by Jen Talty
“Stay right there.” Lemaster shuffled across the room, keeping his weapon pointed at Gavin.
His father stepped from behind the wall separating the family room and the kitchen, nodding his head toward the door.
Gavin slowly backed up, hands in the air.
As soon as Lemaster turned his head, Gavin’s father moved in.
“Drop the weapon,” his father ordered.
Lemaster froze for a second before tilting his head, giving Gavin a sinister smile.
“Oh fuck,” Gavin whispered.
Bang!
Gavin dropped to the floor, covering his head, as if that would stop a speeding bullet from tearing through his body.
Bang!
Bang!
A searing pain charged through his shoulder as his body flung backward, sending him crashing to the floor, landing on his back as he clutched the gaping hole the bullet had created.
“God, damn it,” he said with a loud groan. Blood trickled between his fingers.
“Apartment secure,” his father said, the same time as three uniformed cops stormed through the front door. “Get this asshole out of here.” His father raced across the room, dropping to his knees. “Are you okay?”
“Getting shot doesn’t hurt as much as getting burned.”
“A sense of humor is always good during these situations,” his father said, shifting to the side as first responders entered the building. “Oh goodie, look, it’s your sister.”
“Leave it to my brother to get shot.” Renee, decked out in full firemen’s gear, ripped open his shirt and pressed a gauze pad on both sides of his shoulder. “Went all the way through.” She waved her hand as the EMT’s entered with a stretcher.
“How’d you know to come here?” he asked.
“Charlotte,” Renee said with a wide, all knowing smile. “She called Dad the second she heard you talking to Lemaster.”
“Can you call her and tell her what happened?”
“Already did,” his father said, standing over him. “Her parents are bringing her to the hospital. She might actually beat you there.”
Gavin dropped his head to the floor with a thud. He closed his eyes, ignoring the shouts and commands coming from his friends, family, and fellow first responders. He focused on the image of Charlotte he’d brought up in his mind of her sitting in his truck, feet propped up on his dashboard, twirling her hair.
A mental picture he hoped he’d have the chance to make real again.
Charlotte paced in the waiting room of the hospital. It had been two hours since Gavin had been brought into surgery. But what was worse than the waiting was that she hadn’t been able to see him before he’d been rolled into the ER.
“No news is good news,” Kim, Gavin’s mother said. She sat at the far end of the room, her legs crossed, holding a magazine in her lap as she aimlessly flipped the pages. His mother had soft, almond colored eyes that pleaded with her to sit down and relax. Eric, Gavin’s father sat next to his wife, his arm looped over her shoulder. They were so calm it made Charlotte worry even more.
“Come on, darling. I’m sure we’ll hear something soon,” her father said. As a doctor, she expected him to remain cool and collected. Even when he was dealing with the worst case, he always had this peaceful serenity about him, which made his patients and their families feel at ease.
But it only served to make her crazy.
“Worrying isn’t going to make things happen faster.” Her mother had perched herself next to Kim.
“Besides, this is a pretty simple surgery,” her father added. “And Wudder is the best shoulder surgeon in the state of New York. Gavin is in good hands.”
“You say that about every surgery.” She gathered her hair over her shoulder and twisted it with both hands as if she were ringing out a wet towel. Her father had called in a couple of favors to get Dr. Wudder, which Gavin’s family had been quite appreciative of.
“Dr. Wudder could do this procedure in his sleep.”
She stopped and glared at her father. “Not helping, Daddy.”
The sound of the electric doors springing to life hit her ears, startling her. A man in dark blue scrubs entered the waiting room. His face mask had been pulled down, covering his neck.
“Dr. Wudder,” her father said, pushing himself from the wall. “How is Gavin doing?”
“Great. He’s in recovery right now, but he’ll be in a room in the next half hour.”
“Surgery went okay?” his mother asked.
“The bullet missed the joint, which I had been concerned about, so that is really good. We had to repair some of the ligaments and he’s going to be quite sore for some time. Unfortunately, he won’t be able to use his arm for a while and he’ll require at least six weeks of physical therapy.”
“That’s going to make him ornery,” his father said.
“I bet, considering what that man has been through. But he’ll be as good as new by then,” Dr. Wudder said.
“When can we see him?” Charlotte asked, her heart hammering against her rib cage.
“Are you Charlotte?”
She nodded.
