“You okay, legs? Don’t you like the movie?” Chase asked from beside me. The heat from his warm hand, which had been sitting on my thigh from the beginning of the show and hadn’t moved once, radiated through the thin material of my skirt, making it hard to concentrate on the story—until now.
“Um, not really. It’s hitting a bit close to home, I’m afraid,” I admitted.
Chase picked up the remote with his free hand and sent the screen to black.
“Oh, you didn’t have to turn it off,” I protested, feeling a little stupid all of a sudden. Comparing my life to the Hollywood movie was a tad dramatic on my part, now that I think about it. Colin wasn’t a cop, and he wasn’t my husband. Chase wasn’t a single father without a clue who I was. He knew enough and that I was hiding from someone or something.
“Did Lake or Tate mentioned that I had a daughter?” Chase asked suddenly.
“Um, no, they didn’t,” I said shocked, though it did explain the beautiful room I woke up in earlier—a little girl’s room.
“Yeah, I did. Her name was Prue, and she was a mini-me. Alexei and Sasha were her dogs. At first, we only had Sasha, but Prue convinced me he was lonely, so I went and got another one. Two dogs that cost me over five grand between the two of them.” Chase laughed lightly, his head shaking back and forth. “My little bug had me wrapped around her tiny finger. I was done for from the minute she was born when I was only sixteen. There was nothing I wouldn’t have done for her. Nothing,” Chase said fiercely.
His love and devotion to his daughter were palpable, and just the way he said her name brought tears to my eyes. One thing worried me, though. He kept using past tense when he spoke of her. Did her mother take her away? Was he involved in a bitter custody battle? Not that I would care. Chase was fast becoming very important to me, and that kiss we shared nearly peeled my skin off with the intensity of it. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to really kiss him, to have him take me in his arms and devour me.
My cheeks heated with a mixture of desire and shame. Now was not the time to think of such things. Chase must have read my mind because his grin was full of cheek as was the wink he gave me before his face sobered once again.
“Her mother was my high school girlfriend. It wasn’t the typical epic teen love story. We were more friends than true lovers. Anyway, we broke up during the pregnancy but stayed friends, and we maintained a great relationship, much better than we would have if we’d stayed together.
“When Prue was about eight or so, Melanie—or Melly as we called her—met a guy, who was older than her by a few years and eventually moved her and Prue in with him. He was the kind of guy that liked to control his women and hated that she and I were very close, and I was a very hands-on father to Prue.” Chase took his hand from my leg and laced his fingers with mine, and our joined hands looked good to me. His was much larger than mine, and the way it enveloped mine gave me a sense of rightness. When he brought it up to his lips, pressing a kiss to it, my whole body stilled. This man had such a profound effect on me, and his gentle and caring nature, his overprotective ways, and his brutal honesty were characteristics I admired in a person.
“You keep saying were and had. Did Melly take off with her boyfriend and take your daughter with them?”
The bleak look in his blue eyes took my breath away. His head dropped for a brief moment before he answered me.
“No, after the man, Ray, went on a week-long bender and hit Melly, she finally admitted to me what she was putting up with. When I found out, I was really pissed at her, you know? My daughter lived in that house. She probably heard the fights and could have seen her mother getting hit, for all I know.”
Now I was confused. Didn’t he ask his daughter about it? Find out what she saw, then remove her from the bad environment.
“I wanted my daughter to stay with me because truthfully I didn’t want Prue or her mother with the guy any longer. I was even going to tell Melly that we could try to be together again if she left Ray. We had a good base already—our friendship was strong, and we parented well together. I didn’t love her the way most couples do, but I did love her as my best friend.
“But Melly was stubborn and thought she could help him to stop his drinking. She always saw the best in a person no matter how bad they looked to others. So she went home, taking Prue with her. I begged her to leave Prue with me, but she thought it would make things worse if she went home alone. Somehow, she thought Ray would see that as me saying he was a bad person to be around my daughter.”
