Wilde For You (The Wilde Sisters Book 3)

by Marianne Rice

  ***

  Luke

  Luke had worked extra shifts during the holidays. He loved his family and knew how important it was for the dads in his station to be with their kids on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning. To kiss their wives on New Year’s Eve. So he and the other single guys took the holiday shifts while the lucky bastards who had a wife and kids at home got to be with their loved ones.

  Not that he minded too much. It kept his mind off sexy blondes with eyes as green and lush as an evergreen. Memories of the times when Sage’s eyes twinkled, looking just like the town square’s Christmas tree, made him smile. And then her mood swings reminded him how opposite they were. He didn’t even know her. Didn’t know much about her family, other than she had two sisters who were both married.

  He didn’t know anything about her parents or her upbringing. And family values were important to him. Luke typically went for the girl-next-door type. The type of woman you could bring home to your mother. The type of woman who would cook delicious meals and stay home with their children. Although he’d have no problems if his wife wanted to work, as long as the family always came first as it did for him.

  And Sage Wilde did not fit that mold. She screamed independent woman from her barren condo to her sexy red heels. The woman would be too afraid of messing up her clothes to want a dog. Would never go near a toddler with their peanut butter and jelly fingers or runny noses.

  Even though she was wrong for him in so many ways, he couldn’t help thinking about her. A lot. Anytime he talked with his brothers or sisters about the party, he pictured Sage. Smelled her. Tasted her. Time didn’t erase the memories and sometimes he wished it would. He didn’t need the way her mess would complicate his life. His life was simple, just the way he liked it.

  At the end of January, the fire station was fairly quiet. They had their share of Christmas tree fires but the new LED lights and more awareness of tree safety cut back on the calls. The next month would bring an onslaught of chimney fires, though. January and February were damn cold in Maine.

  Luke finished the safety check on Engine 57 and headed up the stairs to the lounge when the front bell rang. Probably a pizza delivery. Only a few guys were on, so no family meal was made. He opened the front door but it was no pimply-faced pizza kid that greeted him.

  “Hey.”

  Her hair had grown out a little. Before it had been barely long enough for him to grip as he tilted her head back to suck on her neck. Now he’d have even more leverage. It fell soft around Sage’s face instead of being in the usual seductive style she’d worn before. Her lips were just as full, only not as ripe as the last time he saw her. Granted, he’d been lapping and sucking at them for twenty minutes before she slapped the insult on him.

  “What do you want?” He didn’t mean to sound so rude, but the memory of being discarded like worthless trash did that to a man.

  “Are you busy?”

  “I’m working.”

  Sage had the courtesy to look away before she sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  If she looked him in the eyes it would have had more effect. He couldn’t refuse her sultry gaze. Still, he wanted her to work for it. “For what?” Weeks had gone by since her embarrassing brush-off, yet the rejection still felt raw.

  The strong, independent woman he knew returned. She lifted her head and threw back her shoulders. “For insulting your ego. However, I can explain. After I do, if you choose to never see me again, that’s fine. But I think we could…” She quirked her eyebrow and smirked. “Please each other.”

  Yeah, she knew how to get his attention. “Okay. So explain.” He still hadn’t let her in the fire station. He knew he was rude, keeping her out in the cold, but he didn’t want to be overheard by his buddies and he didn’t want them ogling Sage. The territorial thing kicked in, even if she didn’t belong to him.

  “Not here. When do you get off work?” She stroked her finger down his cheek and he shivered.

  “Damn, your fingers are ice cold. Where are your gloves? You’re going to get frostbite.” Screw the hecklers, he couldn’t let the woman freeze to death. He pulled her inside by her coat sleeve, keeping her coat in his grasp, and kicked the door closed behind her.

  “I wasn’t planning on having a conversation outside.” Mischief flickered in her eyes, making his tongue itch to lick along the seductive arch of her brow.

  They stared at each other, each too stubborn to give in first. He could ask her to meet him at his place, cook her dinner, but he couldn’t face rejection again. Somewhere safe, where there’d be no expectations.

