Up in Flames [The Heroes of Silver Springs 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (32 page)

“That depends,” he said, his tone suddenly husky. “If I say I’m not quite sure, will you keep touching me like that?”

Regina dropped her hands and glared at him. “I’m serious, Max.”

His lips spread in a smile far too sexy to stay angry with. “So am I.” He chuckled and grabbed her when she started to turn away from him, drawing her into his strong arms. “Don’t you bare those pit-bull teeth at me. I’m fine, sweetheart. You can keep inspecting my body all you want. As a matter of fact, I would love it if you would. But I promise, you’re not going to find any burns. Hell, I don’t even have a scratch.”

“Yes, you do.” She laced her fingers with his and lifted his right hand, pointing with her free one to the gash on the back of his forearm.

“Okay,” he conceded. “So I’ve got one. I scratched it on the damn stair railing when I catapulted myself over it, running from the hell that took over my apartment.”

“I can’t believe she burned down your apartment.” Regina closed her eyes and let her forehead fall onto his chest. “I’m so sorry, Max.”

“Hey, wait a minute.” He hooked a finger beneath her chin and lifted her face, forcing her to meet his gaze. “What are you apologizing for? You didn’t torch my place. That lunatic did.”

“I should’ve caught her before she got that far. I should’ve made the connection sooner. I should’ve seen what she was planning to do. I should’ve never gone to your apartment in the first place. I should
—”

“Stop blaming yourself.” He spoke forcefully, but calmly over her. “Geezus, Gina. What happened today was not your fault. If anything, you saved the day. You
did
figure it out. You got to A-shift in enough time that they were able to contain the blaze to my building. There was only minimal damage to the apartment in the building next door.”

“Both buildings will have to be shut down until everything is rebuilt and passes inspection. That’s eight families without a place to call home tonight.”

“Seven of which still have everything that belongs to them except for the place to put it in, and one of which has accepted the graciously extended invitation to shack up exactly where he’d rather be anyway.”

Regina forced a smile she didn’t really feel. “You can stay here as long as you need to.”

He let go of her, stepping back enough to unfasten his pants and shuck them, along with his briefs, down his legs. “Yeah, about that.” He shot a glance around the bathroom. “I like your house. It’s not too big and not too small. It’s perfect for a single person.” He caught her by the waist, turned them both to put himself closest to the tub, and started to climb into the shower. “You’re coming, aren’t you?”

Unable to resist despite the suspicious feeling he’d just given her, she grinned at him, this time far more genuinely. “Not yet.”

He waggled his brows before he pulled the shower curtain closed. “Then get naked, beautiful, and I’ll take care of that.”

“What are you getting at about the house?” she asked as she started to undress, raising her voice slightly so he’d hear her over the shower.

“Oh, yeah. Back to that. You own this place, don’t you?”

“Me and the bank.” She left her clothes where they fell, pushed one side of the shower curtain out of the way, and stepped into the tub with him.

He turned to face her, letting the water beat on his back. “I was thinking maybe you might consider renting it to me. You know, when you get ready to move to Kingsford. You can take whatever you want out of it. I can get more furniture. Hell, I’ve got to replace everything else I owned anyway.” He angled his head and twisted his face into an expression that would’ve made her laugh under any other circumstances. “Of course, if you’d give me a break on the first month’s rent, just until I get back on track so I can make it up, you’d have one very happy tenant.”

Damn it. She hadn’t wanted to tell him now. Why couldn’t he let her have one more night with him after the hell they’d been through today before she had to tell him the truth?

“I would if I were still planning on moving.”

He’d stepped further back under the shower spray, letting the water rain down on his head, but moved forward again at that and raked both hands down his face. “Are you saying you’ve changed your mind?”

Regina swallowed and nodded. “My father changed it for me. Thanks to Gage, he found out about my plans before I was ready.”

“Gage told him, huh?” Max backed into the shower spray once more and ran his hands through his hair. “Remind me—”

“It doesn’t mean anything else has to change,” she rushed on, cutting him off in midsentence. “I know you were expecting me to get out of town as soon as I caught the Flame Jumper. That’s done now. Although, you were the one who actually caught her. Still, you can pretend I’m gone if that’s what you need to do. Go on about your life as you had planned to do once I left. It’s no big deal.”

She managed to get it all out without bursting into tears. Points for her! She’d even managed to sound like it was no big deal while, inside, her heart was shattering to bits.

Max opened eyes he’d closed beneath the spray and stepped out of it again. This time, he didn’t bother to rake the water from his face as he stared at her unblinking for so long she thought he might have swallowed his tongue.

“Gina, what the hell are you babbling about?”

“I…I…” She started twice, but didn’t really know how to answer him. “I was not babbling,” she finally said. “I’m just letting you know that even though my plans have changed, yours don’t have to.”

He angled his head, utter confusion etched in his handsome face. “Exactly what do you think my plans were for when you left town?”

Regina lifted a shoulder, wishing he would drop the subject. It was getting harder and harder to hold onto her composure. “I don’t have a clue.”

“Apparently, you don’t.” He reached for her, pulling her in and turning them both so they stood under the water. “Do you know what I was about to say before you cut me off?”

Regina shook her head.

“Remind me to thank Gage later. Geezus, Gina, even if your father hadn’t changed your mind, did you really think I was going to put an end to what we have when you left town?”

Okay, now she was the one who was confused. She stared at him, searching his eyes and seeing the same bafflement she heard in his tone. “Weren’t you?”

“It wasn’t my intention. Weren’t you telling me just a little while ago about Gage and how it looked like he’d be making far more frequent trips to Silver Springs now that he’s met Terri? You said he fully intends to spend as much time as he can with her and that her being here and him being there was no big deal because it’s not more than an hour away.”

