When I'm With You

by Harper Sloan

  Her gaze travels to my mouth when I feel my lips curve.

  "I'll work on that, baby."

  "That would be splendid."

  I toss my head back and laugh, but when I feel her small hand smack my naked ass, my head drops forward and all laughter stops when I see the wicked look in her eyes.

  "You're going to pay for that later," I threaten.

  "That's what I'm hoping for," she smarts and pulls from my arms, grabbing her robe and walking out her door.

  "Fucking Shane," I mumble under my breath and start to dress. I would kick his ass for pulling me from my time with Ember, but regardless of how I feel about his girlfriend, I know I would be doing the same thing if I were in his place.

  THE HIGH SCREAM OF MY smoke detector is the first thing that I hear.

  Confusion fills my sleep-fogged brain, but when I feel Bam jump on the bed and whine in my ear, I wake with a start.

  He starts leaping from the bed to the floor while the alarm continues to blast and I almost fall on my ass in my hurry. Luckily, when Nate left, I had pulled on some yoga pants and an old tee shirt, so it didn't take me long to leave my bedroom. As I cautiously walked down the hallway, the first thing that hit me was the smell of smoke. Panic started pulsing through me when I get to the living room and see the flames dancing around my kitchen.

  I can't tell how bad it is from where I'm standing, but I don't dare go look. My house is newly remodeled but it's an older construction and I'm not going to take the chance that something snaps and I'm trapped.

  I turn on my heels and rush back to my room, where my cell is, before I sprint back to the front of the house and to the front door. I press a few keys before putting my phone between my shoulder and ear. Just when I reach the entryway, I hear the emergency operator asking me a question. I rattle off my address, telling her that there is a fire as I grab my purse off the entryway table and pull the door open. Right when I'm about to run out, I turn and grab the only other thing besides Bam that I care about.

  She continues to ask me questions and I answer when needed, but the second I walk to the side yard and see the back half of my home blazing, I want to scream in pain.

  Flames completely engulf the kitchen and my studio.

  I drop to my knees as I watch the inferno continue to destroy everything it touches.

  I distractedly think about the painting that I had just delivered to the gallery earlier that day, but knowing that everything else is most likely going to be gone is still crippling.

  Sirens echo through the night, and I hear the operator tell me that they're almost at my location, but I don't respond. I feel the tears and roughness in my throat only after I register that I'm crying. When the lights of the firetruck, ambulance, and police car surround me, I climb to my feet and back from the house.

  "Ember!"

  I turn, phone to my ear and tears running down my face, and see Liam, Megan's husband, jump from his patrol car and rush toward me. I keep pulling air deep in my throat, feeling my vision start to blur as more tears come. He pulls the phone from my ear and speaks to the operator before hanging up.

  "Are you okay? Hurt anywhere?"

  I shake my head, still clutching my belongings to my chest and just look up at him.

  "Come on, sweetheart. Why don't you come and sit in my car while I go get some information? Do you want me to call your dad?"

  I shake my head frantically, grabbing for the phone that's still in his hands, and pull up Nate's name before handing it back to him.

  He looks at the screen, his expression slipping slightly in shock, but just nods before walking away. I keep my feet on the ground next to Bam, the door open, and I watch as people rush around to put out the fire. Liam is moving around as he talks, and when I feel someone rush to my side, I look away from him.

  "Holy shit, Ember! Are you okay? I just heard about the fire and came right over."

  I jump when Levi pulls one of my hands away from my body, Bam making a noise deep in his throat. The simple touch is enough to knock the shock out of me, and I jerk back, dropping the contents I had been clutching for dear life on the ground.

  He bends, ignoring my outburst, and picks up my purse, followed by the frame. The same frame I had just replaced when he had shattered it a few weeks before. He looks at the image, the one of Nate and me, and I see his jaw tick.

  "Can I help you?" I hear Liam question, his voice full of authority as he walks back over, handing me my phone.

