by J. H. Croix
I tried to tell myself maybe something had finally switched back on in my body and that was why I was so drawn to Remy. If that were the case though, I should’ve felt a twinge of something staring at the other hot as hell guys working out.
Nothing, I felt nothing. Cutting my gaze to the side, I watched as Remy called out a teasing reply to something someone said. Hell if I knew what. It was safe to say I wasn’t too focused.
The chiseled lines of his face and his full lips with his teasing grin were delicious and sent need spinning through my veins.
In another moment, we were outside, the cool air a relief against my heated skin. I was flushed inside and out and needed a cold shower to cool me down. The crisp spring air would have to do for now.
Even though I’d forgotten about my tire once I saw Remy, I’d had enough sense to park beside his truck when I arrived. Remy stopped at the back of his truck, lifting the cover and pulling the tire out with one arm. I thoroughly enjoyed the sight of his arm flexing. I never really noticed arms much before, but Remy’s were sinewy and corded with a dusting of dark blonde hair against his bronzed skin.
My mind spun to how it felt to be held by those arms last night. Heat streaked through me again, and I had to order my body to behave.
“Want me to swap the tires out for you?” he asked.
My brain felt sluggish, hazed by his mere presence.
After too long of a pause, I forced myself to speak. “You don’t have to, I’m sure I…” My words trailed off as a grin flashed across his face. “What?”
“Well, you didn’t know how to change a tire last night, so I’m not guessing you’re an expert yet. Let me take care of it. I won’t feel right otherwise.”
Well, how’s a girl supposed to resist that?
He switched my tires in a matter of minutes. He brushed his knees off as he stood, hooking my spare tire in a hand and going to the back of my SUV. He had my tire put away before I could make a peep.
“Have dinner with me.”
His voice slid over me like honey. God, I could listen to him talk all day. About anything. I was nodding before I even realized it. Sweet hell.
His lips kicked up at one corner, and my nipples tightened. When I looked up at him with a flush heating my cheeks again, all I could think of was the way his lips felt against mine.
“Yes?” His tone held the barest hint of a question.
You can’t say yes. That new voice, a rather bold one, had a quick retort. Hell yes, I can.
“Yes,” I said, the word coming out breathy and making me think I must sound ridiculous.
I cleared my throat as we stood there in the parking lot. Afternoon sunlight angled across the trees just beyond the parking lot. I took a deep breath, catching a hint of spruce and the earthy scents of the ground beginning to melt.
And Remy. Dear God, the scent of him was like a drug—subtle, but rich and musky, conveying the same potency he carried within him with such ease.
“Tomorrow then.”
Something about how confident he was finally kicked my typically snappy self into gear. “Do you normally just tell women when things are going to happen?”
Remy’s grin widened as he lifted his shoulder in an easy shrug. “No. You tell me when. I figured tomorrow was logical because it’s Friday.”
I wanted to argue the point, but somehow, I sensed that would be giving him what he expected. “Tomorrow is perfect,” I said, lifting my chin. “Where should I meet you?”
“I’ll pick you up, sweetheart.”
I cocked my head to the side, finally feeling on my footing again. “Really? I can drive, you know.”
“I’m quite aware that you can drive, Rachel. I followed you home last night.” His slow, sexy drawl never failed to send heat skittering under the surface of my skin. “Please let me pick you up,” he cajoled.
Once again, I couldn’t resist and simply nodded. I expected that to be the end of it, but he surprised me, dipping his head and brushing his lips across mine. That brief contact sizzled across my lips, sending a spin of electricity through my system. I instantly wanted to feel his tongue tangling with mine.
There was something so delicious, so decadent, about kissing Remy. As desperately as my body wanted all of him tangled up with me, I also didn’t want to miss a single second of a kiss with him. Remy was a man who savored, who called to the need inside of me.
