Attraction: (A Temptation Series Stand-alone) (The Temptation Series Book 4)

by Golland, KM

  ‘Yes!’ I answered with urgency. ‘Yes, I would. I can’t just sit here and wait.’

  ‘Okay, we’ll pick you up on the way. Give us twenty minutes.’

  I disconnected the call and turned to Lib. ‘Derek and his crew are unaccounted for,’ I explained with a rush of breath as I made my way out of the room while continuing to talk.

  ‘Oh no!’ Libby gasped as she followed.

  ‘Layla and Sean are heading to a base camp set up in Wallan. I’m going with them.’

  ‘What can I do?’

  ‘Nothing. I don’t know. Nothing. Just hope for the best. Or pray. Or, I don’t know,’ I said, bursting into tears.

  She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me tight. ‘He’ll be fine. Everything is going to be okay.’

  I hugged her back. ‘I hope so. I don’t want to think of the alternative.’

  ***

  Roughly twenty minutes later, Layla and Sean arrived. Layla wasted no time in wrapping her arms around me and quietly stating that she believed Derek was fine. That he was smart and that he would return unharmed. I hugged her back in appreciation, finding her offering of reassurance comfortable. I liked Layla, there was just something about her I could relate to. I couldn’t put my finger on it at that point in time, but I felt we shared somewhat of a mutual connection.

  Sean was a suited-up, older-looking version of Derek, and the stresses of his job were clearly visible on his facial features. He had dark, neatly cut hair, and crow’s feet feathered around the edges of his eyes. He certainly looked more worn down than his twin brother, and in assessing his aged appearance, I found myself wondering whether or not to respect and admire Derek for standing his ground and following his heart to become a firefighter. The alternative was to curse him for his decision, because if he hadn’t followed his dream, he wouldn’t be MIA and I wouldn’t be scared fucking shitless as a result.

  When we arrived at the base camp, the surrounding smoke hung heavy in the air, the thick suffocating by-product of fire reminding me of a lurking evil. It silently entered the space around you and mystified your senses, infiltrating your body uninvited and unwanted. Smoke was the perfect trespasser.

  Not long after arriving, we were escorted to a tent, where Derek’s fellow crew members’ families and next of kin were waiting. The atmosphere was sombre yet bustling with activity and noise. It was both eerie and unnerving.

  While enduring the maddening wait for information, it didn’t take me long to figure out that Sean was a man of few words. However, when he did speak, he meant business. I’d almost go so far as to say he was arrogant and a little rude.

  Since a brief introduction when I climbed into his Mercedes, he’d not said so much as five words to me. Well, actually, he’d said eight: ‘Hi. Come on, we don’t have much time’. He was tense, impatient and appeared to not like people, getting short-tempered with everyone around him.

  ‘You’ll have to excuse Sean,’ Layla said quietly while leaning in my direction. ‘He is extremely concerned about Derek.’

  ‘Yeah, well we all are, but you don’t see either of us biting everyone’s heads off now, do you?’ I answered just as quietly, regretting the words as soon as I had spoken them. ‘Shit! I’m sorry. I understand he’s worried about his brother. Of course he is.’

  ‘Carly, I’m not sure what Derek has told you, but he and Sean have not spoken to one another for years. Their last exchange, shortly after Richard’s stroke, was highly venomous. Sean said some horrible things to his brother that he has regretted ever since. Unfortunately, he is too proud a person to admit it ... and, I dare say, is now worried his time to do so has passed.’

  Looking to where Sean stood staring blankly at the area map pinned to a noticeboard, I could see the worry and heartbreak behind his tough facade. It saddened me to think that some families had rifts so deep, they were perceived as irreparable. I guess it showed that obstinacy thwarted common sense. But then what would I know? I was an only child. Then again, maybe that’s why I had the overwhelming desire to try and help resolve the conflict between the two siblings ... because I didn’t have any.

  ‘Well, I don’t want to think that way. I don’t want to think it is too late. Derek is fine. He is just waiting to be rescued. And you know what?’ I declared, standing up and pulling out my phone. ‘I don’t want him to have to wait any longer. He has waited long enough.’ I pressed Alexis’ number and exited the tent, now on a mission of my own.

  ‘I’m not sure I’m talking to you,’ Lexi said, after answering her phone.

