My Sinful Nights
Book One in the Sinful Men Series
Lauren Blakely
Little Dog Press
Contents
Also by Lauren Blakely
Author’s Note
About
My Sinful Nights
His Prologue
Her Prologue
His Second Prologue
1. Shannon
2. Brent
3. Shannon
4. Brent
5. Shannon
6. Brent
7. Shannon
8. Brent
9. Shannon
10. Brent
11. Shannon
12. Brent
13. Shannon
14. Brent
15. Shannon
16. Brent
17. Shannon
18. Brent
19. Shannon
20. Brent
21. The Guy Outside the Building
22. Shannon
23. Brent
24. Shannon
25. Brent
26. Mindy
27. Brent
28. Shannon
29. Brent
30. Shannon
31. Brent
32. Brent
33. Brent
34. Shannon
35. Ryan
36. Shannon
37. Brent
38. Shannon
39. Shannon
40. Brent
41. Shannon
42. Brent
43. Brent
44. Shannon
45. Brent
46. Shannon
47. Dora
48. Shannon
49. Brent
50. Shannon
51. Brent
Epilogue
Epilogue
Epilogue
Also by Lauren Blakely
Contact
Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Blakely
Cover Design by Helen Williams.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This contemporary romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This book is licensed for your personal use only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, especially if you enjoy sexy romance novels with alpha males. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Also by Lauren Blakely
Big Rock Series
Big Rock
Mister O
Well Hung
Full Package
Joy Ride
Hard Wood
P.S. It's Always Been You Series
P.S. It’s Always Been You: Part 1
P.S. It’s Always Been You: Part 2
P.S. It’s Always Been You: Part 3
The Gift Series
The Engagement Gift
The Virgin Gift
The Decadent Gift
The Heartbreakers Series
Once Upon a Real Good Time
Once Upon a Sure Thing
Once Upon a Wild Fling
Boyfriend Material
Asking For a Friend
Sex and Other Shiny Objects
One Night Stand-In
Lucky In Love Series
Best Laid Plans
The Feel Good Factor
Nobody Does It Better
Unzipped
Always Satisfied Series
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Instant Gratification
Overnight Service
Never Have I Ever
Special Delivery
The Sexy Suit Series
Lucky Suit
Birthday Suit
From Paris With Love
Wanderlust
Part-Time Lover
One Love Series
The Sexy One
The Only One
The Hot One
The Knocked Up Plan
Come As You Are
Sports Romance
Most Valuable Playboy
Most Likely to Score
Standalones
Stud Finder
The V Card
The Real Deal
Unbreak My Heart
The Break-Up Album
21 Stolen Kisses
Out of Bounds
The Caught Up in Love Series:
The Swoony New Reboot of the Contemporary Romance Series
The Pretending Plot (previously called Pretending He’s Mine)
The Dating Proposal
The Second Chance Plan (previously called Caught Up In Us)
The Private Rehearsal (previously called Playing With Her Heart)
Stars In Their Eyes Duet
My Charming Rival
My Sexy Rival
The No Regrets Series
The Start of Us
The Thrill of It
Every Second With You
The Seductive Nights Series
First Night (Julia and Clay, prequel novella)
Night After Night (Julia and Clay, book one)
After This Night (Julia and Clay, book two)
One More Night (Julia and Clay, book three)
A Wildly Seductive Night (Julia and Clay novella, book 3.5)
The Joy Delivered Duet
Nights With Him (A standalone novel about Michelle and Jack)
Forbidden Nights (A standalone novel about Nate and Casey)
The Sinful Men Series
My Sinful Nights
My Sinful Desire
My Sinful Longing
My Sinful Love
The Fighting Fire Series
Burn For Me (Smith and Jamie)
Melt for Him (Megan and Becker)
Consumed By You (Travis and Cara)
The Jewel Series
A two-book sexy contemporary romance series
The Sapphire Affair
The Sapphire Heist
Author’s Note
I originally wrote Sweet Sinful Nights in 2015. Late last year, as I reread the book, I saw an opportunity to improve aspects of it. But improvements are never simple. Once I went into the story to change how it started, nearly everything changed.
And I believe those changes are for the better.
If you’ve never read this sexy, emotional, and suspenseful romance, I hope you savor every page. If you’re reading it again, I hope you love the new characterizations of the hero and heroine, as well as the motivations, tension, and conflict. While the underlying details of the characters’ professions, hometown, relationships, and circumstances remain the same, nearly everything else is new—including the dialogue, how they interact, and why. All told, this reimagined storyline contains about 80 percent new material.
About
A sexy, emotional, heart-stopping romance novel from #1 New
York Times Bestselling author Lauren Blakely…
Ten years ago, I let the love of my life slip through my fingers. It’s my greatest regret, especially since she’s all but disappeared. When she walks back into my world unexpectedly, I have one mission — win her back. Whatever it takes.
But the gorgeous, brilliant, tough-as-iron Shannon has secrets of her own, and a family past she’s trying to escape.
Slowly but surely, I break down her walls over our sinful nights together, with a connection more passionate than ever, an intimacy more fiery than it was before.
But the past can only stay behind you for so long. And when the people who want a piece of her family start circling her, I’ll have to prove I’m the man to protect her from her suddenly dangerous present.
My Sinful Nights
By Lauren Blakely
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His Prologue
Ten years ago
Here’s the thing about long-distance relationships.
No one ever tells you how painfully hard they are.
We’re talking run-an-ultra-marathon hard. Learn to write in Mandarin hard.
I was seven months into one, and I still wasn’t used to the missing.
Would I ever be?
