The gentle giant slowly awakens her long-dormant
passion.
NIC
Rossi Brothers #2
JM Stewart
Released Nov 14th, 2016
Single
father Nic Rossi’s only desire is to raise his little girl with the same love
and security his grandparents gave him and his siblings. That is, until Anna
Thompson and her frightened daughter walk into his family restaurant, looking
for employment, and turn his carefully ordered world upside down.
On the run from her abusive ex, Anna wants one thing: a quiet place like Angel Bay to raise her daughter. But she needs a job to pay for that dream, even if her new boss is a man whose sheer size makes her tremble. Yet Nic’s capacity for kindness leaves her feeling safe for the first time in years, and the gentle giant slowly awakens her long-dormant passion.
Then her ex-husband turns up like a bad penny, threatening not only Anna’s safe haven but Nic’s daughter in the bargain, forcing them to choose between love and family.
On the run from her abusive ex, Anna wants one thing: a quiet place like Angel Bay to raise her daughter. But she needs a job to pay for that dream, even if her new boss is a man whose sheer size makes her tremble. Yet Nic’s capacity for kindness leaves her feeling safe for the first time in years, and the gentle giant slowly awakens her long-dormant passion.
Then her ex-husband turns up like a bad penny, threatening not only Anna’s safe haven but Nic’s daughter in the bargain, forcing them to choose between love and family.
Anna
Thompson looked up from her plate, peering at the hulking giant sitting in the
booth across from her. Nic twirled the last bit of spaghetti on his plate,
watching her with careful eyes as he stuffed the bite into his mouth and
chewed. After introducing her to his older brother, Luc, who owned half the
restaurant and worked as the head chef, Nic had indeed raided the ’fridge. He’d made three heaping plates of spaghetti and
meatballs, complete with salad and what smelled like fresh garlic bread sticks.
The man
made her insides shake. The resemblance was uncanny at best, terrifying at
worst. If it weren’t for the other two waitresses, moving silently around the
dining room as they cleaned up for the night, she wouldn’t have stayed. When
she’d gotten her first look at Nic after that sweet waitress let her and Lacey
in, she’d almost turned around a left. He looked so much like Tony her throat
had closed. Both had the same dark brown hair and olive complexion so common in
men of Italian decent. Nic’s eyes were different, though. Tony was dark all
over, including his midnight eyes. Nic’s were a
beautiful shade of amber, and, so far, always seemed to hold a hint of a smile.
She
couldn’t deny he was good-looking. Ten years ago, before Tony, she might have
flirted with his sexy smile, with those beautiful amber eyes. But he stood a
good head and shoulders above her, his body thickly muscled. The power behind
his large, muscular frame made her stomach lurch.
Nic set
his fork on the side of his plate and folded his hands on the table in front of
him. He inclined his head at Lacey. “She was hungry.”
Nic had
given her enough pasta for a grown man, but Lacey had cleaned her plate. She’d
then curled up in the corner of the booth and fallen asleep sitting up.
“And
exhausted.” Anna shook her head, her face warming. “You must think I’m a
horrible mother.”
What
kind of mother couldn’t provide even a meal and a warm bed for her child?
Nic
leaned back in the booth, studying her with shrewd eyes, as if he could see too
much and had already figured her out. “Actually, I don’t. It takes guts to
admit to a complete stranger you have nowhere to sleep.”
Regret
twisted in Anna’s stomach. She shouldn’t have pushed them so hard this time.
She should have stopped in Oregon, when Lacey begged her to camp on the beach
again. Then at least they could have started tomorrow with a full belly, and
with any luck, she might have found another job where she could work for a
while to earn more money before they pushed on.
She’d
been desperate to come here, to this tiny little town on an island in the
middle of the Puget Sound. Tony had gotten too close this last time, and she’d
run again, terrified he’d find them. Hope and sheer, stubborn determination
were the only things keeping her going anymore.
J.M. Stewart is a coffee and chocolate addict who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two sons and two very spoiled dogs. She’s a hopeless romantic who believes everybody should have their happily ever after and has been devouring romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing them has become her obsession.
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