  ‘Well, you don’t have a choice —’

  ‘I do have a choice,’ she interrupted. ‘You stormed out of Alexander’s birthday party and you never told me why. I —’

  ‘Lex, can we do this another time, please. I need your help. Actually, I need Bryce’s help. Actually no, Derek needs Bryce’s help. He’s MIA, Lex, and I’m terrified —’

  ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa,’ she exclaimed, her voice growing louder with each word. ‘What do you mean he’s MIA?’

  ‘He was working at the Kilmore front last night. The command centre lost contact with him and his crew shortly after a wind change. Reports say the property he was at, together with their tanker, was destroyed. Lex, they can’t get any trucks in due to ground access being unsafe —’

  ‘Oh my god! Carly, where are you?’

  ‘I’m waiting at base camp in Wallan, but it’s taking too long and —’

  ‘Hang on a minute, the Crow!’ Lexi offered, reading my mind. ‘You want Bryce to fly the chopper to the property with a search and rescue team, don’t you?’

  ‘That’s what I was hoping. Can he do it? Can he somehow get permission to arrange this?’

  ‘Permission ... Bryce? Are you serious? Derek is his best friend. He’s not going to give a shit about permission.’

  Sighing with a small sense of relief, I whispered, ‘Thank you.’

  ***

  Just under an hour later, Bryce was landing the Crow on a nearby football oval. I, along with Sean, Layla and one of the chief ground officers, were there to greet him as he hurried from the helicopter, together with Lexi and Lucy.

  While Lexi and I embraced, Bryce, Sean and the ground officer shook hands and then headed off to a nearby tent to prepare the rescue effort.

  ‘Carly,’ Lexi said as she pulled away. ‘How are you, are you okay?’

  ‘No,’ I answered, wrapping my arms around myself. ‘I just want him found.’

  ‘Hey ... they’ll find him. Bryce won’t give up.’

  I gave her a nod of acceptance, then turned to Layla. ‘Sorry, Layla ... this is Alexis, my best friend. Lexi, this is Layla, Derek’s sister-in-law. And this is Lucy,’ I added in a clipped tone. Why she had to come along was beyond me.

  After the quick introductions, we made our way toward the tent the others had disappeared into, which was a relief as I didn’t like being outside. The smoke was invisibly choking me and the noise of the water bombers pierced my body like a deadly sting.

  ‘Carly,’ Lucy said, snagging my arm before entering. ‘Can I have a quick word?’

  I smiled politely at Layla and Alexis, Alexis furrowing her brow and giving me an unsure look. I alleviated her concern by nodding for her to go ahead.

  After they entered the tent and we were alone, I turned to Lucy. ‘What? What are you even doing here?’

  ‘Back off,’ she answered defensively. ‘I’m here because I’m worried just as much as you are —’

  ‘I doubt that,’ I snapped.

  ‘Carly, please, I just want to bury this rancour. I’m not a threat. And I’m sorry I asked Derek to keep something from you.’

  ‘Lucy, now is not the time for this.’

  ‘I know, I just don’t want you anxious about me being here on top of everything else —’

  ‘So why did you come?’ I bit out, glaring at her.

  She took a step back. ‘I told you. I’m worried. I care about him too.’

  �
�I think it’s more than that,’ I said quietly.

  ‘You’re wrong,’ she said, lowering her voice. ‘I’ve told you this before. Derek was just a sperm donor and a friend. That’s all.’

  ‘A sperm donor who fucked you until you were pregnant.’

  Lucy gasped and covered her mouth, her eyes opening wide. ‘He told you?’

  ‘Yes, he told me.’

  Fed up and turning away from her, I went to enter the tent for a second time when Lucy grabbed my arm and pulled me away. ‘Carly, please,’ she sobbed. ‘You need to understand that what Derek and I share is nothing more than a deep friendship. I love him, yes, but not like you do. Please understand that.’

  I could see the sincerity in her eyes as she stood there and begged me to understand. But my emotions were all over the place, and I didn’t want to get into it with her at that point.

  ‘Carly, he means so much to me, but for reasons that aren’t romantic. Yes, we had sex in order for me to get pregnant. But it was emotionless sex. To be honest, it was horrible,’ she said with a blush.

