Page 7 of The Heat of Intensity

He chuckles and I’m glad we’re interrupted by a knock on the door. I turn, but Parker halts my movement and without a word he’s out of the kitchen. Talk about overprotective. Though, within this moment I do appreciate it. A woman’s voice flows through the air and I instantly recognize it as Kathleen’s.

“Hey,” she quips. “Heard you had an unwelcome visit from an asshole playing with his squirting joystick.”

A grin automatically slides across my face. “You heard correctly. Shame Parker missed his shot.”

Kathleen narrows her eyes at Parker. “Why did you miss?”

“Wendy,” he grits through his teeth as if that explains everything.

Kathleen nods and I don’t understand it at all.

“What does your horse have to do with you missing a shot?” I wonder.

Kathleen chuckles. “His horse is a bit of a bitch when she’s in the pasture. Parker here can’t jump off and rope a calf ’cause she’ll bump him right out of the way. That’s why he has more than one horse for different tasks. He even has a Longhorn he rides. Now that’s an impressive sight.” Her face falls. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to–”

I hold my hand up. “No worries. This idiot here throws out sentences with vision references like confetti. I’m used to it by now. Besides, I’m thankful enough to say that I’ve regained partial vision in my left eye. It wasn’t enough to get a clear view of the Peeping Tom, though.”

“That sucks. But we’ll get him, no worries,” Kathleen vows. “I’m gonna step outside and take a look.”

She walks out the back door and I turn my back to Parker as I take a few sips of coffee. My mind drifts off to the memory of two days ago, when Parker and I were in this kitchen as well.

“Do you think he was the one inside my house?” I whisper.

Parker growls low in his throat and steps up behind me. A gasp rips from me when his arms circle my body.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him.” There’s a deadly promise in his voice.

It doesn’t scare me. In fact, Parker makes me feel safe. I lean back and close my eyes. He simply holds me and slowly rocks us back and forth. Where I was feeling on edge a breath or two ago, I now feel at ease.

Again, we’re interrupted by knocking. This time it’s Parker’s club brothers who show up and instantly get to work installing a camera system around the ranch. Parker is overseeing the whole thing while I’m on pins and needles in the living room.

Kathleen is the first one to walk back into the house. “Hey, I’m heading out. I’ve gathered some evidence and the guys are installing cameras. So, if the fucker comes back, we’ll have a face to find a name and put him behind bars.”

“Maybe he’ll stay away now that I’ve caught him and Parker gave chase,” I mutter.

“Most of the time these types of perpetrators don’t stop,” she softly tells me. “I would advise you to keep Parker around for a little while longer.”

I groan and it makes her chuckle. “Oh, come on, he’s not that bad to be around. He’s handsome too. Well, I’ve heard some of my friends mention it when he’s around. I don’t look at any of the brothers in that way ’cause they’re all…you know, brothers. Anyway, I’m not trying to be a matchmaker here, but the way he’s all fierce and has his nuts in a twist? I’d say he’s making it personal and I’m thinking it’s because of the way he looks at you.”

The way he looks at me? I frown. “How does he look at me?”

“The way my parents look at one another.” She smiles. “You do know he’s bullheaded, right? I mean, the story of his parents getting hitched also shows where he gets the genes from. His father had all the patience and time to give his old lady the space she needed to ultimately give him a second chance and realize they belonged together. Except, with you two, Parker is waiting for his first chance to be with you.”

I’m still processing her words when Parker strolls into the room. Shit. I wanted to ask Kathleen why Parker’s father needed a second chance.

“Let me know if that fucker’s spunk gives any hits in the database,” he tells her and my nose wrinkles.

“Oh yuck,” I grumble.

Parker ignores my response when he adds, “It shows that fucker has been out there a while.”

“We’ll get him,” Kathleen simply states. “Call me if you need me.”

“Will do,” Parker states.

I hear footsteps coming from the kitchen and the three guys who are installing the security system stroll into the room. One of them opens a laptop and sits down on the couch. Kathleen gives me a finger wave as she slinks out of the room.

“I also put a camera up by the stables. Let me get this up and running and then I’ll show you how shit works,” Walker states and is letting his fingers move over the keyboard of his laptop.

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