Brandon Russo can't stand the sight of blood and the current heat wave makes doing almost anything outdoors unpleasant. So when an SUV sideswipes a bicycle right at the gate of the storage facility in Burlington, Vermont, where Brandon works for his aunt, he considers just locking himself in the office and calling 911. But he's rewarded for letting his good nature overcome his squeamishness when the man he rescues from the ditch turns out to be absolutely gorgeous.<br><br>Scott Seay is a photographer on the trail of a legend. A strong lead has brought him to Vermont for the auction of a storage unit whose owner had been obsessed with Champy, the creature rumored to live in the depths of Lake Champlain. When Scott winds up in a ditch outside that very same storage facility, being rescued by a hot, chivalrous man who literally sweeps Scott into his arms ... well, Scott's always believed in fate.

Heat Wave: Burlington

“He took hundreds of photographs, did a complete survey of the lake—which is quite a lot, the shoreline is almost six hundred miles, all the way ‘round. He was even one of the sponsors for that sound survey, the one that discovered some echo-location noises? Did you hear about that? Anyway, he supposedly had a whole bunch of photography and equipment in a storage unit here in Vermont. I…sort of went through his correspondence. It was already open and on the desk, and everything in the house was on display you know, so it’s not like it was still sealed.”


“Wait, what?” Brandon asked. “Clarence…Hutchins?” He spun to the desk and dug through the files that were currently under arrears. C. Hutchins.


“Yes. Exactly. His storage unit. Is going on auction tomorrow,” Scott said. “Which is how I ended up on your doorstep. So to speak.”


Chapter 6