Where There's Smoke: A Texas Heat Novel (3 page)

Sawyer flushed. One of the other librarian’s helped a boy at the computer station. A student diligently studied in a corner. A mommy and me toddler reading group was in progress near the pillows corner.

Sawyer bit her tongue for Rowan’s sake. “Are you looking for a book?” They both knew that was an absurd question. Becky’s idea of deep reading was a tabloid magazine.

Her pretty face soured. “Stay away from my husband.”

Oh here we go again. “Excuse me?”

“Get a man of your own – if you can.”

Sawyer paled. She gripped the edge of the counter. For Rowan’s sake, she held back a biting retort. “You really need to get therapy for that insecurity issue, Rowan and I have been friends since the Fifth Grade, get over it.”

“He says your name in his sleep, did you know that?”

What?! Sawyer’s heart climbed to her throat. She dreamed about him too. Sometimes they were random images, other times down right erotic. It wouldn’t do to admit that. Sawyer never told anyone for fear it would be misconstrued.

“Becky, he’s crazy about you. He married you. I’m just…a friend.”

“No, you’re someone he can’t live without.”

That stunned Sawyer and robbed her of speech. “If something happened to me, Rowan would grieve for a while but you – if he lost you he would lose his mind. You’re vital to him in a way I’m not and I resent the hell out of you for that. I’m his wife damn it, I should be his best friend, he’s mine, I’m not sharing.”

Sawyer wanted to scream. “Rowan had friends long before he met you, I’m one of them, I am no threat to your marriage.”

“You’re in love with him,” Becky accused.

“Oh for God’s sake!” Sawyer threw up her hands. “Look, I’m not one of these women who fight over men, you know why? I don’t have to. All this drama between you and me? We’re done.”

Sawyer turned to walk away. Becky took off her high heel and launched it. The spike hit Sawyer in the back of the head. She slowly turned around and glared at the irate wife.

“Oh honey, for that, you better put your husband under lock and key cause the next time I get him alone, I’m gonna ride him like a stallion, don’t wait up, we’ll be at it all night.”

Becky bristled with fury. “Give me back my shoe.”

Sawyer picked up the $600 designer shoe and snapped the heel off. “Oops.” She placed the broken shoe on the counter. Fuming, Becky snatched up the pieces and limped away.

Rowan never knew about the ugly confrontation with his wife. She suspected Becky gave him an ultimatum about their friendship shortly thereafter. He didn’t call Sawyer as often but he never could give her up completely. In all their years of friendship, they never crossed the line. Sawyer wouldn’t hurt another woman that way, even a bitch like Becky.

And yet…Sawyer adored Rowan. Would it be a stretch to pretend to want more? They would have to be convincing indeed but it didn’t take much to persuade her girlfriends. Emerson and Harper acted as if a romance between her and Rowan was a given. Sawyer fought a wave of confusion and guilt. Before her untimely death, did Becky know something she didn’t? As Sawyer walked down the aisle she looked at Rowan for platonic reassurance. His green eyes burned and locked with hers. Her stomach quivered in response.    

Chapter 5

Rowan knew he was in big trouble. When Sawyer turned the corner, at first he didn’t recognize her. He blinked in the sunny courtyard and every muscle in his body went taunt. Her fly away, frizzy hair shined a glossy mahogany with a riot of curls. She wore light, natural make up that enhanced her sparkling hazel eyes, rosy cherub cheeks and pink, luscious lips.

Rowan wanted to charge down the aisle and cover her from the neck down! He didn’t like the lingering looks of male appreciation one bit. She had breasts! Round, perky breasts that could fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. The Black Widow jumpsuit hugged every lush curve of her body. He stared hard, unblinking. On a primitive level, his body wanted her with a single minded fury that shocked him. He’d never felt anything like it.

This is Sawyer, his sidekick from school days, the first person he called when his dad died, the first to know which college he selected, the one he celebrated with after his first hotel development deal. She knew when he lost his virginity to Becky on a moonlit beach and they compared notes about sex. When he married Becky, Sawyer was his ‘best man’. She even dressed in a tuxedo. Becky distrusted their relationship from day one.

Was Sawyer a lesbian? She asked hopefully.

Ah, no, he answered.

Why did he need Sawyer when he had a wife? How could he explain what Sawyer meant to him? It was hard for his wife to imagine him a skinny, pimple faced ten year old kid who got the tar beat out of him on a daily basis. Melvin and his thugs were the friendly neighborhood bullies. They used to chase him all the way home, across the railroad tracks on the Aberdeen/Great Hills boarder.

