by Deanna Chase
“Much appreciated.” Bridget hung up.
What a mess. Lenny was about to move to the top of the sheriff’s most wanted list. Just as soon as she told Hank. She got the Trevors checked out and on their way, then locked the front door behind them and turned off the main lights.
Julian had been right about the snow. White blanketed everything and the snowplows had yet to make an appearance. The snow was pretty though, and perfect for Christmas Eve. She stood for a moment watching it come down. Charlie must be ecstatic. He’d probably wished for this. Kids loved snow anytime, but at Christmas it was even better.
The snow would make the family run later that evening a lot of fun. Jumping into the drifts and rolling around in the stuff was a ball when you were wearing a natural fur coat. In fact, in her wolf form, cold wasn’t a big deal. Right now, however, she wouldn’t mind a cup of hot chocolate. Well, she’d have that soon enough at Hank’s.
She went back to the storeroom to see what she had in the way of Dom. She flipped on the lights and stared in disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me.”
The case of champagne that was supposed to be at the Ellingham estate sat right in the middle of the floor. Several empty boxes sat on top of it, flattened like they were ready to be hauled out to the recycling bin. She leaned the flattened boxes against the wall out of the way. Yep, that was the Elenora’s champagne.
Had Lenny not seen the case? Or just forgotten it? Or more likely been too lazy to haul it out? Either way, she was happy it was there but not thrilled that she now had an entire case to deliver. She found two more bottles and put them on top of the case. They’d go a long way toward smoothing out the error. The Ellinghams ran the town, and while they were always fair, Elenora wasn’t someone whose bad side you wanted to get on.
Champagne sorted, she went to her office to call Titus.
He answered quicker than she’d expected. “Hey, you on your way over?”
“I wish, but not yet. Long story short, I need to make a last-minute delivery.”
“In this snow? You’ll be lucky to make it this far in that fancy-pants car of yours.”
“I know that, dipstick. That’s why I’m calling you. You have a truck over at the firehouse I can borrow?”
“Oh. Um…” He thought a second. “Yeah, I can work something out.”
“You’re the best brother ever. Tell Zoe and everybody else I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Titus cleared his throat softly. “Hey, about that, I was going to tell you when you got here, but… Zoe and I aren’t seeing each other anymore. I mean, we’re not a couple anymore.”
Bridget’s jaw unhinged and it took her a second to compute what he’d said. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
“No. Look, it’s been a long time coming. She wanted to move back to Oregon to be near her folks, and I was never going to move. Then her dad fell and broke his hip last week, and that was it. Her decision was made. We love each other, but we’re not meant to be.”
“But you were engaged.”
He sighed. “She gave the ring back. I’m sure you have all kinds of questions, but honestly, I’m worn out. I’d like to get through the holidays without the whole thing turning into a Titus pity party, which Aunt Birdie is already making extremely difficult.”
“I can imagine. Are you… okay?”
“Mostly. I’m not bitter, I’m not destroyed, I’m just hurt and missing her and I’ll get over it. In my own time. Okay?”
She nodded, feeling numb. “Sure, if that’s what you want.”
“It is. Now let me go so I can call the firehouse. By the time you walk over there, the truck will be ready to go.”
“Thanks, Titus. I love you.”
“I love you too, Bridge. See you soon.” He hung up.
She stared at her phone, shaking her head. “Titus and Zoe?” They’d been a couple for so long. She’d assumed, like the rest of her family, they’d get married, have kids, and grow old together. Then just like that, the dream was gone.
She hurt for her brother. Of the three of them, Titus had always been the one who’d had every aspect of his life sorted out. Hank had disappeared into the military on some quest to turn himself into the perfect alpha who would one day take over their father’s role as leader of the Georgia Pack. Hank’s life had been built around discipline and responsibility. Becoming sheriff seemed the next logical step.
His marriage had only happened because it had been arranged for him. Otherwise, he’d probably still be single.
She’d gone to business school, but that had been because she wasn’t sure what else to do and being the daughter of an alpha meant doing something while she waited on the possibility that she might be married off to the son of another alpha. Instead, Hank had ended up being the sacrificial lamb, but thankfully it had worked out.
The bar business had just kind of happened to her. After school, she’d waited tables and bartended to make some money that was all hers and not tied to pack dividends, but as it turned out, she was good at it. People liked her, and she liked them. Usually. Those she didn’t, she handled with the kind of quick, decisive thinking that had gotten her promoted to manager at the first place she worked.
So when Howler’s had come up for sale, she’d taken a chance and interviewed with the Ellinghams to buy it. She’d already had the supernatural part going for her, and unlike some of the other vampires she’d run across, they didn’t care that she was a werewolf. They’d wanted diversity in their town, and they’d definitely gotten it.
Buying the place had been the best thing she’d ever done, but Howler’s had become her best friend, her child, and her husband. It took tremendous amounts of time. And what social life she had happened in the bar.
But Titus had known right away what he wanted to do. Without the pressure of the possibility of an arranged marriage hanging over his head, he’d gone from high school straight into the fire academy. He’d gotten into a house, settled into a routine, and not long after moving to Nocturne Falls to become chief, he’d met Zoe. Schoolteacher, werewolf, and all-around perfect wife and mother material.
