Hot Fudge & a Heartthrob (Lovebird Café Book 3) Read online

  Hot Fudge & a Heartthrob

  Dylann Crush

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Dylann Crush

  Copyright ©2020 by Dylann Crush

  Cover Design by Christina Hovland

  Editor: Jolene Perry

  Proofreader: Shasta Schafer

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, or stored in any storage or retrieval system without written permission of the author. Violating these rights is forbidden and punishable by the fullest extent of the law.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, person living or dead, locales, or other status is entirely coincidental.

  All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. The author is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

  Published by Tickled Pinkest

  www.DylannCrush.com

  To romance readers everywhere…

  you’re the reason us authors get to do what we do!

  And especially to my readers…

  you’re the the absolute best in the whole wide world!

  Thanks for picking up this copy of Hot Fudge & a Heartthrob! If you’d like to go back to where the series begins, grab your FREE copy of Lemon Tarts & Stolen Hearts, the prequel novella for the Lovebird Café series!

  For a FREE copy of Lemon Tarts & Stolen Hearts, click here! (www.dylanncrush.com/signup)

  1

  Theo

  What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I repeated the mantra for the hundredth time that morning as I faced down my current mortal enemy, also known as the front door of the Bat Conservationist Alliance. Granted, the door itself wasn’t working against me, but behind the frosted glass, I was sure a torrent of hellfire and brimstone waited in the form of my self-righteous co-workers.

  In no rush to sacrifice myself, I studied the thick black letters. In my past year of working at the Alliance, I’d never spent so much time standing in front of this door. If I had, I probably would have noticed how crooked the “V” in Conservationist was. Fighting the urge to peel the offensive adhesive letter off the glass and re-attach it, I took in a deep breath and wrapped my fingers around the handle. Before I could give a push, the door opened and I stumbled inside.

  The sound of paper party horns assaulted my ears as a gruff hand clapped me on my shoulder. “Glad you’re back.” My dad, who also happened to be my current boss and the director of the Alliance, offered a somewhat apologetic smile.

  A cascading rumble of deep laughter surrounded me. My co-workers had gone all out. If roles had been reversed and one of them was returning after a particularly embarrassing on-the-job ordeal, I probably would have done the same.

  I shrugged off Dad’s grasp and lifted my head to look around. Someone had suspended paper bats from the drop ceiling over my corner cubicle. A sign sat propped against my ancient desktop monitor: Welcome back, Lunky.

  “Lunky?” I turned around, wondering who’d come up with my new moniker.

  “Yeah, we thought it was fitting.” Lewis, one of my co-workers, stepped forward. “Spelunker…Lunky. Get it, big guy?”

  Shaking my head, I pulled my chair out from my desk. “Real clever.”

  “Come on, there’s work to be done.” Dad waved his hand in the air, causing my co-workers to scatter. Then he leaned closer, lowering his voice. “They’re just having a little fun with you.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

  “If you’re serious about turning this into a career, you’re going to have to get back down there and show them you can handle it. You’re a Wilder for heaven’s sake.”

  A Wilder. No shit. I’d been living in the shadow of Papa Wilder and Big Brother Wilder all my life. I’d even moved to Canada and played pro football in an effort to escape the incessant calling of carrying on the family name. Even though I tried to outrun my surname, I would always be a Wilder. I was done trying to avoid it. Even if I did have to start from the bottom and work my way up to earn my dad’s approval.

  I slid my laptop out of my bag and set it on my desk.

  “How’s the ankle?” Dad asked.

  “Fine. Should be just like new in a few weeks.” My ankle would heal—according to the doc it was just a sprain—but my pride might take quite a bit longer to knit itself back together.

  “That’s good. We missed you around here.”

  “I bet.” The sarcasm leeched out before I could stop it.

  “It’s true. You’re one of our most valuable employees.” Dad rested his arms on the half-wall surrounding my cubicle.

  “You sure you don’t mean I was one of your most valuable?” I tried to joke. The injury to my ankle, and the huge hit to my ego, were the tip of the iceberg. My real struggle in getting my head back in the game had nothing to do with either.

  Dad clapped me on the shoulder again. “You’ll get your confidence back. This cause is in your blood.”

  In my blood. Like I’d ever be able to forget it. Dad was the one who’d started the Alliance over thirty years ago. “Thanks.”

  “Let me know if you need anything as you get settled.”

