Hot in the City Read online

  Hot in the City

  By Jules Court

  The first time Detective Brian MacGregor met Priya Shah, he was bleeding. Injured apprehending a suspect, he just needed a few stitches. He didn’t expect to feel a gut punch of lust for the beautiful ER doc. But another emergency called her away before he had a chance to ask her out...or kiss her. Or find out if she shared his sudden sex-in-a-dark-hospital-room fantasy.

  The second time he met Priya, she was protecting a murder witness.

  Protecting is putting it strongly, if you ask Priya. Her cousin may have witnessed a murder, but she had nothing to do with it. Even if the hot ginger cop seems like the perfect solution to Priya’s summer dry spell, they both have more important things to worry about. Like finding Sara before the murderer does.

  As far as Brian’s concerned, Priya is the key—her cousin is bound to come back to her eventually, and when she does, he’ll be there. They just need to keep their hands off each other until then. But when attraction burns this hot, it’s only so long before someone has to break...

  This book is approximately 35,000 words

  One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise! Find out more at CarinaPress.com/RomancePromise

  Carina Press acknowledges the editorial services of Mackenzie Walton

  Dear Reader,

  Happy March! This month marks Carina Press’s return to publishing anthologies. This is something that I’ve always loved to do—put out a call for submissions for a certain theme and see what rolls in. This month, we’re starting with erotic romances and, specifically, taboos. In the coming months you’ll see anthologies for shifters, capers & heists, and a holiday-themed anthology. Then, in 2018, we have even more coming your way. Anthologies are a great way for readers to test new authors while getting a complete, satisfying romance, and I hope you love what we’ve got in store as much as I do.

  But first, let me tell you about a book that’s incredibly near to my heart. What It Takes: A Kowalski Reunion Novel is Shannon Stacey’s return to the contemporary world of the fabulous Kowalski family. This is a project I begged Shannon to do, because I wasn’t quite ready to let the Kowalskis go. To say I was thrilled she agreed would be a huge understatement. In this book, we get a new romance, along with cameos from all of our previous favorite heroes and heroines, including a secondary plot with Sean and Emma! Loved the Kowalskis since we first started publishing them in 2010? You are going to adore this book. Never read the Kowalskis before? No worries, this book was written to allow you to jump right in. What It Takes is available in print, in audio and in ebook format at your favorite online retailer.

  Josh Lanyon is back with another male/male romantic suspense, Fair Chance. Elliot Mills thought he was done with the most brutal case of his career, having finally put the serial killer in jail, but when the lead agent on the case goes missing, Elliot has to play this killer’s twisted game to save the love of his life. Find out more about Elliot and Tucker in Fair Game and Fair Play, both now available.

  Together, Maya Clery and Dean Sova have entered a decadent world of passion, pleasure and possibility—but while their love has grown stronger, and their play more intense, the intersection of fantasy and past will challenge their dynamic in the face of deeper, wilder desires. The Discipline by Jade A. Waters will get your senses steaming!

  If you love a good paranormal shifter romance, I hope you’ve been following along with Kerry Adrienne’s fantastic series Shifter Wars. In Taming the Lion, the battle between the lions and bears decimates Deep Creek, and one of the heirs to the lions’ throne is saved from death by a beautiful bear medic who’s torn between her allegiance to her den and her attraction and obligation to the wounded lion. Want more? Waking the Bear and Pursuing the Bear can be on your reading device in minutes!

  We’re pleased to welcome debut author Jules Court to the Carina Press team with a sultry new trilogy of contemporary romance novellas. Kicking off her trilogy is Hot in the City. Brian MacGregor busted his ass to make detective by age thirty. He doesn’t have time for a social life, not even for the pretty ER doc who sewed him up post run-in with a knife-wielding perp. He never expected that when he went looking for the witness to a gangland murder, the doc would be the best lead to his missing witness. Now if he can only keep his hands off her. Look for Enticing the Enemy and Tease Me Tonight coming this year!