After months of sheer terror, Sawyer appeared one day with her baseball bat and pepper spray. Melvin and company never bothered him again.

Sawyer and Rowan became inseparable after that daring rescue. They did each other’s homework, paired up on field trips. He taught her how to cook. She taught him self-defense moves her dad taught her. “It’s called Krav Maga, the Israelis use it to kick ass.”

Krav Maga led to weight lifting and Cross fit. By senior year in high school, Rowan towered over Melvin and had the muscles to pound him into the ground. Girls who didn’t give Rowan the time of day, suddenly flirted and asked him out by the dozens. Rowan turned them down flat. He asked Sawyer to the prom.

After the dance, they watched a
Star Wars
marathon on TV with a box of pizza between them. It never occurred to him to make a move on her. He never thought in a million years that she might have feelings for him. He treasured her friendship so much, he only ever focused on nurturing that. Sawyer Landon just made everything in life better. If anyone else was threatened by that, tough shit. He refused to dump his best friend regardless of who did the asking.

Becky was a gorgeous, fun, loving life partner but she could never be Sawyer. The thought of Becky was sobering. Right now, he felt the seductive pull of temptation. He made a vow of abstinence years ago until he remarried, which he didn’t intend to do. His mother accused him of punishing himself for Becky’s death. Maybe she was right. It was his fault, after all. Becky would do summersaults in her grave if she knew what he felt for Sawyer. He wore a Scottish kilt for the wedding. Thank God his heavy arousal was well concealed. He remembered laughing when Becky told him Sawyer’s threat.

I’m gonna ride him like a stallion.
   

Please do! Unholy lust filled him with heat. The thought of Sawyer, naked with her sweet, round ass riding him…damn!

Rowan cleared his throat. He heard one of the groomsmen, Seth McClain ask, “Who is that?”

Dylan Chambers, who stood on the other side of the groom, answered, “Sawyer Landon.”

“The librarian?” Seth asked in disbelief.

“Yep.”

Seth made a sound in his throat of masculine appreciation. Rowan flashed him a murderous look. Seth caught it and recognized jealously for what it was. He grinned wickedly.

“She is smokin’ hot,” Seth said loud enough for Rowan to hear. He bristled. Seth was an ex-Navy Seal, good looking in a rugged, lethal way. Women noticed men like Seth. Sawyer never mentioned the man before. The bastard would be single. Rowan knew his thoughts weren’t exactly Christ like but G.I. Joe better keep his hands to himself. Rowan didn’t like the glint of interest in the other man’s eyes.

Sawyer made her way to the end of the aisle. She tore her eyes away from Rowan and stood to his left beside the other bridesmaid, Emerson. Her husband Dylan winked at her. She blushed in return. When Harper and her father walked down the aisle, she made a stunning bride. Rowan heard Donavan’s swift intake of breath – the groom was clearly smitten.

As a pastor, weddings were his favorite thing to do, besides baby dedications. The joy, love and emotion of the ceremony never failed to move him. He’d seen some strange and amusing things happen at weddings, this one didn’t disappoint. As soon as Carl Grant handed his daughter over, the groom cupped her head in one hand, her back with the other, leaned her down and kissed her passionately. The guests clapped, hooted and whistled.

Sawyer smiled. She caught Rowan’s eye. He leveled her with a potent gaze. She blushed. God, he wanted to taste her all over. Seth cleared his throat, with a mischievous spark in his eyes. Mister Captain America was really getting on Rowan’s nerves. He tried to focus on the ceremony. Just a minor issue. The groom couldn’t keep his hands off his bride.

Rowan flushed, embarrassed, amused, a little envious of Donavan’s blatant desire. Get a room came to mind. Rowan wished like hell he could do the same. He silently prayed about his wayward, sensual thoughts. God help him, Rowan was so tempted he could hardly see straight. He had gorgeous women literally throw themselves at him in various states of undress. His body never responded. He met women of upstanding character who would make a great pastor’s wife. His heart felt nothing. They could quote scriptures from memory, make a sumptuous dinner, come from the most spiritual background – all Rowan felt was polite civility. Sawyer did things to him he never expected to feel again. He managed to get through the ceremony.

