Bad Boy's Kiss (Firemen in Love Book 2)

by Amy Starling

  “Back in your cage, Max. And not a word out of you unless you're spoken to.”

  It was torture, sitting in that cramped cell for endless hours with nothing but my depressing thoughts. Felt almost like being stuck in the chair again, only worse.

  “Woman troubles?” Rico called to me.

  “Something like that.” I picked at the nasty bologna sandwich they fed me. “She thinks I'm a criminal. Now she's gonna marry some dude she doesn't even love. What am I supposed to do about that?”

  “Well, it's obvious you gotta stop the wedding, man. Don't let another guy take away the girl you love.”

  “If only it were that easy.”

  He swallowed his sandwich without really chewing. “You need help from the outside. Don't you know anybody you can call?”

  The only people who could reach Anna were her family, and she was basically going along with everything they said. Trey, maybe, but I doubt even he could get through to her. Hell, he probably believed I was guilty too.

  “Who to break up a wedding,” I said to myself. “It'd have to be someone willing to cause a big scene. But what would they get out of it? Why help me?”

  A name came to me suddenly, the name of a man I'd never met yet who I hated with every bit of my soul.

  Rich Steiner, the bastard who got Anna pregnant.

  I'd wanted to kill him when she told me what he did to her. Since I unfortunately couldn't commit murder, I decided I'd do the next best thing: publicly humiliate the jerk while stopping that wedding in its tracks.

  It was a big gamble, but I was almost certain I'd make it work.

  That afternoon, we were allowed to visit the jail's crappy library for a half hour of leisure time. There was one computer in it for all of us to share – or fight over.

  I needed to find out Rich's number. I needed to use that computer.

  But when I got there, another inmate was on it. I stood behind him, tapped my foot and huffed loudly so he'd get the hint. He just turned up his YouTube video and laughed even louder.

  “Yo, keep it down, dick face,” a bigger guy than even me yelled. “I'm tryin' to read over here.”

  The guy on the computer ignored him. I moved closer and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Hey, man. Can I look something up real quick? I'll be only a minute.”

  “Hell no. I got here first.” He turned up the volume again. “Get lost or I'll knock your teeth in.”

  I would have enjoyed swinging at the guy, but knew better. Had to keep my cool and be good. Any misbehavior of mine would just be added to the list of offenses on my record. That was the last thing I needed.

  “Oh man, this is so funny. Look what he did to that cat!”

  The big dude had enough. He slammed his book down and charged at the guy. “I told you to shut up. Do I gotta teach you some manners?”

  He shoved me out of the way, grabbed the little punk by the collar, and practically threw him across the room. Other inmates excitedly surrounded the pair as they tumbled on the floor in a fist fight. I calmly sat down on the computer and typed “Rich Steiner” in a phone number look-up.

  There was his home phone number. There were no pens to write it down with 'cause they thought someone might use them as weapons, but no matter. No way in hell was I ever gonna forget this.

  These ten digits could be the most important ones I'd ever learned.

  Later that evening, I got permission to make a single phone call. Oh, you bet I wanted to call Anna, but I couldn't. I had to make the one call that could get her back for me.

  I dialed Rich's number. Anger toward him rose more and more with every ring of the phone. And then he answered.

  “I dunno, honey. It says 'Waco Police' on the caller ID. Hello? Who is this?”

  “Rich?”

  He paused. “Yes, that's me. How can I help you?”

  In the background, I heard a couple of kids playing and a woman screaming at them. Probably his wife. I bet she had no idea the awful thing he'd done.

  Perfect.

  “So you're the piece of shit who knocked up Anna Southwell.”

  He gasped quietly and said nothing.

  “Sweetie, who is it? What do they want?”

  “Um, it's just a prank call.”

  “Don't you dare hang up.”

  He put his hand over the receiver and then went outside. Air rushed into the phone, making an annoying crackly sound in my ear that pissed me off even more.

  “Okay, who are you and what do you want?”

