His Eternal Flame

by Valentine, Layla

  I swallowed, knowing my back was already against the wall and I couldn’t take a step back. But oh, how I wanted to, if only to get away from the sheer intensity of his presence as he loomed over me.

  “Look, I know you’re probably surprised to see me, and I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, but—and I know this is going to come out of left field—I really wanted to tell you, well, I’m sorry.”

  “S-sorry?” I sputtered, completely lost.

  “I am. I’m sorry for how I ended things. I’m not sorry for the time we spent together, though.”

  He stopped, waiting, but I had no idea what to say. He was the last person I’d ever expected to see again, much less apologize to me. And while stuck in an elevator in the middle of a rescue…what was going on?

  “Listen, this is all probably a shock, but I was hoping maybe you’d let me take you out again. I get off shift in another hour.”

  I absolutely could not believe my ears.

  “I want…to get out,” I finally managed.

  Dustin finally looked a bit chagrined, but he didn’t move.

  “I’m not letting you out of here until you agree to go out with me.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  The humor in his eyes faded, replaced by something more earnest.

  “No, actually. I’m serious. I want to make up for how I treated you. Please.”

  Automatically, I opened my mouth to argue, but I quickly shut it. I searched his face, looking for some sign that he was messing with me, but all I saw was sincere intensity. A current hummed between us, and I wondered how we could still have such electricity after five years apart, especially considering we’d only spent a single night together.

  How was that possible?

  “I guess it’s good you happened to show up, huh?” I finally responded.

  “Oh, uh, about that…”

  He trailed off, and my suspicions reared back up.

  Wait a minute. Dustin was a firefighter, and they answered emergencies, like an elevator breaking down in a hotel…

  “Did you have something to do with this?” I demanded.

  Dustin actually managed to look sheepish.

  “Yeah, I did. I mean, I didn’t stop the elevator. I just kinda asked a friend to do it, knowing my station would get the call.”

  “How dare you?” I hissed, absolutely furious.

  I was done with men and their stupidities. I just wanted to get to my room. Only, it wasn’t mine. Alistair would eventually be there, waiting. And I knew I wasn’t ready to face him so soon.

  The walls again felt like they were closing in on me, and I realized I’d agree to just about anything to get out of that floating box of death.

  “Okay. Fine. I’ll go out with you—but you have a lot of making up to do!”

  He smiled, showing me his perfect white teeth.

  “Thank you, Samantha. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?”

  He had me there. I nodded reluctantly.

  He beamed, then turned around and fiddled with the control panel. A few moments later, the elevator jolted and we started descending at last. The bell rang for the ground floor, and as soon as the doors slid apart far enough, I was out.

  “You okay?” he asked as I leaned against the wall in the lobby.

  “Sure,” I told him, not sure if I meant it.

  “Look, I’ve gotta get back to the station and finish up my shift, but I’ll be back to pick you up in an hour. Out front?”

  “That’s fine,” I agreed.

  He looked me up and down. “You look beautiful, by the way.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Don’t worry. I’m changing.”

  “You don’t have to,” he said with a half-smile.

  I glared at him and he raised his hands in surrender.

  “An hour.”

  “Got it.”

  He stared at me a moment longer before departing. In his wake, heads turned, as caught up by his commanding figure as I was. But he ignored the attention and continued until he was out of sight.

  Once he was gone, I felt like I could finally breathe. Why had he wanted to go out with me so badly? Did he feel that guilty for how he’d behaved five years ago?

  Well, I supposed it didn’t matter. I’d agreed to go out with him, which meant I was still not going to sleep anytime soon. It was 10:00 p.m. in LA, but 2:00 a.m. back home. Strangely, though, I found I wasn’t tired anymore.

  Instead, I’d started to feel a little tingly, expectant.

  Dustin. Dustin. I’d put all memories of him away and moved on from our night together, but seeing him reminded me that I’d actually forgotten none of it.

  And, given all he’d done to find me, I realized he hadn’t, either. For the first time all day, I found myself smiling.

  Chapter 6

  Dustin

  To my utter surprise, my crazy plan worked. I hadn’t really thought about how ridiculous it was until I was facing Samantha and she was most definitely not throwing herself back into my arms. Then again, I hadn’t really expected her to, but it might’ve made convincing her to go out with me that much easier.

  Should’ve started with how beautiful she looked.

  And she had. The black dress had only emphasized the lush curves I so vividly remembered. In fact, she looked better than I’d imagined up close, far lovelier than the brief glimpse I’d seen on the news.

  But as much as I’d wanted to grab her and pull her into my arms, she’d been less than excited to see me. She definitely wasn’t one I could just sweep off her feet.

  At first.

  Right at the end, I thought I’d felt her soften a little. Felt her remember how amazing everything had been until I’d turned into a total jerk and took off. At least I had that going for me.

  But I was about to change all of that.