“And was he?” I asked through the lump in my throat. I hated where this story was leading and prayed that is wasn’t.
Chase nodded his head slowly. “Yeah, he was. That night, after I said goodbye to my bug, I went on shift. Two hours later, I was called to the scene of a double murder-suicide. Ray shot Melly in their bedroom then shot my baby girl as she tried to flee out the back door after watching her mother die, and then the coward shot himself. I saw the lifeless body of my nine-year-old daughter, and the last vision of my bug was a big hole in her chest. Melly didn’t lie to me for herself. She lied to protect me from killing the prick who dared to put his hands on my daughter’s mum. But her lies ultimately took the life of a little girl—my little girl.”
Glassy-eyed, Chase stared intently at me. “Lies, no matter the reason behind them, have consequences for everyone involved, and I am involved with you, Jamie, don’t doubt that. One day, I will have you under me in my bed. It is up to you if it will be a one-time thing or something much more than that. Personally, I am hoping for the latter because I don’t think that once will ever be enough with you, not for me, at least.”
And there it was. He was putting all the balls in my court. My mind was still reeling from the heartbreak of how his story ended. Never in a million years would I have predicted that was how he lost his daughter. All the talk of not liking liars made so much sense to me now. His ex-girlfriend had kept important facts from him, and in the end, he lost everything because of them. How could I be another bad chapter in his life? If I kept up this charade, that was what I would be.
I had only two choices. Get back into my shitty car, and find another town—one without a handsome firefighter with beautiful blue eyes and a heart so big I ached to be a part of it. Or I could tell him and trust that he would stay.
Not easy choices and neither one held much appeal, each for different reasons.
I believed I ended up in this town for a purpose. Of all the small towns that I could have picked to hide in, I chose this one. I believed I was still a virgin, despite the multitude of men I came into contact with in my career, for a purpose.
And that purpose was the man currently holding my hand with unshed tears in his eyes, a man who still sought love and happiness despite all the devastation in his life. He had every right to close out the world and live his life in darkness, but he wasn’t. He saved lives for a living and helped his friends willingly. He took one look at me and saw I was worth a risk. Me, a cowardly liar, taking advantage of his kindness and that of his friends.
Taking in a deep, cleansing breath, I chose.
“My name is Jamie Lawrence. I am running from my coach, who is not a nice man—at least, he isn’t to me. To others, he can do no wrong, and my parents think the sun shines out of his arse. They hate me. All I am to them is a pay cheque.”
Chase’s smile was huge, and it made me smile just as big at him.
“Nice to meet you, Jamie Lawrence— Wait, I have heard that name recently? Why?” Chase mused. As he stared at me, his smile turned into a thoughtful frown.
I cringed at his perceptiveness. I had hoped we could leave this part for a little longer. Oh, well, here goes.
“You might have heard of me if you watch tennis or sport on the news,” I offered.
“Holy shit, that’s it! Australia’s darling of tennis,” he exclaimed excitedly.
“Yeah, they call me that, unfortunately. It’s just a nice way of saying I�
��m a good loser,” I said sheepishly. I hated that nickname although it was better than Jinxed Jamie. That one I would rather forget. On the court, I had a reputation for being nice. I never had tantrums or threw my racquet, I rarely argued a point, and I didn’t throw my towel at the ball boys and girls. Those kids idolised the players on the court, and in my opinion, the players treating them as second-class citizens and personal slaves was just enabling bad behaviour in their futures.
Some of the players I knew believed they were gods when, in reality, they were just spoilt and entitled big heads. I did not buy into the notion that sports identities needed to be above others. I guess that was one of the reasons I never got invited to parties on the circuit. I never believed my own publicity.
That had me a bit worried. If Chase had heard of me, would I be recognised at the café? On the streets, or—
“Hey, legs, calm down. I can see the cogs going overtime in your head. I only recognised your name, not your face. You have obviously changed your hair colour, so that helps. You have met Lake and Tate and the guys, and they never twigged. Old man Masters does nothing but usually watch television at the home, so if he didn’t put two and two together, you are fine,” Chase rushed to reassure me.
