Slow and Steady #1: A Bad Boy Romantic Suspense (Shameless Southern Nights Book 4)

by J. H. Croix

  “Nice?” Karen scoffed, green eyes disbelieving. “Please tell me he was more than nice.”

  “He was a perfect gentleman. We met at his house, went to dinner and then looked over the information I found for him.” And then left, wishing I’d had the courage to stay a little bit longer. Not because I was stupid enough to believe something could happen between us, but because of how he made me feel.

  When I was with him, I was aware of my body in a way I’d never been before. Apparently, I was as affected by hot guys ikel every other woman on the face of the planet. All this time, I’d thought perhaps I’d missed out. Evidently, I simply hadn’t been physically attracted enough to anyone before Sonny to notice. Aside from feeling on fire around him, he inexplicably made me feel beautiful. Perhaps I was crazy, but it had felt good.

  It wasn’t purely desire with him though. He was interesting, and he looked at me like I was too.

  Karen waited for me to continue and, when I didn’t, pushed ahead with her fishing. “Anything happen after dinner or when you were done talking?”

  I’d told her I was going over to show him some research I was helping him do, but I hadn’t been specific about what kind of research. “After dinner, we drove back to his place, and when we were done, I went home.”

  Sighing like I slighted her in some way, Karen propped her elbows on the desk and rested her chin on her hands. “Fine, I’ll just be blunt about it. Are you still a virgin?”

  “Of course, I am.” Had I thought about what it might be like to have Sonny ravish me? Of course, but that was hardly the point of going to his place. “It’s not a relationship or anything. I just wanted to help him with some research.”

  “You don’t need to be in a relationship to do the dirty deed,” she replied flippantly. “You’re helping him. He could’ve helped you too.”

  “By taking care of my pesky little virginity problem?” My voice was laden with sarcasm, but Karen ignored it.

  Brightening, she nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly. Maybe you should mention it to him next time you get together. You know, as a thank you.”

  I rolled my eyes, the idea of asking him to take my virginity to thank me for doing some research was so ludicrous I burst out laughing. Gasping for air, I tried to imagine how that conversation would go. “Are you seriously suggesting I ask a stranger to take me to bed?”

  “No.” She leveled a stern look at me, but she was unable to hide the amusement lighting her eyes. “I’m suggesting you ask him to fuck you.”

  “Karen!” She looked all sweet and innocent, but looks were deceiving in her case. “I would never, ever do that.”

  “That’s too bad.” She shook her head in mock sadness. “I’m sure he would’ve been more than up to the task to help you out. Probably wouldn’t have minded either.”

  “Firstly, I don’t see my virginity as a problem I need someone to help me out with.” I was curious about sex, but that didn’t mean I was eager to rush into it only to get it over with. “Secondly, doing it with someone who ‘probably wouldn’t mind’ sounds terrible.”

  She chuckled, pursing her lips. “Your loss. Rumor has it those guys know what they’re doing between the sheets.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Shrugging, Karen pulled a nail kit from her purse and selected a file, waving it at me. “What? I hear things. I’ve been hearing things about them since high school. As reclusive as they are nowadays, girls talk.”

  “They’re hardly reclusive.”

  Putting the file to her nail, she lifted a brow at me. “They’re not overly social anymore either, but I’ve seen them out from time to time and when I do, the girls around talk.”

  “You mean a real, live Lovett sighting out in the wild spurs the gossip mill into action?” That was ridiculous, but again Karen ignored my sarcasm and carried on filing her nails.

  “Yup.” She popped her lips on the word. “They’re hot. Most girls in town wouldn’t mind a piece of that. And those who’ve had it, from any of them, give them rave reviews.”

  “Raving reviews? Dear God. You make it sound like women give the reviews online.”

  “Men talk about us too, you know. It’s not just the girls. I know they’re not food, but tell me if someone put Sonny on a stick you wouldn’t want to lick him like a lollipop.”

  All the heat in my body rushed to my cheeks. “Where do you even come up with this stuff?”

  Karen laughed. “You’re lying. You totally would, or you wouldn’t be the color of a traffic light. Doesn’t matter, your secret’s safe with me.”

  “I’m not lying,” I protested lamely, but I knew my cheeks were giving me away. He didn’t even have to be on a stick for me to want to lick him all over. He would probably be my very first choice, not that I would ever admit it out loud. “Did you have an actual reason for coming by, other than to advise me on my sex life, or lack thereof?”

  “Do I need a reason to come by and visit my best friend at work?” She pretended to be hurt, but I knew better. She was going to laugh any second now. About three seconds later, she couldn’t contain it anymore. “You want advice on your sex life, you should’ve heard—”

  At my eye roll, she shook her head. She laughed and stashed her nail file away. “Fine. You know I’ll be here for you when you’re ready to actually give a man, any man, a chance. What research are you helping him with anyway?”

  I meant to tease back, but the truth was, I knew she’d be there for me no matter what. I might have my reservations about where I’d ended up at twenty-five but I knew she was only teasing.

  Reaching over, I slipped my arm over her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I know you’re there for me. If I ever get over myself, I think I can handle it.” I conveniently ignored her question about the research and idly wondered if reading about the deed actually meant a thing.

