Boudreaux 01.5 Easy With You
Read Boudreaux 01.5 Easy With You Online
Authors: Kristen Proby
Tags: #With Me in Seattle, #Kristen Proby, #Erotic Romance, #1001 Dark Nights
Easy With You
A With Me In Seattle Novella
By Kristen Proby
1001 Dark Nights
Easy With You
A With Me In Seattle Novella
By Kristen Proby
1001 Dark Nights
Copyright 2015 Kristen Proby
ISBN: 978-1-940887-80-7
Foreword: Copyright 2014 M. J. Rose
Published by Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.
Easy With You
Nothing has ever come easy for Lila Bailey. She’s fought for every good thing in her life during every day of her thirty-one years. Aside from that one night with an impossible to deny stranger a year ago, Lila is the epitome of responsible.
Steadfast. Strong.
She’s pulled herself out of the train wreck of her childhood, proud to be a professor at Tulane University and laying down roots in a city she’s grown to love. But when some of her female students are viciously murdered, Lila’s shaken to the core and unsure of whom she can trust in New Orleans. When the police detective assigned to the murder case comes to investigate, she’s even more surprised to find herself staring into the eyes of the man that made her toes curl last year.
In an attempt to move on from the tragic loss of his wife, Asher Smith moved his daughter and himself to a new city, ready for a fresh start. A damn fine police lieutenant, but new to the New Orleans force, Asher has a lot to prove to his colleagues and himself.
With a murderer terrorizing the Tulane University campus, Asher finds himself toe-to-toe with the one woman that haunts his dreams. His hands, his lips, his body know her as intimately as he’s ever known anyone. As he learns her mind and heart as well, Asher wants nothing more than to keep her safe, in his bed, and in his and his daughter’s lives for the long haul.
But when Lila becomes the target, can Asher save her in time, or will he lose another woman he loves?
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Kristen Proby is the author of the popular With Me in Seattle series. She has a passion for a good love story and strong characters who love humor and have a strong sense of loyalty and family. Her men are the alpha type—fiercely protective and a bit bossy—and her ladies are fun, strong, and not afraid to stand up for themselves. Kristen spends her days with her muse in the Pacific Northwest. She enjoys coffee, chocolate, and sunshine. And naps. Visit her at
KristenProby.com
.
The Boudreaux Series:
The With Me In Seattle Series:
The Love Under the Big Sky Series (published by Pocket Books):
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1001 Dark Nights story
The First Night
by Lexi Blake & M.J. Rose
Table of Contents
An excerpt from Easy Love by Kristen Proby
One Thousand and One Dark Nights
Once upon a time, in the future…
I was a student fascinated with stories and learning.
I studied philosophy, poetry, history, the occult, and
the art and science of love and magic. I had a vast
library at my father’s home and collected thousands
of volumes of fantastic tales.
I learned all about ancient races and bygone
times. About myths and legends and dreams of all
people through the millennium. And the more I read
the stronger my imagination grew until I discovered
that I was able to travel into the stories... to actually
become part of them.
I wish I could say that I listened to my teacher
and respected my gift, as I ought to have. If I had, I
would not be telling you this tale now.
But I was foolhardy and confused, showing off
with bravery.
One afternoon, curious about the myth of the
Arabian Nights, I traveled back to ancient Persia to
see for myself if it was true that every day Shahryar
(Persian:
شهریار
,
“king”) married a new virgin, and then
sent yesterday's wife to be beheaded. It was written
and I had read, that by the time he met Scheherazade,
the vizier's daughter, he’d killed one thousand
women.
Something went wrong with my efforts. I arrived
in the midst of the story and somehow exchanged
places with Scheherazade – a phenomena that had
never occurred before and that still to this day, I
cannot explain.
Now I am trapped in that ancient past. I have
taken on Scheherazade’s life and the only way I can
protect myself and stay alive is to do what she did to
protect herself and stay alive.
Every night the King calls for me and listens as I spin tales.
And when the evening ends and dawn breaks, I stop at a
point that leaves him breathless and yearning for more.
And so the King spares my life for one more day, so that
he might hear the rest of my dark tale.
As soon as I finish a story... I begin a new
one... like the one that you, dear reader, have before
you now.
~Asher~
“You should consider moving here,” Mike says and takes a pull of the long-neck bottle of his beer, then shifts his gaze from the baseball game on the screen above the bar to me. We’re in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans, at some bar on Bourbon Street, having a few beers after a long day of work.
I shake my head. I’ve heard this line from my brother at least a dozen times since he and his wife moved here from New York last year.
“I’m happy in Seattle. Casey’s happy in Seattle.”
“Casey will be happy wherever you’re happy,” Mike replies. “Don’t you want to be close to family?”
“I’d be kicking your ass all the time,” I reply. “You’d be begging me to leave in a week.”
“You could try, little brother,” Mike says with a smirk. “The force could use you.”
I shrug a shoulder and drink my beer. I like working for the Seattle force. I have a dependable partner. Casey does well in school. But there’s no family for us there, and I admit it’s hard when my babysitter bails on me.
Being a single father fucking sucks.
“I’ll think about it.”
Mike nods and checks his phone when it lights up with a text. A group of girls behind us are laughing loudly, clearly having a good time. I wonder if it’s a bachelorette party.
“Franny’s wondering when I’m coming home,” Mike says with a smile. “I’m getting laid, buddy.”
I laugh and shake my head as I take a drink of my beer. “Good for you, buddy.”
“Yes, she is good for me,” he agrees.
“Ten years and two kids later and you still get that shit-eating grin on your face.” I smile, happy for my brother.
“Of course, I love her.” He shoves his phone in his pocket, swallows the last of his beer, and claps his hand on my shoulder as he climbs off his stool. “I’m out. See you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight.”
Suddenly, the sexy redhead from the group behind me is standing next to me at the bar, blinking her glassy green eyes. “Hi there.”
“Hi.”
“Having a good time?” I ask with a grin.
“Yes.” She blinks some more, and then her eyes widen in recognition. “I know you!”
“You do?” I’m quite sure I’d know if I’d met this woman.
“Yes! You were on the plane with Lila yesterday. Asher?”
“That’s right.” I take her offered hand and shake it, immediately remembering the gorgeous woman I caught in my lap on the plane. “Is Lila with you this evening?”
And if she is, how in the ever-loving hell did I miss her?