Embracing Today, a firefighter romance: (The Trading Yesterday Series, #3)

by Kahlen Aymes

  “Of course. I’d be honored.” I offered a small smile.

  “That’s so awesome! I’ll be right back.”

  “Shit. I was going to ask you while he was getting drinks,” Jake said.

  I laughed softly, trying not to let my eyes drift toward the dance floor. Gina’s dress was bright enough that it would be easily be ascertainable, even from across a room and through the crowd of couples and cowboy hats, but there was no sense torturing myself.

  It wasn’t long before Mark was back with a fresh pitcher and my glass of wine and wasted no time in holding out his hand when a new song started playing. It was a new one that I particularly liked by Dan & Shay and the tempo wasn’t too fast, so if Mark was new to the two step it would be a good one.

  I placed my hand in his and stood to go with him.

  “Remember, Marin, I’m next,” Jake put in with a wink.

  I smiled with a nod. The attention was just what I needed.

  “I might as well put my request in, too,” Davis added.

  “Of course! I love dancing much more than drinking, so I’d be happy to dance all night!”

  As Mark and I were leaving the table, Gina and Ben were returning and we passed them on the way. Ben nodded to us while Gina still clung to his arm.

  I was thankful for the way my old cowboy boots slid across the worn wooden dance floor. Mark’s style of dancing had him place his arm on my shoulder and the other hand holding mine. I would have preferred his arm around my waist, because his arm felt heavy as we shuffled across the floor in the classic two-step rhythm.

  I let myself get lost in the song except for the two times Mark stepped on my foot.

  “I’m so sorry,” he said, embarrassed.

  I just grinned. “Don’t worry. I walk on them, too.”

  He laughed. “That’s funny, but I still feel shitty. I’m sorry I’m so bad at dancing.”

  “Well, you’re doing fine,” I reassured.

  “Maybe we can practice a few more times?” he asked gingerly.

  I laughed. “Sure, but I promised I’d dance with your friends, too. Maybe we can all do a line dance.”

  “Oh, no! Those are way too hard for me,” Mark protested.

  I was a bit disappointed because my uncle would sneak me into the Mangy Moose when I was young just so I could dance, and line dancing used to be huge. It was so much fun.

  “They’re just a series of patterns. You’ll see.”

  The music changed to a much slower song and I was hoping we’d go back to the table, when I heard the huskiness of a familiar voice.

  “Hey, kid. Mind if I cut in?” Ben was towering over both of us. My head had to fall back to look up into his face and our eyes met. “That’s if the lady will have me.”

  My heart started thumping hard inside my chest. So hard, I was afraid he’d be able to hear it, or feel it, if he held me close enough.

  “Sure,” Mark said. “See you back at the table.”

  I didn’t have to say a word. There was something unspoken between Ben and me. He took me into his arms easily; one hand slid behind my back and the other closed around my right hand and pulled it to his chest. I felt completely engulfed as we started moving together like we were made to do it. He smelled like clean soap and cologne; the solid wall of his chest beckoned for my cheek to rest upon it. The song was a new one, but it fit. It fit the situation and it suited Ben, too. The lyrics were impactful… a tough guy, but a gentle man. It couldn’t be more perfect, and I knew I’d never forget this first song or the magic of being in this man’s arms for the first time.

  “Are you cold?” Ben bent his head to murmur in my ear.

  I shook my head. “No.” I knew I was shaking and that’s why he asked.

  “Well, don’t worry… I got you.”

  “Do you?” I lifted my eyes to his face.

  Ben nodded. “If you’ll let me.”

  I swallowed, my fingers clasping into his shirt, bunching it up where my hand laid on his shoulder. My heart was ready to explode. How could I already be in love with him? Not the stupid, youthful love you feel with a first crush or some cute guy you meet who flatters you, but the deep, soul-shaking kind.

  “What about Gina?”

  We continued to dance, not missing a beat of the song as he easily guided me around the dance floor, our bodies plastered together.

  He frowned down at me. “What about her?”

  “She likes you—” I began.

  “So what? I just met the woman. I like you.”