Donavan and Harper kissed so tenderly, it hurt to look at them. As the radiant bride and groom walked hand in hand down the aisle, Rowan got ambushed by the eighty year old twins, Susie Q and Penny May. They wrote a tell all blog for the good folks of Aberdeen proper. One of the old girl’s pinched his ass. He couldn’t believe it. Sawyer laughed. The musical sound warmed him. Before he could join her, Seth made his move. He glued himself to Sawyer’s side.

“Hello beautiful,” he drawled.

A tick leaped in Rowan’s jaw. He cussed under his breath.

Susie Q gasped. “What was that pastor?”

“Nothing,” he muttered.

During the photographs, Rowan came this close to smashing Seth’s face in. The other man found any excuse to touch Sawyer, on the shoulder, the hand, her back.

Rowan gritted his teeth. So far, he committed the sin of lust and jealousy in less than an hour!

The reception was no better. Seth pulled Sawyer to the dance floor before Rowan could ask her. He was all up in her personal space, teasing, flirting as they danced to Earth Wind and Fire’s
Let’s Groove
.

Rowan never took his eyes off the pair. The next song, a sultry love tune, played. Seth’s hands wrapped around her waist. Rowan saw a hazy shade of red in his direct line of vision.

The bride, Harper elbowed her new husband. “Oh, here we go!”

“It would be a shame if my cousin dies at my wedding,” Donavan said.

Emerson and Dylan joined them. “What does the Bible say, there’s a time to kill?” Dylan said, amused.

Rowan plowed through the dancers to get to Sawyer. “Good thing Seth’s got military training,” Dylan said, “By the look on Rowan’s face, he’s gonna need it.”

Emerson smiled secretly, “I hear wedding bells.”

Sawyer pried Seth’s hands from around her waist. “You’re not getting lucky tonight,” Sawyer said, “I’m not that kind of girl.”

Seth was about to say something when Rowan shoved him hard. Sawyer gaped. Rowan didn’t have a violent bone in his body. Seth remained in place like a block of concrete.

“If you touch her again,” Rowan hissed, “I will break every bone in your hands and shove them up your-”

“Rowan!” Sawyer said, shocked.

Seth looked as if he were though roughly enjoying the exchange. “Aw come on
pastor
just because you can’t get laid don’t deprive the rest of us.”

Rowan went for his throat. Seth dodged out of reach, while Sawyer pushed Rowan out of the wedding tent, to the garden courtyard beyond. He vibrated with unleashed violence. Sawyer had never seen him behave that way.

“What’s up with you?” she asked.

“How can we date,” he did air quotes, “When you let him feel you up on the dance floor?” he said through his teeth.

Sawyer planted hands on hips. “I didn’t.”

“Yes, you did,” Rowan said, seething. His green eyes threw sparks, his muscles bunched with tension and his face had a frown so fierce, she didn’t dare laugh.

“Rowan,” Sawyer said calmly. “He was only teasing, besides, I don’t want any man’s hands on me but yours.”

The tension seeped from him in rippling waves. “Really?”

That this big, gorgeous, honey sweet man could be made so vulnerable melted her heart.

“Come here,” she said.

He walked in her arms like a lost boy. He crushed her to the length of him. “Cricket,” he whispered in her hair.

She held on tight. “I’m scared too,” she confessed. 

“What if we mess this up?” He voiced his fear as well as hers. “I can’t lose you.”

She closed her eyes. “You won’t, not ever.”

They stood that way for a heated moment, arms wrapped around each other. His head buried in her hair. He absently touched her curls. One coiled around his finger. “I like this,” he said, “You look good enough to eat.”

Sawyer blushed. “I’m Black Widow, you better watch out.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

He kissed her forehead tenderly. They were about to cross into uncharted territory, the point of no return. Rowan stroked her soft cheek with the back of his hand. She looked up. Their eyes locked. The green eyes she knew so well glittered in the darkness and promised wicked things. Sawyer stood on the tip of her toes. He needed no further encouragement. Rowan kissed her warm lips, sweet at first, breathlessly tender. Sawyer whispered, “Very nice, now kiss me like you mean it.”

He cupped her face between his hands. “I’m not pretending,” he said.

“Neither am I.”

He kissed her long, hot and deep. Sawyer’s knees felt weak as his head slanted above hers for a drugging, melting, wet taste of his lips and tongue. He gently bit her lower lip, his tongue plunged again, ravishing her as the sun blazed on the horizon.

Sawyer moaned as he kissed her with years of longing and passion exploding between them. Her hands sank into his ginger gold hair. She couldn’t get physically close enough. His hands trailed from her waist and cupped her sweet ass to his arousal.