After a day of herding seven-year-olds, she didn’t feel particularly pretty or sexy. Just bone tired. And old. Dressed in her favorite tattered shorts and faded T-shirt, she padded to her sofa with a cup of tea. As soon as she answered all the text messages she’d ignored over the weekend, she was heading straight to bed. This was her real life. Bed at eight PM. Alone.
However, she did wish she’d been like one of this women at the event this past weekend and snapped at least one shot of Troy. Something to salivate over when she was feeling lonely. A last hurrah before she resigned herself to spinsterhood.
Comforting was the thought that Troy hadn’t looked any more spry than she had when he’d driven her to her car on Sunday evening. He’d stood with his hands in his pockets beside her window, trying to exact a promise regarding when she’d see him again. His beard had darkened the bottom half of his face. His eyes glinted despite the fatigue that dug lines beside his eyes. He’d explained his schedule. She’d described hers. Not much to work with unless one wanted to hang around a house, waiting for windows of congruence where they might share a quick shower and a tumble onto clean sheets. Never mind the long drive they’d have to undertake to be together. Still, Troy had tried to nail her down to a date.
She’d left her response vague, and she wasn’t sure why.
Her doorbell rang, and she sighed and set down her cup. At the door, she peered through the peephole and had to suppress a groan. Cade. Was he there to scold? She pasted on a smile and swung open the door. “Hi there,” she said, pushing open her screen door to let him inside.
She eyed him with new appreciation. Something that surprised her. She’d always taken his looks for granted. Mike’s best buddy. A brother. But now, she noted he was pretty darn cute. Blond hair, hazel eyes. Not as tall as Troy, but broad and muscled. “What brings you by this evening,” she asked, feeling a blush sweep her cheeks.
His brows drew together. “Just stopping by to make sure you’re okay. Like I always do,” he said, a hint of accusation in his tone.
Which had her stiffening her back. He was here to scold. And although they had a long, friendly history, it wasn’t his place.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he growled.
His saying that didn’t do the same things Troy’s statement had. She scowled. “What way would that be, Cade?”
“Like you want to show me the door.”
“Well, why don’t you just spit out whatever it is you’ve come to say,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
Cade rubbed a hand over his face then grimaced. “Don’t suppose you have a beer in your fridge.”
“You know I do. I always keep it on hand for when you finish cutting the lawn.” She let him find his own beer and headed back to the sofa and her cup of tea.
He strode into the living room and sat in the arm chair beside the sofa, his elbows resting on his thighs while he cradled his beer between his palms. “I’m sorry I was such a jerk this weekend,” he said, his voice gruff.
Not what she’d expected him to lead with, but she gave him nod. He did owe her an apology.
“Guess, I still think of you as Mike’s wife. And it rubbed me raw, seeing you with Troy. I had no right to feel that way.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I spent most of yesterday working on the Mustang,” he said, referring to the car he was restoring. “Fact is, I should have shook his hand and thanked him.”
Diana sat very still and felt tears pricking her eyes. “Why should you have done that?”
“Because he made you smile, sweetheart. Mike would have wanted you to smile again.” He took a deep breath, and then another sip of his beer. “I guess I better head off. You probably need your rest,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.
Diana’s blush deepened. “You did not just say that.”
“What? You’ve been chasing kids all day,” he said, his smile innocent.
She gave him glare. “Uh-huh.”
“I’m off Thursday. Want me to weed-eat next to your fence?”
Gratitude poured through her. They were still friends, even if he did disapprove of her weekend’s activities. “You know I’m perfectly capable—”
“I know. But I don’t mind. And Mike would have done the same for me, if I had a wife.”
Diana stepped closer and wrapped her arms around Cade. “He couldn’t have had a better friend. Me either.”
When they both drew back there were tears in their eyes.
Cade cleared his throat. “Lock the door after me.”
As she waved goodbye, she felt as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders, and she knew why she’d been reluctant to set a date with Troy. She’d felt disloyal and worried over what Mike’s friends might think. But she needn’t have. Now, she hoped Troy had been serious about tracking her down…
WORK DIDN’T ALLOW Troy much time on Monday to follow up with his deputy friends to find Diana’s address. He’d just begun cooking breakfast for the house when the first call blared over the loudspeaker. Leaving eggs cooling in the pan, he’d climbed into his turnout gear, clambered onto the truck, and headed to a structure fire in a two-story duplex.
By the time they arrived, one unit was fully involved with fire cracking windows and flame licking at the ceilings. The second unit was “exposed” but not yet engulfed. As the fire had self-vented with fire eating a hole through the roof, the crew’s main focus was pouring water on it.
“There’s a propane tank out back,” the chief said over the radio. “Sergeant Horvak, go cut the gas.”
Everyone stood back until Benny returned and gave a thumbs up. Then they moved in with the hoses: one wetting the outside of the structure to prevent fire from traveling across dry grass to neighboring homes; one soaking the front entrance and up the stairs, and another aimed through a lower-story window. When the flames had been smothered for the most part, Troy dropped the end of the hose he’d been using to direct water through the open window. He hefted his pick head axe and headed inside the structure to look for hidden “smokers” in the walls and floors.
