Sweet Seduction Serenade by Nicola Claire

surfer looking one, with sandy blond hair and an awesome tan started to smile, but it was the other one, a bad-boy with dark brown hair curling just above his shoulders and awesome goatee beard just like Garth Brooks' that spoke first.
    "You know, it works better if you're wearing shoes. Bare feet just don't carry the right amount of pain."
    "Of course, you didn't hear that from us," Surfer added, then turned his attention to Nick. "And what were you doing while your girlfriend took out the bad guy?" Girlfriend?
    "Enjoying the show," Nick shot back, receiving grunts of approval from both men.
    Oh boy, Twilight Zone here I come.
    "So, who is he?" Bad-boy asked.
    "My cousin," I offered, trying to disentangle myself from Nick's arms. He wouldn't let me, they just became bands of steel around my body, accompanied by a heat coming off him that burned into my back and right through to my core.
    "Levi?" Surfer asked. I blinked at him knowing about Levi at all.
    "No, Bailey," Nick answered for me and my head twisted to get a good look at his face. He seemed disgusted by the whole event. I sighed and frowned down at the ground. Another night ruined for Nick, by none other than me. Some blast from the past I was.
    Then gasped as Nick lay a swift kiss against the skin behind my ear, as though to calm me. My body went rigid, my heart in my throat. What the darn hell was he playing at?
    "Well, we'll book him for breaking and entering, and attempted assault," Surfer said.
    "And threatening to kidnap and rape," Nick threw in, making the air stuck in my lungs rush out in absolute mortification and surprise. He'd heard Bailey's threats, he knew what Levi had waiting for me. I felt my cheeks burn hot, but it was nothing like the change in atmosphere coming from the cops.
    "Really?" Bad-boy asked, voice dangerously low.
    "I'll come in tomorrow to make a statement, " Nick said, ignoring the angry presence on the air. "I'm wiped tonight, I need to get some sleep. So does Eva. We'll both come in tomorrow, OK Pierce?"
    Bad-boy - who was obviously this Pierce person - stared at Nick for a second or two, then reluctantly nodded. Surfer had taken a step closer to his partner, a look of concern written all over his face.
    "You gonna manage with him?" Nick asked, and at first I thought he was asking about them managing with Bailey, but his eyes were on Surfer, and his head nodded ever so slightly towards Pierce. Who was glaring down at my cousin with fire in his eyes.
    "Yeah, I got it. Get some sleep, you pussy."
    Nick laughed - actually laughed - and said, "Only you could possibly think I would let you get away with calling me pussy, Stone."
    "Call it how I see it, Anscombe."
    "Need I remind you that Sherry doesn't know about your latest passion," Nick said, shifting my body so I was tucked under his arm, curved into his chest and like we were all standing around a barbecue having an afternoon chat over beers.
    "You wouldn't," Stone - Surfer - said in shock.
    "Can be arranged. Anonymous tip."
    "You are an utter bastard, you know that?" Stone shot back, reaching down and lifting Bailey one handed off the ground.
    Pierce came to help him, by yanking Bailey's arms behind his back roughly and proceeding to cuff him. Stone's eyes came to mine while his partner detained my cousin. "Be careful of him, cowgirl." His head nodded towards Nick at my side. "He never plays by the rules."
    I was surprised at the friendly banter between these guys, at the oh-so-casual arrest of my cousin and not a word about Nick beating the crap out of him before they arrived. Of the fact they knew who I was, who my cousins were. It was all so darn surreal. And now this, a warning that Nick didn't play by the rules.
    Obviously , if he stood here with his arm around my shoulders, pressing my body flush against his, all the while his fiancée lay in their bed at home. I pushed against Nick's hold and forced him to let me free.
    "Now see what you've done," Nick said on a chuckle.
    "Ah,