by Marie Harte
He kissed her, and she kissed him back. A short one because she needed a tissue to blow her nose with all the crying she’d done.
“My glasses are messy.”
He put her on the couch and grabbed a box of tissues for her. She knew she sounded like a foghorn when she blew her nose. Brad tried to hide a grin.
“You don’t look so hot yourself, Bradford.”
He sighed. “I couldn’t eat or sleep too well. I was miserable and missing you.”
“Good.”
“I love how sadistic you are, have I ever told you that?”
“No. Tell me now.”
“I just did.”
“Tell me again.”
Then he showed her how much he loved her, and they came together with a passion that blazed brighter every time.
* * *
Two weeks later on a lovely Sunday afternoon, Brad arrived with Avery to his mother’s for a family barbecue. He knocked and followed Oscar to the back, where Rochelle was talking to Gerty, Klingon raced around chasing butterflies, and his mother stood, waiting.
“Go get ’em, tiger,” Oscar muttered and went to play with the dog.
His mother looked nervous. The same as he felt, considering he hadn’t talked to her since their spat a month ago.
Gerty and Rochelle paused, watching them.
“Hi, Mom.” Brad held Avery’s hand. “This is my girlfriend, Avery. Avery, my mom, Vivienne.”
Avery smiled and took Vivienne’s hand. “So nice to meet you.”
“And you.” Vivienne smiled. “I’ve heard so many good things about you from Gerty and Oscar.”
Gerty waved like a maniac.
Brad wanted to laugh.
Rochelle joined Vivienne.
“And this is my fiancée, Rochelle.” Vivienne looked at Brad with a blush on her cheeks. “I love her, and she loves me. We’re getting married later this summer.”
Rochelle laughed and hugged Vivienne. “We are. She asked. I said yes.”
Everyone but Brad burst out with cheers and laughter, sharing hugs and congratulations.
Brad watched his mother. Avery and the others walked away to give them some space.
“Well? Are you okay with this?” she asked.
He smiled. “It’s about time.”
Her eyes filled. “I’m so sorry, Brad. For everything. I love you, honey. I wish I’d been a better mom. I never told you about what it was like growing up with my parents. I wish I’d been more like you. You have no idea how proud I am of the man you’ve become.” She started sobbing.
“Oh, Mom. Don’t cry.” Brad hugged her. “I love you for who you are. Warts and everything,” he teased, coming full circle.
Forgiveness had a magical power all its own.
* * *
An hour later, Brad sat with Klingon on the grass in the backyard, watching his family, which had grown with the arrival of his crew. Tex and Reggie flirted with his mom, while Mack remained glued to Rochelle and her homemade potato salad. Tex had brought a dog he was looking after, which did its best to blend in with the grass, sleeping under a table when not sniffing at Klingon or Tinker, his mom’s dog. Gerty and Oscar kept challenging Avery to cornhole and losing, which she found funny as hell.
The insults flew back and forth.
He’d never had a better time.
“Yep, Klingon, life is good.” The puppy lay sleeping by his side. “I’ve been learning a lot lately. Avery’s mom really likes me, though her dad is a loss. The guy still can’t see how great his daughter is, though he did come to see her yesterday. Her articles are getting more popular now that her segment has gone viral. I think it was the slip and slide festival that put her over the top,” he murmured. “Especially because she wiped out and came up in a very wet, very clingy top. Don’t tell her I said that. But funny and sexy is really attractive.”
And his woman had both. He smiled at her. She winked back before decimating Gerty on a beanbag toss.
He stroked Tinker’s head, the dog lying next to Klingon. “Rochelle finally got Mom to go to counseling. She’s dealing with her past. I’m hoping she’ll get better. Rochelle thinks she will.” He loved the fact he’d soon have an official stepmom.