  “I'm Anna's boyfriend,” I said. Yeah, if only I were so lucky. “She told me everything. How you were dating her for over a year behind your wife's back. Then you got her pregnant and bailed.”

  “Look, man. Yeah, it happened. I admit I made some mistakes. We all do.”

  “This wasn't just a mistake. You purposely cheated on your wife while making Anna believe she was the only woman in your life.”

  He actually started to sob. I didn't feel one iota sorry for him.

  “I know it was wrong, but what was I supposed to do? I'm an attorney working eighty-hour weeks. I come home to a nagging woman who doesn't love me and a couple of kids who don't like me much either. I met Anna when she was a lawyer in New York and hit it off with her. She just made me feel special for once. I needed that.”

  I bristled. Didn't want Anna making any man feel “special” except for me.

  “You should have had the decency to split from your wife first. Instead, you're such a pussy you sneaked around behind her back for over a year. I don't care how hard your job is. There's no excuse.”

  “I realize that. I messed up. That's why I broke things off with Anna. I want to try and make things work with Carolyn.”

  “No, you broke things off because you knocked her up and freaked out. The last thing you needed was a baby to deal with when you already had a family.”

  “Well, of course. If my wife found out, she'd leave me and take me for every penny I have. I'd be on the street.”

  Now, here was where my plan came into play. I just hoped Rich was as easy to manipulate as he seemed.

  “What a shame it would be if someone told Carolyn everything, huh? How would she react if she found out you're having a kid with another woman – who you dumped like a piece of trash after you made her pregnant?”

  “What are you saying? Is Anna... Is she going to tell her?” He cried some more. “Oh, please, don't. I'll do anything she wants. I'll send her a generous check for child support every single month. Just don't tell my wife.”

  “Anna won't do nothing because she's too nice. Me, on the other hand... Well, I ain't so nice.”

  “What do you want? Just tell me.”

  “Listen up, and listen good. There's going to be a wedding tomorrow afternoon. It's for Anna and some other guy who's not me. I want to put a stop to it.”

  He paused. “But I thought you said you were her boyfriend.”

  “Don't you worry about that. Here's what I need you to do: Get yourself a plane ticket and fly to Texas. The wedding's going to be held at the Saint Peter's Catholic Church in Austin at one o'clock. You're going to break it up.”

  “What? How?”

  “Go and confess what you've done in front of Anna's family and all the guests. Make a scene. Do whatever you have to do to keep her from getting married.”

  “Confess? In front of... I can't do that, man. Are you serious? They'll string me up and skin me alive.”

  “That ain't my problem. All I care about is putting a stop to that wedding.” I lowered my voice to a more threatening growl. “If you refuse, your wife's gonna get a very nasty surprise real soon.”

  “Rich, where are you? The kids are getting hungry for that pizza.”

  “Uh, just a minute, honey.” He turned back to me. “Okay, I'll do it. Just don't say a word of this to Carolyn or anyone else. If this gets out, I'll be ruined as a husband and a lawyer.”

  I gave him the details of where to go and when, then
hung up. I'd won the battle, but not the war yet.

  Now, all I could do was wait and see if Rich kept his word.

  Chapter 23 - Anna

  “What do you mean, your shoes don't fit? They were perfectly fine last week!”

  Mom tried again to ram my foot into the satin pump. It clearly wasn't going to work.

  “Ow, stop it.” I pulled away from her. “The doctor said it's not uncommon for feet to swell during pregnancy.”

  Among other things. My belly was getting bigger too, and quick. I was fortunate that my dress still fit, or mom would have gone berserk.

  “That baby hasn't even arrived yet and it's already ruining everything.”

  I frowned. “The baby's a boy, mom. Not an 'it.'”

  She shrugged. “Whatever. I suppose we'll have to borrow Rachael's shoes since she has bigger feet than you.”

  I was sick of wearing Rachael's shoes, though. All my life, I'd been given hers as hand-me-downs. Dad was too cheap to pony up for a pair of my own.

