9781618858368ForbiddenDeceptionlLeveyNC (16 page)

“Are
you a fireman too?” Eva asked him. Ailyn noticed he didn’t wear the same gear
as Quin.

“I’m
not a firefighter. That’s what my cousin Quin does. I build custom bikes and
cars, sometimes race them.”

“Buckle
up ladies and Riggs.” Quin looked in the rearview mirror, then turned on the
siren and began weaving his way up through the wreckage. Ailyn handed him her
phone.

“Boss,
got’em.
Riggs and I are headed up from the back.”

“Roger
that. Thanks, bro, for getting here so fast. Take me off speaker phone now.”

 
Ailyn watched Quin take control of the call,
wondering what was going on that she couldn’t hear.

“Yes,
sir.”

He
cut the connection. “Eva your pops wants you to lay low in the backseat and
close your eyes, okay? Riggs make sure she doesn’t look out the window.”

“We’re
gonna watch some cartoons back here.” Riggs placed headphones over Eva’s head and
a set over his.

“Must
be bad.”
Ailyn put her shades on.

“Twenty
car pileup with fatalities.
He doesn’t want either
one of you to see what’s up ahead.”

Quin
glanced in the mirror at Eva and Riggs. He whispered, “Seth doesn’t want Eva to
see what happens when people don’t have seatbelts on, and when license plates
are not secured on the outside of the car.”

“I
don’t understand.”

“There
was a rash of burglaries where license plates were stolen recently. The state
of Kansas is one of the only states that don’t require both front and back
plates. Some citizens have chosen to tuck their plates inside the front dash to
keep them from being stolen. One, it’s illegal, and
two,
any moveable object in a vehicle can become a lethal object.

“Oh.”
She blanched at the visualization of decapitation played in slow motion and
clutched her queasy stomach. Doing as requested, she closed her eyes, allowing Quinlan
to navigate traffic and get them home safely.

Chapter Ten

A
knock on Ailyn’s classroom door interrupted her from teaching. She set her
pointer down on the desk and walked over to the door. Kaitlyn, the last period
student aide, stepped in with a single red rose in a vase in one hand and an
edible bouquet in the other.

“Thank
you, Kaitlyn.” She walked her presents over to her desk, silenced her
twittering students with an eyebrow, sat, and opened the note.

 
Forgive me, darlin’. I know I haven’t been
easy to be around this week. I miss your beautiful face.
Can’t
wait to see you tonight.

She
peered up at her students who were supposed to be working on their written
papers to see the girls still giggling and sighing with the cutest wistful
expression on their lovely faces and the male students who rolled their eyes at
their classmates. A smile tugged at the corner of her lips. In a few years
those same eye rolling boys would be buying flowers, and sending treats to
their girlfriends.

“I
do believe he sent enough for me to share.” She winked and rummaged in her desk
drawer for a stack of plates and began plating fruit kabobs for her students.
As they worked, she handed out the chocolate covered desert pieces.

“Is
he in trouble, Ms. Domniguez? My dad only sends my mom stuff at work if he’s
done something to make her mad or if it’s her birthday,” asked Taryn, raising
her hand, but she kept peeking over at Marc, the boy every boy in their grade
wanted to be and every girl in her class ogled. One day he’d be a lady killer.

“That
is personal, but no he’s not in trouble. Sometimes it’s nice to get something
pretty for no reason at all.” She moved down the aisles with the treats and
then returned to her desk.

“My
dad doesn’t send my mom flowers because he says it’s a waste of money since
they die,” interjected Mitch, her class clown. Ailyn shook her head but kept
her mouth closed.

“Why
didn’t the flower guy bring them in?” Alicia asked from the back of the room.

“There’s
a rule against delivery personnel walking the halls. We have to keep everyone
safe. Why don’t you all put your papers away and enjoy your snack. The bell
will be ringing in a few minutes.”

Ailyn
closed her book and gathered her things, as her students cleaned up their desks
and chatted amongst
themselves
quietly. When the bell
rang they scampered out. Her feet ached as she walked to her car, hurrying to
avoid her admirer, Martin James, before he launched into an interrogation over
her delivered gifts. By the skin of her teeth, she missed him as she tucked
herself into the safety of her car, and exhaled a breath.
Lord, the man didn’t take no for an answer
. If he didn’t stop, she’d
let Seth deal with him.

