In the Midnight Hour Read online

  In the Midnight Hour

  Deborah Cooke

  Deborah A. Cooke

  Contents

  In the Midnight Hour

  Flatiron Five

  Dear Reader

  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

  Thank you!

  An Excerpt from Some Guys Have All the Luck

  About the Author

  More Books by the Author

  In the Midnight Hour

  Damon has a secret…

  Every Friday night, the F5 partner who is the quiet powerhouse leaves on the dot of five without explanation. Where does Damon go? What does he do? His partners want to know, but Damon can’t bring himself to share the truth about his mom’s battle with cancer. She’s the anchor in his life and he doesn’t know how he’ll go on without her. In the middle of the night, when he’s most alone, he wants to control all the variables for someone, to prove he’s not completely powerless. He doesn’t expect to find such a willing, or seductive, volunteer.

  * * *

  Haley loves solving mysteries…

  Especially ones like the gorgeous guy who visits her favorite patient every Friday night. He must be Natasha’s son, but is he also the model on the billboard for that fitness club downtown? Where did he learn therapeutic massage? Even though she’s a nurse, Haley’s interest in him and his skill isn’t just professional. She wants to feel those hands on her own skin, for as long as possible. One night, she takes a chance and asks for a lesson from him, only to discover that she has a hunger for the sensation only Damon can satisfy.

  * * *

  In the Midnight Hour

  By Deborah Cooke

  * * *

  Cover by Kim Killion

  * * *

  Copyright 2018 Deborah A. Cooke

  All rights reserved.

  * * *

  Without limiting the rights under copyright preserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means, (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright holder and the publisher of this book.

  * * *

  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.

  * * *

  The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  Created with Vellum

  Flatiron Five

  Contemporary Romance Series

  Once upon a recession, five friends banded together to find success. Ten years later, their exclusive fitness club, Flatiron Five, is the hottest destination in Manhattan. People flock to F5 to get fit, to get lucky, and even, to fall in love. The founding partners have been immune to F5’s spell—at least, so far...

  1. Simply Irresistible

  * * *

  2. Addicted to Love

  * * *

  3. In the Midnight Hour

  * * *

  4. Some Guys Have All the Luck (2018)

  * * *

  Dear Reader

  The adventure continues at Flatiron Five!

  Damon was a bit of mystery, even to me, until I wrote his book. Where did he go every Friday night? Who was Natasha? I knew it would take a special woman to draw out his secrets. I also suspected that he had a lot to share. I was glad when Haley walked onto the page. Not only did I admire her determination to get to the bottom of any mystery, but I liked the attraction between her and Damon. These two are equally convinced that they don’t need love and romance in their lives, but the connection between them can’t be denied: it’s no spoiler to tell you that this friends-with-benefits relationship develops into more. Haley and Damon can heal each other, but will they take a chance on love?

  Next up in the series is Cassie’s book, Some Guys Have All the Luck, which will be published in June. This is a reunion story: Cassie goes back to the town she couldn’t wait to leave for a christening. She has no intention of staying away from the city any longer than necessary, but when she crosses paths with Reid Jackson, who has always been crazy for her, Reid sees an opportunity for a second chance with Cassie. I already like how Reid is challenging Cassie’s expectations. There’s a sample from their book at the end of this one.

  I’m also launching a series of shorter stories set in the Flatiron Five world. In Damon and Haley’s book, Chynna sets up a tattoo shop at F5, and it’s rumored that she can give a tattoo on the full moon that helps the recipient find true love. Cassie gets the first tattoo, which doesn’t yield results until she goes home to Montrose River. This new series called Secret Heart Ink will tell the stories of the people who get those tattoos. The first is called Snowbound. Check my website for news about the release schedule, follow my blog and subscribe to my newsletter.

  Of course, I write paranormal romances as well. My new dragon shifter series of paranormal romances is called the Dragons of Incendium, and features dragon shifter princess from space. Currently, there are three books and three short stories available in the series, and more to come. These are action-packed and sexy, and straddle the line between paranormal romance and science fiction romance.

  I also continue to write medieval romances as Claire Delacroix.

  To learn about my new releases and get additional content available only to subscribers, please sign up for one (or all) of my newsletters:

  • Heroes & Bad Boys is the newsletter for my Deborah Cooke contemporary romances.

  * * *

  • Dragons & Angels is the newsletter for my Deborah Cooke paranormal romances.

