All Of My Nights

Book 2: All Of Me

by Elizabeth Castle

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Synopsis

Bo Lee came to America with one mission in mind and planned to leave as quickly as he had come. He never meant to get involved in the lives of his long-lost family. But when he finds out he not only has a brother but also a sister, he can no longer simply go back to his old life. Wanting to be sure his sister is in good hands, and fearing she is not, he sets off to find her. What he didn't count on is the beautiful woman who is his sister's guardian.

Emma McKinnon figures life can't get more complicated. Her cousin is away, and she has temporary guardianship of her adopted niece. She is also in the final stages of losing her home. Life is changing, and she is struggling to figure out what lies ahead. She certainly never expects the tall, dark-haired Chinese man who suddenly comes into her life. And she isn't prepared for the intense attraction that draws her to him. After a night of passion, her world changes forever.

When threats from Bo's past and present threaten Emma and his sister, he knows the best thing to do is remove himself from their lives. But knowing what the best thing is and doing it becomes more and more difficult. As things heat up around Emma, Bo has no choice but to step up and be the man that Emma needs him to be. He just has to decide if stepping up means getting as far away from her as he can get, or getting as close as a man and a woman can be.

Note from author: “This is the second and final book in the All Of Me Series, a little over 70,000 words. The books do not take place in China but have characters who grew up there. I have never been there, but I've seen pictures that depict the beautiful scenery and the colorful history of the country, good and bad. It was that scenery and culture that inspired this series. Please note this is an open-door romance. I hope you enjoy.” – Lizzy Castle.

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Release date: June 21, 2019

Publisher: In The Air Publishing

Print pages: 225

Sample

Chapter One

Bo Lee watched the woman and the young girl as they crossed the street to go into the building that housed the town’s grocery store, post office, and bank.  He hoped her next stop would be the diner he was sitting in.  It was always better when your quarry came to you.  It was less likely they would suspect anything was going on, or that the meeting was orchestrated.  The problem was his quarry had been elusive, always going in the opposite direction of the way he wanted her to go.  He had been in town almost a week.  He had socialized with several of the town’s patrons, hoping word would spread.

He figured he had a couple of options.  He could wait and see if she would finally take notice and seek him out on her own.  Or he could approach her.  It was looking like his best bet was option two, despite his preference.  He was not the patient type, and he had already spent months locating her after running into one dead end after another.

Bo continued drinking his coffee while he waited for his lunch to be delivered, but his attention was on Emma.  Bo kept his eyes on her until she was out of sight.  She was on the small side, maybe all of five foot two.  He was five-ten, something that had bothered his six-foot-three father, but still, he was much bigger than she was.  She had what would probably be dark blonde hair, except it was bleached from hours under the sun.  Her skin was pale despite the time she spent outdoors, and her body was toned from physical labor.

Miss Emma was a farmer, or at least she had been.  Times were tough, or so he had heard from several of the other farmers and ranchers in the remote parts of Texas where he now sat.  Rumors around town were that Emma would soon be losing her farm to the bank, a fairly common occurrence these days, or at least that was what he had been told.

He could feel some sympathy for her, though he found it difficult to strum up much.  Life was hard for a lot of people.  Emma McKinnon was just one of many who had landed on hard times.  Bo was responsible for the well-being of a few hundred people, so his sympathies lay elsewhere.  But right now, he had other problems besides those he employed thousands of miles away.

A few minutes later, Emma emerged from the grocery store and looked as if she were headed toward the restaurant where he sat.  His gaze went from her curvy frame covered by a windbreaker to focus on the young girl.  A DNA test would prove one way or the other if she was the one he was looking for, but all the evidence he had accumulated told him she was.  And some part of him, deep down inside, recognized her for who she was.

He could tell the pair struck most people in town as odd: the young Caucasian woman with a petite Chinese girl at her side.  He had been fielding a similar look from people since he arrived.  Some looks were simply because he was a curiosity.  Other looks were because the person glaring at him did not want a foreigner living in their town.  But everyone he had spoken to had been surprisingly closed-mouthed about the Chinese girl living in their midst.  The townsfolk had been open and full of information about Emma, but not about the little girl named Fan.  He was surprised her adoptive mother had not changed her name to something more American.

Bo averted his gaze when Emma and Fan entered the restaurant.  From the corner of his eye, he could see she was looking at him but seemed a bit undecided if she should come over.  Then he watched as she squared her shoulders and headed his way.

“Mr. Lee?”  Emma’s soft voice was barely heard over the loud conversations in the restaurant.

“Yes?”  Bo kept his face and tone neutral as if the meeting had not been inevitable, as if he did not know who she was.

