Page 11 of The Heat of Intensity

“Oh, come on,” Eastlynne squeaks. “I told you no sex details.”

“Sounds like you two are having an interesting conversation,” Kathleen remarks as she steps closer to us.

“You look like crap,” my sister states and I wince because she’s not lying.

Kathleen places her forearms on the top rung of the fence and releases a bone-deep sigh. “I feel like crap too. There’s a hot shower and my bed calling my name.”

Her phone starts to ring and I jerk my chin in the direction of her pocket. “Someone else is calling your name first.”

She chuckles and grabs her phone. One glance at the screen makes her whole face shift to anger.

Jabbing the screen, she rejects the call and grumbles, “Not today, asshole.”

“Boyfriend? An ex? A colleague? Siblings?” I wonder.

“Worse.” Kathleen shoves her phone back into her pocket. “Remember the guy that showed up when I called in the help of those Cowboy Bikers MC Lawmen? Dark blond, scruffy jaw, dark eyes?”

“Marvin Wolffield?” my sister quips.

I remember the guy’s deep voice. He helped take down Erwin Desmond and his gang of idiots. They were responsible for traumatizing a horse bred and owned by the Iron Hot Blood, killed an ex-member of the club, one of them attacked me, others set fire to the barn, and they were involved in dogfights and so much more.

“Yeah, that one,” Kathleen grunts. “He’s been calling for the past two days.”

I turn to fully face her. “Why?”

“Because that annoying, egocentric a-hole of a man thinks he can tell me how to do my damn job,” Kathleen growls.

“Still?” Eastlynne asks. “How is that even possible? I mean, the first time he did it when he came here it made sense. Now? Not so much. Or is there something we don’t know?”

Kathleen spins and leans her back against the fence. “He’s working on a serial killer case in the next town over and is obsessed over controlling the information flow. Meaning I have to check in every damn day and report if something is out of the ordinary. Hello, it’s my damn town, and it’s filled with a wide birth of weirdos, so every day is a brand new out of the ordinary. I really don’t get the idiot.”

“Sounds to me like he’s obsessed with you, not so much the case,” I murmur and point at Parker who is back on his horse and has the tied calf in front of him. “Parker has the same persistence. I didn’t even have a choice when he simply showed up and stayed at my place.”

Kathleen pats the gun strapped to her hip. “Let the fucker come. I’ll fill his nutsack with bullets. There’s no way I’ll accept a man taking charge of my life.” She winks at me when she adds, “Though, I am on Parker’s side when it comes to you. He did good. You standing here and calling me when you caught that twisted fucker. I hope to have the DNA results soon and we’ll run checks. Don’t worry, we’ll have him behind bars in no time.”

“Maybe he’ll stay gone. You know, because there were lots of men wandering around the stables with the renovations. He could come and go without being noticed. Now there are all cameras and little to no activity.” I shrug. “Besides, if he does show up again? We’ll have him on the security feed.”

“True,” Kathleen says. “I’m also fairly sure Parker won’t miss this time.”

“Another good reason to keep him around.” I grin.

“Besides letting him tie you up and have sex,” my sister adds.

“Eastlynne,” I snap.

Eastlynne shrugs. “What? You deserve some happiness and relaxation. You told me the same thing when I needed to hear it so I’m only returning the favor.”

“Oh, so that’s what you two were talking about when I got here.” Kathleen chuckles. “I do have to agree with your sister, Cosima. You deserve it, and more. Now, I’m going to head home because I deserve a hot shower and a couple of hours of sleep.”

We all laugh when Parker and Rourke stop by on the other side of the fence.

“That’s a nice sound,” Rourke states. “Glad to see all of you are having fun.”

“Definitely.” Kathleen gives us a wave. “Going home, see you guys tomorrow.”

Eastlynne climbs over the fence and leans in to give Rourke a kiss. A longing starts to burn inside my chest and my gaze automatically slides to Parker. He’s staring down at me and the heat in his gaze looks similar to the one I feel sliding through my veins.

“Mind giving me a hand with putting Pete back into his stall?” he questions.

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