July Flames

by Mari Carr

  Fergus noticed that Sunnie’s gaze never left the television. He knew she wouldn’t rest until they knew the bomb was defused and Landon, her dad, and her brother were safe.

  They all continued to wait, talking and fretting quietly as they watched the news. And then, about an hour later, Aaron called Riley to tell her they were all on their way back to the pub.

  After that, the entire atmosphere changed as Tris and Padraig started handing out the pints of Guinness, everyone slowly relaxing as the reality sank in that everyone they loved was safe.

  Cheers erupted when Miguel, Aaron, Landon and Finn arrived a few minutes later, and they filled in the rest of the blanks. The bomb was defused—according to Aaron, there had been enough C4 to blow up half the stadium—and Erick’s body had been removed.

  The police in Erick’s hometown had immediately been dispatched to his apartment, where they’d discovered one entire room decorated with photos of Aubrey as Jenny Sweet, and even more explosives. His opportunity to act on his obsession had appeared when he’d found a job posting for a pyrotechnician position, traveling as part of Aubrey’s crew.

  As the night wore on, they shook off the fears, the conversations turning to more normal, less terrifying things.

  Aubrey spent the better part of half an hour talking to Teagan about her songwriting, and Fergus was happy to see the horror of the night slowly fading as she spoke to her idol. He smiled when Teagan commented on “Haunted Dreams,” and Aubrey told her Fergus had inspired it.

  Though it was well after three in the morning, and they had a wedding the next day, no one seemed ready to part. It was Sunnie—normally the life of every party—who put her foot down.

  “I have planned a stellar wedding reception, and I’m not going to abide one single yawn from any of you,” she called out. “Go home. Now. All of you.”

  Fortunately, Sunnie had planned an evening wedding.

  “Back to the hotel?” Fergus asked as everyone started making their way either to their cars or upstairs.

  She glanced up. “Do you think I could see this dorm of yours?”

  He grinned. “Definitely.”

  Sunnie had eschewed the tradition of the groom seeing the bride before the wedding. After the night’s scare, she refused to spend the night away from Landon, and the two had left, hand in hand, to return to their apartment.

  Fergus took her upstairs. Finn and Colm were kicked back on the couch, though it was apparent they didn’t plan to stay there for long. Yvonne was standing at the kitchen counter, drinking a bottle of water.

  He held out his hands. “And these are my roommates.”

  Aubrey laughed. “I hope you guys don’t mind if I crash here tonight.”

  Yvonne smiled. “You can stay as long as you want.”

  Finn cleared his throat, his grin wide. “I don’t mind sharing our room with Aubrey, Fergus.”

  Fergus rolled his eyes. “We’re taking Sunnie’s old room.”

  “Party pooper,” he muttered as he and Colm stood and walked to the stairs.

  “Good night,” Colm said.

  Yvonne said her good nights as well, heading to her room.

  Fergus took Aubrey’s hand, leading her down the hallway. “You might be sorry you asked to stay here. The bed in her room is full-size, not nearly as big as the king in the hotel suite.”

  “It’ll be big enough for what I have in mind.”

  Fergus closed the door as they entered, locking it behind them. He kissed her, the fears and stress of the last few hours pouring out of him. He held her tight, never wanting to let her go.

  He’d almost lost her.

  The reality of that shook him.

  “Aubrey, I…”

  She cupped his cheek. “However you need it.”

  He unzipped her dress, both of them realizing at the same moment that she was still in her final costume, a low-cut sequined dress that was far too glamorous for Pat’s Pub.

  She giggled softly as the shimmery material fell to the floor.

  “Go lie on the bed.”

  She did as he asked, lifting her arms to him once he’d shed his clothing as well. Fergus climbed over her, caging her beneath him.

  They’d slept together last night, coming together in a rush. Two weeks of celibacy had taken its toll on both of them. It had been fast and furious and afterwards, exhaustion caught up with them. After too many restless nights, they’d both managed a decent night’s sleep.