  Layla had only wanted to give Sid one hot, sweaty night of her well-planned life, but when these werewolves realize that they’re mates, Layla must accept that she’ll be giving Sid a lot more than she planned in Alpha’s Challenge, the next in Lauren Dane’s Cascadia Wolves series!

  Too Taboo: An Erotic Romance Anthology contains three scorching-hot novellas. Purchase them together in the anthology or as individual ebooks:

  Debut author Morgaine Cameron bangs out of the gate with an indescribably hot story in Absolve Me. A handsome, celibate man wants a licensed sex surrogate to help him exorcise the wicked desires he’s struggling to overcome—because as a priest he needs to play out his immoral thoughts or forever be a holy sinner.

  Returning author Amber Bardan indulges us in some wicked ménage fantasies when an innocent trespassing turns into a lesson in obedience as the two property owners show their trespasser just how right punishment can feel. Twice as Hard is not to be missed.

  When the most skilled operative in the secret organization known as the Seduction Squad is captured, her only hope of escape is to use her body to drive her sexy abductor wild...but, having unleashed his darkest fantasies, does Inge really want to get away from Jake? Amanda Stewart’s Seduction Squad: Captured teases us with the dark taboos of forced seduction and capture fantasies.

  That’s all for this month, but whew, I think that’s more than enough. This is such a powerful lineup, I’m jealous of all of you getting to read these books for the first time. They are unputdownable (that’s totally a word only avid readers understand)!

  Coming next month we have another full-length novel from the amazing author duo Alexa Riley; Rhenna Morgan is back with another to-die-for hero; and two male/male authors give us two amazing romances.

  As always, until next month, my fellow book lovers, here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  Angela James

  Editorial Director, Carina Press

  Dedication

  For Michael. Always.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Also by Jules Court

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  After thirty-six hours on call, the last thing Priya Shah needed was to fulfill some dude’s exotic Kama Sutra fantasy. She was more than capable of getting herself off, and bonus: afterward, she wouldn’t have to kick out some random.

  So when she saw a male denim-clad thigh slide onto the neighboring barstool, she jammed a fry in her mouth and kept her eyes fixed on her book. At four o’clock in the afternoon, the Thorny Rose had plenty of empty barstools. No reason for him to sit right next to he
r unless he was one of those guys for whom a single woman out in public was like waving red in front of a bull. And at this moment, she just wanted her cousin to show up so she could go home for at least twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep.

  Sara should have been here a half hour ago, when her shift started. She had until Priya hit the bottom of her basket of fries to show up. After that, Priya was taking her crabby self off to bed and silencing her phone. Whatever Sara desperately needed to talk to her about would just have to wait.

  “Hi,” her new neighbor said.

  She flipped a page. “Not interested.”

  “It’s Dr. Shah, right?” His voice was deep and warm.

  She looked up and into a pair of familiar green eyes. The hot ginger cop. Was here. She dropped her book on the bar.

  “You stitched me up in the emergency room a few weeks ago,” he said as though she wouldn’t remember. Like red-haired cops with knife wounds strolled into her ER on a regular basis.

  Vinnie the bartender, sporting his signature T-shirt with the sleeves ripped off, approached. He arched his heavy eyebrows together in a “this guy bothering you?” look.

  She gave Vinnie a slight shake of her head. This was more like the universe throwing her a bone. Literally. The cop looked worth losing sleep over.

  At first, he’d been nothing but a diagnosis, a shallow laceration with no sign of infection. It wasn’t until after she’d sutured the taut skin and peeled off her gloves that she’d become aware of him as a man.

  The police officer had grabbed her naked hand. “Thank you,” he said, but didn’t release his grip. His eyes focused on her mouth.

  Their hands were joined, bare skin to bare skin. A spark lit up within her core. She licked her lips as he moved his head forward.

