The Fireman's Ready-Made Family

by Jules Bennett

  His fingertip lingered on the side of her face. “And are these problems still a threat?”

  Closing her eyes, Marly nodded. She wished they weren’t, but she had to be realistic. She and Kevin shared a child and there was no way he would give up his family for good, not with the image he’d portrayed to the public.

  “Marly.” Drake tipped her chin up with his forefinger, taking his thumb and caressing the side of her jaw. “You know you don’t have to live in fear, right? I can help.”

  Warming at the idea of just how simple Drake made the solution sound, Marly shook her head. “I wish you could. Honestly, I wish anybody could. But this is something I have to figure out on my own. I just need a friend, someone to get advice from. Nobody at work knows about my personal life and Willow is too young to know what all is going on. I don’t want her afraid.”

  “No child should be afraid,” he stated, his eyes leveling hers. “What can I do to help?”

  Marly wanted to cry at his selfless gesture, his sincere worry. “You’re helping more than you know. Just having someone I can talk to, someone who doesn’t have a hidden agenda means so much to me.”

  Drake brought his free hand up to cup the side of her face. “I might have a slight agenda,” he whispered as he closed the space between them. “If you want me to stop, you should say something.”

  Desire coursed through her as she remained silent and tipped her head up to meet his.

  Drake’s lips slid over hers, softly, gently. Marly fisted her hands at her sides, afraid if she reached for him, she may yearn for more than she was ready for.

  Coaxing her mouth open, Drake angled his head the opposite way and slid one arm around her waist. One hand flattened against the small of her back and the other hand traveled around to the nape of her neck. He stepped closer to her, fitting her body perfectly against his.

  That solid chest against hers felt so safe, so protective. Marly let herself feel, let herself get lost in the moment, in the man.

  Drake nipped at her bottom lip a second before he eased back. Those dark eyes leveled hers.

  “I’ve wanted to do that for two weeks,” he murmured, resting his forehead against hers.

  Between his declaration and those protective hands still molded to her, Marly trembled. “I have, too, but I’ve been afraid.”

  Drake shifted, easing back just enough to bring his hands up to frame her face. Those rough, calloused palms slid against her cheeks as he forced her gaze to remain on his.

  “You won’t be afraid as long as I’m here,” he promised. “Tell me what you’re up against. I can’t help if I don’t know.”

  Pulling away from his comforting touch, Marly shook her head. “I can’t, Drake. I know you don’t understand, but trust me when I tell you that it’s best you don’t get involved with my problems. Or me.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, Marly waited for him to reply. Silence settled heavily between them, the soft ticking of the kitchen clock the only thing breaking the strained quiet.

  Marly didn’t miss the way his jaw was clenched, the way his hands fisted at his sides. That familiar thread of fear slid through her, and she moved back a couple steps.

  “Don’t.” He shook his head, raked a hand through his hair and sighed before focusing back on her. “Don’t look at me like that and don’t step away from me.”

  “You’re angry,” she stated, lifting her chin. “I can’t deal with that. I won’t deal with it.”

  “I’m not angry at you, Marly.” Drake threw his hands up, palms out. “These hands may have gotten into fights, and if you stick around long enough I’m sure you’ll hear the tales of the St. John boys. But I’ve never, nor will I ever, use them in a harmful way toward a woman. Ever.”

  “We haven’t known each other very long, but I believe you.” Surprisingly, she did. “But I can’t get beyond the fact I lived in fear for so long. I can’t, Drake. I just can’t let you in.”

  And that was something she hadn’t anticipated. When she’d left Kevin, taking only her meager savings and Willow, Marly had never dreamed she’d find a man who made her want things, who made her passion come to the surface.

  “I hate him,” Drake said between clenched teeth. “Whatever bastard put that look of fear in your eyes, I hate him.”

  Well, that made two of them, but she refused to give Drake any further details of who her ex was. Kevin could ruin Drake’s career if he ever even thought Drake was coming around Marly.

