Slow Burn: A Texas Heat Novel Read Online Free PDF

Gilbert, a few good teachers and friends to get him through. Fighting with Harper helped him snap out of a deep depression. Their fierce debates, arguments and practical jokes gave him something to look forward to every day. In a real sense, Harper saved him during the worst days of his life. As a result, he survived his mother’s abandonment fairly unscathed and he buried himself in academics and football. His father wasn’t so lucky.
    Allister literally fell apart. He resigned from the Fortune 500 Company he ran for years. He slept all day and only woke up to drink, eat junk food and pee. He shunned his society friends and relatives, never left the house. He crawled into a bottle and drowned in the amber swirling depths of brandy. For Donavan, he lost the mother he loved and the father he always looked up to. The man sitting across from him was a weak, watered down version of the father Donavan once knew. Downright pitiful.
    “I know you hold me in contempt.”
    Oh ya think? Donavan took a long sip of black coffee. Allister sniffed, his eyes bloodshot with tears and alcohol fumes. “I loved her,” his father said. “When you fall in love son, then you’ll understand, she was a part of me. How can I function when a vital part of me is gone?”
    Donavan stared at his father as if looking into a mirror. This is why he’d never get married. He’d have his fun with girls like Kimber. The fact remained, there were a million Kimbers out there. They usually came onto him, boldly asking him out, slept with him without drama or complications. He liked it that way. He never kept them for long. A month or two at the most, then onto the next sweet thing. If one left, who cares? She could be replaced in a heartbeat. There was no danger of emotional entanglement. Allister was living proof that loving a woman could bring a man to his knees. No way in hell was Donavan going down that dead end road.
    “It’s been fifteen years,” Donavan repeated. “She’s moved on, why can’t you? Instead of crying like a little bitch, get up and live your life.”
    Allister’s shoulders slumped. His bottom lip quivered. “I still love her,” he whimpered.
    Utterly disgusted, Donavan rose from the table. He’d had enough. This useless shell of a man was obliterated by the so called love of a woman. Well not him. Nope. No way. Donavan kissed the crown of his father’s wet hair. “Bye dad.”
    Kimber was getting tiresome. When she whined about their canceled trip, he had to cut her loose. He wasn’t sure who the next flavor of the month would be until Emerson Riley cruised back into town. They met again at a routine traffic stop. His buddy, Dylan Chambers was sweet on her back in the day. He wondered if Dyl knew she was in town? And would he mind if Donavan asked her out?

Chapter 8
    Harper stood in the fire chief’s office, feet braced apart, hands behind her back and stubborn jaw set. “I know everyone in the department thinks you walk on water, myself included, but I’m begging you, please, don’t run this guy off.”
    Harper shrugged. “Send me a partner who’s worth a damn and we won’t have any problems, chief.”
    The fire chief groaned. He rubbed a hand over his grisly beard. “His name is Andy, he was an Army Medic.”
    That piqued Harper’s interest. “I’m sure Andy and I will get along just fine.”  
    Harper left the chief’s office. Some of the firefighters slept on cots, others ate in the kitchen or hung out in the garage.
    “Yo Grant!” Firefighter Samson called.
    “Hey,” she said.
    “If you were a man, would you go for Shakira or J-Lo?”
    “Shakira.”
    “Nice!”
    “But J-Lo’s got that ass,” Firefighter Jacobs said.
    “Yea but Shakira’s butt is on remote control, she can shake it in any direction,” Harper said.
    “Oh you got a point there,” Samson agreed.
    The guys drooled over Shakira’s new YouTube video. Harper’s cell rang. She grinned when she saw the