Taking the Heat

Passion this hot can’t be faked…

All revved up for bright lights and steamy nights, writer Veronica Chandler chased her dreams to New York City. When she hit a dead end, reality sent her back home to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Saving her pride and her new gig—writing a relationship advice column!—requires some faking. No one can know the truth about her big-city flop or her nonexistent sex life. But the town’s irresistibly rugged librarian is determined to figure her out…and give her hands-on lessons in every wicked thing she wants to know.

Gabe MacKenzie’s heart might be in Wyoming, but secretly his future’s tied up in his family’s Manhattan legacy. Getting down and dirty with Veronica is supposed to give him a few memorable nights—not complicate his plans. But the thing about heat this scorching is there’s just no going back…and it might be too hot for either of them to take.

Praise for the novels of USA TODAY bestselling author

VICTORIA DAHL

“Dahl…is fearless in creating quirky, touchingly unique characters whose love affairs are anything but predictable.”

—RT Book Reviews on Flirting with Disaster

“Wonderfully unconventional and deliciously sultry…among [Dahl’s] hottest to date.”

—RT Book Reviews on Looking for Trouble

“Dahl brings her signature potent blend of heated eroticism and emotional punch to another Jackson Hole cowboy story, to great success.”

—Kirkus Reviews on So Tough to Tame

“So Tough to Tame was a delicious, funny, warm-hearted read… Obviously I highly recommend this book. It’s like a comfort read with a dose of sass and smarts; it’s just about perfect.”

—Smart Bitches, Trashy Books

“Dahl adds her signature hot sex scenes and quirky characters to this lively mix of romance in the high country.”

—Booklist on Too Hot to Handle

“Victoria Dahl never fails to bring the heat.”

—RT Book Reviews on Too Hot to Handle

“Hits the emotional high notes. Rising romance star Dahl delivers with this sizzling contemporary romance.”

—Kirkus Reviews on Close Enough to Touch

“This is one hot romance.”

—RT Book Reviews on Good Girls Don’t

“A hot and funny story about a woman many of us can relate to.”

—Salon.com on Crazy for Love

“[A] hands-down winner, a sensual story filled with memorable characters.”

—Booklist on Start Me Up

“Sassy and smokingly sexy, Talk Me Down is one delicious joyride of a book.”

—New York Times bestselling author Connie Brockway

Taking the Heat

Victoria Dahl

This book is dedicated to Kate, for the advice, and to Allison, for the ideas. Thank you.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Praise

Title Page

Dedication

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

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Extract

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

OUT OF ALL the mistakes Veronica Chandler had made in her life, this was definitely the worst. Worse than moving to New York City after college, worse than dating that guy who’d dumped her via text after a hand job, worse than crawling back home to Wyoming with her tail between her legs and even worse than becoming a complete fraud of an advice columnist.

What the hell had she been thinking? She should have said no to her boss. She should have told him to take his horrible idea back to whatever hellish place he’d found it. But she’d been too afraid to say no.

Veronica lived every single day afraid that her boss was going to realize the truth about her. Each email she received from him seemed to pulse with menace, and when he’d called and asked her to stop by his office two weeks earlier, she’d known that had been the end of her charade.

But instead of firing her, he’d presented her with an opportunity. In her state of shock and relief, she’d stammered out a yes instead of screaming “Hell, no.” Maybe she’d been in denial since then. Maybe she hadn’t wanted to think about it. But there was no denying the truth anymore. She was supposed to put on a live performance tonight, and now she was racing to the Jackson Town Library as if the stacks of books inside could save her.

She rushed through the glass doors, head already swiveling to scan the main room of the library. Lauren Foster was a great friend, so when she hadn’t answered this morning’s panicked texts, Veronica had known she must be working. If she could just find Lauren, surely she would say it was okay for Veronica to back out of this mess and hide from the world in her apartment for a week or two.

She walked past the circulation desk and looked into the children’s area, but Lauren wasn’t hidden between the stacks of kids’ books. What if she wasn’t really working today? What if she was on a hike deep in the woods and wouldn’t be home until late?

“No,” Veronica said. No, that wasn’t possible. Veronica needed her too much.