by Debra Webb
His question surprised her. “Of course I am. Whatever gave you the idea I might not?”
The uncertainty in his eyes surprised her.
“With the wedding and the baby, I thought maybe you might not have as much time as you’ve had in the past,” he explained.
He was hedging. What in the world had given him such a ludicrous idea? “Greg, don’t even think it. I’ll be back tomorrow. It’s true I might have to take off more time than before, and I might even cut back from ten hours a day to eight, but I’m fully dedicated to our clinic.”
Greg nodded his approval and obvious relief. “Good. I wouldn’t want to lose you.” He sighed, then admitted, “I guess I was just worried that Joe wouldn’t want you working with me at the clinic considering I asked you to marry me, and all.”
“Don’t lose a minute worrying about Joe.” She patted Greg’s hand. “He knows how much that clinic means to me. He doesn’t have any problem with us working together. We’re friends and he understands that.”
SPIKE’S WORDS HALTED midsentence and he stalled just inside the front entrance to the Bar and Grill.
“What?” Joe prodded him. “You didn’t tell me what happened after that?” He hated when someone started a story and then didn’t finish it.
What the hell was wrong with the guys? Spike, Bull and the rest of them just stood there, half in and half out of Larry’s place, their gazes riveted on something Joe couldn’t see.
“Is there a fight?” That was Joe’s first thought. But when he pushed through his fellow firefighters, he found that it wasn’t a fight, but the sight of his new wife having lunch with the man who had proposed to her before Joe that had stopped them in their tracks.
The man Lisa had said yes to before Joe talked her out of it. And she was touching his hand!
Seaborn.
The snake.
Joe wouldn’t have thought the guy would stoop this low.
Fury roared through him. He clenched his fingers into tight fists and an odd red mist swam before his eyes.
Seaborn was a dead man.
It wasn’t until Joe had stormed halfway across the room that his buddies came back to life.
“Whoa, Cap’n.” Bull was the first one to reach him. “You don’t want to do this.”
“Oh, yes, I do.” Joe shook him off and covered the rest of the distance in four long strides. Lisa looked up at him just as he closed in on the table.
“Joe, you’re—”
“I stopped by the house but you weren’t home,” he growled. He flicked a gaze in Seaborn’s direction. The weasel at least had the good sense to look contrite.
“No,” she said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to his emotional state. “I was going shopping and I decided to have lunch with Greg to—”
“Let’s go,” he snapped, determined not to make a public spectacle.
“What?” The realization that he was mad as hell suddenly dawned in Lisa’s eyes.
“You’re coming with me,” he growled.
“Excuse me,” she said tersely. “I’m having lunch. You’re welcome to join us, but if you think I’m leaving just because you say so, you can forget it.”
“Lisa, it’s okay,” Greg urged. “We can do this later.”
Lisa looked from her knuckleheaded husband to Greg, who appeared immensely uncomfortable.
What was Joe going on about? Lisa wondered, ordering her around like this. And in front of Greg.
How dare Joe come in here and act like a jealous ass! She would not tolerate that sort of barbaric behavior.
“No,” she protested. “We’re having lunch. Our food hasn’t even arrived. He can just get over himself.”
“Lisa, don’t argue with him. It’s all right—”
“Let’s go.” Joe’s command was a snarl now.
Lisa couldn’t remember ever being this angry. She wanted to…to kick him. What the hell did he think he was doing?
“No,” she repeated in the same stubborn tone he’d used.
Some of Joe’s firefighter friends had gathered around him now and were trying to calm him down. Lisa’s head had started to spin a little. This was ridiculous.
When Joe reached for her hand, Greg stopped him, the move startling Lisa along with everyone else around them.
“She said no, Ripani,” Greg reminded Joe hotly. “There’s no need for this sort of behavior.”
Joe shook off his hand. “You’re right, Seaborn. This is between you and me. Why don’t we take it outside?”
“What’s going on over here?”