“I’m sorry to bother you while you’re having lunch, but Sheriff Lockwood said you might be interested in renting the cabin that’s on my property.”  Emma looked down into the face of the man seated at the booth in the corner.

“I take it you are Emma McKinnon.”  He held out a hand to her.

Relieved that the conversation wasn’t going to turn awkward, she shook the hand he held out to her.  “Yes, I’m Emma.  He mentioned to me that you were looking for a temporary place to stay.”

Bo waved to the seat across from him.  “Yes, I am.  Sheriff Lockwood said he would put out some feelers for me.”

Emma picked up the girl and set her in the booth and took a seat next to her.  “The cabin isn’t anything fancy, but it should suit your needs.  If you’d like, you can come out and see it.”

The waitress, a busty woman named Linda, set a plate of food in front of Bo.  “Hi there, Miss Emma.  And hi there, Miss Fan.  Can I get you gals anything?”

Emma was going to politely decline when Fan tugged on her jacket.

“Auntie Emma, can I get a grilled cheese?”  Fan looked up at her aunt.

Bo made the decision for her.  “The little lady will have a grilled cheese.  How about you, Miss McKinnon?”

Emma looked down at Fan, who was grinning at the man across from them.  “I wasn’t planning to stay and eat.  I just wanted to invite you out to see the cabin.”

“We should get to know one another first.  I am a stranger, after all.”

Emma was torn.  She didn’t want to be rude, but she really couldn’t afford to eat out.  She only had a few dollars in her purse, and her bank account was dwindling fast.  She supposed he had a point about getting to know him better, but still, she couldn’t afford to stay and eat.  “Sheriff Lockwood wouldn’t have recommended you to me if he didn’t think you were the right tenant.  And since you’re a new police officer here in town, I’m sure your background check was thorough.”

Bo ignored her comment.  “Two grilled cheese sandwiches then for the ladies.”

Emma frowned but decided not to kick up a fuss.  Little Fan bounced in her seat, excited by the now-promised sandwich.

Emma declined coffee when offered but ordered a glass of milk for Fan.  She tugged the lightweight jacket off the small girl and pulled out a notebook and some crayons from her oversized purse for her to play with.

Bo leaned back in his seat.  “This is your niece?”

Emma shrugged out of her jacket, the warmth in the restaurant making her a little lightheaded.  It was too early in the year for air conditioning but too warm for the heater to be running, and the heat from the kitchen was making the restaurant a little too warm.  “Yes.  She’s staying with me for a while.  This is Fan.”

“Mommy is away.  I can draw you a picture.”  Fan began drawing a stick figure with curly yellow hair.

Bo held out a hand to the girl.  “It is nice to meet you, Fan.”

The little girl giggled and shook the offered hand.

Emma brushed back the girl’s long black hair and focused back on the man.  “Anyway, the sheriff mentioned he’d just hired you on, and that you weren’t too keen on staying at the local inn.  I have the cabin, but I’ll be moving in the next couple of months.  But if you like the place, we can write up a contract.  The new property owners will probably be happy to have a paying tenant for the old cabin.”

“The sheriff mentioned you were selling.”  He knew the property was being foreclosed on but feigned ignorance.

Emma took a sip of the water the waitress had set in front of her to wet her dry throat.  The bank was in the process of finalizing the foreclosure papers, and she wanted to cry every time she thought of it.  “Not exactly.  The bank will be selling it.  But there is the main house and acres of property.  That is what a new owner will be more concerned about.  But how about you?  Why here?  It’s a small town, not much to it, really.”

“I felt like I needed a change.  Is that not why most people end up in a small town?”

Emma didn’t know; she’d lived here her whole life.  But his accent was thick, and she highly doubted he was born in America.  He didn’t sound like he’d been here very long, either.  But she supposed the wilds of Texas would be considered a change for most people, no matter where they were from.

Fan finished her drawing and held it up.  “See.  That’s my Auntie Emma, and that’s my mommy.  This is you.  You look like my daddy.”

Emma was startled by the abrupt statement from the young girl.  It was rare that she mentioned her father.  And other than both men being Asian, nothing about the man seated across from her reminded her of Fan’s father.  This man was well-dressed, well-mannered, and, given the fact that he was a police officer, a man who upheld the laws instead of breaking them.

“Fan is a Chinese name.  I am Chinese too.”

Emma hadn’t wanted to ask him but was glad he brought it up.  “Fan’s father is Chinese.  My cousin Maryanne married Fan’s father and adopted Fan.”

Bo leaned back in his seat.  “My mother is Chinese, and my father was American.”

