by A. Hargrove
“You are the perfect bride, angel.”
I gasped. “You called me angel.” That was a word he had reserved for his daughter.
“Yes, I have come to the conclusion that my sweet Francesca sent you to me. She knew you were my perfect match. You were the one to fit all of my broken pieces back together again.”
He could not have said anything more meaningful to me. “Alessandro, I love you more and more by the minute. There is one thing though. We haven’t discussed having children.”
“With the way you adore your nephews and Gabriele, I didn’t think it was necessary. I figured you could stop taking your shot now.”
“That’s good because I already have. I want lots of babies that look exactly like you.”
“And I want them to look like their beautiful mother, whom I adore. Thank you for loving me. It wasn’t an easy journey for us. But I swear the destination will be worth it.” His lips touched mine for a brief kiss as we danced together. This man was life to me. Thoughts of him had kept me alive when I probably should be dead. He was my heart and soul.
“Oh, the destination will be more than worth it.”
Epilogue
Reynolds
My family left. It was quiet here and I was a grump because I missed them. The wedding… sigh. If only I could find an Alessandro. Sexy, smart, handsome, wealthy, and he wore glasses. There was something about a man in glasses. And did I mention his family was in the wine business. Gah, my sister was a lucky ducky. Quack quack.
“Hey! Reynolds,” a shout sounded from inside the house. I shared it with my friend, Sutton, who had needed a roommate around the time I moved here. She was fortunate to have wealthy parents who’d purchased the place and allowed her to live here. I was renting it for a steal. It was out on Sullivan’s Island, the land of rich, and sometimes famous. That wouldn’t be us.
“Yo, baby!”
“You want a frozen bev?”
“Sure, as long as you’re fixing!”
We always had these shouting matches running when we were beaching it, as we were today. My chair was folded out in the sun as I soaked in the summer rays. Soon, a frozen concoction was touching the scorching skin on my belly. “Youch! That’s freezing.”
“At your service, mademoiselle.”
“Why, thank you, good sir.”
“I’m not a sir, you big dork.”
“Right, ma’am.” I sipped the ice cold drink, and it was delish. “This is perfect and hits the spot. Thank you.” I took another draw on the strawberry daiquiri she’d brought me.
“You get the next ones.” She plopped onto her chair and unfolded her long sultry legs. Sutton had quite the body. From large boobs that were real, to legs that never ended, she scored all the looks on the beach when we took walks. Only she never acted the part. She was a wonderful friend and didn’t flaunt her beauty. I was in heaven living with her and in Charleston. Her salon catered to the wealthy, as she’d promised, and I was already earning excellent money, even after two months.
“Remind me to kiss your parents the next time I see them. This house is amazing and I love living here.”
“They are the best. I was totally shocked when they bought it.”
Since our clientele was who they were, we weren’t like most salons. We were open from Monday through Friday and closed Saturdays unless someone booked us for a wedding or special event like a debutante ball. I loved the hours and we didn’t work late at night either. Our rates bordered on ridiculous, but they never balked at all. Sutton told me to get trained in all the extras like Brazilian hair straightening, keratin treatments, and balayage. I did and it was paying off.
As I doodled in the sand, I noticed a guy walk out of the house next door with a cooler and beach chair. He was alone as he hunted the perfect spot. After a few minutes, he settled not too far from us.
“Sutton, who owns that house next door?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“That guy over there just came out of it.” He unfolded his chair and took his hat off. “Damn, he’s tall.” Then he pulled his shirt over his head and … “Holy mother cluckers. Would you take a look at that?” I ogled the piece of glorious manhood who stood before me. Rippling muscles, biceps for days, and tanned skin were enough to make my strawberry daiquiri ooze out of the other side of my mouth.
“Girl, wipe that saliva. You’re losing it over there.”
Grabbing the beach towel by my head, I did just that. “Jesus, that man is positively delicious. Look at his hair. Aw, why’d he go and do that?” He put on his baseball hat, covering up his windblown thick waves. “Do you think he’d mind if I ran my hands through it?”
“Are you crazy?”
“Yes. Crazy in lust.”
“Then why don’t you accidentally lose your top in front of him?”
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea.”
“Reynolds West, if you even go there, I’m kicking your butt out. I will not be friends with a ho.”
“No ho, huh?” She eyed me and we both chortled. I guess we were loud because hot dude glanced over at us. Should I have waved and invited him to join us? Too late. He turned back around and sat down. Unfortunately, there went our view. All we saw now was the back of his baseball hat covered head.
I drifted to sleep with the soft breeze willowing over me until Sutton woke me up.
“I’m thirsty.”
