The Firefighter's Appeal (Harlequin Superromance) (4 page)

It didn’t matter if her kisses were random and meaningless. It didn’t matter that she probably wouldn’t wake up in his bed in the morning, despite his willingness to give it a go. He wanted her anyway, and no amount of rain was going to cool that burn. Even if it was just a taste.

Her bottom was seated firmly against his thighs. Water ran in silvery streaks down her jet-black hair, dotting his jeans and soaking through the fabric in cool bursts. Garrett cupped her lower back, reveled in the shiver that coursed through her. She was sweet under that tough exterior and reserved demeanor. Maybe that was what drew him in—the mixture of all the things she was. He stared at her for several beats, only breaking his gaze to blink raindrops away from his lashes. His arms tightened around her—damn, she felt good—every muscle in his chest and neck tightening.

“I’m going to kiss you,” he growled. Tantalizing him, thwarting him, Lily leaned closer and put her lips next to his jaw. His senses flared to life.

“I thought you wanted my phone number,” she replied, her fingers kneading the nape of his neck. Garrett trembled. The rain beat down harder. Lily’s lips pressed into the sensitive skin just beneath his ear. Garrett clenched his eyes, trying to stomp down an insistent burning flare of desire.

“I do.”

She pulled back to look at him. Rivulets ran over her high cheekbones, a stray drop curving over her lower lip. Lily licked it off with a slow slide of her tongue. “Then you’ll have to work for it.”

* * *

L
ILY
HAD
NO
idea where this brazen streak had come from, but she couldn’t bring herself to resist it. She hadn’t planned this by any stretch of the imagination when she’d first approached Garrett. Okay, maybe she’d had a stray thought or ten about what it would be like to take him to bed, but it had been fantasy. A nice thought—one that wouldn’t come to fruition.

But now it was a possibility, and even as Lily considered the “should she or shouldn’t she” debate, her body was pulling for should. Definitely should. It had been a long time, and Garrett made it so easy to give in. Plus it might help erase the anxiety that had burst open with learning she’d won that stupid prize. A date with a fireman? Nothing like coming face-to-face with the horror of her past. No, firemen were off-limits. And she wanted to forget....

Garrett was sexy and funny. For the first time in a long time, she felt empowered with an attractive man. He was interested. Despite her initial reluctance, she was interested, too. More than. Especially now that she was out of the firemen-infested bar.

Still, her lack of normal restraint was so foreign, it left her unsure of what to do next. She’d take a few hot kisses. And if that was all that happened, she’d rejoice in it. And if there was the possibility for more... She’d never had a one-night stand, never hooked up with a man she didn’t intend to have a relationship with. That wasn’t her style.

Just go with it.
Lily took a shaky breath and lightly pressed her lips to Garrett’s neck. Rough stubble met her touch just below his jaw. His skin was cool from the rain, but hot when she pressed a little harder. His face tilted up just a bit, granting her access, his hands cupping her rib cage and pulling her closer. The cold plastic grass of her skirt became a tangled mess as she straddled his thighs.

Heart pounding, Lily clamped his earlobe between her teeth and gave two soft nibbles. The sudden rise of his chest and stall of his breath made her heart soar. She ran her fingertips down his neck, paused at the collar of his shirt where the fabric was warm from his body and wet from the rain. The hardness of his back muscles made her fingers tingle. Garrett let out a slow breath. It flamed Lily’s boldness. She pulled away to look up at him, trailed her hand from his back, over the round perfection of his shoulder, up the smooth length of his neck to cup his jaw.

Garrett’s hand went to her hair, his mouth slanting across hers in a swoop that left her dizzy. His firm lips turned soft as he encouraged her mouth with a dance of open kisses and soft, closed caresses. A tug at the back of her scalp flittered into pleasurable little zings as she realized he’d fisted a handful of her hair. Lily gasped at the thrill, becoming aware for the first time that she was clinging to him.

