KING OF
CLUBS
Aces & Eights, #2
By
Sandra Owens
Genre: Contemporary Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Release
Date: June 27, 2017
In the
second novel in acclaimed author Sandra Owens’s Aces & Eights series,
passions—and tempers—flare as one star-crossed couple gets a second chance at
love.
Covert FBI agent Court Gentry loves his brothers, his job, and
his Harley-Davidson. Once he loved a girl, too, but when she broke his heart,
he put his emotions on lockdown…until she crosses his path again.
On vacation six years ago, free-spirited Lauren Montgomery fell
hard for Court Gentry. She returned home happier than ever, only to descend
into a spiral of abuse by her ex-husband, Stephan. When Stephan threatened to
kill any man who touched her, Lauren cut Court from her life—but not from her
heart.
When Lauren and Court reunite after her friend marries his
brother, Court guards himself against the person who made him feel such intense
passion and pain. Except the undeniable spark between them is impossible to
contain and heating up fast. Six years ago, it was love. Now, it’s just lust.
Keeping it merely physical is a foolproof plan…right?
When Stephan is released from prison, Lauren can’t outrun her
past anymore, and Court vows to protect her. But with Lauren in imminent
danger, Court must question his heart and risk his life to save the woman he
never stopped loving.
He’d just stepped out of the
shower, a towel wrapped around his waist, his aim his bed when Alex walked into
his bedroom. Sometimes he regretted they each had keys to the three condos.
Tonight, he wanted to just crawl onto his king-sized mattress and try to go to
sleep, forgetting the day he’d had. Unfortunately, there was a mountain of
paperwork to deal with before his debriefing in the morning.
“I’m
on the way to pick up Madison,” Alex said. “Come with me. We’ll grab a late
dinner.”
“No.”
“No,
why?”
That
was Alex for you. Never settling for an easy answer. “No because no.” He
scowled when his baby brother, ignoring him, disappeared into his walk-in
closet.
“Just
something casual.” Alex came out, tossing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt on the
bed. “Mad loves the food trucks, so probably we’ll get fish tacos.” He looked
up, fucking love stars shining in his eyes. “She loves those.”
Court
refused to feel jealous that Alex had found the love of his life. He’d once
thought he had, but that just proved what a fool he’d been. “What part of no
don’t you get?”
“Bro,
you’re hurting my feelings.”
Those
pitiful eyes weren’t going to work on him. Which was why, thirty minutes later,
he wanted to put his hands around his own throat and choke himself when he
walked alongside Alex as they approached High Tea and Black Cat Books. Damn
Alex and his baby brother way of getting everyone to do what he wanted.
There
was one reason, and a really big one at that, for his not wanting to be
anywhere near High Tea and Black Cat Books. Her name was Lauren Montgomery.
Since he’d kept that secret to himself, he couldn’t exactly blame Alex for
dragging him along.
Other
than Madison’s and Alex’s wedding two months ago—which no excuse for not
attending would have been acceptable—he’d not seen Lauren. And even at that
event, he’d avoided her as much as possible. He couldn’t go there again. Not
with her. She’d almost destroyed him once. Damn if she’d do it again.
Whenever
Alex mentioned that Lauren was coming over to see Madison, Court made a point
of not being home on the off chance they might decide to pop down one floor to
see him. The only reason he was tagging along now was that when he’d tried to
use the cut on his face as an excuse to stay home, Alex had called him a
crybaby.
That
had resulted in a round of wrestling before Court had thrown in the towel,
agreeing to come as far as the door to the bookstore before heading on over to
Aces & Eights, where he’d have to hide out in the office since he was
supposedly in a jail cell somewhere. That was fine since he had a ton of
paperwork awaiting him, detailing what had gone down tonight, which had also
given him an excuse to drive his own car.
Although
the outlaw biker gangs that frequented their bar rarely made their way to South
Beach’s touristy streets, Court wore a ball cap pulled low over his forehead
and a pair of fake glasses.
“Why’s
Madison here this late anyway?” Usually, she came home after she and Lauren
closed up for the night. That the woman he hadn’t seen for six years before
she’d walked back into his life and his new sister-in-law were partners in the
bookstore just proved the universe was a jokester.
“She
and Lauren wanted to get some restocking and other stuff done tonight.” Alex
gave him a sly look. “Maybe Lauren would like to come with us.”
Court
refused to take the bait. His dumbass brother was trying to play matchmaker. If
he said absolutely not, that would only lead to questions he wouldn’t answer.
Besides, he’d never agreed to go anywhere with them.
“No
comment, huh?”
“I
have no comment because I’m going straight to the bar, where I’ll bury myself
in paperwork. You and Madison and Lauren can do whatever you want.”
“You
used to be fun, brother. What happened to… Who the hell’s that?” Alex picked up
his pace.
Court
frowned at seeing a large man crowding Madison and Lauren. He jogged alongside
Alex.
“Your
husband isn’t pleased with you, Lauren. He expects you to be home when he
arrives.”
Husband? Court came within seconds of walking away,
but one glance at Lauren’s pale face and the worry in Madison’s eyes kept his
feet planted in place.
“Who
the hell are you?” Alex said, pushing between the man and Madison. He tucked
his wife next to him. “I asked you a question.”
“Not
that I owe you an answer, since my business is with Lauren, but I am simply
passing on a message from my brother to his wife,” he said with a Russian
accent.
“He’s
not my husband,” Lauren screamed.
Court
stepped next to Lauren. “You heard the lady. You need to go.”
The
man’s vivid blue eyes shifted to Court. “And you are?”
“Her
boyfriend.” He clamped his mouth shut. Where the hell had that come from? And
worse, was Lauren’s reaction.
A best selling,
award-winning author, Sandra Owens lives in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains
of North Carolina. Her family and friends often question her sanity, but have
ceased being surprised by what she might get up to next. She’s jumped out of a
plane, flown in an aerobatic plane while the pilot performed thrilling stunts,
has flown Air Combat (two fighter planes dogfighting, pretending to shoot at
each other with laser guns), and rode a Harley motorcycle for years. She
regrets nothing.
Sandra is a
member of Romance Writers of America’s Honor Roll and a 2013 Golden Heart®
Finalist for her contemporary romance, CRAZY FOR HER. In addition to her
contemporary romantic suspense novels, she writes Regency stories.
Thank you for featuring King of Clubs!
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