Page 29 of Heat Stroke

I went from meek little wallflower to a confident woman with tattoos and fire in her blood.

Yeah, people can change.

His voice interrupts my thoughts. “What are you thinking over there? You’re awfully quiet. Are you regretting agreeing to this date?”

Is that a hint of nerves I hear in his voice?

Glancing over at him, I shake my head. “You don’t want to know what I’m thinking…” He frowns and I squeeze his fingers. “No, nothing bad. I was just thinking that it’s crazy that we’re actuallyona date right now.”

His chin raises as his lips purse. “Because, I was such a dick to you, right?”

I sigh. “We’ve clearly established that you were a major dick.” He looks at me sharply and I laugh. “You were. You know it. I know it. Yet, you’re different… We both are.” I point ahead. “Watch the road.”

Chuckling, he mutters, “Yes, ma’am.” His looks at the road before quickly glancing at me again. I see his eyes flit over my body. I immediately respond to it as if it’s his hands instead of just his gaze. My nipples bead and press against my thin strapless bra and the material of my almost see-through linen top. His eyes widen. He looks ahead, but smirks as he sees my response. “You’re certainly different. Hell, look at you. I don’t just mean that you’re beautiful, Wren. You always were. I just chose not to notice… But, confidence radiates off of you now. You aren’t scared to be noticed… looked at. People are drawn to look at you and not because you dress like a Siren… You don’t…” He glances at me again and smirks. “Present outfit excluded. That outfit and those tattoos…

“Damn, Wren. Just looking at you has my hormones raging like a damn green teenager with his first Playboy.”

Good. That was the response I was hoping for.

This is more skin than I ever show. Not that I’m indecent. I’m not.

Far from it. Everything is covered.

But, I was so hoping that Blaze would appreciate my outfit.

He does.

I bat my eyes at him innocently. “Duly noted…”

He throws his head back and laughs. “You are trouble, Wren LeSalle. Or rather, I’m in troublewithyou.”

What does he mean?

Feeling brave, I ask, “How so?”

He puts his blinker on at that exact moment and I turn to see where we’re going. It looks like a gravel road into the woods.

What the hell?

“Ummmm…”

Glancing at me, he says, “This is my family’s property. Give me a second to get through the trees. It’s narrow and a little bumpy.”

Scooting back on the seat, I watch as he drives through trees so close they look like we won’t make it. He wasn’t lying. It’s not a smooth ride. I’m bouncing all over the place. My ass is actually leaving the seat and my teeth are chattering.

Blaze says, “Hang tight, babe. Sorry… Almost there. I need to bring some more limestone out to fill these holes. I just never think about it until I’m actually out here.” We turn a sharp bend and I gasp as Blaze drives out onto river sand and parks under some trees. He turns to me and asks, “Well, what do you think?”

It’s beautiful. We’re in a small clearing that looks totally natural. There’s a large pond just past the sand we’re standing on. The whole area is surrounded by trees and several huge rocks. And, over the tops of the trees past the pond, it looks like barges are floating on top of the trees.

“It’s gorgeous, Blaze.” I look around at the beautiful scene in front of me. It looks like something that would be found in the mountains, not something that’s off the Mississippi River in Louisiana. Shaking my head, I smile up at him. “It’s unreal. If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were in the mountains and not in Louisiana.” A barge blows its horn just then and I laugh. “Well, except for that. Barges don’t really float on top of trees in the mountains, do they?!”

Blaze nods at me and chuckles. “Very true. Not that the barge is actually on top of the trees.” He laughs. “The levee is just behind those trees and you know the River is crazy high right now.”

He’s very right. The river is almost scary high this year.

Blaze grins at me and holds his finger up. “Just a second. Stay right here.”

Okay…

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