“Oscar and I are working on a two-prong attack. We get Avery to move in with me so Oscar can move in with Gerty. It’s genius. I’ll probably have to put Seinfeld posters up in the apartment, but I don’t mind. The Brad dartboard has to go though.” He frowned at Tex grinning at Reggie. The idiot had told the guys at the station about it, and Nat had gotten her photographer husband to get a big blowup of Brad, which they’d taped to the heavy bag in the gym. Now everyone took a turn punching him in the face at work.
Which still made him laugh, though he didn’t want it to be so funny. Avery seemed to take great pleasure in it, insisting he deserved it for what he’d put her through. He didn’t disagree.
“And you’ll be happy to know Pets Fur Life has a new leash—see what I did there?—on life. The calendar made a bucket of money. The shelter is going strong, for now. Though poor Tex is no closer to getting Bree to go out with him, but he’s persistent. My bet is he’ll wear her down with all that twang and country music.”
Tex pushed his hat back and glanced over at Brad. He grinned and held up his middle finger when Vivienne gave him her back.
Brad returned the gesture. Klingon stirred, though Tinker lay snoring like a buzz saw. Brad pet the puppy, and the little guy climbed into his lap and went back to sleep. “Yep. Life is good. I’ve even been looking at rings. The keeping kind. But I’m going to wait until Christmas, after she’s moved in, and I have time to convince her to say yes, before I let her pick one out.”
The puppy snored, in harmony with Tinker.
Brad’s friends laughed at one another. His family was all together, having fun.
Avery glanced over at and him and waved. “I love you, Bradford,” she said loudly enough to be heard before nailing another hole in one, beating Gerty and Oscar once more. “Suck it, losers.”
The guys milled around the game, demanding to be next.
His mother and Rochelle stood hand in hand, smiling at the gathering.
I’ve found my peace, Dana.
Klingon perked up and yipped, staring at nothing. But Brad froze, swearing he felt a kiss on his cheek, his best friend, so close, and suddenly he was flying, lost in the joy of love, family, and forgiveness.
Klingon raced over to Gerty.
After a moment, Brad joined him. And ended up losing to Avery twice in a row.
“My turn again.” Tex nudged him out of the way.
“Five bucks says he loses,” Reggie bet.
“You’re on. The king of lawn games is a ringer.” Mack rubbed his hands together.
“Bring it on, Station 44.” Avery gave an evil laugh as she adjusted her glasses. “I love to make grown men cry.”
Brad laughed, committing the day to memory. Avery was his peace…and a raging inferno keeping him on my toes. He wouldn’t have it any other way.
Read on for a sneak peek at book 2 in the Turn Up the Heat series
Burning Desire
Available August 2021 from Sourcebooks Casablanca
Eight months ago
Seattle, Washington
It was one of those lulls in the surrounding noise that happen right before a most embarrassing discussion fills the silence. The firefighters in the station house had been talking and laughing, cooking in the kitchen, and coming in from the weight room to check out the kitchen’s good smells. Then suddenly, everything seemed to stop, as if the world slowed down in time to hear Mack shoot off his big mouth.
“So, let me get this straight. On your big date last night, the chick straight up tossed a glass of water in your face?”
All eyes turned to the conver
sation happening a stone’s throw away in the television area.
“Would you keep your voice down, damn it?” Tex McGovern glared at his buddy and prayed the others on B shift kept their big noses out of his business. He tossed the rest of them a scowl until they finally went back to their own boring lives.
Mack grinned then had the nerve to laugh. A lot.
Texan, firefighter, and former U.S. Marine, Tex sank deeper into the reclining chair, not seeing the game on TV as he relived his pitiful date. He reached for the comfort of his cowboy hat but tugged down the brim of a Seattle FD ballcap instead.
“Yeah, my life sucks.” His twang sounded more pronounced, and he did his best to regroup, not wanting the others to know how much he hated what had gone down with a woman he’d grown to like way too much.
“Your life never sucks. You just move on to the next honey.” Mack paused. “Why’d she throw water all over you? What did you do?”
Tex glared at his partner, a guy who should have had his back. “Why is this my fault?”
