by Karen Anders
“You are edgy.” Sienna bumped her with her shoulder. “Still no luck with Sean?”
“I seduced him in the shower after the fire.” It sounded so mild and uneventful when she said it that way, when it was anything but.
“No wonder you’re out here then. After my first time with A.J., I could have jumped to the moon.”
“It was incredible,” Lana said.
Sienna looked at her and smiled. “You’ve had a crush on him for as long as I’ve known you. It’s good to hear that it was everything you wanted it to be.”
Lana took another drink, feeling pleasantly jazzed from her run. “I have to say that it was hard to work with him after that. I wanted to find a quiet place and kiss him.”
Sienna shook her head and took a drink from her own bottle. “I hear you. It was hard to keep my hands off A.J. when we were working, but I kept thinking be a professional. Must be hard for him, too. Surely you must know how much he adores you.”
“What?”
Sienna rolled her eyes. “Lana, I can see it every time he looks at you.”
“It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything, so I’m glad he adores me. So, what’s up with Kate? Has she had any luck with St. James?” Lana asked.
“No, but it hasn’t been for lack of trying. I say we bring out the big guns and do her a makeover.” Sienna pulled out her cell phone and dialed. “Hi, Kate. Can you get off work early?” She paused for Kate’s answer then said, “Good. How about Lana and I pick you up in about an hour and we’ll grab a chili dog downtown and then shop until we drop.” Another pause. “That’s right. It’s time to make St. James sit up and beg.” Lana could hear the squealing on the other end of the phone when Sienna drew it away from her ear.
Sienna and Lana grinned at each other. Sienna flipped the phone closed. Lana said, “I’ll race you. First one to the bottom gets a free chili dog.”
Lana made it to the bottom first and jumped around like she’d won the New York Marathon, yelling she was number one.
As they walked to their cars, Sienna said, “I’m glad you had a good time with Sean. I’ll meet you at Kate’s apartment in an hour.”
Lana gave her a thumbs-up and went to her house to shower. Well, actually, it was technically a bungalow that Lana had inherited from her maternal grandmother.
Her house was in great disarray because she was in the process of remodeling the whole structure while maintaining some of the old architecture, like the original leaded windows. She was proud of the finished wraparound porch that adhered to 1920 standards.
Lana went into her room and changed into a denim skirt and a SDFD T-shirt. Back in her car she drove to Kate’s downtown apartment. When she got there, Sienna pulled up. Lana got out of her car and approached her friend, just as Kate emerged from her apartment to the sidewalk. After a few moments of debating who was going to drive, Sienna volunteered and they piled into her car to drive the few miles downtown.
They parked and got out, making their way through the end of the day crowds to their favorite hot dog stand. After getting the dogs, they strolled toward the trendy shops, glancing in the windows, hoping that something caught their eye.
Kate sighed, picking at the cheese on her overstuffed hot dog. “So, it sounds like you had a really good time with Sean. The fire station showers. I don’t think I could beat that.”
“After we get through with you, there’s no telling where you guys will do it. On his desk,” Lana said, smiling wickedly. She took a bite out of her equally overstuffed dog, feeling guilty that she’d forgotten to ask Sean for her women-who-dare souvenir. She’d have to make a point of getting one from him. Easygoing Sean would probably chuckle and hand something over without a fuss.
“Wow,” Kate said fanning herself. “That’s a powerful fantasy. Don’t give me ideas.” Kate rolled her eyes. “Except the man is always on the move and hard to pin down. I don’t think he knows I’m alive. He only grunts when I hand him a file as if he’s too busy to lift his head. Do you think he’s angry at me for the DNA case he thinks I botched?”
“Jericho strikes me as the kind of man who gets even, not angry,” Lana said ruefully.
“That’s a comforting thought, Lana. Thank you.”
“All I’m saying is that if Jericho wants something, he goes after it. The man is intense city. I’d have him in a headlock after a few minutes of working with him.”
“He’s also handsome as sin, muscled to perfection, and smells heavenly,” Kate said dreamily.
“You need to make your move, Kate,” Sienna suggested, polishing off her dog.
“Tell me about it,” Kate said.
Lana stopped in front of a boutique. “How about this little red number. Va-va-voom. It should get St. James’s engine running.”
“Why don’t you try it on, Kate,” Sienna said as she and Lana grabbed Kate’s arm and dragged her inside the shop.
They found Kate’s size and after trying on the dress Kate came out of the dressing room.
“Yowza. You’ll knock his socks off, Kate. You look great in that,” Lana said, admiring the scooped neckline and the wraparound style. Kate had such a perfect little body, but she hid it under conservative clothes and her white lab coat.
“I don’t know. Do you think it might be too much for court?” Kate said, looking at herself in the full-length mirror, turning to get a view of the back.
“No. It’s beautiful and would be perfect for court,” Sienna said. “I’d wear it. It commands attention and looks professional, too.”
“It’s expensive,” Kate stated, looking at the price tag.
“It’s worth it. I’d love to see St. James’s face when he sees you in that,” Sienna said.
“You’re getting it,” Lana said. “When’s your next court date?”
“Next week.”
