“Just for the record, I do,” she quipped before the tip of her tongue flicked out over her bottom lip for just a second. My cock jumped at the gesture, and my thoughts instantly went to all the dirty things I’d like her to do to my body with those full, pouty lips. Jesus…this woman will be the death of me.
I moved on to a way safer topic, one that would distract me from pulling her onto my lap and kissing her. “Why did you pick the NYPD over the FBI?” I asked. “You’d have the regulation FBI look down pat.”
“I was thinking I might get into the FBI from the NYPD,” Kendra said, extending her injured leg a bit and rubbing it discreetly. She was hurting, and just as obviously, she wanted to keep that to herself. My hands clenched as I pushed down my primal urge to drape her leg across my lap and massage it.
“Let me get you something to drink,” I suggested. “You want water or something harder?”
“Another glass of wine,” Kendra said. “That would be amazing.”
I got up and hurried over to the bar. Since I was in semi-uniform, the bartender came over to me immediately. I got the glass of wine for Kendra and another gin and tonic for myself. “Who’d have ever thought we’d have a legal drink together,” I said, handing off Kendra’s wine and clinking my glass against hers. We both laughed, and I sat down.
“We weren’t that bad,” Kendra mused. “I think we only ever went to like two parties and got pissy drunk.”
“We still broke the law,” I pointed out jokingly. “What would the people you arrest think of you?”
Kendra snorted. “I wasn’t a cop back then, and I didn’t have any plans at that point to become one,” she pointed out. “And you know it.”
“I do,” I admitted. “I have to think that, even now, plenty of kids break the law that way.”
“They do,” Kendra said. “Before I became a detective—when I was a beat cop—I must have broken up a dozen parties with underage kids.”
I shot her a mock stern glare. “How many arrests, Detective Powell?”
“Cut it out, Firefighter Koch.” Kendra shoved at my arm jokingly, just like she used to when we’d been kids.
“No avoiding the question, Kendra.”
“Not that many,” she said. “Mostly just made sure nobody would wreck anything or drive drunk, collected some fake IDs, told people to wait their turn to be legal.”
“That’s nice of you,” I grinned.
Kendra shrugged. “Most of the time, the kids weren’t doing anything that bad,” she said. “Arresting them for being drunk or having alcohol wouldn’t have accomplished anything.”
“That didn’t stop the police here,” I countered.
“Yeah, but the police in a small town like this rarely have much more to take care of,” Kendra replied.
I took a gulp of my drink. “Hey! I’ll have you know there is plenty of crime here,” I told her, pretending to be defensive.
“I can guarantee it’s less than what happened on my beat,” Kendra informed me.
“You should tell me about it sometime,” I said before, from the corner of my eye, I caught my chief waving, wanting me to come over for group pictures to post online. “You’re in town for a while, right? Not just leaving right after this?” I wanted to spend more time with her.
“Yes. I’ll be around. My visit is kind of open-ended,” she confirmed.
“Then we should get coffee sometime, catch up properly,” I suggested. “I’d like to hear more about what you’ve been up to.”
“I’m game,” Kendra agreed. “I want all the stories of where the hell you went after high school.”
I could see the questions in her eyes. There were so many things I wanted to tell her, like why I left town right after Mom’s funeral, telling no one where I was going or what I was doing.
“I’m off this Wednesday,” I said. “We could meet up in town, maybe at Virgil’s?”
Kendra’s eyes widened. “Damn. That place is still open?”
“Hell yes. And still serving the best coffee cake in town,” I told her. “So, Wednesday afternoon?”
“Okay.”
“Your grandma has my number, I think—we have a directory for the elderly, with key phone numbers on it in case there’s a non-fire emergency and they need help.”
“Sounds good,” Kendra said. “I’ll get the number from Grandma, and we’ll figure out a time.”
I grinned and got up to go take pictures with the rest of the fire crew. “Look forward to it,” I told her.
