Summer Heat (Wyoming Fever Book 2) Read online

  Summer Heat

  By Elizabeth Lennox

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  Copyright 2021

  ISBN13: 9781950451388

  All rights reserved

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Any duplication of this material, either electronic or any other format, either currently in use or a future invention, is strictly prohibited, unless you have the direct consent of the author.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Excerpt to “Fall into Love”

  Chapter 1

  Jumping out of the way, Arik stared uncomprehendingly at the…vacuum cleaner?

  Yep! A vacuum cleaner had just flown out the front door.

  He stared warily in through the front door, hoping no more household items would follow. Since he didn’t know why anyone would throw a vacuum cleaner, one that appeared to be almost new, out of the house, he was wary of what might come next.

  A moment later, the beautiful blonde appeared in the doorway, visibly shaken.

  “Is it dead?”

  Arik stared down at the vacuum cleaner, then back at the woman. “Um…yes?”

  Sage DeSantis huffed as she rolled her eyes. “You don’t sound very sure. Is it dead? Or still kicking?” she demanded, even stomping her foot for emphasis.

  That’s when Arik noticed the cutoff shorts, white tee-shirt and…oh hell no! Sage was wearing pink cowgirl boots! That was seriously not fair! He’d had a thing for Sage ever since she’d moved here to Cheyenne, Wyoming a few months ago with her sister, Jade. Now Jade was married to his partner, and the happy pair were off traveling the country.

  Her eyes narrowed. “You know, for a homicide detective, you’re not very good at this, are you?”

  She frowned at him with her hands fisted on her hips. Arik tried, he really did, but he couldn’t figure out what the hell she was talking about.

  “I don’t think that the vacuum cleaner was ever really…alive,” he told her gently.

  Sage rolled those beautiful green eyes. She even added a huff of impatience. “The spider!” she demanded, as if he were the one that was nuts.

  Arik’s hands moved to his hips and he stared back. “The…spider?”

  Sage waved her hand at the vacuum cleaner. She didn’t come any closer, which was probably for the best. Arik had lusted after this woman since the first time he’d laid eyes on her.

  Unfortunately, Sage didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Which was fine.

  Okay, it definitely wasn’t “fine”, but still, if the woman didn’t want him, then he’d deal with it.

  “The spider in the vacuum cleaner!” she said, over enunciating the words as if she were talking to a four year old.

  Arik stared at her for a moment, then looked down at the vacuum cleaner, tipping his hat back slightly as he scratched his forehead. “Honey, why would a spider be in the vacuum cleaner?” he asked. He thought that he’d asked gently and patiently. Apparently, he was wrong!

  “Because the stupid spider was in my house!” she replied. The “duh!” wasn’t spoken, but it was clearly implied.

  Arik rubbed a hand over his mouth, trying to hide his smile. It would only piss her off more and he already had a hard time dealing with Sage. She was just so tiny! And round and soft in all the right…damn it! What the hell was she talking about?

  And damn Simon, his partner on the detective squad, for asking him to come out here and check on her! Simon and Jade were off doing something fun and interesting! So, why the hell had Arik agreed to check on Sage? She was fine! More than fine. Especially in those cute cutoff jeans! Holy hell, she was breathtaking in those shorts!

  “Stop it, Detective!” Sage grumbled, stomping her foot for emphasis.

  “Stop what?”

  “Stop laughing at me!”

  He glanced at the vacuum cleaner. “Well, here’s the thing. You’re trying to kill a spider by killing the vacuum cleaner?” He shook his head and he couldn’t stop the chuckle this time. “You and your sister have issues with spiders.” He and Simon had originally met the DeSantis sisters when Jade had been shooting at a spider in her bedroom with a bb gun.

  Sage shifted on her feet, crossing her arms over her chest. “We do not have issues with spiders, Detective!” she spat. “I have an agreement with nature in general and spiders in particular.”

  His eyebrows shot into his hairline. Thankfully, she couldn’t see his reaction because of his cowboy hat, but she probably suspected it.

  He let his hand smooth over his mouth again before he asked, “You have an agreement?”

  “Yes!”

  “An agreement with nature.”

  “And spiders.” She added a nod, as if that made it more sensible.

  “And what’s this…” he paused, struggling to keep his amusement hidden. “What’s this agreement?”

  She shrugged, but that only called his attention to those lovely, round, beautiful breasts that barely fit under her cotton tee shirt. “I don’t bother spiders if they stay outside. If they come inside, then they die!”

  Another hand over his mouth. He fought to remain serious as he stared determinedly at the hard-packed ground in front of him. Don’t laugh, he told himself firmly. Don’t laugh! But…an agreement with spiders?!

  After a long moment, he had himself under control and was able to look back up at her. Tilting his head slightly, he stared into those mesmerizing, green eyes of hers. “So, how’s that working out for you?” he asked, looking pointedly at the vacuum cleaner.

