Page 5 of Sultry Summer

Monroe watches me from his counter, his big hands carefully wrapping brown paper around a delicate glass vase in gorgeous turquoise glass that some tourist is buying.

When he’s got her all sorted out and she leaves with a smile and a wave, he eyes me narrowly.

“Alright,” he asks softly. “You want to tell me what’s going on with you before your cousin blows a gasket and takes out the whole store?”

I roll my eyes. You can’t hide a damn thing from Monroe. It must be the cop in him. He’s got this sixth sense that tells him when somebody’s lying.

It’s incredibly annoying!

I cross my arms over my chest and he smirks. “New t-shirt?”

This one is bright purple and says, “I love daisy chains.” What makes it funny is they’re a chain of daisies that look like handcuffs. I laughed my ass off when I found it.

Fee didn’t laugh at all. She’s losing her sense of humor if she can’t laugh at stuff like that. She used to be a lot more fun when we were growing up. Now she’s just an old fuddy duddy.

“When you guys were gone, this guy came in.”

Monroe doesn’t even let me finish. His eyes are chips of ice and he stands up so fast I swear I almost get whiplash following his head.

“Who the fuck is he and what did he do? If he touched you without your permission, I’ll make sure he pays for it. I’ve still got contacts, even here.”

I wave my arms. “Whoa, whoa! Settle down, killer. He just talked. Nothing bad.”

I mean…if flirting isn’t bad. I have a feeling Monroe might have strong feelings on that too.

“He didn’t touch me. It’s just…I saw him at the diner after that and we had breakfast together the next morning and then he just…disappeared.”

Monroe shrugs. “Maybe he had work to do or something like that. Could be he’s swamped.” His eyes narrow. “Why are you so upset that some guy who’s basically a perfect stranger hasn’t been by? I assume that’s the problem.”

“Yeah. We had a good breakfast and laughed, had fun. But then he just hasn’t been around for a couple of days.”

Monroe sighs and pats my shoulder. “Aspen. Guys like that just blow into town and find some willing partner to take the edge off and then blow right back out. They don’t stay.”

I nod my head. “I know that.” Logically I know that. But there’s just something about Hunter that makes me think he’s more than just some hit it and quit it guy.

He reaches over and pulls me into a quick, hard hug. “Hey, if he doesn’t want to see you again, that’s a him problem not a you problem. You’re probably too good for him anyway.”

I snort out a laugh and then the bell over the door tinkles and even though I’m facing away from it, a sizzle of hunger builds in my spine and pours out all over my body, turning my bones liquid with desire.

I only know one man that does that to me. And like I conjured him just by talking about him, he appears right beside me and growls. “Who the fuck is this guy and why is he touching you, Aspen?”

I glance up and Monroe lifts a dark brow at me, grinning mischievously. He holds out his left hand and grunts when Hunter grabs it and holds on tight. His lips go white but he doesn’t even grimace. Just smiles at the crazy person standing in front of us.

I groan and shift in Monroe’s arms, trying to step back but not surprised when he doesn’t let me.

Monroe can be an ass sometimes. Looks like I’m about to see what he thinks about Hunter whether I want him to or not.

The two men move closer and I grimace when I realized that they haven’t let go of each other and actually, it looks like they’re arm wrestling with me standing between them.

Like two junkyard dogs eyeing each other up as they circle for the fight.

I hate fights. I growl under my breath.

I pull my lips tight and glare at Hunter. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are…but you have no damn claim on me or my time so I don’t think I’m going to tell you who the hell he is!” I snap.

Who thinks they can just disappear for days with no word and then show up, claiming shit that doesn’t belong to them at all.

Hunter fucking Devon that’s who.