by Karen Anders
Embracing her, he gasped at the feeling of being turned inside out. Pressing his mouth against her temple, he closed his eyes, his pulse choppy and erratic. The feelings in his chest were almost too much to handle.
He drew a deep, shaky breath and pressed an impassioned kiss against her parted lips. The sweep of his tongue, slow and comforting as he softly stroked the angle of her jaw with his thumb. Taking a deep breath, he bracketed her face with his hands, shifting his weight so his hips settled deeper against her.
She spoke in a shaky whisper. “That was so amazing. It’s never been like this for me, Sean.”
He closed his eyes, emotion clogging in his throat. “Me, neither,” he said gruffly.
He rolled onto his back. After a moment, she placed her hand on his chest and he turned his face toward her.
“Before this goes any further, I have to tell you something.” Lana released her breath, her expression sober. She stared down at him, the faint light from the living room casting shadows on her face.
He looked into her pensive brown eyes and what he saw there made his heart lurch. Had he gone too far somehow, breached barriers that Lana hadn’t wanted him to breach? Was she going to tell him it was over?
“Sean, please remember that I did this in the heat of the moment before I thought….”
Sean experienced a rush of emotion. Suddenly, the light mood was totally gone, replaced by something foreboding. He’d wondered how long it would be before the bubble burst and reality would sweep in, and all this magic would disappear. “What is it, Lana?” he asked.
She stared at him for a second, something akin to fear flashing across her eyes, then regret. “I seduced you on a dare I have with Sienna and Kate.”
Feeling as if she’d pulled the ground out from under him, he stared at her. It was as if she’d peeled away some protective layer, leaving him without any defenses, and blood rushed to his ears.
“A dare?” he repeated stupidly. “For what?”
She swallowed. “A souvenir.”
“What kind of souvenir?”
“A sexy one.”
“I see. So this was only about sex?”
“Yes—I mean no. Let me explain.”
“You don’t have to.” He got off the bed, grabbed up his clothes and rushed to dress, almost putting out all the candles.
And he thought that she was treating him just like everybody else—good old Sean won’t mind. Well, he did mind. He minded a whole hell of a lot. No more, he thought as he threw on his clothes and splashed cold water on his face. He wasn’t going to be easygoing Sean anymore.
The scent of the room had been a sexual goad, now it was a painful reminder of his stupid idyllic dreams. It was only now he realized how deep his feelings for Lana went. Down to his heart.
When he returned to Lana, she was still sitting on the bed, draped in nothing but the sheet. Her body was a combination of sleek strength and womanly curves.
“Sean, if you give me a moment to explain. We were at a club and we were drinking. Sienna walked in with this hunk and I dared her to go after him. Before I knew it, I had agreed to go after you.”
He drew his eyes from her and without another word, left the room.
The hurt sluiced through him as deep and as devastating as the pleasure had only a few moments before.
6
LANA SCRAMBLED OFF THE BED, the hurt look in his eyes arrowing straight to her heart. She grabbed at her clothes.
“Sean, wait!” she yelled. Pulling a shirt over her head and hopping into her jeans, she rushed for the door.
“Sean!” she cried. But he was already striding across her living room and the sound of the slamming door was his only response.
She closed her eyes and leaned against the jamb, her throat thick with emotions. Damn, damn and double damn. Why couldn’t he just stop and listen to her?
His car started, a loud angry noise in the still night. She made it to the window in just enough time to see his taillights disappear into the darkness.
For the first time since she met him, her world tilted out of kilter. The power of Sean’s friendship had kept her grounded. Unsettled by that thought, she regretted the cavalier way she’d treated this whole souvenir thing with him.
Okay, so she had initially thought he would chuckle and hand over a souvenir, but she’d obviously been wrong about his reaction.
Seriously wrong.
Reaching down, she snagged her phone and pressed number one on her speed dial—Sean’s cell. The phone rang, but he didn’t answer.
