The Firefighter's Perfect Plan_Fire and Sparks

by Sonya Weiss

  The simple gesture shot awareness through him and he took a reflexive step back. He wanted Josie. Wanted her in a way that screamed failure and broken heart. He didn’t know at what point he’d developed a physical attraction to her. Hell, maybe he’d had it for years but hadn’t been willing to face it.

  “I’m good.” He pointed in the general direction of the parking lot. “I have a packed day tomorrow so I’m going to head out.” He looked around and noticed several people were watching them. For Josie’s sake, he didn’t want anyone to think they weren’t a real couple. That was the only reason he leaned down and kissed her quickly before he walked off. He pulled his truck key from his pocket, clutching it in the palm of his hand hard enough for it to leave an imprint. Once inside his truck, he started it up, then slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel.

  As sure as the sun rose in Georgia, he’d complicated the hell out of everything. Feeling the urge to put some distance between the thoughts waiting to torment him, he drove out of the parking lot to hit the main drag, heading back toward the business district of town.

  He turned the radio on, but not even the music was enough this time to distract him. Every time he kissed her, he struggled, and the harder he tried to fight whatever was going on inside of him, the worse he felt. He raked a hand across his face and groaned. The scent of her perfume was on his hands.

  He was crazy mixed up and his first instinct was to push her away, but he couldn’t. This time he had to finish what they’d started. He didn’t want her business to suffer just because he couldn’t think straight around her. That wasn’t her fault.

  The issues—wanting Josie but holding back—were his and he knew it. Savannah’s wealth had come between them because she’d made it so. Josie didn’t act anything like his ex, but she did come from money and he’d learned that he’d come in at second place when wealth was in the picture. If he did something stupid like trying to turn this relationship with Josie real, he’d end up right where he’d been before. Heart aching and alone.

  Without meaning to, he drove into the parking lot of the hospital. Grayson was on shift now, and if anyone could make sense of what was going on in his head, his brother could. He wished he could talk to Kent, but since falling for Casey, his best friend thought love was the greatest thing since the creation of the 526 horsepower V8 engine. The guy practically had heart symbols in his eyes instead of pupils.

  Lincoln parked, exited the truck, and strode toward the hospital’s main entrance. Once inside, he greeted the intake receptionist. “Hey, Dani.”

  “Hey, Linc. Are you looking for Dr. Bradford?”

  “Yeah, is he in the back or on break?”

  “He’s in the café.”

  Lincoln thanked her and walked to the row of elevators on the other side of the emergency room waiting area. Inside, the Muzak in the elevator grated on his nerves. He was jumpy, out of sorts, and nervous, and he didn’t like feeling like that.

  As soon as he walked into the café, he spotted Grayson sitting at a table by the window, one hand resting by a coffee mug. His brother’s concentration was held by something on his phone.

  Taking a chair opposite, Lincoln spun it around and sat.

  Grayson looked up and instantly frowned. “You don’t look so good.” He tensed. “Everyone okay?”

  “The family is fine. It’s Josie.”

  “Something happen?”

  Lincoln ran his hands down his face. “We got engaged.”

  Grayson’s eyes widened. “I would say congratulations, but you don’t look too thrilled.”

  “That’s because nothing between us is real.” Unable to keep it inside any longer, Lincoln told his brother the whole story.

  “Wow.” Grayson slumped back against his seat. “So you’re upset because the lie is snowballing.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.” Lincoln propped his face on his hands. “On one hand, I’d do anything for her.”

  “And on the other?”

  “When I’m around her, every time I kiss her, it gets harder to think about walking away.”

  “Then don’t. Hang on and see where it leads.”

  Lincoln shook his head. “I know where it’ll head. Heartbreak.”

  “Unless you can see the future, you don’t know that,” Grayson argued.

  Lincoln crossed his arms. Talking about Josie made him feel defensive. “Some things aren’t worth the risk.”

  “Some things are,” Grayson countered.