  * * *

  • Knights & Rogues is the newsletter for my Claire Delacroix medieval romances.

  If you prefer something shorter and sweeter, you can also subscribe to my New Release Alert. You'll get a single email announcement on the on-sale date of any new book of mine.

  Until next time, I hope you have plenty of good books to read.

  All my best,

  Deborah

  http://DeborahCooke.com

  * * *

  Chapter One

  She looked so frail.

  Damon always had to stop and catch his breath at first sight of his mom. Once it had been because of her beauty and the smile that could make everything come right. Now, it was because nothing would ever come right again. He’d never get used to the change in her. He just didn’t want her to ever see horror in his expression.

  Every week since that day in June, he’d left F5 at five sharp. The story was that he had a date with Natasha, the dancer. It was true.

  But Natasha wasn’t his date. She was his mom.

  And she needed him more than ever.

  Since her diagnosis, Damon had gone home on Friday nights, to the house in Queens where he’d grown up. He’d helped his mom, small tasks at first, then more complicated ones. He couldn’t remember when he’d started cooking in batches for her, stocking the freezer with the foods she loved. It seeme
d he’d always done it, because she didn’t like to cook for herself, but since the summer, he’d done it more. Then he’d moved home in July, so that she wouldn’t be alone at night while she went through her first round of chemotherapy. He’d commuted to and from the club.

  By August, he’d had to hire someone to be with her each day. That had been over his mom’s objections, after she’d fallen and broken her wrist while he was at work. The doctor agreed that she shouldn’t be alone at all after that, and Damon had been relieved. Friday nights had become their time together, the companion’s night off. She made it through the chemo and the radiation without the leukemia going into remission. The oncologist had recommended another more aggressive round of treatment.

  Then in November, just after Thanksgiving, she’d fallen again. That time, she’d broken her hip and had been checked into the hospital.

  Damon watched her sleep and reviewed his earlier meeting with the oncologist. The bottom line was that the cancer wasn’t responding to the treatment. It had spread into her nervous system and, even though the oncologist wasn’t giving up, Damon understood the prospects. There were alternative choices, and he had donated more blood for stem cell transplant, but he had to face the truth.

  The treatment wasn’t working.

  His mom wasn’t ever going home again and he couldn’t bear to tell her.

  He knew she’d prefer to be in a familiar setting, but it was much simpler for her to be treated while she remained in the hospital. The team was pulling for her, but Damon feared it wouldn’t be enough.

  There were no good choices, except coming to see her as often as possible. He liked to come at night, when the hospital was comparatively quiet. He’d arranged for her to have a private room and the best care, but nothing was going to stop the changes in her body.

  Damon knew how the story would end. He didn’t want it to end, but he wasn’t sure how long he could bear for it to continue, either. He’d spent time alone at the house on this night, making dinner for himself, packing some for his mom in case she wanted to eat, choosing some photographs to bring with him. They might prompt her memory of better times.

  He didn’t want to wake her up, though. Her breathing was more shallow, as if even sleep was less restorative than once it had been.

  He stood watching her for long moments, aching for his pending loss. His father had died when he was young, and Damon had no siblings. Everything he’d done had been for his mom, to make her proud of him, to not let her down. There was so much he’d never told her.

  He wasn’t sure how he was going to continue without her.

  Damon didn’t even want to think about that.

  He had his friends and partners at F5, of course, but they knew very little about his private life. He’d always been solitary. He’d always kept his secrets. He’d thought that was a good thing, or at least a matter of survival, until he realized he was soon going to be completely alone.

  It was true what they said: love did make you weak, because there was something you could lose.

  When he arrived, having trudged through a cold December night, his mom was sleeping. Her back was to the door, her shoulder thin even beneath the blanket. She’d always been slender, a dancer just as he’d told Kyle and Cassie, but now she was little more than bones. She was on a heart monitor and he watched the display of her pulse for a moment.

  Her heart was still working too hard. He’d talked to the doctor about that and the risks of the surgery to repair her hip. They’d talked about her suitability for any surgery, given the cancer in her marrow and her prognosis.

  There were no good answers and Damon hated that.

  His mom had always been filled with such fierce determination, a woman who seemingly could accomplish anything by force of will. Damon had always thought that came from her ballet training, maybe her upbringing in Soviet Russia. Now, she was diminished, as if that fighting spirit had abandoned her. He wondered why she’d given up.

  He wished he knew how to make her care enough to fight.

