by Rose Wulf
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2019 Rose Wulf
ISBN: 978-1-77339-912-6
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: CA Clauson
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
DEDICATION
To Nancy Stoorza and the 4 Paws Farm nonprofit organization in Texas.
Thank you for everything you have done to help me afford to give Shadow the best possible care.
BURN
Elemental Series, 4
Rose Wulf
Copyright © 2019
Chapter One
Dean was unprepared for the combination of guilt and jealousy churning in his stomach as the applause around him faded away. Without any real warning he was the last of the Hawke brothers to find the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He was happy for Logan—who was practically still slipping the ring onto Clarabelle’s finger—and he was happy for Blake and Nate, too. He certainly had nothing against any of his three future in-laws. The problem was him. The problem was that he was starting to think he wanted something like what his brothers had found for himself. But that thought dredged up a whole slew of uncomfortable memories and even less comfortable emotions, and somehow Dean doubted a crowded beach was the place to try sorting them out.
Truth be told, he was quickly discovering that the crowded, celebratory beach was about the last place he wanted to be just then. Unfortunately, since the crowd had originally gathered for the annual Firehouse Breakfast and he was one of the volunteer firefighters, he was obligated to stay. At least until they ran out of food. Although that didn’t necessarily mean he had to stay right there. He could probably get away with taking a casual stroll closer to the shoreline. Just for a couple of minutes. No one will even notic—.
“Dean!” an unexpected male voice called a heartbeat before a hand clapped him on the shoulder and practically spun him around. Suddenly Dean was face to face with Jay Judd, a coworker of Blake’s and one of two lifeguards on duty for the day. Jay was about half a year younger than him and on the short list of men in town with an even looser reputation than Dean’s. “The day’s gotten a little interesting, hasn’t it?” Jay wiggled his eyebrows as if Dean didn’t already know what he was referring to.
Clearing his throat, Dean shrugged, shoved his hands into his pockets, and replied, “Yeah, I guess it has.” He and Jay had never been anything more than associates who occasionally shared a classroom, and none of that inclined him to put special effort into pretending he was feeling social.
Laughing, Jay settled his hands on his hips and said, “Man, I swear it was just this past week when I heard they were finally dating. How weird is that?”
Willing his eye not to twitch, Dean offered another shrug and let the preplanned lie roll guiltlessly from his lips. “They’ve been keeping it quiet for a while. You know Logan. He’s never liked being the center of attention.” That much was true, at least. Dean even wondered if the shock of the public proposal wasn’t part of why he felt so thrown off by it.
Jay nodded and hummed something that sounded like an agreement. “Seems reasonable enough. But, hell, why wouldn’t a guy want to brag about something like that?” Apparently Dean failed to keep his eyes from narrowing into a glare that time, because Jay quickly held up his hands in a defense gesture and added, “Sorry! I just meant in general, when you get a beautiful woman, why not announce it to the world? I swear I didn’t mean anything by it!”
Liar. Still, Dean forced his expression to slip into neutral and said, “Right. Well, I couldn’t tell you. Wasn’t my decision to make.”
Arms falling back to his sides, Jay grinned and asked, “Hey, have you met the new girl?”
“New girl?” Dean repeated before he could think better of it. Oh, right. There was a new lifeguard in town. In fact, if he remembered what Blake had mentioned, she’d been stuck with the day shift alongside Jay. What was her name again? Clearing his throat, Dean added, “Ah, no, haven’t met her.” Reflexively his gaze slipped to the side, toward the bulk of the crowd, as if looking for a woman he’d never seen before. But he saw no one walking around in a bright red one-piece, so he assumed she was up in her tower.
“Man,” Jay began, an almost wistful tone in his voice, “let me tell you, she is a woman to brag about.” His grin broadened and he winked, adding, “There’s a reason I love this job.”
It took an effort to keep from groaning. Either Jay had devolved since the last time they’d talked or Dean had done a lot more maturing in recent months than he’d been aware of, because all of a sudden he found himself really wanting to be there the day some woman dumped a glass of water on Jay’s face. In the meanwhile, though, he just needed to figure out an efficient escape plan. So he arched a brow and asked, “Speaking of jobs, aren’t you supposed to be working? Or do you wear those god-awful trunks on your off days, too?”
Jay laughed, clapped Dean on the shoulder one more time, and shook his head as he stepped back. “No, I swear I don’t. But I probably should climb back up topside.” He turned, walked a couple of feet, and waved over his shoulder as he called back, “Catch you later, Dean!”
Preferably not for a month or ten. Dean shook his head as he finally turned his attention away from the retreating man. What had Jay even been doing wandering around so far from his tower? Dean was standing only a couple of yards from the other one, meaning Jay’s tower was halfway across the beach. Idiot was probably thinking he could sneak a flirt with the new girl. He couldn’t help but think that, whoever she was, she owed him quite the thank you. Taking a deep breath, Dean turned again, thinking he still wanted that distracting walk on the shoreline. He was feeling unnaturally irritable, though he suspected someone in his family would argue that that was even possible, so a little distance between himself and people seemed like a good idea.