He pulled back far too soon, after no more than a second. With a wink, he turned away. “Tomorrow. Six o’clock. You decide where.” Then, he was holding my door open for me. Because he was that kind of man.
“You’re bossy,” I said, just before he closed the door.
All I got from that was a little chuckle, which only amped up the need gathering in my core.
Chapter Eight
Remy
Six o’clock. That was when I told Rachel I’d be there. I didn’t like to be late, but I was. We had an afternoon call, nothing major, a car accident on the outskirts of the highway. As a hotshot firefighter during fire season, which was mostly spring into autumn, most of my work took place out of town. But now, when everything was damp from the winter melt, the three crews based out of Willow Brook rotated handling local calls.
Aside from the fact I had needed a change of scenery down to my bones, the schedule was one of the things that had drawn me to this position. I liked variety. Many hotshot crews were only on duty for part of every year. Seeing as my initial training had been straight-up firefighter work, I could comfortably manage both types of work, not to mention that I did not enjoy time on my hands.
I had texted Rachel to let her know I was running a little behind and why. I’d hesitated to send the text, wondering if she would use this as an excuse to put me off. But my mama had raised me with manners. Since I knew I was going to be late, I needed to let Rachel know.
Blessedly, she had simply replied with, No worries, see you when you get here.
Freshly showered, in jeans and a navy blue T-shirt, I turned down her road, anticipation already humming in my body. Ever since I kissed her the other night, she had crowded my thoughts in every spare moment.
Kissing her was like diving into heaven. Hot damn, she was lush and soft, and so responsive, I’d have happily taken her right there on the side of the road in the darkness.
It would’ve been quick, dirty, and pure heaven.
But there was more. Rachel poked and prodded at places I’d thought long off-limits. In fact, I’d shut them off on purpose. I didn’t want to care. I didn’t want anyone to be that important. Just my sister, Shay. She held a slice of my heart and always would.
Not that my feelings for Rachel were sisterly in any way. Hell no. It was just that Rachel tugged at my heart. When I dropped her off at her house the other night, there’d been a moment when I saw something flash in her eyes. Her vulnerability flickered, and all I wanted to do was shelter her close to me and keep her safe.
I was probably damn crazy. I was hypersensitive to worrying about women. For starters, my parents had been a bit old-fashioned.
My father had been a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. He raised me to honor women, to treat them with respect, and always take care of them. My mama had been sassy, strong, and opinionated, and he loved her to pieces.
So, there was that. Then, there was what happened to my sister. Shay had gotten tangled up with the wrong man, a man who almost killed her. If he wasn’t behind bars for a damn long time, well, I couldn’t say what I would do.
Somehow, Rachel slipped like smoke through the cracks of my defenses and curled around my heart. I wanted her fiercely, and I knew she wanted me. I wasn’t going to walk away from this, even though part of me was terrified by it.
I knew far too well what it was like to lose someone you loved. I’d lost my parents so abruptly, I promised myself I would never let anyone matter that much again. Yet, I found I couldn’t turn away from Rachel.
She met me at the door, looking so damn gorgeou
s, it was all I could do not to step inside, close the door, and tell her we should forget the dinner date and just get right to it.
Her glossy dark hair hung loose around her shoulders, straight and silky. Her blue eyes were bright, so rich and deep, I wanted to dive into them and learn all her secrets.
She wore a soft cotton skirt that hugged her hips and flared around her ankles. Her skirt was paired with practical leather boots and a loose white blouse. The collar dipped down, teasing and taunting me with the shadowed valley between her breasts.
Forcing my eyes back up to her face, my gaze snagged on her lips, plump and inviting. We’d yet to say a word. She swiped her tongue across her bottom lip, and that did it.
I closed the distance between us in one step, lifting a hand and sliding my fingers into her hair. Dipping my head, I brushed my lips across hers because I couldn’t not kiss her.
The subtle friction sent a hot sizzle through me. At the sound of her breath catching in her throat, I swept my tongue into the warm sweetness of her mouth.