Mack raised a brow.
“I did nothin’. Not a thing. And it wasn’t my date that splashed me, moron. It was the girl I broke up with two freaking months ago that drenched me. I finally got that date with Bree—”
“Bree of the sunny-blond hair, heavenly blue eyes, and body worshipped by men everywhere? That Bree?”
Tex frowned. Mack sure seemed to have memorized her picture from one shot on Tex’s phone. “Yeah, she—”
“The woman you’ve been dying to go out with finally said yes? I thought she had better taste than that.”
Tex flipped him off but lowered his voice when he saw two guys he’d rather not talk to right now glancing over at him. “Yeah, well, after the stunt my ex pulled, I doubt I’ll ever see Bree again.” He was miserable. “Mack, I’m tellin’ ya, I broke it off with that woman two months ago. I had to block her from calling and texting me just last week. I didn’t want to, but she wouldn’t leave me alone.”
Mack shook his head. “Tough being so tall, dark, and dynamic, eh?”
“It really is.”
Mack rolled his eyes.
“Woman just wouldn’t take no for an answer. Then she shows up outta nowhere at a place it took me weeks to get reservations at and loses it. She calls me a two-timer and a whore and throws my own glass of water on me! All while Bree is watching—”
“In shock and horror.”
“—from right across our cozy little table.”
Mack shook his head. “Man, that is just… Man.”
Tex groaned. “I know. The ex takes off. Then Bree looks at me and tells me I should feel ashamed of myself. She left without letting me explain.”
Mack coughed but didn’t quite hide his laughter.
“It ain’t funny!” Tex wished the rest of his crew could hear him. He knew they’d have given him the compassion and pity he deserved. “I mean, I’ve been trying to get Bree to go out with me forever. We texted and talked, but I had to beg her to meet in person. She has a thing against firefighters, for some reason. And now she probably thinks she was right when she was so wrong.”
Mack opened his mouth to respond but closed it when two of the other guys on their eight-man shift beat him to it. Hell, the two approaching were idiots Tex rarely had patience for on a good day.
The ringleader, a guy they called Narc because he never kept anything to himself, smirked. “So, Tex, I hear you blew it with the chief’s daughter.” Next to him, Narc Junior, a guy who shadowed Narc’s every move, laughed like the giant goon he was.
Tex blinked. “What?”
“You know, Brianna Gilchrist, hot as fuck, blue eyes, blond hair, big, ah, dimples?” Narc cleared his throat and looked around. Not seeing their lieutenant, he leaned in closer. “You had my respect for getting a date. God knows we’ve all wanted to. Couldn’t close the deal, though, could you?” He held his phone to Tex, who watched a video of himself getting doused.
Tex leaned forward. “Motherfu—”
“What are you all doing over there? Slacking off?” their lieutenant boomed.
They all jumped. The LT had a mouth that didn’t know the meaning of the word whisper.
Narc turned with a smile. “Not much, LT. Just bonding with the second-best unit in our squad.”
“Suck it, Narc.” Mack glared.
That earned a scowl, followed by a mean grin. “Say, LT.” Narc and Narc Jr. approached the lieutenant and a few lingering guys who gathered to see what the fuss was about. “Check this out.” Tex heard him play the video.
Mack shook his head and in a lower voice said, “Seriously, Tex? The battalion chief’s daughter?”
Tex felt ill. “I didn’t know who she was! Hell, I never even got her last name! I swear. We’d just met in person for the first time last night.” First time and last time. Tex swore under his breath. As pathetic as it was, he wanted another shot at Bree Gilchrist. He’d had the hots for her since first seeing her picture on a dating app. She’d been sweet and funny online, their conversations never boring. But she’d been even better in person, as brief as their date had been. Just thinking about her made his heart race.
Too bad a petty ex had screwed him over. God, he should have blocked her as soon as he broke off with her.
His LT scowled at him.
Shit.
“McGovern, let’s have a talk in my office.”
