Rough and Rugged: Shameless Southern Nights Novels

by Ali Parker

  After everything I had done to protect my family, I wasn't about to give up now. Besides, this would be a piece of cake compared to everything else.

  Chapter Four

  Eve

  “Are you nervous?” I asked Penny on our way to an open house for wedding vendors. We were in the bakery’s small truck, the back filled with samples Penny had spent all night and morning working on.

  She twisted her fingers in her lap, chewing on her lower lip before she nodded. “A little. I’m trying to get my name out there and this venue offering an open house is great for marketing, but I hate having to go to these things.”

  “Why?” She’d spent so many hours ensuring every sample was absolutely perfect, intricately decorated and seemed genuinely excited.

  “People always eat my samples and cakes with no intention of ever using my services. It’s exhausting.”

  “Just think about it this way. Once these brides taste your cakes, they’re sure to remember your name. Even if they go with someone else for their wedding cake, you’ll still gain a lot of regular clients.”

  Penny’s head bounced up and down, but she didn’t seem convinced. “At least they’ll have seen my name before the next time they walk past the store, which is the only reason I put myself through it.”

  “You seemed so happy about it earlier,” I commented, still puzzled about her excitement over baking the samples if she felt this way about the event itself.

  “I’m always happy when I’m baking.” A smile ghosted on her lips before the corners turned down again. “But once I leave the kitchen, I remember who I’m baking for. That’s another reason why I hate these things. I have to spend all afternoon seeing all the happy couples walking around. They’re all ready to get married, and I haven’t even found a boyfriend yet.”

  I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, but I couldn’t hide my grin. “You’re better off for it, trust me. Marriage is nothing but a construct society uses as pressure to make people pay more taxes.”

  She laughed for the first time since we’d left the bakery, her eyes fixed on the road and searching for the venue’s entrance. “I guess, but I can’t help wishing I was a part of that construct.”

  “Don’t worry so much about it,” I said, keeping my eyes on the rolling green landscape outside until I spotted a small sign for the wedding venue we were looking for. There were tons of people already there, trucks for all kinds of vendors in the lot outside.

  Penny and I carried in her samples and made quick work decorating her small table with the mint green and salmon pink colors of the bakery’s logo. She covered the table with a cloth and the green runner while I hung a cardboard copy of the logo, a few paper lanterns and some balloons behind and around us.

  When we were done, the table looked like we’d spent an hour instead of a few minutes setting it up. I tied my matching apron around my neck and waist and looked up to examine the others in the room.

  The room was crowded with potential brides-to-be. I recognized a girl with wavy blond hair and huge blue eyes walking around with a brunette, sampling cakes at one of the other vendors.

  Charise Reynolds. I’d never met her before, but I recognized her because she was dating Beau Lovett—whom I’d also never met before. I used to do some work for his father, though, a man named Roy Lovett, who was now serving out a lengthy prison sentence.

  I had liked Roy. He was smart, resourceful and kinder to me than my own father had ever been. Because of my connection to him, I was aware of all the Lovett brothers. If Charise was here, I supposed that meant Beau was getting serious too.

  When I was working with Roy, he often worried about his sons. He lamented about never having any grandchildren the way they were going, none of them even thinking about settling down. Since I moved to town shortly after Roy went to prison, though, three of his sons had settled down in quick succession. I kept an ear to the ground for news of them, which wasn’t hard since the town was borderline obsessed with all things Lovett.

  I wasn’t quite sure why, only that Roy had been quite a leader in the community back in the day and the boys all seemed to have been super popular at school. I lived with my mother growing up, quite literally on the other side of the country- as far away as she could get from my father. There were triplets in my high school, though. They had also been super popular. I could just imagine the extent of hero worship the Lovett’s had received if the way those guys were treated in my school was any indication.

  In a town this size, any family with five sons who looked the way the Lovetts did would draw attention. It seemed the interest in them hadn’t dwindled after school, their father’s downfall, or their subsequent marriages.

  The youngest three had all paired up in the past few years. If Beau’s girlfriend being here was any indication, he was to be officially off the market soon too. My eyes scanned the room, landing on a few men who looked out of place.

  They were dressed in dark suits and were only giving cursory attention to the wedding displays. My pulse kicked up. I sucked in a breath when they turned simultaneously and spotted me, as if my eyes on them had drawn theirs to me. They started moving my way the moment they saw me.

  “I’ll be right back,” I told Penny, turning and walking away from the booth fast. Gaze darting around the large hall, I finally spotted a familiar sign and headed for the bathroom.

  I was only a few paces away when a large, warm hand touched my arm. A yelp died on my lips when I turned and found myself looking into the navy blue eyes of Tyson Lovett. Like his brothers, I knew who he was even though I had never met him.

  The pictures I’d seen of him didn’t do him justice, though, not in the slightest. He was taller than I’d thought he would be, and much more powerfully built. Since he was wearing a charcoal-colored suit with a crisp white shirt, I couldn’t actually see his body, but the way the suit fit told me more than enough.

  The man was ripped. Muscular, lean and powerful. The tiny bit of skin revealed by the suit, which was pretty much only his face, neck, and hands, was a rich amber and almost glowed.