“Me too.” Kendra winked at me, waving me off as I hauled ass before the chief could get annoyed with how long I was taking.
4
Kendra
I checked my face and hair in the mirror and threw on a robe before leaving my bedroom. I’d taken a long, hot bath infused with lavender-scented bath salts and done all of my usual evening skincare and hair care routine. And even though my leg was throbbing from how much I’d moved around during the party, my stomach was rumbling enough for me to want a late-night snack. I rubbed at the spot where the muscle still wasn’t what it used to be, where the scar was, and continued on my way to the kitchen.
“Good to know I’m not the only one who got peckish,” Grandma said from the kitchen table. She had our usual late-night snack out—cheese, apples, and salami, all of it sliced by her hand. “Why would I get pre-sliced when I’ve got perfectly good knives at home and the hands to do it myself?” she used to say any time I brought it up.
I sat down across from her and snagged a few pieces of local cheddar, two slices of salami, and a few wedges of apple to start with.
“So, was your party everything you hoped it would be?” I asked, taking a bite of apple and cheese.
“It was a damn fine party,” Grandma replied, eating a slice of salami. “And it got even better when I noticed you dancing with Lukas.”
I felt my cheeks warming up with a blush, and I rolled my eyes, getting up from the table to grab a bottle of sparkling water. “I didn’t know he’d come back to town until he told me,” I said, keeping my tone as casual as possible as I opened the refrigerator.
“Oh, he’s been back a while,” Grandma said.
“Want a bottle?” I asked. Grandma nodded. Reaching into the refrigerator, I grabbed two bottles then went to the cabinet for glasses. After making my way back, I placed the items on the table and sat down. “So, he’s been back in town all this time, and you didn’t think to tell me?” I poured water into the glasses.
Grandma shrugged. “You’ve been living up in the city. It didn’t seem all that relevant.” She took a sip of water.
“Are you kidding me?” I narrowed my eyes. “Lukas used to be my best friend, and then he disappeared…” I thought about the house across the street and the fire that destroyed it, killing Lukas’s mother. I’d never found out about what really happened that night or how the fire started. All I knew was that Lukas’s mother had died, and right after the funeral, he’d disappeared without even saying goodbye to me.
Grandma bit a piece of cheese. “The past is the past. We all have skeletons in the closet, and that doesn’t make us bad. It just proves that we’re human.”
I shoved some salami into my mouth, mulling over Grandma’s words.
“Lukas has a great reputation,” Grandma told me. “Some folks thought after that…you know…incident that he’d be the firefighter who would end up freaking out in a fire.” She drank some water. “It’s a small town, so you know there was all kinds of talk. Some positive. Some negative. But our Lukas…”
“Our Lukas?” I raised a brow.
“Okay, your Lukas.” She gave me an impish smile.
I ignored the butterflies that fluttered in my stomach. “He’s not mine.”
“Yet.”
“Listen, Grandma—”
She interrupted me, “As I was saying…Lukas proved all the naysayers wrong. He’s even got a few awards in the past few years for bravery. I always figured he took all the bad shit that
happened to him and his family and decided he would never let that horror happen to anyone else again.”
“Do you know what he did before he came back?” I asked, eating more salami and apple. “I mean…” I chewed and swallowed. “At the party, he talked about a friend getting hit by an IED, so I assume he’s ex-military…”
“Yes. Army,” Grandma said. “From what I hear, he spent some time in Iraq, and in the Philippines after that.”
I sat back. “Wow.” I tried to imagine the boy I’d known in high school in combat, fighting insurgents and terrorists halfway across the world from where I’d been going to college and then going into the academy. “Lukas’s got to be one of the few people who came back more or less whole.”
Grandma took a bite of cheese and followed it with a sip of water. “You know, given how things were in that house of his, I think nothing could scare him,” Grandma mused.
“Well, that’s a good point,” I said, remembering Lukas’s horrible father. “Did they ever…” I pressed my lips together, suddenly not so hungry for my snack. “Did they ever figure out what happened that night?”