  Tonight, he felt a different sort of urgency.

  Aubrey hadn’t agreed to take him up on his offer, to stay with him in Baltimore while she wrote her next album. He’d told her he wanted to date her. In truth, what he wanted was so much more, but he didn’t dare tell her that.

  The concepts of trust and love still frightened her. Simply asking to date her was as far as he’d ventured to push.

  For now.

  But Fergus knew he wouldn’t be able to hide the depth of his feelings for long. Maybe not even through tonight.

  He kissed her again, taking the time to savor the moment. Every day since he’d met her, there’d been some unknown threat lurking in the wings.

  “He’s gone,” Aubrey whispered. “I forgot what it felt like to not be afraid.”

  “I know.” He kissed her again. “When you fell through the stage…Aubrey…I thought—”

  She lifted her head, kissing away his fears. “I don’t want to talk about it. Erick has stolen enough from us. Tonight…”

  “Is ours.”

  He ran his fingers along her slit. Aubrey was hot, wet, ready.

  Fergus had always approached sex as a game, playing to win, just as he would in football or chess. It had never been that way with her.

  But tonight was even more different. He wanted to make love to her. To show her everything she meant to him.

  Those three little words hovered right on the tip of his tongue. Every time they started to escape, he kissed her.

  Placing his cock at her opening, he slid in slowly, their lips still joined, their tongues dancing together.

  He lifted his hips languidly, over and over, taking her slowly, deeply.

  Love you.

  The words kept slipping into his subconscious, begging to be spoken.

  “Aubrey,” he whispered when he sensed she was close.

  Before he could verbalize his feelings, she fell into the abyss, her back arching, her eyes closing.

  “Yes!” she cried out. “Fergus. My Fergus.”

  Her declaration, her claiming, pushed him over as well, and he came inside her, filling her.

  When he lay down next to her, she curled into his arms, falling asleep within moments.

  It figures, he thought with a grin. The second he was ready to declare his undying love, the insomniac found sleep.

  Tomorrow.

  He would tell her how he felt tomorrow.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Aubrey laughed as Fergus spun her around on the dance floor. She’d never been to a wedding like Sunnie and Landon’s in her life. The entire event was a pop culture fan’s dream. Apparently Sunnie, who’d known Landon since they were just kids, had decided to document their lives together through a flashback of all the things they’d loved.

  The entire waitstaff was dressed in their Disney finest. The waitresses had donned their princess attire, every single heroine embodied, including her favorite, Mulan, while the waiters represented nearly every Prince Charming, from Aladdin to the Beast.

  The song ended and Fergus led her back to their table, where several family members were sitting, eating cake, drinking and chatting.

  Aubrey grinned when something on the far wall caught her eye.

  There were four screens, one on each of the walls of the ballroom, each showing different videos—all on mute.

  One screen displayed old family videos, where Aubrey was getting yet another peek of Fergus as a boy.

  “It’s you again,” she said, pointing at the screen.

 
Fergus rolled his eyes. In the video, he, Landon and Finn were wrestling in Riley and Aaron’s living room, at what Lily claimed was a birthday sleepover gone wrong.

  “Riley let them eat all the candy from the piñata. Before dinner,” Lily said, shaking her head.

  “Not one of my finer parenting moments,” Riley said, though her grin made it clear she thought it was funny now. “They were hyped up on sugar. Wild beasts. It was sort of scary at one point.”

  The three boys couldn’t have been more than eight or nine, and they were clearly out of control. Riley and Aaron looked haggard in the video, but in the background, it was easy to see Pop Pop egging them on.

  “You were a lot of help, Pop,” Riley said sarcastically.

  “Promised a dime to the winner,” Pop Pop said, chortling with laughter as he watched the old video.

  “By the way,” Fergus said. “You still owe me that dime.”

