Fire in the Hole

  Suncoast Society

  Fire in the Hole

  Is Lara’s life complicated? Not really. On the evening of her divorce, she dumps her jerk fiancé while at dinner with him, her now ex-husband, Everett, and Everett’s boyfriend, Wylie. That’s where she meets their hunky neighbor, Brad, and his teenage son, Mark. That’s not complicated at all.

  Dr. Brad Jarred is well aware some people assume he’s little more than a Florida Cracker cowboy, but he’s actually an accomplished chemist running his family’s ranch while being a single father. He loves Lara’s spirit…and her strong will. She’s exactly the kind of take-charge woman he’s longed to meet and love. One thing’s for certain: at least Everett and Wylie are rooting for a relationship to flourish between the couple.

  Now that Lara has the kind of guy she’s always wanted, can she be the woman Brad needs? More importantly, will Mark accept her in their lives? And why won’t her whackadoodle ex-fiancé leave her alone?

  Genre: BDSM, Contemporary

  Length: 57,424 words

  FIRE IN THE HOLE

  Suncoast Society

  Tymber Dalton

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  FIRE IN THE HOLE

  Copyright © 2017 by Tymber Dalton

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-143-2

  First Publication: April 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  For Hubby and Sir.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Tymber Dalton is the wild-child alter-ego of author Lesli Richardson. She lives in the Tampa Bay region of Florida with her husband (aka “The World’s Best Husband™”) and too many pets. Active in the BDSM lifestyle, the two-time EPIC award winner is also the bestselling author of over one hundred books, including The Reluctant Dom, The Denim Dom, Cardinal’s Rule, the Suncoast Society series, the Love Slave for Two series, the Triple Trouble series, the Coffeeshop Coven series, the Good Will Ghost Hunting series, the Drunk Monkeys series, and many more.

  She loves to hear from readers! Please feel free to drop by her website and sign up for updates to keep abreast of the latest news, views, snarkage, and releases. You can also find all of her Siren-BookStrand releases under all four of her pen names on her author page on the BookStrand site.

  www.tymberdalton.com

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  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  This is a continuation of Everett and Wylie’s story from Splendid Isolation…and also Everett’s ex-wife, Lara’s.

  Yes, and Brad.

  The start of it overlaps a little with some events that happen toward the end of Splendid Isolation and gives you a different point of view of those events.

  While all the books in the Suncoast Society series are standalone works which may be read independently of each other, the recommended reading order to avoid spoilers and to not miss any backstory information is as follows:

  1. Safe Harbor

  2. Cardinal’s Rule

  3. Domme by Default

  4. The Reluctant Dom

  5. The Denim Dom

  6. Pinch Me

  7. Broken Toy

  8. A Clean Sweep

  9. A Roll of the Dice

  10. His Canvas

  11. A Lovely Shade of Ouch

  12. Crafty Bastards

  13. A Merry Little Kinkmas

  14. Sapiosexual

  15. A Very Kinky Valentine’s Day

  16. Things Made Right

  17. Click

  18. Spank or Treat

  19. A Turn of the Screwed

  20. Chains

  21. Kinko de Mayo

  22. Broken Arrow

  23. Out of the Spotlight

  24. Friends Like These

  25. Vicious Carousel

  26. Hot Sauce

  27. Open Doors

  28. One Ring

  29. Vulnerable

  30. The Strength of the Pack

  31. Initiative

  32. Impact

  33. Liability

  34. Switchy

  35. Rhymes With Orange

  36. Beware Falling Ice

  37. Beware Falling Rocks

  38. Dangerous Curves Ahead

  39. Two Against Nature

  40. Home at Last

  41. A Kinkmas Carol

  42. Ask DNA

  43. Time Out of Mind

  44. Happy Valenkink’s Day

  45. Splendid Isolation

  46. Similar to Rain

  47. Fire in the Hole

  Some of the characters in this book appear in or are featured in previous books in the Suncoast Society series. All titles available from Siren-BookStrand.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Author's Note

  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

  Landmarks

  FIRE IN THE HOLE

  Suncoast Society

  TYMBER DALTON

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  Fuck.

  My.

  Life.

  Lara knew she was luckier than many people. Still, today’s bullshit was starting to get to her, digging under her skin. She’d tried to talk Steve into not coming with her, but he’d insisted, showing up at her apartment to pick her up despite her telling him three different times that morning not to come.

