Autumn Night Whiskey (Tequila Rose Book 2) Read online

  Autumn Night Whiskey

  Tequila Rose Duet book 2

  Willow Winters

  Contents

  Also by Willow Winters

  Autumn Night Whiskey

  Prologue

  1. Magnolia

  2. Robert

  3. Brody

  4. Magnolia

  5. Magnolia

  6. Brody

  7. Robert

  8. Magnolia

  9. Brody

  10. Magnolia

  11. Magnolia

  12. Magnolia

  13. Brody

  14. Magnolia

  15. Magnolia

  16. Robert

  17. Magnolia

  18. Magnolia

  19. Brody

  Epilogue

  Also by Willow Winters

  About Willow Winters

  Copyright © 2021 by Willow Winters

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover Design by Lori Jackson Design

  Also by Willow Winters

  Contemporary Romance Standalones

  Knocking Boots (A Novel)

  They were never meant to be together.

  Charlie is a bartender with noncommittal tendencies.

  Grace is looking for the opposite. Commitment. Marriage. A baby.

  Promise Me (A Novel)

  She gave him her heart. Back when she thought they’d always be together.

  Now Hunter is home and he wants Violet back.

  Tell Me To Stay (A Novella)

  He devoured her, and she did the same to him.

  Until it all fell apart and Sophie ran as far away from Madox as she could.

  After all, the two of them were never meant to be together?

  Second Chance (A Novella)

  No one knows what happened the night that forced them apart. No one can ever know.

  But the moment Nathan locks his light blue eyes on Harlow again, she is ruined.

  She never stood a chance.

  Burned Promises (A Novella)

  Derek made her a promise. And then he broke it. That’s what happens with your first love.

  But Emma didn’t expect for Derek to fall back into her life and for her to fall back into his bed.

  Small Town Romance

  Tequila Rose Book 1

  Autumn Night Whiskey Book 2

  He tasted like tequila and the fake name I gave him was Rose.

  Four years ago, I decided to get over one man, by getting under another. A single night and nothing more.

  Now, with a three-year-old in tow, the man I still dream about is staring at me from across the street in the town I grew up in. I don’t miss the flash of recognition, or the heat in his gaze.

  The chemistry is still there, even after all these years.

  I just hope the secrets and regrets don’t destroy our second chance before it’s even begun.

  A Little Bit Dirty (coming 2022)

  From USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling romance author, Willow Winters, comes a second-chance story with a possessive, filthy-mouthed hero who’s not willing to lose the love of his life again.

  You Are Mine Series of Duets

  You Are My Reason (You Are Mine Duet book 1)

  You Are My Hope (You Are Mine Duet book 2)

  Mason and Jules emotionally gripping romantic suspense duet.

  One look and Jules was tempted; one taste, addicted.

  No one is perfect, but that’s how it felt to be in Mason’s arms.

  But will the sins of his past tear them apart?

  You Know I Love You

  You Know I Need You

  Kat says goodbye to the one man she ever loved even though Evan begs her to trust him.

  With secrets she couldn’t have possibly imagined, Kat is torn between what’s right and what was right for them.

  Tell Me You Want Me

  Sue’s story is coming 2021.

  Valetti Crime Family Series:

  A HOT mafia series to sink your teeth into.

  Dirty Dom

  Becca came to pay off a debt, but Dominic Valetti wanted more.

  So he did what he’s always done, and took what he wanted.

  His Hostage

  Elle finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mafia doesn’t let witnesses simply walk away.

  Regret has a name, and it’s Vincent Valetti.

  Rough Touch

  Ava is looking for revenge at any cost so long as she can remember the girl she used to be.

  But she doesn’t expect Kane to show up and show her kindness that will break her.

  Cuffed Kiss

  Tommy Valetti is a thug, a mistake, and everything Tonya needs; the answers to numb the pain of her past.

  Bad Boy

  Anthony is the hitman for the Valetti familia, and damn good at what he does. They want men to talk, he makes them talk. They want men gone, bang - it’s done. It’s as simple as that.

  Until Catherine.

