Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,97

meals for Thanksgiving, ensuring every one of her children was going to be there, even if they could only stop in for a few minutes.

Not that any of them had ever done a fly-by on the house when they could help it. And yes, Brantley had been given a reprieve for the years he’d missed when he’d been deployed, but he had always made a point to call home to talk to his parents, ensure they knew he was thinking about them.

Brantley would admit he looked forward to getting together with his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephew, hanging out. His siblings were the same way. Although they all lived nearby, most of them still in Coyote Ridge, they didn’t get together as often as they would like. Unlike Curtis and Lorrie, Sunday dinners rarely involved all of them, even though Brantley knew the grandkids usually stopped in to see Grams and Poppop on the weekends.

“Damn, dude, you’re cuttin’ it close, aren’t ya?” Trey asked when Brantley walked into the house, Reese and JJ behind him. “The game’s about to start.”

The scent of food drifted toward him, his stomach rumbling in response, but he ignored it, in lieu of addressing his brother. Unlike the rest of them, Brantley wasn’t a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, so watching the big game on Turkey Day was never a thing for him.

“Reese, please tell me you’re a Cowboys fan,” Killian said by way of greeting.

“I’m more of a winnin’ team kinda fan,” Reese said, deadpan.

Trey’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he shot to his feet. “Blasphemy! We’ll have none of it in this house.”

And just like that, Reese was brought into the fold. Greetings were shouted along with jokes and laughter as they all met Reese, most for the first time. Brantley had known it would be that way. There were too many people for him to be put on the spot.

Not to mention, Tesha seemed to be a crowd pleasure, immediately gaining the attention from the little kids. Although she remained right at Reese’s right leg, Brantley was surprised at how easily the dog settled in with the rowdy bunch. He was happy to see she was starting to trust again.

“Sit,” he ordered Reese. “I’ll grab you a beer.”

“Mind if I say hello to your mom and dad first?” he asked quietly.

Smiling, he led the way to the kitchen, where his mother was working alongside Cal and Sadie while their father sat on a stool and watched them do their thing.

Frank turned, evidently hearing them approach.

Brantley squeezed his shoulder. “Dad.”

His father patted his hand, turned on his stool before standing. “Sure glad you could make it,” he said to Reese.

“Thank you for havin’ me, sir.”

“None of that sir nonsense.” Frank chuckled as he looked past Reese. “Look who it is, Momma,” he called to his wife. “She ain’t a little girl anymore.”

Iris came around the island, a beaming smile on her face. She first greeted Reese with a hug that had him looking helplessly to Brantley. Then she hurried along to JJ, doting on her as was her style.

Brantley motioned Reese toward the island. “Hey, guys, I’d like you to meet Reese. Reese, my sister Sadie, my brother Cal.”

They both nodded and smiled, Cal tacking on a brief, “Howdy.”

“I’d shake your hand, but it’d be more hassle than it’s worth.” Sadie frowned, shook her head. “That did not come out right. Just ignore me, Reese. I meant, you’d get dirty and you’d—”

“He knows what you meant, sis.”

They left Sadie blushing from her blunder and Cal working diligently to keep up and returned to the living room.

For the next three hours, Brantley would spend most of his time laughing at his brothers shouting at the television, watching his nephew try to climb Reese like a tree because, somewhere along the way, they’d become best friends, smiling as Ashley and Meghan attached a bow to Tesha’s collar. Every now and again, he would hear JJ laughing with the girls from their spot at the kitchen table where they were downing margaritas.

And as he sat there, Brantley would let his gaze stray to Reese quite frequently, a very delicious reminder of just how thankful he was this year.

<<<— STAY TUNED —>>>

I hope you enjoyed the third installment of the Off the Books Task Force. There’s definitely more to come for Brantley and Reese, JJ and Baz, and the rest of the task force. Each book in this series is a full-length novel involving a new case and the continuation of the relationships between them all. And I promise not to keep you waiting long for each installment.

