Wild About Her Wingman

by Robin Bielman

  She hadn’t been prepared for the stupid rash to spread, though, and her tongue to swell and her breathing to falter. She’d wanted to drive herself to urgent care, but a coworker insisted on calling 911. Troy arrived, gave her a shot of epinephrine, and took her for an ambulance ride to the hospital.

  Against her wishes.

  The shot had cured her. She didn’t need the ER doc to tell her she’d be fine.

  So Troy knew she had an abnormal allergy to poison oak and had looked quite happy with himself for coming to her rescue—and not for the first time, given the whole “gash in her hand, afraid to see her own blood” thing from several weeks ago. Which really pissed her off, since she was not a damsel in distress and didn’t want anyone thinking so—and put to rest the occasional eye flirting and niceties when they ran into each other.

  Mr. Straight Arrow might have been nice to look at once, but not anymore.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she peeked at him. Okay, maybe she’d still look. With his square jaw, perfect nose, and contagious smile, there were worse things to spend time on.

  His leg brushed hers and tingles spread throughout her thigh.

  Damn electrical shock.

  “Erin?” Shane said. “Your thoughts?”

  She blinked and found everyone’s eyes on her. “Sorry. What?”

  “My last girlfriend dumped me because I hadn’t read a book since college,” Oliver chimed in—or maybe repeated. “Harsh, don’t you think?”

  While Erin had zoned out for a minute, Kagan must have started the discussion on boyfriends and their traits.

  “That was her only reason?” Erin teased.

  “Reading’s not a quality,” Kagan said. “It’s a hobby. I’ve been trying to teach these guys the difference.”

  “Basically, dating is like climbing a volcano and you never know when it’s going to erupt, dumping molten lava and burning you,” Oliver said.

  “Ohhh!” rang out from the guys. They shook their heads, and laughter danced in their eyes. “Seriously, dude?” Shane gave his friend a playful push in the chest. “That’s the analogy you’re going with? You write poetry for any of these exes?”

  “Shut the—” Oliver started.

  “Okay, boys,” Erin said. “How about we switch topics?”

  “No so fast.” Shane reached around Kagan and pulled on a strand of Erin’s hair just to annoy her. “We haven’t heard from you yet.”

  She pointed her thumb at Troy. “Or him.”

  “I’m not looking for a boyfriend,” Troy said, a little twinkle in his eye.

  What was this? Annoy Erin time?

  “When I find the right guy, you’ll know the qualities I’m looking for.” She grabbed Shane’s beer and took a swig.

  “Could be you’ve set your sights too high, given no guy’s landed more than a couple of dates with you.” Shane knew all about her college boyfriend. He’d offered to go rough him up after she’d graduated and moved back home heartbroken. She knew he wasn’t serious, but it was awfully nice of him to care that much. For the past few months, though, he’d been telling her to get over it.

  “Or it could be all you Cascade boys are lacking something.” She smirked.

  “Ohhh!” the guys pealed again.

  “You could find a matchmaker,” Kagan offered, her eyebrows raised.

  “You did not just say that.” Erin squirmed in her seat. Her leg brushed Troy’s. And once again a rainbow of pinpricks tickled her thigh.

  “Hang on,” Oliver said, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. “We’ve got one right here. My buddy Troy has set up, what? Two or three couples who ended up getting married?”

  Erin’s throat constricted.

  One, she didn’t want any matchmaking going on. And two, the last person she wanted fixing her up with someone was Troy. He’d probably introduce her to a by-the-book, boring, sweet guy. No thank you.

  “That’s—” she and Troy started to say simultaneously. They locked gazes for a second and then Troy looked away and said, “Go ahead.”

  “That’s…okay. I’m good on my own.” She stretched her neck from side to side and looked over her shoulder. Great. Candace Brewer was sitting at the next table with two girlfriends. The three of them were like the Leaning Tower of Pisa trying to eavesdrop. Candace wiggled her fingers in greeting, not the least bit ashamed of being caught listening.