  I closed my eyes, losing myself in his embrace, letting his incredible words sink in. In this amazing moment, I should have been two steps below heaven, but fear and guilt washed over me. “What if they see us?”

  He looked perplexed. We were body to body and my head tilted to look up into his face.

  “What are you afraid of?” His deep voice and hot breath washed over the skin of my temple.

  That everyone close to me has died and I can’t risk that with you. That when you know the truth about Carter’s death, you’ll think I’m a killer. That I won’t be good enough for someone as perfect as you. Afraid of loving too much and losing. Afraid of hurting. A plethora of answers flooded my brain. I could tell him I wasn’t afraid, but I didn’t want to lie to Ben.

  “Maybe it’s just too soon… and I can’t expect you to wait around.”

  Suddenly, Ben twirled me around quickly in time to an acceleration in the music. I was taken by surprise and laughed out loud. It was so fun… so incredible dancing with him. I felt like I was standing on the precipice of the most exciting jump I’d ever been faced with, yet afraid of the depth of it.

  “Look, Marin, I feel something between us, and we can take it slow. If you’re not ready, that’s okay, too. The last thing I want is to pressure you. I just want to spend time with you.”

  “Me, too. But… Ben, Gina’s a friend and I just don’t want to explain this to her, or anyone else, tonight.” The fingers under his hand spread flat on the solid wall of his chest. “Please?”

  “I’m fairly certain one of us will have to explain something to her tonight, Marin,” Ben said matter-of-factly. “She wants me to take her home with me.”

  “Did she say that?”

  “I can just tell.” The song ended, and Ben reluctantly released me.

  “I don’t want to hurt her. She’s been so excited to get to know you.” I felt stupid, rambling on like this. I didn’t want to hurt Gina, but I didn’t want Ben to think I was passing him off to my friend.

  “What are you saying?” he demanded, gently, his eyes intent on mine.

  I shook my head and shrugged, conscious of how conspicuous we were becoming standing in the middle of an active dance floor. “Nothing. I just… I’m so screwed up about everything.”

  “Come on.” Ben grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him toward the table. “We’ll just hang loose tonight. We can talk more when we’re alone. Let’s just have fun.”

  When we got back to the table, he walked me to my chair then took the seat he had vacated next to an eager Gina.

  “You two looked very in sync,” Davis said pointedly. “In step, I meant,” he corrected when Ben shot him a look.

  “Well, Marin is a great dancer. She’s been holding out on me.” He picked up his glass and downed the rest of the beer inside, then reached for the pitcher and refilled it.

  “It was fun. Maybe on the next line dance we can all go out there together?”

  The next two hours were spent with a lot of dancing, drinking and awkward glances from across the table. Gina’s friends showed up and we pulled more chairs up to crowd around our table. Ross was as handsome as Gina had said, and he was clearly interested in me. I could see that Ben’s feelings were bruised. He’d put himself out there earlier and I’d choked. I huffed to myself, chugging down the last half of my fourth glass of wine.

  The DJ announced the Watermelon Crawl line dance, and it was pure reaction to jump up. It was o
ne of my favorite line dances from my youth. “Come on! Everyone, come on! It’s so fun!” I motioned with my arms that they should all come with me. “Hurry, or we’ll miss too much of it!”

  “I’m game!” Mark jumped up to follow me. Jake was out dancing with a woman he’d met earlier in the evening. Gina, Davis and Ben looked at each other, skeptically. Ross got up from the table, indicating he was willing.

  “Let’s go,” Ross nodded. “I’m much better one-on-one,” he said suggestively, “but I’ll give this a try.”

  “I’d prefer to watch,” Davis said, crankily. “This song is old.”

  The song was older, but I wasn’t even sure how old it was. It was one that my Uncle Leonard taught me when I was only ten years old, but who knew how old it was by then.

  “Party pooper,” I said to Davis.

  “Come on, Ben. It will be fun,” Gina insisted, but I was already on my way out to the dance floor to find a spot in line. There were easily twenty dancers in each line and ten or twelve lines. After I’d taken my place and waited for the song to begin. I saw Gina dragging Ben out to the floor.

