Controlled Burn

by Shannon Stacey

  A knock startled her and she looked over to see Rick standing in her open doorway. He leaned against the jamb and crossed his arms, giving her a crooked grin. “Working hard?”

  The fact he was filling her bedroom doorway while she was flat on her back on her bed threatened to put all kinds of ideas in her head, but she just smiled. “It’s a strategic brainstorming session.”

  That made him chuckle. “Sure it is. Marie sent me up here to change the lightbulb in your bathroom, as long as it won’t disturb you.”

  “Oh, I changed it earlier. I found some bulbs in the pantry and grabbed one.” She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. “While you’re here, can I ask you a question?”

  He raised his eyebrow. “You can ask.”

  “There was an accident on the news. The guy who overdosed while driving with his girlfriend and her kids. Joe said you responded to that.” He nodded, his expression shifting slightly. “How do you even do that job? I mean, how do you just forget that and move on?”

  “We never forget. Ever.” He shifted his weight against the doorjamb. “But we save a lot more than we lose and somebody has to do it. If we start dwelling on the times we fail, we might hesitate and we can’t do that.”

  “Sorry. I guess that was a personal question. It’s just that it was only a few hours later Marie and I were at the station and you introduced me to everybody and...I don’t know. There was food and Christmas decorations.”

  “It was a rough morning, but we had to get through the shift, you know? Every guy handles the hard days differently, but that’s for later, at home.”

  “How do you handle the hard days?” Way to follow up a personal question with an even more personal question, she thought, wishing she could take the question back.

  But Rick gave her a slow, sexy smile that made her sock-covered toes curl into the carpet. “There are a lot of ways to cope with stress.”

  “I... Oh.” It was so tempting to say something provocative and get him to cross the few feet between the door and the bed, but her grandparents were downstairs.

  Then he chuckled again, and she hoped it wasn’t because he could read her thoughts on her face. “I went to the gym, actually, and beat the shit out of the heavy bag for a while.”

  “That sounds very satisfying.” Not as satisfying as where her mind had taken her, but hitting the heavy bag sounded like a good way to vent. “What are Joe and Marie up to?”

  “Marie’s putting together her grocery shopping list for tomorrow and going through her coupons, so that means Joe’s probably hiding in the garage. I told him I’d give him a hand changing the belt on the snowblower.”

  Jessica grabbed her phone and stood up. “I’ll go hang out with Marie, then. Keep her company, at least.”

  “You still planning to go to the pub with me tonight? Maybe learn how to play some pool? And they have pretty good burgers, too.”

  “That sounds fun. It’d be nice to get out for a little while.”

  “Good. I’m pretty sure Marie has beef stew in the slow cooker, so if you’re not there for supper it just means more leftovers for Joe tomorrow.”

  “I’ll let her know I’m going out.” Assuming the conversation was over, she started toward the door.

  Rick didn’t move right away, though, and Jessica had to stop short to keep from plowing into him. He looked at her for what felt like a long time, his expression frustratingly unreadable, before standing aside and waving for her to go first.

  She walked down the hallway, hoping he wasn’t watching her ass. Or maybe hoping he was. She wasn’t sure.

  * * *

  Rick had brought quite a few women into Tommy’s bar with him over the years, so he couldn’t explain the low-level anxiety he felt as he opened the door to Kincaid’s Pub and gestured for Jess to go in.

  She was definitely a white-collar woman and Kincaid’s was a blue-collar kind of bar, but he wanted her to like it. And he wanted her to like the guys, too, though he wasn’t really sure why that mattered so much. He already knew that, no matter what, the guys would be nice to her and make her feel welcome.

  Lydia was behind the bar, so he made that their first stop. “Hey, Lydia, this is Joe and Marie’s granddaughter, Jessica.”

  “Hey, I heard you were in town.” Lydia reached across the bar to shake her hand. “It’s good to meet you. It’s too bad my dad’s not here. He and Fitzy had a wake to go to.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Jessica said.

  “Thanks. Though, to be honest, I’m not even sure how well they knew the guy. I think they just go to see if any old flames are back on the market.”

  “Jesus, Lydia.” Rick groaned. “I don’t even want to go there.”

  “At the rate you’re going, you’ll be widow-hunting with them before you know it.” Lydia threw him a saucy wink and then looked back at Jessica. “Maybe scaring him with horrific glimpses into his future will get him to settle down.”

  Rick gave Lydia a quelling look. The problem with all of them being like a family was that, like with real family, they didn’t always know when to shut their mouths. “Funny. We’re going out back. Jess, you want a beer? Or...what else is there besides beer? Soda. Coffee. Water. Juice?”

  “Hey, let me do my job,” Lydia said. “I’m better at it than you.”

  Jess said she’d have whatever Rick was drinking so once they each had a chilled mug of beer, he led the way through the mostly empty tables to the alcove where the pool table sat.

  Only three guys had shown up—Aidan, Scott and Gavin—and she remembered their names, but he introduced her again just to be polite. “You all remember Jessica, the Broussards’ granddaughter? She stopped by the station yesterday with Marie.”