  Those Boys Are Trouble (Valetti Crime Family Collection)

  Collections of shorts and novellas

  Don’t Let Go

  A collection of stories including:

  Infatuation

  Desires in the Night and Keeping Secrets

  Bad Boy Next Door

  Kisses and Wishes

  A collection of holiday stories including:

  One Holiday Wish

  Collared for Christmas

  Stolen Mistletoe Kisses

  All I Want is a Kiss (A Holiday short)

  Olivia thought fleeting weekends would be enough and it always was, until the distance threatened to tear her and Nicholas apart for good.

  Highest Bidder Series:

  Bought

  Sold

  Owned

  Given

  From USA Today best selling authors, Willow Winters and Lauren Landish, comes a sexy and forbidden series of standalone romances.

  Bad Boy Standalones, cowritten with Lauren Landish:

  Inked

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  Mr. CEO

  Three novels featuring sexy powerful heroes.

  Three romances that are just as swoon-worthy as they are tempting.

  Forsaken, (A Dark Romance cowritten with B. B. Hamel)

  Grace is stolen and gifted to him; Geo a dominating, brutal and a cold hearted killer.

  However, with each gentle touch and act of kindness that lures her closer to him, Grace is finding it impossible to remember why she should fight him.

  Read Willow’s sexiest and most talked about romances in the Merciless World

  This Love Hurts Trilogy

  This Love Hurts

  But I Need You

  And I Love You the Most

  An epic tale of both betrayal and all-consuming love...

  Marcus, the villain.

  Cody Walsh, the FBI agent who knows too much.

  And Delilah, the lawyer caught in between.

  A Kiss to Tell (a standalone novel)

  They lived on the same street and went to the same school, although he was a year ahead. Even so close, he was untouchable.

  Sebastian was bad news and Chloe was the sad girl who didn’t belong.

  Then one night changed everything.

  Possessive (a standalone novel)

  It was never love with Daniel Cross and she never thought it would be. It was only lust from a distance. Unrequi
ted love maybe.

  He’s a man Addison could never have, for so many reasons.

  Merciless Saga

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  Heartless

  Breathless

  Endless

  Ruthless, crime family leader Carter Cross should’ve known Aria would ruin him the moment he saw her. Given to Carter to start a war; he was too eager to accept. But what he didn’t know was what Aria would do to him. He didn’t know that she would change everything.

  All He’ll Ever Be (Merciless Series Collection of all 4 novels)

  Irresistible Attraction Trilogy

  A Single Glance

  A Single Kiss

  A Single Touch

  Bethany is looking for answers and to find them she needs one of the brothers of an infamous crime family, Jase Cross.

  Even a sizzling love affair won’t stop her from getting what she needs.

  But Bethany soon comes to realise Jase will be her downfall, and she’s determined to be his just the same.

  Irresistible Attraction (A Single Glance Trilogy Collection)

  Hard to Love Series

  Hard to Love

  Desperate to Touch

  Tempted to Kiss

  Easy to Fall

  Eight years ago she ran from him.

  Laura should have known he'd come for her. Men like Seth King always get what they want.

  Laura knows what Seth wants from her, and she knows it comes with a steep price.

  However it’s a risk both of them will take.

  Not My Heart to Break (Hard to Love Series Collection)

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  Declan Cross' story from the Merciless World.

  Spin off of the Merciless World

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  Love the Way You Hold Me (June 2021)

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  Extended epilogues to the Merciless World Novels

  A Kiss To Keep (more of Sebastian and Chloe)

  Seductive (more of Daniel and Addison)

  Effortless (more of Carter and Aria)

  Never to End (more of Seth and Laura)

  Sexy, thrilling with a touch of dark Standalone Novels

  Broken (Standalone)

  Kade is ruthless and cold hearted in the criminal world.

  They gave Olivia to him. To break. To do as he’d like.

  All because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But there are secrets that change everything. And once he has her, he’s never letting her go.

  Forget Me Not (Standalone novel)

  She loved a boy a long time ago. He helped her escape and she left him behind. Regret followed her every day after.

  Jay, the boy she used to know, came back, a man. With a grip strong enough to keep her close and a look in his eyes that warned her to never dare leave him again.

  It’s dark and twisted.

  But that doesn’t make it any less of what it is.

  A love story. Our love story.

  It’s Our Secret (Standalone novel)

  It was only a little lie. That’s how stories like these get started.

  But with every lie Allison tells, Dean sees through it.

  She didn't know what would happen. But with all the secrets and lies, she never thought she’d fall for him.

