Heat Rising [Brac Village 5] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Read online

  Brac Village 5

  Heat Rising

  Spencer Dillinger is a quirky little impala shifter. He has finally found a job as a bookkeeper at The Pit. Between balancing the books and keeping his best friend from trying to kill all his coworkers, Spencer has his job cut out for him.

  Bear Callahan was born into poverty but crawled out from the gutters of hardship to make a life for himself. He is the chief at the Firehouse and has to deal with men who act more like immature adolescents than firemen. He doesn’t mind. The only thing missing in his new life is a mate.

  But Bear soon finds the one thing he has been looking for in the form of Spencer. The little impala shifter is perfect in every way.

  When the fire department is called to one fire after another, Bear knows he has a pyromaniac on his hands. Between trying to stop Brac Village from going up in smoke, helping Spencer deal with all his havoc-filled moments, and trying to form a bond with his mate, Bear is soon feeling the heat rising.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Shape-shifter

  Length: 36,544 words

  HEAT RISING

  Brac Village 5

  Lynn Hagen

  EVERLASTING CLASSIC

  MANLOVE

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  IMPRINT: Everlasting Classic ManLove

  HEAT RISING

  Copyright © 2013 by Lynn Hagen

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-870-0

  First E-book Publication: May 2013

  Cover design by Siren Publishing

  All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

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  Dear Readers,

  If you have purchased this copy of Heat Rising by Lynn Hagen from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

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  HEAT RISING

  Brac Village 5

  LYNN HAGEN

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  “I’m telling you, Johnny,” Spencer said as he sipped on his ice tea, leisurely enjoying his lunch break at The Café, “I saw Harley Grouper talking with Damon Myers, and in my opinion, they looked pretty dang comfortable with each other. They were at The Pit, practically in each other’s laps.”

  “No way!” Johnny said as he pressed a hand to his chest, his blue-grey eyes wide. “I just saw Harley in here yesterday, and he was talking with Bailey Festers. They were over on the couch making cozy. Whatever Harley was whispering into Bailey’s ear had to be pretty funny because Bailey kept laughing and slapping Harley’s chest.”

  Spencer nodded his head as he pointed a finger at his friend. Spencer had met Johnny about six months ago, and they had been sharing their lunch breaks together ever since, indulging in town gossip—or more specifically, the shameless way Harley Grouper flaunted the men he was with. Spencer was pretty dang sure the men Harley was seeing were unaware of each other. “I told you that man was scandalous. I wonder just how many other men he is stringing along.”

  “You think he can handle more than two affairs?” Johnny asked incredulously, as if such an idea was too farfetched. God, the man was too damn innocent for his own good. Spencer wasn’t worldly, not by a long shot, but he knew that some men were cheaters. Harley seemed to have more than his fair share of men though.

  “Pfft.” Spencer twisted his lips as he draped his arm over the back of the chair. “I’m willing to bet there are a few more running around here who think they are Harley’s only sweetheart. The man is shameless.”

  “Thank goodness he is human. Can you imagine if he had a mate?” Johnny asked as he tossed his hand to the side, looking as if he was thoroughly enjoying the gossip just as much as Spencer was. “I’m willing to bet he couldn’t keep it in his pants even then.”

  “Honey, let me tell you,”—Spencer picked his drink up and took a long sip before setting it down—“men like Harley Grouper—” Spencer curled his lips in when none other than Harley himself walked into The Café, his arm draped over yet another man. This time it was the cashier from Village Mart, and it wasn’t Damon…or Bailey.

  “Scandalous,” Spencer whispered in a singsong voice as he watched Harley take a seat on the very couch Johnny had said the man shared with Bailey just yesterday. The guy had tenacity.

  Johnny snickered and then stood. “I have to get back to work. You should get heading back to The Pit. I’ll see you tomorrow, Spencer.”

  Spencer grabbed his drink, glancing at Harley and then Johnny, giving his friend a wide grin before heading out the door.

  The Pit was only one block over, which was why Spencer always walked—that and he didn’t own a car. As he sipped on his ice tea, he saw Recker heading his way. He loved his best friend to death, but there were days when he really didn’t feel like being checked up on. He understood Recker’s fears, Spencer really did. But sometimes he felt like the man was suffocating him.

  “Checking on me again?” Spencer asked as he walked past the floral shop and appreciated the beauty of the arrangements sitting outside the door. The sidewalk was wet, telling Spencer that someone had just watered the flowers and plants.

