Need You Tonight

by Marquita Valentine

  I lace my hand through his. It’s all I can do, because I’m too weak to hug him like I want. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He rubs his thumb over the top of my hand. “I’m leaving.”

  “My breath can’t be that bad,” I joke, though my heart is beating so hard against my chest that I can barely stand it.

  He laughs, and then grows serious. “I’m leaving town, Brooklyn. You’ve asked for space and time to think over and over again, yet here I am once again going against your wishes.”

  I can’t speak, because there’s a lump the size of Mt. McKinley in it.

  “But I’ll be back in six months.”

  “Six months?” I weakly echo.

  “I’ll be testifying in court against the woman who started the Butler Agency and the clients that abused me. Raped me. When I was a kid.” The last part is said so quietly that I have to strain to hear him. “There are others. Similar situations, but younger than me.”

  “They were…you were…” I close my eyes, trying to process the horror. “Of course they were…Of course you were. None of you had a choice.” I press my fingers to my eyes, trying to rub away the tears that threaten to fall. “None of you.”

  “God, you’re sweet.” He touches my chin, pulls it up, and kisses me lightly. “But later I did, baby. After all is said and done, I had a choice to stay.”

  My eyes fly open. “No, you didn’t. Your reasoning was skewed. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “You might be right. I might need therapy. Fuck if I know.” He rubs his hands over his face and exhales. “The other reason I’m leaving? I can’t put my family or you through the media circus that will happen. The DA will try to keep my name out of the papers as much as possible before then, but, afterwards, with social media… I can’t risk it.”

  He exhales thickly while I can’t do anything at all but sit there.

  “We can talk on the phone, if you want. Either way, I’ll wait for you. I don’t want to be with anyone else. I love you, Brooklyn Reeves. I love you enough to let you go.”

  *

  Parker

  I said it. I finally admitted everything to her—my plans, my past, my love for her… everything.

  “You love me enough to let me go?” she asks, and I nod. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No.”

  She bursts into tears, covering her face with her hands.

  “What the hell? I thought that would make you happy?” I rub her back, take her in my arms, and rub her back some more. I have no clue how to fix what’s going on in her head. “I thought I was doing the right thing by giving you time.”

  “By moving to the other side of the country?”

  “I can’t stay here, Brooklyn. I can’t. But I don’t want to lose you.” The thought of losing her makes my stomach drop, my heart break, and the rest of my body go numb. “Tell me what to do. I can’t take it when you cry.”

  “Then ask me to go with you,” she sniffs, lifting her head. Her eyes are rimmed in red, she’s ghostly pale, and her hair looks like rats have been living in it, but, if she isn’t the most beautiful woman in the world, then I don’t know who is.

  “Come with me,” I blurt, before she can come to her senses and change her mind.

  “Marry me,” she says.

  “What?”

  “Marry me.”

  “Right now?” I don’t have a ring. I hadn’t allowed myself to buy one, too afraid she would change her mind.

  She laughs. “Not right now, but before we go to Colorado. I don’t want to move there as Mrs. Reeves, widow.”

  “We?”

  “Yes, we. I don’t want to be left behind here all alone, without you. I don’t want to be anywhere unless you’re there with me. I refuse to let you go without me. Since you’ve been gone—since I made you go away, all I think about is you, us, and everything you’ve done for me. You’ve proven your love time and time again, but I was too scared to let myself believe it. But, I’m not scared anymore. I trust and love you,” she says, then glances away. “Unless you changed your mind…”

  I crush her to me. “I haven’t changed my mind.” I pull away, look at her to make sure she’s real, and then hug her to me again. “You can’t change your mind.”

  “I’m not. It’s made up. It’s been made up about you for a long time.” She snuggles into me, her breasts rubbing against my chest and making me hard. I have to remind myself that not even three hours ago, she was puking all over the bathroom floor. “I love you, Parker Morgan. I love you enough not to let you go anywhere with out me.”

  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

  “You’d better.”

  I kiss the top of her head, the tip of her cute nose, and the corner of her mouth. “You won’t mind being Brooklyn Morgan?”

  “I’d love it.” She kisses my cheek. “You’re my present and future, Parker. And I don’t want to waste a single minute more stuck in the past.”