She hung up and then pressed two. Sienna’s sleepy voice came over the line, “’lo.”
“Sienna, it’s Lana.”
Her friend’s voice strengthened and she said, “What’s the matter?”
“Let me get Kate on three-way and I’ll explain. I only want to do this once,” Lana said.
When Kate answered, Lana began to launch into her explanation. But before she could get too far, Kate said, “I’m coming over there.”
Sienna said, “I’ll meet you there.”
Both women hung up before Lana could say a word.
They got to her house shortly after midnight, just fifteen minutes after she’d called them. When they came through the door, they hugged Lana in turn.
Comfortably ensconced on her couch, Sienna asked, “So tell us what happened?”
“Sean and I just had this mind-blowing sex. Afterward, I got to feeling guilty that I started a sexual relationship with Sean on a dare. I knew I had to tell him. I should have told him right up-front…”
“Why did you have to tell him at all and why in bed?” Sienna asked with a scolding tone.
“I agree that right after sex was a poor judgment call, but I wasn’t thinking. I just knew that I had to be honest with him. What if the information came out later and I hadn’t told him? How do you think he’d feel then?”
“Worse,” Kate said.
“Is he mad?” Sienna asked.
“I wish. I think I could deal with it better if he were. No, he’s hurt.”
“What are you going to do?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know. I have to, at the very least, apologize to him.” Lana cradled her head in her hands. “I’m worried he won’t want to be friends with me anymore. Why did I have to be so stupid? Nothing is ever as simple as it seems.”
Kate leaned forward and squeezed Lana’s arm. “If Sean really cares for you, he’ll forgive you. You might have to grovel, but it would be worth it. Right?”
“Yes. Anything to change that awful look in his eyes,” Lana agreed.
“Are you in love with him?” Sienna asked point-blank.
“We’ve been friends since the academy.” Lana realized that she hadn’t really thought about it.
“What kind of answer is that?” Sienna said.
“What’s wrong with that answer?”
“You didn’t answer her question,” Kate said gently.
Lana sighed. “Sean and I are friends. It’s really all we can be.”
“Is that all you want?” Kate said.
“I don’t know. I’m on the fast track to captain and Sean is a squad member. There could be complications from that. I can’t let anything stand in the way of my dream. It’s what I’ve always wanted.”
Sienna sat forward. “Is it so black and white?”
“Sounds clear cut to me,” Lana said. “Look, you guys better get out of here. I could talk to you all night, but you both have to work. I’m off tomorrow.”
“Yes, you have a dream schedule, but a tough job,” Kate said.
“I’d do this job for free,” Lana said.
“Kate, before you go, I wanted to give you this.” Lana stepped over to her purse and pulled out the evidence bag. “Here’s the sample we talked about.”
Kate took the bag as she rose from the couch. “I can’t do this for you until the end of the day tomorrow.”
“That’s okay. I appreciate you doing it for me at all.�
�
Kate grabbed Lana’s hand before she could withdraw it. “What happened to your hands?” Kate demanded, alarm in her voice.
“When I was gathering this evidence, someone shoved me down in the dirt. When I got back to my car, my tires were slashed.”
Sienna rose from the couch. Eyeing Lana, she straightened. Her face was flushed and there was a furious glint in her eye. “Who do you think it was?”
“Bryant was there, but I can’t prove he shoved me. The guy caught me from behind.”
“But who do you think it was?” Sienna persisted.
“I think it was Bryant.”
“Why do you think it was him?” Sienna asked.
“He whispered, ‘Mind your own business, bitch.”’
“Sure sounds like him,” Kate said, looking worried. “You need to be more careful.”
Sienna’s eyes narrowed, her voice tough as steel, “Want me to pay him a visit?”
Lana smiled. “No, I can handle Bryant and from now on I’ll be more careful.”
“You’re still going to pursue this?” Sienna asked.
“I have to because Bryant doesn’t believe it’s a serial arsonist and I do.”
“Okay, but if you need me, let me know. Be careful.”