  “Will do.” I waited for him to turn and head back to his office before I faced my computer. As it whirred to life I cast a glance over the notes I’d left on my desk. I hadn’t been to the office in the past two weeks. As the Director of Communications and Outreach for the Alliance, I was used to spending a lot more time sitting at a desk than in the field where the “real” scientists worked.

  Most of my co-workers, including my brother, had earned their jobs at the Alliance by scouring caves and mines for the more than thirteen-hundred species of bats we worked to protect. Even though I had enough degrees to qualify me as one of them on paper, I didn’t have anywhere near the same amount of time in the field—a fact I’d hoped to rectify when I volunteered to join them on an investigative trip to one of the caves we monitored in eastern Tennessee.

  I knew coming back to the life I’d tried to leave behind wouldn’t be a walk in the park, at least not until I battled back my inner demons. But I’d been enjoying myself up until the point where I’d had to shimmy through a tunnel to get to the back of a cavern. Though I h
adn’t played football in what felt like forever, I still had the build of a linebacker and somehow managed to wedge myself into the tunnel, cutting half of the group off from the other.

  Thankfully I’d only suffered a sprained ankle when they’d finally tied a rope around my feet and managed to yank me back out the way I’d crawled in. After spending twelve hours stuck in a tube of cold, damp rocks, I knew I was in for at least a few weeks of ribbing. The paper bats and cardboard sign were just the beginning.

  “So, how’ve you been?” Lewis’s hair popped up over the wall that separated our desks, followed by the rest of his head. No matter how he tried to tame it, his hair always stood up on end like he’d just been spit out by a tornado. “Get caught up on your reading during your time away?”

  I leaned back against my chair. “It’s not like I was sitting around on my ass all day.”

  After they’d hauled me out of the tunnel and the local doc patched me up, I’d spent the next week driving myself around the back roads of southern Tennessee, visiting local libraries, conservation groups, and even Boy Scout troops in an effort to educate the public about the plight of the area’s endangered bats.

  Lewis grinned. “Good thing you didn’t get too scratched up. Your dad needs your pretty face to bring in those donations and keep us afloat.”

  “Screw you.” Lewis was always giving me a rough time about my desk job while he and the other guys worked in the field. One of these days I’d figure out a way to get back at him, although it would probably be a while before I was ready to wiggle through the caverns of eastern Tennessee.

  “Hey, we all pitched in and got you something.” He handed me a paper gift bag with a piece of tissue paper sticking out of it.

  I reached in and pulled out a T-shirt. “Bat lovers let it all hang out?” A drawing of an upside down bat hung off the word ‘out’.

  “Yeah. Figured you could add it to your collection.”

  “Thanks.” I spent my life in jeans and crazy ass T-shirts. Although, I had to be careful about which ones I chose to wear when I spoke at the schools on my route.

  “Where you heading next?” Lewis asked.

  “I’m not sure yet.” I’d promised to finalize my travel schedule before the end of the week. Now that summer had turned to fall, kids were back in school and it was time to make the rounds and educate them about bats, especially how important it is not to disturb them during hibernation. I enjoyed talking to the kids but was ready to take on a bigger role, assuming I could handle it. Thanks to getting myself stuck in the cavern, I’d probably set myself back another few years.

  “The team’s heading to Arkansas next week to pitch in on a field study.” Lewis gestured toward the paperwork on my desk. “I suppose you’ll be tied up with school visits or you’d want to come along.”

  I held back a laugh. “Good one.”

  “I ever tell you about my first site visit?” He pushed his thick glasses back up onto his nose.

  “Only about a million times. You trying to make me feel better about making an ass out of myself?” I groaned as I crossed my arms over my chest.

  “I’m just saying, we all have our little fuck ups. You’ll get past it. Your dad’s just making you pay your dues right now. He’ll probably have you leading your own team by next summer.”

  “We’ll see about that.” Lewis didn’t know anything about my dad. If he did, he’d know that any accomplishment I ever made would always fall short compared to the efforts of my older brother. It didn’t help that I had a natural knack for sabotaging myself in my efforts to impress him, either. “For now I’ve got to figure out how many days I need to take my dog and pony show on the road and cover all of the elementary schools in my region.”

  “Let me know if you need help planning your route.”

  Rolling my eyes, I turned my attention back to my computer. Asking for Lewis’s help was the last thing I’d do. If I wanted to move up within the organization, I needed to figure out a way to get more traction for our group. That meant more eyes on our projects, and more opportunities to inform and educate the public on our mission.

