Two Hearts, Two Fires...and a thousand questions keeping
them apart.
Cowboy Cole Hatcher became a firefighter to support his
horse rescue ranch. He never dreamed it would lead him back to his first love,
but a fire at the Poker Flat Nudist Resort lands him face-to-face with Lacey
Winters. She may have started the fire that ended their relationship, but the
sight of her reignites his long-buried feelings.
Lacey is shocked the hunky firefighter is the same man who dumped
her eight years ago. Cole burned her in the past when he failed to stand by her,
and she’s determined not to let him back into her heart. But everything about
the new Cole is just too hot to resist. He melts her defenses, sweeping her
away into a night of passion only to rip open old wounds.
Determined to prove who set the Poker Flat fire and the original
fire that destroyed their relationship, Cole investigates both, unearthing ugly
truths that reveal even more damage. Now, he's not sure he can catch the arsonist
or the heart of the woman he never stopped loving.
Excerpt:
A third
explosion rocked the ground and he spun in time to see a gust of wind pick up
the roiling flames and throw them toward his men. He pressed the button on his
radio. “Fall back!”
One man
stumbled backward, catching his foot on the old barn wood and lost his grip on
the hose. The other firefighter struggled with it before he went down too.
“Fuck.”
Cole sprinted to his men, pulling them back by their coats as the flames licked
at their boots. The barn wood caught, feeding the fire.
Once his
men were out of harm’s way, he tackled the flailing line. A loose hose was a
danger in its own right.
“Lieutenant,
do you want us on the wood pile?” The question came through his radio.
Cole
slammed his body onto the hose before replying, “Negative. Keep that curtain
up.”
The two
firefighters that had been blown down regained their feet and grabbed the hose.
“Thanks, Lieutenant.”
He
released his hold. “Pull back and soak that pile. If the wind shifts again, I
don’t want the barn catching.”
The men
nodded.
Cole turned
around and strode back to the engine. The two women were still there. This
wasn’t a movie. Didn’t they have any common sense?
After
checking with Mason to be sure the water pressure was steady, he approached his
audience, irritation growing at the petite stature of the blonde. Someone so
delicate didn’t belong at a working fire, but like the owner, at least she had
clothes on. “Ladies, you need to get back.” He pointed to the rise the golf
carts had congregated on earlier.
The blonde
smiled. “Selma sent over churros and iced tea for your men in case they need
something.”
Cole’s
blood froze. That voice. He studied
the woman and his heart stumbled inside his chest. Her shapely figure proved
she’d grown into a delectably curvy woman as he’d always expected she would,
but her face was almost the same, just more refined. “Lacey Winters?”
Her brows
furrowed and her button nose wrinkled as she peered back at him. Had he really
changed so much in eight years? Yeah, probably. He’d been a bean pole last he’d
seen her…the night he broke it off with her.
She gave
up trying to figure out who he was. “I’m sorry. Do I know you?”
He should
let it go. No need to dredge up the past. He had a fire to control.
His pulse
went into overdrive. Another fire. It couldn’t be coincidence. He scowled at
her. “You should. I’m Cole, Cole Hatcher.”
Even in
the reflection of the flames, her face turned pasty white and he kicked himself
for revealing his identity. All he needed now was a fainting woman to contend
with.
“You two
know each other?” The other woman leaned on one hip, her concern for Lacey
evident in the look she gave him.
At the
owner’s voice, Lacey recovered her color. Actually, her face changed from white
to an angry flush in a matter of seconds. It reminded him of a flashover.
“Not that
I want to know him.” Lacey handed the tray over to the owner and stepped up to
him. She poked her index finger into his chest. Hard. “So, Cole Hatcher. Are
you going to accuse me of setting this fire? After all, I’m here, on the same
property. It’s not like you need evidence or anything. Feel free to assume the
worst. I’m sure it helps to justify the way you treated me.” She pulled back as
if touching him made her feel sick. “Good luck with that.” Turning on her heel,
she stalked off, her hips swaying enticingly until he remembered where he was
and who he was looking at.
“So you’re the one who broke her heart.” The
owner studied him briefly then set the tray on the ground and followed after
Lacey.
Shit.
About Lexi:
Lexi Post is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author of romance
inspired by the classics. She spent years in higher education taking and
teaching courses about the classical literature she loved. From Edgar Allan
Poe's short story “The Masque of the Red Death” to Tolstoy’s War and Peace, she's read, studied, and
taught wonderful classics.
But Lexi's first love is romance novels so she married her two first loves, romance
and the classics. From hot paranormals to sizzling cowboys to hunks from out of
this world, Lexi provides a sensuous experience with a “whole lotta story.”
Lexi is living her own happily ever after with her husband and her two cats
in Florida. She makes her own ice cream every weekend, loves bright colors, and
you will never see her without a hat.
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