Then his eyes landed on the nameless, dark-haired beauty stepping down from the nearest lifeguard tower and his desire for distance from people vanished.
Her long, brown hair was pulled high and tight in a functional ponytail, the end swaying with each breath of movement. She was tall, with slender arms and long, toned legs extending from the abundance of feminine curves and flat stomach concealed by the requisite bright red one-piece. Red had always been Dean’s favorite color, but it turned out he’d been wrong about why. It looked much better on her. Then all of a sudden he was staring into her faded blue eyes and by the time he realized he’d been caught staring, it was far too late.
“Hi,” she said as she approached, a confident, faintly teasing smirk lifting the corners of her lips. “I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.” She held out one hand and added, “You must be one of Blake’s brothers.”
Dean had to swallow to keep from clearing his throat like some sort of awkward teenager. Instead he grinned and replied, “I don’t think we have.” He caught her hand, fighting to keep his fingers from roaming around on the smooth, cool skin. “I’m Dean.”
“Arianna.” The name rolled off her tongue with the faintest of accents. He couldn’t place it, but it was an accent the rest of her speech hadn’t shared. For an irrational moment he was immensely glad he hadn’t asked Jay her name and h
e hoped he never heard another person say it. He never wanted to hear that name butchered by another voice.
By the time he released her hand, though, he managed to say, “It’s nice to meet you, Arianna.” Yep. Not the same.
Her smile widened marginally. “Likewise.” She gestured past him, toward the heart of the crowd, saying, “It seems you’ve got another brother who’s sort of stealing the show today, doesn’t it?”
Dean grinned despite the reminder and hooked his thumbs into his pockets. “I don’t mind,” he said. “I can share the spotlight every now and then.”
Amusement lit her eyes as she shifted her weight. “How big of you.” She paused, took a partial step to the side, and added, “I was actually headed to the buffet line. I can’t handle smelling all that delicious food without at least getting to eat some. I’ll see you around?”
“Definitely,” Dean assured her, holding her gaze until she’d passed him. His stare lingered for a second or three longer, watching the swish of her hair on her back and the sway of her hips. Maybe this breakfast wasn’t a complete bust, after all.
****
Arianna could feel Dean’s gaze on her as she walked away, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t quite wipe the smile from her face. Sure, she’d known the kind of guy Dean was the moment she’d caught him watching her, but the man was sexy as hell. Any woman would be flattered to have his attention for a few minutes. He looked so good in those worn blue jeans and that tight tee it was almost easy to forget most guys didn’t wear jeans to the beach. But he definitely knows what works for him. Although she couldn’t really imagine what wouldn’t work on that tanned, toned body. Certainly just about anything would look good with his dark, short hair and bright blue eyes.
“There you are,” Georgia Clarke declared, an exaggerated note of exhaustion in her voice, as she came to a stop next to Arianna.
Arianna blinked, quickly shoving aside her lingering distraction, and turned a partially raised eyebrow up to the other woman. “You’ve been looking for me?” Her head tilted slightly as she processed what she was seeing. She’d only known Georgia for a couple of weeks, and when she’d met her, Georgia had been blonde. Now she had black hair with teal highlights. “What’s going on with your hair?”
“Oh,” Georgia began, twirling a section of hair around her fingers, “do you like it? I think the colors came out pretty good.”
Taking a deep breath, Arianna smiled and replied, “It’s … good. Unexpected, but good. So why were you looking for me?” She wasn’t sure how she felt, honestly. The ebony of Georgia’s new look really was nice. It complimented her skin tone much better than the bottle-blonde. The teal was what threw her off.
“To talk!” Georgia declared brightly. She easily kept pace beside Arianna as Arianna finally stepped up to the long table and lifted a plate. “I knew you were working, and I thought this would be a great chance to do a little bonding. We’re roomies, we should get to know each other.”
“Right,” Arianna began carefully as she selected some fresh strawberries, “but I’m supposed to be on duty. This isn’t really my social hour.”
“What can I get for you ladies?” Earl Sanders interrupted when Arianna found herself standing opposite the cook station. His eyes flicked to Georgia and he arched a brow. “Seconds, Georgia?”
“Oh no!” Georgia insisted with a wave of her hand. The same hand landed on Arianna’s shoulder and she easily added, “But Ari’s hungry. Think you could whip her up a nice, savory specialty omelet?”
“Absolutely!” Earl boomed, following the proclamation with a laugh. He returned his attention to Arianna, asked her how she wanted her omelet, and Arianna heard a voice that sounded much like her own answer his questions on reflex. She was pretty sure she’d been going to ask for fried eggs and toast, but, an omelet with hash browns was probably fine, too.
Georgia tugged Arianna aside while they waited for Earl to get the food ready, saying, “I know you’re still pretty new to town, so I thought I’d take this grand opportunity to help you put faces with a lot of the names you’re going to be hearing.”