  “Glad you came,” Scott said, shaking her hand. “You want to play? You can take over for me if you want.”

  Rick watched Jess smile at Scott and give a little shake of her head. “I think I’ll watch for a while. Maybe I’ll figure it out.”

  “Okay, but don’t watch Gavin over there. He sucks.”

  “Noted.”

  Rick pulled out a chair at one of the small round tables against the wall and gestured for her to sit. Then he sat across from her and set his beer down as he rocked the chair back onto two legs out of habit. For some reason most of them did it and Tommy had learned years ago not to buy flimsy chairs.

  “You don’t have to sit here with me, you know,” Jess said. “You can play pool with your friends and I’ll watch.”

  “I can see them from here and I’d rather sit with you. You’re prettier than they are.”

  “I don’t know. Gavin’s kind of pretty,” Aidan said from his spot by the rack of cues. “But you’re right. Jessica is prettier.”

  “Screw you, Hunt.” Gavin blushed and looked over Jessica. “Excuse the language, ma’am.”

  “Ouch,” Jessica muttered. “Ma’am? Really?”

  “He can’t help it,” Scott said. “He calls every woman ma’am. He even called the cashier at the gas station ma’am earlier and I’d be surprised if she was seventeen years old.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with manners,” Jessica said, smiling at Gavin.

  Rick watched the conversation as it went on, enjoying the way she interacted with the guys. They genuinely seemed to like her, and she looked as though she was having a good time.

  When she was about halfway through her beer, she excused herself to go to the restroom and Rick couldn’t stop himself from watching her walk away. The jeans, which he was pretty sure were new since she’d arrived in Boston, made her ass look amazing. Or maybe her ass made the jeans look amazing. Either way, they were a combination he couldn’t look away from.

  “I like her,” Scotty said once she was out of earshot.

  “Me, too,” Aidan added
.

  “I swear you two are like twins. And you don’t even know her.”

  Scotty shrugged. “It’s a vibe. My gut says I like her.”

  “As long as that’s the only part of you that likes her.”

  All three men looked at him, and Aidan gave a low whistle. “I guess we don’t have to ask if you like her.”

  “I wouldn’t have brought her here to hang out if I didn’t like her, dumb-ass.”

  “I don’t know. You keep talking about out how she’s Joe and Marie’s granddaughter. Like really making a point of it, so it sounds like you’re stressing that you’re hanging out with your landlords’ granddaughter. Maybe you should just introduce her as Jessica, who’s with you.”

  “You all know Joe and Marie, so it makes sense to let you know she’s their granddaughter.”

  Scotty chalked the end of his pool stick. “Yeah, and you did that yesterday. And now you did again. You reminding us or yourself?”

  “What the hell is wrong with you guys? No more afternoon talk shows for you three.”

  They went back to their game, and Rick sipped his beer, waiting for Jess to come back. Then he replayed his introductions over in his head—yesterday’s and tonight’s—and had to admit they might have a point. And if they did, then Scott’s question was also valid.

  Why did he feel such a strong, subliminal need to keep that distance between them? And was he protecting her, them or himself?

  * * *

  On her way back from the restroom, Jessica had to pass by the bar, so when Lydia waved, it seemed only polite to stop and chat for a minute.

  “How’s the pool playing going?” the other woman asked.

  “Good, I guess. I think Scott’s winning, though I’m not sure.”

  “I’m not sure how, but my brother usually wins. I think he talks so much nobody else can concentrate.”

  Jessica laughed. “Possibly. Who is that a picture of on the wall? It looks signed and...is it really screwed right to the wall?”

  “I was going to give you hell, but I guess you get a pass since you’re from California. That’s Bobby Orr, one of the greatest Bruins to ever play hockey. One of the greatest of anybody to play hockey.”

  “I’ll remember that. I’m going to the charity hockey game with them tomorrow, and it’ll be the first time I’ve ever seen a game.”

  “With them? Oh, you mean Joe and Marie?”

  “Yeah, and Rick, too. I guess we’ll all go together.”

  “It’ll be fun. I’ll probably see you there, since everybody from the station sits together and the Broussards sit with Rick, so you will, too.”

  Of course, since she was their granddaughter and nobody could possibly miss that fact.

  It was hard not to notice how carefully he introduced her as Joe and Marie’s granddaughter every single time. Not as his friend. Not as a friend of the family. Certainly not as his date. He was keeping her at a distance, as if he was just doing his landlords a favor by showing her the town.

  “We should go out sometime,” Lydia said. “Like a girls’ night out. I like to do that every once in a while since it feels like every night is a boy’s night out at the bar.”

  “That would be fun. I don’t have much free time before I go back to California, but maybe the next time I come back.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “I should get back there and see how it’s going,” Jessica said.

  “Make them show you how to play,” Lydia said. “Oh, and do me a favor and let them know I’m not walking all the way back there to take their orders. If anybody’s hungry, they can come order at the bar.”