  Erin and Candace went way back and had pretty much been archenemies from the day they met in first grade and Erin mistakenly grabbed Candace’s lunch box instead of her own. A few weeks later Erin accidentally spilled paint on Candace’s Student of the Month certificate. Forgiveness didn’t come easily to Candace, and they just never got along after that. Candace was an only child, spoiled by her parents, and always the first to offer criticism rather than advice.

  Then in middle school Candace had decided to call Erin “spaghetti and meatballs” because she’d been super skinny as a preteen, but her chest had developed before everyone else’s. At twelve, having every boy stare at her boobs had been humiliating.

  But it was around Erin’s thirteenth birthday that Candace’s breach of trust cemented the animosity between them. In an attempt to reach out and be friendlier, Erin let it slip to Candace that she hoped to have her first kiss with Jake Carlson. Jake was in their math and English classes and Erin had the feeling he liked her. She really liked him. But the next day at school Candace started flirting with Jake. The day after that they were holding hands. And the day after that they kissed at lunch.

  Candace’s cold, triumphant smile afterward was directed right at Erin.

  “Not so fast,” Oliver offered. “Troy was stationed for a few months in Beaver Creek before a spot opened here. You want to meet a guy who’s not from Cascade, Troy’s your man.”

  “Your wingman!” Kagan said, bouncing in her seat.

  “No,” Erin and Troy said at the same time.

  She turned to Troy. “No? Why not?” Did he think she was un-set-up-able?

  “You said you were good on your own.”

  Oh. Right. “I am.”

  “I don’t think he could do it anyway,” Shane said, crossing his arms over his chest.

  “Troy could so be Erin’s wingman and find her a good guy,” Kagan said.

  “You’re on, Jelly Belly.” Shane shook hands with his fiancée.

  “Wait a minute,” Troy said.

  Erin narrowed her eyes at the two troublemakers. “This is not up to you guys.”

  “You backing down from a challenge, Miss Independent?” Shane laced his fingers with Kagan’s atop the table and Erin got the feeling she’d just been bamboozled.

  “There are so many names I want to call you right now,” she said to Shane and then aimed her eyes at Troy. “This is ridiculous. Tell them.”

  Something sparked in the depths of his heavenly brown eyes and Erin got the sinking feeling he didn’t like to back down from a challenge either. “I really don’t—”

  “Grocery shopping for a month says you can’t find Erin her dream guy,” Oliver said.

  “Make it two months and you’re on,” Troy fired back.

  “Done.” Oliver fist-bumped all the guys and Kagan.

  Erin took a deep breath to keep her cool. Something smelled good. Fresh and a little woodsy. Rugged. Troy. She jumped to her feet. “I’m glad you all find this amusing.”

  “Where you going?” Kagan asked, worry slipping into her tone.

  “The little girls’ room.” She crossed the pub with slow steps so she could discreetly check on Teague at the bar. Her sister had a big smile on her face and a cute guy’s arm slung over her shoulders. God, how would it feel to be light-headed and dizzy for someone again?

  She walked down the hallway leading to the restroom. Before she turned the corner, though, she paused. There was no mistaking Candace’s saccharine sweet voice around the bend.

  “…There is no way Erin Watters gets a boyfriend before me,” Candace said. “I won�
�t allow it.”

  “What are you going to do?” Female voice, but Erin didn’t recognize it.

  “Find the love of my life first. In fact, I already have my sights on someone.”

  Deep down you wish for the white picket fence…

  Okay. No. No, no, no. Erin turned and marched back into the pub. Hell would freeze over before she let Candace Brewer find a boyfriend before she did.

  Chapter Two

  Grocery shopping. Troy hated it. Every time he and a couple of the guys went to buy food for the station, he was hit on. The produce aisle was especially dangerous. He refused to buy zucchini anymore. The guys had a running joke about it, which he didn’t mind. But having a two-month reprieve? Sounded awesome.

  “Hey, where did everybody go?” Erin said, sitting across the table from him.

  “They thought we should make a plan and didn’t want to intrude.” He looked up from the napkin in his hand.

  She threw her head back and laughed. “Now they don’t want to interfere?”

