Showing posts with label Ren Alexander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ren Alexander. Show all posts

Thursday, 13 January 2022

Release Blitz - Unhinged by Ren Alexander




Title: Unhinged
Series: Unraveled Renegade #2
Author: Ren Alexander
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 13, 2022


BLURB

Love and hate collide when Greg Rodwell spills his secrets to two women, torching all three worlds.

Yeah, I did it. In pouring out my heart to my married best friend, fate handed me an opening along with my unzipped fly, and I flung it against a wall before setting it on fire. What I did… I should regret it, but the only lesson I learned was I should’ve done it sooner. That reality hurts like a… Still, I know this will haunt Hadley and me forever.

On the other hand, living with Simone’s betrayal—mocking me and setting me up just like they did to me over a decade ago—I’m a live wire of animosity. My darkness was never supposed to see the light of day, but she gift-wrapped it for the world to tear open. She trashed our friendship. I hope that fact haunts her forever too.

Ditching Richmond, that life-changing night, and both chicks, I try to restart or take a breather—something my sister never had before she died. Unfortunately, and uninvited, I’m not the only passenger on this displeasure cruise. My recent screw-up is a roadblock in every way imaginable until I discover her weakness: guilt. I grab on to that sucker because to ease her conscience, she wants to make it right with me. Which she will. To rebuild my life, I need a tour guide to show me the ropes, in a bedroom and a woman. While I lack the experience, she’s skilled in that department. And before I cut her loose, she’ll make me one too. She owes me. Restraint be damned.

Unhinged is Book 2 of a new series, but you’ll achieve maximum shock and awe if the Wild Sparks Series and The Keys to Jericho are read first.







PURCHASE LINKS

99c for a limited time!

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU





EXCERPT

When he tilts his head more, the light shows the feral look on Greg Rodwell’s face, and I fall victim to my taunting.
I bite my lip, so I don’t moan, watching his chest rise and fall faster. Refusing to let him deny or lie his way out of this, I continue. “Then, you went to your room.”
Pushing off the wall, I stand closer to him, and my heart pounds. Chrome fills me, and it nearly knocks me on my ass, and I want to beg him to fuck me here. But nope. My pussy won’t be so easy to score. With my body trembling, my voice comes out as a hoarse whisper. “I heard you beating off.”
His whisper is just as gruff. “You heard nothing.”
Greg will never know that I wanted to have sex with him for more than a mere fuck. For the first time, I wanted the passion and to have an orgasm because of him, not despite him. I needed Greg to feel it all. I wanted him to fall in love with me. Has Greg ever been in love? Maybe he will be with his new girlfriend.
That ratchet bitch.
“Really? I heard your desperate moans and fast pumping.” I feel his heat, anger, denial, and arousal with my lips closer to his. I won’t touch him. I won’t take advantage of his vulnerability. “Were you imagining coming over my naked tits and watching it drip between them?”
His lips part for two seconds before he coolly whispers, “No.”
“I knocked on your door. You were rattling it with your jerking. I wanted to help you with it. If you had let me in, I would’ve sucked your dick against the door.” His fast breaths falter, but he doesn’t argue. So I keep going. “My hot tongue stroking you, slow and then fast, taking you to the brink and then away. I know you’re hard right now.”
His voice is low. “No.”
“You would’ve fucked my mouth with your thick cock along my tongue. With your hand in my hair, you would’ve jerked me back and forth, so my tongue slid over the tip as you lost your breath. You want to feel it so damn much now, don’t you?” He doesn’t answer this time. His gaze shifts to the wall, and I glance at his crotch. In the white glow of the exit sign, I watch his hand cupping his imprisoned hard-on through his jeans.
I smile but not to mock him since I’m treading on thin ice. “While on my knees, I would’ve brought you to desperate oblivion before you threw your orgasm down my throat or onto my tits.”
Greg swallows noisily between us, and his arm moves. I then hear the button pop and the whir of his zipper. Damn, I didn’t think I’d get this far. Maybe if I can’t get a regular job, I can do nights as a phone sex operator.
But it’s also backfiring on me because I soaked my underwear. Shifting, I see his hand sliding back and forth over his bare cock, and it freezes me for a few seconds. My pussy aches, still mourning Greg Rodwell’s dick, and now it’s next to me again. Without thinking it through much, but needing to prove a point and get out of here before I come in front of him, my hand goes to my open shirt, and I pull it down, exposing my cleavage and bra. I breathlessly tease, “Are these what you thought of in your room?”
With the music, I hear him groan as he stares at my chest, and I watch him jerking. Oh, God. I won’t make it to the bathroom—desperate times—to relieve my tension.
But I won’t be easy. No. I can’t trust Greg not to hurt me since he has nothing to lose. He’s made that clear. Greg can’t just guilt me into sex. I won’t be that girl.
Steeling Wilder nerve I wasn’t born with, I straighten and drop my hand, though my cheap shirt droops, leaving my boobs on display. I say, “And that’s the art of seduction, Rod.”
Greg stops stroking, his face a mix of confusion, embarrassment, rage, and lust. It’s a unique combination that’s powerful and hard to look away from as it feeds my throbbing pussy. However, when I smirk before leaving to jill off in the bathroom. Greg grabs my shoulder, hooks my shirt, which catches me off guard, and I slouch. The next thing I see is his hand jerking his hard cock with stuttered panting as he spurts a flood of hot cum over my tits.
His deep groans punctuate each spasm as I squeal, jumping away from him, shocked and on the verge of my own orgasm.
“And that’s how you fulfill a wet dream,” Greg sneers with a glare, but his gaze falls to my chest as he catches his breath, still holding his dribbling cock.