  The rhino gave him a boyish grin as he turned on his heel and began to walk next to Spencer. As handsome as Reck
er was, Spencer thanked the fates the guy wasn’t his mate. Recker had a short temper and went off half-cocked when riled. As a friend, he was fabulous. A lover, Spencer just couldn’t see it. Thank goodness Recker felt the same way. “Nah, just running some errands. Heading back to work?”

  “Yeah, I just spent my lunch hour with Johnny.” Spencer quickly glanced around before he leaned close to Recker. “I saw Harley with yet another male. It wasn’t Bailey or Damon.”

  “Dude, you are such a gossip whore.” Recker chuckled, his light-blue eyes filled with jollity.

  Spencer shrugged at his best friend’s teasing. “I’m only stating the truth. If Harley doesn’t want to be talked about then he shouldn’t prance around town with a different man all the time.”

  “Come on. I’ll walk you back to work.”

  Just as he suspected. Recker may be in town to run errands, but he was also here to check up on Spencer. The guy was hopeless. They both had lost a brother before coming to Brac Village. It took Spencer a while to get over the loss. But ever since the two deaths, Recker felt that his duty was to keep everyone in their small pack safe.

  Sometimes the guy drove Spencer up the wall. But he loved the big lug like a brother. His intentions were in the right place. “Are we still meeting at the diner for dinner?” Spencer asked as he sipped on his ice tea.

  “I’ll be there. I still don’t understand why you don’t eat at The Pit. Is there something you know that I should know about?”

  “The food is fine, Recker. I just don’t want to hang around at the same place I work. Knowing Priest, he’ll only try to put me back on the clock.” Spencer liked his boss. The man was a great guy. But when it came to his business, Priest was a little extreme. He was constantly yelling at Leigh and Parker, the cook and the cashier. But then again, those two spent half their time hanging out in the kitchen instead of working.

  Spencer was surprised that Leigh and Parker still had jobs. But as ornery as Priest could get, he had a big heart. “I’ll see you this evening,” Spencer said when he reached the brick building that had smoke billowing on the left side of the structure where the grill was located.

  Even though Spencer didn’t hang out here after work, he did nibble during the day. He couldn’t help it. The food was amazing. The scent of cooked meat filled the air along with garlic and other spices as Spencer neared the door. The aroma made his mouth water every time he smelled it.

  He walked in to the sound of people murmuring, silverware clinking on plates, and the news anchor on the television that was situated on the back wall of the restaurant. There was one thing he could say about Priest, it wasn’t a fancy restaurant, but the man believed in using real dishes and cutlery.

  Leigh and Parker complained constantly to Priest about getting a dishwasher. The protests fell on deaf ears. Priest said he wasn’t hiring anyone else until the two stopped acting like they were coming here to hang out instead of working.

  Spencer stayed out of that debate.

  He had enough problems balancing the books. Priest had hired him as a bookkeeper even though Spencer’s skills were mediocre. The man believed in giving everyone a chance. But the longer he worked here, the better he became. He was thankful that Priest gave him a shot at this job.

  Although new businesses were opening up, the jobs filled up before the paint on the walls dried.

  “I put the mail on my desk,” Priest called out to Spencer from the door leading out to the grill. “There’s a bunch of bills that need to be taken care of.”

  “Got it,” Spencer replied.

  “Hey, Recker,” Priest called out.

  Spencer turned to see his best friend standing right behind him. He hadn’t even heard the guy walk through the door. “I thought you had errands to run?”

  Again with the boyish grin. “That doesn’t mean I can’t have some lunch.”

  The man was hopeless. Spencer began to walk away, heading toward the office when Leigh called out, “Hey, Recker, what color is my shirt?”

  Spencer spun around and raced back toward his best friend, knowing what was about to happen. Just that fast Recker’s face had contorted into rage. His entire life Recker had been picked on for his eyesight. Recker and his brother had been orphaned at a young age, every foster family pointing out his disability. They had always made it seem like Recker was a freak of nature. His best friend had told him once that before he grew into his muscles, the kids of whichever foster family he was with used to beat him up for his colorblindness, taunting him, teasing him.

  One teenager went as far as acting like Recker’s friend just so he could have the man dress like a rainbow, mismatching everything just to get a laugh…at Recker’s expense.

  So yeah, being colorblind was a very sore spot for the rhino. There was only one person who teased him and got away with it—the resident cheetah, Paine.