  Soon all of the dancers were moving to the song, some of us better than others. It wasn’t the easiest line dance to master, especially on the fly, but that was what I loved about it. The steps were fairly easy, but they were fast moving. Mark had a harder time, bumping into me a few times because he got his grapevine step going in the wrong direction, but I just put my hand on his should and pulled him in the right direction smiling the entire time. Ross was a much better dancer and took a position close to me. He smiled and flirted with his eyes. I couldn’t help but smile. It felt good getting out, dancing, and forgetting my problems knowing a deeper conversation was coming with Ben.

  When I turned around, I was able to see him dancing next to Gina. He was pretty good at it, while Gina was watching her feet and laughing outrageously each time that she made a mistake, tripping purposefully into Ben.

  I loved the song and knew the dance by heart so that, and the several drinks I’d had since my slow dance with Ben, made me a little more carefree. I was having a blast and we were all laughing our asses off.

  When the song ended, we all ended up seated back at the table.

  “Marin, I have to use the ladies’ room,” Gina said.

  “Okay,” I nodded. “Go ahead.”

  My friend’s eyes got big, and her head cocked to one side, clearly indicating she wanted me to accompany her. “Oh, okay. Me, too.”

  The bathrooms were at the back of the bar and she let me lead the way, weaving through the crowd of patrons.

  Once inside, Gina turned to face me. “Well? I’ve been dying all night to ask you what Ben said about me when you guys were dancing. He’s so charming and… so sexy!”

  I figured she was going to ask me what I thought of Ross, but not so. I had to be careful what I said. I was still feeling lightheaded from all of the alcohol. “He said you’re nice and pretty.”

  “Nice and pretty?” She seemed disappointed. “That’s so generic.”

  I wasn’t lying. Ben did say she was nice, and he’d told us both we looked great when we arrived at the Moose.

  “No, it’s not. Gina, I need to pee,” I said, walking past her into a stall. “Ross is gorg,” I tried to change the subject away from Ben.

  There were other women inside the bathroom, one puking in the far stall and several of them talking or re-applying make-up.

  “Nice and pretty,” she moaned again. “Jesus, my boobs are almost hanging out of this dress and all he’s got for me is nice and pretty?”

  “Don’t sweat it, sweetheart,” another woman’s voice said. “Look around, there are hundreds of men here. I’m sure you’ll be able to find someone else who could muster a little more enthusiasm for your boobs.”

  I almost laughed out loud as I finished up inside the stall. “Yeah? Thanks for nothing,” Gina retorted.

  Obviously, Gina didn’t have to use the toilet as she’d said. She just wanted to grill me about Ben.

  “We’re all a little drunk, Gina,” I said, washing my hands as she pouted, leaning one shoulder on the wall by the dryer. “Why don’t you try to talk to him another time?”

  “Talking is great, but I wanted to do the no-pants dance with him tonight.”

  I moaned miserably. “Now, that’s soooo romantic, Gina.”

  “Marin! Ben is all that sinew and muscle, and I want him. I can’t help it! I’ve been salivating all night.”

  I put a hand to my head. It was starting to pound. Maybe the wine was getting to me. “There’s more to him than his body, Gina.”

  “Now I’ve heard everything,” the rude woman said, before leaving the bathroom.

  “I want to learn all about his mind, and family and work, too. I really want to get to know him, but he’s just so damn hot.”

  Didn’t I know it? It wasn’t as if I didn’t want to be with Ben, too, and I knew what she meant about the yearning he caused, but I couldn’t tell her to back off. Once again, I found myself relying on Ben to fix the situation.

  “Yeah, he is. Let’s go back to the table. It’s getting late and I want to go home. Gem has been alone long enough.”

  “Marin!” Gina protested, reluctantly following. “I need more time with Ben.”

  I led the way out of the bathroom, eager to get out of Gina’s scrutiny. If I didn’t get out of there, I’d be blurting out that he was mine and to back off and the Gina would think I didn’t care about Carter at all. God, what a mess, I thought.

  The bathrooms were down a long hallway off of the central bar area and I began to walk through and back into the main room but stopped cold. Terror ran through me as my worst fears became reality.