  When Jessica walked into the back room, she saw that Rick had abandoned the table and was leaning against the wall talking to Gavin. He smiled when he saw her and nodded his head for her to join them.

  “You ready for a lesson?”

  “I guess so. And Lydia said if anybody’s hungry, go to the bar because she’s not coming back here.”

  “I’ll take everybody’s orders up,” Aidan said, and then he shrugged when they all looked at him. “Hey, I never pass up an excuse to talk to my future wife.”

  Jessica enjoyed the good-natured ribbing the guys gave him, though she wondered how it was that Scott and Aidan appeared to be the best of friends and she knew they worked together, but Aidan was marrying Scott’s sister. She thought there was some kind of man code about dating your best friend’s sister.

  Showed how much she knew about men.

  After they’d given Aidan a list of how they wanted their burgers, he disappeared and Rick handed Jess a pool stick. “I’m guessing you’ve figured out the basic rules by now.”

  “Use the stick to knock the white ball into the other balls to make them go in the nets around the table.”

  “Close enough.”

  Usually Jessica didn’t like learning new skills with an audience. She felt awkward and she didn’t like the pressure. But these guys were fun and she’d spent enough time with them tonight to know they’d definitely laugh, but they’d be laughing with her and not at her.

  She tried to put her hand like she’d seen Scott do and set the stick across her knuckles. Then she jabbed it and it caught on the green table, not even hitting the white ball.

  “Jesus,” Rick said, “if you rip the felt, Tommy will put my balls on display in a pickle jar on the bar.”

  Jessica snorted. “God forbid. I’ll do my best not to wreck the table, then, although I blame you since you’re supposed to be teaching me how to do this.”

  “Tommy wouldn’t waste a pickle jar on your balls, old man,” Scott said. “Probably just use a shot glass.”

  Jessica laughed—she couldn’t help it—but then squealed when Rick wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her close.

  “Think that’s funny, do you?”

  She playfully jabbed at his stomach with her elbow. “A little bit, yeah.”

  “Since I prefer my balls where they are, let me show you how to hold the cue before you get us both in trouble.”

  Jessica was pretty sure the way he leaned over the table with her, molding his body against hers was what would get them both in trouble. He was tall enough so her ass wasn’t actually nestled against his crotch, but she knew there wasn’t much space between them. And his chest was pressed against her back as he took her left hand in his and stretched their arms out on the table. After showing her how to hold her fingers, he closed his right hand over hers and they went over how to hold and move the cue.

  She wasn’t going to remember a single word he said. All of her focus was on the way his body covered hers and the feel of his hands on hers and his breath on her cheek.

  “I need to hit the head,” she heard Gavin say.

  “We need refills,” Scott said. “I’ll go now so you can help carry them back.”

  Jessica gave a laugh that sounded breathy and full of anxiety. “Was that their subtle way of leaving us alone?”

  “Incredibly subtle,” Rick said before he pressed a kiss to her neck that made her entire body shiver. “This was not one of my better plans for not kissing a woman.”

  “And yet neither of us have moved.”

  When he stood up straight, she regretted saying the words. Even if it was a dumb idea, she liked the feel of his body so close to hers. But when she laid the pool cue across the felt and straightened up, he put his hand on her elbow and turned her to face him.

  “It’s still a bad idea,” he said, his voice low.

  “I agree.” She stepped into the curve of his arm. “So after you kiss me, we should make another agreement about how we won’t do it again.”

  That seemed to be all the urging he needed. His mouth closed over hers so swiftly she gasped against his lips. It was hot and urgent and she sto
od on her toes, arching her back to get more of him.

  His hands were at her hips, holding her against his body, and she wrapped her arms around his neck so he couldn’t pull away. He nipped at her bottom lip and she moaned, wishing they were alone—really alone—and that maybe this time they wouldn’t stop.

  “The burgers will be—oh. Sorry.”

  They broke apart to see Aidan standing on the other side of the pool table, his body language making it clear he wasn’t sure if he should stay or go back out to the bar.

  Jessica stepped back, feeling a hot flush over her face. “Rick’s showing me how to play pool.”

  She had to respect Aidan for holding the straight face as long as he did, for about fifteen seconds before he laughed. “I was going to tell Gavin he should ask Rick for some pointers on how to beat Scotty, but he might want to watch some YouTube videos instead.”

  Before either of them could respond, Scott and Gavin came around the corner, each carrying a tray of beer mugs.

  “You better tip me,” Scott said when he’d managed to set the tray on one of the tables without spilling the beer.

  “Rick can handle that,” Aidan said. “He gives good tips.”

  Jessica blushed again, but Rick only laughed. “Here’s a tip. Don’t eat the yellow snow.”

  As the other guys each claimed a fresh beer, Rick stepped close to Jessica and leaned close so only she could hear him. “Is this where we agree not to do this again?”

  Sadly, she nodded. “That’s what we said.”

  “Remind me next time not to agree to that in advance.” He winked at her and then joined the others. “Come get your beer before one of these guys chugs it, Jess. You’ll want it when the burgers come out.”