He was on the second floor, peering into a soot-filled and partially charred attic, when he heard the snap and crackle of flame. “We’ve got fire,” he said into his radio. “Not sure where, but I’m on the second floor, heading into the attic.”
The radio squawked, shouts sounded. He continued into the attic, taking care not to step through compromised flooring or beams. He shook his head at the devastation. Bags of melted stuffed toys. Blackened trunks of old clothing and memorabilia. As always, he felt sorry for the homeowner’s loss. He completed his inspection, pausing to pierce the wall separating the two unit’s attics with the pointed end of his axe. There, he discovered the source of the noise as fresh oxygen caused the fire blaring on the other side to roar through the hole he’d made and quickly gobbled up the edges, widening the opening. He barely made it back down the staircase to the ground floor before the steps were fully engulfed.
Within minutes, the crew was battling to save the second home. But no amount of water or diligence on the fire crew’s part could save either home. In the end, poor construction aided the flames as well as anything else. The paper-thin, uninsulated walls guided fire throughout the structure. By early evening, the chief conceded the battle.
Back at the firehouse, Troy showered and contemplated calling Tank Owens to run Diana’s plate. He cringed at the thought of Tank’s laughter over the fact Troy hadn’t managed to get her number or her address—and he’d had two days to romance it out of her.
Maybe he was too eager. Maybe Diana had purposely put on the brakes by withholding her information. He’d taken it as a challenge. Her one-sided smile and narrowed eyes had certainly seemed to telegraph that she expected him to work for the privilege. And hadn’t he?
Hell, he felt as though he’d run a marathon. Every muscle in his back and thighs was still tight.
“What are you grinning about?” Benny asked from his
bunk in the sleeping area.
“Mind your own business,” Troy growled.
“Bet it’s that pretty blonde you escaped with Saturday night. That girl from San Angelo.”
“Her name’s Diana.”
“Di-ann-a,” Benny said, stretching the syllables out. “Yeah, she did seem like the kind to linger in a man’s mind.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she’s pretty enough, but she’s the settling down kind, you know? Looked real sweet, is all I’m sayin’.”
Troy grunted. She was sweet. And nasty. With stamina to spare.
“You’re going to have to stop grinnin’ like that. It’s not good for the rest of us who aren’t gettin’ any.”
“Shut up, Benny.”
“Is that any way to talk to your superior?”
“When he’s commenting on my woman, yes.”
“Your woman? She agree with that description?”
“Not yet,” Troy said, then aimed a blinding smile at Benny. “But she will. Soon as I figure out how to find her.”
Benny’s laughter rang in his ears as he sprang from his bed and headed to the chief’s office. He didn’t think Blake Thacker would mind it much if he took a squad vehicle to the sheriff’s office. The chief was a softy when it came to happy endings.
ON THURSDAY IN the late afternoon, Troy checked the address on the scrap of paper Tank had passed him. A smirk curved one side of his mouth. He couldn’t wait to stand in Diana’s door and tell her his friends with badges had come through for him. Of course, Tank had read him the riot act about what constituted stalking, and what he’d admit if things went sideways. Basically, Tank didn’t know a damn thing about how Troy got her address. But Troy was not going to chew the paper and swallow it like Tank had suggested. He folded it again, and put it into his pocket.
Glancing across the street, he admired the small, brick home with its white picket fence surrounding a meticulously kept lawn. The sound of a lawnmower roared in the distance. He blew out a deep breath, checked his appearance in the mirror, then stepped down from his truck.
He jogged across the street, wanting to be quick about it, because he was a little nervous. Would she be happy to see him?
He rang the doorbell and waited. The door opened, and there she was, standing behind the screen door, wearing a tiny pair of shorts and a tight tee and looking good enough to eat.
Troy leaned against the doorframe. “Hi, girl.”
The joy he thought he’d seen the moment she opened the door was now replaced with frown and a narrowed glance.
“Told you I have friends with badges,” he said softly.
“I don’t know whether to be relieved or concerned they gave you my address.”
“I did have to listen to a long lecture about what constituted stalking, but my buddy knew I was desperate.”
“Desperate?” she said, tilting back her head.
“Uh-huh, and desolate, babe, ever since you left,” he said, lowering his voice to what he hoped was a sexy rumble.
“Desolate, too?” she asked, playing with a lock of her hair.
“Don’t suppose you’re gonna invite me in…”
“Is that one of the things your friend said had to happen to let off the hook for stalking?”
His tension faded away seeing her wide grin. “He also said you had to be the one to kiss me first.”
She gave a solemn nod and opened the screen door to join him on the stoop. Troy held real still as she moved closer. He noted the flush on her cheeks, the sparkle in her pretty green eyes. When her hands slid up his chest and she stood on tiptoe, leaning in, he bent his head to meet her sweet kiss.
Only then, did he give himself permission to surround her with his arms. He hugged her hard, lifting her off her feet. “I missed you,” he said, beside her ear.
“I missed you, too.”
Cold water fell across the side of his body, and he quickly set Diana on her feet.
Cade stood several feet away, holding a garden hose.
