Temperatures Rising Read Free

He’ll get over it, but now I’m worried as to whether or not you will. What’s withyou wanting me to go out with him, knowing his reputation?”
    Instead of answering, Kim jogged up the stairs to join her. After taking a huge gulp of water from the water bottle, she said, “Because I know you can handle him.”
    If only Kim knew just how wrong she was, Sherri thought. She was still reeling from the side effects of that visit he had made to her office two days ago.
    “Besides, you need to indulge yourself in a fling,” Kim added.
    Now it was Sherri whose face was filled with astonishment. She couldn’t believe her friend had made such an outlandish statement. “Let me get this right. You think my way to handle him is to have an affair with him?” She saw the smile that lit Kim’s features and wasn’t all that pleased it was at her expense.
    “Hey, get the daggers out of your eyes,” Kim said, laughing. “I’m just reminding you of the promise you made to me last year.”
    Sherri lifted a brow. “And what promise was that?”
    “The promise that once you got out here and were settled, you would let go of that situation with Ben Greenfield and concentrate on meeting someone else.”
    Sherri dragged her eyes away from Kim. “I’ve been busy,” she said, which in a way was true.
    Kim wiggled her brows. “Now that reminds me of another promise you’ve broken, the one where you swore you would never let work interfere with pursuing a worthwhile relationship with a man. Especially because Ben claimed the reason he was breaking off your engagement was that you could never make time in your busy schedule for him, so he—”
    “Found someone else,” Sherri finished for her softly. At the time she’d felt it had been a lousy excuse for his infidelity. His betrayal had hurt.
    “You said you wouldn’t give another man the chance to make that claim,” Kim reminded her.
    “Which is the reason I refuse to get involved with anyone,” Sherri said. “I don’t have the time right now. I need to learn all I can and—”
    “You know all you need to know about running a radio station, Sherri. Come on, this isn’t the first one you’ve managed. All you had to do is become familiar with the setup of WLCK. You’re good at what you do,” Kim said as they began walking slowly toward Sherri’s bungalow.
    “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome. Now back to the reason why you won’t go out with the Holy Terror,” Kim said while looping her arms around her friend’s shoulders.
    Sherri couldn’t help but smile. Kim refused to let up, and it served Sherri right for convincing her friend to move to the Keys with her when she had gotten the job offer from her uncle Warrick. Since Kim was a nurse, it hadn’t been hard for her to get a job at one of the hospitals here.
    Sherri had just opened her mouth to say something when she saw the floral arrangement in front of her door. “Wow! I wonder where these came from.”
    She picked up the vase filled with a beautiful arrangement of mixed flowers. “They’re gorgeous, aren’t they?”
    “Yes, so who sent them?” Kim asked.
    Sherri pulled off the card and opened it up. Moments later she massaged the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, not wanting to believe the message written on the card.
    “Well, Sherri, who sent them?”
    She opened her eyes and frowned at Kim. “They’re from Terrence, like you really wouldn’t know,” she said.
    Kim placed a hand over her mouth in surprise. “The Holy Terror sent you those?”
    Sherri lifted her heard and quirked a brow. “Don’t tell me you’re really surprised about this,” she said.
    Kim shrugged. “Well, I am. I did my research on the guy and everything I’ve read about Terrence Jefferies indicates that when it comes to pursuing women he doesn’t put out a lot of effort or give it much thought. He doesn’t have to since women usually flock to him.” She glanced at the floral arrangement. “I would think a lot