Some Naughty, None Nice

By T.J. Michaels

Camryn Jakes is a self-made woman. A banker, or former banker--yeah, there's a story there, all right--to the rich and famous, she finds herself on a new journey of discovery.

 

A city girl with a country heart, Camryn quietly disappears from the hustle and bustle of downtown Atlanta. Standing at the site of her Grandmother's old house in Savannah, she discovers that there's more to the stories her Gran-gran used to tell her as a child. In fact, there's a lot more to them--and it happens to stand at six and a half feet tall with a penchant for disappearing...literally.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BENT WEST INC
• Release date: Jun 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9780997506341

T.J. Michaels

USA Today and New York Times bestseller, T.J. Michaels, is also an award-winning author of several romance genres, including paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and urban fantasy romance. No matter the genre TJ is penning, her favorite thing to do is build worlds. To take you somewhere extraordinary. To transport you to a place where you can close your eyes and slip into your fantasy...

Book preview

1  CHAPTER ONE

Camryn Jakes stepped into the welcome air conditioning of her hotel room.

Her staff thought she was screwed. Her peers thought she was screwed. By now, the entire population of her ex-company, from the CEO to the Post-it Note Inventory Guy thought she was done for. But she had a surprise for them, the bastards.

As a high-powered private banker, composure had been her best friend for years. Bankers didn’t shout. Bankers didn’t get pissed off. Bankers didn’t lose it over anything, ever.

And bankers didn’t knock the ever-living shit out of their peers; not even when said peer had the nerve to put his hands on her waist in the boardroom while offering a boatload of stock options and a ‘quiet’ weekend in the Swiss alps. Oh, and some cock had been thrown in there as extra incentive.

Probably shriveled up to the size of a mangled Vienna sausage anyway. Idiot can kiss every inch of my rock hard ass.

Her snarl colored the air as the bold features of the bane of her existence popped into her mind. Gerald. The man was such a huge asshole, he could’ve out-shit a woolly mammoth. And thanks to his gigantic ego and inability to take ‘no’ for an answer, Camryn was now on an unplanned vacation while her fixers ‘fixed’ things.

Sure, a backup plan was in place, but that didn’t mean she was happy about having to use it, damn it.

The shoe she’d toed off went flying across the room.

Well, there was only one thing that would soothe her current condition—candy.

She replaced her business suit with comfy sneakers, capri pants and a Hello Kitty tee-shirt. Within ten minutes of checking into the Riverfront Hotel, Camryn was changed and headed right back out into the bone-melting summer heat.

Striding toward the Riverwalk, the scents of brine and buttery caramel filled the air as she got closer to her destination. The heavy tension that sat between her shoulder blades began to lift, replaced by an easy relief as she took in familiar surroundings.

Hello Savannah, my old friend.

Camryn made it to Aunt Jo’s Sweet Shop in record time. While waiting in line, she pulled out her phone, fired up the local order-a-cab app and held back the urge to dance with glee—a driver was no more than five minutes out. Nothing worse than a craving for Savannah sweets just for them to melt into a puddle of goo at the bottom of her bag. All hail the candy gods that air conditioning was rolling her way.

As she skipped across the porch and down the steps, a glance toward the river made her wonder what was disturbing the usually calm water. Perhaps a storm upriver caused the frothing that reminded her of whipping meringue as it started to peak.

There was no rain in the forecast, but hell, she was in Georgia during summer. She might be sweating now, but what was that old saying? If you’re not satisfied with the weather in the South, just give it ten minutes and it’ll change.

Still, she hoped any rain hanging out in the upper atmosphere was blowing in the opposite direction of where she was headed.

When the cab arrived, she and her gigantic bag of goodies settled in the back seat. Camryn thanked the driver, confirmed he had the proper directions to her next destination, and then pulled out her phone.

The group chat she shared with her kin popped up and Camryn sent a message.

Camryn: Hey you two. I’m in a cab. I just left that praline shop you love so much.

Shae: Pralines? Are you in New Orleans?"

Camryn: Savannah.

Shae: Savannah? When you said you wanted to get away for a while, I thought you meant somewhere far, like the Caribbean or Europe. I pictured cabana boys and lots of grapes or something. I hate to admit it, but I’m honestly surprised.