  “You can really say that after what you went through with Isabel? You wasted three years of your life with her.” Lincoln hadn’t ever really liked Isabel. She’d flirted with him once and he’d flat-out told her to take a hike. Beautiful women who were ugly on the inside never appealed to him. Josie was beautiful on the outside and inside and she appealed to him more than he liked. That was the problem.

  “Nothing in life is ever a waste, Linc. Not even pain. It teaches us what we’re willing and not willing to put up with.”

  Lincoln didn’t agree. Sometimes pain just kicked the crap out of you. If that wasn’t a waste, he didn’t know what was. It was the whole reason he’d come up with his perfect plan for life in the first place. How had things gotten so off track? “Did Isabel ever even apologize?”

  “Repeatedly. She still does.” Grayson slid his phone across the table.

  The screen was filled with messages from her saying how wrong she’d been and begging for another chance. Lincoln pushed the phone back. “Maybe Rafferty has the right idea. Don’t give a woman the chance to break your heart. Get out of the relationship before it gets serious.”

  Grayson picked up the coffee mug. “Rafferty’s going to crash and burn. Some woman is going to take him down. It’s just a matter of time.”

  “Maybe not, but if I keep hanging out with Josie, things will get real and one of us really is going to crash and burn.”

  Grayson frowned. “Did Josie say she wanted things to get real between you two?”

  “Not at all.” Lincoln glanced out the window beside the table. The night covered the hospital’s lawn, making it hard to distinguish where the flowerbeds or the gazebo for visitors were located. That’s what he felt like inside. Like he was trying to walk in the darkness and couldn’t clearly see the things that he might bump into. He looked at his brother. “I can’t call this thing between us quits because she needs me for her video business and—”

  Grayson used a word he didn’t normally use and it surprised Lincoln into silence. “You’re struggling with walking away because you want to stay. You’re holding on to her needing you as an excuse.” He picked up his phone and pocketed it. “You told me the truth about your relationship with her, but you still haven’t told yourself the truth.”

  “What truth?” Lincoln rose at the same time Grayson did.

  Grayson crossed his arms.

  It was like a rope was tightening around Lincoln’s upper body. He couldn’t breathe. He put his hand on the table to steady himself. “You think I’m in danger of falling for Josie.”

  “Are you?”

  “Hell no. I don’t know. No… It’s impossible.” Right?

  Grayson smacked him on the arm. “Welcome to the confusion, man.”

  Lincoln sank back down onto the chair he’d just vacated. What the hell was he supposed to do with his perfect plan now?

  Chapter Twelve

  The next evening, Josie stepped out of the shower, her heart leaping when the neighbor’s cat blinked at her from his spot on the vanity. Grabbing a towel, she wrapped it around herself. “Cat, this relationship isn’t working for me. We have to break up.”

  The cat meowed pitifully, and Josie sighed. “Fine, you can stay. I can’t seem to break up with my so-called boyfriend slash fiancé, either. He was a no-show at the diner this morning and texted me some lame excuse.” She huffed out a breath. Like she didn’t know him well enough to know when he was blowing her off.

  She sat on the lid of the toilet.
“Even though I’m glad he did, because I was ten shades of embarrassed, it’s not as if I asked him to propose. It was a pity proposal and that makes me feel like I’m going to start collecting cats. Present company excluded.”

  Josie’s phone rang and the cat meowed. She held up a finger. “Hold that thought.” Darting from the bathroom, she ran into her bedroom and pulled the phone out of the back pocket of the jeans she’d taken off and dropped in the middle of her floor.

  “Do you have wine?” Jean didn’t waste any time on a greeting.

  Josie thought about it. “Maybe.”

  “I’ll bring some just in case. Beverly is picking up the vegetable tray.” Jean’s tone dripped with disgust.

  “Casey’s bringing hot wings.”

  “Now we’re rocking.” Jean’s tone brightened. “Be there in ten minutes.”