  Mom rattled off a list of things I needed to do, including head to the salon for a cut and dye job, have my nails painted, go for a tan...

  “You're too pale, Anna. And your hair, look how mousy it is! I swear, don't you ever take care of yourself? You'll have to do better if you want to make Henry happy.”

  Henry. Was I really going to marry the guy? I'd known him for less than twenty-four hours, yet dad was adamant that he'd be my husband, come hell or high water.

  We'd had dinner together last night. He took me to some fancy restaurant and paid the whole bill after insisting I order anything I liked from the menu. Clearly he had money; he ordered the most expensive steak without batting an eye.

  It turned out he was ten years older than me, so we didn't have a lot in common. Our hobbies, our views on politics and religion, everything important was alarmingly different. Yet he seemed to think we'd be a good match regardless.

  He was a nice, polite guy, but I felt no attraction to him at all. Not like I felt for Max, who could make me melt inside with a single fiery stare.

  “Stop thinking about him,” I scolded myself.

  But I couldn't forget his phone call from jail. He pleaded with me to believe his innocence, and oh, how much I wanted to. But the evidence, combined with those photos, was hard to just ignore.

  I didn't really believe Max would assault that woman, not knowingly, anyhow. I imagined he got incredibly drunk, perhaps did some hard drugs, and behaved terribly while out of his mind. That didn't excuse what he did, not in the least.

  My phone rang. It was a number I didn't know.

  “Hello?”

  “You can't marry that man. Max is innocent.”

  My heart jumped. “Who is this?”

  “I'm Jayce, one of Max's best friends. I was with him the night of the bachelor party.”

  Oh, Jayce. He'd mentioned that guy many times, and always talked highly of him. If anybody knew what really went on at the party, it should be him.

  “Tell me what happened.”

  “It started out all right. We stuck together, had some drinks. Then these strippers came out on stage. Some of them came up to us, but Max told them to take a hike.”

  “Then why did the photos I have show otherwise?”

  “Photos? I don't know what you've got or how you got it. I'm just telling you what I saw.” He sighed deeply, then continued. “After a few more drinks, Max didn't seem like himself, but we thought he was just buzzed. When I came back from the restroom, he was gone.”

  “Gone?”

  “One of our other friends said they saw a stripper drag him away some place. From what I heard later, there were women practically shoving drinks down his throat. Then one dancer asked for a ride home, and that's the last we saw of him.”

  “So weren't you guys worried when he vanished?”

  “Yeah. We called him over and over, but he never picked up. That's unusual for him.”

  I sank into a chair on the deck to process all of this.

  “What makes you think he's innocent, though? They found his semen on this girl.” I cringed even imagining how it got there.

  “That guy is totally in love with you. Even at the party, he couldn't stop talking about you. He wasn't interested in getting drunk or looking at other girls.”

  “But... Semen!”

  “I know. My theory? That stripper drugged him.”

  Max had said the same thing. I found it quite unbelievable, but if it were true...

  “Okay, let's assume that she did. Why was she covered in bruises? Why claim rape?”

  “I have no idea, but there must be a good reason. Anna, I know Max. He's a jerk sometimes, and he can be really irresponsible. But he'd never do anything like this. He's a good, honorable man at heart.”

  Mom kept making faces at me so I'd get off the phone. The wedding was a few short hours away. Right now, that was the last thing in the world I wanted to do.

  “He's changed because of you,” he continued. “Used to swear he'd never settle down. Now, he's calmer and happier. You've made him a better person. Don't you see that?”

  And he made me better, too. I enjoyed his no-nonsense attitude and his crass sense of humor that always lightened my mood. He taught me to stand up for myself, to not take crap from anyone.

  I wanted to believe in him so badly.

  “So you can't marry this other guy. Max would be devastated.”

  “I really don't have a choice. The wedding is about to go on, first of all, and if I called it off, my dad would stop at nothing to ruin me for it.”

