Another Notch on the Bartop

PHOENIX
Why do men have to have all the fun? I’m not about the backward notion that men can sow their wild oats and women have to be pure and innocent. Why should we when it’s so much more fun to turn the tables?

I spend my nights tending bar at Aces and picking up a man when the mood strikes me. I don’t apologize for it and see no reason why I should. I learned a long time ago to follow the fun and stay away from the heartbreak. I’ve noticed Rhett watching me and it sparks something in me, but that doesn’t mean I’ll offer him more than one night.

When he finally approaches me, I figure he’ll be just another name in my little black book. It seems Rhett has other plans, but I can’t imagine changing for a man. Then why does it feel better in his arms than anywhere else? Why does part of me believe him when he tells me I’m his? Maybe it’s time to rise up from the lessons of my past and believe in something more.

RHETT
I’ve always been a good guy—stable job, head on straight, kind to others. It doesn’t all go flying out the window when I’m out with some friends at Aces, a local club, but something shifts. The moment I see Phoenix with her hair like fire and an attitude to match, a possessiveness I’ve never known flares to life.

Part of me is wondering who I am as I stalk her until I see my chance to have a night with her, one I know will prove to her exactly what we are. The rest of me just knows it’s right. Now I have to prove it to the woman who keeps everything surface level.

I’m not just another notch on her bartop, no matter how much she thinks that’s the case. I can see the pain in her eyes and know she’s risen from the ashes before, but I’ll never let anything bad touch her again. The only fire she’ll experience from now on is when I burn her little black book because she’s mine and I’m never letting her go.

*18+ If you like alpha heroes and an insta-love story that is sweet and spicy but isn’t necessarily simple, then this is for you. No cheating with a guaranteed HEA. It is a standalone but is related to my Denver Family series (Banks Ink., Suburban Outcasts and Higgins Security). Phoenix is mentioned in Revealing His Family (Higgins Security Book 5).*

These women own their sexuality and aren’t ashamed of the notches on their bedposts. Will the heroes who come into their lives be enough to show them how good commitment can be and get these ladies to throw out their little black books? Join some of your favorite romance authors for the Notching Boots Series and find out this February.