Or so it had seemed.
Bridget put her coat on. The best thing she could do was get this delivery done and get to Hank’s. Titus might say he didn’t want to talk about it, but she could at least be there for him.
She went out the back, locked up, and looped her purse across her body. She checked her pockets for gloves but found none, so she tucked her hands into her pockets instead. The snow crunched under her boots as she headed for the firehouse. If Titus really didn’t want to talk, she could help in him in other ways.
Like whipping up a batch of her famous Naughty and Nice punch. If that didn’t make him forget Zoe for the evening, nothing would.
* * *
Sam Kincaid stood at the firehouse window, watching the snow drift down in fat flakes. The year was almost over and a new one was about to begin. But his new year had really begun about six months ago.
When his father and older brothers had gone to prison.
Some days the fact that more than half his family was behind bars was tough to take. And some days, like today, he knew it was the reason he was free.
They hadn’t been good men. Not to their community, not to their pack, and especially not to his sister or mother or nephew.
For their sakes, prison was the best place for the Kincaid men. It was also a constant reminder for Sam to do better. To be better. To make something respectable of his life. And to wring every possibility out of the fresh start he’d been given.
He had his sister, Ivy, and her new husband, Hank, and his family to thank for that. And while Sam appreciated it, he was also aware of that debt every single day. Not because of anything they did, just because that’s how his head worked.
Maybe he should let all that go and try to live like a normal person. He laughed. Whatever that meant.
Living this new life had meant giving up some things. Making some sacr
ifices. He was okay with that. Everyone had to pay their dues. Even if that meant missing Christmas Eve with his sister and nephew because he was low man on the totem pole and had pulled the holiday shift at the firehouse. Even that was okay.
For one thing, it meant he wouldn’t have to see Bridget Merrow. He closed his eyes for a moment as an image of the breathtaking redhead filled his mind. He shook the picture out and opened his eyes.
She wasn’t for him. He knew that. But knowing that and stopping himself from thinking about her were two different things. And damn, he thought about her a lot. Way more than he had a right to, but he was so far gone over her he wasn’t sure how to stop.
The phone rang, distracting him from her for a moment. “Nocturne Falls Fire Department.”
“Sam, it’s Titus.”
“Hey, Chief. What can I do for you?”
“I’m glad you asked.”
2
Bridget walked into the firehouse expecting to see a few people, but the place was deserted. She supposed it made sense with the holiday and all. But someone had to be here. A skeleton crew at least. What if there was a Christmas tree fire? Or a horrible fondue accident? Or a flaming eggnog that needed dousing?
“Hello?”
Her answer came in a single word from an all-too-familiar, all-too-sexy voice. “Hello.”
She turned to see him walking out from the break room. The only Christmas present she’d asked Santa for, Mr. Tall, Dark and Wolfy. Her heart did a ridiculous flutter. She refused to do more than look bored. “Sam.”
“Bridget.”
She looked at her nails. “I thought you’d be over at Hank’s with Ivy and everybody else.” Which was why she’d planned to go home and fix up a little first. Instead, he got to see her fresh from work, which hello, new chip in her manicure, wasn’t fresh at all.
He shrugged. “Probies don’t get to pick their shifts.”
“No, they don’t.” And unlike Lenny, Sam had actually shown up. And of course he had to be wearing his uniform, which he looked unfairly hot in. He had his sister’s dark hair and deep brown eyes, but the beefy build of an alpha male. Every wolfy hormone in her body sat up and wanted to beg. Down, girl. “I’m just here to borrow a truck.”
He nodded. “The chief called. It’s all set.” He swung a set of keys around his finger. “Where do you need to go?”
Her brows lifted. “I can drive myself, thanks.”
He laughed softly. “Not in my truck you can’t.”
She put her hands on her hips. She wasn’t in the mood for this macho manliness. “I can drive a truck.”
“I’m sure you can, and if you had one of your own, you’d already be in it.”
“Don’t you have to be here? On call?”
“Yes, but I can be on call without being here. Plus the chief has his radio on. Anything comes in before we get back, he’s promised to cover it.”
“Huh.” Sam was awfully quick with the we. And Titus had been just as fast agreeing to take calls. But then maybe keeping busy was good for her brother right now. “Fine.”
A hint of smile bent his mouth. Bridget’s knees went to jelly, and she had to concentrate on what he was saying to catch every word above the nine drummers drumming that her hormones had turned into.
“What do you need help with? Titus said a delivery?”
She unstuck her tongue from the roof of her mouth. “Yeah, long story that I can tell you on the way, but I need to deliver a case of champagne to the Ellingham estate.”
“One of the brothers?”
“No. The grand dame herself, Elenora.”
His brows shot up and he nodded. “We should go then. I’ll grab my coat.”
“Yeah.” Crap. She realized she was about to be in truck cab with him. Those weren’t exactly wide-open spaces. He probably smelled good too. One more thing for her psyche to bring up in her dreams.