Camryn snort-giggled. Couldn’t help it. It usually took an amazing stroke of luck to catch her cousin off guard; like winning the lottery on a full moon, during a lunar eclipse, in the middle of a hurricane. Shae was an amazing confidante, and a very very sharp peer. She and her sister, Dawn, always had Camryn’s back, which is why no one at her former place of employ knew they were related.

And they never would.

Shae: Your plan was flawless, by the way. Everything went off without a hitch.

Camryn: Of course it did.

Shae: They went after the house because you bought it with the bonus they just tried to take back from you. But since you don’t technically own it anymore, they couldn’t touch it. It’s safe and sound in the trust.

Fingers shook with a cold rage that transformed into bone-deep satisfaction as she texted back.

Camryn: #TheyTried #TheyFailed followed by a GIF depicting a man falling off a waterfall.

Shae: LOL! Yes, they did!

Camryn: Now if I may, I need to answer the call of some pralines now.

Shae: Later, Renny. Love you.

Camryn: Love you, too. Call you soon to let you know what I’m up to. Hug Dawn for me.

Shae: Yep. Enjoy your vacation, woman.

Camryn seethed. They’d tried to take her house. Seriously? Gerald and his uncle could go suck...okay, wait. Never mind. This was the kind of crap she’d planned for, and so far, so good.

Now, deep breath in. Let it out on four.

Again.

And again.

Sigh.

A moment later, her phone pinged.

Shae: Oh, wait! I forgot to tell you that your mom called. If she finds out what you did to those assholes at your bank, she’s going to flip.

Yeah, she’d flip alright. Why? Because Camryn hadn’t included her in her plans. Her mom was her biggest fan, which hadn’t always been a good thing considering some of the hair-brained ideas Camryn had come up with throughout her life; Ideas that her mom should have talked her out of, but hadn’t.

Camryn: Kk. I’ll call her, but just not right now. Just...no.

Shae: No worries. You know we have your back. Later, woman!

CAMRYN TUCKED HER PHONE into her pocket and tugged open the large bag she’d deliberately kept closed while waiting in the heat for her ride. Now, with chilly sixty-nine degree air blowing around the vehicle, all bets were off.

Inside the crisp blue and white paper sack were several neatly stacked bakery boxes. One was filled with a dozen light and fluffy puffs of Southern Pecan Divinity, while another was stuffed to the brim with chocolate and sea salt Turtle Gophers.

Hmmm. Where were the...ah, there they were! Underneath the apple taffy rolls and old fashioned fudge was her version of heaven—pralines.

Original pralines.

Dark chocolate pralines.

Coconut pralines.

Not caring which one she tried first, she grabbed the one on top, broke off a piece and popped it into her mouth. The creamy flavor of real butter and rich brown sugar made her moan as the treat melted on her tongue.

Mmmm, god that’s good, she whispered to herself. She finished the confection and reached for another.

By the time the cab stopped near Cypress Lake, Camryn was relaxed and excited all at the same time. The driver gave her his card for the ride back. With a polite ‘thank you’, she passed him a wad of cash and a couple of fresh pralines. Given she’d inhaled at least four pieces of buttery, sugary goodness, she could part with a couple.

She hopped out of the vehicle and in moments missed the air conditioning. Camryn bent and wiped her sweaty face with the bottom of her shirt and started walking.

Sure, there were plenty of places she could have gone, but this one called to her. Her Gran-gran used to tell her that when people were in need, they went home to safety. So home is where Camryn had gone. She’d never officially lived here, but her Gran had been born, lived, and died in this place. That meant lots of visits for Camryn while growing up. So as far as she was concerned, she was New Jersey born, and Savannah raised.

What would her Grandmother think of her now? Would she be proud that she’d made something of herself, that she was a successful businesswoman? Would she be disappointed that Camryn had yet to fully settle down? She might have enough money to never work again if she didn’t want to, but that wasn’t the same as ‘settled’.

When she was a girl, her Grandma used to point out how she’d hopped from project to project, team to team, thing to thing. Every time her situation looked stable, Camryn would find a reason to do something else, go somewhere