From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Ashley comes a new story in her Dream Man seriesโฆ
Charlotte โLottieโ McAlister is in the zone. Sheโs ready to take on the next chapter of her life, and since she doesnโt have a man, sheโll do what sheโs done all along. Sheโll take care of business on her own. Even if that business means starting a family.
The problem is, Lottie has a stalker. The really bad kind. The kind that means she needs a bodyguard.
Enter Mo Morrison.
Enormous. Scary.
Quiet.
Mo doesnโt say much, and Lottieโs used to getting attention. And she wants Moโs attention. Badly.
But Mo has a strict rule. If heโs guarding your body, thatโs all heโs doing with it.
However, the longer Mo has to keep Lottie safe, the faster he falls for the beautiful blonde who has it so together, she might even be able to tackle the demons heโs got in his head that just wonโt die.
But in the end, Lottie and Mo donโt only have to find some way to keep hands off until the threat is over, they have to negotiate the overprotective Hot Bunch, Lottieโs crazy stepdad, Tex, Moโs crew of frat-boy commandos, not to mention his nutty sisters.
All before Lottie finally gets her Dream Man.
And Mo can lay claim to his Dream Girl.
A new novella in the Dream Man series is coming this week and it’s so fabulous! QUIET MAN gives us the story of Mo & Lottie (Jet’s sister) and theirs is a story of instant heat tempered by the danger of a terrifying threat. Someone is after Lottie and Mo’s job is to protect her. He’s quiet, huge in stature, and every bit her dream man. But while she’s in peril, Mo must stamp his intensifying feelings for Lottie, else he lose his focus.
Fans of the Dream Man series will revel in their story, and in the chaos that undoubtedly ensues when commandos, Rock Chicks and the Hot Bunch come into the mix!
Enjoy a sneak peek of QUIET MAN below…
She was a talker.
This was Moโs lot in life. Being surrounded by women who were talkers.
โWhat?โ he asked.
โYou said you sleep for four hours a night. What do you do for the other four?โ
He wanted her to go to sleep.
He wanted her to go to sleep so maybe he could go to sleep (though he didnโt hold a ton of hope for that) and therefore stop thinking about her in that tiny, green satin nightie with all the cream lace sheโd come out of her bathroom wearing.
Or the fact she wasnโt ten feet away from him, that hot little body alone in that big bed.
He did not want to talk about what he did with the extra four hours he had that others didnโt.
In fact, Mo wasnโt a big fan of talking at all.
โI work out,โ he said.
โFor four hours?โ she asked.
โHavinโ a job with Hawk isnโt nine to five. I also work missions.โ
โMissions?โ
โYeah.โ
โYou call them โmissions,โ not โcases?โโ
โYeah.โ
โWhy?โ
Lord save him from chatty women.
โBecause weโre all former soldiers, not ex-cops,โ he shared.
โAll of you?โ
โYeah.โ
โHow many of you are there?โ
Good Christ.
โLottie, go to sleep.โ
He heard her loud sigh and then, โI canโt. Iโm always jazzed after a night on.โ
She should be exhausted.
She only worked at most thirty-six minutes in the four and a half hours she was at Smithieโs (not counting the hour and a half she needed to be there before her first set to get ready), but when she was dancing she gave it her all.
Not to mention, she did new full makeup and changed her hair for each set, not just the outfit she took off. It was an all-new Lottie every time she appeared on stage.
No one could say she didnโt work for her percentage of the cover, if she got one. But no one bought a house like this on Gaylord a block from City Park who didnโt make some cake.
Mo wanted her to be exhausted. Needed her to be. Not only so sheโd shut up, but because he didnโt need to be thinking she was โjazzedโ which would only make him consider the varied ways heโd help her work that off, how much heโd enjoy them and how much more heโd enjoy making her enjoy them.
โCount sheep,โ he advised.
โDoes that work?โ
Fuck if he knew.
โPut your body to sleep inch by inch,โ he said.
That always worked for Trine, Sister #4. She was always on the move. Constantly busy. Found it hard to shut down. Even as a kid.
When they were little, Mo would sit with her and whisper, โStart with your toes, Treenz. Point. Flex. Then put โem to sleep.โ
Always, by the time he got to her belly, Trine was out.
โSay what?โ Lottie asked.
โStart with your toes,โ Mo said. โPoint โem. Flex โem. Then put โem to sleep.โ
He gave it a sec.
โYou doinโ that?โ he asked.
โYeah,โ she told him.
โNow your feet,โ he ordered into the dark. โPoint, flex, then feel โem get heavy and let them go.โ
Another second and he let that go to two.
โNow your calves,โ he continued. โTighten โem. Let them go. Feel โem relax. Then put โem to sleep.โ
Mo gave it another sec.
And another.
And one more.
โThey asleep?โ he asked.
โYeah,โ she answered. โI think so.โ
โNow your knees.โ
โIs this what you do?โ she asked.
โIt doesnโt work if you talk through it,โ he told her.
โRight,โ she muttered.
โKnees, Lottie.โ
โโKay,โ she mumbled.
It took to her shoulders, Mo making his voice quieter and quieter, giving it more time in between, before he started on the neck and she didnโt answer.
Good.
She was asleep.
Mo stared at the ceiling but could see nothing but Lottie in that nightie.
The nightie morphed into her dancing.
Fuck.
Torture.
He rolled to his side and closed his eyes.
And saw her face, terrified, eyes filled with tears.
He opened his, moved his hand, found his gun under the toss pillow right where he put it.
Mo drew in a big breath and released it.
He tried that again.
After that, he started with his toes.
They were still in boots.
He gave up after getting all the way to his scalp and fell asleep two hours later with his hand curled around the butt of his gun.