  Pop Pop shook his head and pointed to the screen. Landon had taken an elbow to the eye, and Sunnie could be seen comforting him, giving him a hug. “I gave Landon the dime just before the wedding service. Figured he came out on top in the end, winning the heart of our sweet Sunnie.”

  The family videos had already looped through twice, but Aubrey struggled to look away, enthralled by every single minute.

  A second screen flashed music videos from Sunnie and Landon’s middle and high school years. Everyone got a kick out of looking back at the hairstyles and fashions that had been popular a decade or so earlier.

  “Hey, Aubrey,” Miguel called out, pointing to the screen.

  Aubrey was surprised to find herself as part of the montage on the third screen, where Sunnie was showing highlights from all their favorite TV shows growing up.

  She’d chosen to show the scene Miguel had reenacted the first time they’d met. It was funny how Miguel had managed to change her impression of that scene. She hadn’t watched a single episode of Sweet Flames since leaving the show six years earlier. Her first boyfriend, Brett, who played Prince Alexander, was there on his knee, declaring his undying love to Jenny Sweet.

  She would have expected to feel some pain over seeing it again, but instead, all she could remember was Miguel, doing his impersonation of the prince and making her laugh at the cheesiness of it all.

  The final screen featured just one thing, looping over and over.

  It was the viral video of Sunnie and Landon, recorded just after he’d saved her from a mugger, kissed her, and the two of them realized they were meant to be.

  Aubrey had actually seen the video when it first went viral, though she hadn’t realized until nearly the end of the bachelor party that Landon was the “hot cop” and Sunnie the “saved nurse.”

  “I’m stealing this beauty for a dance,” Miguel announced, drawing Aubrey out of her seat.

  “Just one,” Fergus said. “I’m not about to spend tonight like I did the bachelor party, watching you and Finn dance every song with my girl.”

  Fergus looked at her, using that stern face that sent her mind straight to the dominant man she hadn’t spent nearly enough time with in the bedroom. She hoped to broaden her sexual horizons tonight after the wedding.

  She’d managed two whole nights of sleep—both eight hours straight. She couldn’t believe how clear and bright and wonderful the world looked after a restful night…and some amazing sex.

  “Save all the slow dances for me,” Fergus demanded.

  She shook her head. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to find another partner for one of them.” Aubrey gestured toward Pop Pop.

  “A young man’s folly,” Pop Pop said. “As we older, wiser men can tell you, you have to ask for those slow dances at the beginning of the night.”

  Fergus laughed. “Pop Pop, you gotta stop hitting on my girlfriend.”

  Everyone at the table laughed as Miguel led her to the dance floor, the two of them joining a circle of Fergus’s cousins.

  Aubrey couldn’t remember a more magical night.

  She never wanted it to end.

  * * *

  Fergus grinned as he skirted the dance floor and caught a glimpse of Aubrey’s face. She looked well-rested, at ease, happier than he’d ever seen her.

  He left the ballroom and walked down the hallway, looking for the men’s room. It was a good thing they were taking an Uber home. He’d had three bourbon and Cokes, and he was in the mood to celebrate—not only the wedding, but love and life. It was hard to believe that last night, he and Aubrey had come close to losing theirs at the hands of a madman.

  The memory of it kept sneaking up on him, sucker punching him. He figured it would take time—a lot of it—before he fully shook the fear of almost losing her in such a violent way.

  “Excuse me,” a female voice said.

  Fergus stopped and smiled at the stranger. The wedding reception was being held in a hotel ballroom. He assumed this woman was one of the guests of the hotel, as he didn’t recognize her. “Yes?”

  “I wonder if I can impose on you to help me. It’s rather embarrassing.”

  “I’ll help if I can.”

  The woman gestured to the floor. It took Fergus a moment to realize that the woman’s heel had gotten stuck in one of the heating grates. The hotel was an old one, recently refurbished. The architects who’d remodeled it worked hard to keep a lot of the original design to maintain the historic look.