Larry, the owner, pushed through the small crowd gathered around Lisa and Greg’s table. Lisa’s humiliation was complete now. She would never forgive Joe for this.
“Everything’s cool,” one of Joe’s friends insisted.
Lisa had a feeling things were about to get worse.
“Ripani,” Larry said, “I don’t know what your beef is, but this isn’t like you.” He shook his finger in Joe’s face. “You cool off.”
Without a word, Joe stormed out the door, his entourage following.
Lisa knew a moment’s relief. “Thank God. I don’t know what got into him. He’s lost his mind!”
Greg stood. “I’m sorry, Lisa, but we have to straighten out this matter in the only way a man like Ripani understands.”
Before she could argue, he’d rushed out the door, as well.
“Oh, for the love of Mike,” she muttered, before pushing to her feet and following the rest of the idiots out the door.
Joe had waited for this moment for two weeks. Anticipation surged through him as Seaborn faced him in the parking lot. They would settle this here and now.
Seaborn walked right up to him and looked him in the eye. Damn. The guy had a set of balls, after all. “I let you take her away from me,” he said for Joe’s ears only. “But you won’t take my pride. I’m not afraid of big bad Joe Ripani.”
Rage exploded in Joe’s gut. This guy was going to regret the day he was born.
“I didn’t want it to come to this,” Joe said, which was pretty much a lie. “But you’re not going to flirt with her anymore. She’s my wife, Seaborn. Get that through your head.”
“Stop this right now!”
Lisa forced her way between them. “Stop it!” she repeated. “This is ridiculous! Do you know how childish you look? Both of you?” She glared from Joe to Greg and back, hearing muttered agreement from their audience.
“You’d better listen to her,” Spike called out. “You have to live with her, Cap’n.”
Lisa cut him a look that shut him up pronto.
“He had no business bringing you to lunch,” Joe accused. “I know what he’s trying to do.”
Before Greg could argue the point, Lisa blasted Joe with a comeback of her own. “I brought him to lunch, you big oaf!”
With that, she gave them both her back and stormed off, leaving Joe grappling with her words. Lisa had invited Seaborn out for lunch?
He never saw the punch coming.
Seaborn gave him a right hook that knocked Joe completely off his feet. He slammed into the ground like a fallen oak.
Joe blinked to clear his double vision. His head spun just a little. What the hell?
The next thing he knew, Lisa was hovering over him, demanding to know if he was all right.
When the world had stopped moving, he pushed himself up onto his elbows just in time to see Lisa shoot Seaborn an icy glare and then direct that same frigid look at him.
“Men!” she shouted. “You’re all the same!”
And with that profound statement, she left.
Well, Joe thought, he’d done a bang-up job of winning her over.
At this rate, he wasn’t ever going to sleep under the same covers with her.
Much less make her happy.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HE’D ROYALLY SCREWED UP this time.
Lisa hadn’t even spoken to him last night. She’d been so furious that she’d gone into th
e bedroom, slammed the door and hadn’t come out until time to go to work.
God, he was a complete idiot. What had he been thinking, going off like that about Seaborn?
That was the trouble. He hadn’t been thinking.
The Iceman never lost control.
The truth was, he rarely did any thinking where Lisa was concerned. He couldn’t form a rational thought in her presence. He…cared too much. Wanted her too badly.
But how did he explain that to her?
She’d gone back to the clinic this morning, leaving him alone at home. It was only Thursday, not even a week of wedded bliss, and so far it had almost killed him.
What the hell? He emerged from his truck and headed into the station house. Most of the problems were his fault. He admitted it. He didn’t have a clue how to make this work. All the advice in the world didn’t appear to help. And he’d had about all the four-quiet-walls at home he could take. He could kill some time with the guys on duty today.
At least he could relax tonight. Thursday was his poker night and it was Joe’s turn to host the gathering. Last week’s game had been preempted by his bachelor party.
