Seeing Red Read online

  He knew this because one, Lucky Harbor didn’t keep secrets, and two, he worked at the firehouse, aka Gossip Central. He knew Leah was in a holding pattern too. And something was bothering her.

  Not your problem…

  But though he told himself that, repeatedly in fact, old habits were hard to break. His friendship with her was as long as it was complicated, but she’d been there for him whenever he’d needed her, no questions asked. In the past week alone she’d driven his mom to her doctor’s appointment twice, fed and walked Kevin when Jack had been called out of the county, and left a plate of cream cheese croissants in his fridge—his favorite. There was a lot of water beneath their bridge, but she mattered to him, even when he wanted to wrap his fingers around her neck and squeeze.

  “You have any sausage ready?” she asked.

  At the word sausage, Kevin practically levitated. Ears quirking, nose wriggling, the dog sat up, his sharp eyes following as Jack forked a piece of meat and set it on Leah’s plate. When Jack didn’t share with Kevin as well, he let out a pitiful whine.

  Falling for it hook, line, and sinker, Leah melted. “Aw,” she said. “Can I give him one?”

  “Only if you want to sleep with him tonight,” Jack said.

  “I wouldn’t mind.”

  “Trust me, you would.”

  Coming up beside Jack to help man the grill, Tim waggled a brow at Leah. “I’ll sleep with you tonight. No matter how many sausages you eat.”

  Leah laughed. “You say that to all the women in line.”

  Tim flashed a grin, a hint of dimple showing. “But with you, I mean it. So…yes?”

  “No,” Leah said, still smiling. “Not tonight.”

  “Tomorrow night?”

  Jack spoke mildly. “You have a death wish?”

  “Huh?”

  “Rookies who come on to Leah vanish mysteriously,” Jack told him. “Never to be seen again.”

  Tim narrowed his eyes. “Yeah? Who?”

  “The last rookie. His name was Tim too,” Jack deadpanned.

  Leah laughed, and Tim rolled his eyes. At work, he reported directly to Jack, not that he looked worried.

  “I’ll risk it,” he said cockily to Leah.

  Jack wondered if he’d still be looking so sure of himself later when he’d be scrubbing down fire trucks by himself. All of them.

  Leah yawned and rubbed a hand over her eyes, and Jack forgot about Tim. “Maybe you should switch to Wheaties,” Jack said. “You look like you need the boost.”

  She met his gaze. “Tim thought I looked all right.”

  “You know it, babe,” Tim said, still shamelessly eavesdropping. “Change your mind about tonight, and I’ll make sure you know exactly how good you look.”

  Jack revised his plan about Tim cleaning the engines. The rookie would be too busy at the senior center giving a hands-on fire extinguisher demonstration, which every firefighter worth his salt dreaded because the seniors were feisty, didn’t listen, and in the case of the female seniors, liked their “hands-on” anything training.

  Oblivious to his fate, Tim continued to work the grill. Jack kept his attention on Leah. He wanted her to do whatever floated her boat, but he didn’t want her dating a player like Tim. But saying so would be pretty much like waving a red flag in front of a bull, no matter how pretty that bull might be. She’d give a stranger the very shirt off her back, but Jack had long ago learned to not even attempt to tell her what to do or she’d do the opposite just because.

  She had a long habit of doing just that.

  He blamed her asshole father, but in this case it didn’t matter because Leah didn’t seem all that interested in Tim’s flirting anyway.

  Or in anything actually.

  Which was what was really bothering Jack. Leah loved the challenge of life, the adventure of it. She’d been chasing that challenge and adventure as long as he’d known her. It was contagious—her spirit, her enthusiasm, her ability to be as unpredictable as the whim of fate.

  And unlike anyone else in his world, she alone could lighten a bad mood and make him laugh. But her smile wasn’t meeting her eyes. Nudging her aside, out of Tim’s earshot, he waited until she looked at him. “Hey,” he said.

  “Aren’t you worried you’ll vanish mysteriously, never to be seen again?”

  “I’m not a rookie.”

  She smiled, but again it didn’t meet her eyes.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  “Always.” And then she popped a sausage into her mouth.

  Jack got the message loud and clear. She didn’t want to talk. He could appreciate that. Hell, he was at his happiest not talking. But she’d had a rough year, first with the French culinary school disaster, where she’d quit three weeks before graduation for some mysterious reason, and then Sweet Wars.

  Rumor had it that she’d gone pretty far on the show, outshining the best of the best. He knew she was under contractual obligations to keep quiet about the results, but he’d thought she’d talk to him.

  She hadn’t.

  Jack had watched each episode, cheering her on. Last night she’d created puff pastries on the clock for a panel of celebrity chefs who’d yelled—a lot. Most of Leah’s competition had been completely rattled by their bullying ways, but Leah had had a lifetime of dealing with someone just like that. She’d won the challenge, hands down. And even if Jack hadn’t known her as well as he did, he’d have pegged her as the winner of the whole thing.

  But she wasn’t acting like a winner.

  Had she quit that too?

  Because the truth was that she tended to run from her demons. She always had, and some things never changed.

  She met his gaze. “What?”

  “You tell me. Tell me what’s wrong.”

  She shook her head, her pretty eyes surprisingly hooded from him. “I’ve learned to fight my own battles, Jack.”

  Maybe. But it wasn’t her battles he wanted to fight, he realized, so much as he wanted to see her smile again and mean it.

  Don’t miss Jill Shalvis’s bestselling Lucky Harbor series.

