The Firefighter's Appeal (Harlequin Superromance) (16 page)

“Well...does it really matter if you’re not going to see her again?”

“I slept with her.” Garrett gave his coffee mug a shove so it slid to the edge of the bar. “And that’s just it. I want her...for more than sex. I mean, I could, easily...
God.
”

“Well, this is a cold day in hell,” Mikey teased. There was a pause as Mikey looked at his hands. “There was nothing we could do. Hell, man, she’s got to understand that.”

“I don’t think there’s anything I could say to make it better for her.” They were silent a minute, Mike staring across the bar, Garrett tracking the Coke can in his friend’s hand as he turned it round and round.

“She’s going to hate you, just on principle.” The apologetic grimace on Mikey’s face wasn’t reassuring. Garrett sighed and waved at the bartender for a glass of water.

“I know.” Lily wasn’t the kind to hint at anything going on in her pretty head until she was ready, but he didn’t think she’d bother holding back her feelings on this particular subject.

“Well, then, September, you’re just plain screwed.” Mikey turned on his stool to look out over the tables. The place was filling up now.

Yes, he was screwed. Or had been. Completely, wonderfully screwed. A smart man would end this now, cut his losses and move on. The raise of Mikey’s eyebrows said he was thinking something similar.

“You’d better plan how you’re going to break it off, and do it ASAP. Let her move on, find someone who doesn’t have such a painful connection to her past.”

Garrett snorted and took a drink. “Thank you, Mr. Therapist.”

“Well, she’s probably a nice girl, right? Deserves to be happy with a guy who doesn’t remind her of her dead sister every time she looks at him.”

“Seriously, Mikey? Ouch. And, yeah...damn you, I suppose you’re right.”

Mikey spread his hands and gave a nod of his head toward the front door. “Someone like that guy.” Garrett looked to the door, darn near slid off his stool. Lily was just inside the doorway, a man beside her, her face tipped up as the man leaned down and kissed her.

* * *

L
ILY
WAS
ABOUT
to come unglued. She’d run the gamut of emotions in about eight seconds, from shock, to anger, to disgust and now annoyance. Running into Rob on the sidewalk outside the Throwing Aces was the last thing she’d expected. She hadn’t even recognized him when he’d scooted ahead of her to hold open the door, thinking it was just someone being a gentleman. She’d looked up to thank him and caught a glimpse of eyes she knew so well. She must have wavered a little, because his hand was on her back, supporting her and ushering her inside the building.

“Lily.” Rob leaned low. She could feel his breath on the side of her face.

In that moment, she realized he was about to do what he’d always done—kiss her cheek. The thought of his lips on any part of her body made her physically ill. She leaned back, avoiding his mouth.

Rob frowned, making the length of his nose with its sharp point appear almost beak-like. His brown eyes swept over her slowly as a grin spread across his wide mouth.

“What are you doing here?” She’d texted him last week to tell him to stop calling and not to bother stopping by. He hadn’t replied, so she’d assumed he’d gotten the message.

Rob gestured to an empty table near them. He moved to it, but Lily didn’t follow.

“I’m wondering the same about you. Lily, in a bar? I never thought I’d see that.” He gestured again for her to sit, and when she didn’t, he made a sound that used to seem endearing and now was ridiculously annoying. “Lil-
y,
” he whined. “Please, sit. Just for a minute.”

She whisked hair from her face and stayed put. He’d been gone eleven months, and Lily realized for the first time that she’d stopped feeling hurt by his abandonment. He didn’t invade her dreams or her spare moments. She didn’t find herself staring into space, thinking about where Rob might be...what he was doing. Lily almost laughed. She just didn’t care anymore.

Not since Garrett had wiggled his way into her life.

At the thought of him, Lily turned and scanned the room, catching sight of Garrett standing by the bar. His body was ramrod straight, his eyes homed in on her. Her middle quivered as anticipation and a blend of other things she couldn’t name rippled through her.

“I don’t think I will.” She tossed Rob a dismissive look before taking a step toward the bar.

