The rescue team members had been supportive for the most part. Hollywood, Gabe, and Colin had let her know in no uncertain terms they’d walk if she were fired. Of course she couldn’t let them do it. These men and women were the elite, and the people of Seattle needed them, whether they acknowledged it or not.
On the other hand, every alternative lifestyle association in the city, and many around the country, had issued press releases expressing their outrage that she and Will were being persecuted for their very legal and private choices. They urged the fire service leadership to consider their actions very carefully or risk a similar fate, the implication being that several were also known members of sex clubs. Dani’s mind reeled. All of this caused by a few revealing photos. Was the world really so prude? Why had sex become this dirty thing that people did in the dark behind closed doors?
After what seemed like hours, Captain Starling placed the receiver back in the holder. He clasped his hands on the blotter in front of him. “A consensus has been reached.”
“Sir?” she asked when he didn’t continue.
“There are a few things I want to say before I inform you of the decision. You’re a first-rate firefighter. You excel at every task you’re given. The other members of the rescue team have nothing but praise and respect for you, especially the lieutenants. Twenty out of twenty-three threatened to walk if you were let go.”
“So many? I didn’t know.”
“I also got an earful from Lieutenant Parks and all the canine SAR teams. Even the U-SAR director called and weighed in.”
Dani swallowed. “I’ll have to thank them.”
He sat back in his seat. “I’ve got good news, not-so-good news, and bad news.”
She dried her palms on her trousers and crossed her arms. “Okay, let’s hear it.”
“First, you’re not fired.”
Sagging with relief, she leaned against the chair back. She’d offered to quit for Will, almost had, except Jamie had never filed her resignation letter, bless him. Firefighting was too important to give it up if there was another solution. “And the not-so-good news?”
“You’re suspended for two months without pay.”
“Two months?” she gasped.
“Think of it as a long leave of absence.”
All things considered, it was much better than being fired. She had some savings. If she scrimped, she could still pay her mother’s mortgage. “And the bad news?” She gripped the arms of her chair, wondering what could possibly be worse.
“I’ve looked at your personnel file, your five-year plan. This is unofficial of course, but I wouldn’t count on any advancement opportunities. As long as the current chiefs are in office, any application they see from you will be turned down.”
“How do you know this?” She tugged at a loose thread from the seat of her chair. Captain Starling was letting her down gently, but it still freaking hurt to be treated this way. She’d almost given her life for the department.
“They had voted to fire you.”
Her head snapped up. “Then how did I end up with a suspension?”
“They changed their minds at the last minute.”
“Why?”
“Probably because of all the support you’ve gotten around here. Including from me.”
Dani stood and held out her hand. “Captain, thank you so much. It’s truly an honor to work for you.”
“The honor is mine, Firefighter Harris,” he said, shaking her hand. “Now go home and give that man of yours the good news.”
“Copy that, sir!”
She left the captain’s office and went directly to the Beanery to break the news to her platoon. Jamie was pissed about the suspension but acknowledged that the fallout could have been worse. “Don’t go getting soft while you’re off on vacation, K9.”
“I promise not to eat too many bonbons, LJ,” she said, with an exaggerated toss of her head.
He grinned. “Smartass.”
“Always.”
“Don’t ever change, Dani,” he said, pulling her into a hug.
She squeezed him tight and kissed his cheek. “Thanks, Jamie. For everything.”
“I hope my brother knows how lucky he is to have you.”
Her laugh sounded brittle even to her own ears. She’d single-handedly almost ruined the man’s life. Yeah, he was so lucky.
Dani slipped inside the quiet condo. Coco trotted along behind her. Will should still be at work, but just in case, she checked all the rooms to be certain she was alone. She quickly changed out of her house uniform and into a pair of worn jeans and a T-shirt. After preparing dinner, she’d put on a slinky dress and heels. By the time Will got home, she’d have everything ready for a celebration. He deserved to be pampered after everything she’d put him through. But it was finally over.