  View Willow’s entire collection and full reading order at willowwinterswrites.com/reading-order

  Happy reading and best wishes,

  Willow Winters xx

  Autumn Night Whiskey

  Willow Winters

  One man loved me when I didn’t even like myself. The town whispered that we were star-crossed lovers … among other things. He was my first love, but so out of reach with where fate had taken me.

  With a little girl to look after and a past I wished I didn’t have, things were never going to be easy when it came to my life in this small town. Let alone my love life.

  At least that’s what I thought until he showed up. A former flame who still ignited a part of me I thought had long gone.

  As if life wasn’t complicated enough.

  Two men want me, two men kissed me … and my heart is split between them both.

  Autumn Night Whiskey is book 2 of a contemporary romance duet. Tequila Rose Book 1 must be read first.

  Prologue

  Magnolia

  Three years ago

  Two Advils sit in the palm of my hand, and I’m quick to throw them back and wash them down with a bit of tea. It’s the perfect temperature. A black and white caricature of a Boston terrier wearing pink glasses with a fifties-style bow adorning her ear looks back at me from the ceramic mug as I set it down on the counter. Quietly. Everything is done oh so quietly so I don’t wake up Bridget … again. Please, Lord, let my little girl sleep for more than twenty minutes. Unless she’s on top of me, her little fists holding on to my shirt, sleep is hit or miss.

  Everyone keeps telling me to let her cry it out, but if she’s crying, so am I. I can’t stand the sound of her wailing. It’s like she’s begging me to just pick her up and hold her. Ugh. I don’t know that I can do anything right, but I can at least hold my baby girl.

  I’m grateful for a moment to myself, though. Just a moment.

  I shouldn’t even have caffeine this late, but I needed something soothing. Something that would calm me down after the day I’ve had. Or maybe I should say, the day we’ve had.

  The sudden knock, knock, knock at the front door has me sucking in a breath and holding it in as I race to answer it on the balls of my bare feet.

  Just as I’m peeking through the peephole, Robert raises his hand.

  Don’t you dare. I seethe with apprehension and rip the door open as quickly as I can before his knuckles rap on the door again.

  “Shhh,” I scold him, finally letting out that breath. “She’s asleep,” I say, stressing the word asleep although he has no idea how much it means that my two-month-old is sound asleep in her rocker and letting me have a single moment without her screaming at me.

  Every cry carries with it the idea that I’m a bad mother. That I don’t know what I’m doing. It all reinforces how much I miss my mom. I have never missed her more in my life. She would know what to do. She’d be right here to help me if she could.

  The breeze from outside is chilly, forcing me to wrap my arms around myself. The satin pajama shorts and camisole sleep set I’ve got on barely covers me. The thought reminds me it’s probably stained with milk and I’ve been wearing it for at least two days straight.

  “Sorry.” Robert’s hushed answer comes complete with that puppy dog look in his eyes he’s had off and on for the better part of a year since I’ve been home. A gust of wind tinged with salt from the sea licks by us as I stare back at his pale blue eyes, wondering why he’s here so late. Crickets chirp behind him as he scratches the back of his neck and whispers, “I just stopped by because I heard you were looking for me.”

  Opening the door wider, a gesture that he can come in, I leave him there while I gather up rent. He didn’t make me pay a deposit, and he didn’t come for last month’s rent either. Ever since I moved in here, after selling the last of my father’s estate like the court ordered, I’ve known that I owe Robert more than I can repay him. Not just moneywise, either. His help with navigating the legalities of what my father’s scandal left me with. His help with the funeral even … I can’t repay all of it, but I can at least give him rent.

  The chirps and nightlife chatter are silenced as he steps inside and closes the door. My back’s to him, but I hear it all as I stare down at the cash in the kitchen drawer.

  His frame is far too large for that doorway. He’s always been taller than me, but lately he’s felt … distant. Everyone has. It’s then I take him in.

  He�
��s the same as he’s always been, devilishly handsome, yet charming. Tall but not overbearing. It’s his strong shoulders and even stronger jawline that give him such a masculine appearance. Combine that with a clean and crisp cologne, simple khakis and a navy collared shirt, he’s the sight of a Southern gentleman if there ever was one. Complete with baby blue eyes and dirty blond hair that used to make me weak in the knees. It all still does.