ALSO AVAILABLE


FREE on all platforms for a limited time!

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU






AUTHOR BIO


Ren Alexander writes steamy contemporary romance, including the Wild Sparks Series, and contributes to K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Series from her desk in Motown—Detroit, Michigan. Yes, part of her state is shaped like a mitten, 8 Mile Road really exists, and Eminem is her neighbor and carpool buddy. Unfortunately, she and Slim Shady don’t ride in the same car. She’s still working on that part.

Writing her romance novels with a big dose of reality, the good and bad, Ren embraces the gritty and raw with a side of funny and crazy. No matter what, there is always an explosion. You never know what you'll get in her mixed bag. That's personal, anyway.

Ren lives in Detroit, Michigan, with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.



Monday, 11 October 2021

Cover Reveal - Unhinged by Ren Alexander




Title: Unhinged
Series: Unraveled Renegade #2
Author: Ren Alexander
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Sarah Kil Creative Studio
Release Date: January 13, 2022


BLURB

Love and hate collide when Greg Rodwell spills his secrets to two women, torching all three worlds.

Yeah, I did it. In pouring out my heart to my married best friend, fate handed me an opening along with my unzipped fly, and I flung it against a wall before setting it on fire. What I did… I should regret it, but the only lesson I learned was I should’ve done it sooner. That reality hurts like a… Still, I know this will haunt Hadley and me forever.

On the other hand, living with Simone’s betrayal—mocking me and setting me up just like they did to me over a decade ago—I’m a live wire of animosity. My darkness was never supposed to see the light of day, but she gift-wrapped it for the world to tear open. She trashed our friendship. I hope that fact haunts her forever too.

Ditching Richmond, that life-changing night, and both chicks, I try to restart or take a breather—something my sister never had before she died. Unfortunately, and uninvited, I’m not the only passenger on this displeasure cruise. My recent screw-up is a roadblock in every way imaginable until I discover her weakness: guilt. I grab on to that sucker because to ease her conscience, she wants to make it right with me. Which she will. To rebuild my life, I need a tour guide to show me the ropes, in a bedroom and a woman. While I lack the experience, she’s skilled in that department. And before I cut her loose, she’ll make me one too. She owes me. Restraint be damned.

Unhinged is Book 2 of a new series, but you’ll achieve maximum shock and awe if the Wild Sparks Series and The Keys to Jericho are read first.







PRE-ORDER LINKS

99c for a limited time!

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU






AVAILABLE NOW


FREE on all platforms for a limited time!