Clinging. And she didn’t want to let go. Garrett groaned deeply. She wanted to pull him closer until he wrapped himself around her, claiming her and flooding her with his heat. Desire wasn’t letting her talk herself out of this, and Lily was glad about that. She wanted him. He was hot and delicious, and she was taking this chance. She deserved it.

She slid forward until her center was aligned with the hard ridge of his erection. She nearly moaned at the long, thick feel of him. Garrett jerked, gripping her hips as he shifted and pressed himself up against her. His lips trailed over the bare skin of her shoulder.

She needed a lighthouse for the fog in her head. The feel of his hardness right there—where she wanted him the most—was sweet in its newness and achingly raw in its demand. So much time had passed since she’d last been held. Too many times she figured she’d never have those things again.

His palms traced her ribs, dipped into the curve of her waist and over the flare of her hips. The plastic fringe of her skirt rustled with his touch. He spoke low in her ear; his gravelly voice sent heat straight between her thighs.

“You feel so good.” He grasped her chin and turned her head for a deep, aching kiss. Her mind was so busy absorbing his scent, his feel, his touch, that formulating a response was an unnecessary distraction. Garrett cupped the sides of her breasts, his warm palms pressing against soft flesh and the hard plastic of novelty coconuts. She’d never wanted to be rid of that bra as much as she did just then.

“This makes up for you rejecting me.” Garrett’s voice was teasing and husky at the same time. His hands ran along her sides, making it clear they were playing with a fire neither of them would escape if this kept up.

Lily’s middle fluttered with delicious anticipation over the thought of having Garrett inside her. Here on the bench, against the gazebo wall, hell, on the floor—it didn’t matter. She was so caught up in her body, she didn’t immediately process what he’d said.

“I rejected you?”

He nipped her neck. By the easy way he drew pleasure out of her, Lily had no doubt Garrett would turn her into a pile of mush—a sated pile of mush—in no time. Yet as he embraced her, held her tenderly as though there was no reason to rush, a sense of familiarity and ease settled over her. Being comfortable in his arms was almost as pleasurable as the intimacy.

“I’m Mr. September.”

Garrett nuzzled his nose against her jaw. Lily froze.
What?
Fate wouldn’t be such a bitch to her, right? Her one time letting loose with a guy like this.... He couldn’t be... A knot of unease tightened in her gut, the same as it had each time she’d seen the DFD shirts earlier.

She leaned back. “Are you—are you a firefighter?”

He trailed a finger over her cheek, eyes narrowed and concerned. “Ah, yeah. Assistant chief for DFD.”

The gazebo seemed to turn inside out, the space getting smaller just as her chest seemed to shrink, too. Couldn’t breathe... She could barely draw a breath, her muscles paralyzed but begging to run. With great effort, Lily blindly slid off him, tears threatening to spill over in a vicious flood. He was just another fireman, one who could have very well been standing around, doing nothing, on the worst night of her life....

This wasn’t fair. She wasn’t supposed to be reacting this way. She was better now.... Dammit, she was better!

“Son of a bitch!” The words tumbled in her head and fell out of her mouth. She turned and faltered as she moved to the exit. Garrett was behind her in a flash, his hand wrapping gently around her upper arm.

Lily went cold inside. She wanted to pull away from him, but her stunned nerves were slow to react. “I thought you were just the hot bartender.” She put a shaky hand to her forehead. The one time she gave in to impulse, and this was her punishment. Firefighters were off-limits. There was no way she’d knowingly get involved with one.

He carefully turned her to face him, one hand out, palm up. Lily’s muscles were stiff; her body resisted his touch. “I own the bar with my uncle Brad, and I’m a firefighter on the department, too. What’s going on?”