  “Hiya, princess. Miss me?” Apollo sneered. He was all decked out in leather and chains, leaning casually against the opposite wall. “I thought I’d have to wait all night to talk to you.” He flashed a knife, but discretely, so only I saw it under his jacket. My breath caught in fear.

  He’d been waiting for me to emerge from the ladies’ room. Clearly, he’d been watching me all night, biding his time until he could get me away from the table full of others.

  “Who is this, Marin?” Gina asked cautiously. Apollo’s demeanor and appearance were menacing and enough to make my friend pause.

  I half turned toward her, suddenly sober. “Um,” I put up a hand and patted the air a couple of times hoping she’d understand what I needed her to do. “This is Carter’s brother, Apollo.”

  I hadn’t told Gina the awful details of the kidnapping, but now I wished I had.

  “From Minneapolis?” Clearly, she was confused by his sudden appearance in Jackson.

  “Has the princess been talking about me?” Apollo pushed off the wall and took a step toward me, looming over me, and much too close to me. Gina stepped back, amid the other women and men coming and going in the tight space of the hallway. “I’m flattered.”

  Truth be told, I was terrified, and I wanted to get as far away from Apollo as possible but making a scene wouldn’t end well.

  “I’ll meet you at the table, Marin,” Gina said, caustically. Instinctually, Gina was anxious to leave, and was in effect, abandoning me to this bastard. I could only hope she’d tell Ben and the others that I was talking to some mean looking dude by the bathroom and he’d come back here. At least, I hoped so.

  “Good idea,” I agreed with a short nod. I knew my fear showed on my face.

  “But what should I tell—?”

  “Um… just—” I interrupted, hoping she’d tell Ben I needed him, but not wanting Apollo to know, though if he’d been watching me all night, he knew we were with a group of guys. However, I didn’t know what he’d do, and I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. “Let them know, er…” My eyes shot up to Apollo’s face. His stare was intense. “I’ll join you in a couple of minutes.”

  She didn’t wait to turn and walk back into the main bar area.

  Hopefully, Ben wouldn’t
take too long until he would come looking for me.

  BEN

  I’d been watching for the girls to return to the table, hoping I wasn’t being too conspicuous.

  “Man, you got it bad,” Davis muttered, before chugging the rest of the beer in his glass.

  It didn’t make sense to argue; not with my best friend. Gina appeared before Marin and took her seat next to me before I could respond.

  “Ben, some bad looking guy stopped us outside the bathroom. Apollo something or other.”

  Instantly, my muscles coiled, and I was ready to jump up from my chair. “Where?”

  “He’s talking to Marin in the hallway by the bathrooms.”

  “Is he alone?”

  “I think so, but I’m not sure,” Gina answered. “He looked so scary. What’s his deal?”

  I didn’t answer but was on my feet and on my way to find Marin within the span of a second. “Davis.” I nodded in the direction of the bathrooms. “If we’re not back in a couple of minutes, follow me.”

  “What’s going on?” Ross asked and I just shook my head at him.

  Davis stood up instantly. “Why don’t I just come with you now?”

  I nodded and we were both striding toward the bathroom, leaving the rest of the people at our table wondering what was happening. As I preceded Davis down the hall off the bar, I looked for Marin, my eyes scanning back and forth. Apollo was within inches of Marin’s body, his face close enough to breathe on her skin, leaning in to say something in her ear. Her expression was terrified, and her back was plastered against the wooden paneling of the wall.

  Another surge of adrenaline pumped through my veins and it was as if a red bomb exploded in front of my eyes. “Son of a bitch!” I said under my breath, more to myself than my friend. “He’s got her cornered!”

  My hand was already reaching out to grab his shoulder and pull him away from her. “I suggest you get away from her, now! Did he hurt you?” I asked in with the same breath. Marin shook her head.

  The man turned and I got a good look at him, as much as I could in the darkened bar. He looked like a sleazy thug both in dress and mannerism. His hair greasy and overly long, his dark eyes were hooded as they narrowed on me. “I’m just talking to the lady, man. What’s your problem?”