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU






AUTHOR BIO


Ren Alexander writes steamy contemporary romance, including the Wild Sparks Series, and contributes to K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Series from her desk in Motown—Detroit, Michigan. Yes, part of her state is shaped like a mitten, 8 Mile Road really exists, and Eminem is her neighbor and carpool buddy. Unfortunately, she and Slim Shady don’t ride in the same car. She’s still working on that part.

Writing her romance novels with a big dose of reality, the good and bad, Ren embraces the gritty and raw with a side of funny and crazy. No matter what, there is always an explosion. You never know what you'll get in her mixed bag. That's personal, anyway.

Ren lives in Detroit, Michigan, with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.



Wednesday, 31 March 2021

Release Boost - Rebel Rook by Ren Alexander




Title: Rebel Rook
An Everyday Heroes World Novel
Author: Ren Alexander
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 25, 2021


BLURB

Dylan McGrath, a rookie cop with something to prove and everything to lose.

Dumped. There, I said it. The day after my twenty-first birthday, my girlfriend of two years ditched me in front of an audience. Drowning my sorrows in a park, a cop throws me into the back of a cruiser. It’s not my first ride or my greatest achievement, angering legendary law enforcement swarming my family tree, but who cares? Smelling fresh blood, self-righteous, law-abiding family and friends gang up on me, drawing a line in the sand. Doing the unthinkable yet inevitable, we strike a deal, but not without a fight.

Graduating from the police academy, I clash with field training officers who hand me off faster than a live grenade. Though my job is to enforce laws, I love to break the rules and refuse to follow any leader. On the verge of embarrassing the revered Malones again, I’m reassigned to a tough sergeant who hates me for existing on her dime.

Vowing to nail training, a gorgeous waitress blows that notion to smithereens. Distrusting the police, Natalia Welch wants nothing to do with me. Because of her horrific past, I'm told to steer clear or fail training. But I can't, and Natalia and I grow closer until she freaks out about our slight age difference. However, the more she avoids me, the more we crave each other, leading to a passionate explosion that could end my career or her life.

Ren Alexander’s Rebel Rook is a provocative, riveting, and poignant contemporary romance written in K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Worlds project.







PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited





PLAYLIST



EXCERPT

I’ve been field-training for three months and have nine months to go. But like Taggart said, I might not make it past this week. And now I want to stab people in a place called Joy Springs. This can’t be my damn life.
Following her, I walk, noting stares, smiles, and some frowns as we approach the front door. It’s both a morale boost and a ball-buster with nothing in between most of the time. I’m still getting used to wearing this blue uniform and carrying a gun—it’s who I am now.
But I’m also the same man mourning a breakup a fucking year later, having no other distraction than the rigors of this job I’m learning, albeit rocking the boat. Audrey has texted me twice, and I’ve had to hand my phone to my police officer roommate, Tristan, to delete them and her number. It was harder to do than getting through the academy.
Taggart holds the door open for me until I’m in reaching distance before she lets it close in my face. “Goddamn it,” I mutter as I yank it open and go to stand beside her at the podium.
A gray-haired, pasty hostess smiles at Taggart and then glances at me. “Is this your new apprentice, Lynn?”
She looks up at me and rolls her eyes before turning back to Doris, or so says her name tag. “For now, at least.” Why does she have to criticize me in front of people? Doesn’t that undermine any authority I might have as long as she says I do? Fuck me.
Doris’s eyes suddenly open like she just saw a ghost. “Wait a minute. I heard a new Malone is here. You’re Chief Malone and Lieutenant Malone’s nephew, and Grant, Grayson, and Grady Malone’s cousin, aren’t you?”
“That’s the rumor.”
She bobs her head, her limp gray curls bouncing to a sad tune. “Do you know them?”
Waiting for her to laugh or elaborate on the idiotic question, I narrow my eyes and slowly answer, “Yeah?”
She smiles at Taggart. “They’re so honorable in their vocations.” Her beady eyes assess me as if I’m the garbage family member no one talks about. She then checks out my nameplate. “Dylan? You do know Grady married a Dylan?”
“You don’t say? Not the same, though. Right?” I laugh while Doris and Taggart do not. Fucking shit, I might as well be citing someone for pissing on a wall.
“I would assume not,” she answers with a huff, and I bite my lip to avoid full-on laughing in her face. “Chief Malone is your uncle,” she states like it’s an unknown fact to me, and she’s the one to break the news of this twist. Doris and Taggart both stare at me like I’m supposed to comment. It’s confirmed when Taggart clears her throat, prompting me.
“Yeah. My mother is his younger sister, and Colin Malone was their uncle and my great-uncle.” I again answer slow enough, so Doris won’t misunderstand my fuck you.
“Well, you have enormous shoes to fill, mister,” Doris mutters, shaking her head and clicking her tongue like she caught me with my pants unbuttoned at all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.
“I’m not here to fill their shoes. No competition there.”
Doris purses her thin lips, and her watery eyes make a loop over me. “You got that right.” What the hell, lady? “Your table is ready. Have a seat.”
Taggart smiles at Doris but turns to me with a glare. Then she leads the way to a corner booth, with her yanking on my leash. She slides into the furthest bench seat, and I reluctantly sit across from her, turning down the radio on my shoulder. I’m not hungry. Doris comes to our table, saying, “I figured the kid might need a menu. Maybe some crayons and a booster seat, too.” She laughs with Taggart, and I grin, taking it in stride since she’s an old woman. Still, I struggle not to pull my fucking gun, if just to jumpstart her decrepit heart.
“Be courteous, officer. They give us a complimentary lunch every day.”
I nod. “That’s nice of them.” I return to my menu, still not hungry.
Taggart says, “Good afternoon, Natalia.”
I continue to study the menu as a voice next to me asks, “Coffee and a Rueben, Lynn?”
“You know me so well.” Taggart loudly clears her throat, and I look up. “Are you going to be rude?”
“Not at the moment,” I reply, aiming to get her to laugh at one joke before training is over, now or later.
Taggart sharply but silently rebukes me as she again glances away. I follow to see a woman with her mahogany hair in a ponytail, holding a notepad. Her skin is deep, luminous copper, but her sparkling brown eyes grab my attention more than anything. However, the warmth in them ices over, and she stiffly asks, “Your order?”
I grin, not only because I’m on the clock, but because she’s hot as hell. “Uh, I don’t know yet.”
Taggart says, “He may need a children’s menu or a few minutes.”
She smiles at Taggart. “Of course. I’ll be back with your coffee.”
I watch her walk away, fascinated by her grace and her perfect ass. Several zings fly through me, a reminder I haven’t had sex or touched a woman in over a non-fucking year, not that I’ve handled more than one. I’ve found zero balance or desire for anyone other than Audrey. Until now.
Again, Taggart clears her throat, and I whip my attention to her. “What is so fascinating, Officer McGrath?”
“N-nothing. Why?”