  Josie tossed the phone onto the bed and rushed around the room getting dressed. It was girls’ night, and along with Jean, Lincoln’s mom and Casey were coming over, plus Harper Bailey and Shelly Holmes. The women were cousins that Josie had attended elementary through high school with. Harper was the only woman in Morganville who’d ever turned Rafferty down flat when he’d asked her out. That made her somewhat of a legend among the single women.

  She dried her hair and quickly put it in a braid, then texted Lincoln. You kind of have to be present for the breakup. Try again?

  The response came back. Getting tux fit.

  She texted back. Relax. The proposal wasn’t real.

  Funny. For my sister’s wedding.

  Keep it for our wedding. Save money. She included a laughing emoticon, then put her phone down. She was going to play it cool and act like nothing had changed between them. Like she hadn’t lain awake half the night thinking about him with her heart squeezing painfully. Like she didn’t know that her old crush was very much alive and well and on its way to growing into something that was sure to get her heart broken.

  The doorbell rang and she hurried to open it. Within minutes, her living room was filled with her friends. She went back and forth making sure everyone had a beverage.

  Casey joined in to help. “So what are the details about the proposal?”

  “The proposal is as fake as me being Lincoln’s girlfriend. I think it’s starting to bother your brother because he blew me off at the diner this morning.”

  Casey paused in the middle of setting out napkins. “That’s Lincoln. Something probably came up and he didn’t have time to explain.”

  “He was freaking out thinking that he’s going to land a wife if he’s not careful.” Josie mimed reeling a fish in.

  Casey laughed.

  The doorbell rang again, and Josie did a quick glance over the living room. Everyone who was supposed to show was already here. Excusing herself, she opened the door, surprised to see Lincoln on the porch.

  “Got a second?”

  “Sure.” She stepped outside, wrapping her arms around herself, feeling the coldness from the weather and the coldness from the fear of what was about to happen between them. There was only one reason why Lincoln would show up. He wanted to go ahead and get the breakup over with. Telling herself she should be glad that everything was about to end, she moved away from the porch.

  Lincoln walked beside her until they reached his truck parked behind her car in the driveway. She shivered, and he whipped his jacket off and placed it across her shoulders. “Did you come to breakup?” Say it and let’s get it over with.

  Lincoln looked sheepish. “Actually, no. Martin Hernandez, the councilman I’ve been speaking with, and his wife invited us for dinner the day after tomorrow. He said he wanted to talk to both of us, so it’s a couple’s thing. I can’t go alone.”

  Josie put a hand on her forehead. “Are we ever going to break up?”

  Lincoln frowned as he leaned back against his truck. “Relax. It’ll happen.”

  “I know one thing for sure. No more lies after this. I’m going to walk the straight and narrow for the rest of my life.”

  “That’s probably smart. So, can you make it?”

  “Of course.” If he needed her, she’d be there. She just wished it wasn’t all fake. She’d never regretted lying more. At this rate, they were going to end up in a fake marriage, and she wasn’t sure how much more her heart could handle. She pulled his jacket off and passed it back.

  “Thanks.” He straightened, then cupped her face with one hand and kissed her.

  Lips still tingling, she asked, “Someone was watching?”

  His dark eyes were hooded as he looked back at her. “Yes.” He walked around the front of his truck.

  “After we have that dinner you owe me a breakup,” Josie called after him.

  Lincoln gave her a thumbs-up and climbed into his truck.

  Two platters of hot wings and three bottles of wine later, Shelly stood up from the sofa and announced, “I’m getting married.” She held her hands up when the chorus of congratulations started. “As soon as I find the right guy.” She collapsed back onto the cushion as everyone laughed.

  Josie nudged Harper’s shoe. “Harper is marrying Rafferty.”

  Harper made a face at the teasing. “He’d be too hard to housebreak.”

  Beverly laughed. “Rafferty’s always been my wildest son. He was the one who removed the M from the Morganville town limit sign when he was in high school.”

  Casey laughed. “I remember everyone taking pictures and how mad the former mayor was about it all.”

  “I should marry Grayson,” Shelly mused, waving her hands in a pronounced flourish. “He’s a doctor. My mother would be over the moon.”

