“Chase!” Jamie screamed frantically, sending me running in her direction.
Jumping over the gushing water, I quickly gave Hoove a slashing motion at my throat. Jason was right. The last thing I wanted was for some poor innocent person to clean up Masters.
When I reached Jamie, she jumped into my arms, wrapping her long legs tightly around my waist and her arms around my shoulders.
“Honey, are you okay?”
“Did that prick hurt you?”
We spoke at the same time, both of us clinging to the other, not willing to let go.
“Jesus, legs, when I pulled up and Hoove told me what was happening, my heart nearly stopped beating.” Breathing into her hair, I took a moment to calm myself down with her scent.
Reluctantly, I gently put Jamie back on her feet but kept my arms around her.
“Jamie, I love you. I have never loved anyone more than I love you. When I lost my daughter, it damn near broke me. I’ve told you what I went through the years after Prue died. But if I lost you, whether it be just now or if you decided to go back to your life playing tennis, it will kill me. Don’t leave me, baby. Please, stay here and love me forever.”
Every fear I had spewed out of my mouth all at once. I couldn’t have stopped myself from saying them even if Hoove turned the hose on me. I was a desperate man on a mission to keep the love of his life.
“Chase, what on earth are you talking about?”
“Tennis, obviously. Yesterday, I saw how you were helping those kids, and you said several times that you missed playing. I can’t hold you back from going if that is what you really want to do, but I will do my best to convince you to stay here with me and make the life we both deserve. Marriage, kids, and nights filled with passion. That is what I want.”
“Oh, Chase.” Jamie pressed a chaste kiss to my lips but pulled back when I tried to deepen it.
“Honey, I don’t want to go back to tennis. Yes, I miss it. Of course, I do. It was a big part of my life once, but then I drove into this town and found something so much better. I love you, Chase Brennan. I shiver whenever you say my name in that deep voice, and I tingle all over when you look at me with your amazing blue eyes. My heart nearly stops beating when you touch me. Tennis was a part of my life, but you, my love, are my future. Your daughter is here, so here is where I am staying. You aren’t getting rid of me any time soon, fireman.”
Relief took hold of me, and I nearly buckled with it. How many times had this gorgeous woman taken me out at the knees with her beauty, strength, and love? Too many times to count, and I hoped many, many more times to come.
“You ain’t getting rid of me, legs. You’re mine now and will be until God sees fit to call me for my last shift,” I said, getting choked up knowing how she felt about me, and that my daughter meant so much to her she wanted to stay so I didn’t have to leave Prue. If push came to shove and Jamie had wanted to go back on the circuit, I would have made it work. Living with her part-time would have been better than not at all.
“Let’s go home, honey. There is a show called Sons of Anarchy. You might find it interesting and will be a good way to shake off today’s dramas.”
Growling at her cute teasing, I kissed her to stop any more talk of bikers. Taking my time, I kept the kiss slow and lazy. We had all the time in the world for hot and heavy, rough and hard, and sweet and sexy. Time was finally my friend, and I looked forward to all of it with legs.
“Did you know I have a Harley,” I said, smiling against her lips.
“Do you have a leather jacket?”
“I do,” I replied smugly and couldn’t help wishing I was saying those two words in a church with Jamie standing beside me dressed in white.
“I like you saying those words. Maybe I can get you to say them again one day.” Jamie’s smile was blinding, her eyes dreamy.
“The odds are definitely in your favour, legs.”
I made a mental note to go ring shopping the next day. I’d waited ten years for this woman to find and save me.
We both fought our demons and survived, and from the inferno, we found the perfect love and the perfect life. Together.
Epilogue
“I had no idea your husband could sing. Did you?” Tate asked me, handing me a flute of champagne, which I took but didn’t drink. Taking my gaze off my groom was going to take a mammoth effort, and a glass of bubbly had no chance.
“I learn something new about him every day, Tate, my friend. Being married to Chase is going to be, in a word, the best time of my life.”
Tate laughed. “Well, that’s six words, but I get it. There is nothing more exciting than being married to a hunky hose man. Welcome to the club, Jamie.”
I smiled at Tate’s description of the men that we were lucky enough to catch and fall in love with. Not that Chase made it hard for me. Instead of running from me, which he probably should have, when we first met, he stood still and let me find my way, never letting me take a wrong turn or stumble.
“My God, I wonder if I can get Dylan up there. It might be worth having my mother sit with Mason for a little while longer,” Tate mused, but I knew she was full of crap.