There wasn’t any way to explain what was going on because she didn’t fully understand it herself. This bitterness, this...disgust and anger had all come on so quickly, bringing memories with it. Memories of flame, heat, screaming and death. She was unprepared for the emotions, and she found herself equally unprepared for the blend of emotions she could see on Garrett’s face—the confusion alone stabbed her with guilt. She was being irrational, but she couldn’t help it.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

He spread his hands. “Tell you what? That I’m on the fire department?”

She pulled away from him and ran a hand through her bangs. “I never would have... You and I would never have—”

“Whoa—Lily, talk to me.”

She could still feel his body heat on her skin like a brand, but he didn’t make another attempt to touch her.

Her lower lip trembled as the dumbstruck sensation was slow to go away.

“Firemen are off-limits.”

Each second she stared at him was punctuated by the beat of pain inside her heart and the memory of her sister’s face. The firemen were supposed to save Katja that night. But they’d stood by and watched as the building burned to the ground.

On the edge of ugly crying, Lily turned and rushed across the lawn to the street where her car was parked. One quick glance behind was enough to pick at her with guilt under the shock and anger.

Garrett hadn’t moved—he was just standing there, watching her leave.

* * *

W
ELL
,
EITHER
THAT
was karma for some past transgression or he’d seriously misread the entire situation. Despite his confusion over what had just happened, Garrett was concerned at how genuinely upset Lily was. He moved away from the gazebo as she hurried to cross the street in the rain, positioning himself so he had a clear view of her slipping into her SUV.

As she pulled away from the curb and disappeared down the street, Garrett was pretty sure this had been the strangest encounter he’d had with a woman in a long time. Women loved firefighters, at least in his experience. Lily was the first one he’d met who didn’t. Firemen were off-limits? What the hell was that supposed to mean?

He brushed his soaked bangs away from his eyes. Whatever. He’d rushed into thinking their flirtation was going to turn into something more. With all the other responsibilities he had hanging over his head right now, adding a complicated one-night stand was the last thing he needed. Luckily, Lily’s true feelings had come out before they’d gone any further.

The ground squished beneath his feet as he crossed to the sidewalk and hurried back to the bar. If anything, he should be glad he’d avoided potential disaster tonight. But the stab of disappointment in his gut said otherwise, and that was almost as confusing as Lily’s hot-and-cold attitude.

She was as sexy as sin; he couldn’t deny that. Any man would have felt disappointed to lose out on a woman that hot. That was all this hollow sensation was about.

Garrett pushed open the door, immediately relishing the sounds of music and laughter. Nothing like a packed bar to take his mind off, well, everything. His brain was full of so much stuff lately, any little distraction was welcome. He licked his lips, tasting rain and the lingering sweetness of Lily’s kiss.

Oh, well, game over. Back to reality.
He pushed through the crowd, trying to ward off the multitude of comments and gibes about his soaked clothes and dripping hair. A couple of women took the liberty of running their fingers over his wet shirt, sending clear reminders that female companionship could be found. If he was still interested, which he wasn’t.

Rejection was a bitter pill to swallow, wasn’t it? Garrett smirked to himself as he slipped behind the bar and moved to the door that led to the back rooms. He had an extra set of clothes in his office, thankfully. He’d just turned the handle when Mikey called his name. Garrett spun to see his best friend sidling up to the bar with a grim expression.

“Where you been? I tried calling you.” Concern was thick in Mikey’s voice, jangling Garrett’s nerves.

“I...walked a lady out. My cell’s in the office. Why?”

Mikey’s face fell into soft sympathy. “Sorry, man, but your uncle Brad’s been rushed to the hospital.”

CHAPTER THREE

“N
O
WAY
IN
HELL
, Doug.” Lily turned sharply, prepared for a stare down with her father. Irritation and lack of caffeine had her every last nerve on fire. The message on her answering machine from her ex, Rob, yesterday still made her edgy. Almost a year with no word and he had the nerve to call to see if he could stop by when he came to town at the end of the month. She preferred that he stay in Mississippi with his new girlfriend, because, frankly, Lily had nothing to say.