“Lake knows something because I messed up with the last name I chose, and she saw the bruises on my wrist. She said she doesn’t want to know, but she has been so kind to me it seems very unfair of me to keep up this subterfuge.”
Chase nodded thoughtfully, his eyes on my wrist. The soreness was still there, but the bruises were basically gone now.
“Want to tell me about those, or has tonight been enough with my revelations and yours?”
Sighing with relief, I took the out Chase was handing me.
“Can we leave the rest for another night? I think I need to detox the alcohol out of me completely before I pour out the rest,” I asked, hoping he agreed with me. I still had much more to tell him, to admit to, but what I had divulged already was enough to appease him not to kick me out and forget about me.
“Yeah, legs. We can leave it for a while, but not long, though, okay? I want you, Jamie, in my life and not just for a quickie. In. My. Life,” Chase said firmly, not letting me hide for too much longer. Soon, I was going to have to tell him about Colin and that horrible day.
The big question was, would he understand? Or would he send me packing? I prayed for the first because being in Chase’s life was something I wanted, very much.
“Okay, so you can see it isn’t rocket science. Take their orders, write them down clearly, and make sure the customers are well looked after. The key is to treat them like the most important person in your life while they are in here. After they leave, I don’t care,” Lake said with a laugh.
I laughed with her, but inside, I was seriously shitting myself. I spent my teen years on the court. I didn’t have a part-time job or needed one. Heck, I rarely went into shops myself. Food came from room service or a cafeteria, I bought most of my personal items online, and my sponsors took care of everything else.
Oh, God. My sponsors! I missed a meeting with them concerning my coming year and my contract renewal. Damn Colin. If it hadn’t been for him, I would be— Where would I be? Certainly not here in this town, working in a cute café with a wonderful, caring boss. I also wouldn’t have spent the previous night cuddled on a couch with Chase, watching Indiana Jones movies. After our deep and meaningful, we switched the tempo of the night, choosing instead to watch eighties’ action movies and getting to know one another better. He purposely kept to casual topics, such as his farm and animals, sensing that I didn’t want to speak of anything too deep.
Chase’s sweet caring to my mood hit me hard in the feels.
Deep inside, I knew my career on the court was over. The past year and the decline in my rankings proved my heart was no longer in the game as it once had been. Once, winning was important, but spending the small amount of time that I had with Lake and Tate highlighted just how much living I missed out on because of Colin’s and my drive to be the best.
Tennis was fun. I loved the game and missed the feel of the racquet in my hand, missed the burn of my muscles in the gym. In saying that, I did not miss the competition, not only in the rankings but off the court also. I hated the media attention even though Colin always demanded he did most of the talking in interviews, except for the after match ones where you were forced to sit in front of a microphone and let the journalists pick apart not only your game but your private life, too. Some of the smarter ones would slip in snarky comments about my clumsiness or my lack of a date at a recent event.
What that had to do with my game, I was not allowed to ask. Most of the time, I would reply with a no comment, which would set Colin off on a rant about me not keeping the media onside. I never cared, though. If it wasn’t Colin pissed, it was my mother. She loved the spotlight my tennis brought her, the gala events and being seen on the television at a game pretending to be interested in my progression in a match.
It was all for show. The minute the camera was off her, she went back to being bored and thinking of how she was going to spend my earnings.
“Jamie, are you still with me, hon?” Lake’s voice interrupted my spacing out.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, Lake. I tend to drift off sometimes,” I said. I grabbed the cleaning cloth and went to walk around the small square table, only my foot caught the rung of a wooden chair, effectively tripping me and sending me crashing to the floor.
“Jamie!” Lake cried out.
“Oh, crap. That is gonna leave a bruise,” I mumbled, holding onto my chin. The horrible nickname echoed in my head. Jinxed Jamie strikes again, I thought grimly.
