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

by J. H. Croix

  “I don’t know what the hell to do,” I replied with a sigh. What a fucking mess.

  “Tell me about this Niki girl,” Jeremy interrupted my train of thought, sending it careening right back to the track I struggled to keep it off of these days. “Marie likes her. She says you do too, and it looks to me like she’s right. Here I was thinking none of my brothers had the balls to fall in love. Welcome to the club.”

  “Hate to break it to you, but just because you and Marie are all gaga doesn’t mean there’s romance in the air, brother. Some of us prefer to keep our balls in our own purses,” I said dismissively because I had no fucking clue what to do about how I felt about Niki.

  Jeremy lifted an eyebrow, rolling his eyes at my stubborn refusal to admit anything was going on between Niki and I. He was right not to believe me. I didn’t believe myself anymore. I’d rapidly gone from telling myself I needed not to be involved with anyone, least of all her, to falling for her. Hard and fast.

  “Believe whatever you want,” Jeremy said with a sly grin. “This denial, too, shall pass. I’d be willing to bet on it. Can’t wait for you to admit it.”

  “I hope you’re nice and comfortable. It’s going to be a long wait.”

  Jeremy chuckled, dropping his chin as he peered at me. “We’ll see about that. In the meantime, what are you going to do about Yates?”

  “I’m going to go see him.” Though I was torn over it, I wanted to hear what he might have to say. I had no intention of letting the groundskeeper know I’d witnessed Maclin’s murder. “I’ll go under the guise of following up on his warning about Niki. See where it leads me.”

  Niki

  Safe houses, when I read about them, always seemed so exciting. In reality, being stuck in a safe house was mind-numbingly boring.

  I worked as a librarian in a small town library, in an age where any book could be downloaded onto an e-reader at the touch of a button. I liked quiet, predictable. I preferred it even, but this was getting ridiculous.

  Lying on the couch inside the safe house as the sun began setting outside, I noticed my neighbor taking out his trash after he got home from work. My neighbor who just so happened to be Sonny’s brother. Sonny, the devastatingly handsome and sexy man who occupied far too much space in my brain lately. He wasn’t my boyfriend, but it was getting more difficult to remember that.

  Tyson, Sonny’s brother, had arranged a safe house for us with practically zero notice a couple of weeks back. Since I wasn’t part of any official case by the district attorney’s office, I couldn’t stay there.

  I didn’t know how he and Sonny pulled off the latest move, but now I was staying next door to Tyson after calling in a favor or something. It was weird that he lived next to a safe house, but to be fair, I knew next to nothing about law enforcement. For all I knew, he often needed access to witnesses without others knowing where they were.

  However it worked, I was Tyson’s new neighbor. I’d seen him come and go, but I only knew him in passing.

  Jumping up from the couch, I ran to the kitchen to grab my own nearly empty trash bag and went outside. I was curious about Tyson. Not because he was the District Attorney, but because he was Sonny’s brother.

  Plus, I was bored near to tears.

  Tyson’s eyes darted to my door as soon as I opened it, and he strode over, holding out his hand. “Niki, right? Let me take that for you.”

  “Yeah. And you’re Tyson? It’s okay, I’ve got it,” I replied, noticing that his almost navy blue gaze was as vigilant as his brother’s as he scanned our surroundings. “It’s not heavy.”

  “Guilty as charged. It’s nice to finally meet you.” He smiled, running a hand through his short, light brown hair as he glanced at the bag in my hand. “Mind if I walk with you, then?”

  “Not at all.”

  I walked to the edge of the property with Tyson falling into step beside me. He was quiet and reserved, but he had the same strength and protectiveness radiating from him that Sonny did.

  While Sonny drew me in like a moth to a flame, I felt no attraction to Tyson, but the brothers certainly shared similar traits. Tyson was tall and built with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes.

  “You settling in okay?” he asked, taking the bag from me smoothly when we reached the trash bins. “I know the house is smaller than the other one.”

  “It’s fine, really. I don’t need anything more. It’s huge compared to my apartment,” I told him, wondering how he managed to make taking out the trash look like a graceful task. Wearing a gray suit, he seemed as comfortable in it as I was in my pajamas.