While the pork cooked and the potatoes boiled, she zipped around the condo tidying up. Well, actually, the only things lying around were hers. Poor Will. He put up with so much.
There was a knock at the door.
After peeking through the hole and seeing Mrs. Norris’ face, she opened the door.
The woman’s smile fell immediately. “Oh, it’s you.” She held a plate covered in aluminum. No doubt a get-well-soon plate of cookies or brownies for Will. Like he was sick or temporarily insane.
“Um… yes. Were you looking for Will?”
She snarled and muttered under her breath, “You’d think she’d at least know the name of the man she ruined.”
Dani recoiled at the venom in the woman’s tone. “Of course I know William’s name. He isn’t home right now.”
“Then why are you here?”
“I live here.”
“Is that right? The condo board never received an application.”
“Application? For what?”
“Any guests,” she said, all but spitting out the word, “residing longer than four weeks need to be approved by the condo board via formal application.”
“I’m sure it was just an oversight.” Or was it? Her arrangement with Will ended today. Did he expect her to leave? She’d assumed after everything they’d said to each other that he’d want her to stay… shit.
“We’ll see.” Mrs. Norris arched a brow and smiled oh-so-sweetly. Every nerve in Dani’s body went on alert. “By the way, have you seen the news today?”
“No. I just got in.” Dani forced herself not to slam the door in the woman’s face.
“You might do so.” The woman turned to leave.
Dani cleared her throat. “Don’t you want to leave that for William?” She pointed to the plate.
“I’ll come back later when he’s home and deliver my treat to him personally.” She sneered and walked to her door.
What the hell? Did the woman think Dani would pretend to have baked them herself? When the woman disappeared into her own condo, Dani shut the door. “Nosy old bat,” she muttered as she turned on the television.
Plastered across the screen was Will’s photo, identifying him as the prime suspect in the CFF arson case. Legs shaking, she fell onto the couch. Coco barked, a sharp, worried yip, and jumped up beside her.
“Oh God. No!” Those bastards hadn’t been able to give her more than a two-month suspension, so they’d gone after Will. How could they think he’d done this? And why hadn’t anyone told her? Did Jamie know? Captain Starling? The announcement must have just been made. Otherwise, Jamie would have been up in arms. She didn’t care if the chiefs dragged her through the mud, but to do this to Will? To his family? His company? That was going too far.
Maybe if she moved out, that would take the heat off Will. The decision made, she ran to her bedroom and pulled her suitcases out of the closet. She opened them on the bed she’d rarely slept in and began emptying the drawers. When she’d filled one suitcase, she started on the second one. She had to be out of the condo before Will arrived home. Leaving was difficult enough without having him watch her. He’d try to stop her, but this was for his own g
ood.
From the living room, she dimly heard Coco bark. Dani hurried into the bathroom and stuffed her cosmetics and toiletries into a bag. Then she whipped her delicates off the shower rod where she’d hung them to dry. Tears pricked the back of her eyes as she recalled Will’s teasing her about the hard-ons her laundry gave him. Her resolve slipped a notch.
No. This was for the best. Why should he have to put up with all her shit? He didn’t even have the excuse that he loved her. Oh, he liked her well enough, but each time she’d told him she loved him, he’d just kissed her. She ran out of the bathroom and smack into a hard chest covered in Will’s favorite summer suit, an Armani classic. “You’re home early,” she gasped.
He frowned at the items in her hands, then turned and glanced inside her room. His face darkened when he spotted the suitcases on her bed. “Going somewhere?”
She scooted past him and dropped her things into the second case. He followed, but she ignored him. If she even looked at him, she’d cave. His blue eyes would draw her in. He’d make her believe they could survive anything, but how could they survive this? Reaching into the closet, she pulled out a stack of dresses, pants, and shirts. She packed everything up, hangers and all.