  Tamping down on the lust that threatened to show its colors, he let go of her coat and stepped away from her warmth. “The Coffee House at three. I have an hour break before I’m back for an all-nighter.”

  Sage licked her lips before lowering her gaze to his mouth. The fire inside his belly burned with desire. “Fine. I’ll see you at three.” She let herself out and he smiled at his victory. She didn’t even pull out her phone to check her schedule. Either she was wide open or she was canceling an appointment to fit him in.

  Luke had no idea why that made him so happy.

  ***

  Sage

  “The rat bastard,” Sage mumbled as she scrolled through her calendar. She had to reschedule two meetings so she could have coffee with Luke. So not what she had planned. Hot sex on her kitchen table. Or the floor. Or hell, even the bed. Not coffee in some stupid coffee house. She didn’t want to be friends with Luke Riley. She wanted to screw his brains out.

  Damn pregnancy hormones making her horny and weak. While her sex life had been quite active, she was never driven by it. Coffee shops were for business meetings or girlfriend chat. Not that she had girlfriends. She had her sisters and they usually met over margaritas. Or at least, they used to until Rayne started spitting out babies and now it was Sage’s turn. Thyme had volunteered to forgo the margaritas until after the twins were born as well. Fair is fair.

  Now the sisters had hot tea or iced tea, depending on their mood. So…civilized. So…not Sage. Not wanting Luke to have the upper hand, she arrived ten minutes early, ordered her green tea, and found a semi-secluded table in the back. Sitting with her back to the wall so she could see when Luke entered, Sage took out her iPad and worked on the Davis wedding.

  Even with her mind focused on the spreadsheet in front of her, she sensed when he entered. Two college girls stared all gah-gah at him as he scanned the shop, paying no attention to them. He zeroed in on Sage, locking his hazel eyes on her. He broke the stare first by looking down at her tea. He nodded toward the barista but she shook her head. Luke placed his order and waited patiently for his coffee while Sage fidgeted in her seat.

  The man filled out a pair of jeans well. Too well. His thighs were massive, his waist tapered, and his shoulders. Oh. My. God. Hercules had nothing in comparison to this Greek god. She was surprised he could even find a coat to fit over his chest.

  He didn’t seem in a hurry to see her or to hear her explanation. Maybe he didn’t care. He’d probably slept with five other women since she’d hurt his pride. Not that she cared. Luke could sleep with whomever he wanted.

  That unfamiliar tingle in her belly happened again, so she decided not to think about Luke with other woman. Surely he didn’t kiss other women the way he kissed her. She felt her cheeks redden as he walked toward her. His jeans were worn, his boots solid and heavy, and his leather jacket open. Sex. On. A. Stick.

  When he shucked his coat and sat down across from her, she sucked in her breath. A black long-sleeved t-shirt with his fire station emblem over his heart stretched across his broad shoulders and molded to his tight abs. She had intimate knowledge of the ridges. It wasn’t a six-pack, more like an eight. Hiding behind her tea, she brought her cup to her lips and sipped.

  Luke’s eyes never left hers as he brought his steaming cup to his mouth and sipped as well.

  “Are we seriously going to drink coffee all day, or are you going to tell
me why you went from horny as hell to cold as ice in a matter of seconds?”

  Well, he didn’t need to be so crude. Not that she had a problem with it. Normally Sage was the crude one. Finally, a man who could keep her on her toes. She kinda liked it.

  “I was still horny as hell after you left.”

  “Yeah? Well, I wasn’t.”

  Ouch. She crushed his man pride. Time for her to fess up.

  “I’m sorry, Luke. Really. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to have sex with you—”

  “Oh, I know you wanted to have sex with me,” he said too loudly. “You just didn’t want to get knocked up with my kid.”

  She cringed. “No, that’s not it. Well, yes it was, but—” He stood to leave. “Wait. That came out wrong. Can you hear me out?”

  Luke gave her a cold, emotionless stare and shrugged as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “Go ahead.”

  Sage looked around the coffee shop and realized this wasn’t where she wanted to have this private conversation. “Can we go for a walk or something?”