  The glow might have just been from the way the sunlight was streaming in from the window nearby, just enough to lend the warmth of its light. Until my eyes had landed on Tyson, I hadn’t been hot. Now, it felt a hundred degrees hotter in the venue all of a sudden.

  Tyson’s eyes were a rich, deep blue, intent and curious on mine. He fairly towered over me and was several inches past six feet tall. Short, neatly cut jet black hair made his eyes stand out, prominent against the dark hair and long lashes that framed them.

  Being the local DA, I’d seen his photo in the news more than once. Anyone would have thought he was handsome. But I hadn’t been prepared for the real thing. Up close and personal, he was jaw-dropping, panty-melting hot. The kind of hot you couldn’t ignore.

  My skin was suddenly flushed and my cheeks warm. It had been so long since I’d felt this kind of reaction to someone that it took me a second to realize what it was. Desire. A rush of intense, powerful desire. And the damn guy hadn’t even opened his mouth yet.

  Tyson’s presence exuded raw masculinity despite his cultured surface.

  I recalled an article I’d read about a case he’d tried once. The journalist raved about him, stating that when Tyson opened his mouth, people listened. She claimed he could read out the clues to the weekly crossword puzzle and people would be captivated. When I read the article, I thought she was exaggerating. She hadn’t been. He hadn’t opened his mouth yet, and I knew instinctively I would listen to anything he had to say.

  His alpha, domineering and controlled presence sent my thoughts skittering down a naughty path. I didn’t doubt for one second Tyson could make me forget my own name.

  “We need to talk,” he said, grabbing my mind out of the gutter and bringing back my logic and reason with an almost jarring thud. Also confirming my suspicion that the journalist had been right.

  Holy crap, he has a sexy voice.

  What
could we possibly have to talk about? Nothing good. “I have to get back to my job,” I stuttered. “We’ve only just set up, and I’m afraid I can’t leave my boss without any help. I’m sorry.”

  I reclaimed my arm from under his gentle touch. Starting to walk away, I heard his deep, compelling voice behind me. “It’s about Roy.”

  I was shocked he would approach me about his father in such a public setting as this. God only knew how many eager ears would be listening in on our conversation. That was the last thing I needed.

  Without losing stride, I walked away from him and didn’t look back. Knowing who he was hadn’t prepared me for seeing him or being confronted with my connection to his father. The question was, how much did he know? It sure as hell hadn’t prepared me for the burning attraction I would feel to him. I was rattled by it, not even wondering why he might have wanted to talk to me about a former client until I got back to Penny.

  “Who was that?” she asked, her eyes wide and fixed on Tyson. He was still standing where I’d left him, scowling in my direction.

  I shook my head, the action clearing my mind from the fog of desire. Tyson tracking me down about Roy couldn’t be good. I didn’t want to lie to Penny, but I also couldn’t tell her I used to be the accountant for the most notorious embezzler in the country.

  Shrugging, I settled for an answer that was true, but only if one considered several loopholes and kept it vague. “I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

  Chapter Five

  Tyson

  Well, fuck me six ways from and to Sunday. Literally.

  I wasn’t the kind of guy who would use a line like that on a girl I’d never met, but I might make an exception for the one walking away from me now. There was no way that girl could be the Eve my dad was talking about. She was way too beautiful to be a number cruncher.

  Nick had looked up her name for me, telling me she worked at a local bakery. He proceeded to tell me the place was new and was called Penny for your Tastes, a quirky and fitting name considering the owner was named Penny.

  According to the website, he said, the bakery was closed today because of some wedding thing happening a couple of miles out of town. Since I couldn’t delay tracking Eve down, I got in my car and drove out to the venue.

  I spotted a girl with a curtain of flaming red hair hurrying away from the table sporting a sign for Penny for your Tastes, assuming—apparently incorrectly—she had to be Eve from the description Nick provided.

  There had to be another redhead working at the bakery though. Surely, she couldn’t be Eve Cain, the accountant to the formerly rich, infamous and incarcerated. She was way too beautiful.

  Light green eyes the color of a newly unfurled leaf in the early summer sun were intelligent and sharp, framed by thick eyelashes. When I was a kid, I used to lie on the grass with my brothers, staring up through the leaves while we waited for the sun to get high enough in the sky that our mother would let us go in the water. This girl’s eyes were exactly that color, making me recall that memory with such strength I could almost taste the early morning dew on my tongue, hear the breeze in the park rustling the leaves.

  I wasn’t usually a poetic man. But Eve was something else.

  Good times, I thought. But then I pushed the vivid memories to the back of my mind. The girl wasn’t quite so easy to stop thinking about, especially because she was only standing a couple of yards away from me.

  Long, fiery red hair hung past her waist, forming a striking contrast to her pale, creamy skin. She had a smattering of freckles across her nose and the tops of her cheeks. She gave off a quality of innocence spun with sex and sin.

  She was on the tall side, her body long, lean and toned. It was way too easy to imagine her legs wrapped about my hips as I thrust into her, but I shut that line of thought down. Hard.