  Troy smiled. Erin was just about the best-looking thing he’d ever laid eyes on, and when she laughed he wanted to put it on repeat. Her bright-blue eyes were prettier than the sun rising over deep-green blades of grass. Her long nut-brown hair with soft waves always looked slightly messy—and sexy. And her body? Jesus. Shapely, subtle curves that he suspected filled every guy’s head with dirty thoughts.

  Too bad she was also reckless, fearless, impulsive, and foolhardy. She embodied everything he didn’t want in a woman ever again.

  “So, I guess we’re gonna do this,” Troy said.

  “Sure. Why not?” Erin waved her arm in the air, like no big deal, but she fidgeted in her seat.

  “This yours?” Troy lifted the napkin. “I found it on your chair.”

  She pursed her lips, drawing Troy’s attention to their lush form. “It is. Teague and I were just messing around. If you think it will help, though, by all means, tuck it in your pocket.” She smiled and sort of blinded him for a moment. He dropped his gaze to her list and ran a hand through his brown hair.

  The first time he’d met Erin had been at her sister’s bachelorette party several months ago right here in this pub. She’d been by far the hottest woman in the room. But his friend had laid eyes on her first—a blessing in disguise given he’d later found out she was an adrenaline junkie who never played it safe. His heart had taken a beating at that, his memories spiraling back to Jamie. Never again, he’d promised himself. He’d never again get caught up with a woman who thought she was invincible.

  Not that he had the time or inclination to get involved with someone.

  He’d enjoyed some innocent flirting with Erin. And he had liked coming to her rescue a couple of times, too. Had it crossed his mind to go beyond that? Sure. But that was just his out-of-action libido talking.

  “Should I take these to be in order of importance?” he asked.

  She laughed again. The rich, melodious sound caught the attention of other people and he joined in the smiles spilling like dominoes. “Yeah, find me a blond and you’re good to go.”

  “I know just the guy.”

  “Really?” Her tone was hopeful as she moved to the edge of her seat, and for the first time he got a glimpse of a girl who might not be as carefree as she led everyone to believe.

  Troy scanned the rest of her list again. Given her job and love of the outdoors, he actually did know just the guy. “Yeah. He’s a bike lane engineer in Portland.”

  Interest flashed in her eyes. “Okay. Set it up.” She fell back against her chair, her shoulders relaxed. “You should come, too, though. Not that I don’t trust your judgment, but I’ve gone on a blind date and…”

  “You want me there to rescue you if he’s not what you’re looking for.” He folded the napkin and put it in the back pocket of his jeans.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but then clamped her lips shut. “Maybe… Yes,” she finally said.

  Her voice had softened and he had no idea what to make of it. His mom and twin sister told him all the time that he’d rescued them. But he looked at coming home to Cascade seven months ago to help his family as a no-brainer. When his brother-in-law passed away, unexpectedly leaving his sister without a husband and his four-year-old niece without a daddy, he’d immediately asked for a transfer. Couldn’t get home quick enough.

  The job opening in Beaver Creek came up and he took it, commuting from his mom’s guesthouse until the CFD decided they needed one more rescue paramedic and added him to their roster.

  Between helping his family and doing his job, he had little time for himself. A good thing because that also left little time to dwell on his own loss. His own effed-up head.

  “Hard to turn off the impulse to help people,” he said.

  “Did you always want to be a paramedic?”

  “Ever since I was nine and…” He swallowed. Why couldn’t he tell people about his accident without getting all worked up? “I’ve got to go.” He started to stand.

  Erin stopped him with a hand to his arm. “Wait. And what? You can’t leave me hanging here.” She peered up at him under long eyelashes and her eyes said she knew. She knew whatever he was about to say wasn’t easy, but she wanted to hear it.

  Like an idiot, he sat back down. Music played from speakers, conversation filled the air; cheers and jeers from the dartboard area filled in the rest of the space. All the sounds made sharing his past a little easier, like maybe Erin wouldn’t catch everything.

  “I was in a motorbike accident. Broke both my legs. The paramedics who got to me first left an impression. One of the guys kept in touch.”