“Okayyy.” I went into the house and whipped us up another batch of daiquiris. This time, they were banana. I came prancing out the door singing, “Oh, yes we have no bananas. We have no bananas today.” Except a wasp decided to chase me and I let out a blood-curdling scream that rose the dead in downtown Charleston. By the way, there are some really old dead people over there. Sutton jumped up as I ran past her, nearly knocking her down, yelling, “Wasp.” I didn’t stop until I hit the water and dove under. What she didn’t know was I was deathly allergic to anything that stung. Bees, wasps, hornets, you name it and they terrified me. I carried an epi pen with me, but still.
Sputtering to the surface holding our empty daiquiri glasses, I was met by my friend. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“A wasp chased me.”
“And your point is?”
“I’m allergic!” I pushed tangled strands out of my eyes and handed her the glasses. When I went to stand up, she sucked in her breath and knocked me back down into the water. “What the hell, Sutton.”
“Your top! It came untied and is hanging around your waist.”
Well, fuck my life. I dove under a wave, but got sucked into the curl, flipped around and scraped my stomach on the shells. Scrambling to get some air, I regained my balance.
“You’re still topless,” she yelled.
“Tell that to the wave that nearly drowned me.” I pulled my top halfway up and then she yelled, “Oh, my God! You lost your bottoms!” Now that she’d announced it to the entire beach, everyone glanced my way.
Sure enough, my bottoms were down to my knees, displaying my bare you know what. I dunked under the water just in time to get smacked by another wave. I was surely going to drown today. Rolling around, I washed ashore and Sutton grabbed my wrist. “You’re naked, Reynolds.” Did she actually scold me?
At that moment, hot dude in the baseball hat decided to take a dip in the cool water. I looked up with my bikini top perched on my head, and my bottoms at my knees.
“Nice girls you got there,” he said as he winked and strolled by. Of all the … but wait. I recognized that voice. And that face, now that I’d gotten an up-close view of him.
“Reynolds, would you get dressed for fuck’s sake. You’re attracting a crowd.”
Shimmying my bottoms up and putting my top back on, I finally made a grand exit from the water, waving as I went. At least I didn’t die.
When we made it back to the chairs, I almost sat when Sutton reminded me about the drinks as she handed me the empty glasses. Marching into the house, I remade our daiquiris. This ti
me, I checked to see if the coast was clear when I exited. Then I ran back to our chairs.
“You never told me you were allergic to wasps,” Sutton said as I handed her the drink.
“Yep, I even carry an epi pen. But that dude. Did you recognize him?”
“I don’t think so. Why?”
“I know him from somewhere, but I can’t place him.”
“Maybe it’s from around here.”
“I don’t think so. It’s a nagging memory. I’ll think of it. Give me time.”
It was getting to be my favorite time on the beach—around six o’clock when most people had already gone in. That’s when hot dude decided to pack it up. I eyed him closely and as he walked by, he veered toward us and said, “I liked you better when you were mostly naked.”
Too shocked to respond, I just gaped. But then it clobbered me. “Oh, no. It can’t be.”
“Who?”
It was. I just knew it. It was the way he said naked. Nekkid. There was only one person in the universe I’d ever heard pronounce it that way and I knew with certainty it was him. The man I despised with my entire heart and soul.
“Does the name Braxton Kent ring a bell?”
Her gasp told me everything. “No! Are you sure?”
“Ninety-nine percent positive,” I said through gritted teeth.
“What would he be doing here?”
“No idea, but if he’s as despicable as he was senior year in high school, then he won’t like living nextdoor to me.” He’d shattered me completely and it had taken ages for me to get over the prick. They say revenge is best served cold. Well, he was going to find out exactly how cold it was.
The end … for now. To be continued in One Blissful Night
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Thank you for reading One Shameless Night! If you haven’t read One Indecent Night (A West Sisters Novel #1) you might want to read about Sylvie and Evan.
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Evan Thomas.
The name alone made me swoon.
Imagine the chaos that sleeping with him created.
Of all people, why him?
First, he's my cousin's best friend…the cousin who had threatened to murder us both if we ever hooked up.
He’s also the one I'd crushed on since I wore braces and pig tails.
If that wasn’t bad enough, I was a blank slate about the night we shared, thanks to Mr. Tequila.
One passion-filled night with the man of my childhood dreams, wasted...or rather I'd gotten wasted.
So what happened next?
He carried out the most fabulous walk of shame and what a sight he was, sexy smirk and all.
That had been the proper thing to do, right?
Especially since Evan was enamored with that drunken rowdy side of me and decided we belonged together.
But hot and sexy needed to get it through his head that we would never happen because he didn’t know me. The real me.
Besides, my cousin, a.k.a. his best friend, would kill us both.
How was I to know what a tricky bastard he was and would bring me to my knees in no time flat?