She taps her index finger onto the table. “Let me tell you something. That young woman right there? Natalia? She’s a big no for you.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“You think you’re the first police officer to lust after her?” Her creepy smile returns. “She’s not interested.”
“Uh, okay. Neither am I.” Taggart doesn’t need a status update on the happenings in the crotch of my pants.
Taggart frowns. “Yeah. We’ll see. You might just have to put your hand in the cage and get bitten before you learn that lesson. And I will warn you again…your career hangs on whether or not you successfully complete field training. So, as I have advised my previous recruits, keep your hormones in check. Being a police officer is extremely difficult, and your focus needs to be on learning and becoming a better officer, not finding your next fly-by-night fling. Your storied law enforcement family is counting on you. Understood?” I know what I have to prove and what’s at stake. I can’t fuck this up. She doesn’t need to remind me every five minutes.
Reluctantly, I nod when I’d rather tell her to go to hell. Taggart pulls her phone out of her pocket and says, “I need to make a call. Order your food. I won’t wait around all day for you to eat it.”
Taggart leaves the booth, but I shoot daggers at her skull as I observe our surroundings, always on alert now. A body obscures my vision as a coffee cup lands at our table. “Have you decided?”
Instead of ordering, I ask, “What’s the name of this place? I couldn’t make it out on the sign.”
“Dinah’s.”
“Dinah’s Diner. It’s a mouthful. Did they not think that through?”
“She was the cook’s grandmother and the owner. Your sandwich?”
I stall. “Do you know Sergeant Taggart well?”
Natalia’s gorgeous face rumples as if I asked for her bra size. “Since I was born. She eats lunch here every day and sits in my section. So, yes. Do you want to order?”
“Is she always so abrupt?”
“She’s blunt, yes. Do you need more time?”
“She’s my field training officer.”
“Cool,” she says, clearly bored as she taps her pen against the notepad. But inexplicably, I’m determined for a turnaround.
Natalia? That’s a name I don’t hear often. Do you go by anything else?”
“Natalia. I can come back.”
“No, wait. I’m Dylan McGrath. Do you have a last name, or do you just go by one like Kesha?”
“Why do you need to know my last name, Officer McGrath?”
“Just curious since I’ll see you pretty much every day.”
“And you’ll probably eat the same thing every day, so I’ll get to know your usual, not your name, rank, and serial number.”
“Okay. I gave you my name. My rank is an officer, and I only have a badge number, 22506.”
I grin as she purses her lips and moves her gaze from me as she fidgets with her pen. “I have other tables, so…”
The nearly empty diner’s silence squeals as I look around. “Sure. Okay. I’ll take a club with a sweet tea.”
“Fine.” She offers a quick, courteous smile and takes my menu, leaving without so much as a fuck off.
Taggart returns, compounding the female loathing piling upon me. Taking a chance, I ask, “Natalia said she’s known you since she was a kid?”
Taggart radiates more sourness. “I told you to leave her alone.”
“I am. She offered.” Maybe I interrogated.
“I knew her father.”
“Knew? Oh, well…” I don’t know what to say to that.
“He’s not dead, for crying out loud. Let’s just leave it there.”
“Here you go…Doug, wasn’t it?” Natalia sets down a glass of iced tea in front of me.
“Dylan.”
“Right. Sorry.” She smiles, but it’s not for my benefit. Regardless, real or not, her smile is the best thing I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying more than I want to admit.
Natalia tucks stray hair behind her ear, and her silver nail polish glitters. “Lynn, your Reuben will be out in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, honey.” Honey? I didn’t know affection was possible from Taggart.
When Talia leaves, her body again draws me in as she walks. Her ass is flawless. My hands could cup her tits completely. Audrey’s tits are small, but I didn’t think much of it until now.
“And that was a time I was an Iron Chef.”
I look at Taggart. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re not listening to a word I said regarding needing to pass your field training. Natalia. You’re drooling.”
I send her an acidic frown of my own. “I’m positive I wasn’t drooling.” Maybe I was. I didn’t realize how much I need to get laid.
“She doesn’t need you to jerk her around.” But hell, she could jerk me.
“I’m not.”
“Lynn, your sandwich.” She sets a plate in front of Taggart and then turns to me. “Please excuse me. What was your name again?”
“Dylan.”
“Oh, yes. Here’s yours. Enjoy.”
I hear laughing, and I look to see Taggart, entertained. “She does not like you.”
“What did I do? I don’t even know her.”
“I told you to leave her alone.” She shakes her head, and I try to eat but steal glances, watching Natalia bending over tables, her uniform skirt sliding up her leg, and my once-dormant dick has so many thoughts about it.
“Ready? Let’s catch speeders.” Sure. She’ll sit there, judging me while I do all the fucking work.
I mumble, “Can’t wait,” which earns me a glare.
“Thin ice, McGrath.”
I wish I were falling through some.






