Love So Hot

  Love So Hot

  The Lawson Brothers: Book One

  By

  Marquita Valentine

  Love So Hot

  Copyright © 2014 by Marquita Valentine

  Kobo Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  Cover Design by Lindee Robinson

  Professionally Edited by Cynthia Shepp

  Content Editing by Autumn Hull

  www.marquitavalentine.com

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  More Books by Marquita Valentine!

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  Drive Me Crazy

  Driving To You

  Twice Tempted

  Third Time’s a Charm

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  Boys of the South Series

  Live For You

  Only For You

  True For You

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  Wish For You

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  Need You Tonight

  The Request Trilogy

  The Request

  The Deception

  The Confession

  The Lawson Brothers

  Love So Hot

  Love So True

  Love So Hot

  The Lawsons

  Book 1

  Bank Teller and all around good girl, Sydney McKnight, is tired of being the girl all the guys want to have as a friend. Who better to help unleash her inner vixen than her best friend and secret crush, Brody Lawson? Only, Sydney has no idea how to ask him, without their friendship going up in flames, until that is, the town of Jessamine’s annual Fireman’s Auction gives her the perfect excuse to set her plan into motion.

  Fire Captain Brody Lawson has been in love with his best friend, Sydney, for years, but he would never risk their friendship by confessing his feelings to her. So, when Sydney beats out the competition to buy his time at the annual Firemen’s Auction, Brody can hardly believe his luck until she asks him to teach her how to seduce a fellow fireman.

  Now, it’s up to Brody to show Sydney how perfect she already is and convince her that the only man for her is him, because if Sydney is going to seduce any man, it’s going to be him. And once he has her in his bed, he’s not letting her go.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  More Books by Marquita Valentine!

  About the Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Read More Books by Marquita Valentine

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  ‡

  Brody Lawson couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t want to be a firefighter. He wanted to rescue people from skyscrapers, farms animals from burning barns, and use the Jaws of Life to pry open cars. By the time he was fifteen, and allowed to see uncut version of Backdraft, he knew every line of the movie by heart.

  He made it his mission to be everyone’s friend, everyone’s champion, and the guy that everyone could always count on to do the right thing. His parents had encouraged that line of thinking, cheering him on when he gave up a baseball scholarship to go to Fire Fighter Academy.

  Nothing had given him more pleasure than to see his entire family—parents, brothers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins—at his swearing-in ceremony.

  But, no one had informed him that his duty as a fireman would to be to climb up a knobby pine tree that had seen better days. The damned thing swayed so badly that he was sure it would break in half at any moment.

  “Come on, sweetheart, just a little closer,” he crooned to the four-year-old, who was currently stuck in said tree. “Just slide down to the next branch.”

  Fat tears rolled down her rosy cheeks. “I can’t,” she wailed.

  “Yes, you can,” he said. She had to move closer. The tree limbs at the top were too slender to hold his weight and the truck with the ladder that could reach this high was being used for training purposes.

  A plaintive cry came from beside him. He adjusted his stance on the branch below him, scraping his forearms in the process and sucking in air. Pine bark hurt like a son of a gun.

  “Kitty,” Jena Lynn squealed, nearly tumbling from the branch. Her little fingers dug into the bark. “My kitty!”

  So that was why she’d climbed up this far. He should have known.

  “C’mon down, Jena,” her mother shouted from below.

  Brody glanced at the woman, who had concern etched on her face. He knew her mother would have been up here herself, but she’d broken her arm last week, sliding into home while playing on the county’s softball league. Since Brody was co-captain, he felt responsible for her broken arm and it was why he’d come himself, instead of sending one of the newbies to help.

  “I want my daddy,” Jena Lynn said, her little nose scrunching up. “I want my kitty and my daddy.”

  Sympathy flooded Brody. Jena Lynn’s father wouldn’t be coming home for at least two more months. He was serving in Afghanistan for the third time. “I know you do, baby girl, but right now, your momma needs you to come down because—” He paused. There was no way he could tell the little girl that her mother was scared. That would only cause more panic for both of them. “It’s time to eat lunch,” he hastily improvised.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “Your kitty is.” The kitty chose that moment to sink its claws into his bicep. He gritted his teeth a little.

  “No, she’s not.”

  Brody winced. “I’m hungry.”

  “Then go eat.”

  He swallowed a laugh. Jena Lynn had definitely inherited her dad’s stubborn ways, but she had also inherited her mother’s sense of empathy. “Can I tell you a secret?” he asked the little girl.

  She eyed him. “Mommy says adults shouldn’t ask kids to keep a secret. It’s not safe.”

  He nodded. “Your mom is smart. But, this secret you can share with her and your daddy—just don’t tell my brothers. Okay?”

