Ignite

by Karen Erickson

  “So what should I do now?” Harper asked, lowering her voice. She didn’t want West and Lane to overhear them. They were nearby, but not close enough to hear their murmured conversation.

  “Do about what?”

  Rolling her eyes, Harper tipped her head in West’s direction.

  “Ah.” Delilah nodded, lowering her voice as well. “You act like you don’t want to talk to him.”

  She knew she was supposed to play the nonchalant card, but he was right there. They were in the same room, he came over to talk to her, and now she was supposed to pretend he didn’t exist?

  “I’m not much of a game player,” she admitted.

  Delilah raised one dark brow. “Clearly.”

  “Right. And your game-playing skills have gotten you so far.”

  Delilah remained quiet for so long that Harper gave up on their conversation and started to eat her breakfast in earnest. Focusing on her food versus the man who sat nearby. She could practically feel his gaze on her.

  Don’t look. Don’t look. Don’t look!

  She didn’t. And she was so proud of herself it was almost ridiculous.

  “He’s staring at you,” Delilah finally said minutes later. “Like he couldn’t care less if you know he’s watching you or not.”

  “Really?” Hope filled her but she told herself to get over it. She was being foolish.

  “Oh yeah.” Delilah smiled. “He’s looking at you like he wants to eat you whole.”

  Harper gave up on her breakfast and tossed her napkin on the table beside her almost finished plate. “I’m going to the restroom,” she told Delilah as she stood. “Be right back.”

  The restaurant was so old and out of date the restrooms were outside. Harper headed through the side door and into the chilly women’s bathroom, handling her business quick before she washed her hands, scrubbing extra hard with the harsh hand soap to get the bacon stench out of her skin. She loved breakfast, but the scent always lingered on her clothes and skin long after she ate.

  Pushing open the door, she stopped short when she found West standing there, waiting for her. His hands rested on his hips, the breeze ruffling his hair, making him look extra attractive, and she tried to fight the erratic beating of her heart at seeing him waiting for her. Little ol’, unimportant her. But it was too late.

  Her heart had taken off at an extraordinary speed, making it hard for her to speak, typical behavior for her whenever she was in West’s presence.

  She really needed to get over that.

  Chapter Eleven

  WEST COULDN’T FREAKING take it anymore. He’d sat patiently with his brother and pretended to engage in conversation, all the while keeping an eye on the beautiful woman who sat at a different table. The very woman he’d been inside of last night. The one who’d clutched him close when she came, who’d walked out on him when it was all over like she didn’t give a shit about him or what they’d just done.

  It had driven him crazy. He’d hardly slept last night. When Lane texted at the butt crack of dawn that he wanted to grab breakfast before he started his shift for the day, West had jumped all over it, needing the distraction.

  And there she appeared, the very distraction he wanted to forget about sitting in a booth with Delilah, beautiful in her well-fucked, blissed-out state thanks to him. For the first time since he could remember, he thanked God above for living in a small town. It gave him more opportunities to see Harper.

  When she got up to use the bathroom and he started to stand, Lane gave him a withering look that stopped him in his tracks. “What?”

  “Are you going to chase after her?”

  “Hell, yes.” He’d mentioned briefly what happened between him and Harper last night to Lane.

  “Do you really want to seem that eager?” Lane asked.

  “I really don’t care.” He rose from his chair and strode across the restaurant, ignoring Delilah’s watchful eyes as he passed.

  She had to know. Had Harper really given her all the dirty details about what happened? Christ, he hoped not. He didn’t need his old ex knowing how he performed sexually. Not that they’d ever actually had sex . . .

  West wiped a hand across his face as he pushed open the side door that led to the outside bathrooms. He really hated the interlocking relationships that happened between his family and friends. They were like a freaking reality television show gone straight to hell.