Grandma shrugged. “Unfortunately, the case is closed, and no one in town knows shit about it.” Grandma paused. “And that man who called himself a father and husband ran off before the police could question him. Near as anyone could ever find out, Lukas’s father left the country. Rumor is that something went south that night and he started the fire, so if he ever shows his face anywhere, he’s wanted for arson and murder.”
“Jesus.” I pushed down a shudder. I’d never liked Lukas’s father or the way his lecherous eyes would stalk me when Lukas and I would hang out on his porch. “Hopefully, the jackass slips up one day and gets his ass caught.”
Grandma nodded. “That’s what everyone around here is hoping for, too. One bad day and an extradition to stand trial for his crime.”
“You know…” I twirled my glass. “The last time I saw Lukas was at the funeral for his mom.” I remembered how skinny he looked in his oversized black suit with a white shirt. His green eyes were so cold and angry, but I’d wanted to hug him, tell him I was there for him. But I never got the chance… “I don’t know.” I swallowed hard over the old emotions. “Honestly, I was so hurt when you just up and left without saying goodbye to me.”
“From what he’s told me, that wasn’t his fault,” Grandma said. “The recruiter wanted him to ship out right away.”
“Believe me, I get that he wanted to leave this town and all the bad shit as fast as possible, but…” I took a huge gulp of water. “Still, I wish he could have at least told me. I would have understood.”
Grandma reached across the table, grabbing my hand. “Kendra. Sometimes when people are hurting bad, they don’t think about others. They just want out of the trap. You can’t blame him for wanting that, can you?”
I shook my head. “No, I don’t blame him at all. I get it now.” I knew how much it hurt to lose a mother, especially as suddenly as he did. When Mom died, I felt angry, abandoned, lost. And even years later, I missed her—hearing her voice, feeling her arms wrap around me when I needed her comforting warmth and assurance that everything would be all right. “In fact, he and I are going to get coffee, catch up a bit.”
“Good.” She patted my hand, then went back to eating. “I saw the two of you dancing,” Grandma said, smiling in a way that told me she had definitely requested the song from the DJ.
“You requested that song.” It was a statement not a question.
“Yup,” Grandma said proudly. “I bet you never thought I’d remember that’s your song. But you sang it half the night after you and Lukas went to the prom. I’d never forget it.” She paused. “Now that you’re back together…”
“Grandma, don’t get ahead of yourself,” I warned. “Lukas and I are just meeting to catch up on our lives. That’s all. So, don’t start planning our wedding. Besides, we were only ever friends.”
“Best friends,” Grandma corrected me.
“What does that have to do with anything?” I protested.
“It’s a foundation for more…”
“We’re just friends,” I countered. “And all I want is a chance to reconnect with a man I was friends with back in school. Nothing more.”
“Give me a break,” Grandma spat. “You’re staying here in town for a while. What’s the harm in seeing if there’s something romantic between you two?”
I pointed at her. “No playing matchmaker. Lukas and I are just going to have a cup of coffee, while talking about work and where we’ve been in the world.” I leaned forward. “And to be very clear, Lukas will not influence me one way or another whether I stay here.”
“An old woman can hope,” Grandma said.
I laughed, shaking my head. “You can hope all you want, but don’t you dare fiddle around with my love life,” I said. “Now, give me his phone number. He mentioned you’d have it.”
“I sure do.” Grandma got to her feet, making her way to the fridge. She plucked a thin, paperbound booklet from under a magnet. “You know…in my day, we called it a coffee date,” Grandma said, handing the booklet over to me before she sat back down.
I rolled my eyes. “It isn’t a date.”
Grandma chuckled but said nothing.
I yawned. “I’m done eating.” I arched a brow. “Do you need me to get you anything before I go back up?”
Grandma shook her head. “I’m just going to finish this apple and put the leftovers in the fridge. I need to get myself off to bed before I turn into a pumpkin.”