Translation: she wants me to know who she’s gossiping about. She’d only been living with Georgia for the better part of a week, they were still getting to know each other, but Georgia’s appetite for socializing and gossiping was something Arianna had picked up on immediately. The woman loved knowing other people’s business. In that way she was nearly the opposite of Arianna. Arianna didn’t believe in prying into someone else’s business when it didn’t concern her. She suspected that was a belief she’d developed as a result of being the kind of person other people talked about.
“Okay,” Georgia murmured, her eyes scanning the crowd. “You work with Jay, right? So you’d probably want to know who his family is.” She extended an arm, pointing unabashedly toward an older, smiling man, and added, “That’s Jay’s dad, Carlisle. Carlisle’s been the vice principal of the local high school for as long as I can remember, but outside of school he’s a really nice guy. He’s probably—.”
“Georgia,” Arianna interrupted, not wanting or especially caring to hear the long, detailed story of her coworker’s family history. She reached out and turned Georgia so they were facing each other, not the crowd, and continued, “If you want to introduce me to someone, within reason, that’s fine. But otherwise I’m okay with just meeting people naturally. I feel uncomfortable knowing things about people who don’t even know my name.”
Georgia scoffed and settled her hands on her hips. “Ari, honey, if there’s one thing you need to learn about Darien, it’s that everyone else already knows your name. At the least, anyone who didn’t know about you when they woke up this morning is certainly going to know about you by dinnertime tonight.”
Arianna did her best not to make a distasteful face at Georgia’s words. It was a small town, after all. Of course people would talk. “My point,” she began carefully, “is that I don’t feel the need to know a complete stranger’s backstory.”
Silence stretched between them for a half-second before Georgia’s lips twitched and she said, “Okay. Then whose backstory do you want to know?”
Sighing, Arianna shifted her weight and replied, “I don’t, Georgia. If I’m going to get to know someone, I’d rather do it the old fashioned way. Face to face.” Although she supposed there was someone she wouldn’t mind learning a few things about. But there was no way she was going to get that information through third-hand gossip. She knew all too well how terribly that kind of scenario could go. So her curiosity about Dean was just going to have to wait until the right opportunity presented itself.
Georgia huffed with disbelief. “Oh, come on, Ari. There has to be something you want to know about someone around here. It pays to be prepared, you know.”
“Sure it does,” Arianna agreed. “That’s why I have pepper spray in my purse, a roommate who knows my work schedule, a spare tire in my trunk, and the local tow-truck company on speed-dial. But when it comes to people, I believe in respecting a person’s right to privacy.”
Georgia stared at her for a beat, blinking as though she hadn’t properly understood what Arianna had said. Seconds passed before she asked, “You have met me, right?”
Arianna laughed and nodded. “I have, and we’ll get along fine as long as you respect two simple rules of mine—don’t force-feed me information I’m not asking for, and above all, don’t go spilling any deep, dark secrets of mine you happen to learn while we’re living together.”
“Omelet’s ready!” Earl called from behind them.
Still chuckling, Georgia guided Arianna back to the table to pick up her food as she said, “Well, I’ll try to learn to live with those rules, then. But don’t go out of your way to dump something crazy heavy on me, ‘kay? I get uncomfortable with deep, dark secrets.” She threw in a wink, transferred the still steaming plate from the table to Arianna’s hands, and added, “Now eat up. You know those hash browns are never half as good
once they lose their crunch!”
Arianna was still staring after her roommate in mild wonder, mixed with not a small twinge of apprehension, when Earl spoke up again.
“Don’t worry,” he began, understanding laughter shaking his voice, “I’ve known that girl since she was nine years old. She’s not about to change. But she’s good company all the same.”
Arianna nodded, thanked him, and started back toward her tower. That was exactly what she loved about Darien, even though it was strangely also what she was most afraid of. It was that almost clichéd sort of small-town community where everyone knew everyone, and once you were in, you were in for life. But if you didn’t fit in you’d probably always stand out like a sore thumb, and she was tired of being the sore thumb.
Time will tell. I just have to be patient.
****
What the hell was I thinking?
Dean released a heavy breath and rolled his neck as another round of waves lapped at the shore mere inches from his booted feet. Taking meeting Arianna as a good sign, he’d gone ahead and followed through with his previous thought of escaping the crowd. Only now, alone with the Pacific Ocean, he realized meeting Arianna had probably actually been a sign encouraging him to stay with the crowd. Large bodies of water weren’t his thing. Sure, the ocean was beautiful—from a distance—but it didn’t do anything for him. It didn’t improve his mood or relax him. If anything, it made him edgier.
He hadn’t gotten around to moving yet when his baby sister came fast-walking up to him. His eighteen-year-old baby sister. “Dean,” she called, her voice hushed but undeniably urgent.
Trying not to think about Angela’s pending adulthood, Dean frowned and turned to face her. “Something wrong?”