Narc and Narc Jr. laughed at him. The others offered their condolences.
“It won’t be so bad,” Mack murmured. “Just tell him you’re done with her.”
Tex stood and sighed. “Not like I’d even started with her to begin with.”
He hoped this would all blow over without any major repercussions from his chain of command. And that he’d manage to get over his small infatuation.
Even after the ass-chewing he got from the lieutenant to make better decisions, he still regretted that he’d never gotten a chance to show Bree how charming he could be. But her dad—the battalion chief? He shuddered, knowing his track record with women.
Better that it ended way before it had a chance to begin.
* * *
Five months ago
The Lava Lounge, Seattle
Hanging with the guys at a bar in Belltown, Tex enjoyed a cool pineapple margarita while his buddies Mack and Reggie razzed him for drinking something fruity. But come on, it was a tiki bar. How could Tex not have something with pineapple somewhere in the title? Brad sipped from a concoction mixed with rum and coconut milk and didn’t say much.
The crew of four got plenty of second looks, some friendly and others not so friendly.
As firefighters, they had to stay in shape. But Tex and the guys liked to take it to another level. All prior military men, they knew the value of a good piece of gear on a mission. Hauling around equipment while wearing the fireproof suits and self-contained breathing apparatuses (SCBAs) that helped them breathe through smoke and ash had shown that having a fit body could mean the difference between life and death. For them as well as the public they served.
While they had bonded as brothers, both as firefighters and ex-military, they certainly had their differences. Tex and Brad had served in the Marines, Reggie in the Navy, and Mack in the Air Force. Tex did best with women, though Brad and Mack never seemed to be hurting. For two years Reggie had been in a long-term relationship with a woman. But recently things had grown rocky between them, so they’d gathered for a morale booster for the sarcastic bastard.
They were their own small family, supporting one another through everything, good and bad.
Which made it difficult to remember the good when the idiots continued to throw up to his face the fact that he’d dissed the battalion commander’s precious daughter. Damn, but he’d thought that might have died down by now.
“Imagine,” Brad said,
a grin on his stupid face as he swirled his coconut mambo or whatever the hell he’d ordered. “In an alternate universe, Tex gets her to go out with him. She ends up bringing him home to meet the parents and he’s all, oh, hey, Chief Gilchrist, how’s it hangin’?”
Mack chuckled. “So pleased to meet you and the missus. Oh, and I’m sleeping with your daughter. She really is the hottest woman in town. And did I mention I brought my own raincoat to protect my hose? No worries on that score, chief.”
Tex glared at Mack. “That was disgusting.” To the others he said, “Can we let it go already? How about instead we talk about—” Brad and all the women he’s not dating? Reggie and his ballbuster of a gal? Tex paused, hearing all that in his head, and knew they needed to change the conversation from women to something else. Reggie didn’t look so happy.
Brad must have sensed the same thing, because he slapped Mack in the back of the head. “Idiot.”
“What? Oh, come on. I’m kidding.” Mack nodded at Tex. “He’s been moping for months and needs to get over it.”
Brad changed the subject. “You guys still okay with moving to the new station?”
Tex nodded. “Station 44 will be manned by the best and brightest our city has to offer. Of course they wanted us in the new place.”
Mack agreed. “Well, that’s true. I photograph well.”
Tex saw Reggie’s look of disgust and agreed. “I still don’t know how your ugly face got on all the media stuff for Station 44.”
Mack sipped from his beer. “What can I say? The public loves me.”
“I mean, I’m much better lookin’.” Tex flexed and tilted back his cowboy hat. He liked to think his bronze skin, a shade darker than Brad and Mack’s but lighter than Reggie’s medium-brown, glowed with sex appeal. His muscles clearly overpowered his buddies’… Well, if he ignored Reggie’s huge neck, arms, and chest on account of all his obsessive weight lifting.
Behind him, a few women tittered.
Reggie finished off his beer. “You two make me want to drink.”