A Teaser from Let Me Hold You

I've been working hard on Book 2 of my McClain Brothers series, hoping to finish it this month (no release date yet) and I thought I'd share a little snippet. Enjoy!!

**Disclaimer: This excerpt is unedited and subject to change**

Leland

I rolled over in bed, felt the heavy gold chain around my neck shift as I slid the soft hand from my chest and reached for my phone on the night table. Easing out of bed, I reached on the floor for my underwear as I stretched my body and headed into the suite’s bathroom, phone in hand. I missed the call, but after I emptied my bladder, redialed the number and leaned over the sink as I waited for her to answer.

Instead of a hello, she drawled, “I didn’t wake you up, did I?” Her voice was that familiar combination of gruffness and comfort that I loved hearing.

“Yeah, but it’s cool. You the only somebody who’s allowed to wake me up.”

She chuckled. “Well, I’m glad to know I got that kinda pull with you. How you doing?”

“Good. How are you, auntie? Your blood pressure okay?”

“I’m fine, boy. What I tell you about worrying about me?”

Staring at myself in the bathroom mirror and stretching my tired eyes, I said, “Can’t help it. You the only mama I got left besides Kat.”

She laughed. “That girl always did think she could boss you around.”

“Think? She did a good job of it! And she look so much like Mama that half the time I thought she was her!”

There was silence from Aunt Ever. I was sure she was trying not to cry, probably thinking about her baby sister, my sweet mother. I had cried all the tears I had for her when I was a kid and held on to the good of the fact that she’d ever lived rather than mourning her loss now.

“You getting settled in St. Louis? Liking it so far?” she asked, redirecting the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” I lied. I hated the move, was accustomed to living between LA and Miami. St. Louis was slower than both, in some ways even slower than Houston to me. I preferred a faster pace.

“Made any new friends?”

Before I could answer, I felt her wrap her arms around my waist and press her breasts against my bare back. That irritated the shit out of me. Not that I couldn’t go for some more of what she gave me the night before, but I was on the phone with my aunt. The last thing I wanted was a hard dick while talking to her, so I said, “Hey, let me call you back, auntie.”

“Mm-hmm, tell whoever she is I said hi.”

I shook my head as I ended the call. “Good morning,” I said, as I covered her hands with mine.

“Good morning to you,” she said, sliding her hand down my stomach to my groin, then adding, “and to you, too.”

I turned my head toward her a little and smiled. “You tryna get something started that I can’t finish. I got places to be, shit I gotta do.”

I heard her sigh, felt her warm breath on my back. “So, I’m being dismissed?”

Moving her hands, I spun around to face her. She was pretty, fine, and I’d enjoyed her the night before, but I really did have a packed schedule. I had to work out, had houses to look at, calls to make, and a prior commitment I didn’t want to be late for. “You ain’t gotta take it that way. I had fun with you, but like I said, I got shit to do.”

“You gonna call me later? Maybe we can have drinks…or something?”

I left the bathroom, re-entering the bedroom of the suite in search of the rest of my clothes. “Or something, huh? My schedule is packed, but I’ma hit you up as soon as I can, a’ight?”

“Okay, because I want you to meet my brother and my son. They’re both huge fans. And maybe we could catch a movie or something?”

It was my turn to sigh. What part of “my schedule was packed” did she not get? And damn, why was she trying to introduce me to her folks when I just met her ass last night? I swear, you’d think a forty-seven-year-old woman wouldn’t be trying to move so fast. Shit!

I didn’t answer her in the affirmative or negative, just finished getting dressed, gave her a kiss, and left her in my suite hoping she’d be gone when I got back, because like I said, I had shit to do.