her shoulder. It was the same scenario when she slide out of the leather pants, only this time...she hissed a curse as the pants tore away from her body. Holy hell. Leaning against the counter, she took in a couple of deep breaths against the pain.

Turning her head, she looked at the shoulder and hip. Both were raw, bleeding and filled with gray bits of grit from the road. Standing there in her bra and panties, she looked for any other injuries. Twisting around, she didn't see anything. Well...at least anything that was oozing blood. She had plenty of bruising though. Poking a rather large purple lump just below her hip, she winced. Oh yeah...she would feeling this for a few days. If she ever saw that black SUV again, she was going to give them a piece of her mind.

Sighing, she unbraided her hair, stripped off the last of her clothes and stepped into the tub. That is if she had any of her mind left to spare after she got done dealing with the men in her life, she thought as she slowly sunk into the hot, bubbly water. Hissing when the water hit the raw spots, she clenched the sides of the tub until the throbbing subsided. Leaning her head back against the porcelain, she moaned when the heat started to work its magic on her soreness and she relaxed.

Her eyes drooped shut as she pondered her problems with the Cro-Magnon men in her life. Somehow her plan to move out of Colorado and relocate at her dad's old ranch had been an epic fail on getting her family to relax their tight, protective leash from around her neck. Sinking lower into the tub until the bubbles tickled her chin, Harley wondered if they would ever ease up. If they didn't, she was going to end up in one of those facilities where she wore nothing but a paper gown and growled at people who passed by. The only thing she would have to look forward to would be lime Jell-O night.

She really shouldn't complain. After all, they loved her and only wanted what was best for her and for that she was truly grateful. But...sometimes...she just wanted to be able to make her own mistakes. Live her own life without having to answer to six overly opinionated jackasses. She blew a breath out at some bubbles. Make that seven overly opinionated jackasses.

It was just her luck she would fall in love with another hard headed cowboy who would rather do his communicating by pounding his fist into somebodies face. Maybe that was her yin and yang. All the good fortune she had in her life was balanced out by having to deal with a bunch of chest pounding cave dwellers. She should probably count herself lucky they hadn't resorted to throwing feces at each other.

The sound of someone rattling the knob of her bedroom door interrupted her thoughts. She was about to tell whoever it was to go pound sand when an impatient banging started.

"Harley?"

Travis's voice thundered through the closed door, making her jump and slosh water onto the floor. After a moment, he dropped his knuckles onto the door once more hard enough to knock the damn thing down.

"Go away!" she yelled, sinking further down into the bubbles. The last person she wanted to see right now was the sexy Neanderthal beating on her door.

"I'm not going anywhere, sunshine," he barked. "Now open this damn door."

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "I'm in the tub!" Go annoy someone else, she muttered under her breath.

"Naked?" he asked, his voice low and seductive.

A small shiver tickled up her spine at the sound of it, but she squashed it before it could tickle anything else. She was mad, dammit and just because he sounded like a triple decker hot fudge sundae didn't mean he was getting out of the doghouse that easily. King and the crew where going to have a new recruit for a looooong time.

"Bathing naked is usually how people bathe, cowboy," she said, trying to keep her voice stern. Picking up a soapy leg, she splashed it down for emphasis.

"You're killing me, sunshine," he moaned.

He must have leaned against the door judging by the amount of creaking.

"No, I'm in this tub so I'm not tempted to kill you," she muttered quietly, closing her eyes.

"Do you need me to scrub your back?"

Harley screamed in alarm, jerking up in surprise only to lose her balance and slip down into the bubbles. Coming back up, sputtering and brushing soap out of her eyes, she turned and to see Adonis leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom. His arms crossed against his expansive chest and a smile of mischief on his full lips.

"How...How did you get in here?" she stammered, spitting out suds.

He chuckled and then dug in his pocket producing what looked to be his truck keys. "Jake gave my dad the key to this place ages ago and then passed them on to me." Slowly, he went through them until he held one up. "This key opens every door on the premises, sunshine." He shook it gently, the other keys rattling sweetly. "It's the key to the greatest treasure in the land."

Harley lifted a soapy hand to cover her giggle that burst out of her mouth. "You stole that line from Robin Hood, Men in Tights."

Pushing himself off the doorframe, he gave her a boyish grin that made her heart melt as he walked towards her and kneeled down beside the tub.

"You saw that movie, huh?" he asked, resting his arms on the edge of the tub and leaning into them.

Harley couldn't speak. His eyes were naughtily skimming across her body making her lose the ability and so she simply nodded her head.

He blew out a hot breath which caressed her cheek and his smile grew bigger, if that was even possible. "It was worth a shot." He shrugged one of his massive shoulders and sent her a little wink. "I guess since it didn't work, I will just have to grovel and become your willing slave until you forgive me." Making a show of rolling up sleeves he didn't have, he plucked the washcloth laying on the edge of the tub and dipped it in the water. His hand lightly grazing her thigh making her breath catch in her throat. "I'll start with scrubbing your back."