  That was exactly the thing to say to her because she nodded and smiled. “Okay. I’m telling Mommy and Daddy, but not your brothers. Not even at circle time when Mr. Tristan asks us to share something cool about our day.”

  “Thanks,” he said wryly. His brother, a former officer in the Marines, had recently become the head librarian for the town. Tristan had gone from handling guns and serving in a war to shelving books and heading up Mom’s Morning Out.

  “I’m listening,” she sang out, no longer crying.

  “I need you to come a little closer to
me, so I can whisper it to you.”

  Jena Lynn climbed down exactly one branch. She was still higher than he could safely reach, but it was a start.

  “It’s kind of embarrassing,” he said in a loud whisper.

  “Like peeing in your bed at night?” she asked.

  “Yeah, like that.”

  Jena Lyn’s eyes got wide. “You still pee in your bed?” she asked in a voice loud enough to be heard three counties over.

  Her mother chortled below them.

  “No,” he almost shouted, and then gentled his voice. “I’m afraid of heights.”

  “Then why did you climb up my tree?” she asked, looking at him like he was the dumbest thing on the planet.

  So much for empathy, he thought.

  “Because you and your kitty needed help. It’s my job to rescue people and animals,” he said solemnly. “But, now I need your help getting down.”

  “Oh.” She seemed to consider his words and then extended one leg. “I’ll save you.”

  He bit back his grin. “Thank you.”

  The kitten scampered off his arm and up the tree, distracting Jena Lynn. “My kitty,” she screeched, lunging for it.

  Ah, hell.

  The branch cracked under her weight, and she began to fall. Her mother screamed. Brody grabbed for her, somehow catching the little girl under her arm.

  “Got you, baby girl.” He pulled her up to him. She wrapped her chubby, little legs and arms around him, her tiny body racked with tears and shudders. “It’s okay. I’m here. Now, I’m going to climb down and take you to your momma.”

  “Oh thank God,” her mother cried as he gingerly made his way down the tall pine tree. She rushed to him as soon as his feet hit the ground, taking her daughter while scolding and loving on her.

  “I’m sorry,” Jena Lyn kept saying over and over.

  He rubbed her back to help calm her down and glanced up the tree. The cause of all their problems jumped from branch to branch until it landed neatly on the ground. The cat stalked away, tail twitching in the air.

  “No appreciation at all,” he grunted. Turning to Jena Lyn’s mother, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do?”

  She shook her head. “Thank you, but no. You’ve already done enough. Is there anything we can do for you?”

  “Get Jena Lynn a dog?” he suggested. “They’re less ornery.”

  The woman’s tears turned to laughter. “We didn’t get her the cat. It’s a stray.”

  This time, Brody shook his head in disbelief. “Make sure she tells her daddy what happened. I think Max would love to hear the story.”

  “I know he would.”

  Jena Lynn lifted her head from her mother’s shoulder to peek at him. He ruffled her hair and winked. “Keep climbing trees, baby girl. Just pick ones with better branches next time.”

  She nodded. The two of them walked inside, waving at Brody before the door shut behind them.

  Inspecting his arm, he walked back to his truck. The kitten’s claws had run deep and the pine bark had scratched most of his skin off. But, it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be fixed up. Although, the EMT might recommend he get tested for rabies. He groaned. Those shots hurt like a son of a gun.

  The last time he had to get them, he was sore for a week.

  “Thanks for the help, Rookie,” he said.

  Kyle Davidson sat on the passenger side with a smirk on his face and a cell phone in his hand. “You had everything handled. Besides, I figured if you needed my help, you would have ordered me over there.”

  That was true. Brody had told Kyle to stay in the truck and wait, because it wouldn’t take long to get her. But, that had been almost an hour ago.

  Sweat trickled down his back, making it itch. His hands were sticky from the sap, too. He would have to take a shower before he could eat lunch.

  Kyle waited until Brody slid inside and had clicked his seatbelt in place before replaying the video. “You pee in your bed?” could be clearly heard.

  Kyle’s smirk got bigger. “I’m trying to decide if this should go on the town’s Facebook page or ours. Maybe both.”

  “YouTube doesn’t have enough subscribers for you?” Brody deadpanned.

  “It’s already there, Captain.”

  Brody put the truck in drive and headed out to the highway. “Maybe it’s time to rethink hiring self-starters.”

  Kyle barked out a laugh. “You would have done the same to me.”

  The rookie had a point. Brody loved a good joke as much as the next guy. “Did you at least get the part where I caught her?”

  “Yeah. I like having a job.”

  “Smart man.”

  “Big plans tonight?” Kyle asked.

  “Spend some time with Cherry.”

  “Nice.” Kyle got quiet. Too quiet for Brody’s liking. The guy never shut up long enough to breathe.

  “Something on your mind?”

  “You won’t like it.”

  “Try me.”