  Damon put his messenger bag down on the chair and shed his jacket. He bent over his mom and kissed her cheek. Her eyelids fluttered, looking as thin as paper, and for a second, his worst fear came true as she looked at him without recognition.

  Then she smiled and his heart started to beat again. “Damon,” she whispered, her voice faint.

  “Hi,” he replied, easing his weight down onto the side of the bed. “How are all those aches and pains today?”

  “Everything hurts, but complaining won’t change it.”

  “Hungry? I brought you some...”

  “No, thank you.” She smiled and turned away from him, letting him untie the back of her gown. “I know you can help with the pain, though. You can do anything.”

  “That’s what you always said,” he reminded her. “We can do anything.”

  Her smile turned sad. “Not quite anything.”

  Damon saw that she understood more of her situation than he’d realized. His throat was tight with the truth of it, but he couldn’t talk to her about it. He wasn’t good with confidences and intimacy. Instead, he forced a smile. “Let’s get started then and work out some of those kinks.”

  It was dark outside the hospital windows and the sounds were muted by the heavy glass. He could see the skyline of Manhattan but the city could have been a thousand miles away—or just a backdrop painted on a curtain. Even the business of the hospital was background noise, very few footsteps or voices, and no alarms. He felt as if they were in a little private space of their own.

  He turned his mom to her stomach with care, ensuring that no tubes or wires were pinched and that there was no weight on any joints. They said her wrist was healing slowly, the bone knitting together due to her rest, but the cancer wasn’t helping.

  He’d learned everything he could about massage, just to give her some relief from her old dancing injuries. He remembered his dad giving his mom massages. Damon had never imagined she’d need so much more. He moved slowly, listening to her breathing, making sure that nothing hurt.

  Once on her stomach with the pillow set properly, she sighed. “This is the best part of my week,” she whispered and Damon smiled as he poured massage oil into his palm.

  “Mine, too, Mom.” He smoothed the lotion over her back, ignoring the way the bones protruded. “Mine, too.”

  He felt satisfaction as the tension eased from her body beneath his touch.

  At least he wasn’t completely powerless, although it was closer than he liked.

  * * *

  Haley had heard about him, of course. The mysterious man who showed up every Friday night to give Mrs. Natasha Perez a massage. The hunky and mysterious son, if she listened to the other nurses. There was a lot of speculation about him and whatever he did—and what kind of relationships he had.

  Haley didn’t care much about his social life. What intrigued her was the difference in his mother’s charts. As a nurse interested in alternative therapies, Haley always wanted to know more about easing discomfort, no matter how it was done. There was no denying that Natasha slept better and more deeply every Friday night.

  He came on other days and times, too, and the story was that he phoned her daily, but Friday night, after the wards quieted down, he showed up like clockwork.

  Was it his presence, as Mrs. Perez’s only son, or his massages that made the difference? Haley had swapped shifts, just to see for herself.

  On this Friday night, just past midnight, she stood in the doorway of his mother’s room and watched. She was on her break from the cardiac ward and had twenty minutes. The door was partly closed, which both kept Haley out of view and limited what she could see. From this vantage point, she could see only the edge of the heart monitor but could hear its output. Even without reading the display, she heard Mrs. Perez’s pulse slow to a nice steady resting rate.

  She couldn’t see the son well from this angle, plus he had his back to the door. He was bigger than Haley had expecte
d, buff like someone who worked out a lot. His hair was dark, almost black, and he looked tanned. His jacket was flung over a chair and he was wearing a T-shirt and jeans. She could see the muscles in his own shoulders bunching as he gave his mom a massage. His broad shoulders strained the T-shirt and she could see the end of a tattoo on his upper arm, below the hem of the sleeve. His hands moved rhythmically over his mom’s limbs as he talked softly to her.

  Haley wasn’t sure whether it was a worse choice to stand in the doorway and eavesdrop, or to declare herself and ruin the mood he’d created. She listened to the heart monitor and stayed put.

  Just watching his hands was mesmerizing.

  His jeans fit just a little too well for her own heart rate to be dropping, though.

  How long had it been since she’d wrapped her legs around a man? Too long, judging by her body’s response to the sight of one deliciously fit male. She always bailed quickly on relationships, not wanting to get in too deep, not wanting to be tied down, not wanting to sacrifice her ambitions. For the past year or so, it had seemed like too much trouble to bother with men. She watched Mrs. Perez’s son, though, and realized she’d been ignoring her basic needs.