  Hugging her midsection, Marly glanced at her socked feet, then back up to Drake. “I’m sorry.”

  “What the hell for?”

  “Leading you on. Kissing you.”

  With slow, easy strides, he closed the distance between them. “Baby, I’m not sorry at all. Kissing you was amazing, and you’ll never know how much opening up to you helped me. You’re not the only one with demons, but I’ve conquered mine. I just want to help with yours.”

  He had demons. She’d assumed as much. Of course a big, strong man like Drake had conquered his demons; he seemed in control of absolutely everything.

  “Nothing can be done for mine,” she whispered.

  Drake slid her side bangs aside, his fingertips tickling her heated skin around her scar. “Something can be done, Marly. I’m not going anywhere, and when you want help, all you have to do is ask. I won’t pry. I won’t make you relive all the details. But I’m not afraid to battle your demons for you.”

  He laid a very tender, very brief kiss on her lips, stepped around her and let himself quietly out the front door.

  Marly sank against the door frame that led to the hallway, her hand covering her trembling lips.

  I’m not afraid to battle your demons for you.

  Tears pricked her eyes. What man would say such things? What man would step in front of a woman and slay the past that threatened her future?

  A man that wanted more from the woman than she was ready to give. What would he expect from her? If she could try at any type of relationship, she would try with Drake. But right now, friendship was even stretching it.

  Swiping at her damp cheeks, Marly locked the dead bolt, turned off the lights and headed to her bed. Her sweet baby still lay at an odd angle across the bed, dressed in her horse nightgown and cowgirl boots.

  Moonlight slanted through the window and cut across Willow’s precious face. That right there was the reason Marly couldn’t get involved with anyone. Not only would Kevin tear any man apart who tried to enter Marly’s life, he would also use any means to steal Willow. Marly refused to allow her daughter to be a bargaining chip.

  If Marly tried to move on and have another relationship, Kevin would surely use that as a weapon in his fight to get Willow. He’d twist the scenario to say Marly was unfit, or showcase her as a woman who brought men in and out of their daughter’s life. He wouldn’t care that Drake was a good friend. Kevin would spin their relationship into something ugly.

  Marly had to put her own needs aside, no matter how much Drake made her realize there was more to men than evil and hatred. For the first time, Drake made her feel like a desired, passionate woman.

  Unfortunately fate had other plans for her future, and Drake couldn’t be part of them.

  Chapter Eight

  Jeremy had been transported yesterday, and Marly had already received an update from the children’s hospital. Jeremy was all settled in, and the doctors would begin his first surgery as soon as next week.

  Marly had just finished her break and stepped out of the nurses’ lounge to see a huge smile on her coworker’s face.

  “What?” Marly asked, figuring she had mayo on the side of her face or something equally as embarrassing.

  “You have an admirer.” Lori pointed to the colorful bouquet in a short glass vase that rested on the counter. “Apparently the fire chief wasn’t here just to see our patient.”

  Marly eyed the card sticking out of the arrangement. As she neared, she could make out the handwritten words.
>
  Because we’re friends

  D

  Even though her stomach was doing a nervous dance, Marly smiled as she turned to Lori. “He’s a nice man. We’re working on a fund-raiser to help raise money for Jeremy’s family.”

  Lori sat down at the desk and typed in her password to log in. “Oh, Drake is a nice man, all right. But trust me, if he’s showing attention toward you, and flowers are certainly attention, he’s interested.”

  Yeah, Marly knew how interested he was. Her lips still tingled from the night before. The places on her body where his hands had been were now cold. He’d touched areas so deep within her she wondered if she’d ever recover. And all he’d done was kiss her.

  Not only was she getting in deeper than she wanted to go, she was getting in deeper than she even thought possible.

  “Good for him,” Lori went on as she typed notes into the computer. “After Andrea was killed I wondered if he’d find happiness again.”

  That shocked Marly out of her own pity party.

  “Who’s Andrea?” And how was she killed?

  Lori’s hands froze on the keyboard, and she threw a glance over her shoulder. “He hasn’t told you about Andrea? I forget you’re not from here. Andrea was his fiancée. She was killed in a car accident over a year ago.”

  “What?” Marly gripped the edge of the other desk chair. “That’s terrible.”

  A fiancée? No wonder he’d mentioned he had his own demons. He’d loved someone enough to want to spend his life with her and he’d lost her. A man like Drake would love with his whole heart, would die in someone else’s place...especially those he loved.

  Marly couldn’t imagine what losing Andrea must have felt like. The only person who held such a high value in her life was Willow. Life without her would be unbearable.

  Lori went back to typing. “Those St. John boys were always raising a ruckus as teens, but they’ve really grown into remarkable men.”

  Marly had yet to meet the other two brothers, but she was starting to get the impression the men were very close...and very potent.

  “I keep hearing how they were hellions,” Marly joked. “Were they that bad?”

  “Oh, yeah. The irony of the positions they’re in now is quite hysterical. Their father was the town doctor, and that poor man was always getting calls at his clinic.” Lori laughed, typed a bit more and shook her head, causing the loose bun at the nape of her neck to wobble. “One time the boys stole a police cruiser and picked up a couple other friends from school. They claimed they were doing a public service by giving their friends better drop-off service than the school bus.”

  Marly smiled. She could only imagine the shenanigans three teen boys had gotten into. Their poor mother.

  An alarm went off in one of the patients’ rooms and Marly held up her hand. “I’ll get it.”

  The rest of the day went by in a blur, and by the time she’d gathered her things—and her gorgeous bouquet—and headed toward home, she was flat-out exhausted.

  Willow would be getting off the bus about five minutes after Marly got home, so there was no time for relaxing. Which was fine. She’d relaxed enough during her years of marriage when Kevin would insist on her going to the finest salons, getting facials and massages. All so he could brag about pampering his wife.

  So being a single mom and being exhausted wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  Marly had just adjusted the beautiful flowers on the small kitchen table when she heard the bus pull up out front. Sometimes Willow would get dropped off at the sitter’s, other times at home. The change in scheduling didn’t seem to bother Willow, and she was adjusting remarkably well to living here.

  Marly had never truly told her why they’d left, only that they were taking an adventure and Daddy couldn’t come. Willow would ask about Kevin, but Marly would just say how he was busy with work and, because Kevin never put Willow ahead of work, that explanation seemed to pacify her. A shame, honestly, that being without a parent didn’t seem to faze a little girl when she was at such an impressionable age.

  Just then the front door burst open, and Willow tossed her backpack and lunch box aside. “This was the coolest day ever!”

  Marly waited, always eager to hear how her daughter’s day had gone. Luckily, Willow was always having “the best day.” She loved school, loved her friends, freeing Marly of some of the guilt from upending her daughter’s life.

  “What happened?” Marly asked.

  Willow shoved her wayward hair from her eyes. The once-adorable—okay, still adorable—pigtails were now slipping down from their place. “Chief Drake came to the school with another fireman, I don’t remember his name.” Willow put her hands on her hips and smiled. “And Chief Drake picked me out of all the kids in the entire kindergarten. He had me come up on stage in the gym and he said I had won the fire-poster contest.”

  “Oh, honey.” Marly held her arms open and Willow launched into her hold. “That’s wonderful. Is this the poster you told me you painted in art class?”

  Willow eased back and nodded, sending more hair into her little face. “Yup. And Chief Drake said it was awesome and he was proud of me.”

  Marly listened as Willow went on and on about how cool the chief was and when could they go to the fire department for that ride she’d been promised and could he come over again and help prepare for the festival?

  Such innocence, such excitement. Marly would love to have Drake over, would love to have Drake kiss her, touch her again.