  “I would welcome you into the family, dear,” Beverly said.

  Seeing her chance to hint that a breakup was coming, Josie said, “I don’t know if Lincoln and I will end up actually making it down the aisle.”

  A shocked silence filled the room and Josie ducked her head. She hated disappointing them, but what else could she do? It wasn’t like they could actually marry. At least Lincoln would be happy to discover that she was laying the foundation for them to split.

  “Oh honey. What’s going on?” Beverly came to sit beside Josie.

  Josie lifted her shoulders in a shrug, trying to think of what she could say and decided to stick with the truth. “Lincoln is hard to read emotionally sometimes. That proposal was a spur of the moment deal and only happened because the lead singer accidentally brought the wrong woman onto the stage. He didn’t intend to propose at that time.” Or ever. She stopped talking when Jean cringed and exchanged a look with Beverly.

  “He may not have intended to propose at that moment, but he would have eventually,” Jean said.

  “I don’t think so.” Josie took a breath to continue trying to unravel her and Lincoln’s togetherness.

  Shelly butted in before she could weave her tale. “Then why did he propose at all?”

  “For me. Because he’s such a great guy. I was standing there, about to be humiliated beyond measure. Lincoln rushed to the rescue like always. It was a pity proposal.” She caught Casey’s eye.

  “So you’re saying your relationship probably isn’t going to make it,” Casey said. Josie was grateful to her friend for trying to help her out.

  “Right. I doubt we will.”

  “You and Lincoln have been friends forever,” Shelly said.

  “Sometimes friends mistake friendship feelings for love,” Josie said carefully.

  Everyone started talking at once and Beverly let out the shrill whistle Josie had heard her use countless times to get her sons’ attention. “We’re going out.”

  Thinking it was the wine taking over, Josie said, “It’s cold. Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Grab jackets and flashlights, everyone.”

  They all scrambled to get outside and after Josie locked up, Harper said, “I haven’t been drinking. I’ll drive.”

  The women climbed into the minivan that belonged to Harper’s mother. It was painted a
brilliant pink with a huge Cinderella tiara fixed to the roof. The sign on the side of the vehicle announced that it was the princess coach for Fairy Tales, the wedding and amusement castle that Harper’s family owned just across the county line.

  Josie looked at Beverly sitting beside her in the middle seat. “Where to?”

  “We’re going to the woods. So take Old Fountain Road until you come to a little dirt path. Once we get there, we’ll have to walk in the rest of the way.”

  Jean snapped her fingers. “I know what’s out there.” She shook her head, refusing to answer when everyone tried to get her to say what it was.

  Shelly turned the radio on and the women sang along to the latest pop hit before Harper switched it to country and they sang along to that, too. They drove past the lingerie shop, the stationery store, and the fabric shop. When they turned onto a side road, Josie put her hand on the back of the front seat to brace herself against the bumps in the road.

  “Are you nervous with the big day drawing closer?” Josie asked Casey.

  “Not at all. I feel like I’ve been waiting to marry Kent forever.”

  Josie smiled, glad for her friend’s happiness, even though it made her own yearning for someone to love her and build a family with harder to bear. Someone like Lincoln. Realizing what she’d thought, Josie put a hand against her stomach. There was no use denying it anymore. She wanted more than just friendship from Lincoln. But with his aversion to relationships, he’d never think of her in the same light. If he’d ever seen her as relationship material, he would have made a move long before now. Not to mention, she was nothing like his usual type—stunningly gorgeous.

  After a short ride, Harper pulled onto the side of the road. “Granny, are you sure you’re going to be able to walk through the woods? Some of the terrain is rough.”

  “Keep calling me granny, girl, and I’m cutting you out of the will,” Jean said.

  Harper laughed.

  Beverly opened the door and stepped out first. She switched on her flashlight. As soon as Josie joined her, she said, “There’s something in the woods that I want you to see.”

  “I’m not going in there. The cute, young blonde always gets picked off first.” Shelly shivered.