Edge of the Heat 3 by Lisa Ladew

relationship with a woman in over 10 years, and he didn’t remember how things were done. Should he apologize? Would she even listen? She was pretty pissed.
    And her idea! Hawk kicked himself in the head internally for not thinking of it himself. A storage unit? Or an RV and boat parking business? That was gold! He grabbed his phone and texted Craig. Vivian had great idea. Check storage units that take RVs. Or any and all storage units. If Foster was a customer he could be living inside one now, no money needed. I will gather list of storage units in Westwood Harbor. You may need to get warrant in morning to pull records.
    That done, his mind turned back to Vivian. He could apologize. You didn’t have to be good at apologizing to do it. He got up and took a step towards the door, but stopped, suddenly scared. More scared than he’d ever been with a gun pointed at him. How was it that Vivian did this to him? He wondered if she had any idea the kind of effect she had on him.
    He heard her moving around in the kitchen. He took a deep breath, internally screwed up his courage, and went out.
    “Vivian.”
    She stopped walking, small suitcase in hand, and looked at him.
    “I’m sorry. You are right. I was a jerk. I’ve been treating you poorly and there’s no cause for it. I just. I just. I. I guess I don’t have any excuses. Please forgive me. Please don’t leave. I promise I will be on my best behavior from now on.”
    He strode to her side and took the suitcase from her hand. He smiled what he hoped was a repentant smile, and held up the suitcase.
    “Let me carry this. Where do you want it?”
    Vivian stared at him, her eyes wide, face lined with shock.
    Suddenly she sprinted out of the room to her bedroom and slammed the door.
    Damn , he thought to himself. I guess I’m even worse at apologizing than I thought .
    He retreated back to the computer room, thinking furiously about how to get her to stay.

Chapter 16

V ivian leaned against the closed door, her eyes squeezed together, heart slamming against her chest. She had just run out of the room without saying anything to Hawk. She had just done exactly what she’d lit into him for doing. But she’d had to. Regular, grumpy Hawk was hot. But sweet Hawk? He was unbearably sexy. And Hawk with a smile on his face? She thought back - yes that was the first time she’d seen him smile. Smiling Hawk made her want to run to him, jump in his arms, wrap her legs around his waist, and maul him with her mouth.
    The smile made his dark eyes turn from brooding to inviting, and the dangerous angles in his face turn innocent and kissable. He was pure man-candy and she couldn’t take it.
    Vivian slid her back down the door and sat down, face in her hands. She felt like a teenager. Like a sex-crazy, hormones-running-wild teenager. What was wrong with her? How could this one man have such an effect on her? And he hadn’t even done anything but smiled.
    Suddenly, she was glad he’d never talked to her before. Because surely she would have done something embarrassing by now if he had. She could barely contain herself when he was a big fat jerk. How would she behave if he was nice?
    And now she had to decide whether to stay or go. She didn’t want to go, she was enjoying this ‘vacation’. She hadn’t taken time for herself to just relax since before college, and that was almost 10 years now. And since Hawk had apologized, she didn’t have to make good on her threat to him to leave. But she did have to face him after running out of the room like that. And apologize herself? Oooooh, what a mess, girly.
    Vivian took some deep breaths to try to still her mind and calm her heart. She didn’t want to leave, even though she knew she should. The last thing she wanted was to embarrass herself by doing something stupid. If he paid attention to her now, he might notice exactly how close she was to being halfway in love with him, even though he’d never given her the time of day. Maybe