I chuckled—it was one of her favorite sayings, one I’d heard a hundred times. “I’ll put this back on the fridge in the morning,” I told her, waving the booklet with contacts for the firefighters and EMTs in it around a bit.
When I rose to my feet, the scar on my leg twitched painfully. I’d overdone it a bit at the party. Sighing heavily, I decided I’d earned a dose of the Tramadol the doctors had given me for “as needed” relief, along with a quick rubdown with Mederma around my scar.
Once inside my room, I took my dose of medication, swallowing it down with my leftover water. Opening up my travel case, I snatched out a tube of Nurofen, then wiggled out of my sleep pants to get to my scar. Squeezing some gel out of the tube, I carefully rubbed it into my skin. My mind wandered back to the prom. We’d been just kids and had all the energy in the world. I’d asked him to go with me as a friend, because I knew he’d never ask me himself, and neither of us had dates. I could still remember the way Lukas’s face flushed red when he told me about why he never dated any of the girls in our class, even though he’d been the hottest boy in the school back then. Plenty of girls had been so jealous of me for being so close to him.
“I can’t bring anyone home,” Lukas said.
And that was true. I finished rubbing the Nurofen into my leg and stood up to wash my hands. Even before his father had burned down the house, Lukas’s home was not a happy one—nowhere anyone in their right mind would want to bring a girlfriend, especially due to his father’s erratic and often creepy behavior. I’d seen it firsthand, and Lukas had made me leave.
Drying off my hands, I went back into my bedroom, glancing around. It was the perfect picture of who I’d been years ago, not the woman I’d become. Life had changed for both of us; I just didn’t know if the future included Lukas or not…
5
Lukas
I checked the time on the fire station computer then turned on my “away” message. Technically, I wasn’t on call, but there was always the chance something big could happen, and if they needed me to muster up and get to a site, all they had to do was contact me on my phone and I’d be available.
I shoved my cell into my pocket. It was just coffee with Kendra; I shouldn’t be so nervous, but I’d changed clothes a few times, looking for an outfit that was casual but good enough at the same time. I stared at my footwear options. I had several pairs of sneakers, boots, and an expensive pair of It
alian dress shoes that I’d had custom made for me—given my large feet, it was easier than trying to find something in my size in any store. I wore my motorcycle boots. Once ready, I stormed out of the area, heading toward the exit.
“Koch!” I turned around to see Chief Mecklin coming out of his office. “You’re on your way out?”
I replied without stopping. “Yeah, Chief. What’s up?”
He hurried a bit to catch up with me. He was fit for a fifty-year-old, with a moustache that would look more appropriate on a seventies porn star. “We need a photographer to do the calendar,” Chief said, matching my pace. “You said you’d look into it.”
“I am,” I promised him. “I’m looking through the options.”
Every year, the fire department did a calendar with one of the local shelters, both to promote the shelter and to raise money for programs we kept going. The calendar was always a big hit and sold like hot cakes. Women loved half-naked firefighters posing with cats and dogs. But our usual photographer had passed away over the winter after battling pneumonia for a month, and we’d put off finding a replacement. But to get the calendars printed in time, we’d have to do the photo shoots soon.
“There can’t be that many options, Lukas,” Chief pointed out. “This town isn’t that big.”
“Stop worrying, Chief. I’ll have some suggestions to you by the end of the week.”
“Thanks.” Chief Mecklin clapped me on the back before heading back to his office.
Exiting the building, I walked around to the parking lot at the back of the station and climbed onto my bike. It was one of maybe three parked by the station. Two guys drove trucks, one guy drove a sedan, but after years of armored transports, planes, and buses, I’d decided that if I could, I’d stick with something that gave me a little more airflow. So, with my first big paycheck after joining the fire rescue squad, I purchased a bike. I’d gotten it from a retired firefighter. He’d given me a decent price on the old girl, and with a little elbow grease, I’d kept her running smooth ever since.
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