“Good.” Lana walked up to her and put her hands on her shoulders. “Now the next thing to go is your glasses. How do you feel about contact lenses?”
“Actually I’ve already scheduled laser surgery, so that I don’t need corrective lenses at all.”
Lana looked at Sienna and they grinned at each other. “Now the hair,” Sienna said as she undid the pins that held Kate’s hair in a tight bun. It cascaded all the way past her butt.
“He doesn’t stand a chance,” Lana said, turning her very attractive friend back toward the full-length mirror. “You’ll have him at your mercy in no time.”
AFTER HER SHOPPING EXCURSION, Lana gave Kate the evidence bag and asked her to analyze the soil inside for accelerants. Before heading home, Lana stopped at the store and picked up milk, eggs and a few other staples. Back in the car, she drove to her father’s house.
Her father was a former San Diego firefighter who had been disabled twenty years ago when he’d fallen through a floor and messed up his knee. Unable to continue as a firefighter, he’d gone on permanent disability. The injury cut his career short and ended a three-generation tradition of Dempsey men who’d become captain.
But as Lana was told over and over again by her grandfather and father, she would redeem that time-honored tradition and restore the family’s pride. She had had to. When her brother decided that he wanted to be a park ranger after he saw the public service announcements for Smokey the Bear, Lana was the one her father turned to since her brother had lost interest in firefighting at a young age.
Lana parked her car in the driveway, admiring the beautiful array of flowers that she’d planted for him two weeks ago. It looked like he was keeping up with the watering.
She didn’t bother to knock as she opened the front door and made her way to the kitchen.
“Lana? That you?”
Lana set the groceries on the counter and started to unpack the bag. “I brought you a few things,” she yelled.
He ambled into the kitchen and leaned against the doorjamb. “You didn’t have to do that, you know. I’m mobile.”
Working at keeping her patience, she
said, “I know you are, Dad. I was at the store and I know you don’t always keep track of what’s in the fridge.”
He folded his arms across his chest and gave her a wry look. Clearing his throat, he asked, “So, are you all set for the lieutenant’s exam?”
“Dad, do we have to talk about the damn exam again? I’m ready to take it.” This time she couldn’t keep the emotion out of her voice. Although she’d wanted to become captain since she was a little girl, recently she’d been on edge about the exam and not sure why.
“There’s no need to curse, Lana. You know how much this means to your grandfather and to me. We’re very proud of you. The eighty-second has had a Dempsey heading it up since the fire department’s inception. They need smart women like you in a leadership position. You have the potential to achieve a pinnacle that was denied me. Your mother, God rest her soul, would be so proud of you.”
She closed her eyes, praying for more patience to deal with her father. “I appreciate your confidence in my abilities. Now, did you eat today?”
AFTER PREPARING HER FATHER a good meal of steak, potatoes and a salad, they had a pleasant time talking about her sister Paige, who was doing very well in her business and would be marrying FBI agent Justin Connor next year. Her brother Alex excelled as a Park Ranger at a Northern California park and had just been in the paper recently for saving a kayaker on the river.
When she left his house, she was feeling restless. She decided to head over to Mahoney’s for a quick beer and some conversation. She could always depend on some of her friends being there.
She couldn’t regret what she’d shared with Sean. Never that. She knew that she wanted him from the moment she’d laid eyes on him, but did he feel the same?
MAHONEY’S WAS THE PLACE people went to get away from everyday stress. Although food was served, it was a bar and didn’t try to hide it. Sean loved the atmosphere where yuppies mingled with leather-clad bikers and pierced punkers.
Although busy and crowded, the noise didn’t affect Sean. He was too busy thinking about Lana Dempsey.
It had been much easier on Sean when he could pretend that Lana was nothing more than a friend. He’d hung out with her, drank with her, played pool with her and worked with her. Now, after that steamy time in the shower he couldn’t stop thinking about her. He realized that he’d never stopped thinking about her since he’d first met her.
He’d just been kidding himself.
In denial.
In fact, he’d never admit this to her, but he had protective instincts where she was concerned. When they had first started working together, he’d watched out for her, but it was soon evident that Lana did her job and did it well. In addition to having the hots for her, she was one hell of a good firefighter.
She was also one hell of a good friend, he reminded himself again. In fact, if it hadn’t been for her, he didn’t think he’d be a firefighter today.
Oh, he hadn’t had a problem with attending lectures or the fire scene simulations. The couple and uncoupling of hoses, naming extinguishers and their specific uses was a piece of cake. He excelled with the learning and use of the Chicago door opener and the ten-pound maul.
But the word ladder made him break out in a cold sweat. He’d never admitted it to her in the six years they’d been friends, but he was afraid of heights. Not in a paralyzing way, but enough that it caused him difficulty in some maneuvers for his job.
There was no such thing as mundane as a ladder in the fire department. There were two-person ladders, hydraulic ladders and even a three-hundred-and-fifty-pound ladder that required six people to lift and place. At least all these ladders afforded him hand and footholds and the semblance of safety.