  “It’s Sydney McKnight.” Yeah, Kyle was right—he wouldn’t like that at all.

  “What about her?” he asked, trying to keep his tone conversational. No need to kill the kid before his probationary period was up.

  “I was thinking of asking her out—maybe to the Fireman’s Auction, but, uh… since she’s your best bud and all, I wanted to check with you first.”

  “Like I’m her dad?”

  “Yeah. Exactly,” Kyle said, clearly happy. “I mean, she’s a little older than me, but the body is—”

  “Don’t finish that thought. Keep it safely tucked away in your brain,” Brody practically growled.

  Kyle cleared his throat. “She’s a great-looking woman and has a personality to match.”

  “She’s seeing someone,” Brody snapped. He couldn’t help it. While Kyle might be a good guy, he was still some kid looking to get laid. As Sydney’s best friend, it was Brody’s job to keep guys like that away from her. She deserved better, and he knew for a fact she wanted more than that.

  “Who?” Kyle asked. “I checked her Facebook page, and it says she’s single.”

  Son of a gun. Reason number five hundred not to like social media. Nothing was private. “That’s because she hasn’t updated her Facebook page in six months. This is fairly new.” So new that Sydney didn’t even know about it.

  “Well, damn. Guess I’ll ask Apple McCoy, then.”

  “Yeah, ask her. She’s… available.” Or at least he thought Cherry’s sister was. Either way, Kyle could set his sights on another woman.

  “Dude. We could double date, and then later, once Sydney discovers how awesome I am, I’ll gently let Apple down. Then we can hang out and you can give your blessing. Like the Pope.” He made an ah, ah, ah sound, like he was singing in a church choir.

  First, Kyle compared him to being Sydney’s dad and now he morphed into a celibate religious figure? This conversation was quickly going downhill.

  “We could, but we won’t,” Brody said. Twenty, the kid was barely twenty, he reminded himself. Too young to know better. Too young to recognize that he needed to shut up about Sydney. “And I’m pretty sure comparing me to the Pope is blasphemous.” Brody wasn’t Catholic, but even he knew you didn’t say stuff like that.

  “Nah, this Pope is cool. He’s Super Pope.”

  Brody rolled his eyes. “If you say so.”

  “Maybe once my probationary period is over and I’ve earned it?” Kyle asked hopefully.

  Feeling like a first-class jerk for lying, Brody forced himself to nod. “Yeah. You have to earn it first.”

  “Sweet.” Kyle picked up the scanner and called into dispatch to let them know they were headed back. “You’re positive about Sydney?” he asked. “I really like her. She’s so easy to talk to, and it feels right being around her.”

  Brody’s jaw clenched. The kid wasn’t giving up—a trait that had been one of the main reasons Brody had hired him. “Sydney has that effect on everyone.” Including him. “
There isn’t a man alive who can’t see himself with her.”

  “Except for you,” Kyle said. “Best friend zone and all that.”

  “Yeah.” He gave Kyle a sidelong glance, wondering if he was trying to needle him or honestly felt that way. But, Kyle’s face gave nothing away, mostly because he was on his phone. “Except for me.”

  “Good thing you’re dating Cherry. Because, dude, I’d seriously violate that best-friend zone and ask her out if I were you.”

  Brody’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel, but he had to admit Kyle had a point. He was dating Cherry, if only casually. It worked for them. No real commitment, yet she was someone he could always count on. Just like he was for her.

  People assumed they were serious, which was fine with him. Even if it really wasn’t. Even if he couldn’t see himself settling down with Cherry, but rather another woman with big blue eyes and shoulder-length blonde hair… and a laugh that made his gut clench.

  But, because he didn’t want to hurt Cherry’s reputation—the world being what it was—or risk hurting the other woman he wanted, but could never have, he kept his mouth shut and did what was expected of him.

  Because that’s what heroes did.

  Chapter Two

  ‡

  Sydney McKnight was tired of being the woman every man in the town of Jessamine wanted…To be friends with, that was.

  But, that was the problem with living in a small town. Once you were labeled, you were stuck. And boy, had she ever been labeled. The nice girl. The one you can count on. Even in high school, she’d been voted most dependable and friendliest. Not biggest flirt, best looking, or most likely to do something wild and crazy. Nope, not her. That honor belonged to her best friend and one of the McCoy girls.

  Though, it could be worse, like Helen Jean Humphries, who would forever have the nickname Humpty, merely because of her last name. Helen Jean wasn’t humped anywhere. In fact, she had a great figure and personality, but that hadn’t stopped the nickname from sticking. Maybe that was why Helen Jean went away to college and never came back.

  Unfortunately, Sydney couldn’t do that. She had too many responsibilities to even consider leaving Jessamine. So, for her, it had been an immediate segue to bank training because working at a financial institution was a solid job. It was expected.