More unsettling than the unexpected phone call were the nightmares. Every night since the fund-raiser, she’d had the same unsettling dream. Always about Katja and the fire, and Lily, seeing herself lying on the grass as the building burned, reaching for her sister but not being able to get her.

Sitting just to the side within the dream was a fire engine with glaring, revolving lights. Every night, she turned toward the lights and the truck would disappear, prompting her to wake up with a heavy sense of confusion. It was confounding and unsettling, especially since she had stopped having nightmares about the fire a few months ago.

And now her father wanted her to do
this
before she’d gotten her feelings under control.

Lily cocked her head and crossed her arms, mirroring her father’s posture. “Can’t someone else go?” Like father, like daughter.

Doug Ashden scowled and stuck his chin out. “Everyone else is busy. I know the appointment time is a little unconventional, but it’s a bar...and you’re young. You like the nightlife, don’t ya?”

Lily enjoyed her job as a general contractor for Ashden Construction and Design. Building and designing were in her blood, and as much as she liked the physical labor of creating a structure, she liked generating ideas more. She didn’t just meet with clients to consult on their projects, she also drafted out plans and brought them to life. Lily had a pile of drafts to work on, but being second-in-command meant that when the other employees were gone, she picked up the slack.

In this case, it wasn’t the meeting that had her stomach in knots—it was the bar.

“Stay and have a drink or dance or something.” Doug waved an impatient hand.

Or something. Right.
Because the last time she’d engaged in “or
something” at that bar, she’d had her tongue down the throat of a man she would rather not see again. Lily shifted her weight from one foot to the other as her body tingled at the memory.

She clenched her jaw hard enough to grind her molars. She needed to forget that night had ever happened. Not only was it out of character for her to get so physical with a man she didn’t know, but she’d done it with a goddamned firefighter.

Doug made an impatient sound when she didn’t respond quickly enough for his liking. “You look like you could use a drink.”

His gruff tone made it clear she was supposed to obey without question, though he knew her well enough to know that she liked to buck him. She was one of the few people, besides her brother, Lincoln, who could talk back to Doug Ashden and make it out alive.

And there’d be talking back, all right. Being the general contractor for Ashden Construction and Design might mean that Lily went where the jobs were, but not this time. She glanced at the new-client form on the edge of her father’s desk.
Throwing Aces
was printed across the top.
God.

“Are you giving me permission to drink on the job?” Her quip was meant to ground her thoughts into work and not on Garrett the Bartender’s very talented mouth. The hurt and surprise in his expression when she’d recoiled from him was a doozy, though. She’d almost felt guilty about hurting his feelings. A man like Garrett, well, rejection probably wasn’t something he’d come across too often. She’d stomped on his ego a little, but he’d get over it. He’d probably replaced her with some hot blonde the minute he’d stepped foot back inside the bar. Nothing to feel guilty about.

Doug smirked. “It’s a bar. I expect it. In moderation, of course.”

“Of course.” Lily sighed and pushed the new-client form around the desk with one finger. “So Nick can’t go because...?”

“He’s busy.”

“And Raul?”

Doug sniffed and gave her a hard stare. “Out of town. Why are you hedging about this damn meeting? Seriously, Lily. You meet with the client. You talk to him about what he wants. You leave.”

Her father’s harsh tone could melt weaker hearts into a puddle of submission, but she was used to it—had learned from his no-nonsense personality over the years. They were certainly cut from the same cloth, and if she wasn’t careful, he’d see right through her. No way did she need her father wandering in on the hot-fireman replay flickering in the back of her mind. Or the regret she was struggling with.

“You go, Doug.” Lily narrowed her eyes. She and her dad had always had a tenuous relationship, and the habit of calling him by his first name she’d developed when she was a rebellious teen had stuck.

It was an easy way to remember that her dad had never really given her the same affection he had shown her sister, Katja.