“I will.”
Sienna opened the front door and stepped through, but Kate hesitated at the doorway. She put her hand on Lana’s arm.
“Friends are friends,” Kate said with a small smile. “Sometimes they fight and get mad at each other, but make up. It’ll be fine.”
“I hope so. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Sean.”
“Did you think about why he reacted this way? He must have pretty strong feelings for you.”
Kate squeezed her arm and turned toward the porch. She stepped out and Lana watched as she got into her car.
She had been preoccupied with thinking about Sean’s obvious hurt and not why he was hurt. They were good friends and she should have taken that into consideration before she’d gone ahead and seduced him. Although Sean was her friend, their relationship had been volatile from the beginning. She’d always been attracted to him, but now she was just realizing that maybe Sean hadn’t explored his feelings for her.
Then she’d blindsided him.
Unsettled by the emotion, confused by her own feelings, Lana headed back to her room. There was one consolation in that Sean was just as confused as she was. Maybe he needed time to work through it by himself. Once he did that, they could go back to normal.
Whatever that was.
LANA TRIED TO GET SEAN on the phone all the next day while she picked up her dry cleaning, cleaned her house, and washed her car, but he wasn’t picking up.
The truth of the matter was that before she had seduced Sean in the shower, they’d tiptoed around each other, careful never to acknowledge the sexual tension that crackled whenever they were close. Did they each sense that it would complicate their lives, their working relationship, and their friendship. That didn’t take much brain power. Of course, they did.
Lana finally gave up at about six o’clock and decided a game of pool, conversation and a cold beer would sit well with her. She knew she could always get some action from the guys at Mahoney’s. Fire-fighters had made that bar their home away from home along with the boys and girls in blue.
The bar was dim, crowded and very noisy. Lana stood in the doorway giving her eyes time to adjust and looking for people she knew. Spying some people in the corner, she wound her way through the maze of tables.
Lana slapped a man on the back when she reached the table. He turned his head and gave her a full grin.
“Hey, Dempsey, good to see you.”
Scott Mason had been one of her father’s probie’s when he’d been at the eighty-second. He was now in his forties and a veteran firefighter.
His wife Susan smiled at Lana and moved over to make room for Lana to sit down at the crowded table.
Also at the table was SDPD patrol cop Rosa Santana, a six-foot formidable Hispanic Amazon. Her burly boyfriend firefighter, Steven Anderson, a wet behind the ears probie at the eighty-second sat next to her. Although he was young and eager, he was also very good.
And Pete Meadows sat at the end of the table, rounding out the party at six people. He smiled at Lana and raised his bottle.
Steven eyed Lana and smiled. “Heard you pulled O’Neill and two victims out of Monday’s four-alarm. Went through a wall to get them out. Would have liked to been on duty when that alarm came through.”
“It was hairy there for a while, but we got everyone out.”
“Always good when you save all the victims,” Steven said.
Pete piped in. “Yeah the sparks were flying around the fire ground, but it was nothing compared to the fireworks between Dempsey and Bryant.”
Scott turned to Lana, “Don’t tell me you were trying to tell the know-it-all SOB anything. Waste of breath, Lana.”
Pete chuckled, and Rosa leaned her arms on the table. “Don’t let them give you a hard time. They’re just afraid of Bryant’s legendary temper.” She pointed at Pete, “Get her a beer since you brought it up. Sounds like she deserves it.”
Susan Mason raised her empty bottle and moved it from side to side. “You owe me one, too. You passed out before your round last time.”
Her husband leaned forward and slapped a twenty-dollar bill on the table. He looked at Lana, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. “Her beer is on me. I would have given my eyeteeth to see Dempsey standing up to Bryant.”
Smiling into his eyes, she tilted her head. “I call them like I see them and Bryant was wrong.”
“Oooooh,” the three firefighters said in unison.
Steven said, “Telling Bryant he was wrong. I wished I’d been on duty.” Steven threw in a twenty. “Her next one is on me.”
