Authors: Alysia S. Knight

Temperature Rising (22 page)

Her dreams were coming true and they were all wonderful, full of life and love.

About the Author

I grew up in a small town in Wyoming loving the outdoors, sports, art, and reading Hardy Boys books. After reading them all at least a half dozen times, I started writing my own stories.

Thirty years ago I married a wonderful, honorable man. I’m mother of five children and grandmother of four boys with another on the way. I love traveling. Through my husband’s work and vacations, I have visited much of the United States, all over Eastern Europe, Canada, Mexico, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Australia, giving me many intriguing locations and ex-periences for my stories.

I am a storyteller. I write the classic hero story because I think there’s a need for more heroes, love, and adventure in our lives. I’m not out to change the world with my writing; I’m just hoping to make your day a little better.

Hope you enjoy.

Alysia S. Knight

Also from Astraea Press

Another heated argument with the senior editor of the literary agency finally sent Angel White over the edge. As a successful literary agent she'd amassed a good-sized list of authors she represented, fought for, promoted, and franchised, and now she was soon to be starting over.

Unfortunately, it had been a long time coming. There was only so much a woman could take, when it came to unwanted advances, before she either pressed charges or left. Seeing as making a public spectacle of the entire situation would only land her in murky water while searching for another job, she chose to leave. Angel had no problem holding her head high though. She'd warned her disgusting boss, should he try to blackball her in her search for employment, she would make all of his many voicemails and lewd text messages public knowledge. Everyone would then know exactly why she had left. To her relief he immediately backed off and even joined the rest of the staff in wishing her farewell and good luck in her future.

Right now, though, she only wanted to get away, lick her wounds somewhere, and figure out her next move. Perhaps she would use her inheritance to finally open her own agency. The idea of finding and helping to groom budding new talent always made her smile because those same thoughts brought to mind her good friend and client, Colton Sterling.

He'd come to her through an amazing manuscript submission, and her instincts had told her this man's talent would bring him far in the publishing world. And she'd been right. With his paranormal romance novels taking off overnight, they both had been in a frantic rush to get his name established on the web by setting up websites, joining social networks, arranging local book signings, and blog interviews galore.

Colton had been a trooper throughout the whole process. He'd been in contact with her daily, sharing everything from his newest story ideas to the hilarity of the comments some of his posts received. Every day since they'd begun working together he'd wished her a good morning and bid her a good night as well.

She was going to miss that.

She was going to miss
him
.

As Angel finished packing up her belongings from her office she sat down to her computer and sent a mass e-mail to her list of authors explaining that for personal reasons she would be leaving the company, wishing them all good luck with their writing, and promising her continued support in her personal reading of their work. Once she sent that particular message, she immediately opened another.

This one was to Colton because she didn't want to lump him in with the rest of the authors. He was a friend and deserved to hear straight from her that she would no longer be able to help him and guide him as she longed to do. She would miss his messages the most, she was sure. He always had a way of brightening even her worst days.

The screen pinged as a message popped into her in-box about ten minutes later. He must have been online. When she opened the message, she felt tears well up in her eyes. He'd forwarded a copy of his e-mail to the agency, terminating his contract with them, along with his personal cell phone and email, asking her to please call him.

He'd officially left the agency, breaking his contract with them over the fact she was leaving. He explained to them that he just "couldn't see himself clicking with another agent as he had with Angel White." He flat out refused to be represented by anyone else. Colton assured them that allowing her to leave would be the biggest mistake their agency could possibly make, but his loyalty was to her and her alone.

Angel took out her cell and programmed his information in before sending him a text message with her own personal e-mail address attached. Having his support was just the push she needed to cement her decision to open her own agency, but right now she needed to take a much needed vacation.

There were many decisions to be made in regards to her future, and she wanted to relax and contemplate them for a few days.

* * * *

Jaxson was at his wits end. His twin brother, Colton, was absolutely useless when he was like this. Colton's muse had apparently taken a break and, he'd become a major downer because of it. It's not like his writing was changing the world; it simply entertained hordes of lonely women. In Jaxson's opinion, if you want a desperate woman, then head out to a singles bar. Don't waste time writing cheesy novels. He scoffed whenever Colton tried to explain just how much work went into the writing and editing part alone, not to mention having to keep up with blogs, websites, book signings, interviews, blah, blah, blah. Combine all of that with keeping a full-time job, and the thought made Jaxson cringe.

No, Jaxson was a free spirit, and he would not apologize for it. He loved the water every bit as much now as he had as a kid and had therefore started a business that would allow him to remain on the water, having fun and enjoying himself, until he chose to retire. The deep sea fishing charters he and his brother ran were an extremely popular attraction at the marina. They had various trip lengths, from a few hours to the whole day, and would even run friendly competitions with the other charters for the biggest fish and the most caught. All of the tourists seemed to genuinely enjoy the experience. Not to mention that word of mouth had made them one of the top charters in town with reservations typically booked months in advance.

Right now, though, Colton's thoughts revolved around his agent instead of work, and that was irritating Jaxson more and more. Colton just kept harping on about how his agent had just quit the agency and needed to take a vacation and whatnot. For crying out loud, Jaxson was going to need a vacation himself if his brother didn't get his head screwed back on straight, and soon. Well, seeing as he was desperate to get Colton focused on the charter business and
not
on his agent and books, Jaxson threw out an idea.

The beach-house they lived in was just down from one they also owned as a rental property. Next week the house would be vacant, and he quickly suggested Colton invite his agent down for a visit. Once his brother had sent the invitation via e-mail, he
finally
began to perk up a little, and Jaxson was hoping this would get him a little more focused. Maybe he could even talk this agent of his into a fishing trip.

That is, if Jaxson could get Colton to remove the stick he obviously had stuffed up his rear end. He'd forced Jaxson to
promise
to be on his best behavior while his agent was down.
What?
Did his brother consider his outgoing personality an embarrassment? Not that he was particularly interested in spending time with some stuffed shirt who read books for a living, but he didn't want to stress the working relationship his brother seemed to hold so dear either. After all they were twins; causing Colton any kind of pain would only bring Jaxson some hurt as well. Not to mention Colton's agent could possibly mistake him for Colton and end up taking something that was said out of context.

Luckily, he and Colton were planning a trip over to the Blackwater State Park for a run because, boy, did he feel the need to cut loose. Being a werewolf living on the beach really did have its setbacks sometimes. The lack of wooded areas made shifting impossible, so they would travel inland a few times a month to go into the state parks to camp and just run. It was a small price to pay to be free of the restrictions of pack life. For Jaxson and Colton, being free meant they could do what they wanted with their lives, never having to ask permission before getting a job or starting their business. With their business booming and the summer just starting, the tourists were about to arrive in droves. He'd be splitting the days with his brother and would make sure Colton had time to spend with his agent. Who knows, maybe he'd become inspired to write some new romantic crap and then his mood would improve. After all, this agent was the reason why Colton's career had taken off like it had. Surely the woman could offer up some ideas.

He just hoped this would be worth the headache, because Jaxson really didn't think he was going to enjoy spending any amount of time with some big-city stuffed-shirt.