Emma relaxed at the change of topic, unaware of the tension in her body from the mention of Fan’s father.  “So you’re a U.S. citizen?”

Bo nodded but did not elaborate.  The waitress came and delivered two plates of grilled cheese and fries.  He had learned quickly that almost every food was served with fries.  He was still getting used to American food.

Fan quickly demolished half of her sandwich.

Emma took a couple of bites of hers.  “Grilled cheese is her favorite.  She asks for it for lunch every day.”

“Always willing to oblige a lady.”

Emma got the conversation back on track.  “Anyway, if you are interested, I can write the directions down so you can come look at the cabin.  It isn’t much, but it has electricity, an electric heater, a window air conditioner, and hot water.  My driveway is paved and lets out onto the main county road.  My father was the town’s doctor, so the county helped pay for the paving years ago.  In an emergency, you won’t have to worry about being stranded if the drive washes out.”

“Sheriff Lockwood said the place would be exactly what I was looking for.  How about I follow you home and check it out this afternoon?  As lovely as the inn I am staying at is, I prefer privacy.”

Emma nodded and ate a couple of fries.  He didn’t seem terribly interested in the plate of steak and eggs in front of him, seeming to prefer the coffee.  Unable to stem her curiosity, she spoke again after finishing half the sandwich.  “How long have you been a police officer?”

Bo took a bite of his rubbery steak, then set his fork down.  “Over ten years.”

When Bo didn’t elaborate, she dropped silent again.

Bo knew he should say something else, but his words eluded him.  He was too busy studying the translucence of her skin and the delicate length of her fingers that held the sandwich.  He took his gaze off her and went back to studying the child.  Like him, she looked Chinese.  His half-brother, Jonas, looked more American than Chinese.  Though they shared the same parents, Jonas was the one who favored their father.

When the waitress returned to their table, Emma asked for a box for their food.  She turned her gaze back to Bo.  He was a handsome man.  He smiled easily, his teeth were straight, and life and vitality shone in his eyes.  But his eyes, now that she had gotten a better look, were not just brown but had flecks of green in them.  They were unusual eyes.  His face spoke of his heritage, his skin bronzed and his hair black.  And if his skin tone and the shape of his eyes that spoke to his Chinese heritage weren’t enough to cause him to stand out in the mostly Caucasian restaurant, his hair would.  Its thick black mass was tied back in a braid that fell to the middle of his shoulder blades.  She guessed more than a few people might have mistaken him for Native American or Hispanic from the back.  But his face told a different story.

“Not hungry?”  Bo watched as Emma boxed up more than half of the food on her plate.  She also boxed up the remains of Fan’s fries.

Emma flushed.  She wasn’t going to tell this man that this impromptu meal would be their dinner.  She supposed she shouldn’t be ashamed of the fact that she was flat broke, but she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.  She was still reeling from all that had happened the past year, and she wasn’t ready yet to discuss it with anyone, and certainly not a stranger.  But the income from renting the cabin would go a long way to help secure her uncertain future.

“I had a big breakfast.  Are you done?”

“Yes.”  The first thing he planned to do once settled into her cabin was to get some groceries and see what he could do to supplement his kitchen with something from home.

Emma took the extra container the waitress brought and boxed up the remainder of his food for him.  She looked up at him through her lashes.  “I hate to see food go to waste.”

Bo nodded and set the container next to hers.  “Then you take it.  I will not eat it.”

Emma helped Fan get her coat back on while they waited for the check.  When he took her ticket, she protested.  “I can pay for that.”

Bo raised an eyebrow.  “Since I had to coerce you into joining me for lunch, it is the least I can do.  Do not worry about it.  I can pay for it, too.”

Emma wasn’t sure that a new police officer in a town this size would get paid well, but she supposed he was probably doing a sight better than she was.  She put her jacket on and then zipped Fan’s.  The six-year-old protested but surrendered.  Fan was well-behaved, but she was still a child.

Bo pulled on his own jacket but did not bother to zip it up.  “I am parked right outside.  Where are you?”

“I’m across the street.  See the large white truck?”

Bo nodded.  “Yes.  I will be right behind you.”

Emma was still fastening Fan’s car seat when Bo, in a large black SUV, pulled up behind her and waited patiently for her.  She was grateful that the old truck had a backseat for Fan and that the truck still ran, considering it was almost as old as she was.  She backed out of her parking spot and headed toward the county road she lived on.