Earlier, I saw Dylan on his phone, FaceTiming his mother-in-law and son. Tate would have no luck staying another ten minutes before her hulk of a husband hunted her down and whisked her off home, not that Tate would care. I caught her on her phone in the ladies room half an hour ago doing the same thing.
“You will be out of here before I finish this drink, and you know it, Tate” I razzed her good-naturedly.
“Yeah, you are probably right. At six months, Mason is doing something new every day, and Dylan and I don’t want to miss any of his milestones. You know?”
“Yeah, I think I do.” I smiled secretively.
“James, do you want to do something about that man of yours. My ears are bleeding.” Jason appeared beside me, a beer in his hand and a smirk on his handsome face.
Over the last few months, I got to know the real side of Jason, the side he hid from the world other than his beloved niece. There was more to the policeman slash biker than he let on.
He was a wonderful, caring man with a huge heart, and there was a special lady out there somewhere who was going to find him and bring him back to life—I believed that with my whole heart. Jason also liked to call me James, which annoyed me beyond belief, but every time he called me that name, a genuine smile followed it. And what kind of person would I be if I stopped that?
“You want me to stop Chase from singing? Okay, I think I have a way.” Handing Jason my still full glass, I made my way around the cluster of tables on the way to the stage.
Six months ago, when Chase asked me to marry him, and I said yes, he made love to me then fucked me rough and hard, and I told him I wanted a big, white wedding with all the trimmings. At first, I expected him to kick up a fuss and demand I put together something within the week. But nope, my fireman agreed as long as I moved in with him in the meantime. I readily agreed, of course. I wanted to live with him as soon as possible and not being a prude, I didn’t care that we weren’t married.
The house I rented from old man Masters never felt like home, anyway. Looking over to the table beside us, I smiled fondly at the two elder Masters. Chase and the horrible Phillip’s dad were on the way to mending fences. Both grandfather and his son accepted the invitation to our wedding when Chase delivered them personally.
My husband wasn’t completely over the shunning he received from some of the Masters’ family after losing Prue on that fateful night when Chase’s life was turned upside down. I was proud of the way he handled the former mayor’s meltdown in the street. Phillip Junior was awaiting trial for numerous charges, the most serious being manslaughter and arson down to possession of an unregistered weapon and aggravated assault with a weapon with intent.
The dear old man Masters took his grandson’s fall from grace hard but understood why I moved out of the house.
I much prefe
rred Chase’s rambling country home with its paddocks of horses, cows, and two large protective dogs that cost a fortune to feed, but I loved them just the same. And most of all, I loved the garden and the special corner where Prue lay.
I had taken to talking to her whenever I had a problem or an issue I needed to talk through. It might seem strange to an outsider that I spoke to and loved a little girl I’d never met, but being in her special place, I always felt a sense of peace and acceptance.
She was a part of Chase, which meant she was special to me.
I already told her my secret yesterday, and when a soft breeze tickled my face when there was no wind to speak of that day, I knew she was happy for me.
Reaching the stage, I listened to Chase sing the final line of the AC/DC song. He really was very good, and even though I was not that familiar with all of the songs he had been belting out for the last hour, there was one I knew and was going to request he sing for me.
I’d already set it up with one of the kids I coached at the high school who was manning the karaoke machine.
Yep, I’d decided that I could coach, after all. I just needed a gentle push and some quiet encouragement, which I got not only from Chase but my two best friends, as well.
I was now the official tennis coach for the high school, but I also had my own clinic, and my list of students was growing by the month. It was the best of both worlds, teaching kids the joys of playing tennis and the importance of fitness. What I didn’t do was push them. If I saw more in a student, I contacted one of the better coaches I knew in Sydney. Carrie was all about nurturing a player to reach their potential, not stealing away their young, impressionable years. We left the decision up to the child and their parents if they wanted to take it to the next level. And if they did, Carrie came here to study and watch, and if she saw something special, she took them back to her tennis camp. And I got to stay here with my man and our dogs.
“Hey, Honey, do you want to sing one more song before we cut the cake? Tate and Dylan will be leaving soon,” I called out to Chase, trying not to shout out what was really on my mind.
“Whatever you want, my darlin’ wife. You want to pick out a song for me.”
“Oh, okay, sure,” I agreed as innocently as I could, playing along with him.
I took a moment at the table where my selection was already loaded up and ready to go.
“Start the music,” I called and stood back from the stage.
I stifled a giggle at Chase’s eye roll when the soft music came through the speakers. So far, he had sung rock songs and rock ballads; the slower, softer piano music wasn’t quite the theme of the night.