All
the way home, Ailyn inhaled the scent of the red rose at every stop sign or red
light. The fact that Seth thought to win his way into her good graces tickled
her pink. Yes, he totally deserved to see her new set of thigh highs she’d
purchased with him in mind. Never before had she put too much thought into her
undergarments, choosing her purchases on what made her feel sexy, not
who
made her feel sexy.

Cordero’s
sports car sat next to another truck hogging all the space in her driveway. She
idled to a rolling stop along the curb and parked. The front door opened as she
stepped out of her car. She saw Chandler coming her way and waved.

“Hey.
How are you doing? I thought you were back on duty.” He met her halfway in the
middle of the sidewalk.

“I
am. I left early today for a check-up and to bring by the equipment the Lt.
asked for. Let me take your things. I’ll come back for the rest of what I need
in a sec.” Before she could object, Chandler plucked her vase from her grip and
the laptop case from her shoulder.

“Come
on,
Teach
, or do I need to carry you
too?” Chandler’s dangerous chuckle sent her sprinting to keep up with his long
strides. She sighed and stepped into her house behind him trying to cool her
flushed face.
What the hell, did every
male on Seth’s team have such a disarming effect on all women?

Chandler
even carried her things to her desk and set them down. “Where do you want your
rose?”

“Here’s
fine.” She slipped off her heels and leaned against the desk edge. “So, what
are you installing?” Curiosity ate at her since Seth hadn’t run anything by
her. She knew he planned on doing some things around the house, and wanted him
to feel comfortable making changes.

“Security
system.
I installed one for Dire last week and Seth advised
me you don’t have one in place. He didn’t say anything?”

“No,
he’s been pretty unapproachable all week. Ever since the wreck he’s been hard
to be around. There’s this wall up that I can’t penetrate. We’ve hardly talked,
mostly slept.” She didn’t mention all the shared sex that left her feeling
empty afterward like he was distracted and just going through the paces. Yeah
she got off, so did he but it wasn’t mind obliterating. She guessed the rose was
an apology on his part.

“Don’t
worry,
Teach
. The job can get to us. We’ve all done
this for a long time but senseless death really digs deep. Everyone processes
events differently. Having you and Eva in the truck with him off duty threw
him.” He laid his hand on her shoulder. “No one expects to have their family right
there seeing them have to dash off to help. Seth internalizes. The main reason
he’s a great leader is his ability to keep calm and collected in any situation.
Quin’s orders were to keep you and Eva blinded from the graphic carnage of that
wreck.”

“He
could’ve told me. Let me be there for him. Should I expect to be shut out every
time he has a bad day at work?”

“All
I can say is this will be a hard adjustment period for you, especially if
you’re used to conversing on your time and not his. Not every shift is harsh.”
He hugged her in brotherly affection.

 
“I guess that has the possibility of being an
every shift type of hazard.”

Chandler
rubbed the back of his head and leaned against her bookshelves.

“We
really keep work at work and home at home. Just give him space on bad days so
he can process. He won’t talk, none of us do. Don’t take it personal, okay?
It’s nothing about you, or anything you’ve done wrong, it’s all psychological
on our side. Remember he loves you and is excited to have you and Eva back in
his life, even if he’s acting like a douche.”

“I
don’t like feeling like I’m walking on egg shells ready for an explosion. Why
did he move in here with us if he’s going to be emotionally unavailable?”

“I
know being with a fireman is new for you. There’s a reason why having
relationships with us can be hard. He’s lucky he has you for a second time and
all he talks about is what a joy Eva is and how finding you again
is
his own piece of heaven. Just breathe and be a little
more patient.”

“Eva
knows something is off with him. How is she not to take it personal, like he
regrets being here?”

“Seth
will sit her down and talk to her. Just tell her the truth, sometimes work
makes him sad and he needs time to think. He’s always looking for something new
to teach in his lectures, ways to drive points home that will saves lives. He
knows if he needs to get his head on right he hasn’t lost his personal space at
our place. Tell him if it’s too hard on Eva or you to take a time out at home
with us.”

“I’d
worry about him even more. I’ll talk to Eva later. She hasn’t spoken much about
it but I know she’s worried. I wish he’d talk but I won’t push him to relive
what he saw, that might make him go over the edge and distance himself more.
Plus he did send me a rose and chocolate covered fruit.”

“You’re
holding out woman? Where are the goods?”

“I
shared with my brilliant students.
All gone.”
She
stood. “I’m going to go and change clothes. Eva will be home soon. Do you need
help putting the equipment in?”

“Sounds
good.
Not at all.
Dire, Ryker and
your man will be here soon to help me.” He winked and strode toward the front
door. Ailyn watched him depart and dragged her tired ass upstairs to change.
Chandler gave her some words of wisdom to ruminate on until her eyes closed.

“Hey,
sleeping beauty.”

 
Warm lips on hers woke her. Ailyn yawned
twisted to see the clock. “How long have you been home?” Seth sat on the edge
of the bed, and ran his hand up her back as she fought to wipe the fog from her
mind.

“About
an hour.
Eva’s singing karaoke downstairs. We
ordered some pizza.
How you doing?”

“Good.
I can’t believe I passed out like that.” She turned to her side and yawned.

“You
looked too peaceful to wake up when I came in.”

“Are
we good? You had me scared for us.” She slipped her hand in his and laced their
fingers, wanting a physical connection. Her talk with Chandler put her at ease
but not
enough,
she needed to hear they were okay from
his lips.

“Yeah.
We’re good. I’m sorry I put you and Eva through the aftermath. Chandler handed
me my ass for being a dick. I had a talk with Eva over pizza and soda. She’s
okay. I made sure she knew that I was just sad this
week,
nothing was about her or us. Forgive me?” He reached down to kiss her and she
let him.

“
Umhm
.
This time.
Next time just say something to avoid the
confusion and everyone thinking they’ve done something wrong.”

“I
will, this is a huge adjustment for me too, darlin’. I’ve never lived with a
woman before, let alone two. I love waking up to you and kissing you good
morning and good night and Eva. There are things I didn’t plan on or figure out
until I moved in.”

“Change
is good.” She kissed his fingertips. “So what is this with a security system?”

“Safety.
This neighborhood is good but you don’t have an alarm system. I’m not going to
be home every night and wanted a link to the police and fire department if
something bad happens, be it a fire or break-in. Plus, having the stake out in
the yard with the company emblem will deter some criminals from taking a risk
at burglarizing. Chandler and Ryker are almost done already. You feel like
getting out tonight?”

“I’d
love to get out for a bit. Who’s going to watch Eva though, Ashland is grounded
still.”

“Dire
and Mia want to come too. Ash can sit now, they took her off punishment today.”

“
Hmm
.
How convenient. By the way, do you guys talk to each other about everything?” Ailyn
couldn’t wait to see her sister psychoanalyze the group. Being as close as they
were, she wondered what Rianna would have to say about their interesting
dynamic.

“We
are a tight-knit unit, on and off shift. What we see, what we do, how we depend
on each other to have our backs, yeah, we’re like one big ole communal family.”

 
“Of course, next you’ll say you even share
women.” Seth winked, making laughter bubble from her lips, but she frowned when
he didn’t join in. “Don’t tell me you shared.”

“Darlin’,
let’s just say it’s been known to happen. We get the girls that want the
label
of being with a firefighter. S’all
good when we’re not looking for anything serious, but those lays get boring
pretty fast. Well, maybe not for Ryker and a few of the younger teammates. Quin
and Rees are another story but that’s theirs to share.” He silenced her with a
heady kiss, stealing her breath, then nipped her ear and whispered, “I wasn’t a
saint and I don’t kiss and tell, never have.
Can’t wait to
see you naked tonight though.”
He stole under the hem of her skirt, grazed
her silk stockings inching his way up, and grabbed a handful of her ass.

“
Psshhht
. Fat chance of that.”
Ailyn rolled off the bed to find something to wear. She stepped out of her work
clothes and into a pair of sweats and a T-shirt. “I’ll call Rianna and see if
she wants to hang too.”

* * * *

“Man
there is a wait for tables.” Ryker came back the bearer of bad news. Ailyn
noticed how his gaze brightened suddenly. She leaned forward to see around Seth
to find his new interest and found Mia and another woman heading their way.

The
waitress brought over a round of shots over to them. “You are looking fine this
evening.” She winked at Chandler, setting a special long stem shot glass in
front of Ailyn.
“Thought we’d try something other than Snake Bites,
this go around there, killa’.
Here’s your first Blow Job shot on the
house.” She produced a bottle of whipped cream from nowhere and topped off the slim
shot glass.