  I raised my eyebrow questioningly at her. ‘I find that hard to believe. I’ve had sex with Derek — many times — and it was far from horrible.’

  ‘Trust me,’ she smiled timidly. ‘It was awkward as hell and we both hated it.’

  Surrendering with a sigh, I scanned the surrounding racecourse turned base camp. ‘Yeah, well I guess that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that Derek and his crew are found alive and safe.’

  ‘You’re right. He’s going to be fine, Carly. You need to be positive. Bryce will find him.’

  Dropping my head back and staring at the haze-ridden sky, I blinked back my tears. ‘I hope so.’

  Lucy rubbed her hands up and down my arms as if trying to warm me up, which was weird, the temperature was fucking nearly forty degrees Celsius. ‘Come on. Let’s find out what the plan of action is.’

  We soon found out that the plan was for Bryce to land the chopper as close to the property as he could with a search and rescue team of three. Sean had demanded he go along, but there was no room for civilian passengers, the Crow only having the capacity to seat four.

  As Bryce elevated his helicopter and headed off into the distance, I said a silent prayer, hoping that when it landed back on this very spot, Derek would climb out of the cockpit and bless me with his incredible smile. I longed for his smile.

  ***

  ‘Have they radioed in yet?’ I asked one of the ground officers for the umpteenth time.

  It had been over an hour since the Crow had departed, and I was highly anxious. I just wanted the torturous wait to be over.

  ‘Not yet, they —’

  ‘Base camp, do you copy?’ the radio sounded.

  The middle-aged chubby man picked up the receiver. ‘Yes, copy that,’ he answered, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

  Layla and Sean stepped closer, as did the other family members in the room who were waiting just as anxiously as we were.

  ‘Yes. Right. Okay. Copy that,’ he finished and hung up the receiver.

  ‘Well?’ Sean asked, running his hands through his hair and gripping it tightly. ‘Have they found my brother? Is he all right?’

  ‘Yes, sir. Officer King and the rest of the crew are fine, together with three civilians and a cat.’

  Oh, for the love of middle-aged men with beer guts and radio receivers.

  Lexi wrapped her arms around me and rested her head on my shoulder. ‘See? I told you Bryce would help find them. It’s what he does.’

  ‘Well, thank fuck for what he does,’ I said with relief, resting my head against hers and smiling for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

  ***

  Bryce touched the Crow to the ground not even fifty metres from where I was impatiently standing, my body tingling with nervous apprehension. He’d had to make additional trips to bring back the civilian family and crew members first. Derek, being the senior officer, took the last pass back to base camp.

  As the rotor blades slowed, the cockpit door opened and bright yellow legs exited. I held my breath as Derek emerged in his protective suit, helmet in hand. He was covered in soot and looked extremely exhausted and dehydrated.

  I began walking toward him, which turned into a slow jog, which then turned into a brisk run. Before I knew it, I’d slammed into him like an emotional tidal wave.

  ‘Oh my god,’ I cried, kissing his charcoal-covered face. ‘For fuck’s sake, don’t ever do that again. Don’t ever scare me like that again.’

  ‘Baby, it’s all right,’ he reassured me between my frantic kisses. ‘Sh ... I’m fine.’

  I pulled away from him. ‘No. You’re not. Look at you. What happened?’

  ‘The wind changed suddenly. We had no choice but to take cover in the property owner’s bunker. We were very lucky they had one.’

  ‘So why didn’t you radio for help?’

  ‘It’s a long story,’ he explained, his tone utterly exhausted. ‘Come on, I need to debrief, hydrate and get the fuck home to shower.’

  I kissed his cheek and wrapped my arm around his back. ‘I can help you with one of those.’

  ‘Excellent! I hate debriefing,’ he admitted jokingly, making me laugh.

  We began to walk toward the tent when Derek stopped in his tracks. ‘Is that my brother, Sean?’

  I stopped with him and took in his angry expression. ‘Yeah, he’s been worried sick.’

  ‘I fucking doubt that,’ he snapped and began walking again, his pace now quickened. I could barely keep up.

  ‘He has. He’s been —’

  The sight of Derek’s right hook, slamming into his brother’s nose, stopped any further words exiting my mouth. Bloodspilled out almost instantly, peppering Sean’s shirt.