  Karen inadvertently told me what I needed to know when she sighed. “Reading about it is not the same as doing it. That being said, I’ll still always be here for you if you need me. Just do me a favor and be careful with him, okay?”

  “I already said I would be.”

  “Yeah, but you’re getting dragged deeper and deeper into whatever he’s got you looking into for him. I just worry because of what went down with his family.”

  I kept quiet. I hadn’t even told her about the men asking about whether he’d been to the library. She read my silence as agreement. “Exactly my point. You’re getting involved with him, or with something he’s up to, and I’m still nervous about it.”

  “Relax, Kar.” I reached out to take her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “It’s nothing serious, I promise. I’m just helping him find something, I’m not getting involved, and I’ll be careful.”

  “Okay,” she whispered as she stood. “I have to go get some groceries if I want to be able to eat tonight. Call me later?”

  “Sure.” Smiling as she shouldered her purse, Karen took off. I watched her practically dance her way to the library’s front door. Karen moved so gracefully I should take lessons from her. Perhaps then I would’ve been able to simply lean closer to Sonny last night and see where things took us.

  Grace probably wouldn’t have helped with that, though. My wistful thoughts about him carried on long after Karen left.

  I could deny it to her up and down, left and right until I was blue in the face, but the truth was I was attracted to Sonny. Not only was he handsome as all hell, but he intrigued me.

  Though I’d come to terms with my quiet life, every so often I wondered how things could be different. I just hadn’t met anyone yet who’d made me want to push out of my comfort zone.

  Sonny signified a hint of excitement, a break in the monotony, an awakening of sorts. Before I could really think about what kind of awakening exactly, the two men in suits strolled back into the library like they owned the place.

  I didn’t bother standing up from my chair this time, knowing they weren’t customers who required my help. As they ha
d before, they approached my desk with their intimidating expression on in full force. This time, I was ready for them.

  Before they could talk, I folded my arms defensively across my chest. “I haven’t seen the man you’re looking for.”

  The bald man narrowed his eyes at me, glancing at his friend and making a gesture with his hand. “And we’re not here to ask any more questions only to have you lie to us. We’ll just get what we need, and we’ll be on our way.”

  While he was talking, the other one took off in the direction of the non-fiction shelves. Straight to the section where there were legal files on Sonny’s father.

  The man pulled a folded black bag from his pocket and opened it, then started packing everything we had there into it. My jaw dropped as I scrambled out from behind the desk and ran to him. “You can’t take that. It’s the property of this library.”

  “Not anymore it’s not,” the bald man said, walking around me to help his friend shove stuff into their bags. “Just forget you saw us, okay?”

  I bristled, forgetting to be afraid of them as anger and indignation coursed through me. “I will do no such thing. I’m responsible for the property of the library, and you’re taking it. If you leave now, I will unpack all the books and files, and maybe then I won’t call the police on you.”

  “The police?” the man with the ponytail scoffed, a threatening gleam in his eye. “Call them, honey. Let’s see how that goes for you.”

  He picked up the bag and walked out with me gaping after him. I whirled around to face the remaining villain, as I had them pegged in my head. “Don’t you dare leave with the rest of that.”

  “Or what?” he smirked, brushing by me. “You should stay out of all of this. You don’t need to involve yourself with Sonny.”

  “I told you, I haven’t seen him.” I fumed, trying to think of a way to stop the man from leaving. I stood no chance at physically restraining him, and my phone was in my purse back at my desk. Besides, even if I managed to call 9-1-1, the men would be long gone before the police got there.

  The man snorted, heading for the door as he called out over his shoulder. “Don’t let us see you with him again. You’ll regret it if you do.”

  And then he was gone.

  “What in heaven’s name just happened?” I mumbled into the silent library. But I wasn’t in a fairytale or any other kind of fantasy. None of the books or the characters in them answered me.

  I could only stand there, staring at the doors where the two men had just left. If I were a character in one of my books, a high paced crime thriller or something, I would’ve known what to do. But I wasn’t, and I didn’t.

  The obvious choice was to call the police and report what happened, but somehow that didn’t feel right. Despite the fact these guys were here because of Sonny, I didn’t believe he was a bad guy. My instincts told me the complete opposite, which made me feel protective of him.

  I needed some time to think. I would come up with something. I knew I would.

  First things first though, I had to call Sonny. Letting him know what happened felt like the best of both worlds, telling a cop and the man involved all at the same time.

  There. It was only step one, but at least I was doing something about it.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sonny

  “Anything interesting to report from your patrol?” Chief Harris asked when I returned to the police station. He was sitting in his office with his door open, sipping on a cup of coffee.

  I nodded, slipping into his office and closing the door behind me. Yates’s warnings refused to leave my mind. No matter how bizarre and probably unfounded they were. The man was off his rocker. Everyone knew that, but his knowing about “my girlfriend” rattled me.

  Sure, Niki wasn’t anything close to a girlfriend, but the fact Yates even mentioned a girl was proof enough that something was afoot. Not to mention Niki’s phone call on my way back to the station to tell me someone came to the library and took all the files, magazines, everything surrounding my father’s case.