  Levi stands and turns to look at Liam. "You can't. I'm checking on Ember here."

  "It's okay, Lee," I interject before things get weird. "Levi is just an old ... friend of mine. He works with the Hope Town Fire Department and was just checking on me."

  "Is that so? That's mighty nice and all, Larry," Liam sweetly says. "You just happen to be driving by?"

  At Liam's question, I look over at Levi and notice that he isn't wearing his uniform. Instead, he has on a nice polo shirt and jeans.

  "It's Levi." His nostrils flare and he stands a little straighter. "I had stopped by the station, actually, on my way home and was there when the call came in. Not that it's any of your business." He adds the last part under his breath, but I know Lee hears him because he gets a cold look in his eyes.

  "Actually, Levi, it is my business. Not only because I carry this," he stresses while pointing to his badge, "but also because Ember is a close friend."

  I ignore them, not interested in their macho bullshit, and look over at my house. They almost have the flames under control, and it looks like it didn't move far from the back half of my house. I take a deep breath and try to calm my frazzled nerves, but that all goes to shit when I hear the sharp scream of tires protesting. I look up and see my father jumping from his truck and rushing over, my mom not far behind him, and jerk my eyes to Liam.

  "That wasn't the call I asked you to make," I accuse.

  He holds his hands up, ignoring the man still standing next to the open doorway. "Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to get my ass handed to me because I picked the wrong order when it comes to the men in your life. Your father is scary as fuck, and I know he can kick my ass."

  "He isn't who I wanted here," I hiss.

  "Yeah, well the one you wanted here I imagine isn't far behind."

  I narrow my eyes, and he just rolls his. "I have a wife, Em. You can't intimidate me with that look. Not to mention, Molly puts you to shame."

  At the mention of his daughter, I feel some of my anxiety ebb, just in time for my father to take my shoulders and spin me until my nose is pressed against his chest.

  "Are you okay," he huffs.

  "Oh my God, baby!" my mom screams in my ear when she joins the huddle.

  "Shit, Emmy, not so loud," my father scolds before pulling me back and looking down at me. "You're okay?"

  "I'm okay, Dad. Just ... in shock, I think. Bam got me out of the house before the smoke had even hit my bedroom."

  He continues to look at me, his dark eyes probing as he makes sure my words are true. I can feel my mom fidget nervously as she watches them work to put the remaining flames out. He looks down, assessing me for injury, I'm sure, before pulling me back into his hold.

  "Who the fuck are you?" he snaps, the sound grumbled against the ear he has pressed close to his chest.

  "Levi Kyle, Ember's boyfriend."

  "No, he isn't! Ex! EX-boyfriend. We broke up almost a month ago!" I yell, my mouth muffled against my dad's chest. I try to turn around, but my father just holds me tighter against him.

  "You're mistaken."

  I shiver, the malicious tone in my dad's voice something that I don't often hear, but it never fails to cause me to tremble in fear. I've never had that tone directed at me either, and it's still scary as hell.

  "Excuse me, I misspoke," Levi tries again. "We recently had a separation that I had been hoping to rectify."

  "Oh boy," I hear coming from my mom, and I see her head pop in my line of sight, giving me a wink.
She's loving this. Which shouldn't be a shock since she's married to my father and has taken great pleasure my whole life in 'throwing her sass' to get a reaction from him.

  I finally push from my dad and turn to look at Levi. "At the risk of embarrassing you by doing this in front of an audience, I'm going to go ahead and say what I need to in the hopes that you'll hear me. I think it's nice that you came when you heard the call, but as you can see, I have most of my support here already. That being said, I think it was shitty for you to even say that during this," I stress and point behind his shoulder to where my house had been burning just minutes before. "But even if you had waited to do it somewhere else, the answer would be the same. I have no plan to rectify anything when it comes to us. Not now and not ever."

  He makes a move to step toward me, but stops with a glance behind our little huddle, his eyes getting hard. I'm sure my dad is about to come out of his skin right now.