Shaking her head, Harley turned away from him. Purposely leaning her back against the porcelain. "You think washing my back is going to get you out of trouble, you're sadly mistaken, cowboy." Her voice was unsteady as it always was when she deliberately lied and she frowned at the sound of it. She'd been prepared for a male half-ass apology like she was accustomed to. One of those...I'm sorry, but...jobbies that usually ended up making it more her fault so she would take the blame rather than an actual apology. Cade was a master at doing that, she thought poking a bubble.

She was fully primed to go toe to toe with the big lug and have one hell of a yelling match. But, what she wasn't ready for, was to find him kneeling beside the tub looking deliciously masculine with his blue eyes looking at her like he wanted to consume every inch of her. And she certainly never imagined he would offer to be her willing slave. Outside of her daydreams, anyway.

He leaned his handsome face closer to her. "Harley, I'm so sorry for acting like a dumbass today. I'll be honest with you, darling," he chuckled lightly, running his hand through his hair, "it probably won't be the last time. If you remember, I'm exceptional at making an idiot of myself. I'm really good at it."

That crooked grin of his made her heart do a triple sow cow in her chest.

"When you said family...well...," he lifted his shoulders, "I wasn't thinking they would be six good-looking bastards who are all in love with you. I kind of lost it and made a fool of myself in the process."

Harley sighed. Reaching out a hand, she lightly brushed his bruised jaw. "You weren't the only one," she said. He looked anything but a fool right now. "I guess I should have told you about them, but to be honest, I didn't think about it. I don't see them as anything other than my family. I didn't mean to make you feel like a fool."

He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing each of her knuckles in turn. "I know, sunshine." A small smile played at his sensual lips. "I'm only a fool if I let you get away from me. I promise, every time I act like an idiot, I will come groveling and begging for you to forgive me."

She should push him away. Make him really work a little harder for an apology. She should tell him to get out and not fall for his charming...romantic...heart melting...oh so wonderful words.

Sensing her hesitation, he cupped her face in his strong hands. His blue eyes glimmering with a vulnerability she'd never seen before. "I love you, Harley Stewart. I've never said that to another woman before and I will never say it to another. Whatever we go through, no matter what happens...I will always love you."

As he leaned in and kissed her, she knew she couldn't stay mad at him. His soft lips pressed against hers and she was lost.

"I love you too, Travis," she whispered when he lifted his head.

The brilliant smile he gave her lit up the bathroom.

"I'll make sure I do everything I can to make damn sure you never stop," he said, tapping her on the tip of her nose. Picking up the washcloth, he dipped it back in the tub. "How about you hand me that soap over there and I will start working off my punishment."

Giggling, she turned to grab the bottle of jasmine scented body wash she preferred. His sharp intake of breath had her pausing.

"What?"

"Jesus, sunshine," he said under his breath, gently grabbing her shoulders and turning her scraped one towards him. "What the hell happened?"

"I fell off the bike." A crease formed between her brows.

He cussed under his breath. "Don't be cute," he said sharply. "I know you fell off the fucking bike. My question is how?"

Harley pulled her tender shoulder away from his prodding and sank back against the tub. "I hit the soft dirt in the shoulder and it threw me."

Arching a brow at her, he shook his head. "I saw the accident scene. There were two sets of tire marks."

She gave him a sheepish look. "Oh."

"Yeah...oh. How about you tell me everything that happened, starting with the truth."

"A black SUV sort of ran me off the road," she said quietly with a little shrug, trying to play it down. Judging by his loud cursing, it didn't work.

"Who? Did you get a license plate number?" he roared.

"Stop yelling at me," she snapped.

"I..." He blew out a frustrated breath, seeming to try and calm himself down. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "If you can give me the make, model and plate number, I can call Ethan and have him start tracking the asshole down."

Reaching out she snatched the bottle of body wash and thrust it into his hands. "I didn't see anything other than it was a black SUV."

He snorted. "You didn't see anything? Was the driver male or female? Did you at least see what color the damn plate was?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I was a bit busy trying not to die. The next time I find myself in that situation, I'll be sure to take notes," she snapped irritably. "Listen, if you only came in her to interrogate me for Bo, then you might as well leave." A wave of exhaustion washed over her and she closed her eyes, slouching back down into the water. Listening to the rustling of him standing up, she held back a small sob. So much for his servitude, she thought grumpily.

"I promised you a back scrub, sunshine and that's exactly what you're going to get."

Harley popped one eye open just in time to see him pull her t-shirt up and over his head and toss it on the floor.

Author's Note:

Hello darlings!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I know I did. :)

I managed to get this chapter done too, so that is always an extra bonus. LOL! I hope you enjoyed the latest installment of When Roses Collide and if you liked it, you will consider giving it a vote. I also love hearing from you and comments are always appreciated.

The next scheduled update will be... May 24th.

If you don't see any updates here, feel free to check out my other works Bending Steele, Steal You Away and FANGED.

As always, thank you for reading.

Sincerely,

K

PS...I am still doing the "Getting to Know You" on Facebook, so if you have any questions you would like to ask me, stop on by. I can be found at K. M. Halandras.