  He was about as tall as Sonny at six foot three, towering over me even though I was tall for a girl. Mama Lovett definitely took her vitamins when she was pregnant with all of these boys. Despite their size, the Lovett brothers moved with cool grace and purpose. There wasn’t a single clumsy bone in their bodies. Not to mention, they were handsome as all get out. So unfair.

  Tyson chuckled. “In that case, feel free to stay as long as you want.”

  “Thanks,” I said as we returned to the porch of the safe house. “And thanks for helping Sonny set this up.”

  Tyson walked me all the way to the door, even holding it open for me. “That’s what family’s for, right?”

  His blue eyes searched mine, for answers about what this was all about perhaps. I knew Sonny asked for his help, but I also knew he hadn’t given him many details about what was going on.

  Seeing I wasn’t going to spill his brother’s secrets, Tyson flashed me a polite smile. “Call if you need anything, okay?”

  “Thanks for the offer.” Sonny had programmed his entire family’s numbers into my phone for that very purpose, just in case I couldn’t reach him. “Marie came by earlier and said the same thing.”

  “She would.” His lips kicked up into a fond grin. It was easy to see the brothers really cared about each other, and their future sister-in-law. “I’m closer if you need a cup of sugar or anything though. Have a good night, Niki.”

  “If I ever need a whole cup of sugar, I’ll be sure to knock on your door,” I replied, smiling as I held onto the door handle. “You too.”

  He walked backward off the porch, giving me a quick wave before spinning toward his own house and disappearing inside. Sonny was lucky to have a family like his, despite what some people might think given the colorful history of their recent past.

  Marie had stopped by earlier, and we ran some errands together. I’d stocked up on groceries while shopping with her. Thinking of some of the fresh produce I now had in the fridge, I headed to the kitchen to whip something up. I had more than enough time on my hands.

  My phone lay on the counter in the kitchen when I walked in, its notification light blinking.

  Sonny: Stopping by after work. Hope that’s okay. Let me know?

  A thrill ran through me, all the way to the tips of my fingers and toes. I couldn’t help the anticipation that spun through me. As torn as I was about Sonny, I really liked him. Even though the whole situation we were in was nuts.

  All I’d been was a boring librarian who happened to be on duty when Sonny stopped by. Now, I was sharing a bed with him some nights, and my heart went wild whenever he was around. I might not know what to think about everything going on around him, but I couldn’t deny the depth and intensity of my attraction to him.

  Just thinking about him sent heat rolling through me. Conveniently, he seemed to have trouble keeping his hands off of me. Considering that I nearly melted whenever he was near, that worked for me.

  Relationship-wise, I had no experience of my own. My parents had a loving marriage, but most of my memories of that were marred and overshadowed by the later memories of their respective illnesses.

  My mom went first. Breast cancer took her from us before she really had the chance to teach me about love and relationships. I helped take care of her from the day she was diagnosed until the day she took her last breath.

  Dad didn’t go long a
fter her. His heart couldn’t take it without mom. Born with some heart issues, complications he’d been fending off for years finally took him from me without him ever having had the opportunity to tease me about getting his shotgun out if a date ever dropped me off late.

  Between taking care of them both, school, homework and essentially running the house, I didn’t have much time for a social life. At the time, it didn’t seem important. It still didn’t really. I spent the precious time my parents had with them instead of out with some teenage boys whose names I probably wouldn’t even have remembered by now. I didn’t have any regrets; I was just a little lost about Sonny and my feelings for him.

  “Niki! You here?” Sonny’s voice called out, the sound of the front door slamming shut behind him knocking me out of my melancholic reverie.

  Shaking off my confusion, uncertainty, and pangs of longing to call the parents I no longer had for advice, I blinked hard and gave myself a mental shake. “In the kitchen.”

  I could hear his footsteps as he came closer, turning around as he strode through the door. He must’ve already changed after work because he was wearing a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt that hugged his muscled torso.

  Without stopping, he opened his arms, and I walked into them, the strength of him enveloping me in a big hug. Sonny’s arms were becoming like home to me.

  “How was your day?” he asked, his lips brushing the hair at the top of my head as he spoke.

  My voice was muffled, my face half buried in his chest. “Nothing too exciting, yours?”

  Hesitating before he answered, he breathed out, “Same.”

  He stepped away from me, turning to the stove. “Is it a special occasion? That smells great.”

  “Yup,” I said cheerfully, trying to focus on just being here with Sonny instead of the thoughts I was having before he arrived. “It’s today.”