Go. Get out now. While you still can.
She zipped up the case. “I’ll send someone for the rest of my things.” Grabbing the handles, she slid her luggage off the bed.
Will gripped her shoulders. “Dani, talk to me.”
“I—I can’t.” Her heart was breaking. She wasn’t going to survive this. Thank God she had two months to recover before she had to go back to work.
He shook her lightly. “At least tell me where you’re going.”
“Home.” She could give him that much.
“Sweetheart,” he said, caressing her jaw. “This is your home.”
She wet her lips and avoided his gaze. “Our agreement is over.”
“So? We moved past it weeks ago.”
Be strong. You’re doing this for him.
“Did we?” She jutted out her chin and met his gaze.
“Yeah.” He pulled her down to the bed. “What’s going on?”
“I think it’s best if I leave.”
Will’s expression changed then, going from concern for her to frustration. Leaning his elbows on his knees, he covered his face and rubbed the stubble on his cheeks. “You heard.”
“Courtesy of your lovely neighbor.”
He groaned. “Christ. I went to the station to tell you, but Jamie said you’d gone home.” Turning, he arched a brow. “Why are you home?”
“I’ve been suspended. Two months.”
“Oh jeez, babe. I’m sorry.”
“Hey, it’s better than being fired.”
He nodded. “I just wish I could have protected you better.”
Had the man lost his mind? “Will, why aren’t you punching walls, kicking down doors? Why aren’t you pissed?”
“Honestly, right now, all I can think about is how miserable I’ll be if you walk out that door.”
“Don’t you get it?” She shoved his shoulder and stood with her hands on her hips. “What a fucking train wreck. The chiefs are using you to punish me since their hands were tied.”
“Calm down, honey. There’s a lot about this you don’t know.” He tugged her back down to the bed. For a moment, he simply looked at her, his gaze caressing her face. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “Torval had a heavy gambling problem. For years he’d been skimming from the company. The previous CFO either never saw it or ignored it. As best the cops can piece it together, Torval had gotten in over his head with one of the gangs in the Asian International District. Bringing the union in to CFF was just so he’d have another pot to plunder. My audit team found he’d been skimming from the union dues as well.”
“Did he set the fire?”
“Actually, the arson team thinks the gang did that as a warning. Of course, they might have done it for him. It certainly took the spotlight off the union negotiations and put it right on me.”
“So, it was just a way to put more pressure on you?”
“What Torval didn’t count on was me locking down all the accounts. I guess he figured I’d get fired or arrested before I could do that.” He raked his fingers through his hair and exhaled a long breath. “So many people could have died in that fire.”
She rubbed the stiff muscles of his back, trying to soothe him. “But no one did. Though that doesn’t explain why you’re now the prime suspect in the arson. It’s pretty obvious it was Torval or that gang.”
“That was my doing.” He ducked his head, but not before she saw the grim determination in his clenched jaw.
“I’m not going to like this, am I?”
“I agreed to help the investigators if the fire service didn’t fire you.”
Will had been the cause of the chiefs’ change of heart? “Help them how?”
“By taking the heat off the gang. They’ll think they’re off the hook and make a mistake. The cops have been after these guys for years, and this is their first real chance to take them down.”
“No.” Every blood cell drained into her lower extremities. Her entire body had dropped ten degrees as though she’d fallen into a frozen lake without her wetsuit. “It’s too dangerous. If these guys are even half as bad as they sound, what’s to keep them from coming after you?” She clapped a hand to her mouth. “Oh God! They could kill you too.”
“I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. The cops promised it wouldn’t be for more than a couple days, a week max.”
“I can’t believe you did this to save my job. I should have stayed away from you. I knew better. I knew I’d ruin your life.” Fear for him had her shaking.
He wrapped his arms around her. “Shh. Nothing’s going to happen to me. And you did not ruin my life. If anything, you’ve saved it.”