He shrugged his coat on, then jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Truck’s out back.”
She nodded and followed him. They didn’t talk much for the next few minutes, which was fine with her. Sam let her into the cab, then shut her door, went around to the driver’s side and got the heat on, then went to work clearing snow off the windshield.
All too soon he was done and in the cab with her. He smelled amazing. Of course. He put his hand on the shifter and glanced over. “Back to the bar?”
She nodded. “Park in back.”
“Got it.” He pulled out and drove.
Being this close to him made the tension between them impossible to ignore. Nothing had happened between them, but it sure as Christmas felt like it had. How was that possible? She stared out the window and tried to imagine how a man who’d been ignoring her, a man she’d never touched, let alone kissed, could make her skin tingle and her body ache.
Full moon fever?
She did a quick mental calculation in her head, but the full moon was two weeks off. That wasn’t it.
“You get this all the time?”
She turned. “What?”
He tipped his head toward the road. “Snow. You get a lot of snow like this?”
Oh, sure. Snow. “Sometimes. The elevation makes it more likely than not.”
He nodded. “I could buy a plow for this thing, probably make a little extra cash clearing driveways.”
“Or you could just shovel them. I know a lot of single women who’d pay to see that.” She clamped her jaw shut, but the words had come out too fast. What had gotten into her?
He laughed. “Is that right?”
She shook her head and looked out the window again. Where was a sinkhole when you needed one? Filled with snow, that’s where. “Maybe. I don’t know.” Why had she said that? Because she was hot for him. But being hot for a guy who didn’t want you back was awful.
Thankfully, he pulled into Howler’s rear lot. She jumped out before the truck came to a complete stop.
“Hey—”
She shut the truck door, yanked her bar keys out of her pocket, and went inside. Why on earth had Titus thought getting Sam to help her was a good idea? He had to know there was something between them. Correction, he had to know she thought there might have been something between them. Both her brothers had teased her about Sam for a while, but since he’d gotten back from the fire academy and things had gone cold, both Hank and Titus had let up.
Until Titus’s little trick this evening.
Sam stormed in behind her. “Hey, what’s with you?”
She answered him without looking at him. “Nothing.”
He snorted. “I guess I haven’t spent enough time around you then to realize you had such a sunny disposition.”
She took a breath and stopped at the door to the storage room. He’d spent very little time around to be honest, but if he wasn’t interested in her, that was perfectly within his rights. And something she needed to get over. She smiled tightly as she glanced at him. “Sorry. Working on Christmas Eve and all that.”
He nodded. “I hear that.”
She flipped on the light in the storage room. “Champagne’s in here. I’ll just be a sec.”
“I can carry it.”
“I’ve got it. It’s not that big a deal.” Except she did have the two other bottles to carry and the bar to lock up. And she needed to lighten up on the crankiness. “Actually, you know what? That would be nice. Thank you.” She picked up the two loose bottles, then patted the case. “This is it.”
He hefted the box. “They just put twelve bottles of really expensive champagne in here? They’re padded or something right?”
“They’re well packed in their own boxes. They should be fine in the back of your truck. Just no off-roading.”
His brows bounced in response. “That’s for sure.”
She followed him back to the truck, turning off lights and locking up as they went. The two loose bottles she took into the cab and laid on the floor between her feet. He strapped the case into the back with tie-downs, then joined
her in the cab.
He got the engine going, then leaned on the wheel to look at her. “I have no idea where I’m going.”
“Haven’t you been to the Ellingham estate? It’s not hard. Basically we’re going up into the back country a bit. Past where the vineyards are.”
He nodded as he shifted into drive. “Sounds nice. You ever run up there?”
“Sure, couple of times. The Ellinghams don’t mind shifters on their property as long as no damage is done.”
He pulled out. “They’re pretty cool for vampires, huh?”
“They are.” She looked at him. “You ever know any vampires before you came here?”
“Can’t say that I did.”
“Nocturne Falls must have been a huge change for you.”
He nodded. “It was, but change can be good.”
The look on his face said change could also be bad. She wondered if he was thinking about the rest of his family. His mother had stayed behind in Tennessee. Bridget knew that from talking to Ivy, but their father and all of the other brothers had ended up in prison because of their shady business dealings and tax fraud. “So… you like it here?”
“I do. New job. New people. New start. What’s not to like?”
“You must miss your home.”
For a moment, it seemed like anger darkened his gaze. “I miss my mother, but I have Ivy and Charlie here.”
“True.” She pointed as they came to the road that would take them up into the hills and toward the estate. “Turn here, then just stay on this road until you see the house. You can’t miss it.”
He followed her directions and they fell into silence. She wanted to ask him more questions but got the sense his family wasn’t something he wanted to discuss. “What’s Titus like as a boss?”
“Good. Fair. No complaints.”
She laughed. “None you’d tell me anyway, right?”
“There is that.” The hard line of his mouth softened. “What’s it like running your own business?”
She took a breath. “Lots and lots of work. But I love it.” Except the loneliness part. She reached over to poke his shoulder. “You don’t come in much. I see a lot of the other firefighters, but not you. I don’t bite, you know.”