“Sweetie, are you okay? I am so sorry,” Lake said, getting down on her knees in front of me.
“Because I’m clumsy? Get used to it, Lake. I used to be called Jinxed Jamie by some people. You just got a firsthand look as to why,” I told her, not realising that by telling her that, I could have revealed my real identity.
“What a load of crap. You tripped, big deal. These old chairs look good, but they are a bit bulky. Anyone could have done it.”
“Have you?”
“Ah, no, I haven’t,” she admitted.
My smirk and raised eyebrow said what my words didn’t. Leave it to me to be the only person in the history of the café to trip over a chair.
“Come on, let’s get you up. The door opens in ten minutes for brekkie, and that means that at least six hungry firefighters will descend upon us.”
Taking Lake’s outstretched hand, I let her pull me up. Well, it was more like I did all the work, and Lake just held my hand for moral support. Compared to my five-foot eight, Lake was tiny.
“Oh, dear, you have a fair bump on your chin, and it looks like a small cut from the rough wooden floor. Let me grab the first-aid kit,” Lake said, bustling off behind the counter to the back of the shop, presumably to her office.
“Lake, it’s fine. I’m used to…” I didn’t bother finishing what I was going to say. Lake was more like a mother hen than a boss, and fighting it would be useless.
Resigned, I sat down on the chair that turned on me and waited for Lake to return, which didn’t take long.
“What on earth is that!” I exclaimed when she returned with a toolbox. Yes, I said a toolbox.
“This is my first-aid kit,” she said proudly as if she were introducing me to her favourite child.
“It’s a toolbox,” I argued, pointing at the big, red multilayered metal box.
“Well, technically yes, but being married to a firefighter, you tend to get a bit out of control when he brings home catalogues for medical supply companies. I bought so much that not all of it would fit in a tradition medical box. Chase had this in his shed, and gave it to me,” she said with a shrug.
Chase. One word. The word.
My insides tingled, and my heart raced. I wasn’t even going to start on what other parts of me did at the mention of his name.
Blushing, I tried to divert her attention. “Okay, doc, have at it. Fix my boo-boo.”
Lake narrowed her eyes at me knowingly.
Yeah, she was onto me.
“I will give you a pass just this once. But soon, you are going to tell me what went on with you two last night. Just before Carson took me home, you and Chase were smack bang in the middle of some pretty heated looks. I haven’t seen him like that in all the time I have known him.” Lake talked while she rifled through the medical supplies, trying to find what she needed to doctor up my chin.
“He is… nice, really nice,” I told her honestly.
“That he is. Out of the three of them, Chase is the quiet one. Though to hear Carson and Hoove tell it, they can’t shut him up.” She laughed.
“He spoke plenty with me. We talked about his farm, his dogs, and horses, and he told me about his daughter,” I told her then yelped when she poked at my chin a little too hard with the cotton ball soaked in antiseptic.
“He told you about Prue? Willingly?”
Well, not willingly, per se. It was because of my secrets that he told me, I was sure. Whether he would have offered up that information on his own was a moot point.
“Yes, he did, and my heart breaks for him. I can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for him at the time, seeing what no father or parent should have to see.”
“Yeah, I didn’t know him back then, but Tate did. She said he really went off the rails for a while. Drank a lot, got into fights. His mate Jason got him to get back on track by arresting him,” Lake said, laughing, but my blood turned cold.
Chase was friends with a cop? Oh, God, this was not good. Not good at all. Didn’t all police stations get information from all over the country? For all I knew, I was a wanted fugitive with a price on my head, that kind of thing—wanted, dead or alive.
Righto, Jamie, calm down. Now you are reaching. I tried to calm myself. Maybe I was panicking for nothing. What were the chances I killed Colin? Even though I had been avoiding the news, I was sure if there was a countrywide manhunt for me, I would have heard about it.
From The Inferno (Firemen Do It Better Book 3) Page 7