  In addition to telling him not to come every single time he’d mentioned it over the past couple of weeks.

  In this case, it was easier to pick and choose her battles, although she’d be sitting him down later once they were alone to let him know it was unacceptable for him to not listen to her and to simply override her wishes, no matter how noble his intent might be.

  I can see we will have to have a serious talk. Soon.

  Especially since she was supposed to be moving into his place next week.

  They had bee
n butting heads off and on over the past several months, and even more frequently over the last several weeks, but she’d thought it’d been nothing more than the usual relationship growing pains everyone went through.

  Correction—she’d hoped that’s what it was.

  She’d ignored her instincts. Now…

  Shit.

  Logistically, if she didn’t move in with Steve, it’d be a massive pain in the ass. She knew the apartment complex already had her place rented out, since she’d given them ample notice, and the complex was full.

  A little nagging thought had told her to check on that situation the other day. It’d be four months before they had another apartment her size ready to rent, two before she could get a smaller one. They were at capacity.

  She’d have to move next week, regardless. Moving in with a guy she was increasingly starting to realize wasn’t the right guy for her, however, wasn’t an option.

  He’d acted in a way that, at first, had seemed charming. Sophisticated. Debonair, even.

  Yes, there were warning signs she’d ignored and shouldn’t have. She’d hoped she was wrong.

  Well, maybe I can borrow the Tin Can from Everett.

  She wasn’t desperate for a man. Living in her ex-husband’s travel trailer would be preferable to making a horrible mistake by moving in with the wrong man.

  Huge-ass engagement ring on her finger or not.

  From the moment Steve had appeared at her apartment that afternoon to pick her up, until they’d reached the courthouse, he’d been going on, and on…

  And on.

  So she’d tuned him out, looking out the window and mostly nodding, ignoring him.

  “Then, there’s getting you moved. We’ll have to decide what to get rid of,” he’d said as they pulled into the parking lot. “No reason to bring what we won’t keep.”

  Now he had her full and undivided attention. “What do you mean?”

  He laughed. “Well, all that crap you have isn’t going to fit into my house. We’ll have to get rid of a lot of it. Leave it out by the Dumpster or something.”

  She stared at him for a moment, not quite sure, at first, that she’d heard him correctly. “Uh, we already talked about this. I told you, I’m not getting rid of my stuff. We already agreed what you were getting rid of so my stuff would fit.”

  He snorted. “And I was humoring you, honey. Do you honestly think I’m going to get rid of my furniture? Do you have any idea how much it cost? You know you don’t know anything about decorating. I can’t blame you, though. You’ve been stuck in a cheap apartment for all these years. That junk you have is worthless. Why would I want it in my house?”

  She bit her tongue on what she’d been about to say and didn’t wait for him as she got out and headed inside, forcing him to jog to catch up with her.

  One question answered. This day is not going well at all, and likely to get worse before it’s over.

  At least she and Everett were on good terms. And she adored Wylie, Everett’s boyfriend.

  Steve managed to catch up with her at the door. Walking inside, she found that her attorney wasn’t there yet, but Everett and Wylie were.

  She took a deep breath and forced a smile she didn’t feel. “Everett Cannon, Wylie Young, this is my fiancé, Steve Ewing.”

  “Doctor,” Steve added with a too-tight smile as he shook hands. “Nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you, especially over the last couple of months, it’s like I know you already.”

  She recognized that carefully schooled look on Everett’s face.

  He already hated the guy. “Oh,” Everett said. “That’s nice.”

  Lara didn’t feel much like making small talk at that moment, still trying to digest what Steve said about her furniture and the best way to handle him. So as they sat and waited, she shut up and prayed Steve would do the same. Finally, her attorney arrived, and they started going over everything one last time. Lara and Everett were using the same attorney since the divorce was uncontested. Everett couldn’t afford to file by himself, and until Steve had proposed to her, she’d had no reason to.

  What, she was supposed to fight getting a divorce despite the fact that Everett admitted he was gay and had now moved on with his life and had finally found a great boyfriend who was a sweetheart and perfect for him?

  No, of course not.

  And she had thought she was getting married soon.

  Until a few minutes ago.

  As she listened to the attorney, she stared at the ring on her hand.

  Was it really worth it, though? The longer she stood there and compared Steve to the two men she considered friends, the more doubts gnawed at her. Steve had always resisted her attempts to get him to mingle with her friends.

  And she flat-out hated his.