AUTHOR BIO


Ren Alexander writes steamy contemporary romance, including the Wild Sparks Series, and contributes to K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Series from her desk in Motown—Detroit, Michigan. Yes, part of her state is shaped like a mitten, 8 Mile Road really exists, and Eminem is her neighbor and carpool buddy. Unfortunately, she and Slim Shady don’t ride in the same car. She’s still working on that part.

Writing her romance novels with a big dose of reality, the good and bad, Ren embraces the gritty and raw with a side of funny and crazy. No matter what, there is always an explosion. You never know what you'll get in her mixed bag. That's personal, anyway.

Ren lives in Detroit, Michigan, with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.


GIVEAWAY

Friday, 26 March 2021

Release Blitz - Rebel Rook by Ren Alexander




Title: Rebel Rook
An Everyday Heroes World Novel
Author: Ren Alexander
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 25, 2021


BLURB

Dylan McGrath, a rookie cop with something to prove and everything to lose.

Dumped. There, I said it. The day after my twenty-first birthday, my girlfriend of two years ditched me in front of an audience. Drowning my sorrows in a park, a cop throws me into the back of a cruiser. It’s not my first ride or my greatest achievement, angering legendary law enforcement swarming my family tree, but who cares? Smelling fresh blood, self-righteous, law-abiding family and friends gang up on me, drawing a line in the sand. Doing the unthinkable yet inevitable, we strike a deal, but not without a fight.

Graduating from the police academy, I clash with field training officers who hand me off faster than a live grenade. Though my job is to enforce laws, I love to break the rules and refuse to follow any leader. On the verge of embarrassing the revered Malones again, I’m reassigned to a tough sergeant who hates me for existing on her dime.

Vowing to nail training, a gorgeous waitress blows that notion to smithereens. Distrusting the police, Natalia Welch wants nothing to do with me. Because of her horrific past, I'm told to steer clear or fail training. But I can't, and Natalia and I grow closer until she freaks out about our slight age difference. However, the more she avoids me, the more we crave each other, leading to a passionate explosion that could end my career or her life.

Ren Alexander’s Rebel Rook is a provocative, riveting, and poignant contemporary romance written in K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Worlds project.







PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited





PLAYLIST



EXCERPT

I’ve been field-training for three months and have nine months to go. But like Taggart said, I might not make it past this week. And now I want to stab people in a place called Joy Springs. This can’t be my damn life.
Following her, I walk, noting stares, smiles, and some frowns as we approach the front door. It’s both a morale boost and a ball-buster with nothing in between most of the time. I’m still getting used to wearing this blue uniform and carrying a gun—it’s who I am now.
But I’m also the same man mourning a breakup a fucking year later, having no other distraction than the rigors of this job I’m learning, albeit rocking the boat. Audrey has texted me twice, and I’ve had to hand my phone to my police officer roommate, Tristan, to delete them and her number. It was harder to do than getting through the academy.
Taggart holds the door open for me until I’m in reaching distance before she lets it close in my face. “Goddamn it,” I mutter as I yank it open and go to stand beside her at the podium.
A gray-haired, pasty hostess smiles at Taggart and then glances at me. “Is this your new apprentice, Lynn?”
She looks up at me and rolls her eyes before turning back to Doris, or so says her name tag. “For now, at least.” Why does she have to criticize me in front of people? Doesn’t that undermine any authority I might have as long as she says I do? Fuck me.
Doris’s eyes suddenly open like she just saw a ghost. “Wait a minute. I heard a new Malone is here. You’re Chief Malone and Lieutenant Malone’s nephew, and Grant, Grayson, and Grady Malone’s cousin, aren’t you?”
“That’s the rumor.”
She bobs her head, her limp gray curls bouncing to a sad tune. “Do you know them?”
Waiting for her to laugh or elaborate on the idiotic question, I narrow my eyes and slowly answer, “Yeah?”
She smiles at Taggart. “They’re so honorable in their vocations.” Her beady eyes assess me as if I’m the garbage family member no one talks about. She then checks out my nameplate. “Dylan? You do know Grady married a Dylan?”
“You don’t say? Not the same, though. Right?” I laugh while Doris and Taggart do not. Fucking shit, I might as well be citing someone for pissing on a wall.
“I would assume not,” she answers with a huff, and I bite my lip to avoid full-on laughing in her face. “Chief Malone is your uncle,” she states like it’s an unknown fact to me, and she’s the one to break the news of this twist. Doris and Taggart both stare at me like I’m supposed to comment. It’s confirmed when Taggart clears her throat, prompting me.
“Yeah. My mother is his younger sister, and Colin Malone was their uncle and my great-uncle.” I again answer slow enough, so Doris won’t misunderstand my fuck you.
“Well, you have enormous shoes to fill, mister,” Doris mutters, shaking her head and clicking her tongue like she caught me with my pants unbuttoned at all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast.
“I’m not here to fill their shoes. No competition there.”
Doris purses her thin lips, and her watery eyes make a loop over me. “You got that right.” What the hell, lady? “Your table is ready. Have a seat.”
Taggart smiles at Doris but turns to me with a glare. Then she leads the way to a corner booth, with her yanking on my leash. She slides into the furthest bench seat, and I reluctantly sit across from her, turning down the radio on my shoulder. I’m not hungry. Doris comes to our table, saying, “I figured the kid might need a menu. Maybe some crayons and a booster seat, too.” She laughs with Taggart, and I grin, taking it in stride since she’s an old woman. Still, I struggle not to pull my fucking gun, if just to jumpstart her decrepit heart.
“Be courteous, officer. They give us a complimentary lunch every day.”
I nod. “That’s nice of them.” I return to my menu, still not hungry.
Taggart says, “Good afternoon, Natalia.”
I continue to study the menu as a voice next to me asks, “Coffee and a Rueben, Lynn?”
“You know me so well.” Taggart loudly clears her throat, and I look up. “Are you going to be rude?”
“Not at the moment,” I reply, aiming to get her to laugh at one joke before training is over, now or later.
Taggart sharply but silently rebukes me as she again glances away. I follow to see a woman with her mahogany hair in a ponytail, holding a notepad. Her skin is deep, luminous copper, but her sparkling brown eyes grab my attention more than anything. However, the warmth in them ices over, and she stiffly asks, “Your order?”
I grin, not only because I’m on the clock, but because she’s hot as hell. “Uh, I don’t know yet.”
Taggart says, “He may need a children’s menu or a few minutes.”
She smiles at Taggart. “Of course. I’ll be back with your coffee.”
I watch her walk away, fascinated by her grace and her perfect ass. Several zings fly through me, a reminder I haven’t had sex or touched a woman in over a non-fucking year, not that I’ve handled more than one. I’ve found zero balance or desire for anyone other than Audrey. Until now.
Again, Taggart clears her throat, and I whip my attention to her. “What is so fascinating, Officer McGrath?”
“N-nothing. Why?”
She taps her index finger onto the table. “Let me tell you something. That young woman right there? Natalia? She’s a big no for you.”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“You think you’re the first police officer to lust after her?” Her creepy smile returns. “She’s not interested.”
“Uh, okay. Neither am I.” Taggart doesn’t need a status update on the happenings in the crotch of my pants.