  The intercom had crackled, breaking the spell, and she sprang back from danger. “I have to go,” she stammered before fleeing to the safety of the nurses’ station.

  Vinnie’s voice snapped her back to the present, where her former patient was sitting too close to her.

  “Can I get you something?” Vinnie asked hot ginger cop, whose name she couldn’t remember.

  She hadn’t made a note of it before stitching him up, and afterward she’d resisted the temptation to look at his chart. That way led to digging through his patient file for his marital status—unprofessional topped with more than a dollop of skeevy.

  “Is Sara Murphy working?” the cop asked.

  Her burgeoning fantasies fizzled. A band of pain radiated across the top and sides of her head, signaling the arrival of today’s tension headache. What had Sara gotten herself into now? No doubt it had something to do with that loser Sully. She’d promised Priya they were done, and Priya had believed her because Priya was an idiot. But Sara was the queen of spider monkey dating—she never let go of the last branch until she was holding a new one.

  Vinnie narrowed his eyes. “Who wants to know?”

  From under the collar of his dark T-shirt, the hot ginger cop pulled out the badge hanging around his neck. “Detective Brian MacGregor, Boston PD,” he said.

  Priya was going to have to scrape together a retainer for a lawyer. Her old college roommate, Erin Rafferty, was a defense attorney and would help her out as a favor, but she couldn’t keep taking advantage. Erin had already helped Sara out of her last jam.

  How much did Priya even have left in her bank account? Maybe she could work out a payment plan with Erin and make her take the money this time. She ground a french fry into a glob of ketchup.

  “Why do you need to talk to Sara?” she asked Detective Brian MacGregor, whose name she wouldn’t be screaming out in bed.

  His focus leveled on her. “You’re acquainted with Ms. Murphy?”

  “She’s my cousin.”

  “Do you know her current whereabouts?”

  “No,” she said. And even if she did she wasn’t telling. She needed to get Sara to a lawyer.

  Brian turned his hard gaze back to Vinnie. “Does Sara still work here?”

  “Not after bailing on her shift,” he said. “Sorry, Priya.”

  While in school, Priya had spent nights on the other side of the bar slinging drinks for Vinnie. She’d persuaded him to give her cousin her job. And for a while, she’d really thought Sara had turned it around and was taking to gainful employment.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “Thanks for giving her a shot. I’m sorry she flaked on you.” But leopards and spots. Sara couldn’t change any more than Priya could. It was only laser focus on her career keeping Priya on the straight and narrow. It would only take one slip. She’d already proven that.

  Detective MacGregor pulled out a business card. He plucked a pen from the cup sitting on the bar, scribbled on the back of the card and held it out to her. “This has my cell number on the back. Call me immediately if you hear from your cousin or if you know where she is. It’s imperative that I talk to her.”

  She took it, careful not to brush fingers with him. The universe hadn’t been sending her a gift, but rather a reminder, in placing him back in her path. “What’s this about?” she asked.

  “Just tell her to call me.” He turned away to leave but hesitated before turning back to face her. “It was good to see you again, Priya,” he said. The smile transformed his face.

  He walked away like a man with purpose, head high and broad shoulders back. Unfortunately that purpose was probably to arrest her cousin.

  She crushed the business card in her palm. “Universe, why do you have to be such a dick?” she muttered. She pushed her half-eaten basket of fries away.

  “Sorry, Priya. I don’t want any trouble. If Sara shows up...” Vinnie shrugged his massive shoulders.

  “It’s okay. I’m going to take care of this.” She fished her phone out of her messenger bag. Her call to Sara went straight to voicemail. She tapped out a text. CALL ME. URGENT. SERIOUSLY. CALL ME.

  She pulled money from her wallet and dropped it on the bar next to her unfinished fries. “Can you do me one favor, though? If Sara shows up can you call me before the cops?” Vinnie nodded.

