Taking the Belle
Big Easy Shifters: Book One
Abby Knox
Copyright © 2020 by Abby Knox
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.
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
First edition published 2018
Edited by Aquila Editing
Proofread by Kasi Alexander
Cover Designer: Mayhem Cover Creations
This re-release is dedicated to my readers. Without you, there’s no point to any of this! Thank you for asking about the shifters. I’m so happy to bring them back to you, better than before.
Taking the Belle
Big Easy Shifters: Book One
Ashton knows what he wants as soon as he sees it.
When the strange little princess in the dangerous dress walks in to his friend's bar one night, Ash can barely remember his own name, let alone the name of the woman who recently did him wrong. He knows it's a bad idea to get close to someone who doesn't understand his wild-and-woolly secret, but he's the breed of guy who mates for life. He doesn't care who her daddy is and does not care how many gilded hoops he has to jump through. He's gonna marry that girl and do whatever she says to get her down the aisle.
Rosemary has got it all, except any desire for the kind of man her rich daddy approves of.
She's a hell cat who's hell-bent saving her virginity for just the right down-home fella who can keep up with her.
A man who isn't after her family's money.
And, a man who can handle the excitement of her family's bizarre little secret.
Ashton fits the bill perfectly. He's a self-made man, tons of fun and mystery, and has latched on to her so fast they're as cozy as peanut butter and jelly.
Now. if everyone can keep their claws to themselves, they might just make it!
Taking the Belle is book one in the newly revised and updated Big Easy Shifter series (previously titled Her Big Easy Wedding, originally released in 2018) This version is slightly spicier and wolfier; I hope you love it!
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Abby Knox
Coming in autumn 2020
Chapter One
Ash
If there were ever an extreme sports of mixology event, Bobby Jordan would be the undefeated world champion.
Who knows why Ashton Boudreaux’s best friend had decided on Singapore Sling as the signature cocktail of the evening for the Wolfpack Tavern’s annual Twelfth Night party? Maybe because he looked good mixing them.
Bobby slid the drink across the bar.
“Why did you have to make it a tropical drink? Do I look like I’m wearing a coconut bra?” Ash asked.
His friend grinned at him. “Because of exactly that. The ladies come to my bar for my good looks, and they stay because I know how to mix the pretty, pretty drinks. And they like to watch me.”
Ash shook his head and drawled, “Well, I ain’t so much interested in the ladies tonight, so how ’bout I come back there and fix myself something to put some more hair on my chest?”
Bobby laughed. “You don’t need no more hair on that chest, ape-man. Besides, everybody knows you need a nice young lady to get your mind off of what’s-her-name. You need to move on.”
Ash shook his head and said, “It’s gonna take more than nice.” He sipped his drink, which tasted too sweet for him. Cloying like candy. “This is terrible. Move over, Bobby.”
Bobby blocked him. “This is my bar. And this ladies’ night shindig is my own personal Thank-Your-Personal-Baby-Jesus-Christmas-Is-Over Party. I insist. Now sit down, I’ll make you an Old Fashioned.”
“I’d appreciate it, thanks. And try not to be jealous of my chest hair. I can’t help it that Mother Nature doubled down on my testosterone.” Ash pounded his fist on one of his pectorals, which he pushed out for emphasis.
Bobby mixed up the Old Fashioned and slid it in front of his friend, then his eyes glanced past Ash with an odd look on his face. “Sure, pal. Let’s hope you still got some of that manhood left to work with after what what’s-her-name did to you because you’re gonna need it.”
“What are you babbling about?” Ash sipped his drink. Bobby nodded to the front door. Ash swiveled around in his barstool, not prepared for the lightning strike of a female who was eyeing him from across the room. She’d slinked in alongside Ash’s lifelong friend, Pen LeFleur, who was already signaling to Bobby to have drinks ready.
Ash stood up because that’s what one does in the presence of a queen. And that’s about all that he knew how to do at the moment when she locked eyes with him.
He didn’t know her name, but she looked like she knew him. Her silvery lace shawl slipped from her shoulders. Pen graciously caught the garment before it touched the dubiously clean floor of the establishment.
“Who. Is. That?” Ash asked his friend without taking his eyes off the strange woman.
“Pen said something about bringing her newest client along tonight. Don’t know her name, but she’s old money. Way older than your sorry-ass Boudreaux money, my friend. So be careful.”
Ash turned to his friend and laughed. “Oh yeah? Then why’s she partying over here in our neck of the woods and not whisking our girl away to some fancy club downtown?” He took a healthy gulp of his drink and enjoyed the burn on the way down.
“I guess she and Pen hit it off.”
Ash turned again and saw the strange, sultry
