A Little Taste

A LITTLE TASTE BE STILL SERIES TIA LOUISE CONTENTS A Little Taste Acknowledgments 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 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Epilogue A Little Twist Prologue Wait for Me Prologue Books by Tia Louise About the Author This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. A Little Taste Copyright © TLM Productions LLC, 2023 Printed in the United States of America. Cover design by Lori Jackson Design. Photography by Wander Aguiar. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, photocopying, mechanical, or otherwise—without prior permission of the publisher and author. Created with Vellum A LITTLE TASTE BY TIA LOUISE Aiden Stone is a six-foot-two former Marine with a permanent scowl, dark hair, and dreamy blue eyes. He’s the oldest of the Stone brothers, and his “by the book” family has battled mine for control of our small town for generations. The last thing I should do is sleep with him. Or nearly run him down with my truck. Especially since he's sort-of my new boss... It doesn’t help that my grandmother (the mayor) is a former magician, and my mom is a psychic (sort-of)... And my dad died in a failed escape-artist attempt (that my mother is convinced was a murder). Trust me, I know crazy, but I’m just plain ole Britt Bailey, Shania Twain-loving, non-magical forensic photographer. Yes, I take pictures of dead things, but I don’t see them in my bedroom at night. I only want to see one thing in my bedroom at night, and when I’m called home to help Sheriff Stone on an investigation, he actually stops frowning for a minute, and my teenage fantasies get very real. It’s a terrible idea. We work together, he’s seven years older than me, he’s a single dad, he hates all things magic, but a little taste, and we can’t say no. Until the town crime wave turns personal, putting everything on the line, and we’ll need more than a magic bullet to get our happily ever after. (A LITTLE TASTE is a small-town, grumpy single-dad romance with a touch of light suspense and lots of tasty spice. No cheating. No cliffhanger.) ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Kicking off a new series is so exciting and terrifying and fun and scary. Luckily, I have the most amazing team of helpers and readers and friends, and I love you all! Huge thanks and so much love to my husband “Mr. TL” for his patience while I write, his encouragement when I’m discouraged, his ideas when I’m stuck, and his eagerness to read each new adventure. Thank you to my beautiful daughters who have left the nest but still believe in me, make me laugh, and support me from afar. I love you ladies! Thanks so much to my alpha readers Renee McCleary and Leticia Teixeira for your enthusiasm and incredible feedback on Aiden and Britt’s story! Your funny notes and swoony highlights keep me motivated! Huge thanks to my incredible betas, Maria Black, Corinne Akers, Amy Reierson, Courtney Anderson, Jennifer Christy, and Jennifer Kreinbring. You guys give the best notes! Thanks to Jaime Ryter for your eagle-eyed edits and to Lori Jackson and Kate Farlow for the killer cover designs, to my dear Wander for the perfect image, and the amazing Stacy Blake, who helps me make my gorgeous paperback interiors! Thanks to my dear Starfish, to my Mermaids, and to my Veeps for keeping me sane and organized while I’m in the cave. I can’t begin to put into words how much I appreciate the love and support of all the influencers on BookTok, Instagram, Facebook, and to my author-buds! I love you guys so much… I hope you all adore this new world, these crazy characters, and “Love is the closest thing we have to magic.” -Jay Ann To my readers, my friends, and Mr. TL, a little pixie dust ✨ CHAPTER 1 AIDEN “Yep, he’s a goner.” Deputy Doug Hally straightens with a groan, holding the squashed cucumber out for my inspection. I nod grimly, and Terra Belle throws up her arms in distress. “My entire pickle farm is destroyed! Who would do such a thing?” We’re standing in the middle of the two-acre field now riddled with large, circular ruts and damaged fruit still on the vine. The pattern of the tire tracks reminds me of that movie about the aliens making crop circles, but this damage was definitely done by a vehicle of some sort. “My money’s on them no-good Jones boys.” My sole deputy tosses the damaged fruit to the side, lowering his brow in a knowing way. “You think it was Bull and Raif, Dad? Are you going to arrest them? Can I go?” My son Owen blinks up at me, his seven-year-old eyes wide, and I hesitate. If he weren’t here, I’d say this looks more like asshole teenagers who watched that movie and wanted to play a prank. The Jones boys were probably too drunk or high last night to do something this precise, but it’s important to me to be a good role model, even when I’m tired. Placing my hand on Owen’s shoulder, I summon my dad, the former sheriff of Eureka’s calm wisdom. I think about what he’d have said to me at Owen’s age. “It’s not our job