  "You've had a rough night," Levi says, still not looking at me right away. "How about we talk about this in a week or so? Take all the time you want, but just promise we can talk. I miss you." He looks back at me with a smile.

  "Are you stupid, boy?" my father snaps.

  "Stop, it Maddox," my mom worries.

  "I don't want a week, Levi. I don't want a day. Hell, I don't want even a minute. I really was trying to be nice, but I don't want you!"

  "Damn fucking right you don't," I hear harshly barked and feel the instant rush of safety and relief rush over me at those words.

  I turn to see that my father is still standing behind me with his arms now crossed over his chest, and I almost stumble with emotion when I look next to him and see the man mirroring his pose. Right down to the thin lips and narrowed eyes.

  "Nate," I whisper on a sob, afraid to move without losing my shit and crumpling onto the sidewalk.

  His eyes leave Levi's direction immediately, and he looks right at me. The anger that had been radiating from him dissipates the second he locks his eyes on mine. He takes a step forward and bends to pull me into his embrace. His head going to my neck and his mouth against the tender flesh as he lifts me with his hands on my ass until my legs wrap around his hips.

  He doesn't move for a second, giving me all of him while my body shakes. Now that he's here, I finally let the enormity of tonight sink in; the fire could have been so much worse had Bam not woken me from my deep sleep. I feel the frame that I had been holding digging into our abdomens, but I don't dare ease up on my hold.

  Soft kisses against my neck are the only warning that I get before he lifts his head and starts talking. "I know who you are, but you don't know who I am. This girl in my arms is mine, and buddy, you're one stupid motherfucker for letting her go. But you did and I promise you I'm not going to be that damn dumb. She said it nicely, but you didn't listen, so now hear it from me." I tighten my arms around his neck and press my nose into his neck, smelling his familiar cologne mixed with the scent of cigarette smoke from Dirty. A combination that I've become addicted to and it instantly makes me feel like all is right in the world. "You have no place in her life, and as nice as you think it was to come rushing over to make sure she was fine, as you can see ... she is. You can leave now knowing that she's right where she needs to be. And, one more time, since you seem to need it really dumbed down--Ember is mine now and for the rest of our days on this earth, so you can fuck right off knowing that in no way will there ever be a break in that for the likes of you."

  And at that, Nate turns with me in his arms and starts walking away from them.

  He stops and turns his body until he's sitting. I lift my head up and see the back of an open ambulance before looking at him in question.

  "You're going to stay right here in my arms and let them look at you. When we're done here, we'll see what else needs your attention before I pack up your and Bam's shit and take you home. And baby, do not argue with me because I've been holding on by the thinnest of fucking threads since Lee called me."

  I just nod because really what else can I do?

  I WATCHED EARLIER AS SHE was checked out while her dad was saying a few things to that sorry piece of shit before he stomped off, got into his SUV, and left in a rush.

  I could have fucking killed him earlier. The fear that I had for Ember morphed into a rage like I had never felt when I walked up to them talking around Liam's patrol car. He saw me, that fucking fuck, but he didn't let me being there stop him from running his mouth.

  Not even the happiness I felt from Ember's response to him was enough to dull the rage that I felt. When I moved to step in, Maddox had stopped me with a hand to my arm, warning me without words to stand fucking back and let Ember speak her mind. So I did the only thing that made sense; I copied his stance in hopes that I looked even half as scary as he did, and that slimy fuck got the hint.

  She shifts, her head almost falling off my shoulder, but I adjust her before it can. Her movement jolts me into the present and my mind away from the dark thoughts swirling in my head. Not for the first time since we sat down on a chair Liam had moved over from her front porch did I feel something dig into my gut. I move my hand between us and pull out whatever I've felt for the last thirty minutes but hadn't dared move to get it until I knew she was good and asleep in my arms.

