He wrapped a hand around her skinny upper arm, all bone and tendons and tender flesh. Heat flashed through his body at the thought of her trying to fight off a grown man. “Can you get in the house? Where’s your room?”
“Mama keeps a key under the flowerpot around front.” Monroe pointed to an open window on the second floor, the drapes swaying with the wind. “That’s my room. I think I can squeeze past my bureau.”
He stifled a curse. A miracle she hadn’t broken her neck. “Go around the front. Run straight to your room and give me a thumbs-up. Remember what I told you?”
“Jam the back of a chair under the door handle whenever Mama brings a man home.”
“Right. I know you’re tired, but you go to school today, you hear?”
“I will.” She took a step away, then whirled back and threw herself into his chest, startling him. His arms came around her automatically to return the hug. She felt as delicate as a baby bird. “Can you come back upriver sometime?”
He should say no for a multitude of reasons. No one would approve of their association for one thing. For another, getting caught would be catastrophic to his family. “Next full moon. Meet me under the cottonwood tree.”
“Thank you, Cade.” Her voice was muffled against his shirt.
“Go on, then.” He let her go and nudged her toward the house. She ran, looking over her shoulder several times. He waited until she came to her window and gave him the signal. After she’d closed her window and drapes, he stood there, nurturing his rage.
He was going to be late for work and lose out on precious wages. Not to mention the fact, he hadn’t actually gotten any poaching done. He circled to the front of the house and settled under an oak tree across the street, trying to stay hidden. Any of the snobby ’Sips along the street could call the police and accuse him of loitering.
An hour later, a man in a well-fitting suit came out the front door of Monroe’s house. Cade muttered a curse. He should have guessed Monroe’s “Sam” was in fact Sam Landry, a prominent insurance salesman with advertisements all over both sides of the river. He was good-looking in a smarmy Sears catalog model kind of way. Now Cade knew Sam’s toothy white smile and perfect hair hid a special kind of depravity.
Cade was on him before he had a chance to unlock the blue BMW in the driveway.
“What the—?” The man’s voice was more outraged than fearful.
Cade looked up and down the street. Deserted. He slid a knife out of his boot, the handle worn to fit his hand. With an arm across Sam’s chest, he set the tip at the crotch of the other man and pushed him against the car door.
“You messed with the wrong girl, Mr. Landry.”
The man’s mouth went slack, his eyes bloodshot, his pores still extruding the scent of liquor.
“Monroe is a friend of mine. You hurt her, and I’ll take it personal. Real personal. You want to go to jail for molesting a child?”
“I didn’t touch that girl.” Sam shoved at Cade’s arm, only managing to move it a couple of inches.
While Cade was only seventeen, he’d physically gained a man’s muscles and had conditioned himself to harness his fear. He couldn’t afford to back down from anyone. “Only ’cause she ran off.”
The man stopped fighting him, his voice oozing charm and good-humor. “You got it all wrong, boy. She’s trying to get me in trouble. Doesn’t want me to marry her mama. Plus, she’s got a little crush on me. Bad combination. You know how these young girls can be. Silly and impressionable.”
Monroe hadn’t seemed either to him. “I’m more inclined to believe her than you, mister. Especially considering I can still smell liquor on you.”
The man’s face tightened and his body jerked against Cade’s arm. “I know you. You’re a Louisiana swamp rat. You think the police will believe you over me?” This man was used to being in charge, used to being heard, while Cade did his business in the shadows.
“Probably not.” Cade held the man’s gaze and let the tension build in the silence. “How about I dish out swamp rat justice then? I’ll cut your shriveled little balls off and feed them to a wild hog. You’ll be singing soprano in the church choir the rest of your days.”
“You wouldn’t touch me.”
Cade bared his teeth in the mimicry of a smile. He pushed the tip of his knife through the wool fabric of the man’s suit pants, twisting and sliding the blade until a gaping foot-long hole revealed a pair of pink-and-blue-striped boxers.
Cade amped up his redneck accent. “I’d enjoy guttin’ you and throwin’ you to the gators.”
Sam’s throat worked, but no sound emerged. A man walking a high-stepping white poodle with a ridiculous pink bow came into view two houses down. Cade needed to wrap this up before the ’Sip called the law.
“Let me tell you how this is going to go down. You’re going to break it off with Monroe’s mama. You’re going to move out of this house. And if I ever see you hanging around, you and I are going to take a little trip out to the swamps. Got me?”
Sam jerked his head, his mouth twisted. Cade removed his arm, slid the knife back into his boot, and walked away in one smooth motion. In the light of day, he couldn’t traipse over others people’s property back to his boat. It would be a hot, hour-long walk back to where he’d left his truck. At best, he’d miss half his shift and half his pay. At worst, he’d get fired and come home empty-handed.
Looking over his shoulder at the grand white house, he smiled. Either way, it had been worth it.
Learn more about KISS ME THAT WAY…
Also Available by Laura Trentham
Contemporary Romance
Kiss Me That Way, Cottonbloom Book 1
Then He Kissed Me, Cottonbloom Book 2
Till I Kissed You, Cottonbloom Book 3
Candy Cane Christmas, Cottonbloom Novella
Leave the Night On, Cottonbloom Book 4
Slow and Steady Rush, Falcon Football Book 1
Caught Up in the Touch, Falcon Football Book 2
Melting Into You, Falcon Football Book 3
Historical Romance
An Indecent Invitation, Spies and Lovers Book 1
A Brazen Bargain, Spies and Lovers Book 2
Coming Soon from Laura Trentham
When the Stars Come Out, Cottonbloom Book 5 (Jan 2018)
Set the Night on Fire, Cottonbloom Book 6 (Aug 2018)
Author’s Note: I hope you enjoyed Light Up the Night! This novella gives you a taste of Cottonbloom, a town straddling the Louisiana/Mississippi state line. The rivalries have been bred into the residents which makes cross-river courtships all the more exciting!
I write (mostly) small town romance because I was born and raised in a small town in Northwest Tennessee. Although, I loved English and reading in high school, I was convinced an English degree equated to starvation! So, I chose the next most logical major - Chemical Engineering- and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years. Now I live in South Carolina with my husband and two children. In between school and homework and soccer practices, I love to get lost in another world, whether it's Regency England or small town Alabama.
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www.LauraTrentham.com
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