  She honestly couldn’t remember a time when she’d been kissed so tenderly yet so passionately. Here she was, a twenty-six-year-old woman, divorced, with a child, and she couldn’t recall being kissed from someone who actually cared about her.

  That was just one of the many changes she was making in her new life. From now on, she would hold herself at a higher standard, expecting to be cared for by anyone who entered her life. She deserved nothing less.

  * * *

  Drake and Eli were just stepping out of the local pizza place when Marly and Willow came up the sidewalk. Drake clutched the boxes and stopped, experiencing that instant kick to the gut he always got when he was around her.

  “What are you doing?” Eli complained, running into his back. “I nearly dropped the wings, dude.”

  Marly’s eyes came up to meet his, and a slow smile spread across her face. “Drake,” she said as she closed the space between them. “I see we’re all on the same page with dinner.”

  “You’re Marly?” Eli asked behind him.

  Drake wanted to kick his brother in the jewels. Why ask like that? Why make it sound as if Drake had been chatting up Marly to him like some high school teen who had a crush?

  “I am.” Her smile widened as she took her daughter’s hand. “And this is my daughter, Willow.”

  His brother moved around beside Drake, bent down and smiled. “I’m Eli,” he told Willow. “It’s nice to meet you.”

  “Are you a fireman, too?” she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

  “No, I’m a doctor.”

  The little girl’s brows drew in. “You give shots?”

  Eli laughed, straightening to his full height. “Sometimes, but only so people can feel better.”

  “Um...thanks,” Marly chimed in, her eyes only on Drake. “You know, for the flowers.”

  “Flowers?” Eli muttered.

  Careful to keep hold of the pizza boxes, Drake rammed his elbow into his brother’s side. Pleased when a burst of air expelled from Eli, Drake smiled at Marly.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Marly grinned, apparently not missing a thing. “Well, we won’t keep you. I promised Willow we could eat inside tonight.”

  “Why don’t you come back with us?” Drake asked before he could stop himself, though now that the invitation was out in the open, he wasn’t sorry he’d asked. “We ordered plenty and we’re just going to Eli’s house to watch a game.”

  Marly shook her head. “I couldn’t do that t
o you guys.”

  “My wife won’t mind,” Eli added. “She’d probably love to have female company.”

  “Please, Mama.” Willow tugged on her mother’s hand. “Let’s go, and I can watch the game, too.”

  Marly laughed. “She loves football.”

  Drake smiled and looked down at Willow. “What do you say to some fish-egg pizza and a game?”

  Willow’s smile spread across her face. “Are you teasing me again, Chief?”

  Loving that little girl’s infectious smile, Drake shrugged. “You’ll never know unless you come over.”

  Willow turned those bright blue eyes up to her mother. “Can we? Please?”

  Marly looked between her daughter and Drake. With a sigh, she nodded. “It looks like I’m outnumbered. Are you sure your wife won’t mind?”

  “I’m positive,” Eli told her. “Just follow us. I don’t live far.”

  As Marly and Willow settled back into their car, Drake and Eli piled into Eli’s truck. Drake knew what was coming. Knew there was no way in hell during these next few miles that Eli wouldn’t give him hell.

  “So...flowers.”

  Drake set the bag of wings on top of the pizza boxes and fastened his seat belt. “Shut up.”

  “Just making a statement.”

  “Keep your statements to yourself.”

  Bringing the engine to life, Eli backed out of the parking lot. “She’s pretty. Little girl is adorable, too. You ready for a family?”

  Drake held on to the food and glanced in the rearview mirror to make sure Marly was back there. “I’m not getting a family, Eli.”

  “You haven’t dated much since Andrea’s death, you sent this beautiful nurse flowers, you’ve been to her house and you are obviously taken by that little girl. Sounds as though you’re gearing up for a family to me.”

  Maybe so, but no way Drake would admit it aloud. After Andrea’s death, he never thought he’d be ready to commit to another woman. He’d sworn she was it for him, and he could never even look at another woman with such emotions.