  I'm not sure what I expected her to have been clutching as if her life depended on it, but seeing a framed picture of us wasn't it. I hadn't ever seen this one, but to be honest, I hadn't really paid much attention to the shit she had around her house when she was the only thing I cared about looking at.

  I remember the day this was taken like it was yesterday. I had been tutoring her for a few weeks, hell, maybe a few months, I don't know. The struggle to keep myself from her was getting to me, and when she showed up in that bikini, I almost forgot all the reasons to stay away. My eyes kept finding her throughout the day, and I kept finding reasons to be near her. I didn't know this picture was even taken, though. How had her dad not killed me before now? Because I know damn well if he had seen this picture, he had seen something between us long before I did.

  I study the picture some more, overwhelmed that this was one of the things she had left the house with. Keeping it in my hand, I wrap my arms back around her and look up. Maddox has his wife in his arms, standing next to where Lee is talking to him at his patrol car, but his focus is on me and the woman sleeping wrapped around me. He looks at her, and even in the darkness, I can see the struggle he's having with himself not to come and take her from me, but when he looks up, I get the briefest of nods before he looks away.

  It's one thing for me to have had his verbal blessing to pursue his daughter, but when she had picked me over him earlier, I had been a little worried. There is no doubt in my mind that he's been struggling with that since, but I have a feeling that the nod I just got from him was his way of letting me know that I now had his acceptance and happiness when it came to our relationship.

  "I just got the okay to go in," Lee says, crouching down next to my seat.

  "How bad is it?"

  "Not as bad as it could be. There's some smoke and water damage to her living room, but from what I heard, nothing touched her bedroom and the guest room. The kitchen and the sunroom are completely gone, though."

  "Studio," I grunt, hating that I'm going to have to tell her that.

  "Pardon?"

  "Not a sunroom, Lee. That was her art studio. The one room in the house that she basically lived in and one that I know means a whole hell of a lot to her."

  "Shit, sorry, brother."

  "Nothing to be sorry about. My woman is safe and the rest can be replaced."

  He gives me a funny look. "Your woman, huh?"

  I knew it was coming, so I just raise a brow, twisting my head to make sure she's still sleeping before responding. "More than that, Lee, if you know what I mean. She's my everything."

  He smiles and gives me a nod. He's a happily married man who knows what it's like to find your everything. "Happy to hear
that, Nate. She's good for you."

  "Yeah." I sigh. "You took ten years off my life earlier with that call."

  "I imagine, but she's okay and that's the only thing that matters. I'm going to go with her mom to pack up some of her stuff. I'm going to just go on and guess that she's going home with you? Or should I send her home with Maddox?"

  At the middle finger he gets in response, he climbs to his feet with a laugh.

  Her dad takes care of talking to the official looking people while I wait for her mom and Lee to get some shit packed. For that, I'm thankful. I don't want to let her go, needing her against me to remind me that she's fine.

  "I'll check in with them tomorrow," he says, walking to stand in front of me and looking down at his daughter. "I suspect, had this not been the first time I had seen her in a few weeks, that I would have seen she had gotten her happiness back?"

  "That would be right."

  "You going to fight me on where she goes tonight?"

  "With everything I have."

  He smiles, a ghost of one that is almost not even noticeable. "I wouldn't expect anything less. Remember what I said, Nate. Accidents happen."

  I nod, lifting the frame I still have in my hands and hold it out to him. He takes it as I wait for him to see what I'm hoping he does. His throat works as his eyes roam over every inch of the picture. I wait and hope that he sees it.

  "Even back then." Not a question because even a fool would know the answer to that.

  "Even back then," I parrot.

  "I see. Take my advice then. Don't wait to tell her that you love her."

  He continues to hold the frame when I see Emmy and Lee walking from the front door with three suitcases and two huge duffle bags between the two of them. I'm not sure which one of them I need to thank for making sure she was heavily packed because if I have things my way, she won't be back here even when the repairs are done.