  “Heartwarming and sexy…an abundance of chemistry, smoldering romance, and hilarious sisterly antics.”

  —Publishers Weekly on Simply Irresistible

  * * *

  “A Perfect Ten! Tara and Ford have some seriously hot chemistry going on and they make the most of it in The Sweetest Thing. Trust me; you’ll need an ice-cold drink nearby.”

  —RomRevToday.com

  * * *

  “This touching, character-rich, laughter-laced, knockout sizzler is the latest in Shalvis’s award-winning series.”

  —Library Journal, starred review

  * * *

  “Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story.”

  —Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of Redwood Bend

  * * *

  “Shalvis’s latest Lucky Harbor novel is a winner—full of laughter, snark, and a super-hot attraction between the main characters.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  * * *

  “Top Pick! 4 1/2 Stars! Laughter is served in doses as generous as the chocolate the heroine relies on to get through the day. Readers will treasure each turn of the page and be sorry when this one is over.”

  —RT Book Reviews

  * * *

  “Shalvis makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me sigh with pure pleasure.”

  —Susan Andersen, New York Times bestselling author of Playing Dirty

  * * *

  “Fall in love with Jill Shalvis! She’s my go-to read for humor and heart.”

  —Susan Mallery, New York Times bestselling author

  Looking for more great digital reads? We’ve got you covered!

  Now Available from Forever Yours

  Dear Reader,

  My boy Stone has always been the quiet one in the family, but now he’s got the whole town talking. He and his long-time sweetheart Sharon are crazy about each other
, but suddenly they can’t see eye-to-eye on their future. Sharon thought they were going to go to college, then get married. But Stone had other plans—plans he didn’t share with anyone.

  So it looks like our resident matchmaker Miriam is going to be wrong for the first time ever. She swears Sharon and Stone are true soul mates. Well, I think between the broken promises and Sharon’s meddling mother, these two kids are going to need a miracle to make it down the aisle…

  There’s Arlene—I just need to finish her trim and then I can head over to the Watermelon Festival. Be sure to stop back by the Cut ’n’ Curl for hot rollers, free coffee—and the best gossip in town.

  See you real soon,

  Ruby Rhodes

  * * *

  When a cowboy meets an heiress…

  Cash Hardeman thought he’d have all the time in the world to find the right woman…until he discovered that his gold-digging step-grandmother will inherit the family ranch if he’s not married by his thirtieth birthday. With the deadline just around the corner and no prospects in sight, Cash knows it’s only a matter of time before he loses everything. But when Boston beauty Annelise blows into his life, Cash can’t help but wonder if she’s what he’s been looking for all along.

  Giving her bodyguards and the paparazzi the slip, heiress Annelise Montjoy has come to Maverick Junction on a life-or-death mission. But living incognito in the small Texas town is nothing like she expected, and she’s finding it difficult to keep her identity a secret—especially with a rough and tumble cowboy like Cash tempting her. It’s not long before Annelise starts to wonder if she’s finally found the man who can love her for herself rather than her money. But will Annelise’s secrets catch up with her before she and Cash can ride off into the Texas sunset?

  * * *

  Business or Pleasure?

  Crickitt Day needs a job…any job. After her husband walks out on her, she’s determined to rebuild her life and establish a new career. When swoon-worthy billionaire Shane August hires her as his assistant, she jumps at the chance to prove herself. Despite her growing attraction to her boss, she vows to keep things strictly professional. No flirting. No kissing. Definitely no falling in love…

  Shane August is all business, all the time. He’s a self-made man who’s poured his heart and soul into his company, and he’d never allow himself to get involved with an employee. Then he hires sweet, sexy Crickitt—and he can’t keep his mind or his hands off her. But no matter how much he wants Crickitt, Shane fears that painful secrets from his past will always come between them. With fate working against them, can these two lonely hearts learn that sometimes mixing business with pleasure is the perfect merger?

  * * *

  Tabitha Allen grew up in the thick of Chaos—the Chaos Motorcycle Club, that is. Her father is Chaos’s leader, and the club has always had her back. But one rider was different from the start. When Tabby was running wild, Shy Cage was there. When tragedy tore her life apart, he helped her piece it back together. And now, Tabby’s thinking about much more than friendship…

  Tabby is everything Shy’s ever wanted, but everything he thinks he can’t have. She’s beautiful, smart, and as his friend’s daughter, untouchable. Shy never expected more than friendship, so when Tabby indicates she wants more—much more—he feels like the luckiest man alive. But even lucky men can crash and burn…

  Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  A Letter from Jill Shalvis

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  A Preview of White Heat

  A Preview of Always on My Mind

  You Might Also Like...

  Newsletters

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2005 by Jill Shalvis

  Excerpt from White Heat copyright © 2004 by Jill Shalvis

  Excerpt from Always on My Mind copyright © 2013 by Jill Shalvis

  Cover design by Melody Cassen. Cover image from Newcom #471646; photo credit: www.splashnews.com.

  Cover copyright © 2013 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Forever Yours

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

  www.hachettebookgroup.com

  www.twitter.com/foreverromance

  First ebook and print on demand editions: August 2013

  Forever Yours is an imprint of Grand Central Publishing.

  The Forever Yours name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to www.hachettespeakersbureau.com or call (866) 376-6591.

  ISBN 978-1-4555-2966-7 (ebook edition)

  ISBN 978-1-4555-4756-2 (print on demand edition)

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  A Letter from Jill Shalvis

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  A Preview of “White Heat”

  A Preview of “Always on My Mind”

  You Might Also Like...

  Newsletters

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

 

 

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