  He paced outside the two restroom doors labeled Men and Women as he waited for her, his mind racing. What if Harper had told Delilah everything? Did that mean he couldn’t trust her to be discreet? He didn’t want to keep what happened last night a secret, but he wanted to keep it quiet for a little while at least. Once everyone found out they were seeing each other—that sounded a lot nicer than fucking around—it would become the talk of the town.

  Gossip—that was the one bad thing about living in a small town.

  The women’s bathroom door finally creaked open, Harper stopping short when she saw him standing there. He stopped pacing and she took a step toward him, the door slamming closed behind her. She smiled at him, the wind whipping strands of hair across her face.

  Damn. He wanted to haul her in close and kiss the hell out of her. Drag her back to his place, where they could spend the rest of the day naked. In his bed. “Seeing each other.”

  “Hi,” she said, her voice soft. “Um, are you waiting for me?”

  “Did you tell Delilah what happened?” He shoved his hands in his pockets, wishing for some damn self-control for once in his life. Why’d he have to go and blurt out his question like that?

  “She knows,” Harper admitted, making a cute little irritated face. “I didn’t give her many details, but . . . yeah.”

  He blew out a harsh breath and started pacing again. “Great. Hope she can keep her mouth shut.”

  “Does Lane know?” she asked.

  He stopped pacing, feeling like a jackass. “Well. Yeah.”

  “Then we’re even. Don’t worry about Delilah. She won’t say anything. She has her own secrets to keep.”

  Now his curiosity was piqued. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  “I can’t tell.” Harper shook her head, her pretty lips pulled tight.

  “Is it that she’s hot for my brother?” At the mildly horrified expression that crossed Harper’s face, West snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “I freaking knew it.”

  “Right? It’s so obvious!” She rushed toward him, her eyes dancing, like they were both in on a big secret. “Yet neither of them can see it.”

  “Exactly. And they won’t do anything about it either.” He touched her. He couldn’t resist, had been dying to do it since he first saw her. Pushing a wild strand of hair away from her face, he tucked it behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her skin. “You look pretty this morning, Harper.”

  “I’m still wearing my makeup from last night.” She pointed at her eyes, which were still rimmed with eyeliner. “I collapsed into bed once I got home and forgot to take it off.”

  “Slept all right?” She had the lightest smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He wanted to count them. With his lips.

  “Amazing.” She smiled. “Crazy what a night of sex does for you.”

  “So it was good?” What the hell? Had he turned into an insecure kid who needed constant reassuring that what they shared had been good enough for her? That she was satisfied? Yeah, she’d come two times so she better say she was satisfied.

  “You know it was good, but if you need to hear it again . . . ” She stepped even closer to him, settling her hands on his shoulders and rising on tiptoe so she could whisper in his ear. “It was really, really good last night, West. Like, the best I’ve ever had.”

  Smiling, he slipped his arm around her waist and dipped his head, pressing his mouth to her neck. Fuck, her smell was addictive. He couldn’t get enough of it. Couldn’t get enough of her. “I can give you more if you’d like.”

  She withdrew f
rom him, her hands dropping from his shoulders, regret etched all over her face. “Oh, I have to work today. Sorry.”

  Damn it, his arms felt empty without her in them. “How about later? After you’re done with work?”

  “I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I’m not sure how long it’s going to take for me to clean out that office. I’m determined to get it done in two weeks. Everyone who works at the BFD laughed at me when I said that, and I’m dying to prove them wrong.”

  He admired her determination, but he’d much prefer if she said screw it and came home with him instead. He had nothing planned today. The weather was nice, if a little warm, and there was a breeze. The makings of fire weather, though it was still too early in the summer to do any serious damage—or so he hoped. With the drought conditions, anything could happen. “It’s my last day off. I go back on shift tomorrow morning.”

  “Aw.” She frowned. “So I won’t see you for the next four days?”

  “Yep.” Unless she wanted to come by the station and hang out with him one evening? Maybe? Visitors were allowed though they had to understand that a call could come in at any time.