Rachel’s hand slid up around my neck, teasing my hair. She seemed quite all right with my greeting, her tongue slicking against mine and a low moan escaping her throat. She smelled so damn good. The scent of her spun around me, hazing my thoughts and making me forget any manners I’d ever had.
Suddenly, there was the feel of a furry body wiggling against my legs. Henry, her dog that I met last week when she was covered in mud, nudged me out of the hot trance I was tumbling into. I drew back, a low chuckle slipping from my lips.
“Hello,” I belatedly said, my voice gruff.
Rachel smiled, her cheeks flushing a pretty shade of pink and sending a shot of blood straight to my cock. She had the unique ability to make me feel like a randy teenager who had absolutely no self-control.
“Hi,” she said softly, the husky sound of her voice spinning into the center of my chest and gripping my heart like a vise.
There was definitely lust when it came to Rachel, but it was all tangled up in an unfamiliar intimacy, a need to protect.
Henry gave a soft woof, and I stepped back, leaning down to pet him. “Hey buddy, you’re a lot cleaner tonight,” I said as I slipped my fingers through his fur. He was a gorgeous dog, black with gold markings with his fur silky soft.
He greeted me with his tail thumping against the backs of my legs. Straightening, I caught Rachel’s eyes. “He’s a good boy.”
Her smile widened, and she leaned down to stroke him across his back. “He is. Are you ready?”
“Whenever you are,” I replied.
She turned, leaning over to pick up her purse from a small table just inside the doorway. “Let’s go then.” Stepping through the door, she paused, her hand on the doorknob. “Be back, Henry.”
Henry trotted across the living room to jump up on a chair. With his eyes on the door, he rested his head on his paws as Rachel closed the door behind her.
I didn’t really think about it, but I caught her hand in mine as we walked across the porch and down the steps to my truck. It felt easy, and I couldn’t bear having her close without touching her.
My body was running on high idle, anticipation revving inside. I had to have a little chat with my cock, ordering it to stand down. Much as I’d have been happy to take her right here and now, that wasn’t quite how I wanted it to play out.
Once she was situated in the passenger seat and I climbed in on the driver’s side, electricity crackled through the air when I glanced over to her. In the light of the setting sun with dusk falling, her eyes were bright, and her lips swollen and pink from our kiss.
My heart gave a hard thump. I was so screwed.
Chapter Nine
Rachel
Spinning my almost empty wine glass between my fingers, I looked across the table at Remy. I was flushed all over, my body humming ever since I opened the door tonight.
He was so damn handsome. His dark blond hair and deep green eyes paired with his bronzed skin, well, it was too much. He exuded virile masculinity. My eyes kept lingering on the way his faded T-shirt hugged his shoulders, and I couldn’t help but remember his delicious chest when I’d seen him at the station yesterday afternoon. I wanted to lick him all over.
Even worse, he was so nice. And that southern drawl? Sweet hell, my panties were wet just from him talking. It had not helped matters, not one bit, that he greeted me by kissing me. My lips were still tingling, and it had been a good hour since we arrived here.
He was quite the gentleman, insisting on getting my door and pulling my chair out for me, even though we were only having dinner at Alpenglow Pizza. It wasn’t exactly a fancy place. It was casual—a brick oven pizza place with an open kitchen to the back of the small restaurant, booths on one side and tables to the other. The restaurant had opened in the last year or so and had quickly become popular. Willow Brook had, by some stroke of bad luck, gone without a pizza place for about five years after the last one had closed.
The owners had renovated an old barn on the outskirts of downtown. The old stalls had been transformed into the kitchen in the back, and they’d opened up the rest of the space for seating. The wide plank hardwood floors were refinished, and there was seating at the counter surrounding the brick oven in the back. The place had a relaxed, warm feeling. Plenty of windows let ample light in, so the space was bright, even in the dark winter months.