Dr. Wudder smiled. “He didn’t want to be completely knocked out, so he was awake most of the surgery, though very loopy, and he had a lot to say about you.”
Heat rose from her pinky toe right to her cheeks. “About me?”
“He told everyone that would listen that he had the sweetest, prettiest girlfriend in all of Lake George.”
The heat flushing in her face turned to burning flames
“Come with me. I’ll take you to the recovery room,” Dr. Wudder said.
She followed the doctor through the doors and glanced over her shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?” she asked his parents.
“Tell Gavin we’ll be by shortly.” His mother smiled. “I think the two of you need a little time together.”
Charlotte’s chest tightened as she followed the doctor down a long corridor.
“Looks like the nurse just rolled him into his room.” The doctor opened a door. “I’ll be by in about twenty minutes to check on him.”
She nodded, standing at the opening of the door. A curtain hung from the ceiling, blocking off the room. All she could see was the end of the bed and two mounds under the sheet, which she assumed were Gavin’s feet.
“He’s going to be loopy for a little bit, but he’s coherent.”
She sucked in a deep breath, gripping the fabric that separated her from Gavin. Her fingers trembled. In the matter of a couple of days, she’d fallen hard for the sexy firefighter. When she heard he had been shot, her knees buckled and it felt as though her heart had stopped.
“Charlotte?” Gavin’s deep raspy voice called out. “Is that you?”
She brushed her hair back and stepped into the room, pulling the curtain closed behind her.
“Well, you are a sight for sore eyes.” His smile brightened the dingy hospital room, but nothing could control her racing heart seeing him hooked up to IV’s and listening to a machine beep with every pulse of his heart. “Come here.” He patted the side of the bed with his good hand.
“Oh, Gavin. I’m so sorry.” Tears burned in the corner of her eyes. “This is all my fault.” Carefully, as not to shake the gurney too much, she sat down, lifting her leg up.
His fingers danced across her thigh. “I don’t see how you are responsible.”
“If I hadn’t logged onto that site and talked with some crazy—”
“Are you calling me crazy?” Gavin asked.
She let out a long breath. “You know what I mean.”
He nodded. “But this.” He pointed to his shoulder. “Isn’t your fault. You did nothing wrong.”
“But if it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t have happened.”
He winced as he adjusted himself. “What concerns me more is that this could have been you and I’d never be able to live with myself if anything happened to you.” He cupped her chin with his thumb and forefinger, drawi
ng her closer to his lips. “I’m sorry I was an asshole back at your parents’ house.”
“It’s fine.”
He shook his head. “That was no way to treat my girlfriend.”
She licked her lips, swallowing her breath.
“You are my girlfriend, right? I can change my Facebook status to in a relationship, yes?”
The tears that tickled the corner of her eyes rolled hot down her cheeks. “I don’t know. That all depends if sexyfirefighter is going to forever delete his profile.”
“Consider it done.” He pressed his lips against hers in a short, but powerful kiss. “This is a fire I never want to put out.”
Epilogue
Three months later…
“What the hell do you have in here?” Gavin lifted the final box from Charlette’s family room and made his way outside to the U-Haul. He’d had this day planned out for the last week, but nothing had gone right from the second they woke up.
“That’s my desktop computer, so be careful,” Charlette said.
“You’re more concerned about that than the pain this is causing my shoulder.”
She laughed. “I saw you bench pressing this morning, so that shit isn’t going to fly with me anymore.” She waved her hand in front of him.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He set the box down in the back of the U-Haul and slammed the door shut, securing the lock. “Are you ready?” He stood at the edge of the porch with his hands on his hips and waited. He’d loved living in that townhouse, but he loved the idea of living with Charlette more and if they were going to take the plunge, they needed a bigger place.
He smiled as she took the steps two at a time. “The question is, are you ready? Because I’m not easy going to be an easy roommate.”
“I don’t want to be your roommate.” His heart pounded erratically. His palms filled with perspiration, even though the temperature had fallen to forty degrees.
She rested her hands on his shoulders. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” she asked with her head cocked to the left.
“Roommate implies we’re just sharing space.”
“Would you rather I call it shacking up? Because you know that’s what my dad calls it.”