“Well, yes, but—”

Max held a finger over her lips, silencing her. “Do you think I would flinch at driving an hour to spend time with you? I wouldn’t flinch at driving ten hours, Gina.”

“You wouldn’t?” she asked stupidly. God, everything he was saying was so different from what she’d expected that her mind was having trouble making sense of it.

He threw back his head and laughed. “Do you really want to know what my plans were for when you moved?” He didn’t give her a chance to say yes. “I have forty-eight hours off after every twenty-four on. The drive to you and back would take away one of those hours. That still leaves me with forty-six hours.” He made a considering face. “Drop that to about forty-four if you take into account a quick trip to the apartment I no longer have before and after my shift at the firehouse. Anyway, I figured I’d hit Kingsford no later than nine o’clock in the morning. If it was a weekday, you’d be at work, of course. Maybe even some weekend days, too.” He shrugged. “I figured I could hang with your dad, get some man-to-man time while you’re out, maybe even cook dinner and have it ready when you got home. Then, I’d spend the night with you, do it all over again the next day, and pull out bright in early in enough time to make it back to town before my shift started again at seven a.m.”

Regina stared at him, disbelief coursing through her. He’d had it all planned out, and every bit of it had meant them staying together as much as they could.

“You’re not saying anything,” he said slowly. “On second thought, that’s good because I’m not done. I need you to tell me if you’re not okay with what I just said.” He stopped and shook his head. “Except that’s not how it’ll pan out now, so what I need you to tell me is if you were wanting things to end when you left. If you were, if you are, then I’m the one who needs to leave…now.”

* * * *

Max couldn’t tear his gaze from hers as he waited for her answer. Geezus, his heart was pounding so loudly in his chest he wondered how she couldn’t hear it. It had never occurred to him that he’d actually lose her when she left town. The answer had seemed so simple he hadn’t bothered to analyze it. She’d planned to do what she felt she had to for her father, and he’d projected doing what he had to so he could be with her. Case closed. No way in hell had he intended to let the fire between them be put out so easily.

“You really wanted to keep seeing me, want to keep seeing me?” she finally asked, sounding stunned.

Christ, how could she not know he’d fallen helmet over waterproof boots in love with her.

Maybe because you haven’t told her yet, dumb shit.

He used the hand he’d splayed on the small of her back to pull her tight against him and cupped the side of her face with his other hand. “Remember when I told you I didn’t know where this would go?” She nodded, but didn’t speak. “I’m not lying now when I tell you I hope it goes on for a very, very long time.” He waited a beat, and then spoke the words he’d never said to a woman other than his mother and sister in his life. “I love you, Regina. I don’t care if you live in Silver Springs, Kingsford, or Tibet, I’m still going to love you and I’ll do whatever I have to so I can spend as much time with you as you’ll let me.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

Way to go, fucktard.

He’d hoped his declaration of love would get a far different response. Maybe something along the lines of, “I love you, too, Max,” or even, “I’m not in love with you yet, but I care about you so let’s give it some more time I probably will be.” Turning on the woman’s waterworks never boded well for a man in his current state, did it?

“You’re serious?” she finally asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

What, did he need to have it drawn in the sky for her to believe him? “I wouldn’t have said all that if I wasn’t, baby.”

“You’re in love with me?”

Max took a deep breath and started to let her go. “If you’re going to start laughing at me, I’m going to get dressed and I’ll be out of here in a flash.”

“No!” She latched onto him, one hand closing like a vise around his bicep and the other snagging him behind the neck. “God, Max. I’m not going to laugh at you. I’m sorry. I’m just, well, speechless.

“Could you find something to say, because I just poured out my heart to you and I’m feeling insecure here.”

The grin that spread across her lips nearly pissed him off no matter how wickedly sexy it looked. “You? Big, gorgeous
Lieutenant Insufferable Nuisance Ass is feeling insecure?”

“You forgot insatiable,” he reminded her. It was the look in her eyes that started to make him relax. The gleam and swirl of something he could only hope were the same emotions pumping through his chest for him made him hold onto her tighter.

“Can I bite you now? Because I’m so ready to.” She released her hold on his bicep and pushed her hand between their bodies, skimming the backs of her fingers down his abdomen and gut until she found his cock. “I’m been dying to sink my teeth into the man I love again for days now. I think the need might be driving me a little crazy.”

She loved him. Geezus, if she could only see the party exploding in his head at that realization, she’d have been on the floor of the tub laughing her sexy ass off.

“Just a little crazy?” he asked as, oh, yeah, her slender fingers tightened around his shaft.

“A lot crazy,” she amended, flattening her other hand on the front of his chest and pushing him back against the wall of the shower. “I love you, Max Jasper.” She brushed a kiss to his lips, and fireworks joined the party in his head. “And I expect you to spend every waking and sleeping moment possible with me from now on.”

Her lips cruised down his jaw, his neck, his chest, his abdomen, and his gut as she sank to her knees in front of him.

Max let his head fall back to rest against the shower wall, closing his eyes as the woman he loved, the woman who loved him back, covered his cock with her mouth and he went up in flames.

THE END

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Tonya Ramagos is a best-selling author of contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and cowboy novels. She spends most of her time in a fictional world dreaming up hot hunks and head-strong heroines. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. Anything from legal and military non-fiction to any genre of romance can be found on her Kindle. Her music tastes are just as varied with favorite artists ranging from Billy Currington to Disturbed. Her idea of relaxing is curling up on the sofa or her back deck with a book and her favorite beverage. Born and raised in Pascagoula, MS, she is now a resident of Chattanooga, TN, where she lives with her boyfriend and their five children.