Summer Heat (Wyoming Fever Book 2) by Elizabeth Lennox (books for new readers TXT) 📕

“You’ve never wanted to own your own house?”

He shrugged.  “Oh sure.  It’s just, every time I start to think about buying a place, something comes up.”

“Something like…?”

“A homicide investigation.  A family emergency that I need to help with.  One of my friends buys a place and has problems, which only discourages me to avoid taking responsibility for an entire house.”

She stared thoughtfully at him for a long moment. “No, that’s not why you haven’t bought a house.” She shifted, facing him more fully.  “What’s the real reason?”

He laughed, then turned into an apartment complex parking lot.  “I guess you’ll have to get to know me a bit better.  Then you can let me know.”

She rolled her eyes, amused at his non-answer. He pulled into a parking space and the topic shifted.  “I’ll wait here for you.”

He shook his head.  “Not a chance.  You’re coming inside.”  With that, he stepped out of the truck and came around to her side.  He opened the door and waited. When she stared down at him, he merely lifted an eyebrow, silently telling her that he would lift her out if she didn’t come on her own.

“Fine!” she humphed. “I didn’t want to invade your privacy.  But if you insist, I’m going to open every drawer in your kitchen. Maybe even rearrange your utensils.”

He chuckled and did that hand-on-her-back thing again.  She loved it.  When he walked with her like this, she felt protected and cherished.  She hadn’t ever felt sensations like these before!

“Why would you…?”  He stopped and chuckled.  “Go ahead and rearrange anything you want.  Have a blast,” he teased.

Sage walked beside him and stepped back while he unlocked the door to his apartment.  He didn’t think she’d do it!  Ha!  Little did he know that she loved rearranging things!  And just because he’d patronized her, she was going to really mess things up.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her, tossing his keys onto the coffee table as he headed into his bedroom.

Sage only waited until the door was closed before she dumped her purse on the L shaped counter and got started.  She knew that she had very little time to work.  She suspected that Arik didn’t want her to be left alone for too long.  Silly man probably thought he was being rude by leaving her alone.  When in reality, he was just opening himself up to her mischief.

Less than five minutes later, he returned in a clean pair of jeans, these just as worn in all of the right places, just like his other pair.  He’d pulled on a clean shirt, buttoned up and looking impressively tight along his shoulders. Sage knew what was underneath that material now.

She really should have looked away this morning.  Now she couldn’t seem to do anything other than picture him half naked.  Or maybe completely naked.  But she wondered if she’d gotten the hidden bits correct whereas she knew what his back, shoulders, chest, and arms looked like.  And his feet, she thought as she glanced down at his dark brown cowboy boots.  Envious now, she mentally cursed herself because she should have worn her pink ones.

But she looked up at him with an innocent smile.

“What did you do?” he asked, looking behind her at the kitchen.  Everything looked as immaculate now as it had when they walked in.

“Do?” she asked, innocence shining through her eyes.  “I peeked at the books on your bookshelf.  I flipped some of them around so that you couldn’t find the titles when you want them.”

He glanced over at the book shelf, obviously relieved.  “Books?  You rearranged my books?”

Sage lifted her eyebrows.  “What were you expecting?”

Arik didn’t look convinced, but he wasn’t ready to challenge her.  Sage would have laughed, but she really didn’t want him to find out what she’d done until she wasn’t around.  Safety was a woman’s priority, she reminded herself.

“Fine.  Books are not a problem.”  He grabbed his keys again.  “Let’s go get you a dog.”

“Only if I find one that I like,” she reminded him, moving towards the door.  “If I don’t, then I’m walking away.”

“I’m sure Tom has something that you’ll like.  Let’s go find out,” and he pulled the apartment door open.

A half hour later, they arrived and walked up the driveway towards a ranch house. A massive barn stood behind the main building, flanked by several smaller structures.  There was also a corral with horses in the distance and a large open field where she could see several…bison?  She wasn’t sure.  The animals were huge and brown, but they were too far away for her to see them clearly.

“Hey Tom!” Arik called out as an older man stepped down off the porch as soon as she and Arik stepped out of the truck.

“Hey there!” the older man replied, waving. He had a warm, smiling face that made her think of a kind grandfather-like figure. One that would spoil his grandchildren unmercifully!  “Come on out back and check out the dogs,” he exclaimed, moving forward to shake Arik’s hand, then Sage’s.  “I have a whole brood of dogs just now.  Some idiot started breeding these silly little fluff balls, but the momma dog had too many.”  He shook his head and sighed deeply.  “The ‘breeder’, and I use that term loosely here, didn’t think to separate the momma and father after she gave birth.  So, she had a second set of puppies too soon afterwards.  She died, and I’ve been working overtime trying to nurse these pups back to health.”

“Puppies?” Sage whispered, her voice hopeful.

“Sage is looking for an older dog,” Arik explained.  “She needs a strong guard dog that’s also good company.”

Tom nodded, grinning.  “Well, you’ve come to the right place.  I have two German shepherds that could work. They’re awesome guard dogs.  Just last night, one