  “I like that.” He wrapped his arms around me from behind while I dished up our food. It reminded me of how we’d gotten started the first night we’d spent together and the memory awakened my body, his touch sending an electric shiver through me.

  I leaned into his strong, hard chest, tipping my head back to rest on his shoulder. “Marie and I went running errands earlier, shopping with her got a bit out of hand.”

  Pressing his lips to my neck, Sonny dusted hot kisses over my skin, pulling my bottom flush against him, the hard ridge of his cock pressing into me. “Let’s not talk about Marie right now,” he said.

  “Agreed.” I arched into him, savoring the low growl that came from his throat. He spun me around in his arms, slanting his lips over mine in a kiss that left me breathless. With his lips on mine, in the cage of his arms, a familiar ache built at the apex of my thighs.

  Sonny lifted me high against him. My legs curled around his waist, a moan escaping when I felt his hardness against me. He walked us back until my bottom bumped against the counter. He slid me onto it, the surface firm and cold under me. I was too wrapped up in Sonny to care, kissing him deeply as I tightened the cage of my legs around him.

  His hands were everywhere at once, traveling up my back, his thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts. Hooking his fingers beneath the hem of my shirt, he pulled it up. I raised my arms to help, breaking our kiss only for as long as it took for the shirt to come off.

  My nipples hardened to little peaks, drawing Sonny’s attention as I pressed my breasts to his chest. Reaching between us, his thumb teased a nipple as I flexed into him, a low cry escaping when he pinched it lightly.

  The ache between my legs grew, my panties damp against me. I needed him. Now. Moving forward on the counter, I rocked into him, moaning as little bursts of pleasure shot from my core.

  Within seconds, he had my shorts on the floor as I tore at the buttons of his fly, murmuring at the feel of his hard, hot shaft as I curled my palm around it. Grabbing a condom from his jeans, he rolled it on and lined himself up with my entrance.

  We were both breathing heavily, glancing down to where our bodies were about to meet before our lips crashed together as he surged inside. My hands tangled in his hair, while he gripped my hips, holding me steady as he thrust into me.

  The feel of him filling me was delicious, the stretch and pull driving me wild as he moved rhythmically, every stroke sending need spinning tighter and tighter inside. Pressure gathered intensely as he drove me to the edge. I reached my peak quickly, shuddering roughly with a cry as pleasure scattered like fire through me. Sonny followed soon after, his hips bucking into mine as he groaned into our kiss.

  Our attraction was like that; it burned fast—hot and heavy. We never did eat dinner. It was forgotten on the stove as we lost ourselves in each other. Again. Twice more that night before we finally dozed off.

  Sonny & Niki’s story continues in Slow & Steady #2, available now!

  Click here: Slow & Steady #2,

  Acknowledgments

  A shout out to our readers for supporting our books, making us laugh & being awesome.

  No book would be complete without our advance readers - we’re stoked that you love the Lovett brothers as much as we do!

  Our PA’s who tap us on the shoulder with reminders, tidy up the details and make sure we stay in line - Mary W., Charlotte B., Katelyn W. and Ashley B.

  Family, friends, coffee, and more make it all even better.

  xoxo

  Ali & JH

  About the Author

  Ali Parker is a USA Today Best Selling contemporary and new adult romance writer with more than a hundred and thirty books behind her. She loves coffee, watching a great movie and hanging out with her hubs. By hanging out, she means making out. Hanging out is for those little creepy elves at Christmas. No tight green stockings for her.

  She’s an entrepreneur at heart and loves coming up with more ideas than any one person should be allowed to access. She lives in Texas with her hubs and three kiddos and looks forward to traveling the world in a few years. Writing under eleven pen names keeps her busy and allows her to explore all genres and types of writing.

  If you enjoyed her writing style, please check out her other pen names at the pen names link below!

  Website ~ Insider’s Group ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

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  Parker’s Posse ~ Pen Names

  About the Author

  USA Today Bestselling Author J. H. Croix lives in a small town in the historical farmlands of Maine with her husband and two spoiled dogs. Croix writes steamy contemporary romance with sassy independent women and rugged alpha men who aren't afraid to show some emotion. Her love for quirky small-towns and the characters that inhabit them shines through in her writing. Take a walk on the wild side of romance with her bestselling novels!

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  jhcroix@jhcroix.com