The Heat is On Read Free

and headed toward Market Street.
    Despite herself, her body was stil reacting from the encounter with Matt. Her heart was doing little flips, and her palms were actual y a bit damp. Weird. She flirted with sexy men al the time but something about Matt the Navy SEAL aka Bank Savior had total y and instantly turned her on. Maybe it was the shaved head.
    Or that unbelievably hard and appealing body. Even his awkward pick-up lines had succeeded in making her al hot.
    But as appealing as he was, she hadn’t been about to blow off Jake for a total stranger. She didn’t play by many rules in her life—rules just sucked the fun right out of things—but there was one strict guideline she fol owed: one man at a time.
    She wasn’t the kind of girl who dated a whole bunch of guys at once. That just seemed tacky and insensitive to her. And at the moment, she was seeing Jake, the tal sexy surfer she’d met on the beach last week. Not that she’d be dating him for long. She had no interest in committed relationships. Commitment only led to ruts, and she didn’t want to be fal ing into any ruts. Like her parents. Jeez, talk about boring.
    She loved them both to death, but growing up, she’d decided she wanted nothing more than to not fol ow in their footsteps. Their life was so monotonous it made her want to shake them by the shoulders and say, This? This is what you always wanted from your lives? Sitting on the couch every night taking turns with the remote. Weekly bridge games with their neighbors. The same old Sunday brunch at Applebee’s.
    Nope. Definitely not for her. She lived for the thril of first kisses and whirlwind romances, and once any hint of comfortable domesticity entered the equation, Savannah Harte was outta there. No thank you.
    But she did have some code of ethics, and seeing two or more guys at once was where she drew the line.
    Too bad, though. That Matt… He real y had been cute. And the way he’d taken down those three idiots at the bank—she’d actual y felt a streak of arousal watching him do that. Rare these days, finding a man capable of kicking total ass.
    “Ah wel ,” she murmured to herself, steering the car toward the end of the street, where her corner flower shop was located.
    She pul ed in around back and parked in the miniscule lot, then hopped out of the car, grabbed her purse, and headed into the shop from the rear door.
    Fortunately, when she walked into the bright, sunny main room, she saw it was void of customers.
    Savannah’s new assistant, Chad, stood behind the narrow red counter, and his brown eyes fil ed with relief when he spotted her. He’d only been working with her for a couple of weeks, not long enough to leave him in charge of the store, which got busy this time of year. No comparison to Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day, of course, but September was also a peak time. For some reason, parents liked to buy their col ege kids flowers to celebrate the new school year, or the new life journey , as many of her customers liked to harp.
    “I’m sorry,” Savannah said as she reached the counter. “I swear I didn’t abandon you. Some people decided to rob the bank while I was there.”
    “For serious? Are you okay?”
    She appreciated Chad’s concern. She liked the guy, in spite of his tendency to say things like “for serious”. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Was everything okay while I was gone?”
    He pushed his sagging wire-rim glasses up the bridge of his nose. “It was fine. I sold a wreath, and three dozen roses.”
    “Any problematic customers?”
    “No. They were al pretty nice. Oh, but you did get a phone cal .” Chad rummaged in the drawer underneath the counter and removed a pink message slip. He handed it to Savannah. “It was an event planner. She’s planning a wedding and was interested in a quote.”
    Savannah glanced down at Chad’s neat block writing. Annabelle Holmes, Prestige Events. She’d never heard of either Holmes or the company