Inside the firehouse, he took the ribbing in stride. Seaborn had left him with a hell of a shiner—but only because Lisa had distracted him.
He had to admit, though, that kind of behavior wasn’t like him. He didn’t go around picking fights. But he’d be damned if he would apologize to Seaborn, even if he owed the guy one.
He moseyed into maintenance to check on one of the trucks his squad used. It was in for a tune-up today. Bud Patchett, the mechanic who maintained the vehicles, was the best. His motto was simple: Take care of the trucks and they take care of you.
“Hey, Bud, how’s she doing?”
The mechanic looked up from his work and chuckled. “Better than you are, I hear.”
Bud was ten or so years older than Joe, balding, with black eyes and the muscular shoulders and arms that went with his occupation.
Joe rubbed his tender jaw. “I could have taken him.”
“I haven’t got a doubt about that,” Bud said as he turned back to changing the spark plugs. “It’s taking care of your new missus that worries me.”
Damn. Nothing stayed private around the station. “That so?”
“I just got one piece of advice for you, Cappie,” the friendly mechanic went on. “Treat your lady the way she likes, and life will be a lot easier.”
Joe thanked him and went off in search of another, less personal distraction. Unfortunately, Bud’s sage advice had come a little late. Joe had already learned that lesson the hard way.
He had himself a plan in place. In fact, he’d already started. Hell, he’d cooked every meal they hadn’t ordered out. He’d learned to operate the dishwasher and do laundry. What else did she want? Well, he knew there was more, and he was working on that. But tonight…well, tonight was his. He’d given up a lot for this marriage. One night, three measly hours, each week wouldn’t hurt.
He would have reminded Lisa of the weekly ritual this morning had she been speaking to him. But she hadn’t been. Not speaking, not having sex, nothing.
Lisa had always worked long hours at the clinic back when they dated. After several days off, she’d probably be working late tonight anyway. And if she did come home, she could just read in their room.
Poker night was sacred.
LISA FINISHED UP with her last patient about seven. She hadn’t meant to stay past five, but there had been a run of emergencies.
By unspoken mutual agreement, she and Greg had not discussed yesterday’s fiasco. She was almost as angry with him as she was with Joe.
And yet, she’d lain in bed last night and had to fight the nearly overwhelming urge to march into the living room, where Joe slept on the couch, rip off his clothes and join his hard body to hers.
Living under the same roof with him and not having sex was driving her crazy. Maybe she was wrong to banish that part of their relationship.
Joe might never be in love with her. Lust just might have to be enough. This marriage might be as real as it would ever be.
But, God, she wanted more.
Was she being selfish? Was she subconsciously torturing Joe in the one way she knew would get to him more than anything else?
Maybe.
Disgusted with herself, she closed up the clinic for the night. Greg had already called it a day. He hadn’t wanted to. He’d wanted to stay until she finished, but she had ordered him to go.
Reluctantly he’d obeyed.
She had to find him a girlfriend.
If she did, maybe then Joe wouldn’t be so tense about Greg and her working together, which was, in her opinion, the absolutely stupidest thing she’d ever heard. Her fingers stilled on the light switch. Was it? Would she be so quick to forgive if the tables were turned? What if Shannon had been in love with Joe for ages and had asked him to marry her? And this pregnancy had been all that had prevented Joe from doing just that? Would Lisa be able to accept their working relationship as nothing to worry about?
She had to laugh. Shannon and Joe would kill each other before they would succumb to any sort of attraction. They respected each other professionally and were friends. Or at least they had been until the breakup between Joe and Lisa. Their personal relationship had been a bit strained since then. Shannon was too pushy for Joe’s liking. Joe preferred to be in charge. He liked playing the big bad protector. And Shannon already had that part covered herself. Besides, Shannon had found the love of her life, and John Forester was happy to let her be the woman she was.
Maybe all Lisa needed to do was let Joe be the man he was.
