Knot Again (Real Men Knit series, Band 2) - Softcover

Jackson, Kwana

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1984806521 ISBN 13: 9781984806529

Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

One of...
USA Today's Best Rom-Coms of July
Shondaland's Best Books of July
BookRiot's Best Romance Novels of July

Sometimes fireman Lucas Strong feels like he can only find any peace and quiet at the local laundromat, where every day is rinse and repeat — until a fateful run-in with his high school crush.

Hoping to attract more customers to his family’s knitting shop, Lucas Strong participated in an FDNY charity calendar and accidentally became a local celebrity. The only place he can find solace is Scrubs—a 24/7 laundromat where he can disappear for a couple of hours. But Lucas’s soapy sanctuary is shaken by an inquisitive little girl with a late-night interest in knitting, whose mother is his old school crush.
 
Sydney Harris knows that Harlem is like any other small town, and everyone is probably whispering about how she left such a good man—and a good life—behind to wash and fold laundry by the pound. If only they knew the truth. But Sydney will always put her daughter’s happiness first, even if that means moving back to Harlem and facing her past.
 
What Sydney never expected was to see Lucas again. A long-forgotten attraction kicks into high gear as Lucas and Sydney start to spend time together at the laundromat, and they must decide if this is true love or just an infatuation, thin and fragile as a soap bubble.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

A native New Yorker, Kwana Jackson had two dreams: (1) to be a fashion designer and (2) to be a writer. After studying fashion design and graduating from FIT, she spent ten years designing for various fashion houses. But after having twins and juggling both them and fashion, Kwana took a leap of faith and decided to pursue her other dream of being a writer. Since then she's won RWA NYC's Golden Apple Author of the Year Award and is a daily advocate for #WeNeedDiverseRomance. She currently lives in a suburb of New York with her husband, their twins and a precocious terrier named Jack who keeps her on her toes.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1

 

You know, you really are a little shit, Lucas Strong."

 

"Little"? How would you know?

 

The rebuttal was on the tip of his tongue, but instead of saying anything, Lucas scoffed to himself and ignored the insult that was hurled his way. He knew she was angry. She expected him to respond. To perhaps be thankful for her come-ons. But still it got tiring. The week had been crap, and now here was Michelle going on. Practically ready to tie him up with the new twisted wool blend the shop just got delivered. Lucas inwardly shivered. He needed to stay cool.

 

Not take the bait. And that's all this woman was doing with her "little" comment. Baiting him.

 

Hell, there was nothing little about him. Never had been. Not even when he was a kid and actually was little and faking it on falsified guts thanks to the fact that at times it was all he and Noah had keeping them together in the group home after their mom died and before Mama Joy came and rescued them. And definitely not since he'd become a man. No, nothing little about him since then, that was for sure.

 

So, when Michelle gave a loud "humph" and added a petulant foot stomp, Lucas thought only briefly about looking her way. But no. He wasn't playing into that game. Not tonight. He'd had more than enough. The day had already been plenty full of women throwing unnecessary fits at his expense. Right now, all he wanted to do and give any attention to was diving full force into his much-needed plan of rest and all-about-himself self-care. Sure, it might sound a little selfish, but after the hellish week he'd had, if he didn't deserve it, he sure as hell needed it.

 

But for now, here he was, stuck. Doing a shop closing and being insulted on top of it by this woman, with her long linger in the worsted section and suggestive pawing of the Peruvian highland wool.

 

Lucas squelched down a sigh. Tonight he'd only planned on barely passing through Strong Knits, the shop that he and his three brothers, Jesse, Noah and Damian, now owned since the sudden passing of Mama Joy, coming up on a year ago. They were now running the shop, though that term was used in only the most tenuous of ways, thanks to the help of Kerry-their longtime shop helper and now Jesse's full-time girlfriend.

 

Lucas threw up a silent but earnest prayer, one that he knew his other brothers probably said too, that Jesse stayed on the straight and narrow and never fucked things up with Kerry. She was way too perfect for him, the shop-hell, all of them. She had been running the shop since their mother passed away last year.