Fingers curled over her shoulder, making her jerk. Rob’s chest came into contact with her right side, then Garrett was moving through the crowd so quickly, he was nearly knocking people over to get to her. A man behind him put a hand on Garrett’s shoulder, whispered something in his ear that made him stop. Lily whipped her head around, pulling free of Rob’s grasp.

“Lily, I actually...I was coming to see you. I just stopped off for a drink first. I know you said you didn’t want to see me, but this can’t wait.” He put his hands up in placation, took a step back. “Will you just give me a minute?”

She looked back to Garrett, could see his chest rising and falling. He’d seen Rob grab her arm and was in full-on protector mode. She melted a little inside. They barely knew each other, yet he was ready to stand up for her. When was the last time anyone had supported her other than Macy?

“You have about five seconds, because there’s someone I need to see.” Rob followed her gaze. The veins in his neck popped when he spied Garrett. He shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Okay, fine. Lily, you never returned the ring.” His nostrils flared a little. “I need...I need the ring.”

The heat drained from her face.
The ring?
She glanced at her left hand, knowing full well it wouldn’t be on her finger. They’d cut the engagement ring off her finger as a precaution in the emergency room. It had been returned to her in a plastic baggie. With Katja’s funeral and the depression Lily had sunk into afterward, she’d never put the ring back on. Lily searched Rob’s face, trying like hell to remember what had happened to it.

“I did return it.”

He shook his head, dark hair wisping around his ears. “No. No, you didn’t.”

Lily raked a hand through her hair. She’d woken up in the hospital room, alone. No Rob. Completely, devastatingly alone. And then Macy and Lincoln had rushed in and held her while the doctor explained Katja had died.

When Rob had finally shown up, he’d never once held her or reassured her while she rocked on the bed, too emotionally and physically traumatized to even shed a tear. He’d come infrequently while she’d been in the hospital, explaining he had to keep a normal work schedule to help him cope. And the day she’d been released—

“I had to call Macy to leave work and drive me home the day I was discharged from the hospital because you were nowhere to be found. A week later I came home from therapy to an empty apartment and a
note.
A note, Rob!”

He had the grace to look chagrined, but it didn’t cool her anger. Lily pinched the bridge of her nose. “You never let on that you wanted to leave me. I mean, four years together and not once did you say a word about being unhappy. You waited until I was broken.”

“I know, Lily. I know. I’m a coward. I’m a bastard. You have every right to be mad at me. But I still...I still need the ring back.”

She tilted her head and took a small step away from him. She’d thought about this very moment, the moment she could face him and ask him why. She thought of the analogy Garrett had shared, and right now it seemed like a damn good opportunity to let go of a heavy glass. “I need to know why you left.”

Rob threw his hands in the air, his mouth opening and closing without a sound. He ran one narrow hand down his front, looked at the ground. “Because I didn’t want to deal with the aftermath, Lily. I’m not good at disorder and chaos. Your father was enough for me to handle all those years, and then the fire happened and Katja...and I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t see you through that. You’re right—I’d been unhappy for a while, but it took that to make me really realize that I wanted out. Goddammit, I’m getting married. It was my grandmother’s ring, Lil, and I need it back.”

Some of the tension leeched out of her muscles. It was like cool water dousing an ember that had been slowly getting hotter and more destructive. Hearing Rob admit why he’d left her was the closure she’d never had. And it only confirmed her impression that she’d already wasted too much time on him.

She let out a pent-up breath, felt almost like laughing. “Thank you for leaving,” she gushed, turning her eyes to Garrett. “Really, thank you.”

Across the room, Garrett’s impressive body was still rigid, his stance wide, his arms crossed over his broad chest. Rob was tall and whip thin. She’d originally been attracted to his midnight hair and the gorgeous dragon tattoo running down the side of his neck and taking up his entire back. Looking at him now, she was well aware that his form, his character, in no way compared to Garrett’s. She turned, but Rob’s hand caught her arm again. He tugged her back this time, causing her to shriek. Something toppled, there was a rush of footsteps and then everything became a blur.