Taggart frowns. “Yeah. We’ll see. You might just have to put your hand in the cage and get bitten before you learn that lesson. And I will warn you again…your career hangs on whether or not you successfully complete field training. So, as I have advised my previous recruits, keep your hormones in check. Being a police officer is extremely difficult, and your focus needs to be on learning and becoming a better officer, not finding your next fly-by-night fling. Your storied law enforcement family is counting on you. Understood?” I know what I have to prove and what’s at stake. I can’t fuck this up. She doesn’t need to remind me every five minutes.
Reluctantly, I nod when I’d rather tell her to go to hell. Taggart pulls her phone out of her pocket and says, “I need to make a call. Order your food. I won’t wait around all day for you to eat it.”
Taggart leaves the booth, but I shoot daggers at her skull as I observe our surroundings, always on alert now. A body obscures my vision as a coffee cup lands at our table. “Have you decided?”
Instead of ordering, I ask, “What’s the name of this place? I couldn’t make it out on the sign.”
“Dinah’s.”
“Dinah’s Diner. It’s a mouthful. Did they not think that through?”
“She was the cook’s grandmother and the owner. Your sandwich?”
I stall. “Do you know Sergeant Taggart well?”
Natalia’s gorgeous face rumples as if I asked for her bra size. “Since I was born. She eats lunch here every day and sits in my section. So, yes. Do you want to order?”
“Is she always so abrupt?”
“She’s blunt, yes. Do you need more time?”
“She’s my field training officer.”
“Cool,” she says, clearly bored as she taps her pen against the notepad. But inexplicably, I’m determined for a turnaround.
Natalia? That’s a name I don’t hear often. Do you go by anything else?”
“Natalia. I can come back.”
“No, wait. I’m Dylan McGrath. Do you have a last name, or do you just go by one like Kesha?”
“Why do you need to know my last name, Officer McGrath?”
“Just curious since I’ll see you pretty much every day.”
“And you’ll probably eat the same thing every day, so I’ll get to know your usual, not your name, rank, and serial number.”
“Okay. I gave you my name. My rank is an officer, and I only have a badge number, 22506.”
I grin as she purses her lips and moves her gaze from me as she fidgets with her pen. “I have other tables, so…”
The nearly empty diner’s silence squeals as I look around. “Sure. Okay. I’ll take a club with a sweet tea.”
“Fine.” She offers a quick, courteous smile and takes my menu, leaving without so much as a fuck off.
Taggart returns, compounding the female loathing piling upon me. Taking a chance, I ask, “Natalia said she’s known you since she was a kid?”
Taggart radiates more sourness. “I told you to leave her alone.”
“I am. She offered.” Maybe I interrogated.
“I knew her father.”
“Knew? Oh, well…” I don’t know what to say to that.
“He’s not dead, for crying out loud. Let’s just leave it there.”
“Here you go…Doug, wasn’t it?” Natalia sets down a glass of iced tea in front of me.
“Dylan.”
“Right. Sorry.” She smiles, but it’s not for my benefit. Regardless, real or not, her smile is the best thing I’ve ever seen, and that’s saying more than I want to admit.
Natalia tucks stray hair behind her ear, and her silver nail polish glitters. “Lynn, your Reuben will be out in a few minutes.”
“Thank you, honey.” Honey? I didn’t know affection was possible from Taggart.
When Talia leaves, her body again draws me in as she walks. Her ass is flawless. My hands could cup her tits completely. Audrey’s tits are small, but I didn’t think much of it until now.
“And that was a time I was an Iron Chef.”
I look at Taggart. “I’m sorry?”
“You’re not listening to a word I said regarding needing to pass your field training. Natalia. You’re drooling.”
I send her an acidic frown of my own. “I’m positive I wasn’t drooling.” Maybe I was. I didn’t realize how much I need to get laid.
“She doesn’t need you to jerk her around.” But hell, she could jerk me.
“I’m not.”
“Lynn, your sandwich.” She sets a plate in front of Taggart and then turns to me. “Please excuse me. What was your name again?”
“Dylan.”
“Oh, yes. Here’s yours. Enjoy.”
I hear laughing, and I look to see Taggart, entertained. “She does not like you.”
“What did I do? I don’t even know her.”
“I told you to leave her alone.” She shakes her head, and I try to eat but steal glances, watching Natalia bending over tables, her uniform skirt sliding up her leg, and my once-dormant dick has so many thoughts about it.
“Ready? Let’s catch speeders.” Sure. She’ll sit there, judging me while I do all the fucking work.
I mumble, “Can’t wait,” which earns me a glare.
“Thin ice, McGrath.”
I wish I were falling through some.






AUTHOR BIO


Ren Alexander writes steamy contemporary romance, including the Wild Sparks Series, and contributes to K. Bromberg’s Everyday Heroes Series from her desk in Motown—Detroit, Michigan. Yes, part of her state is shaped like a mitten, 8 Mile Road really exists, and Eminem is her neighbor and carpool buddy. Unfortunately, she and Slim Shady don’t ride in the same car. She’s still working on that part.

Writing her romance novels with a big dose of reality, the good and bad, Ren embraces the gritty and raw with a side of funny and crazy. No matter what, there is always an explosion. You never know what you'll get in her mixed bag. That's personal, anyway.

Ren lives in Detroit, Michigan, with her husband, two daughters, and two cats.


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