  But he didn’t make the offer. Bad enough what he’d said so far, looking totally desperate by trying to convince her to see him again.

  “Hmm.” She rested her hands on her hips, contemplating him. “Have you ever had sex in the shower, West?”

  Jesus, where did she come up with this shit? More like where did his sweet little Harper get the nerve to ask such bold questions? “Um, would you like to have sex in the shower, Harper?”

  She nodded, her smile blossoming, making his stomach get all jumpy. She looked at him like that and he wanted nothing more than to sling her over his shoulder and haul her off somewhere private. “I’ll probably be really dirty after digging around in my grandma’s office all day.”

  “I’m sure,” he drawled, smiling.

  “And I’ll need someone to get all those hard-to-reach places. You know the ones I’m talking about.” She went to him again, pressing a lingering kiss to his cheek. He turned his head at the last minute, their lips meeting, and he took the kiss deeper, sliding his tongue in her mouth, needing to get a taste of her. Just one. So he could have something to carry with him for the rest of the day. The memory of Harper’s lips. Harper’s smile. The way Harper felt in his arms.

  “Whatever you need me to do, I’m here for you,” he murmured against her lips after he broke the kiss. “Soap your back, wash your hair. I’m real good in a shower.”

  “I bet you are.” She withdrew from him again, smiling as she started to back away. “I should go back inside and check on Delilah. Make sure she hasn’t ditched me for Lane.”

  “Yeah right. Don’t know if that’s ever going to happen,” he teased.

  “Hey, you never know. I’m sure no one thought we could happen.”

  Before he could say anything in return she was gone, slipping back into the restaurant without a word. He waited a few minutes, checking his phone, studying the sky. There were big white thunderclouds forming around the nearby mountains that didn’t look good. Any thunder brought with it dangerous lightning and one strike could cause a raging fire high up in the mountains. Something he definitely didn’t want to deal with.

  Giving up the pretense of standing around outside, he reentered the restaurant and joined Lane at their table, where his breakfast was waiting for him. Lane was already mostly finished and he glared as West dived right in.

  “What did you do? Fuck her on the bathroom counter?” he asked snidely.

  West glared. “Shut the hell up.” A hesitation. “And for the record if I’m going to fuck a girl on a bathroom counter, I’m not choosing this place to do it. Plus, I can last longer than that.”

  “Right.” Lane snorted. “Excuse me for insulting your sexual skills, little brother.”

  “We shouldn’t even be having this conversation,” West muttered as he munched on a piece of bacon. He watched Harper out of the corner of his eye as the two women paid their bill and rose from their table, Delilah making her way toward them and Harper falling into step behind her.

  Nice. He was getting another chance to talk to Harper before she took off for the BFD. And he’d get another glimpse of Delilah flirting with the oblivious Lane. That shit was starting to become amusing.

  “Just wanted to say good-bye,” Delilah said, her gaze lingering on Lane in his uniform. West wouldn’t be surprised if her tongue lolled out of the side of her mouth. “You going into work, Lane?”

  “Yeah.” He wiped his mouth with his napkin and tossed it on top of his empty plate. “What are you up to today, Dee?”

  She didn’t even flinch when he called her by her old and much-hated nickname. That was a sure sign she was totally hung up on his big brother. “Nothing much. It’s my day off. I suppose I should go over to your sister’s place and check up on her.”

  “What’s wrong with Wren?” West asked, frowning.

  “Stomach bug. Said she was barfing last night.”

  Ew. He was avoiding his sister at all costs.

  After all, he had a shower-sex date later tonight. He didn’t want anything to ruin his chances at getting Harper naked again.

  HARPER TEXTED WEST right before she left the diner, going against her better judgment but deciding fairly quickly to hell with it. She may have started out playing games with West, what with the way she screwed and dashed last night, but tonight, she wasn’t in the mood for games. She wanted to see him. Take him up on his self-proclaimed shower skills and see if he was as good as he said. Her muscles ached and her back was sore from working in the office today. She was seriously looking forward to having his hands on her.