Despite being night-and-day different, she and Katja had been as close as sisters could be. Katja was athletic and bubbly to Lily’s artsy moodiness, but somehow they’d balanced each other out.

Lily always suspected that Doug identified more with the choices Katja had made—working hard in school, staying away from boys, going to a good college. While Lily had never considered her own choices bad, they paled in comparison. Mediocre grades, changing boyfriends like sweaters, decorating her body with ink and getting a two-year degree instead of a four-year like Katja. Even in their adult years, Doug had leaned toward her sister more, like a plant to the sun, leaving Lily in the shadows.

Doug threw his hands in the air. “No, you’re going! And we’re done with this conversation. 8:00 p.m., tomorrow night. End of story.”

Lily snatched the paper off the desk, tempted to crumple it in her hand. She couldn’t keep arguing with her father without bringing up questions she wasn’t willing to answer.

Bitterness clawed at her throat. Two years ago, she’d had the chance to move to Nashville to work with her twin brother, Lincoln, but she’d stayed in Kansas with the plan to open a small architectural showroom with Katja. She wished now that she’d gone. Linc had been her one salvation this past year. His quiet contemplative nature had offered her a refuge when the tension with Doug was too much to bear.

Lily blew her bangs out of her eyes. She wouldn’t be thinking about missed chances and regret if the firefighters had done their job in the first place. She rubbed her temple with a thumb as that little nugget worked its way in.

“Look, Lily, we need this contract. Brad Mateo is talking major expansion to the bar here. A complete overhaul of the current building, plus landscaping, an outdoor volleyball pit, et cetera. I need—
we
need—you to secure this contract.” His eyes softened for a moment, allowing Lily to catch a glimpse of worry. “You know how slow things have been. This contract would carry us through clear to next spring.”

She couldn’t deny that business had taken a dive in the past few years, thanks to a tough economy. The summer months had brought them enough work to break even and make payroll, but not much to pad the bottom line. She’d already been lowering bids and cutting into profit margins to try to entice signed contracts, but to no avail. The work was simply harder to get than it used to be.

Their situation wasn’t unique, although apparently people still liked to drink and party their sorrows away if the Throwing Aces could afford to expand.

“I understand—” she began, but Doug cut her off with a shake of his head.

“I don’t think you do. If we don’t get this contract, I’ll be laying off for the winter.”

Lily frowned. Her dad was a builder by nature and trade. He’d rather be on the job, swinging a nail gun and barking orders to the crew, than doing the talking, and sometimes the careful wooing, it took to secure contracts.

That was why Lily was the face of Ashden Construction. She knew how to woo. But sometimes they just couldn’t beat another company’s bid, and then it didn’t matter what she did. Some contracts just couldn’t be won, as was the case more than ever lately with so much competition between companies to secure jobs.

“Doug...” Her voice was tight, thanks to the lump in her throat. The men who worked for them all had families, obligations. They’d never had to lay anyone off before, and Lily had no intention of doing so now.

“Bolstom backed out. Postponed the project for three years in hopes the economy rebounds more.” Doug’s eyes narrowed, making the effect of his words that much stronger.

Lily let out a slow breath. Grant Bolstom was a land developer who had worked closely with Ashden Construction for almost ten years. He’d brought them in to build town houses in new development areas both here and in Nashville, where they each had secondary offices. They’d had a multimillion-dollar, four-year contract in the works—work that would have carried Ashden Construction for years.

“Jesus, Doug. Why didn’t you tell me?”

Doug uncrossed his arms and put his hands on his hips. “It was my deal, my business. Look, Brad Mateo is expecting you. Take good care of him. Give him what he wants.”

Lily crossed the office as her dad rattled off a list of things he wanted her to do. She stopped by the peaked windows that overlooked the Greenway golf course. When they’d scouted buildings to convert into an office, the windows of this old brick house had sold it. The foundation needed work and the masonry cried out for some TLC, but it was nothing her father couldn’t handle when he finally got some time to tackle it. Carpenters’ houses were always falling down, or something like that.