  “Wow.” She looked at him not with pity, but with interest, her pretty eyes widening. “Did you ever ride again?”

  “No. It was a long, hard recovery. Three surgeries. Crapload of rehab. I missed a whole year of school. My mom asked me not to ride again so I didn’t. She said she wouldn’t be able to handle it. My friends all moved on without me. It sucked. But I eventually met a new group of guys and got into other things.”

  Erin traced her finger in the condensation on the table from Shane’s glass. “I had no idea you were a daredevil as a kid.”

  “Why would you?”

  She shrugged.

  “Well, I can’t believe a girl like you doesn’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Girl like me?”

  He broke eye contact and looked over her shoulder. Troy had loved one woman: Jamie. They’d met at college in Boulder and dated all four years. Moved in together after graduation while he did his paramedic courses. They both loved outdoor adventure and they did it all. Bungee jumping, skydiving, hiking, rock climbing. Almost a year ago now, he’d been deciding how to ask her to marry him. He never got the chance.

  She’d told him as he walked out the door for work one morning that she was going to climb Devil’s Hangar. When his station got the call that a rock climber had been fatally struck by a rock that was dislodged while scaling Devil’s Hangar, his heart had hit the ground. He knew it was Jamie. As a rescue-trained paramedic and first on the scene, he rappelled down the side of the mountain to get her body. His head had spun, misery tore him to pieces inside, and he’d started to sweat, shake, search for something to cling to. Suddenly, the height scared the shit out of him and he couldn’t move.

  Hadn’t been able to handle heights since.

  He forced his thoughts away from that painful time. “A girl who likes to take risks,” he said. The kind of girl he never again wanted to be with. His head and heart wouldn’t be able to take it.

  “Yeah, well, when it comes to my heart, I’m more careful.”

  Troy studied her beautiful face. Some guy had really hurt her, he decided.

  …

  Erin did not like the way Troy was looking at her. His very nice brown eyes searched her face like he was trying to read her. She had no idea what he was looking for, but her entire body shivered.

  “I get that,” he said.

&
nbsp; “Yeah? You’ve had your heart broken?”

  He rubbed his clean-shaven jawline. “A time or two.”

  “Broken a few?”

  “I don’t think so.” His gaze jumped over her shoulder and he gave a salute to someone.

  Erin twisted. Oliver and the other firemen were headed toward the exit. “Yeah, you’re too nice to do that. You’re probably friends with all your old girlfriends.”

  “I wouldn’t say that.”

  “What would you say?”

  “Hey,” Teague said, plopping down at the table. “Hi.” She smiled at Troy. “I don’t think we’ve ever been formally introduced. I’m Teague, Erin’s sister.”

  “Troy. It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled back, and out of left field Erin found herself wanting to see another one.

  She waved her empty beer glass at the waitress while Teague asked Troy a question. She obviously needed another drink. And maybe her head examined, because this stupid wingman-matchmaker thing meant she’d be around Troy more often than she’d like.

  Catching the waitress’s attention also caught Candace’s. She sneered at Erin. The tables really needed to be spaced farther apart. “Something on your mind, Candace?” Erin said, since Teague and Troy were deep in conversation.

  “Actually, yes. I was going to send you an email, but telling you in person is so much better. You’ve been outvoted. Winners of the Chocolate Games can’t enter the competition again with a different recipe.” Her words were calculated to hurt Erin, and they did.

  She’d won the baking competition last spring and immediately afterward Candace—who ran the contest—announced winners couldn’t enter again. A new rule suddenly implemented, Erin guessed, to keep her out, so she’d filed a protest. Candace hated that she’d come in first place.

  “Not that you’d have a prayer of winning it again anyway.”

  The votes against her, no doubt, belonged to the other two girls at the table with Candace. “You finished gloating?”

  Candace lifted her chin. “Yes.”

  Erin twisted back around. She wouldn’t give Candace the satisfaction of an argument. And really, it wasn’t that big of a deal. She’d just team up with Sela again and they’d put Sela’s name on the entry this time.