* * *

H
E
’
D
STOOD
BY
long enough. Mikey had convinced him to wait and let the scene between Lily and the man play out. But when Garrett saw the anger on her face, heard her screech when the man pulled on her arm, he couldn’t stand by any longer. The skinny man let go of Lily as soon as he saw Garrett coming, but it didn’t calm him down at all. He grabbed the front of the man’s jacket and shoved him against the door frame, his chest landing with a thump on the other man’s as they collided. Garrett just breathed and enjoyed the play of fear and apology on the guy’s face.

“You were just leaving,” he finally grumbled, satisfied that the man’s limbs had gone soft and submissive.

A gentle touch on his lower back told him Lily was there. He could smell her perfume, feel her presence, and it was a small comfort to the rage.

“Garrett, it’s okay. Let him go.”

He pressed against the man’s chest with his forearms, hard, before jerking back and releasing his coat.

“Rob, you’d better go,” Lily said, standing half behind Garrett, close enough that her shirt brushed against his arm.

Garrett willed his breathing to settle. He got worked up, sure, but never over a woman and never quite like this. It was more than a protective instinct...it was staking a claim. He gestured with his head that Rob should leave, but the man didn’t move. Instead, he put his hands out, palms up.

“Look, I’m here all week. If you find what I asked for...”

She nodded, her arms tightly crossed. “I’ll text you if I find it and you can pick it up from Doug at the office.”

Rob stared at her a moment before ducking his head and walking out the door. Garrett turned and took Lily in his arms. She held him tight. He closed his eyes, relishing the feel of her. The anger was slow to leave, but it finally started to, leaving behind a simmer of desire.

“Don’t say anything,” she said as she pulled away. Her expression was guarded, bringing him back to the reality that they needed to talk...that he was on the brink of demanding to know what the hell had just happened here.

“But—”

“Shh.”

He looked to the ceiling. “Not again with the silence thing, Lily.”

She tilted her head, a cute frown on her face. “You don’t listen so well. Look, I know you probably have questions, but I’d rather not do this here. Can we go somewhere private?”

For the first time, Garrett was aware that bar patrons were staring at them, murmuring and chatting about what had just gone down. Lily’s cheeks pinked. She didn’t have to ask twice.

Garrett grabbed her hand and led her through the room, slowed momentarily at the bar where Mikey waited with one elbow propped on the edge. Garrett gave him a scowl that begged Mikey not to stop them.

“I’m Mikey.”

Dammit.
Lily paused as Mikey thrust out a hand, forcing Garrett to stop. He grumbled, shooting darts at his friend, who only grinned in response. “Mikey Cain. And you are?”

“Lily Ashden. Nice to meet you.” Garrett tugged on her hand again, but she held back. “Wait, are you Bodie’s brother? The metal artist?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Garrett mumbled a curse when Lily held a finger up to him, indicating she wanted a moment. Lily slipped the canvas bag from her shoulder and produced a long, narrow box. She lifted off the cover and extended it to Mikey.

“I found these today. I thought maybe Bodie could use them.”

Garrett peeked over her shoulder at the box of skeleton keys. He smiled at her thoughtfulness and gave her arm a gentle squeeze. Mikey poked at the keys, and Garrett knew his friend well enough to know he was having trouble finding the right words.

“Have you ever taken him to the junk fair in Picard?” Lily asked. “It’s held once a month and it’s huge. It’s an artists’ paradise, really.”

Mikey gave a lopsided grin and brushed his hair out of his eyes. “I’ve heard of it, but, no, we’ve never gone. Lots of this kind of stuff, huh? Bodie would love that.” He gave the box a little shake.

“Oh, yeah. Last time I went, I found a—”

Garrett cleared his throat and tugged on Lily’s hand. Any more of this and he was going to explode. Patience had never been one of his virtues—not that he had many to begin with. Besides, his inner coward was making a very rare appearance, and if he didn’t do this now, he might opt for that whole lying thing after all.

“You guys can take this up later. Lily, we need to talk. Mikey, interrupt me and I’ll kill you.” He pulled Lily along with him to the office and shut and locked the door behind them. She spun, eyes questioning, and leaned back against the door.

“Caveman much?”

Garrett ran a hand over his mouth, his other hand resting on his hip. The anxiety inside was a blend of the conversation they were about to have and the aftereffects of seeing another man with his hands on Lily. When he’d thought that guy was kissing her...

“Who was that guy?”