  She stepped out of the dimly lit bar and squinted into the late afternoon sunlight. The August heat slapped her in the face along with the smell of rotting garbage. She marched down the street to her North End apartment breathing through her mouth, with her fingers crossed that Sara would be there waiting.

  But after climbing the steps to her fourth-floor studio, the smell of garlic from the Italian restaurant downstairs wafting up the stairwell, she unlocked the door to reveal only an unmade bed and a pile of laundry. She resisted the urge to collapse. Instead she opened the window and propped up her ancient fan. But when turned on, the whirring of the blades only pushed the oppressively hot air around, offering zero relief.

  Every year, Boston experienced a late August heat wave where temperatures soared into the nineties, yet somehow she’d been caught off guard by it. Even the knowledge that in just a few short weeks Labor Day weekend barbeques would give way to sweaters and pumpkin-flavored coffee failed to render the current sticky temps bearable. But the heat affected Boston’s most vulnerable populations the most. She’d seen way too many heatstroke victims, especially among the elderly or impoverished, come through the ER door. Boston was an old city and most of the buildings reflected that. Central air hadn’t been a concept at the time of their construction. And then there was the uptick in the number of shootings, stabbings and assorted violence. The heat brought out the animal in people.

  She picked up her phone. No messages on her voicemail. As a doctor, she was one of the last people she knew who still had a landline. Not that she expected Sara to have called. She wasn’t even sure that Sara knew the number. It was mostly for the hospital to always be able to get in touch with her.

  She dialed her aunt, stabbing the numbers with more f
orce than necessary. Her aunt picked up on the second ring. “Hi, Auntie. Is Sara there?”

  But her aunt didn’t know where Sara was and didn’t seem worried. After all, Sara no longer lived at home. There was no reason for her to be there and it didn’t seem as though the cops had called. She kept the news about Sara’s latest brush with the law to herself, but she wasn’t able to hang up until after she’d promised to come to dinner tomorrow night. She crossed her fingers that her aunt wouldn’t be inviting any nice Indian boys. Her aunt had mostly given up on her own daughter and was pinning her romantic hopes on her niece. It was hard to tell her she’d backed the wrong horse.

  Priya didn’t do relationships, with nice boys or otherwise. She couldn’t be trusted not to burn down their houses or slash their tires.

  But she had no time to worry about her aunt’s matchmaking tendencies. Not when Sara needed her. She had to find her before Detective Brian MacGregor did.

  * * *

  Brian sat on a park bench by the statue of Paul Revere in front of the Old North Church, clutching a rapidly melting cup of gelato, waiting for Dr. Priya Shah to leave her apartment. After she’d stitched him up a few weeks back, he should have asked her out. Several times since that day, he’d thought about stopping into the ER to see her. It’d been a long time since he felt such a strong pull toward anyone.

  But he’d put it off. Lately his job had been keeping him too busy for romance. What with bodies washing up in Hull and now with Big Jack O’Donnell taking two to the back of the skull execution style in the alley behind the Harp, he’d had other things competing for his attention.

  But this time, he and Danny had caught a break. This time they might have a witness. At the crime scene, they’d discovered a lipstick-dotted, half-smoked cigarette and a few strands of long, dark hair behind a Dumpster, suggesting a woman might have been hiding out during the shooting.

  As usual, the Southie locals he and his partner questioned were all deaf, dumb and blind. He did manage to learn that the girlfriend of low-level foot soldier for the Castle Hill Gang, Mark “Sully” Sullivan, might have been in the neighborhood. She wasn’t local and, despite her last name of Murphy, she wasn’t Irish, at least according to the old-timers, so they had no ethical misgivings about serving her up to the cops. Not if it meant keeping the heat off the locals. Despite the gentrification of South Boston—luxury condos now stood on the former site of the Old Colony Bay projects, and Triple O’s tavern, the former hangout of infamous mob boss Whitey Bulger, had given way to a sushi restaurant—Southie natives were still an insular lot.