The windows to one side where we were sitting offered a view of a meadow with Denali in the distance. The snow was gradually receding on the mountains as spring took hold. I had only absently noticed the view, unless I counted Remy as part of it. My eyes soaked him in greedily.
Over dinner, we had chatted about a few things—my family, how I ended up becoming a medical assistant, and what he thought of living in Alaska. There was a lull in our conversation when his mouth hitched up at the corner, and I realized I’d been staring.
I blurted out the first question that came to mind. “So, tell me about your family. Where do they live now?”
His gaze shuttered, and he took a sip from his beer. “My parents died. My younger sister and me are all that’s left of our family.” His words came out in a low, even tone, but I could see the pain in his eyes, and it tugged at my heart.
Although I didn’t know him that well yet, I knew he was a good man. I also knew whatever had happened to his parents was painful.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Remy.” Without thinking, I reached across the table for his hand. His fingers curled into mine, the sorrow evident in his eyes.
“It never gets easy to say that.” He paused, taking another swallow of beer before setting the empty bottle on the table. “They died when a tornado blew the vacation home where they were staying to bits.”
“Remy, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry,” I repeated.
My words felt entirely inadequate. My family meant a lot to me, and I couldn’t imagine both of my parents dying at once.
Remy was quiet for a few beats, his gaze flicking down when he lifted his empty beer bottle. He brought his eyes to mine again and shook his head. The sadness was still there, but he seemed to be controlling it carefully.
“Yeah, it sucks. I don’t have much else to say about it. Sometimes, the worst part is just telling people.”
“I can imagine. It’s natural to ask questions about family.”
He was still holding my hand and gave it a squeeze. I didn’t want to let go, although it crossed my mind that now would be about the time to do that. Yet, I held fast. I wanted that point of contact, and it seemed he did as well.
“Is that why you moved away?” I heard myself asking, and then almost immediately wanted to take the question back.
He shrugged. “Partly. I was a firefighter in my hometown. I had already scheduled my hotshot training before they died. I wanted to travel, so that part wasn’t because of my parents dying. But then they did, and it became an easy way for me to escape. My training was in Northern California. I stayed there for a while after
I finished my training, and then Ward... You know Ward, right?” he asked, referencing a hotshot firefighter who had moved here from California and also happened to be married to a friend of mine.
Pausing, Remy looked to me, then continued after I nodded. “I trained in the same location where Ward did. He’s how I heard about the position that opened up here. I took it because I wasn’t ready to go home yet.”
“Do you think you’ll ever go home?”
Remy was quiet, spinning his empty beer bottle with his fingers. “I don’t know. It’s pretty heavy. I had my reasons for wanting to leave before my parents died. My sister had moved away for college before and was living with her boyfriend. She just recently moved back to the area to stay with some family friends. I’m not sure how long she’ll be there, but that’s where she is now.”
I could feel his grief echo in his words. “Do you miss her?”
Remy smiled. “Shay’s a special one. She’s doing okay. I worry, but then I always worry. She tells me I’m too bossy and that she can take care of herself. She’s living with an old buddy of mine. He had an extra bedroom, and I might’ve twisted his arm. His sister lives there too, so it’s a good spot for Shay.”
“Shay, that’s a pretty name.”
“That it is. She’s a spitfire, always getting in trouble. Drove me crazy when we were younger. I talk to her a few times a week. That’s about all she’ll put up with from me, so it’s probably good I’m not there. She says I’m overbearing.”
I squeezed his hand at the low rumble of his laugh. “What do you think of Willow Brook?”
“I like it. I really do. I don’t like big cities, but I like being close enough to get to one. Anchorage is a hop, skip, and a jump away, so that’s convenient. When I came here, I was looking for a change. I got that, but I love my crew. I’d never pretend it’s like the South where I grew up, but small towns have a lot of similarities, no matter where they are. This one’s not so crowded. And now, there’s you.”