Whiskey Smoke

Levi Shephard grew up with money, power and privilege, and with the shadow of an organized crime family that comes attached. That shadow has kept him wary of relationships. He sleeps only with women who know the rules and play by them.

Then circumstances hand him a responsibility he did not plan on. Levi has to protect Aspen Chance, a girl he should never have been allowed near. She is young, sheltered and naive, and her health is fragile.

He promises to see that Aspen has everything she needs. The promise grows heavier than he expects. Night terrors bring her into his bed. She trusts him with decisions about her medical care. Then she tells him she wants to experience pleasure.

Levi fears that meeting Aspen's needs, in every sense, could ruin both of them. The romance plays out against a dark crime-family backdrop, with a protector at its center.