  I scrolled through the emails that had accumulated in my inbox. An alert I’d set up months ago caught my attention—one way I kept a close eye on any bit of regional news involving bats. As I clicked on the link, my pulse notched up. Seeing anything bat-related outside of a scientific journal was cause for concern, especially when it revolved around an endangered species like the Myotis sodalis, or the Indiana bat, as it was commonly known.

  Based on the research the Alliance had been doing for the past several years, the number of Indiana bats was on the decline, especially in Missouri. Due to disturbances by development and people destroying their natural habitat, the colonies couldn’t find space to live. The website popped up and music blared from my speakers. I slammed the cover of the computer down, but not before I caught the attention of everyone in the small office.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “What’cha got there?” Lewis peered over my shoulder.

  “Nothing. Just checking email.”

  “You want to grab a bite for lunch?” Lewis was a creature of habit and didn’t stray from his typical tuna on wheat from the sandwich shop on the corner.

  “Nah. I need to run an errand.” I pushed back from my desk. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

  Once I slid into the front seat of my truck, I pulled the email alert up on my phone. The screen filled with a video focusing on the narrow mouth of a cave. While I watched, a long line of bats began to stream from the opening. The camera flashed to a kid’s face and I checked the tag at the bottom of the video. Filmed outside of Swallow Springs, Missouri, and just posted yesterday. It was hard to tell because of the grainy quality, but those could be Indiana bats and there were a ton of them.

  Maybe it would be best to keep it to myself for a bit. I’d be heading to Missouri over the next couple of weeks when I made my rounds and could check it out before putting the rest of the team on high alert. Finding a new colony of Indiana bats might finally catch the eye of my dad.

  As a tagalong on my dad’s lifelong conservationist efforts, I’d been all over Missouri, Kansas and the majority of the Midwest in his quest to save endangered species. But in all of my travels, I’d never heard of Swallow Springs. I opened a new window and searched for the name of the town. Not far from Nevada, Missouri, it sat in the southwest third of the state, an area well known for its limestone caves.

  If I could discover a new colony of Indiana bats it might be worth the risk of finally facing my own bullshit. I could find someone local who knew the caves to take me in. The agency had been struggling for funding. A find like this might renew interest in their goals. It wouldn’t hurt to drive over and take a look. I’d just schedule my route around the schools in that part of Missouri. The worst that could happen is that I’d waste a little time.

  But if I found a new site for the endangered bats? It might just finally catapult me into my dad’s inner circle…a place I’d been trying to get to for years.

  2

  Scarlett

  “Doesn’t anyone else know how to work a broom around here?” I didn’t expect an answer as I swept several clients’ hair into a pile. Usually I didn’t have to clean up after everyone. That’s why I rented a station at the Cut ‘N Curl. If I wanted to take care of everything myself, I’d set up shop at my own kitchen table and keep all of the money I made giving trims, blow-outs, and highlights to the coifed citizens of Swallow Springs.

  “Sorry, Scarlett.” The new office gal—I couldn’t remember her name—snagged the broom from my hand.

  “I’ve got it.” I held the dustpan still while she swept clumps of hair toward me. It wasn’t long ago that I’d been the pregnant high schooler in need of a job. Part of me wanted to grab her by the shoulders and give her a good shake. Tell her to rethink her choices while she still had the chance. She had a long road ahead of her if she planned on raising her baby without a d
addy. I knew all about that.

  “Your next appointment’s here.” The gal—Moriah, that’s right—nudged her chin toward the doorway.

  “Oh, she’s not here for me.” No way had the woman standing in the doorway made an appointment with yours truly. The fact that she’d even stepped foot inside the Cut ‘N Curl meant she’d sunk to crisis mode. Probably needed her roots done real quick and didn’t have time to drive all the way up to Kansas City. Under normal circumstances, April Waite wouldn’t trust any of us around here with caring for her over-processed locks.

  “Actually, she is.” Moriah pointed to the appointment book. There in black and white, April’s name had been scrawled across my ten o’clock slot.

  “Since when?” I’d checked my schedule for today when I shut down last night and I was open from ten to eleven.

  “You ready for me?” April teetered toward me on ridiculously high heels. “Figured since we go way back, you could fit me in for a quick root touch up before the weekend.”

  “I didn’t think you trusted me to color your hair.” I pasted a warm smile on my face but my words were coated with frost. April and I hadn’t spoken to each other more than a handful of times since we’d graduated high school together fifteen years ago.