  Epilogue

  Parker

  Six months later

  I take the stand, swearing on the Bible to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Looking around the courtroom, I see familiar faces—some furious, some shocked while others are loving and supportive.

  My wife sits with my lawyer on the second row. My brother looms protectively over Brooklyn, shielding her from the press with his size and menacing glare. When West joins Beau and Wyatt, I get all choked up. They nod encouragingly at me as the district attorney reveals my past to everyone in the room.

  “Mr. Morgan, I’d like to ask you a few question,” he says.

  For a moment, panic sets in, and I lean forward in my seat. Then, Brooklyn catches my eye and mouths I love you. My chest puffs out. I can do this. My friends and my family, while shocked at first, all love and support me.

  Cole glares at the woman sitting on the other side of the room. Yeah, he’s ready to go to jail for me, but this time—the Morgan boys will do things the right way.

  I focus on the man standing in front of me. “I’m ready.”

  *

  We all head to my brother’s place after it’s over. A limo, courtesy of his wife, picks us up and whisks us away from reporters.

  “I won’t have to go back tomorrow,” I tell Brooklyn before pulling her close to me and kissing her. We walk to the backyard, where a party of sorts is set set up by the pool. “There’s really nothing the defense could say or do to me.”

  “But there are a hell of a lot of things I could do to them,” Cole growls.

  “Settle down, Hulk Smash,” Beau says, “Let’s enjoy this side of the bars, yes?”

  Wyatt punches me in the shoulder. “You did good today.”

  “So good you’ll let me deal?” I ask, and Brooklyn laughs. All I talked about on the plane ride over was playing Texas Hold ’Em with the guys. Honestly, it helped keep me calm, and my mind off what I was coming here to do.

  “Not a chance,” West says. “I’m dealer, and Reese’s Pieces are worth hundreds today, boys.”

  “But, I brought gummy worms.”

  “Seriously, Beau. No one with good taste likes those nasty thing.”

  “I do.”

  “Like I say, no one with taste.”

  “Fu—”

  “Parker. Parker!” Kelly screams as she comes barreling toward us. “You’re here. You’re here.”

  I pick her up, relishing the feel of the little girl I helped raise in my arms again. Brooklyn tears up, looking away. Then again, she tears up a lot lately.

  “I’m here. Are you ready to fly back with me and Brooklyn tomorrow?”

  “Yep.” Her brown curls shake. “I packed all my stuff, but then Cole said I had to leave some here because the airplane won’t have room.”

  “What? I bet it can.”

  “No you can’t,” Cole says, taking Kelly from me. “Go play.” He turns his attention back to me. “When she said all her stuff, she literally meant all her stuff. Twenty bags worth.”

/>   Brooklyn giggles. “I thought Parker was bad.”

  “Hair care stuff, right?”

  She nods and I grab her, careful to squeeze her gently. “I can’t believe you’d reveal something so personal.”

  “Dude, everyone knows how you feel about your hair,” Beau says. “Kiss your wife, pat her tummy, and let the baby know you’ll be right back. We have a game to play.”

  “The baby knows you’ll be back, but take your time, I’m starving.” She kisses me and pats my ass, then struts away. Well, as much as a pregnant woman can strut.

  Two weeks after we were married, Brooklyn came down with the stomach flu again, only this time… she stayed sick, but only in the mornings. One quick trip to the doctor revealed she was six weeks along.

  She almost had a breakdown in the doctor’s office, but then she pulled herself together and told me how happy she was. But, I knew the truth and later, she confessed that the first thing she’d thought of was Braden and his desire for a family.

  I held her while she cried tears of joy and sadness.

  Since then, she’s been better, but even if she needs someone to lean on, someone to be strong for because the past creeps up on her, I’ll be there.

  No matter what.

  Love isn’t jealous. It’s kind and patient. It’s accepting—it’s late night talks and early morning kisses. It’s arguing and making up. It’s life with the one you can’t live without.

  “Seriously, bro. Write it on a card or something. I’m ready to play.”

  “I said that out loud?”

  The four of them nod, and my cheeks heat.

  “We thought you were having a moment,” West says, with a gleam in his eyes. He gets it. I know he does.

  “A monthly moment,” Beau adds.

  “Shut it, Montgomery,” Cole snaps.

  Wyatt starts edging his chair back, a small smile on his face as he brings the Reese’s with him.