  Forcing my gaze away from her, I blinked in surprise when I spotted Charise. Seeing the woman Beau was dating at a wedding expo made me think that maybe things were more serious between them than Beau had let on. Why the hell else would she be sampling cakes from potential wedding vendors?

  The thought had my stomach tightening. It was like this every time I found out one of my brothers was getting that kind of serious about the woman in his life.

  At this rate, I really was going to be the last Lovett brother who stood my ground and didn’t turn into a pussy-whipped sap who’d fallen head over heels in love. I didn’t know why or how they’d all gone and done it, but I had no intention of following in their footsteps.

  I didn’t have time for a relationship, nor did I feel like making time. My job was all-consuming, and I liked it that way. In my experience, romantic relationships were a waste of time. They only led to heartbreak and pain. Even those that worked out ended that way in the long run. My dad had never recovered from my mother’s death.

  Charise laughed at something her friend said, and I looked away from them. I was happy for Beau. If he was happy with her, my feelings about love and relationships didn’t matter. Despite the clenching in my stomach, I had only ever wanted what was best for my brothers.

  I knew they thought these women were what was best for them; I just couldn’t help feeling like if and when it all went to shit, I was going to be the one left holding the bag. Divorces were legal proceedings, which meant that even though I didn’t practice family law, they were still going to come to me for advice.

  I would also be the one who would have to deal with the fallout of their heartbreak and the anger it would cause. I would always be there for them, always be there to protect them and to do whatever I could for them. It was just the way things were.

  It didn’t mean I wanted any of them to get hurt. Quite the contrary, actually. The tight knot in my stomach simply warned me of all the pain I would have to face with them when the time eventually came.

  Finally tearing my gaze from Charise, I noticed a pair of men entirely out of place here.

  They looked more suited to security detail somewhere and weren’t even trying to look interested in the wedding displays.

  Whoever they were, they were trouble. Technically, the venue was situated in my jurisdiction so any trouble they caused would cross my desk eventually. I had no problem preempting our meeting. Walking up to them, I realized they were looking in the direction of Penny for your Tastes. My eyes narrowed.

  “Gentlemen.” I nodded, coming to a stop in front of both of them. “If you don’t mind my asking, who are you and what are you here for?”

  They blinked at me and stayed quiet, which confirmed my suspicions. “Whatever you’re here for, it’s for the wrong reasons. So, unless you two are getting married and you’re here to find vendors, you need to get going.”

  They didn’t move at first. I crossed my arms, staring them down. “Tyson Lovett, by the way. I’m the district attorney for Cypress Creek.”

  After exchanging a quick look, they nodded to me and walked away, still not having said one word. I discreetly followed them to the entrance, waiting until they drove away before I returned to my business.

  Crossing the room to the table where Eve was boxing up some cupcakes, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a business card. I set it down on the table in front of her, waiting for the moment when she noticed it.

  Her eyes snapped to mine the second she saw the card, confusion swimming in their green depths. “Call me when you’re done ‘working’. We need to talk,” I said.

  Our gazes locked and held for a fraction of a second before I turned around and walked away, feeling strangely unsettled. For the brief moment in time I’d looked into her eyes, I felt a stirring below the belt I hadn’t felt outside my bedroom for a long time.

  I was an all-business kind of man, incredibly focused on my job and getting it done. I worked hard, went home to crash and then went back to the office. Lather, rinse, repeat.

  My notice of Eve, how beautiful she was and the physical pull I felt to her, was powerful and totally out of the ordinary for me.
My cock didn’t stir during the day, especially not simply because of a pretty girl making eye contact with me. My reaction to her was so powerful, I might have to take matters into my own hands to quell the need rushing through me.

  For some reason I couldn’t quite understand, I wanted this girl fiercely. She was that kind of beautiful, the kind that made you look twice and conjure up dirty fantasies about what you wanted to do to her.

  I couldn’t help it. I wanted to taste her creamy skin and see her eyes glaze over when she came. I wanted to bury my hands in her hair and kiss her full lips until they were swollen and bruised. More than anything else, I wanted to bury myself to the hilt in her and never come out.

  The thoughts running through my mind at breakneck speed were threatening to make me hard even as I walked away. I picked up my pace, needing to get out of there and away from her.

  By the time I got back to my office, I was shaking my head at my temporary lapse in sanity and attributing it to the fact that I hadn’t fucked anyone in months. I hadn’t had time, and frankly, it wasn’t a priority for me.

  The moment I tossed my keys on my desk, my brother marched into my office. Sonny looked like he was on the warpath, rushing past Nick without greeting him and slamming my door behind him.

  “What do you know about Dad getting out?”

  Sighing, I hung up my jacket and sat down. “I know he’s not getting out.”

  “Bullshit.” Sonny’s eyes blazed, pinning me down with silent accusation. “I’m a fucking detective. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out there was paperwork floating around the system petitioning for his release? Is your office supporting the petition or not?”

  “Absolutely not,” I said flatly, refusing to get drawn into the emotions involved in this debate. “It’s better for him if he stays behind bars, Sonny.”