  Once again, Sage stomped her foot, drawing his attention to her soft, luscious thighs. They were the kind of thighs a man could lose himself in. Soft and round and beautiful. She had long, tanned legs. Legs that he could easily picture wrapped around his waist. Or around his neck as he kissed…! Well, those thoughts were better left for another, quieter moment.

  “Okay, so…I’m guessing that a spider didn’t respect your…agreement…and came inside?”

  “That’s right.”

  She said that as if his assessment of the situation made all the sense in the world. Unfortunately, he was still confused.

  “So…that still doesn’t explain why you tried to kill the vacuum cleaner.”

  She rolled her eyes again, and made another cute huff. “I tried to use the vacuum cleaner to kill the spider!” She shot a glare at the vacuum. “But, I could still see it moving in the dust canister!” She shivered as if the spider were crawling up her leg. “So I vacuumed up some of that powdered bathroom cleaner, thinking that would kill the stupid thing.”

  “I’m guessing it didn’t?”

  She did a little dance of frustration. “NO!”

  Arik couldn’t help it. She just looked so adorable and so irritated and horrified and…well, adorable! He threw back his head, laughing so hard that his hat fell off. He grabbed it before it went into the dust, but kept laughing.

  Sage glared at the man who had bothered her every single night, and a lot of the days, since she and her sister had moved to Wyoming several months ago. He was so darn tal
l and stupidly handsome. That black cowboy hat he always wore was just…he irritated her!

  It wasn’t because he was a bad guy. Just the opposite, actually. But Sage wasn’t in the market to date anyone. Not now. Not ever! And Arik was the kind who could really get under her skin. She might…care for him…if she ever let him get closer.

  Unfortunately, Detective Arik Dorrant wasn’t just her brother-in-law’s partner on the detective team. He was Simon’s best friend. That meant that she saw him whenever she went over to her sister’s house because Arik and Simon worked long hours, often working at Jade’s house. Simon was sweet, wanting to be with his wife as much as possible. So whenever they could, the two detectives worked out of the house, sifting through data and working on evidence for their various cases. Oh, they still needed to go into the police station. But most of the time, they worked at Jade’s house.

  Finally, Sage had started to figure out those “police station” times so that she could use those moments to visit her sister. Ever since leaving New York City, Sage and Jade had grown closer. The longer they kept their vile, controlling father out of the picture, the stronger the sisters’ relationship became.

  That meant that Arik was part of most holidays, every weekend get-together, and a lot of the mornings when he came by to pick Simon up so they could drive into the station together.

  Jerk!

  Okay, he wasn’t a jerk. All things considered, Detective Dorrant really was a good guy.

  Unless he was laughing at her.

  Sage huffed and inched closer, aiming a kick at the vacuum cleaner. “I don’t see it.”

  That stopped his laughter. Well, it slowed his laughter down to a chuckle.

  “Can’t see what?” He chuckled again, trying valiantly and unsuccessfully to smother his laughter.

  “The spider!” she explained, trying for patience. He resettled his hat and knelt down beside the vacuum. Sage was pretty sure he was only patronizing her, but if he valiantly killed the spider, she didn’t care. “Do you see it?”

  “No,” he replied and straightened up to his impressive height. “I don’t see the spider.” He looked behind her at the still-open door. “At the risk of asking a stupid question, why didn’t you just step on it?” He glanced down at her boots, praying she didn’t notice his body’s reaction. “You’re wearing shoes. It would have been easy to…”

  “Because I would have had to get too close,” she said, as if that were obvious.

  He nodded, but…still didn’t understand. “I see.” He sighed and tried hard not to burst out laughing again. “So, are you okay?”

  She squinted up at him, the bright afternoon sunshine making her eyes sparkle. “I’m fine.”

  Arik knew that she was lying. Perhaps it was that she’d answered too quickly. Or maybe it was the way she unconsciously backed up. But yeah, she was lying.

  “Good. So, you don’t need me to look around for any other spiders?” he offered. “I could kill them for you.” He glanced down at the vacuum cleaner again. “Since your primary weapon is out of commission.”

  She shifted on her feet and looked over her shoulder at the house, then down at the vacuum. “I hate to ask, but…” she bit her lower lip and he almost groaned at the pain of lust that shot through him. Her lips were full and soft, with just a touch of something to make them shiny.

  “Go ahead and ask.”

  “Would you mind,” she glanced down again, “just…opening that up and finding the damn thing? Maybe killing it for me?”

  He laughed, but being the gentleman, and the heroic sort, he nodded his head and bent down to open the vacuum. “Sure. I can do that for you.”

  Sage sighed with relief, but still backed up when he started pulling the dust collector off. Then the hose.

  “Be careful. It was a big one.”

  Arik smiled, and continued to disassemble the vacuum. When he didn’t see anything in the dust compartment, he pressed the button and…magically, the dust, fluff, and bits of lint fell out onto the rocks that were Sage’s front lawn.

  “I don’t see…” Arik jerked backwards when a large beast crawled out of the dust. “Holy mother of god!” he hissed, jumping back. “Sage! That’s not a spider, honey!” He lunged forward and stomped on the scorpion, which really was much larger than normal. Wyoming had their share of scorpions, but they were relatively small.