  “I’d take the shoe off but, well, as you can see, it’s not the most practical design. And there’s nothing here to hold on to. I’ve nearly fallen twice already. I was about to start yelling for help when you appeared.”

  Fergus laughed as he knelt in front of her. The shoe was one of those types that laced around the ankle. He’d never understand the fashion behind women’s shoes.

  He gently gripped the shoe, trying to unwedge it without damaging it, but the thing was lodged tight.

  The woman wobbled, grabbing on to his shoulders for support.

  Fergus wiggled it again, the woman gripping him tighter.

  “Please take pity on me and tell me you weren’t the groom.”

  She was flirting with him.

  “I’m one of the groomsmen.” And then, just to cut her off at the pass, he added, “I’m here with my girlfriend.”

  “Lucky woman,” she purred, one of her hands slipping beneath his tux jacket.

  She’d attempted to make it look like an accident, but Fergus could tell the difference. Then he realized the reason he was struggling was because she wasn’t helping. In fact, she seemed to be working against him, putting weight on the shoe every time he nearly freed her.

  Enough of this.

  He started to stand. “I think you’re really stuck. I’ll go grab someone from the reception des—”

  “Oh no, please,” she said, holding him down. “I think you’ve nearly got it.”

  Fergus gave the shoe one more hard tug, not bothering to be gentle this time.

  Her shoe slipped free.

  He stood back up, stepping away from her. Her hands fell to her sides.

  Fergus nodded politely, ready to extract himself from the woman. “Well, then, if you’ll exc—”

  “I can see why she’s attracted to you. You’re very handsome. Have you ever considered modeling? Or maybe acting? I could help you with that.”

  Fergus frowned, confused. “I’m sorry. Do we know each other?”

  Before she could respond, there was a gasp from behind him. He recognized it well. He’d heard it several times over the past six weeks.

  “Aubrey,” he said, turning toward her, alarmed by her pale complexion. “What’s wrong?”

  Aubrey wasn’t looking at him. Instead, her gaze was locked on the woman next to him.

  “What are you doing here, Mom?”

  Fergus jerked, this time spinning to face the woman who’d made Aubrey’s life a living hell.

  Like her daughter, Candace wasn’t looking at him, but smiling smugly at Aubrey.

  “Hello, m
y dear. You never responded to my settlement offer, then I heard about the stalker and the bomb. I came to make sure you were all right.”

  Aubrey shook her head. “No. That’s not why you’re here.”

  Candace laughed. “Always so suspicious. Can’t you just accept that as your mother I might be concerned? You were nearly blown to bits after all. It was on every news station last night. Your picture…on every channel. I called in a favor of a dear friend and flew here on his private jet.”

  Aubrey appeared tense, but he couldn’t hear any trace of anxiety in her tone. “No. I can’t accept the idea that you might give a shit.”

  Fergus couldn’t either. There wasn’t a spark of worry in Candace’s face. If anything, it felt more like she viewed the horror of last night’s events as some stellar publicity stunt.

  “How did you find me here?”

  “Marcus.”

  “Why would he tell you…” Aubrey sighed. “You played the devastated mother card.”

  Candace laughed. “My tears are quite irresistible. He said you were fine and that you’d spent the night at Fergus’s family’s pub. After that, it only took a few Google searches. When I saw the sign of the pub’s door, explaining it was closed for a family wedding, it was simple enough to follow the trail here. I must say, your taste in men is improving.”

  Candace took a step closer to him, attempting to place her hand on his arm. Fergus withdrew it with a scowl.

  Aubrey’s mother shook off his retreat. “Your handsome bodyguard was helping me out.” She gestured toward the grate. “My shoe got stuck.”

  “Right,” Aubrey said, sarcastically.

  “This is a private party.” Fergus hated that Candace had the power to ruin what had been an amazing night just a few minutes earlier. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

  Candace smiled. “I’ve booked a room in the hotel.”

  “Then go there.” Fergus started toward Aubrey, but Candace reached out and grasped his arm.