Hooked on You: An Annapolis Harbor Series Prequel, Lea Coll [love letters to the dead .txt] 📗

Hooked on You

Hooked on You was previously titled Easy Moves. It is the prequel to the Annapolis Harbor Series.

Gabe

The new Assistant U.S. Attorney was the last person I needed in my business... or my bar. The way she walked in wearing a tight suit and red power heels, flashing that badge should be illegal.

Asking her for help was a mistake. Wanting her was a complication, one that I couldn't afford. We were from two different worlds.

Taylor was spoiled, privileged and in way over her head. I was just the bad boy that girls like her were attracted to, a passing phase. An itch to scratch.

I was no good for her and never would be.

Taylor

New Orleans was a fresh start, a chance to reinvent myself and do some good. Too bad the first person I met was a grumpy bartender with a chip on his shoulder.

He said I knew nothing about his city, the people or what they needed. But one look at the bad boy bartender and I knew exactly what I needed. Even if I refused to admit it.

Gabe was a connection to the community. Offering to waitress at his bar in exchange for his help had nothing to do with his flexing biceps or tattoos.

He thought he knew me, that I couldn't handle him or the city... but he was wrong.

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Hooked on You

Previously titled Easy Moves

Copyright © 2021 by Lea Coll

All Rights Reserved.

This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

All characters and storylines are the property of the author and your support and respect is greatly appreciated.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Editing by Evident Ink

Proofreading by Horus Proofreading

Cover Design by Okay Creations

Photography by Wander Aguiar

Table of Contents

Books by Lea Coll

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

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Epilogue

Bonus Epilogue

Books by Lea Coll

Only with You Excerpt

About the Author

Books by Lea Coll

All I Want Series

Choose Me

Be with Me

Burn for Me

Trust in Me

Stay with Me

Take a Chance on Me

Annapolis Harbor Series

Hooked on You (previously titled Easy Moves)

Only with You

Lost without You

Perfect for You

Crazy for You

Falling for You

Mountain Haven Series

Infamous Love (Releasing July 2021)

Quick Snap Novellas

Lucky Catch

Trick Play

Download two free novellas, Swept Away and Worth the Risk, when you sign up for her newsletter.

To learn more about her books, please visit her website.

Chapter One

TAYLOR

I rode the streetcar with the wooden plank seats to the Lakeview area of New Orleans and walked for several blocks along City Park before crossing Harrison Avenue, with its famously eclectic shops and restaurants. I stared longingly at the inviting storefronts, wishing I had time to stop and browse, but I had an appointment with the owner of a bar in a neighboring community. The farther I walked from the popular tourist area, the seedier the streets became—boarded-up houses, closed businesses, beggars—and I questioned my decision to volunteer for this particular project.

Nothing in my background had prepared me for this. I grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and my parents sent me to private schools. As I walked, I realized how privileged and sheltered I really was.

I figured I’d better get used to it, because I just started a new attorney position handling child pornography cases in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s office. In my interview I had stressed that I was primarily interested in the job because of the mandatory involvement in community outreach programs. Those programs usually meant talks in community centers, colleges, and law schools, but this assignment was more hands-on, which intrigued me.

Dean, my boss, had met the owner of the bar, Isaac’s, during one of his talks at the local community center when Isaac Kershaw mentioned his concerns about increasing crime in the neighborhood and a seemingly indifferent police department. When Dean mentioned it at my first staff meeting, I’d volunteered to meet with Isaac to discuss it further. I wanted to impress Dean and I strongly believed in Project Safe Neighborhood, which consisted of all branches of law enforcement working closely with neighborhoods to identify crime and reduce it. If the police department in Isaac’s neighborhood was ignoring business owners’ concerns regarding crime, that was a problem.

Following Dean’s directions, I turned onto Bragg Street, where the corner store’s sign read Omar’s General Store. I kept walking until I saw the neon blue sign, which read Isaac’s. The heavy wooden door to the bar opened and a man in a black T-shirt stepped out carrying garbage bags. His biceps bulged as he carried the heavy bags around the side of the buildings, making the ink snaking down his arms more noticeable. Thinking he was Isaac, I followed him a few steps before stopping at the entrance to the alley on the side of the building.

He carefully stepped around strewn garbage, broken liquor bottles, and puddles of murky water until he stopped at the garbage bins. I tightened my grip on my brand new buttery soft leather briefcase, holding my breath as best I could with the overwhelming stench of garbage and liquor, questioning whether I should just wait for him in the bar.

The man threw the large bags up and into the dumpster and when they landed with a thud, he brushed off his hands. He turned and walked back toward me. His lips tilted into