Hot Stuff (Hot Zone 1)

"Then why stay?" she asked, still prodding for answers.

"Because this town is my home," he bit out.

She ran her tongue over her lower lip. "Now that I can understand." She hesitated, then drew a long, deep breath, causing her chest to rise and fall.

Though he watched and his body responded, he held his own, wanting her to explain. That sexual tension she'd stopped discussing remained alive and smoldering just below the surface. "How so?"

"You and Uncle Yank are close, or at least you once were. So you must know he took us in when my parents died." Quivering emotion laced her voice.

Vaughn reacted without thinking. One minute they were adversaries, the next he reached across the table and grasped her hand in his. "I'm sorry about your folks."

She nodded in gratitude. "Thanks."

"You were lucky to have Yank."

"Yeah we were." She spoke softly. "But for a while I wasn't even sure he'd take us in. I was so afraid the three of us would be separated and-" She paused and hiccuped, an obvious attempt to swallow her emotions. "Anyway, my point is, I can relate to the need for that feeling of home. But home isn't the same as family, you know?"

A low growl rumbled deep in his throat. "Not everyone can have Ozzie and Harriet parents."

"And I just told you I didn't have any parents. I'm just saying that for whatever reason, you and your folks don't connect. But you feel that connection to this town anyway. So much so that the lodge is the home this house will never be."

She understood him and that scared him even more than the sizzling kiss. "Your point?" he said too gruffly.

"I'd like you to let me use that emotional connection to this town in order to reach out to the people, and not just those around here. People in Greenlawn already love Brandon Vaughn. But I'd like to reach your extended public. The people you want to come and vacation at your lodge." She leaned closer. "Let them see the man inside the athlete and want to help you as much as you want to help the kids."

She squeezed his hand tight and he glanced down. He'd almost forgotten they sat hand in hand, making a personal connection.

There was now a subtle understanding between them. He drew a deep breath. "I'll think about it." He told himself he was responding to her business sense.

Still he hated the idea of exposing something he did from the heart and using it as a media ploy. Then again, he wasn't stupid. If he wanted the summer camp to become a reality, he needed the funding the winter lodge guests would provide. That was, after all, the reason he'd hired Annabelle in the first place.

Their hands remained intertwined. Her gaze met his, soft and understanding. Nothing businesslike in her expression or in the depths of those blue eyes now. This time if he acted on impulse and kissed her again, more than just sexual desire would be at work. At the moment he didn't care.

A loud knock sounded at the back door of the kitchen. Vaughn turned and glanced over. A familiar figure stood outside, one of his workmen who often came by uninvited. "I wonder what he wants."

"Who?"

He jerked a head toward the back entrance. "Roy Murray. My electrical foreman."

"Why doesn't he use the front door?"

He rolled his eyes. "He decided back doors are reserved for friends, and according to him, that's what we a

re. But he really does mean well." Vaughn rose and opened the door.

His foreman stood there in his jeans and white work shirt, tool belt on and a grin on his face. Vaughn caught sight of his son behind him.

"Hey, Roy, Todd. To what do I owe this visit?"

Roy stepped inside and Todd followed.

"We don't mean to interrupt, Coach. But Dad and I were out for a walk and he wanted to stop by."

"Not a problem, Todd." Vaughn held out his hand and exchanged a handshake with the kid. They'd developed the gesture as a means of bonding during practices.

Roy looked on. "Hope it's all right we've come by. I was told your back lights need fixing and I thought I'd help you out."

The guy was the ultimate do-gooder but a complete pain in the ass sometimes. Still, he was an ace electrician and Vaughn saw shades of his old self in Todd, who also struggled in school.