Evan was capable of unimaginable things, and I never expected to be the one begging for more.
Nor did I expect for him to be my knight in shining armor when I needed him the most.
This is a stand alone, friends to lovers, romance.
If you haven’t read The West Brothers Novels, you may also want to check them out. After all, that’s where the West Sisters Novels were spun from.
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Find out more about Grey and Marin in From Ashes to Flames here: https://readerlinks.com/l/644463/wbs
She was the nanny. He was the boss. They both knew things would end badly.
Five minutes after walking through the door, I hated the sexy Greydon West.
I wondered why he’d ever had kids in the first place.
The broody, single father of two didn’t know the meaning of the word fun.
The only things my regimented, hot-tempered boss seemed to care about we’re his ridiculous spreadsheets.
But for some reason, his prickly, stiff-mannered disposition made me curious about what was hidden beneath that exterior.
Then, one day I stumbled upon the key that unlocked the mystery of Dr. West.
That was when the sexy dreams began … the same ones that awakened me every night.
And that kiss we shared … biggest mistake ever.
I knew nothing good would result from it.
But I couldn’t seem to stay away because I was already in too deep.
I should’ve listened to those alarms in my head, but I ignored them.
Which was why I found my heart about to erupt in flames and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
"A deliciously sexy slow-burn romance. I absolutely loved this book!!" Tia Louise, USA Today Bestselling Author
In From Ice To Flames you can read about Hudson and Milly: https://readerlinks.com/l/644464/wbs
One Rule: No More Men.
Two years ago I walked away from a marriage I thought would last forever and all I got from it was Dick …
And I don’t mean the one between my stupid ex’s legs.
I’m talking about the one hundred fifty pound furry dog said ex dropped off at my doorstep.
But I’d take Dick over any man, any day.
So why did I resemble my dog, panting and drooling, whenever I ran into Hudson West, my sexy new neighbor?
True, the gorgeous veterinarian was hotter than sin.
And my new roommate only made it impossible for me to avoid conversation with a man I didn’t need.
Until tragedy struck and some jerk decided to run Dick down.
It was hotter than sin Hudson who came to his rescue.
Then it became impossible to ignore him.
It was only supposed to be a fling, a quickie, a one and done.
We both had reasons to keep it that way … my one rule and his five-year-old son.
Except things didn’t quite work out that way.
One turned into two, then three, annnnd you get the picture.
Before we knew it, he gave me a lot more than puppies and fairy tales.
And that stupid rule?
I should’ve stuck to it because now more than my heart was at risk.
This is a full-length, stand alone, single dad, contemporary romance.
In From Smoke To Flames, you can read about Pearson and Rose: https://readerlinks.com/l/644465/wbs
“This story engrossed me from page one. I was rooting for Pearson long before I should have because he’s so complicatedly endearing.” Jana Aston, NYT Bestselling Author
To put it bluntly, Rose Wilson’s life sucks.
When she finally gets the courage to divorce her abusive husband, she never imagines his prick of an attorney could be so cold-hearted.
Needless to say, she loses everything, including her precious daughter.
Imagine her shock when said attorney ends up as one of her new patients at the substance abuse center where she works.
Rage sinks its claws into her as she throws his chart against the wall.
How can she remain an empathetic counselor to her worst enemy, bad boy Pearson West, who helped destroy her life?
Turns out, the cocky bastard, with his startling blue-gray eyes, way too sexy mouth, and tight jeans, soon has her lusting after him.
Can Rose rise above her hatred—and lust—and maintain her professionalism to help him?
Or will they both lose even more than they already have?
From Smoke To Flames (A West Brothers Novel, #3) features surprising plot twists, suspense, and a mix of lovable characters that will keep you turning the pages. If you like raw emotion, mystery, with a bit of humor, then start this series today.
A.M. Hargrove
Reader, Writer, Dark Chocolate Lover, Ice Crea
m Worshipper, Coffee Drinker, Lover of Grey Goose (and an extra dirty martini), Puppy Lover, and if you’re ever around me for more than five minutes, you’ll find out I’m a talker.
A.M. Hargrove divides her time between the mountains of North Carolina and the upstate of South Carolina where she pursues her dream career of writing. If she could change anything in the world, she would make chocolate and ice cream a part of the USDA food groups. Annie writes romance in several genres, including adult, new adult, and young adult. Her books usually include lots of suspense and thrills and she sometimes ventures into the paranormal, sci-fi and fantasy blend.
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Adult Novels
The West Sisters Stand Alone Novels:
One Indecent Night
One Shameless Night - September 2019
One Blissful Night (TBD)
The West Brothers Stand Alone Novels:
From Ashes to Flames
From Ice to Flames
From Smoke to Flames