  “Would you look at that, they’re cycling together.” Beau lays his hand over his heart. “How cute.”

  Oh yeah, he needs his ass kicked. I glance at Cole and take off my suit jacket. “You ready?”

  “Born ready, brother.”

  Beau’s face pales. “Oh shit.”

  We stride to Beau, yank him up by his collar, and hug the ever-loving crap out of him.

  “I’d rather get my ass kicked,” Beau mutters, but he hugs us back.

  “Hush,” Wyatt says.

  “Enjoy the moment. Be the moment,” West says as he gets in on the action.

  “Would you look at that,” someone says. “That’s going on Instagram.”

  “Get my good side, baby,” Beau yells.

  “How about all of you face us, and we can take your pictures properly.”

  We line up, flash our best smiles for the camera phones, and put up with our wives fussing over the pictures.

  I can only imagine how we look, dressed in our Sunday finest—the fighter from the wrong side of the tracks with a heart of gold, the playboy raising a baby without knowing if she’s his, the former Marine suffering from PTSD and in life with his best friend, the rich boy whose money could buy anything but the girl he loved and me—the luckiest guy alive to be able to call these men my friends… and brothers.

  “I know the perfect caption for this,” Rae says and looks up at Cole. “Hot Men of the South.”

  “I don’t know,” Brooklyn says, “They seemed more like boys of the south to me when they were all piling on Beau.”

  I nod. “That fits.”

  “Yeah. Anyway,” Cole huffs. “Let’s eat and celebrate.”

  I stay back, grabbing Brooklyn’s hand, wanting a bit more time with her for some reason I can’t explain.

  “Do you miss living here?” she asks.

  Squinting at the sun, I nod. “Sometimes.”

  “We could always move back, once things die down,” she offers.

  “Maybe one day.”

  She squeezes my hand and lets go. “Ready?”

  I turn to her, placing my hands on her small belly. “I love you, Mrs. Morgan.”

  “And I love you, Mr. Morgan.”

  Thank you for reading NEED YOU TONIGHT. Please consider leaving a review, and if you’d like to be first to know when my newest releases are available, please sign up for my newsletter: www.marquitavalentine.com/contact

  Up next for my Boys of the South Series is Rowan and Seth’s story, called TAKE THE FALL, coming December 2014.

  Sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Marine Seth O’Connor has finally come back home to bury his grandmother. Only, the one person he blames for his time in jail, is the one person he has to work with to settle his grandmother’s estate—Rowan Simmons.

  For five years, Rowan Simmons has lived life on her terms, vowing to never fall for any man. They’re all full of empty promises, and they all leave when they get what they want. But when her sexy former flame, Seth, comes back to Forrestville, North Carolina, Rowan’s vow not to fall starts to crumble.

  Can Seth and Rowan protect their hearts, or will their undeniable chemistry burn them both?

  More Books By Marquita Valentine

  Boys of the South Series

  Live For You

  Only For You

  True For You

  All For You

  Wish For You

  Burn For You

  Need You Tonight

  Take The Fall

  Holland Springs Series

  Drive Me Crazy

  Twice Tempted

  Third Time’s a Charm

  His Christmas Wish

  Just Desserts

  Not Over You

  Be Mine

  The Request Trilogy

  The Request

  The Deception

  The Confession

  Kindle Worlds

  All The Right Moves

  The Lawsons-coming 2015

  Love So Hot

  Love So True

  Acknowledgements

  I am ever grateful for the comments, critiques and cheers of Andris Bear, Carly Phillips, Andrea Thompson, Amanda Clark, and Autumn Hull. Big thanks to my editor for her awesome eye and suggestions. I’m also ever grateful for my fans and my family. Thank you for continuing to support me!

  Author Bio

  New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, Marquita Valentine, writes sexy heroes that make you swoon and sassy heroines that make you laugh. She’s the author of the bestselling contemporary romance series, Holland Springs, and the new adult romance series, Boys of the South.

  Marquita met her husband aka Hot Builder at Sonic when they were in high school. She suggests this location to all of her single friends in search of a good man—and if that doesn’t work, they can console themselves with cheesy tatertots. She lives in North Carolina in a very, very small town with Hot Builder and their two children.

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  marquita.valentine@yahoo.com