  “Whatever.” He took her peacoat off the back of her chair and held it out for her. Pissed, but still a gentleman. He handed her the scarf that had fallen to the floor and she wrapped it around her neck. Luke then pulled on his coat and motioned for her to go ahead of him.

  Once outside, she looked left, then right, and decided to walk left, away from the center of town. Not that they were likely to run across many people on the streets when it was ten degrees out.

  “You should wear a hat,” he grumbled.

  “I didn’t bring one.” She hated wearing hats. It messed up her hair and made her look unprofessional. Besides, she didn’t spend much time outside in the winter. Just long enough to get from one appointment to the next.

  Luke pulled a knit hat out of his coat pocket and pulled it over her head.

  “What are you—?”

  “You lose most of your body heat out of your head. You should wear a hat.”

  “Why aren’t you wearing one?” She put her hands on her head and adjusted the hat. It smelled like him. Soap and man.

  “Because it’s on you.”

  “Well, I have more hair than you, so you should probably wear it.”

  “I have a thick head.”

  Another unladylike snort escaped her. He brought out the primitive in her. Next thing she knew she’d be farting and belching.

  They walked a block in silence before they came to a bench. Luke pulled her down to sit. “Okay. No one can hear us. Talk.”

  Sage brought her hands to her face and blew on them, wishing she remembered her black leather gloves. Lately she started forgetting stupid things like that. Her gloves. Her scarf. On Monday she forgot to put on earrings. But if she wanted to have sex with Luke—and holy pregnancy hormones, did she ever—she needed to let him know that she was pregnant.

  “I have some family things going on right now.”

  “What does that have to do with us having sex?”

  So the man wasn’t going to let her off easy. Damn, he sounded just like her. “My sister Thyme can’t have kids. She and her husband want them. Desperately.”

  He took out his phone and checked the time. A move she would have done, being in his situation. She almost laughed. “Thyme’s uterus is broken but mine isn’t. I’m having her baby.”

  Luke opened his mouth. Shut it. Cocked his head. “Come again?”

  “I’m their surrogate. It’s Thyme and Grayson’s baby, I’m just carrying the kids. Anyway, not to get too medicalish on you, just a few days before we were…well, right before we were going to have sex I realized that I could ruin it for them if I got pregnant before their sperm and egg combo had a chance to latch on. I couldn’t chance that. I didn’t know if the procedure had worked. Only time would tell. And then you came along and looked all sexy and my hormones were out of whack and I wanted to have sex with you, and almost did, but I needed to be sure that Thyme and Grayson’s baby was growing in me, not mine. Not yours. So it wasn’t about you, but about them.”

  Gah, she wasn’t a rambler. Being pregnant with Thyme’s babies made Sage start to sound like her. Next thing she knew she’d be falling in love and wanting the two point five kids herself. Barf.

  Luke’s stare warmed her from her knit-covered head to her three-inch-heeled Prada boots. “And what do you get out of this deal?” At some point during her rambling fest he had picked up her chilled hands and warmed them between his large, calloused palms.

  She shrugged. “A sister who’s not whiny and moping about not having babies?”

  Luke dropped her hands, picked up the ends of her scarf, and pulled her towards him. “The Ice Princess has a heart,” he said right before he laid his warm lips on hers. The kiss wasn’t hard and rough like she normally liked. He tasted like coffee and mint. And Luke. His hands left her scarf to pull her on his lap. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tight while he kissed her. Not passionately, but sweetly.

  And she liked it. Really, really liked it. Sage leaned into him and ground her butt against his thighs, enjoying the warmth and hardness beneath her. Holding on to his shoulders for support, she kissed him back with a surge of passion that was unfamiliar to her.

  Which wasn’t good. Sage didn’t do sweet. Things needed to change. Fast. She pulled back and smiled. “I’m pregnant, so we can have sex now.”

  It was the most bizarre come-on line she’d ever said and he laughed. A loud, obnoxious, barking laugh. He almost had tears in his eyes.

  “You still want to have sex, right?”