Gavin winched. Her father had called twice since breakfast and each time he nearly ruined it. Of course, Gavin had wanted to ask Charlette to marry him over breakfast, but his sister had ruined that with her love life problems. No sooner did he get off the phone with her, did Devon stopped by, telling the same sob story. The two were perfect for each other, but they couldn’t get their collective heads out of the ass, so instead, they ruined his perfect proposal.
“He’s just teasing. He doesn’t care that we’re living together.”
Gavin nodded. His vocal cords unable to make a sound. This wasn’t the most romantic way to do this, but he wasn’t going to wait another second.
“I want more.”
“More what?”
He stuffed his hand in his pocket.
“Shit,” he mumbled. The ring wasn’t there. He quickly searched all his pockets.
No ring.
“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Did you lose something?”
“This is not how this was supposed to happen.” He patted himself down one more time, but it was hopeless. “I must have packed it or something.”
“Packed what?”
“The ring I had planned on giving you today. I wanted to ask you to marry me, but I can’t seem to find the damn ring.”
“You mean this ring?” She held up hand and wiggled her fingers. The diamond sparkled in the sun, but not as much as the twinkle in her eyes.
“Where’d you find that?”
“In the pants you had on this morning, before you spilled coffee all over them when Devon showed up. I’ve been wearing it for hours.” Tears lined her cheeks. “I’ve flashed it under your nose a dozen times, but you didn’t notice.”
“I was too busy being nervous because I had wanted to ask you over a romantic breakfast, but my sister ruined that.” He took her hand, holding up her fingers. The ring fit perfectly, much like how she fit into his life. “So, you’ve been waiting for me to freak out over losing it?”
She was wearing the ring?
She was wearing his ring.
Had she said yes?
But he hadn’t even asked the question yet.
“I was waiting for you to notice that I want to spend the rest of my life you.”
A million things ran through is mind, but only one thing needed to be said. “I love you.”
“I love you right back my sexy firefighter. Now let’s get this show on the road. I’ve got a wedding to plan.”
Books by Jen Talty
NY State Trooper Series
IN TWO WEEKS
DARK WATER
DEADLY SECRETS
MURDER IN PARADISE BAY
TO PROTECT HIS OWN
DEADLY SEDUCTION
WHEN A STRANGER CALLS
Brand New Novella for the First Responders series
A spin off from the NY State Troopers series
PLAYING WITH FIRE
PRIVATE CONVERSATION
Other novels
REKINDLED
JANE DOE’S RETURN
THE BUTTERFLY MURDERS
The Aegis Network
THE LIGHTHOUSE
HER LAST HOPE
THE LAST FLIGHT
THE RETURN HOME
Coming soon!
THE MATRIARCH
The Collective Order
THE LOST SISTER
THE LOST SOLDIER
THE LOST SOUL
Coming soon!
THE LOST CONNECTION
Special Forces Operation Alpha
BURNING DESIRE
BURNING KISS
BURNING SKIES
BURNING LIES
BURNING HEART
BURNING BED
The Brotherhood Protectors
ROUGH JUSTICE
ROUGH AROUND THE EDGES
ROUGH RIDE
The Twilight Crossing Series
THE BLIND DATE
SPRING FLING
SUMMER’S GONE
WINTER WEDDING
Witches and Werewolves
LADY SASS
ALL THAT SASS
Coming soon!
NEON SASS
PAINTING SASS
Boxsets
LOVE CHRISTMAS, MOVIES
UNFORGETABLE PASSION
A NIGHT SHE’LL REMEMBER
SWEET AND SASSY IN THE SNOW
SWEET AMD SASSY Prince Charming
Novellas
NIGHTSHADE
HIS DEADLY PAST
A CHRISTMAS GETAWAY
About the Author
Welcome to my World! I'm a USA Today Bestseller of Romantic Suspense, Contemporary Romance, and Paranormal Romance.
I first started writing while carting my kids to one hockey rink after the other, averaging 170 games per year between 3 kids in 2 countries and 5 states. My first book, IN TWO WEEKS was originally published in 2007. In 2010 I helped form a publishing company (Cool Gus Publishing) with NY Times Bestselling Author Bob Mayer where I ran the technical side of the business through 2016.
I'm currently enjoying the next phase of my life...the empty NESTER! My husband and I spend our winters in Jupiter, Florida and our summers in Rochester, NY. We have three amazing children who have all gone off to carve out their places in the world, while I continue to craft stories that I hope will make you readers feel good and put a smile on your face.
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