She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. “You don’t feel feverish…”
Smiling, he took her hand and kissed it. “Seriously. The direction I was headed might have been good for me professionally, but it would have killed my soul.”
Dani pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. When she’d gotten a handle on it, she smiled at Will through her blurred vision. “From what I’ve seen, Ms. Bigsby is a good woman. She’d have been able to give you so much more than I can.”
Arching his brow, he said, “Can you beat fifty years of vanilla sex and a blow job on my birthday?”
He grinned, and an answering smile spread across her own face, tugging away her frown, releasing the tension in her shoulders. “You are so full of it. How do you know she’d have been like that?”
“I don’t. But I sure as shit know she wouldn’t give me what you do. That photo in the paper of her looking so shocked? That was taken right after I tested her with a stream of dirty talk.”
Dani laughed. “It didn’t go down too well, I guess.” She took a deep breath. Her nerves were strung so tight, she didn’t know whether to laugh hysterically or cry like a baby.
“Not at all. But the expression on her face was priceless. The tongue lashing not so much.”
Like two idiots, they stared into each other’s eyes, smiling. Her heart about to burst, Dani touched his cheek. His afternoon beard rasped against her fingers. “I love you, Will. More than I’d ever thought possible.”
“Enough to marry me?”
“What?” she sputtered. Had she heard him right?
He slid off the bed onto one knee and brought her hands to his lips. After pressing a warm kiss to her knuckles, he smiled. His eyes blazed like blue fire. “Danielle Harris, would you do me the unparalleled honor of becoming my wife? You’ll have to deal with my crazy family, but I’ll do my best to make it up to you each and every day.”
She swiped at the tears spilling from her eyes. “You twit. I love your family.”
His smile flickered and faded. He frowned. “I hear a ‘but’ coming.”
Oh God. Was she
really going to turn him down? This was what she wanted deep in her heart. “You’re the answer to all my dreams, but I don’t think I’m the answer to yours.”
Will sighed and dropped her hands. He climbed back onto the bed and cupped her face. “Dani, you’re every dream I never knew I had. I want to be with you all the time. I can’t wait until the end of the day to come home and see your smile. I love falling asleep with you and waking up with you in my arms. I love making love to you, and I love when you kick my ass with your ninja moves. Hell, I even love getting tongue baths from your hairy beast.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “But do you love me?”
He gaped, his eyes round with surprise. “Isn’t that what I was just saying?”
Dani’s chest expanded as a chorus of hallelujahs rang in her head. She’d loosened him up in some ways, but they still had a lot of work to do in the emotions department. She smiled through her tears. “Not quite, but we’ve got—what did you say?—fifty years to work on it?”
Will gave a loud whoop and crushed her against him. “I’m revising that clause in our new agreement. I want sixty years. No, seventy.” He pressed his cheek against hers. “I want to grow old with you, Dani.”
“I want that too.” The knot in her belly started to unwind and she clasped her hands behind his neck. “I want to be your wife.”
“Even if you have to leave the rescue team?”
She nodded. “I hope it won’t come to that, but if it does, well, you’re worth it, William Caldwell.”
Staring into her eyes, he smiled. “I love you, Dani.”
Her stomach flipped and her heart raced. They were really doing this. She felt like she was at the top of a roller coaster, waiting for it to start down the long drop. Life with Will was going to be one hell of a ride, and she couldn’t wait to get it started.
She flipped him onto his back, pinning him under her. “I—” She broke off when he reversed their positions. Her Will was a quick study. He’d keep her on her toes, that was for sure. She arched her neck off the bed and pressed her lips to his in a warm, wet open-mouthed kiss. “I love you too, Will.”
They were both panting when they broke apart. But there was something they hadn’t discussed. She pushed against his chest and Will rolled to the side. With a hand, she brushed the hair off her face and sat up. “We never talked about kids. About having a family.”
Everything Bared (Six-Alarm Sexy) Page 29