  I got back to the station and signed out. After showering and changing into jeans and a navy-blue button-down, I hopped into my prized vintage convertible—it had cost an arm and all my legs, but the thrill I got out of driving it made it all worthwhile.

  Exactly an hour after leaving, I pulled up to the hotel, hopping out of the front seat to look for her in the crowd.

  Samantha was as good as her word. She stood just outside the hotel, wearing jeans with a teal blouse. I’d never seen her dressed casually before, and the look suited her just as much as wearing business suits or gowns. More, probably.

  “Hey there,” I greeted.

  “I’m here,” she replied simply.

  “Thank you. I promise, you won’t regret it.”

  She shrugged, then looked over at my car.

  “Nice ride,” she offered.

  I opened the door and ushered her into the front seat.

  “Thanks. I finally got the one I’d always dreamed of.”

  She nodded and I closed the door. As I walked back around, I noticed a man at the entrance watching us. He wore a black tux, his face looked flushed, and he swayed slightly as he frowned in my general direction. Not that it worried me. He was much shorter and kind of on the thin, sleazy-looking side.

  After I got in, I pointed my chin to the guy.

  “Who’s that checking us out?”

  Samantha turned to check. “Oh. That’s my ex.”

  “Ouch. He doesn’t look happy.”

  “He shouldn’t,” she said fervently. “I ditched him pretty abruptly at the reception.”

  “Why?”

  “He thinks he still has a chance after cheating on me.”

  “Cheated? On you?” I asked with genuine surprise.

  “It’s okay. It’s just, it wasn’t that long ago, and here we are on this business trip together and…I just need to be away from him.”

  “Is that why you agreed to come out with me?” I teased.

  “No, I just wanted to get out of the elevator.”

  At that, I laughed.

  “Hey, I’m just being honest,” she said in response to my laughter.

 
; “I know. I like it.”

  I felt her give me a long look, but I kept my attention on the road.

  “So, where are we going?” she asked.

  “Downtown.”

  “All right.”

  Silence fell, but it wasn’t awkward. More like expectant. She was waiting for me. But I wasn’t going to let her retreat into her shell.

  “You’re still in tech, I see,” I commented.

  “Yes. I’m actually in town for business,” she offered back.

  “You mentioned an unveiling?” I continued after she fell quiet again.

  “I did?” She looked surprised.

  “Oh, right. I think I saw that part on the news,” I admitted.

  “So that’s how you knew where I was,” she replied with the air of someone finally figuring out a deep mystery.

  “It was a bit more work than that, but that’s how I found out you were in town and more or less where you were. It was guesswork on the hotel, but when I called and asked for you, the hotel confirmed you were staying there.”

  “You were just going to waltz up to my room, or what?”

  “No, I just wanted to confirm you were staying at that hotel.”

  “I can’t believe you remembered my full name.”

  Now it was my turn to shrug.

  “Well, I did. I remember everything about you.”

  “Why, though? I mean, you’re the one who took off.”

  “Yeah, I know. Big mistake. But in the flurry of getting ready to move, I didn’t think about anything else. By the time I did, I was here and I didn’t have any way to contact you. I thought about sending a letter, but it didn’t seem right.”

  She didn’t respond, so I kept talking.

  “Anyway, I want to make up for all of that, now. So, you didn’t finish telling me. What was the unveiling for?”

  She stirred. “A new smartphone.”

  “Did you invent it?”

  She laughed—at last. And I found myself finally relaxing. I was getting her to loosen up. Maybe that meant, after all, we might be able to rekindle what we had inadvertently discovered on that night five years before.

  I could only hope.

  Chapter 7

  Samantha

  When Dustin left me to get ready for our date, I just wanted to go somewhere alone and try and process everything that had just happened. But I wasn’t given a moment, because Alistair came rushing over not more than two minutes after Dustin took off.

  “Are you okay? What happened?” he asked, attempting to place his hands on my shoulders.

  I shrugged away. “Fine, okay? Just…leave me be.”

  “What happened in the elevator?”

  “It’s nothing, okay?”

  “It’s not nothing, or you wouldn’t be so upset.”

  By now, I recognized the hint of a slur when he talked, which meant he’d drunk a lot more than I’d realized before I’d stomped off.

  And now, here he was, sort of trying to be helpful, but coming across as insistent and insensitive. I considered telling him how I felt, but I decided against it. He wouldn’t understand.

  “Alistair, I know you think you have some bizarre claim to how I feel and what I do, but you know that’s over, right? I mean, I thought I made that pretty clear before.”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, but we’re here. Why not have a little fun?”

  “Maybe I should say, I thought you made that clear when you were off sleeping around with anyone you could get to crawl into bed with you.”

  My anger returned, momentarily replacing the strange thrill of seeing Dustin. How could Alistair stand in front of me and pretend he cared?

  “You know what, maybe you should find someone else to bunk with tonight,” I added in a hiss.

  “No can do. It’s just me and you.”

  “It’s not, actually. I’m going up to change and then I’m going out.”