Emma kept her fingers crossed the entire way that Bo Lee would take the cabin.  It wasn’t as if the town were full of newcomers.  Bo was probably the first new face in years, with the exception of Fan and the children of the townsfolk.  And what a face it was.  Emma’s heart was still racing a bit.  It had been years since a man had caught her interest.  There were a few men in the area who would be more than happy to make her a Mrs., but she wasn’t interested.  She had been engaged at nineteen, and that relationship had taught her everything she cared to know.  She had dated a few times over the years, but none of those men made her change her mind about commitment and marriage.

But Bo Lee definitely set off a few of her feminine alarms.  He was much taller than she was.  He was lean, but his shoulders were broad, and his body wasn’t what she would call skinny.  And his arms, exposed by the short-sleeve shirt he wore at lunch, were thick and ropy with muscle.  Give him a Stetson, and he’d pass for a cowboy.  Like most women born in the country, she had a thing for cowboys.

The drive to her spread didn’t take long, so she wasn’t forced to keep wondering about Bo, where he came from, or how long he’d stay.  She wouldn’t be here any longer than a month or two.  Her cousin would be coming at the end of the month, just a few short weeks away, and shortly after that, the bank would officially own her home.

Emma pulled up in front of the cabin.  The main house was visible from the cabin, and in comparison, the cabin looked old and worn.  She climbed out of the truck and helped Fan from the car seat.  Fan clasped her arms around her neck, a sure sign she wasn’t ready to be put down yet.  Emma hiked the girl to her hip and crossed to where Bo was waiting.

Emma handed him the keys.  “Here.  It’s not much, but it’s been kept up over the years.  I clean the dust out regularly, and I can guarantee there aren’t any critters living inside.”

Bo took the keys and unlocked the cabin door.  “I thought most people in the country did not bother to lock their doors.”

Emma followed Bo inside.  “I don’t suppose most do, but I’m off a main road, and I don’t like to tempt people.  We get a few drifters from time to time.”

Bo took a look around.  The cabin was not much, but like she said, it was clean.  It did not smell musty, and the furniture looked fairly comfortable.  There was a twin bed tucked in the corner, and a bath off to the side, next to what passed for a kitchen.  It did have a stove, a sink, and a full-size fridge.  He could make it work, though the twin bed might have to go.  Not that he had much of a choice.  Living in the cabin was the easiest way to keep an eye on Emma and on anyone who might come and go.

Bo turned to look at Emma, who was waiting near the door.  Fan had her head lying on the woman’s shoulder, her dark brown eyes watching him.  “I will take it.”

Emma nodded, the knot in her stomach unraveling.  “Great.  I have some linens and some other stuff up at the main house I can bring over for you when you’re ready to move in.”

Bo glanced around.  “I am ready now.  I just have to get my things from the inn.  I did not bring much with me.”

Emma went outside and set Fan down.  Fan went racing toward the main house.  Knowing the little girl would head straight for her toys, she turned back to Bo.  “I’ll get some towels and sheets, and I have a quilt.  It can get chilly in the evenings this time of year.  There is also wood stacked and covered behind the cabin if you prefer a fire to the electric heater.”

Bo started walking back to his SUV while Emma trailed behind him.  “I will be back in a couple of hours.  I need to stop in at the station as well.  Will everything be set by then?”

Emma stepped to the side when Bo opened the door to his vehicle and climbed inside.  “I can have everything together before you get back.”

“Have the lease ready, and I will stop by the main house to sign it.”

Emma nodded again.  She remained where she was until Bo was gone.  Once he was no longer in view, she drove to the main house.  It only took a few minutes to gather the linens and the few necessities he would need.  She loaded up the truck and then went to grab a few food items.  She doubted he’d have time to shop, and he had bought them lunch.

An hour later, the cabin was ready, and Emma was back home.  She glanced out the window, up at the gray sky.  A winter storm was coming.  It hurt to know that this winter would be her last one here in her family home.  And it hurt that she wouldn’t be around to watch the spring planting.  But Bo, whether he knew it or not, was a godsend.  His money, though it wasn’t much, was going to provide the nest egg she needed to make a new life for herself.  She just had to figure out what that life looked like.

Emma glanced over at Fan, who was playing with her dolls.  Maryanne, Fan’s mother, would be back soon.  Maryanne was already making plans for her and Fan when she returned, plans that would take them away from Texas.  Emma sighed and went back to the kitchen to wash up the day’s dishes.

Emma brushed the tears that wet her cheeks.  She missed her cousin, missed her mother, and missed her father.  And soon, she’d learn what it felt like to miss her home.  Straightening her spine, Emma scrubbed the dishes and then went to play with Fan.  Her future might be unknown, but she would survive.  That’s what McKinnons did.