Susan laughed and applauded. “That is rich. Taking potshots at Bryant’s ego. That must have hurt,” she said, her eyes bright with delight. “That guy has an ego to rival Napoleon.” She looked at Lana, raising her empty bottle in salute. “Congratulations, Lana. About time someone put him in his place.”
Lana cocked her head, her expression wry. “It was definitely my pleasure.”
The waitress came over and soon after that Lana had a beer in front of her.
“We were just going to play some pool. Check out these new tables Tim put in. You up for it?” Steven asked.
He downed the rest of his beer, and then gave Lana a light jab in the shoulder. “Come on. It’ll be quieter in there.”
When they got to the back, Steven was right. It was much quieter in there. Five of the six gleaming pool tables were already in use. Lana’s group claimed the sixth one. She studied the tables as she passed. Standard billiards tables, but they were high quality. Looks like Tim didn’t spare any expense.
The memory of the endless games of pool she’d shared with Sean made her throat tight. Although he wouldn’t admit it, she knew he went easy on her. If Sean wasn’t such a nice guy, he could have made scads of money as a pool shark.
Rosa didn’t want to play, so Lana sat at the table with her, watching the men. After two games, Pete came over to her and leaned toward her. “Don’t you want to play, Lana?”
She looked up into Pete’s face and smiled at the mischievous grin there. Then her smile faded when she saw Sean standing in the doorway to the pool tables. His gaze riveted to the intimate proximity of Pete’s body.
God, he was attractive. Strong, male and capable. So sexy in his tight black shirt and painted-on denim jeans, black cowboy boots on his feet.
His hair was brushed off his face in short, haphazard waves.
Scott called out to Sean. Sean’s attention diverted from her and Pete as he waved and greeted Scott. But his gaze barely shifted from her, as he walked toward them. Sean stood in front of Pete and said, “Could I have a word with you, Lana.”
“O’Neill,” Pete said, “She’s talking to me right now.”
&nb
sp; “I wasn’t talking to you, Meadows.” The tone of Sean’s voice had the keen edge to it. The chatter between the two men at the pool table ceased as they watched the standoff.
Pete backed up. “Okay, O’Neill. You don’t have to get so uptight.”
Irritation and heat at Sean’s obvious jealousy jetted through her.
Pete retreated and went to the pool tables and conversation started up again.
Sean leaned down until he was very close to her ear. “Looking to get yourself another souvenir?”
Lana stiffened and anger simmered in her gut. Sean withdrew and nodded to Rosa. Picking up Lana’s bottle of beer, he took a swig.
She watched as he swallowed, his lips moist from the brew. And she wanted to kiss him, wondering what he would do if she did just that in this crowded bar, in front of their friends. People who had no idea what had transpired between them in the last twenty-four hours.
“I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I got your messages. I was busy.”
“Sean, can I have a few words with you outside?”
“What for, Lana? We were both jerks. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Sean,” Lana said, rising from her chair and laying her hand on his forearm. Her fingers reacted on their own, curling around his hot, male flesh.
“You want to talk to me. I’ll play you for it.” He said, indicating a newly vacated table.
“Play me…pool?”
“Sure, why not? I think you like games, Lana.”
A nasty little flutter took off in Lana’s throat, and she felt the blood rush to her middle. It got unnaturally quiet in their corner, and she tried to swallow. She reached out and grabbed a cue. “Fine,” she said, her tone flat.
Sean walked over to the table and picked up a cue from the edge and chalked it; then he looked at her, not a trace of expression in his eyes. “Best two out of three.”
Still gripping the cue, she nodded. She had to talk to him tonight or his anger would fester and their friendship would be damaged. This was her one chance.
He stared at her for a good ten seconds, then spoke, his tone like steel. “Your break,” he said.
She went to the head of the table and with a quick line up and a hard move of her shoulder, the balls scattered, two solids going into pockets. She lined up another shot and sank that ball, too.