  He frowned and looked back the way Dustin had gone.

  “With that fireman? Just like that?”

  I pushed myself away from the wall and straightened as much as I could before smiling tranquilly at him.

  “Just like that.”

  His mouth dropped open, and with that satisfying image in mind, I spun on my heel and walked away. I wasn’t going to let Alistair ruin any more of my day.

  For a moment, I considered taking the stairs to my room, but I didn’t have much time, so I reluctantly got back in the elevator and hit the number for my floor. At least I knew that it had been rigged to stop before, which helped ease my fears.

  When I finally reached my room, I stared at my bed for a moment, contemplating a short nap, but then my gaze shifted to the other bed in the room, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to relax enough for much of anything.

  Instead, I ruffled through my bag until I found the single pair of jeans I’d brought with me. I shrugged. I’d done enough fancy for the day. I pulled out a teal blouse—a little dressy with the jeans, but my most casual top—then threw on some flats and pronounced myself ready.

  I pulled my clothes and notes out for the next day to have them ready to go, because I wasn’t sure how much sleep I was going to get.

  In the meantime, I had a date to get to.

  I headed downstairs and passed through the lobby. I caught a glimpse of Alistair at the bar with a drink—how had he not collapsed already? Wanting to avoid another awkward conversation, I decided to wait outside.

  Fortunately, less than five minutes later, Dustin drove up in a beautiful cherry red convertible. I had to fight to keep my expression neutral, but I couldn’t help admiring the classic shape and how perfect Dustin looked driving it. He was definitely doing well in LA.

  “Hey, there,” he greeted me.

  “Hey,” I replied.

  He opened the door for me—a perfect gentleman—and I slid onto a black leather seat as Dustin hopped into the driver’s seat.

  I wondered if the conversation would be stilted, but it wasn’t. He appeared perfectly at ease, and I found myself relaxing for the first time during that long day.

  I found myself hoping that Dustin was really being himself. Hoping that he really wanted to reconnect.

  And then, he did something completely unexpected. He made me laugh. That’s when I knew everything was going to be all right.

  The spark was back.

  Chapter 8

  Dustin

  She laughed at my question, which I knew was silly, before answering.

  “No, inventing phones isn’t my area of expertise, exactly. But I did manage the team that overhauled the company’s previous version.”

  “That actually pretty exciting that they gave you a team,” I told her.

  “Well, there are lots of teams at my company, but mine just happened to complete its project first,” she replied demurely.

  “Oh, come on. You’re not giving yourself enough credit.”

  I was pretty sure that, if I looked at her, she would be blushing, so I changed tactics.

  “Well, I’m still a fireman,” I stated.

  She laughed again. “I think I got that from the fake rescue.”

  “It wasn’t fake,” I protested. “I actually had to make all that happen and then still go in and get the elevator going again.”

  “Yeah, but the whole emergency was fake.”

  “That’s not the point,” I teased.

  “Weren’t you supposed to become a stuntman?” she suddenly asked.

  Heartened that she remembered that detail, I hastened to explain.

  “I am, actually. I get three days off a week at the station, so at least two weekends a month, I go and work on shoots.”

  “Oh, okay. Have you done work in any movies I might’ve seen?” she asked.

  “Probably not. I mostly pick short projects so I can keep my shifts at the firehouse. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I take time off now and then for longer stuff, but I meant what I said before. I don’t ever want to give up being a firefighter.”
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br />   “For the thrill,” she added.

  “No. It’s because I like saving people.”

  She fell quiet, but this time, I knew she was thinking about what I said.

  “So, where are we going?” she asked a few minutes later. “You going to take me to check out some of the famous local hotspots?”

  “Actually, no. I was actually going to take you to the only place in town that I know of that makes an acceptable Philly cheesesteak.”

  She laughed. “It hasn’t even been a full day since I left.”

  “Oh, right. Well, we can go somewhere else.”

  “No, it’s fine. Besides, I haven’t had one in a while, Dustin.”

  The sound of my name on her lips excited me, reminding me even more acutely of how she’d moaned it both times she’d climaxed with me.

  “Am I dressed okay?”

  Her voice broke me out of my reverie and I realized I would need to adjust my jeans when we got to our destination.

  “You look great. This place isn’t fancy, but I like it because…well, it reminds me of Philly. Just the same way you remind me of home.”

  “Me? How?”

  “Oh, come on, a home-grown, born-and-raised, never-left-Philly native. How could you remind me of anything else?”

  I glanced over to see her grinning.

  “I guess that makes sense.”

  An answering grin spread across my face. Everything made sense when I was with her. If only she could see it.

  I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and stopped the car.

  “You ready?” I asked, turning to face her.

  This time, she turned to smile at me. “Yeah. I think I am.”

  Chapter 9

  Samantha

  As much as I didn’t want to be, I found myself impressed with Dustin. He was really making an effort to be sweet and considerate, and even if I wasn’t sure why, it made for a welcome change after dealing with Alistair all day.