  “I went to check out an address I found while I was digging through some files at the library. Turns out, it was the cemetery.” I didn’t tell him those same files were now gone.

  “The cemetery?” Harris looked taken aback, his eyes widening slightly. “Find anything there?”

  “I was as surprised as you are about the address, but I checked it twice.” I gave him a quick rundown of the situation, leaving out any mention of Niki’s name, and then told him about my strange trip to the cemetery.

  “If this were coming from anyone else, I would’ve ordered a drug screening. You know how this sounds, right?” he asked, setting his coffee down and fixing his eyes on mine.

  “I do.” Crazy, unhinged. High was probably the assumption I would’ve made about myself too. “It’s all true. I swear it, Chief. As unlikely as it sounds, whatever happened with my father is connected to something happening at the cemetery.”

  Harris nodded slowly, skepticism mixed with surprise on his lined features. “I trust you. Let me look into it for you, okay? We have to tread lightly here. A lot of folks in this town would be livid to hear about you looking into anything to do with your father. And that’s not even considering Internal Affairs and half a dozen others.”

  I didn’t want to relinquish the reins, even as much as Yates’s behavior freaked me out, but Harris was right. I needed to be smart here. The smart thing to do would be to carry on looking into things quietly and leave the questioning to him. “You’ll let me know if anything pops up while you’re asking around about it?”

  “Of course, but for now, take the rest of the day off. It’ll be easier to protect you if it comes out we’re digging into all this if you’re not even around when I do.”

  “Good thinking.” Having a man like Chief Harris watch my back was a blessing. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, Chief.”

  He lifted his hand in a wave, his gaze turning inward as if he were already considering his next steps. “See you, Sonny.”

  It was late afternoon by the time I walked out of the station. I’d changed into my street clothes and spun my keys around my index finger, contemplating putting in that call to Marie. Or maybe I should stop in to see my brother and his fiancée later.

  The benefit of going over there wasn’t just that I’d get a chance to visit them, but I would also get to see Austin. He was a cool kid. Going over to spend some time with them after my unsettling day seemed like it might nudge me out of my thoughts—a way to unwind and focus on family, the reason I was doing all of this in the first place.

  Zach was waiting by my truck when I got to it. I put my thoughts on hold the moment I saw him. Tension lined his features, and his posture was stiff.

  He glanced over my shoulder back to the station before his eyes cut to mine. “Come have a beer with me.”

  Not a question. “The usual place?”

  He nodded, turning around and hopping into his own truck. A cherry red to my much older blue one. Harris’s request I stay away from Zach echoed in my mind. I promised him I would keep a low profile about my friendship with Zach, and I questioned whether it was wise to meet Zach at the bar anyway.

  Yet, Zach clearly needed to talk to me about something. Whatever it was, I wasn’t leaving him hanging. An advantage to our habit of meeting off the beaten path was we were already laying low that way. As I drove over, I considered whether to mention my conversation with Harris about this. Zach’s truck was already parked and empty when I got there.

  I walked in to see him paying for two beers on the bar in front of him. Bob gave him his change, and Zach turned, jerking his head to a booth in the corner.

  “Are you really thirsty, or is something going on?” I asked, sliding into the booth across from him. He slid one of the beers over to me and sat back with his own hanging between his fingers.

  “I got the files for you.”

  “From the evidence room?”

  He scowled, t
ipping his eyes toward the ceiling. “I didn’t get them from the moon. They’re in my truck. Couldn’t hand them over at the station. And so yeah, I’m really thirsty.”

  “Thanks, man. I thought Harris asked you to lie low while Maclin’s around?”

  Zach shrugged, took a long drink from his beer and ruffled his dark hair. “He did, but that asshole doesn’t scare me. If he’s got anything legit, he can come after me. Until then, I told you I’d help you. I came across the files, so I borrowed them for your viewing pleasure.”

  I took a sip of my beer, but I hardly tasted the cold liquid. Excitement spread through me. Things were finally starting to happen. Though Niki had chased down a few leads, I still only had bits and pieces of the case files.

  After so many dead-ends, be-carefuls and drop-its, I was starting to think I would never get anywhere with this investigation. “I owe you big time. You name it—you got it. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

  “Nah, man. I’ve seen first-hand how a witch hunt can go. If your father is some kind of fall guy, or if the system was manipulated in some way, I’m not sitting by and letting him rot in jail. Just don’t tell anyone about the files and obviously, don’t tell anyone where you got them.”

  “You got it. Not a word to a single soul. I swear it.”

  We bumped fists and nursed the rest of our beers as we chatted about work and life in general. Maclin was sniffing around Zach on a daily basis, and my friend was getting annoyed by the attention. Not that I blamed him. Though Maclin wasn’t chasing after me directly, that kind of focus sucked.

  Zach had relaxed while we nursed our beers. We were walking out together to his truck to load the files into mine. As soon as we walked out to the gravel parking lot, an unwelcome and unexpected visitor was waiting by Zach’s car.

  Wayne Maclin.

  Zach rolled his eyes, muttering beside me. “Told you, he’s really upping his stalking game.”