  “If your father is that cruel, do you honestly care what he thinks? Doesn't sound like the sort of person I'd want to impress.”

  I laughed softly. “You know, you and Max are very alike.”

  “That's why we're best friends. But I'm serious, okay? You can't go through with this.”

  Mom stomped her foot. Rachael poked her head out the car window and yelled for me to hurry up.

  “I have to, Jayce, or I'll lose everything.”

  “Maybe, but if you go through with it, you're going to lose Max. Are you willing to give up on him?”

  “I... I don't know. He's in jail for something horrible, and even if he's innocent, I don't know if I can trust him. He hid getting fired from me. Lied when I asked about his job.”

  “He was probably afraid of scaring you away with the truth.”

  Mom screeched. “Anna, if you don't get off that dang phone...”

  “I have to go,” I whispered.

  “Think about what I said. You still have time to change your mind, no matter if you think you don't.”

  Later that day, his words replayed in my head as we drove to the church. I'd never been so conflicted in my life.

  What was it that I wanted, really? Marrying Henry would let me keep the farm and I'd stay in the family's good graces.

  But I didn't want him as desperately as I wanted Max.

  If I ruined this wedding and refused to go through with it, I'd be left with nothing. Then I'd have to wait for Max to get out of jail – and what if he was truly guilty of that awful crime? Then I wouldn't have him, either.

  At the church, everyone was there waiting for us. Mom grumbled and blamed me for making us late in front of the whole wedding party.

  Henry stood with his friends across the room. When he saw me, he smiled and gave a polite nod. I tried to smile back, but I couldn't.

  “Henry has such a big family,” Rachael remarked. “I heard he invited over a hundred people for his side alone. With all the folks dad has coming, there could be, like, a thousand guests here! Aren't you excited?”

  My stomach felt sick. “Yeah. Excited. I just want to get this over with.”

  “You're acting awful ungrateful,” she said. “Do you realize how lucky you are? I mean, I wish someone would ask me to marry him.” With that, she shot a withering glare at Trey.

  The poor guy quickly shuffled off and hid himself in the crow
d. Rachael had sure been treating him like crap these days, but I was far too stressed to worry about what her problem was.

  “There's the lovely bride to be.” Dad came up to me with a grin. “You're going to make this family proud, honey. You and Henry are a great match.”

  “How can you know that when we've only just met?”

  “Oh, Anna. Your father knows what makes a good man. He'll be a fine husband for you, I promise.”

  The music for the wedding suddenly blared through the speakers. That was our cue to get started.

  “But I don't want to marry him. I want Max.”

  Dad scowled. “He's a criminal. Best put him out of your mind and move on with your life.”

  But I couldn't just do that. I wanted him back with me, the way things used to be. Remembering him and all the wonderful moments we shared brought tears to my eyes.

  “I know you're very happy, but don't ruin your makeup for the cameras, dear,” Mom shouted. “It would simply take forever to redo it.”

  Everyone took their places, and the guests hushed. I stood at the back with dad by my side, feeling like I was gonna throw up – and not from the morning sickness this time.

  Funny, I was so mad when dad tried to force me and Max to marry. It took losing him to realize just how happy I actually would have been.

  I prayed he was nothing more than a dopey troublemaker who didn't know how to keep his mouth shut. If he did what they said he did...

  Not that it mattered anymore.

  Just as the music swelled, the heavy church doors swung open and slammed hard into the wall. The noise echoed through the building, and everybody turned to see who'd rudely interrupted us.

  “Am I too late?”

  Oh, crap. I knew that voice, and I hoped I'd never have to hear it again.

  I spun around and confirmed my fears.

  “Rich?” I glared. “What are you doing here?”

  Everybody was staring and whispering. I didn't care what they thought. I was too busy talking myself out of punching him in the face.

  Rich looked terrible, at least, so it was some small comfort. His hair was sticking in all different directions; his face was pale and cheeks covered in stubble. The rings under his eyes said he hadn't been sleeping well lately.