  Once they were done talking to the attorney, they sat to wait some more.

  Adding to the day’s aggravation was the fact that their court hearing had been delayed due to the judge having a family emergency. They’d been given the opportunity to reschedule. She’d met Everett’s gaze, shrugged, and suspected he’d also been about to say reschedule, when Steve spoke up for her.

  “We’ll wait. This has gone on long enough. I can’t imagine it’ll take long.”

  Lara glanced at Everett.

  “It’s okay, hon,” Everett assured her. “Whatever you want to do. You want to hit Mama Suarez’s for an early dinner when we get out of here?”

  She grinned and answered without even thinking about Steve’s opinion on the matter. “I haven’t been there in a while. Absolutely.”

  “Where?” Steve asked.

  “Oh, it’s a great Mexican place—”

  Steve snorted.

  Lara shot Steve a look, but turned to Everett. “I would love to eat there after we’re done.”

  She got it. Part of it was that Steve was older than her. He’d never met Everett and Wylie before. Maybe he was feeling a little…inadequate. And, she assumed, he’d wanted to come today to support her.

  What Steve seemed to miss was that she’d feel far more supported if he’d shut the hell up and sit there and not say a damn thing.

  He leaned in and started to mutter a protest to her, probably about the choice in restaurants. He usually ended up with the last word on where they ate if he didn’t like the choice.

  Not today, Satan.

  Lara glared at him and dug a knuckle into his thigh.

  “What?” he asked, rubbing at the spot.

  “Just stop it,” she hissed, hoping Everett and Wylie hadn’t heard them.

  That finally shut Steve up, allowing her to start chatting with Everett and Wylie.

  Which she did, ignoring the chilly glare she felt boring into the back of her neck as she focused on her ex and his new guy.

  She genuinely felt happy for Everett. She’d moved on past her pain and anger a long time ago. It wasn’t like Everett had cheated on her, either. Hell, after they’d separated, she’d gone out on dates with guys. The only reason she was going through with the divorce was pressure from Steve, since he’d proposed to her.

  She would have been perfectly happy staying married for now and just being engaged, if it’d been up to her. Everett wasn’t making the money she was, and she hated knowing he’d felt uncomfortable and obligated by owing her money. Yes, he’d already paid back his half of the divorce, but she hadn’t wanted him to feel…

  Pressured.

  It was nice being friends with him again. That part of their relationship she’d absolutely missed.

  Finally, the bailiff called them into the judge’s chambers for their hearing. The attorney had already told them it should be brief, and that the judge might ask them a couple of questions each as a matter of formality, especially since Everett technically was representing himself.

  Lara had started to follow Everett and Wylie when Steve’s hand closed around her wrist and jerked her back.

  “Slow down,” he grumbled.

  She
yanked her hand free and leaned in. “Don’t you ever do that again.” Turning on her heel, she hurried to catch up, not giving a shit if Steve followed or not.

  If forced to choose right at that moment, she wouldn’t be moving in with Steve. Not unless his attitude improved. This was a side of him she’d never seen before, and she damn sure didn’t like it.

  No way in hell would she tolerate it, either.

  The hearing lasted about twenty minutes. When they emerged from the judge’s chambers, the attorney went through things with them, like the timeline to get the final papers. With that complete, he bid them all good-bye and she tucked her copies of the papers in her purse.

  Everett leaned in and spoke with Wylie, looking like he asked him a question, because Wylie nodded.

  Then, Everett held a hand out to Lara. She took it and he led her a few feet away, out of earshot of Wylie and Steve.

  When he took both her hands in his, it was all she could do to not cry from the sadness in his blue-green eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Lar.”

  “Ev, it’s okay.” She smiled up at him, a smile she didn’t feel but hoped he wouldn’t see through. “You will be at my wedding, FYI.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “No, I mean you will be. You’re going to be my maid of honor.”

  If I even have a wedding.

  But there wasn’t any reason to get into that right then. Not at the risk of activating what she knew would be Everett’s protective mode and send him hunting after Steve.

  He laughed. “I am?”

  “Yeah.” She hugged him. “I’m always going to love you, Ev. You’re a good man, and Wylie’s a lucky guy.”

  “I’m always going to love you, too. And if Steve breaks your heart, I’ll kick his ass and have backup with me.”

  Aaaand there’s protective mode. “I don’t doubt it.” Stepping back, she smiled. “I’m glad we can be friends again.”