  Before I knew it, Bryce was holding Derek back. ‘Hey, mate, now’s not the time or place.’

  ‘Why the fuck are you even here?’ Derek barked out, furious but also looking sad and confused.

  ‘I’m your brother. I was fucking worried,’ Sean mumbled as he held his nose. ‘Why else?’

  ‘Let me go, Bryce. I’m all right. Let me go,’ Derek demanded, his demeanour a little more subdued.

  I stood frozen, my mouth covered with both my hands as Bryce released Derek’s shoulders. Alexis and Lucy also looked shocked. Layla, not so much.

  ‘You can leave now,’ Derek spat out at Sean before he walked past him and into the tent.

  Layla pulled a tissue out of her pocket and offered it to her husband. He took it from her, but refused to let her look at the damage. ‘It’s fine. Just leave it,’ he instructed, clearly frustrated and annoyed.

  ‘Sean, it’s broken. You’re going to have to go to the hospital,’ she advised with a sad expression.

  ‘Fuck,’ he growled. Sean looked at the tent into which Derek had disappeared, a look of indecision on his battered and bloody face.

  ‘Leave him. That was a long time in coming. You know that. And anyway, it was the most he’s spoken to you in years. It’s a start,’ Layla added softly, as she placed her hand on her husband’s arm reassuringly.

  Sean shook his head and let out a surrendered breath. ‘At least he’s alive and safe.’ Then, turning for their car, he added. ‘Come on then. I guess I deserved that, at the very least.’

  Layla mouthed the word ‘Sorry’, but I shook my head dismissively at her and mouthed ‘Thank you’ in return before she nodded and followed her husband’s retreating form.

  ‘What the hell was that about?’ Alexis asked.

  I shrugged my shoulders. ‘I don’t know the details.’

  ‘I do,’ both Bryce and Lucy said simultaneously.

  Rolling my eyes, I placed my hand on my head. ‘Why does that not surprise me?’

  ‘Do you want to tell them or should I?’ Lucy asked her brother.

  ‘Be my guest,’ he nodded to Lucy before wrapping his arms around Lex.

  ‘Okay. Sean accused Derek of sleep
ing with Layla not long after their father had a stroke. His accusation was accompanied by the breaking of Derek’s jaw,’ Lucy confessed.

  ‘What?’ I shrieked.

  ‘Apparently, Sean found out a little later on that his accusations were false, and therefore tried to rectify his mistake. But Derek wouldn’t have a bar of it.’

  ‘Why?’ I asked, sadly.

  ‘Because my brother is a worthless piece of shit and one I do not want in my life,’ Derek interrupted.

  He walked up to Bryce and gave him a hug. ‘Mate, once again I can’t thank you enough.’

  ‘Don’t mention it,’ Bryce said with a slap on Derek’s back. ‘I’m just glad you are all right.’

  Derek then turned to me and took hold of my hand. ‘Baby, I want to go home. I want that shower and I want you in it.’

  Wanting nothing more than to go home with the man I loved, I blew kisses of goodbye to everyone else and let him drag me away.

  ***

  After Derek was given the necessary all-clear by the paramedics at base camp, we were driven to his house by another officer. For the entire hour it took to arrive in Richmond, I clung to him tightly, not wanting to let him go. I was an emotional mess, constantly fighting back tears every time I dwelled on what it had felt like when I thought I had lost him. The notion was making me ill — literally sick to my stomach.

  By the time we pulled up to his house, he had drifted off to sleep.

  ‘Baby,’ I said softly into his ear. ‘Wake up. We are home.’

  ‘Sh ... I’m dreaming,’ he groaned.

  ‘No, you are not. We are really here.’

  He opened one eye and squinted. ‘Yes, I am. You just called me baby and said we were home. I have to be dreaming.’

  I rolled my eyes. ‘Don’t push your luck,’ I warned playfully while exiting the car.

  He chuckled, said goodbye to the driver and then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder en route to the front door.

  ‘Derek,’ I squealed, ‘put me down!’ As I hung upside down, I took a moment to check out his arse. ‘Actually, your arse from this angle is great. You have a great arse. It’s nice and round and firm,’ I explained as I happily squeezed it. ‘It dips in all the right places.’