“Okay,” Lily interjected at what she hoped was the right time. In twenty-seven years, she’d gotten good at blocking him out without him realizing it.

The heavy silence made Lily realize her father had stopped talking. She turned to him, shocked to see an almost sweet expression of...what was that? Affection? Whatever it was, it seemed foreign on his stone-cut face and it disappeared like frosty breath in the sun.

“You secure this contract for me, Lil, and then get yourself to Nashville. It’s time you took a break.”

Her spine tingled. She wanted to run her brother’s architectural-salvage showroom. The designer inside her craved it. All those rescued vintage and antique building materials and decorative fixtures just waiting to find new homes called to her.

Since Katja’s death, every time the subject of her leaving to work with Lincoln had come up, Doug had pointed out all the reasons she shouldn’t go. That plus guilt kept her firmly grounded in Kansas. She couldn’t leave Doug alone. With Katja gone now, he’d have no one. No family around him. They might not get along that well, but Lily was all he had.

“You’re serious?” Her chest tightened. Doug acted as though he didn’t care one way or the other, but the string of excuses he repeatedly blathered on about lent some suspicion that he cared a little. Even if he didn’t show it.

“Secure the contract and you’ll have my blessing.” He knew that was what she wanted—needed. His approval, his love, his support and acceptance. All things he rarely gave. “I need you to do this for us, Lily.”

He raked one big hand through his close-cropped silver hair and eyed her steadily. Lily’s heartbeat seemed to pause, hovering like a leaf on a strong breeze. Then it started again as the leaf began to float down, down...down. He always needed her when it benefited him. This time, it was more than just them. Their employees’ security was on the line.

Katja’s image came to mind—expressive chocolate-brown eyes, full lips curved into an enigmatic smile. He’d loved Katja all the time, just because. But he loved Lily when he needed something.

She was a grown woman, for crying out loud. She shouldn’t need her father’s affection, but she did. The desire for his acceptance had grown even stronger since Katja’s death. She needed some sign, some reason to believe that their father-daughter bond was still important.

Her palms grew damp, her fingers chilly, as panic took root. Lily drew in a breath, shook back her hair and grappled with the tremors rocking her. It would pass. It always did. She tried to focus on the possibility of finally going to Nashville—it offered the change she desperately wanted after all—and she felt the panic start to recede. No sense in relaxing too much just yet, though. Dealing with the Throwing Aces was a huge obstacle she had to manage before she could start packing her bags.

“Text me when you’re done at the bar. I don’t care how late it is, in case you decide to hang out or whatever.” Doug gathered up her case containing a company laptop and held it out to her without meeting her eye. She took it, some of the steel she relied on so much back in her veins. Returning to her office, Lily set the laptop down and sat at her desk to try to focus on work.

She’d already done
whatever
and his name was Garrett
.
Never. Again. Too bad he owned the bar, too, because he’d probably be around at some point during the planning phase. That was okay. She’d play nice and do what was required to seal the deal. Beyond that, Garrett would mean nothing to her. Because Garrett wasn’t just a hot man. He was like the best possible vintage in a wineglass rimmed in poison.

* * *

G
ARRETT
TRIED
TO
stop bouncing his left leg as he sat and waited, but it didn’t last long. He hated that habit, but he could never get it to stop. As a kid, he was always moving, even in his sleep. He’d frequently ended up on the floor in a mess of blankets from rolling around too much. Now he recognized the leg movement as an outlet for a different kind of energy—the restless kind. The Frasier Realty building was quiet with just the barest of sounds coming from the back room. He was grateful for the quiet. It made a soothing background for the chaos in his mind.

He’d been extra restless since his uncle Brad had gone into the hospital last week with a fever and flu-like symptoms. Since Brad was in remission from bone cancer, any sign of illness had the potential to go south in a hurry.