If you enjoyed Hide & Seek, please consider leaving a review.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Of course, I have to thank my wonderfully patient husband who puts up with me every single day. If it wasn’t for him and his belief that I could (and can) do this, I wouldn’t be writing this today. He has been my backbone, my rock, the very reason I continue to believe in myself. I love you for that, babe.

Chancy Powley – You continue to come through for me in every way. You even tolerate my inability to answer my text messages in a timely manner. I will apologize for that now and for all future instances because we all know, I’m horrible at it. Just keep in mind, you are the absolute best friend I have and I am forever grateful for your friendship.

Jenna Underwood — Because you continue to be my friend despite the fact that I am the worlds worst friend. Thank you for always being there for me and for the postcards. They make me smile.

I also have to thank my street team – Naughty (and nice) Girls – Your unwavering support is something I will never take for granted.

I can’t forget my copyeditor, Amy at Blue Otter Editing. Thank goodness I’ve got you to catch all my punctuation, grammar, and tense errors.

Nicole Nation 2.0 for the constant support and love. You’ve been there for me from almost the beginning. This group of ladies has kept me going for so long, I’m not sure I’d know what to do without them.

And, of course, YOU, the reader. Your emails, messages, posts, comments, tweets… they mean more to me than you can imagine. I thrive on hearing from you, knowing that my characters and my stories have touched you in some way keeps me going. I’ve been known to shed a tear or two when reading an email because you simply bring so much joy to my life with your support. I thank you for that.

ABOUT NICOLE EDWARDS

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Nicole Edwards lives in the suburbs of Austin, Texas with her husband and their youngest of three children. The two older ones have flown the coup, while the youngest is in high school. When Nicole is not writing about sexy alpha males and sassy, independent women, she can often be found with a book in hand or attempting to keep the dogs happy. You can find her hanging out on social media and interacting with her readers - even when she's supposed to be writing.

Want to know what’s coming next? Or how about see some fun stuff related to Nicole’s books? You can find these, as well as tons of other stuff on Nicole’s website. You can also find A Day in the Life blog posts, which are short stories about your favorite characters, as well as exclusive contests by joining Nicole Nation on Nicole’s website. To join, simply click Log In | Register in the menu.

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BY NICOLE EDWARDS

ALLURING INDULGENCE

Kaleb

Zane

Travis

Holidays with the Walker Brothers

Ethan

Braydon

Sawyer

Brendon

THE WALKERS OF COYOTE RIDGE

Curtis

Jared

Hard to Hold

Hard to Handle

Beau

Rex

A Coyote Ridge Christmas

Mack

BRANTLEY WALKER: OFF THE BOOKS

All In

Without a Trace

Hide & Seek

AUSTIN ARROWS

Rush

Kaufman

CLUB DESTINY

Conviction

Temptation

Addicted

Seduction

Infatuation

Captivated

Devotion

Perception

Entrusted

Adored

Distraction

DEAD HEAT RANCH

Boots Optional

Betting on Grace

Overnight Love

Jared

DEVIL’S BEND

Chasing Dreams

Vanishing Dreams

MISPLACED HALOS

Protected in Darkness

Salvation in Darkness

Bound in Darkness

OFFICE INTRIGUE

Office Intrigue

Intrigued Out of the Office

Their Rebellious Submissive

Their Famous Dominant

Their Ruthless Sadist

Their Naughty Student

Their Fairy Princess

PIER 70

Reckless

Fearless

Speechless

Harmless

Clueless

SNIPER 1 SECURITY

Wait for Morning

Never Say Never

Tomorrow’s Too Late

SOUTHERN BOY MAFIA/DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND

Beautifully Brutal

Without Regret

Beautifully Loyal

Without Restraint

STANDALONE NOVELS

Unhinged Trilogy

A Million Tiny Pieces

Inked on Paper

Bad Reputation

Bad Business

NAUGHTY HOLIDAY EDITIONS

2015

2016