  This thing…it wasn’t native to Wyoming! It couldn’t be!

  After staring down at the deadly thing for a long moment, he turned to Sage. She looked utterly shocked. Good! Arik was relieved he wasn’t the only one!

  “Sage, what’s going on?”

  She glanced up at him warily. “You mean besides that giant…thing…coming into my house?” she asked, as if the question needed clarification.

  “Yeah,” he growled out. He just knew that there was more to the story. “Besides that.”

  Sage turned around and Arik had to clench his teeth as he watched her walk into the house, her cute, round bottom filling out those cutoffs like she was some sort of rounder, sexier Daisy Duke!

  Following her, he kept his eyes off of her ass. Or tried to. She was just too damn…hot! Arik knew he should think of Sage as if she were his little sister. Hell, she really was his best friend’s little sister. But damn! Sage was just too…cute! And hot!

  “Sage, what’s going on? Is someone bothering you?”

  “Besides you?” she drawled, leading the way into the kitchen.

  “Wow!” he looked around, stunned by the change in this place. “When did all of this happen?”

  Sage looked around, a smile forming on her perfect, rosebud lips. “You like it?”

  He spun in a slow circle to take it all in. The old oak, nineteen-eighties cabinets had been painted white. The upper cabinets were gone. In their place were warm, wood shelves with industrial style bars holding them onto the walls. She’d put up white ceramic tiles underneath the bottom shelves. The old Formica countertops were gone too. She’d chosen a counter in the same warm wood as the shelves. The effect was a softening of the stark white walls, white cabinets, and white tiles. Hell, she’d even put in a white farm-house style sink with a fancy faucet.

  “I’d love the name of your contractor. This is amazing work!” he said, moving his head to look up at the ceiling.

  “I didn’t use a contractor,” she told him.

  “Who did it?”

  She grinned, straightening with obvious pride. “I did all of it!” she replied. She looked around as well. “I like it. Everything looks clean and simple now.”

  “I agree,” he laughed. “I like the green and blue plates and bowls.” They added just the right pop of color. “It’s fresh and simple.” He smiled at her. “I thought you didn’t like to cook.”

  Sage shrugged. “Well, I don’t. But…well, I’d like to learn to cook. I mean, I figure if I can do all of this,” she gestured around the renovated kitchen, “I figure I can learn to cook too, right?”

  Arik stopped himself at the last moment from cringing. She’d already started to teach herself how to cook. So far, she’d failed. Miserably! The casseroles she brought to barbeques at Jade’s house were…well, inedible. If they weren’t burnt to a crisp.

  Still, Arik ate a large helping of everything she brought although he couldn’t count the number of times he got sick afterward. He just couldn’t take the tragic look of defeat on her pretty features when she realized how badly one of her efforts came out.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, changing the subject.

  Arik sighed. “Because Simon and Jade asked me to check on you,” he admitted.

  She grumbled slightly, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. “I’m fine!” she exclaimed. “I don’t know why they think that I’m such a baby! I’m fully capable of taking care of myself!”

  He eyed her more closely. “Is that why you’re not sleeping at night?” he asked.

  She stiffened and peeked worriedly at him through her lashes
, her hands dropping to her sides. “I sleep!”

  A disbelieving eyebrow lifted with her claim. “You have dark circles under your eyes, Sage. What’s going on?”

  Her hand flew to her cheek and that’s when he saw the scrape along the back of her arm. Moving forward, he took her elbow with his hand, examining the cut. “Where did you get this?”

  She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t release her arm. The wound looked to be about a day old, but the skin on either side was still an angry red and swollen.

  “It’s nothing.”

  He frowned. “You haven’t put anything on this, have you?”

  Sage tried again to pull her arm away, but he wasn’t relenting. “No. It’s fine.”

  “It’s infected,” he countered. “Do you have any iodine or antibiotic ointment?”

  “Sure. But I don’t need it for this. It’s just a little cut.”

  “Not little. And not just a cut,” he insisted, taking her wrist and tugging her gently but firmly towards the back of her house where he knew her bathroom was located. Along the way, he noticed an old chair that had been taken apart, the pieces laid out over the unfinished floorboards of her family room. “What are you doing here?” he asked. There was bright, pink flowered fabric laid out, as well as black and white zebra print fabric. The old wood of the chair had been taken apart, sanded, and painted a matte black.

  “I’m refinishing the chair. It’s going to look amazing!” she gushed, still trying to reclaim her arm.

  Arik grunted, then towed her down the short hallway to the bathroom. Once there, he opened the old medicine cabinet. After rummaging around amid the myriad containers of mascaras, lipsticks, cotton balls and…oh hell…birth control pills…he finally found what he was looking for.

  “Hold up your arm,” he ordered.

  She backed away. “I can do that myself.”

  “If you could have, you should have, Sage. Since you didn’t, let me do it for you.”

  “No.”

  He saw the flicker of fear in her eyes and froze. “You know that I would never hurt you, right?” he asked, stunned that she could possibly think that.