Not the case with a pompier. Deemed too dangerous for use in everyday firefighting, the brass didn’t bat an eyelash when it came to ordering recruits to climb the fourteen-foot-long pieces of wood with small handles that ran up either side of the dinosaurlike vertebrae to test their mettle.
The first day they were introduced to the pompier, he’d had a panic attack. Yet, regardless of the fear, Sean was determined he would get through the maneuvers. He remembered Lana and he stood side-by-side to begin the exercise. They were to flip the top of the pompier to the sill of the window above and when it caught, they had to climb.
The muscling of the pompier into place against a seven-story building wasn’t a problem for him, but when he looked way up, he felt his stomach flip. It was then that Lana turned to him and said, “I’ll race you.”
The fierce competitive look on her face gave him the momentum to grab the handles and begin to climb, but he wasn’t prepared for the way the threadlike frame bent and swayed.
He’d felt bile rise when he heard the creak and groan of the windowsill above, the only thing that held him aloft. But it was only the beginning.
At the sixth window, their trainer yelled, “Belt yourself to the ladder.”
With slick hands, he did as he was told, but he froze when the command came.
“Lean back.”
Sean knew he was going to lose it right then and there, but he’d glanced over at Lana. She was leaning out with her arms wide as if she was on a cross. She had a rapturous look on her face as if it was the most wonderful experience in the world.
He swallowed his fear and leaned slowly away from the safety of the building, feeling as if any moment the earth would rush up to greet him. Sweating and cursing under his breath, he opened his arms and hung there suspended with his eyes closed, keeping that image of Lana’s face in his mind until they were told to come back down.
He thought about going over to her house. He loved Lana’s house from the light green paint he’d help put on the new siding to the porch she’d lovingly restored. But he especially loved the riot of flowers that gave the bungalow an English garden feel to it. It would be a nice place to come home to.
Sean lived in a boring apartment on the twenty-third floor. It had a great view, but definitely lacked the cozy feeling of Lana’s place.
He had no doubt she would open the door with a smile and a greeting.
So why were his palms sweaty and his heart pounding as he thought about walking up to her bungalow to drop in on her unannounced?
The unexpected sight of her sidling up to the bar and ordering a beer made him forget all about flowers, porches and paint. Sean marveled how she was able to take his breath away. Even with soot on her face, helmet hair and the scent of smoke about her, she looked beautiful to him.
He got up from the table he was sitting at and made his way over to the bar.
“Hey,” he said by way of greeting.
When he tried to look in her eyes, she was turning away to grab her purse to pay for the beer. For a moment, he wondered if she was shy around him now that they’d been intimate or was she as confused about how to act around him as he was about how to act around her.
He covered her hand as she pulled out her wallet. “I got it, Lana.”
She looked up at him and down at his hand, her eyes telling him that she liked his touch. His doubts dissipated along with the fear that had settled in his abdomen.
“Thanks, O’Neill. Did you get the lawn mowed?”
“No, I have to run into town tomorrow and replace the mower blade. You’d think that Riley would notice the thing’s rusted.”
“If you made him take responsibility instead of always saying yes to his demands, he might.”
Sean shifted, knowing she was right, but in the past doing favors for his family hadn’t been a big deal.
Lana eyed him and continued, “But Riley’s surf crazy and you know it. He’s good, Sean. Has he thought about going pro?”
“Don’t encourage him. That’s all he ever talks about.”
Lana took a sip of her beer and Sean studied her face. “Where have you been? You’re glowing with that smug look that tells me you’ve been up to no good.”
Lana flashed him a wicked grin. “I have been. Sienna, Kate and I were on
a mission of utmost importance.”
“That sounds ominous. What are you three up to?”
“Oh, only a shopping excursion to buy something to snag a special man Kate is trying to entice.”
“Who’s the poor sap?”
“Jericho St. James.”
“The prosecutor and Kate? Mmm. St. James is too intense.”
“Are you saying that Kate can’t handle him?”
“She’s so sweet. If he hurt her, I’d hate to get arrested for punching out the prosecutor.”
“Oh, Sean. Always the big brother.”
“Not always,” he said softly close to her ear. He smiled when he felt her tremble.
She took a big breath. “So what do you say about another beer and a game of pool?”
“Sounds good. I’ll get the beer, you go rack up a table.”
He was relieved that their relationship seemed as easy and effortless as always.
They took a table near the back of the bar. Sean was hoping that no one from the station would come in. He selfishly wanted the time with Lana.
Lana had already racked up the balls and he set the beer down at a nearby table.
“Want me to break?” she asked, picking up her mug and taking a swallow.
“Sure go ahead.”
Lana was a good pool player, and although he was a better player, he always let her win.
The break scattered the balls across the table. She called her first shot. “Nine ball in the corner pocket.”
Sean watched as she did a good job. When it was his turn, he took two shots and botched the third.
She smiled and slapped him on the bottom as she passed. Caught off guard, he turned to look at her.
“What’s the matter, O’Neill?”
“Keep it up, Dempsey.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. “I will.”
They played until the last of the solid balls were gone. She did a good job of beating him. He didn’t much care about that. He just liked being with her. Then she sank the eight ball with a pretty impressive shot.
He came up to her and gave her a high-five. “You’ve been practicing.”