Nodding at him, I silently encouraged him to go on.
“Bit slow for me, legs, but if you picked it, I’ll sing it for you,” Chase said into the microphone before looking at the screen and starting to sing.
After singing the first line from ‘(You’re) Having My Baby,’ Chase stopped singing and dropped the mic to the wooden floor of the stage.
My tears had barely started when Chase vaulted off the stage and had me in his arms.
“We’re having a baby?” he asked in a hushed, raspy voice choked with tears, his large hands on my flat belly.
“Yeah, honey. We’re having a baby,” I sobbed happily. “Are you okay with it happening so soon?”
We’d talked about having children. I even went and had my IUD removed, and the doctor suggested we used condoms until we were ready. Well, we got as far as buying them, but when it came to using them, Chase got all alpha and demanding. He wanted me bare, and nothing else was acceptable to him. If it happened, it happened was what he’d told me.
Well, it happened and going by the whizz-bang pregnancy test, I was two to four weeks along.
“Legs, I was starting to think there was something wrong. It’s been a month since you had the IUD out.”
I laughed outright through my tears at his absurd worrying. “Chase, you most likely got me pregnant the second or third time you took me unprotected. That is hardly a reason for concern.”
“Don’t worry, baby. I will get it first try with our next baby.”
I swallowed and stared at Chase with surprise. How many babies did he want? I was afraid to ask. Finding out I was pregnant the day before my wedding was shock enough for this week.
Winding my arms around his neck, we started swaying to the karaoke music of the song that was going down in history as the best way to announce a pregnancy—well, in my opinion, anyway.
“What am I going to do with you, Chase Brennan?”
Pressing his lips to mine, Chase stole my breath with the tender kiss. “Love me, Jamie Brennan.”
Looking into the beautiful blue eyes of my husband, I whispered the two sweetest words in the world. “I do.”
CHASE
Looking at the bright pink flowers, I hunkered down on my knees with my precious bundle in my arms.
“Prue, meet your sister, Luna.”
THE END
Acknowledgments
First, I must acknowledge my gorgeous granddaughter, Memphis Luna, who made her appearance in this world around chapter fourteen. I told my daughter Katrina that forty-seven was too young to be a Gigi. Well, she proved me wrong because at the finish of this book, Memphis was twenty days old, and I could not imagine life without her.
One day, when your mummy isn’t around, we can listen to my books on audio together, Li’l bit. Won’t that be an education for you?
I would like to take this time to thank my sister from another mister. Shanneen, you are a pain in my arse, and you annoy the shit out of me most days. You make me watch Marvel movies when you know I hate them, you sing that stupid song from ‘The Little Mermaid,’ which hurts my ears, and you won’t let me eat chocolate. But I love you more than there are words, and if you ever leave me, I will hurt you.
Thank you, Colleen and Rogena. Number ten, ladies.
Robyn, thank you for all your help.
To Amanda Berry and Sara Spence Conger, my beta girls. I’m sorry if I made you cry … sort of.
Belinda, thank you, Pirate. You know what for.
To my incredible readers, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I do this for you, and I am where I am today because of you.
My flock, you put up with Belinda, and for that, you are all heroes.
My girls—Katrina, Meagan, and Marty—I love the three of you, and you are the lights of my life.
My beautiful Shanneen, you know I love you hard woman.
Handsome, I can’t imagine life without you.
Love you to the moon and back, Memphis Luna.
Xoxo
Also by Leah Sharelle
WOUNDED SOULS SERIES
His Sweetness
His Honey
His Beauty
His Lady
His Angel
His Man
Her Prince
FIREMEN DO IT BETTER
Into the Fire
Out of the Flames
From the Inferno
COMING SOON
Love Hurts — Love Duet Book 1
Connect with Leah Sharelle
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About the Author
Leah Sharelle loves the idea of being in love. Since her early teens, when she first discovered Silhouette Desire novels, her life has been all about reading. She would find herself rewriting scenes if she wasn’t happy with them and then would hide them under her bed. That led her to writing love stories of her own. They all ended up under her bed and are still there—where she says they will stay.
Leah is a mum of three beautiful girls, living in Australia, and she has what most say is a weird sense of humour. She spends her free time doing movies, Sons of Anarchy, and Friends marathons. And reading. She
doesn’t do angst. In fact, it drives her crazy. She loves Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain. There’s that weird humour.
From The Inferno (Firemen Do It Better Book 3) Page 21