  That was only because the small group Spencer belonged to was close.

  “Oh, snap.” He threw his back into his best friend’s chest when Recker went after Leigh. Spencer dug his heels into the floor, trying to stop the rhino from killing the stupid human.

  But it wasn’t working. Spencer was sliding across the floor as Recker advanced toward Leigh. It was like a fly trying to slow down a locomotive. When they reached the counter, Spencer threw his feet up and braced them on the edge.

  “What’s going on?” Priest shouted as he came through the side door, his eyes going straight to Spencer and Recker.

  “Oh, nothing. Leigh is just being a jerk!” Spencer snapped as his legs began to hurt from holding Recker at bay. He knew that if he didn’t calm his best friend down soon, Spencer was going to fold like a pretzel.

  “Get outside before Recker kills you,” Priest bellowed at Leigh and then turned to Spencer. “What did he do now?”

  “The usual. He was picking on Recker about his colorblindness.” Spencer could see the customers all gazing his way. He was not trying to give them a show. Priest was going to kill him for this. One woman looked as if she wanted to bolt from the place, but the rest of the gawkers just looked amused as they watched the scene unfold.

  When Spencer’s legs nearly collapsed from the pressure, he did the only thing that worked when Recker got this unfocused and murderous. He dropped his legs, spun around, and rapped his knuckles against the guy’s forehead. “Earth to Recker.”

  Recker blinked his light-blue eyes a few times, glancing from the side door down to Spencer…and then glanced back at the side door…and then down at Spencer.

  “Don’t even think about going after him. I want you to go have a seat at a table and I’ll bring you some lunch.” Spencer pointed toward the dining area, unmoving until his best friend turned and headed toward the tables.

  Spencer was going to kill Leigh. He wasn’t sure if the guy was dimwitted or suicidal. The man knew that Recker had a short fuse.

  “Spencer—”

  “It wasn’t Recker’s fault,” Spencer said to his boss. He moved closer to the man, leaning in so only Priest could hear him. “He’s a short-tempered rhino. Leigh did that on purpose.”

  Priest exhaled a tiresome breath on a long sigh. “I’ll have a talk with Leigh about his stupidity. Get your friend something to eat and get back to work.”

  “Thanks.” Spencer grabbed a plate and piled it high with all the things he knew Recker liked to eat—which was pretty much everything. Next he grabbed a large plastic cup and filled it with ice water before taking Recker his lunch. He set the plate and drink down on the table and then took a seat across from his best friend. “You can’t let what people say bother you.”

  “I don’t like mean-spirited people.” Recker picked up a rib bone and annihilated it.

  “Leigh isn’t mean-spirited. He’s just an idiot with the IQ of a bedbug. You have to learn to ignore him, Recker. What have we talked about?”

  Recker dropped the bone on his plate and went for another one, his fingers thick with barbeque sauce. Spencer slapped his friend’
s arm. The man was as stubborn as the day was long. This was why they were best friends and only best friends. If fate had mated them, Spencer would probably be in jail right now. With Recker’s short temper, Spencer knew that he would be in plenty of fights to defend the rhino—if they had been mates.

  He lived in a house with nothing but predatory men. The testosterone level on most days choked the hell out of him.

  Spencer prayed like hell that whoever his mate was, that he wasn’t some big, beefy, testosterone-filled lug head. He had enough of that to last him a lifetime.

  “Answer me, Recker.”

  His best friend reminded Spencer of a pouting child. He wouldn’t look at Spencer as he grabbed his cup of ice water. Spencer waited patiently. Sometimes Recker had to mull things over in his head before he opened his mouth.

  “Do not let what people say bother me.” Recker looked so forlorn that Spencer got up and gave his friend a hug.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll give Leigh a ticket-worthy smackdown.” Spencer patted Recker on the shoulder. His friend gave a low chuckle. “What? You don’t think I can?” They both knew he couldn’t, but it eased the tension.

  Spencer was glad to see the smile back on Recker’s face. “I’m good. Just keep that irritating human away for me.”

  That was kind of hard to do when Recker was sitting in The Pit, a place where Leigh worked. But he didn’t point that fact out.

  “All right, I have to get back to work. Enjoy lunch and stay out of trouble.” Spencer headed toward the counter when he spotted Leigh peeking into the dining area from the side door. If the man started in on Recker again, Spencer wasn’t going to stop his best friend this time. They would both be sitting in jail because Spencer would help Recker beat the bonehead up.