  “I’ve never had sex with a pregnant woman.”

  “Me either.” He smirked at her. “I mean, I’ve never had sex while being pregnant. I hear it’s pretty fantastic.”

  “Is it…is it safe to…?”

  Sage cupped her hands on either side of his face. “I’ve done my research. It’s safe and healthy.”

  “I won’t…poke the baby?”

  Sage laughed again. “A little arrogant, are we?” She wiggled her butt on his lap, feeling just how much he wanted her.

  She lowered her face to his and sucked his bottom lip in her mouth. Someone moaned. And someone called out his name.

  “Riley. Get your ass back here. We got a 911 chimney fire on Oak Street.”

  Luke stood, nearly dropping Sage to the pavement, and looked down at her with regret. “I have to go. We’ll pick up where we left off.” He leaned down and kissed her quickly before taking off at a run for the fire station and she cursed her damn luck.

  ***

  Sage kept herself busy with appointments, phone calls, and spreadsheets. She didn’t think about Luke. Didn’t watch the clock. Didn’t jump every time her phone rang. Or at least that’s what she told herself. Never one to wait for a man, or care one way or another if he called, she found the edginess she felt in her chest was unchartered territory.

  Damn pregnancy hormones. Had she met Luke Riley three months ago he wouldn’t have had this effect on her. Sage cursed. She had met him three months ago; still, it was this whole situation that made her hornier than usual. And that’s all these feelings were. Estrogen. Hormones. Sex. Blue-collar men with bulging muscles weren’t normally on her radar but since this one was, there was nothing wrong with her taking advantage of what he had to offer.

  Her phone rang, making her jump again. Her core was getting a new kind of workout. Rolling her eyes when she read the caller ID, Sage clicked speakerphone and continued working on her spreadsheet.

  “What’s up?”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Fine.”

  “Oh.” Thyme sounded disappointed. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.” Click, click, click, she typed away on her keyboard.

  “Am I calling at a bad time?”

  “I’m working.”

  “You’re always working.”

  “Some people never work.”

  “Are you mad at me?”

  Sage sighed, saved
her work, and picked up her phone, turning the speaker off. “Thyme, you have to stop checking on me. It’s annoying.”

  An unusual silence filled the phone line. And then a sniff. Damn. Sage never cared about making her sister mad, but crying? The girl rarely cried. Maybe the pregnancy hormones were contagious. “Seriously, I’m fine.”

  “Are you still having morning sickness?”

  “Nope. But evening sickness is sure a downer. Can’t keep my dinner down.”

  “Have you told Dr.—”

  “I don’t have to call Dr. Whitmore for everything. Puking is normal. There’s nothing else to tell. I look the same. Feel the same.” Other than the after dinner special and the raging hormones. “Until I get fat, there’s nothing to see.”

  “Okay.” She sounded disappointed. Sage wasn’t one to care about her sister’s feelings, but this situation was different. “Did you want to come over and rub my belly or something?”

  “Can I?” She truly sounded excited.

  “Yeah. Sure.” Chances were Luke was working all night so there’d be no booty call anyway. They hadn’t seen each other since their make-out session on the street yesterday. He’d sent her a text late last night to let her know he was working a twenty-four-hour shift and he’d call her when he got off.

  Realizing her mind wasn’t on work, Sage changed into yoga pants and a sports bra and did an hour of Pilates in her living room. She opened a bottle of water and got half of it down before her doorbell rang. “It’s open,” she called from the kitchen.

  “I brought food. Do you have tea?” Thyme unpacked a tub of hummus, tabouli, high fiber whole grain crackers, and a bunch of grapes.

  Gah. They were turning into old maids. She’d much rather have a pitcher of margaritas and nachos. “Got any burgers in there?”

  “Since you’ve been getting sick at night I thought a lighter dinner might help.”

  “You’re turning into Rayne.” Thyme was never the caretaker. Rayne fed, babied, nursed, and worried enough for the three of them. Sage bossed. Thyme did her own thing. They each had their sister roles and now her little, bratty sister was turning the tables on things.