 

But today Jesse had pounced on Lucas before he'd gotten fully inside. Nowhere near letting him make it to the back of the shop and the steps that led to their living quarters and the glorious rest Lucas had been longing for. No, his younger brother was quick. Always had been when there was a potential payoff involved, and tonight, he guessed the potential payoff was high. Probably for all of them, so he shouldn't complain. Much.

 

Jesse wanted to take Kerry to the Bronx for a date at a new drive-in that had recently opened. Lucas was all set to tell Jesse where he could go with his teen dream Friday date night, but when he took one look at Kerry, with her sweet face and her big brown eyes shining, giving him that "You know you want to do it for me" look, Lucas knew he was sunk. Though Kerry had become Jesse's girlfriend-fiancŽe, if Jesse finally had his way-the truth was, she'd actually somehow made her way into all the Strong brothers' hearts and wedged herself in so tightly that she was now the sister from another mister who had them all wrapped around her little finger.

 

And what thanks did Lucas get for this finger-wrapping? Not a quiet few hours of watching the world go by outside the window of their Harlem yarn shop while he knit away the time until closing, like Jesse and Kerry had hyped up his night to be. No, he was stuck with Michelle, Ms. "I can't decide between the sock or the bulky weight yarn or the red or the green, but I know for sure I want to get tangled up with you, Lucas Strong."

 

As Michelle continued to babble on, Lucas continued to pretend to not hear her, instead keeping his focus on what he was doing. Knitting and people watching and trying his best to stay cool. It was what he needed to do. What he had to do. Keep his cool and keep his attention on something calm. Something more meditative than passes and insults and what had gotten him into the position where his life had become a constant loop of dodging both. With that thought, though, Lucas afforded himself a single silent groan of frustration, then wrapped the delicate yarn he was fingering around the wooden needles in his hands, gave a twist and-

 

"Did you hear me, Lucas Strong?!" Michelle's voice went up an octave to shrill, and his yarn broke, along with what may have been his eardrums.

 

Dammit!

 

He looked down at the broken threads. Shit. That's what he got for pulling from the shop's most expensive stash. Still, he shouldn't be surprised over breaking the yarn, given how tightly his nerves had been wound lately. He gazed at the ripped fawn-colored cashmere threads and forcibly pushed to the back corner of his mind all ridiculous comparisons to his psyche and the way his life had been going. He felt his shoulders tense as his stomach tightened. Even the thought of going that deep made him cringe. Not to mention how his brothers would react to such melodrama. He shook his head. Just nope. His family had been through enough with the death of Mama Joy and then having to get the shop finally off cash-flow life support. And that was just barely. His brothers couldn't deal with their supposed "got it all together" brother falling apart.

 

Lucas stood and placed his needles on the wooden stool he'd been leaning against. He suspected the old stool was probably even older than he was. A heavyweight piece in a gorgeous pecan color, it was glossy from many years of wear and loving care, being in the same spot where Mama Joy used to perch herself behind the counter, where she could look out at the shop and through the plate glass window, with its ever-changing seasonal yarn displays, onto the busy avenue beyond.

 

It was still so hard to believe he was sitting in this spot and that she never would again.

 

Almost a year now and Lucas still expected to hear her booming laugh, see her ever-welcoming smile when he walked in the door. That unshakable disbelief was probably the real reason he'd gotten caught out there tonight and had been wrangled into closing the shop. Out of habit, he and his brothers rarely used the outside entrance to their residence above Strong Knits-not during the hours that the shop was open anyway.

 

From the moment they'd each been taken out of foster care and into Mama Joy's care, she'd trained them to always check in when they made it home, telling them that's what family did. They checked in before they checked out, reminding them that they were no longer alone and had people waiting on them. People watching for them.

 

Lucas continued to look out the window while losing himself in memories. Though things were winding down in the shop and the hour was growing late, you wouldn't know it by looking out on the busy Harlem street. So many people were rushing here and there, most with that happy, just-got-paid, Friday-night look of anticipation. Summer was still on, but the end-of-season wind-down was in effect, and the air was thick with the energy of folks wanting to get in last licks before they had to bundle up again and go back under cover of layers of clothes...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1984806521
• ISBN 13: 9781984806529
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland