Playing With Fire (Firehouse Fourteen Book 2) (16 page)

A semi-circle of nine tents. The fire pit. The grill and eating tent. A clearing for the cars and trucks.

And the next empty spot was right next to Jay's, since he had been the last one to show up.

Right before Dave.

"Shit." He lifted the bottle to his mouth and drained the beer, afraid to look around, afraid to look over at Angie, afraid that Dave was ready to lose his shit.

He heard Mike laugh next to him but he wouldn't even look at her.

"I love it. This is great." She laughed again and pushed herself out of the chair, then walked the fifty feet separating them from Dave's tent. Jay watched as she said something to Angie, then grabbed her gear and led the way toward them.

Jay shifted in his seat again and swore. "Sometimes I really hate your girlfriend."

Nick laughed and offered him a sympathetic smile. "You know how she gets once she has an idea stuck in her head. Stubborn doesn't even come close."

"Tell me about it," he muttered.

Mike finally reached them, a glint of mischief in her eyes as she glanced at Jay. Angie stopped behind her, looking as uncomfortable as he felt. He glanced back at Mike, wondering how to tell her this wasn't a good idea.

"This is probably a bad idea."

Jay snapped his mouth shut as a flare of irritation went through him. His gaze shot to Angie and he almost asked her why she thought it was a bad idea.

Almost. But he couldn't ignore the misery and discomfort on her face, and he wouldn't add to it. He sat the empty bottle in the chair's cup holder and stood up, holding his hand out to Mike.

"Mikey, why don't you and Nick grab two more beers while I help Angie?"

Mike all but threw the tent bag at him and quickly walked away, not bothering to hide her smile as she hurried past him. Angie didn't notice, though, because her gaze was locked on his.

"I know how to set up a tent, you don't need to help."

"No worries." He watched her for another second, trying not to notice how her arms were crossed so tightly in front of her, a sure sign of discomfort. He looked away and upended the bag then sorted through everything. "Do you have a ground cover?"

"Oh. Um, yeah, it's in here." She bent over and rummaged through another bag, then pulled out the small tarp. He reached out for it, his hands brushing against hers and sending a shot of awareness up his arm. Their eyes met and they both just stood there, watching each other. Angie was the first to look away, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

Jay cleared his throat then busied himself with laying out the ground cover and spreading out the tent. Angie bent over, helping him straighten it, then handed him the pegs.

"Let's get the poles in first and set it, then we can put the pegs down." Angie didn't say anything, just nodded and started assembling the poles, sliding them together one at a time. Jay sat back on his heels and watched her, his gaze travelling along her body. Even dressed as she was, in loose shorts, an unbuttoned shirt hanging open over a tank shirt, and hiking boots, she heated his blood.

He cleared his throat again and looked away. "You look good, Angie."

Silence greeted his comment and he mentally kicked himself for saying anything, then wondered if the next four days were going to be just like this. He didn't think he could handle it if they were.

"Thanks. You too. Look good, I mean."

Jay looked over at her and saw that she was staring down at the pole in her hands, another flush high on her cheeks. She took a deep breath then finally met his gaze, her discomfort clear.

"I don't have to put my tent here, I can find someplace else. I, uh, I don't want to..." Her voice drifted off and she looked away, the flush growing deeper.

"You don't want to what?"

"You know. Impose. Get in your way."

He held out his hand for the pole, almost surprised that she gave it to him. He ran it through the nylon sleeve and hooked it into the grommet, then looked back at her. "Why would you think you'd be in my way or imposing?"

"Oh. Well." She looked around, her gaze darting around the campsite before settling on his tent. She narrowed her eyes and looked over her shoulder, in the direction of her brother, then back down at him. Her eyes didn't meet his, though, just settled on a spot somewhere over his shoulder. "Dave said you'd probably have someone with you."

"Dave said. Of course he did." Jay clenched his jaw and shoved the other pole through the sleeve, using care not to tear the nylon even though he wanted to throw the damn thing like a javelin.

Preferably straight through her brother.

He stood up and brushed at his leg then looked back at Angie. "I didn't bring anyone with me, Angie. There's nobody I'd want to bring, and I haven't seen anyone else since—I'm not seeing anyone. I have no interest in seeing anyone. So don't worry, you're not going to be imposing or in my way."

And damn his big mouth. For not planning on saying anything, he sure as hell just said a lot. He shook his head and grabbed the last pole, then leaned over and slid it in place.

"I'm not either." The words were spoken quickly, almost as if the speaker was afraid to say them and had to spit them out before thinking better of it. Jay looked over and met Angie's eyes, noticed the rigid set to her shoulders and arms, and realized that she was already regretting speaking.

"Great. Glad we're both miserable." He shook his head and motioned for her to grab one side of the tent, then lifted and set it in place. He didn't bother looking at her again, didn't want to see what effect his sarcastic words had on her, if they had any effect at all. He grabbed the pegs and walked around the tent, setting each in place and sinking them with the heel of his boot.

"Do you have an air mattress?"

"Yeah, it's right here." She handed him another bag and he took it, still without looking at her. He pulled the mattress out then turned toward the tent, planning on rolling it out once inside then inflating it. A strong hand clamped down on his shoulder, stopping it.

"Don't worry, Jay, I've got it."

He glanced down at the hand gripping his shoulder, then up at Dave. His expression was bland, but warning was clear in his eyes. Jay shrugged his hand off and tossed the air mattress at him.

"Whatever you say, Dave."

He turned around and walked away, his jaw clenched and anger ringing in his ears. But he still heard Angie's deep sigh, heard her swear at her brother in a whisper. He turned to watch her and almost smiled when she ripped the air mattress from Dave's hand and disappeared inside the tent, telling him she would do it herself.

Almost smiled. But not quite. He kept walking, straight pass Mike and Nick, heading for his truck. He heard footsteps behind him, racing to catch up, but he didn't stop until he opened the door of his truck.

"Jay, where are you going?"

"Into town. I need a drink."

Mike's expression told him exactly what she thought—that he was a coward and running away. He wasn't going to argue with her, even though there was a bit more to it than that. He just needed to get away for a little bit, to put some distance between him and Angie—and Dave—before he did something really stupid. If she wanted to call it running away, he wasn't going to stop her.

He climbed into the truck then looked down at her. "You coming?"

She rolled her eyes then turned back to Nick, an entire conversation passing between them with that one quick look. Nick waved at them and she hurried around to the other side, climbing into the passenger seat and settling in. She snapped the seat belt around her as Jay started the truck and backed up.

"The only reason I'm not arguing with you is because this means I'll get to drive the truck back. You know that, right?"

Jay said nothing, because there was nothing to say. She was right, because he meant it when he said he was going into town to get a drink.

Probably several.

Maybe then he'd be able to sleep tonight without thinking about Angie curled in the tent next to his.

Darkness had descended over the campsite, night dragging its shadows across the clearing. Branches scratched against each other around them and the sounds of furtive scampering in the underbrush whispered in the woods behind them. Animal songs murmured in the night, occasionally cut short with a tiny shriek.

Sitting there around the campfire, her arms wrapped around her to ward off the slight chill of the mountain air, Angie was certain of two things. First, if not for the blazing fire and the laughing group surrounding it, an essentially isolated clearing of land in the middle of nowhere West Virginia would be frightening.

And second, no matter how many people were gathered around, quietly talking or laughing, she had never before felt like such an outsider.

She glanced down at the empty bottle in her hand and thought about getting up to get another wine cooler. Then she wondered if that would be smart, because she really didn't want to have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom.

She glanced behind her, peering into the darkness, knowing that the facilities were back there. Somewhere.

Such as they were.

Although that wasn't really fair, because it really was a nice set-up. And clean. But the prospect of venturing out into the woods—or pretty close to the woods—in the middle of the night, alone, in the dark, didn't exactly thrill her.

She tightened her hand around the empty bottle then stood, deciding to take a chance and have one more. Nobody seemed to notice her getting up, certainly not Dave, who was engrossed in deep conversation with Jimmy about blood and guts, or something equally unappealing. But she felt eyes following her as she made her way over to the big cooler. She didn't have to turn to know who was watching her, not when her skin prickled and warmed with the sensation.

It was Jay.

He and Mike had gotten back over an hour ago, just in time to eat some of the leftover ribs that had been cooking all day. Angie had heard Jay say he was going into town to drink and she almost expected that he'd be staggering when he got back. But he looked sober, and entirely too serious, whenever she looked over at him.

Which was odd, because a few of the other guys had teased him about being drunk.

So either he was putting on an act for them—or putting on an act for her. And neither option made any sense to her.

And she shouldn't be thinking about Jay anyway. She had called things off between them, she had no business thinking about him. Watching him. But every time she looked across the fire, she had caught him looking back at her, his gray eyes intense even at that distance.

She was an idiot.

She shook her head, berating herself, then tossed the empty bottle into the trash can and opened the cooler, the icy water cold against her skin. Her hand closed around a bottle and she pulled it out, turning toward the fire to read the label.

And came face-to-face with Jay.

She swallowed her startled gasp and stepped back, then felt like an idiot when he reached around and dug through the cooler himself. Instead of walking away, he stepped closer, close enough that she could feel the heat of his body against her chilled skin. He reached down and took the bottle from her hand, then replaced it with the one in his.

She looked down, feeling foolish when she realized he was doing nothing more than swapping out the beer she grabbed by mistake with a wine cooler.

He twisted the cap off his bottle then took a long swallow, his eyes never leaving hers.

"Where's your jacket?"

"My...what?" She heard the question, but didn't understand. Her mind was reeling, the nearness of his body affecting her ability to comprehend.

"Your jacket. Or sweatshirt. Or something. I can see you shivering even from where I'm sitting."

"Oh. I, uh, packed so fast that I forgot to bring one."

"And why did you have to pack so fast?"

"Because I hadn't planned on coming, didn't want to."

Jay still watched her and she was afraid his eyes saw so much more than she wanted him to see. She looked away, studying the bottle in her hand, knowing she should just put it back and go to sleep.

But Jay reached for the bottle with his free hand and held it in the crook of his elbow to twist the cap off. He handed it back to her, and she briefly wondered if he had been reading her mind and thought that opening the bottle would keep her from running to her tent.

No. More likely, he was just trying to be polite.

"So if you didn't want to come, why did you?"

The question surprised her, because she didn't think he'd really care. Not about the answer, not even about making small talk. There was no reason for him to even be here talking to her, not after everything she'd done.

But she couldn't bring herself to walk away, not again. No matter how hard it was to stand this close to him and not touch him.

"I didn't have much choice. Dave pretty much told me I was coming."

"And we all know you do whatever big brother says to do." Anger flashed in his eyes and laced his words, sharp and biting. Angie flinched, knowing he had a right to his anger, had a right to feel that way.

But it surprised her anyway. Surprised her that he would feel so strongly, surprised her that part of her actually understood it.

And agreed with him.

She opened her mouth to say something then immediately closed it. There wasn't anything she could say, nothing that would make any difference, or make anything better.

"Shit. Angie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

"No, it's okay. Really."

They stood there, neither one talking, not even really looking at each other. Angie wondered how long it would be before either of them moved, knowing that it was just a matter of time. And how sad was it that she didn't want to leave? That this new tension between them didn't matter, as long as she could just be near him, if only for a few minutes.

Jay shifted and muttered under his breath, then pushed his bottle toward her. "Here, hold this."

She grabbed it right before it could fall, then watched as Jay reached down and grabbed the hem of his sweatshirt. He yanked it over his head and her eyes drifted down, resting on the bare skin of his abdomen as his t-shirt pulled up. But the cotton material fell back in place when he lowered his arms, turning the sweatshirt right side out. Jay took the beer from her hand, then thrust his sweatshirt in its place.

"Put this on before you freeze to death."

Angie looked down at the shirt in her hand then up at Jay. His jaw was clenched as he stared past her, his gaze focused on the group behind them. Firelight reflected in his eyes, turning them from the color of flint to a warm blue-gray.

She sat her bottle on the cooler then pulled the sweatshirt over her head. Heat from Jay's body surrounded her and she breathed in deep, inhaling the exotic mix of wood smoke and spice and pure male that was all Jay.

"I didn't think it'd be that big on you."

Angie looked up and felt her breath lodge in her throat at the intensity in Jay's eyes. Then he blinked, and whatever emotion she thought she saw was gone. He sat his beer down next to hers then grabbed the sleeves of the shirt. They hung well past her fingers, the shirt three sizes too big, and she wanted to tell him she didn't mind but it was too late, because he was already rolling the sleeves up to her wrists. His fingers brushed against hers and she thought that maybe he held them for just a second, squeezing them.

But then his hands were gone and he was reaching down for both bottles. He handed her the wine cooler then walked away without saying a word, leaving her staring after him, wondering what had just happened.

Wondering if she had imagined the flare of heat in his eyes when he touched her. Wondering if she had really seen the need in his expression, or the flare of pain when he looked at her.

Wondering if she had really seen those things, or if it was nothing more than a reflection of what she was feeling herself.