Novels by Rosemary J. Brooke

Everything changed.Not loudly.Not violently.Just suddenly.Levi's entire body went rigid.And the second his green eyes landed on Elias...Something in him snapped."Truck."I blinked."What?""Now.""Levi—""Now."Beside me, I felt Elias straighten.Not angry.Not threatened.But no longer amused."My name is Elias," he said calmly.Levi barely looked at him."I wasn't talking to you."My eyebrows shot toward Heaven."Excuse me?""Ruby."His voice sharpened."Truck.""No."His eyes flashed."No?""No.""Ruby, let's go.""I said no."Levi took a step toward me.And before I could say another word—Elias stepped between us.Not much.Barely half a step.But enough.Enough to make my stomach drop."She's not getting in the truck because you tell her to."Sweet Jesus.Levi stared."The hell she ain't."Elias' voice remained calm."Interesting choice of words.""Who the hell are you?""Elias.""I didn't ask your damn name.""And yet I gave it to you."Oh no.Oh sweet Lord.No.No.No.

Danger.That was the problem.This was dangerous.Not because he was frightening.Quite the opposite.And that was somehow worse.Without another word, I turned abruptly and started walking.Fast.Or at least fast for a woman with a bad knee and dignity hanging on by a thread."Hey!"I ignored him."Hey!"Footsteps.Long footsteps.Which wasn't fair because God had clearly gifted him with legs that belonged on a giraffe."Ruby!"I froze.Then kept walking."Is this normal for you?"I stopped.Slowly turned around."What?"He finally caught up.Breathing normally.Which offended me."Is what normal?"He smiled."Just abruptly walking away from conversations."I felt sheepish."No.""No?""No."I looked away."I just realized this was dangerous."He blinked.Then looked genuinely shocked."Dangerous?"I nodded."Kinda."His eyebrows rose."Talking to me?"The way he said it was almost sarcastic.Like he couldn't imagine such a thing.I chuckled."Kinda."His expression changed.Confused

I blinked.Then blinked again.And slowly, the kitchen came back into focus.The grill.The dish station.The smell of bacon.Dani.Concern still painted across her face.And somewhere beyond those swinging doors...Coffee eyes.My heart promptly attempted to file for divorce."I'm fine."Dani's eyebrows shot toward Heaven."Girl, don't insult my intelligence.""I'm serious.""Ruby.""I'm breathing.""Barely."I laughed weakly."That's fair."She still looked worried."No, honey, I'm serious. You went white as a sheet.""I just…"I sighed."I don't know."And that was the truth.Because I didn't.Whatever had happened...Whatever that strange feeling under my skin was...It wasn't painful.But it sure wasn't normal.Dani reached up and touched my forehead."No fever.""Disappointed?""No."She folded her arms."I'm closing early."I blinked."What?""The bus.""Dani—""The bus.""I'm fine.""The bus.""Dani.""The bus."I snorted."The bus.""Thank you."She nodded proudly."You final

The strange energy racing beneath my skin wasn't painful.It wasn't even unpleasant.That was the problem.It felt too good.Too alive.Like electricity and sunshine and every embarrassing thing a woman should not be feeling over a man she'd spoken to exactly twice."Nope."I covered my face."No."Absolutely not.I was thirty-four years old.Not fourteen.Not sixteen.Not some teenager losing her mind over a pretty smile.I was a grown woman.With bills.And a bad knee.And cholesterol.I knew better.Or at least I was supposed to.But the harder I tried to breathe...The more I remembered being fourteen.I was mad.Not regular mad.The kind of mad only teenage girls and betrayed cats could achieve.Mama had picked up husband number two.And I hated him.Not disliked.Hated.The man wore enough cologne to kill small animals and looked at women like he was doing them a favor by breathing in their direction.Which, in my opinion, made him a nasty old pervert.I sat beside Grandma Mae o

"What?!" Dani nearly dropped the coffee pot."He said what?!" she repeated, louder this time.Half the restaurant looked over.I winced."Dani.""No. No, absolutely not. That man is mentally unstable.""Dani—""He called you reckless?"I nodded."He called you selfish?"Another nod.She slapped the counter."I swear on everything holy, Ruby, if Earl Ray wasn't technically family—""Dani.""I'm serious! The audacity. The unmitigated male audacity."Despite myself, I laughed.That was the thing about Dani.She was beautiful enough to stop traffic, but mean enough to keep it moving.Eventually, she calmed down enough to shove a cup of coffee at me."I hate men.""Me too.""We should leave."I blinked."What?""We should pack up, skip town, and disappear. Go somewhere nobody knows us."I snorted."And do what?"Dani frowned."We'll figure it out.""Dani, I'm thirty-four years old. The only job I've ever had is this diner.""So?""So respectable businesses don't exactly line up to hire wom

I woke up mad.Not sad.Not scared.Mad.Which was probably an improvement, considering the dreams I’d had were the kind a decent woman had no business having about a man whose name she didn’t even know.I stared at my ceiling and covered my face with both hands.“Nope.”The dreams had been warm.Too warm.Dark curls.Coffee eyes.A hand at my waist.A voice close to my ear.I sat up so fast the room tilted.“Nope,” I said again, louder this time.Dreams like that meant nothing good.Not for women in my family.Grandma Mae used to say dreams were letters from places we couldn’t visit while awake.I had always thought that sounded beautiful.Until I started receiving mail I never asked for.So I did what I had always done best.I ignored it.I got dressed in jeans, a clean shirt, and the kind of bra that said I had accepted adulthood but not joy. My curls had decided overnight to expand in all directions, so I wrestled them into something that looked less like a fox had nested in my he