On Friday afternoon, I stared at the picture on my desk of my fiancée, gazing at Shannon’s bright blonde hair, short and sleek, pushed back in a slim silver headband. I took in her vibrant eyes, her smile.
To be the person who’d done that for her.
One day more, and I could make my way to see her again.
Twelve more hours till my flight.
A knock sounded on the plastic wall of the tiny cube I called home from nine a.m. to midnight most of the time.
There was always a rap on the proverbial door. There was always something I needed to do. There was never time to linger on Shannon, to think about her, let alone see her.
The thing I wanted most in the world.
I looked up from the picture and into the unshaven face of Jed Hawkins, head writer on Late Night Antics. He smiled, the kind of smile that said I’m about to ask you for a big-ass favor.
Since I was low man on the totem pole, and more than thrilled to have that position here at a late-night comedy show, I put on my most professional grin. “What can I do for you?”
I said it before he even had the chance to tell me what he needed.
That was how you rose in this field. You did it by jumping on opportunities before they even came your way. Otherwise, you were too late. I’d learned that in the first six months at this job. There was always someone waiting in the wings.
Jed scratched his jaw, heaving a sigh, like it pained him to ask the next thing. “Here’s the thing. That series of sketches on the new Marvel flick?”
I nodded. I knew the sketches. I’d worked on them, written a few jokes for them.
“The host wants us to rewrite them,” Jed said with a what can you do expression. His eyes were dark—or maybe it was the bags under them.
There was nothing I could do about that.
What I could do was this.
Don’t let on that the request drives you crazy.
It was just par for the course. Rewrites landed on your plate hourly. As a junior writer on a TV show, you just did them.
“I’ll get started now,” I said.
“And . . . we need the first one by morning. The second by noon. The third by—”
“Tomorrow at this time,” I said, masking the heavy weight in my gut.
I had a plane to catch in the morning.
A plane I didn’t think I was going to make now.
Story of my fucking life. I’d had to cancel the last three trips. Shannon had offered to come here each time, but work had piled up and I wouldn’t have been able to see her even if she did.
Just like I couldn’t see her now.
Because of those damn sketches.
But that series of sketches was the linchpin of the show, so I didn’t have a choice. Jed swiveled around, took a step, then spun back and said with a sigh, “One more thing. Host is going to need you on set this weekend after all. In case there are any other last-minute changes.”
That weight? It was an anchor now, sinking me. Sinking my long-distance love affair. “Got it.”
Jed had the decency to look rueful. He shrugged. “Sorry. I think you were going out of town, but—”
“It’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it.”
He left, and out of habit, I glanced at the clock. But I knew it was already the middle of the night in London.
Too late to call.
Instead, with my shoulders sagging, I sent an email to Shannon, telling her I would have to reschedule my trip. After I hit send, I gave myself a minute to be annoyed.
It had been seven months like this. Seven months since college ended. Seven months since we’d promised to find a way to stay together. We’d known it wasn’t going to be easy. We lived thousands of miles apart, a country and an ocean between us. But we’d had a plan. When school had ended, we’d figured a once-a-month visit was doable. She’d fly here. I’d fly there. Every other month one of us would travel, maybe only for a weekend. But a weekend was worth it.
When you loved someone to the depths of your soul, a weekend was worth it. That was what I told myself over and over and again and again.
The problem was we’d only managed one damn weekend in seven months. All the every-other-month plans had flown out the window. Our schedules had never aligned. Our days off were never the same. And work kept shoving itself in the way, the bully in the lunch line.
You had no choice but to let the bully cut in front of you.
That was how it went at age twenty-two, cutting your teeth after college.
Shannon had scored a golden opportunity as an assistant choreographer for a dance company in London, and I’d landed the chance of a lifetime as a writer on a late-night comedy show. These were the chances we had to take, even if it meant being apart.
Those chances also meant missed chances.
In the break room, I poured myself a cup of coffee.
“Hey you,” Holly, a fellow soldier in the fight for a writer promotion, said with a waggle of her fingers.
“Hi, Holly,” I said, turning around.
“Did you get slammed with a rewrite too?” she asked, setting a hand on my arm.
My gaze drifted to her hand. That was becoming par for the course with her. Little touches. I didn’t know what to make of them, or what to do with them. Did I shrug it off or ignore it?
“I did, but I’ll get it done,” I said.
“Then we’ll all go out to Fred’s to celebrate when the show is in the can,” she said with a dimpled smile, followed by a squeeze of my arm.
“Like we always do,” I said, emphasis on always, since that was the MO for the dozen or so writers on the show. “See you then.”
I returned to my desk, draining the coffee as I stared one more time at the picture of Shannon.
Gritting my teeth, I cursed under my breath, shaking my head in frustration.
This was what seven months of working my ass off had come down to. One opportunity to see my woman and many more canceled ones.
And I had to get her out of my mind or I’d never get my work done.
I dug into the script, shoving Shannon aside.
* * *
The next morning I’d finished the first sketch, and I found an email from her. No worries! I get it! Maybe I’ll find a way to see you soon.
I smiled, tapped the screen, and blew a kiss across the country and the ocean, wishing it were a real one. But as I went into work that weekend, there was no break in sight, no change in sight, and I didn’t know what the hell to do about that.
Or how much longer we could keep thi
s up.
Her Prologue
The lights flickered across the night sky as I peered out the window. I tapped my nails against the armrest. An older woman slumped on my shoulder, fast asleep. Lucky woman. She’d snoozed for ten hours, across the Atlantic and the heartland too. I envied her. I couldn’t sleep at all, not when I knew I’d be seeing Brent in a few hours. Not when I knew I’d be telling him something huge.
Something life-changing. My stomach swooped with nerves as I practiced the words again, as I imagined how I would say them to my man.