  Want to meet at your place around seven?

  She sent the text, chewing on her lower lip as she waited for a reply. But none came. Not immediately, not after five minutes, not after fifteen.

  Giving up, she hopped in her car and drove back to her grandma’s place, trying her best not to get mad.

  “What are you doing here?” Grandma asked the moment she walked in the house. “I thought you were going out tonight.”

  Frowning, Harper dumped her purse on the kitchen counter. She’d never told her grandma that. “I might go out later.”

  “Hmph.” Her grandma shook her head. “I sort of need you out of here tonight, Harp.”

  Harper frowned. She couldn’t remember the last time someone called her Harp. And she had a feeling her grandma had said it with a hint of irritation in her voice too. “Are you having company?” She braced herself for the answer.

  “As a matter of fact, I am. Maybe you should go visit your parents and see what they’re up to. I bet they’d love to have you over for dinner,” she suggested.

  Yeah right. More like they’d love to trap Harper at the dinner table and drill her about the reasons she’d broken it off with Roger. Forget that. She’d been avoiding her parents as much as possible since the relationship ended. She knew she couldn’t run away from her problems forever, but for now, she liked living in her protective little bubble.

  “I’ll dig up plans with someone,” she muttered as she went to her room, closing the door behind her.

  She glanced around the tiny guest room she was temporarily calling her own, wishing she had her own place. Not that she could afford anything by herself. She’d definitely need a roommate to survive on the money she was currently making. Delilah had offered her couch in her tiny one-bedroom apartment on the second floor of her dance studio, but Harper had declined. And Wren lived in a small, one-room cottage on the far edge of her parents’ property, close to the lake. She hadn’t even bothered offering Harper a place to crash because she knew Harper would say no.

  Considering how isolated Wren’s place was, it actually gave Harper the creeps anyway so . . . no thanks.

  She had her phone clutched in her hand, her gaze stuck on the screen as she silently demanded West to text her back.

  As if by magic, h
er phone lit up with a text message from him. But when she read it, the disappointment made her shoulders deflate.

  Sorry. Got called back to the station to cover. Can I get a rain check on that shower?

  Wow, there went her evening plans for real.

  Everything okay? Is there a big fire or something?

  Her phone buzzed in her hand.

  Yeah. Tate’s engine got called out on a strike team. Big fire near Sacramento. I’m stuck here covering. No days off in the foreseeable future.

  She pressed her lips together, staring at West’s text. Firefighters worked lots of overtime and during the summer months, the Cal Fire guys worked constantly.

  But West said he was at the station. He hadn’t been called out on a fire. So maybe . . .

  Want some company? Or are you not allowed visitors?

  Hitting Send before she chickened out was the only way to go. She sat on the edge of the bed and chewed on a fingernail while she waited for his reply. Where had her it’s-just-sex attitude gone?

  Right out the freaking window.

  Yeah you should stop by and see me. If you want. No shower time though.

  Harper smiled, liking how he added the if you want. Please. She so wanted. But she needed to play it cool. Not behave like an overeager slobbery dog.

  I could stop by for a little while I suppose.

  There. That was perfect. Making the offer but not saying please let me move in with you! That would just reek of desperation. And she didn’t want to move in with him. Despite the fact that he was living in her former home and she’d give anything to crash the spare bedroom there so she wouldn’t have to deal with her grandma kicking her out on a Saturday night so she could entertain her gentleman friend.

  Otherwise known as her grandma’s hookup. Yikes.

  Her phone dinged.

  You suppose? Sure it wouldn’t put you out to come all the way out here?

  The station was on the opposite end of town, but she was willing to drive all that way to spend a little quality time with West, even if it wasn’t private.

  I’m sure.

  She hesitated, then decided to go for it.