“Where’s the fire?” Troy said, giving the other firefighter a glare.
Cade grinned. “Just helping you out. She’ll have to put your clothes in the dryer now.”
“Cade!” Diana laughed and covered her face.
“I’m done anyway,” he said. “Was just coming for my beer, when I saw you being attacked on your doorstep.”
Diana wiped water from face and laughed again. “Come get that beer. It’s the least I can do for you. He’s been mowing my lawn,” she said to Troy as she headed back into the house.
With her heading inside, Troy stiffened, wondering if Cade would take the opportunity to warn him off.
Cade stopped beside him and gave him hard stare. “She’s good people, Barlow.”
“Think I don’t know that?”
“Just wondered if you’d taken time to figure that out.”
Troy frowned. “Look, I know we stepped out on the wrong foot last weekend, but I mean her no disrespect.”
Cade pursed his lips then wrapped an arm around Troy’s neck to give him a sideways man-hug. “Treat her right’s all I ask.”
“You got it, man.”
They strode into the house, side-by-side, just as Diana stepped out of the kitchen holding two beers.
The afternoon wasn’t the one he’d planned, but he couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy it. They’d finished their beers while Diana cooked spaghetti. The sky was dark by the time he and Cade had finished the dishes. When at last Cade left, the quiet that fell afterward was fraught with tension. The good kind. He and Diana both knew what was going to happen. Knew it was going to be hot and fast.
Troy didn’t dare touch her as he walked backward to her bedroom, ditching his clothes on the floor as he went. He was already hard. Already primed to take her. His hands shook as he rolled a condom down his shaft.
Diana stalked him, her clothes flying just as fast. By the time he bumped into the bed, they were both nude. He slid backward and growled as she climbed over him, just as eager to slide her skin against his.
Troy palmed her ass and guided her hips, not releasing her until she was gliding slowly down his cock. He propped himself on his hands and leaned toward her breasts, eager to taste and suck, and anything else that would keep her making those urgent, tight little sounds as she began to move.
He latched onto one erect nipple and drew hard, knowing he was getting right when she raked his scalp with her nails and began rocking against his groin, grinding forward and back. He was deep inside her. Felt her cervix against the tip of his cock.
“Suck the other,” she said, her voice trembling.
He licked his way across her chest and rooted at her other tit, happy to please her. He gripped the turgid tip with his lips and wagged his head, tugging on it, before letting it go, then he went to his back, wrapped his arms around her and rolled.
Too far gone to be polite, he hammered between Diana’s thighs. Not that she complained. No, she spread her arms on the mattress, widened her thighs, and pointed her toes toward the ceiling. When her face grew red and sweat slicked her brow, he bent closer to cup her ass and thrust faster. Not until she gave a lusty shout did he let go.
“I could get used to this,” he whispered, his mouth an inch from hers.
A frown drew her pale brows together. “I’m scared.”
“Because this is going to fast?”
“No, because I feel the same way.” She shook her head and tears leaked into her hair.
He gave her a sweet smile. “I’ll slow down if you like. Until you’re not scared anymore.”
“Does slowing down mean you won’t fuck me for a while?”
He lifted a brow. “If that’s what you need.”
“I can’t see that happening,” she said and laughed, the sound a little choked.
“Slowing down could mean we do the things most people just getting to know each other do.”
“And then we fuck?”
“You’re
really obsessing over that part.”
Her gaze went to his chest and she used her fingers to comb and pluck his hair. “I’m game to go bowling or hiking, or anything else you want to do, so long as we fuck.”
Amused, Troy grunted. “I think we have to fuck just so we can act like normal people when we are out and about.”
She nodded. “Otherwise we might be fucking in the parking lot at the grocery store.”
His mouth twitched. “Or fucking in the bathroom at the movie theater.”
She wrinkled her nose. “But I would like to fuck in your pool.”
He chuckled. “That I can arrange.”
She smoothed her hands over the tops of his shoulders. “When you do you have to leave?”
“Tomorrow night. My shift starts Saturday.”
She groaned. “I’m going to be useless tomorrow.”
“I won’t ask you to call in sick. But I will rest up. You won’t have to lift a finger when you get home.”
“Sounds…decadent.”
It would be. She’d asked him when he had to leave. “Your every wish will be my command.”
Chapter Six
DIANA LIKED EVERYTHING about dating Troy Barlow. She liked his constant courtesies. He opened doors for her and always tucked her hand into the corner of his arm when they walked. He didn’t rush to order for her, but during those moments when she wanted to be lazy or not think about anything other than how blue his eyes were, she liked that he did take charge.
She also liked the way other women eyed Troy when they were out. She didn’t blame them. And knowing he was handsome somehow made her feel more desirable herself. Whenever she allowed herself to think of this “thing” they had ever ending, she held tight to the thought, that for this moment, she was worthy of someone as special as he was. How lucky was she to have known two such special men?
They’d been dating for a couple of months now, spending more time apart than together, yes, but those times when their schedules aligned were nothing short of amazing. Even when they did nothing more than cuddle on the sofa together, Troy made it sexy and fun, like he could never get enough of her. Flattering for a girl who’d never considered herself a sexpot.
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