The man she’d fallen in love with before there was even a pregnancy to consider. Joe was so strong…so handsome…so utterly male.
The full clarity of what she’d done hit her then. She had been punishing him. She loved him, there was no doubt. Loved him just as he was. But the part of her that needed assurances wanted him to commit to her the way she had in her heart to him. Was he even capable of that level of commitment? Not just Joe, but men like him? Those who were brave enough to head into raging fires to save lives?
Would she have fallen in love with him had he been more the way she wanted him now? She’d certainly never fallen for Greg, who epitomized all those virtues. Wasn’t it the dangerous air about Joe that had attracted her? The edgy, physical male?
She’d be lying if she didn’t admit that was true. She was the one being unfair. Joe was exactly the man she had fallen in love with, but she had let him walk away from their relationship—had pushed him, actually—because he wouldn’t change. Why was it women always fell for men and then tried to change them?
She knew Joe. Whether or not he ever told her he loved her, he would always be faithful to her. And a good provider. Why did her expectations of who he should be override the man he was?
“Good Lord, Lisa, you’ve been an evil bitch,” she admitted aloud. She wasn’t going to mold Joe to suit her idea of what a husband should be like. Joe’s personality was far too strong for that. She would only make him bitter and unhappy.
She’d been wrong. She could see that now.
Though apologizing was out of the question, Lisa could mend her ways, alter her course. A plan started to form. Oh, yes. She could get things back on the right path. It would be simple. All it took was a little compromise.
Why hadn’t she realized this sooner?
Shell shock, that’s why. She’d suffered a near-death experience, then found out she was pregnant by the man who’d broken up with her weeks before. Then the whirlwind marriage. No wonder she’d been making Joe’s life a living hell. She’d been grappling for her own emotional purchase.
Things would be different from now on.
She would carefully redirect the course of their fledgling relationship. It was almost too easy. She couldn’t expect Joe to be the only one who compromised. As important as her need to bond on other levels, he needed the physica
l connection. Give-and-take, that was the answer.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE she let you host poker night,” Bull said as he perused his hand. “Hit me again,” he said to Spike, who was dealing this round.
“Hey, this is my night,” Joe said with complete confidence.
“I figured after yesterday, you’d be in the doghouse for at least a month,” Bull remarked.
Joe tapped the tip of his cigar on the ashtray. “I don’t have a doghouse.” He grinned and hitched his thumb toward the kitchen. “Anybody ready to chow down? I’ve got hot wings, ribs, the works in there. Picked ’em up at Larry’s right before you guys got here.”
Rumbles of “later” rose from the table. Bull, Spike and Gary, better known as Chug, were studying their hands, planning their strategy. No one wanted to think about food right now. Equal amounts of red, white and blue chips were stacked in front of each player. But that wouldn’t last long. Joe intended to win every round tonight. He could feel Lady Luck sitting on his shoulder at that very moment.
This was his night.
Chug took a long draw from his cigar and blew out a puff of smoke. “Lemme have two.”
Spike threw down two new cards and shuffled the two Chug had tossed aside back into the deck.
“So,” Chug asked then, “what’s it like?”
The whole table fell quiet, and all gazes shifted to Joe. He wanted to reach across the table and shake the guy. They weren’t supposed to be talking about the M word. This was poker night. Women and relationships and all that jazz were forbidden.
“He doesn’t want to talk about it,” Spike said with a smirk. “Can’t you tell it’s pure h-e-l-l? I’ve never seen the guy so off-kilter.”
Joe scowled. What the hell did Spike mean by off-kilter? “It’s great,” he snapped. “Everything’s great. I just had to show her where I draw the line, that’s all.”
He couldn’t miss their smirks, and Joe shot each of his pals a dirty look. “What? You don’t believe me?”
“Damn, man,” Bull said with a laugh. “She had you so off balance that you let Seaborn put you down.” He leaned forward with a knowing expression. “Now, that’s off-kilter.”
