Emily didn’t return his calls and she wouldn’t show for work. If she hadn’t chatted with the receptionist this morning again, he would have gone to her house to make sure something hadn’t happened to her. But the only thing that had happened to her was him.
He might be capable of resolving the situation with Miller, but it wasn’t as much fun without Emily at his side, carrying around her tablet and keeping him on task. Not that he needed it, but…he liked it. Liked having her here, and even at his home the one time he’d talked her into watching Grace.
Levi could keep Club Tahoe running, but without Emily, there was no warmth in the old place. Hell, she’d added warmth to his life.
Was it a mistake to make the club his priority? Shit, his father had done the same thing and it had nearly ruined their lives. What the hell had he been thinking? These last couple of days, he couldn’t even figure out anymore why it was such a big deal to date his ex’s sister. Maybe it would be a problem for some, but he was starting to think he didn’t give a fuck.
Ever since Emily left him in the pool house a few nights ago, he’d felt like he’d lost one of his legs. As though he were limping around in circles. Emily hadn’t been in need of rescuing like most of the women he dated. She’d been there for him. And he’d pushed her away.
Goddammit.
Levi stepped out of his office and locked it for the day. He hadn’t bothered to dress formally all week. Too much effort, and he needed all the strength he could get to put one foot in front of the other. For some reason, he was as low as he had been after the accident. Which was insane, if he thought about it. Other than his brothers, nothing had meant more to him than the firehouse.
For the first time, everything was coming together at Club Tahoe. The finances were in order, with the source of the damage identified and currently facing charges. Levi had hired a new lawyer, as well as a new computer administrator, with a background in coding to make sure the last admin hadn’t set up a back door into the system. And the children’s program was already booked solid. But Levi felt like shit, and it had nothing to do with the stress of keeping the club running.
“I’m off,” he said to the receptionist, who was a guy today. There were two receptionists who worked part-time. A young woman who attended the local college, and a busboy who wanted office experience. The kid even dressed the part in his slacks, white shirt, and tie. He looked better than Levi these days.
He’d have to start wearing the monkey suit again. No matter how shitty his personal life, he couldn’t come to work in jeans and boots much longer if he wanted his employees and guests to take him seriously.
On his way out, he swung by the pro shop.
And found Wes behind the counter scowling.
“What’s wrong with you?” If one more rotten thing happened this week, Levi might break something.
“Nothing,” Wes grumbled, marking off items on a list atop the counter.
Didn’t look like nothing. Wes’s mouth was white around the edges, and he wouldn’t look up. “Everything okay on the course?”
“Fine.”
Levi glanced around. The pro shop seemed in good shape—a few customers milling about. “Then what the hell’s the matter with you?” he said quietly enough so that only Wes could hear.
Wes finally glanced up, but not at Levi. He stared across the room at a couple looking at golf shirts with the club’s logo.
The man was about Levi’s age, and the woman seemed the same—maybe a little younger. Pretty. “You got a problem with the couple over there?”
Wes glared. “No fucking problem. Just want them to get the fuck out.”
Levi held up his hands. “Calm down. If this is how you treat our customers, we need to have a talk.”
Wes gripped his dark hair, his eyes bright with fury. “Why would she come here?”
Levi looked again. “The girl?”
“Yes, the girl,” his brother hissed.
“Who is she?”
Wes glanced away. “No one.”
Levi shook his head. “Right. Clock off. Now. That’s an order. Is there someone who can take over?”
Wes motioned to one of the employees stocking clothing on a back shelf.
His coworker walked up, and Wes handed over the keys to the store. “Close up and make sure the display is dusted before you leave.”
Levi and Wes made their way out of the pro shop.
“You’re coming to my place,” Levi said. “Nothing like manual labor to get your mind off things.”
Wes was so bent out of shape that he didn’t even argue.
They walked through the parking lot, and Levi asked, “What was that back there, anyway? Never seen you angry at a woman before.”
Wes stared straight ahead. “I dated her in school.”
“High school?”
Wes hesitated. “College.”
Levi stopped in the middle of the parking lot. “This wouldn’t be the same woman who was your girlfriend for two years and dumped you right before your pro career took a nosedive, would it?”
The look Wes shot him told Levi everything he needed to know. He left it alone. After all, he had his own woman issues. No need to burden himself with Wes’s.
“So what’s this manual labor you need?” Wes stopped at his car and looked over the hood to where Levi was parked.
“We’re building an A-frame at the fire pit.”
Wes rolled his eyes. “You ever think to ask before you give orders? I’m not your slave.”
Levi let out a breath. “You got anything better to do? I figured you needed to get out of the shop before you went caveman in there.”
Wes snarled and got in his car.
Before Levi pulled away, he made sure to check that his other brothers were meeting them at the house as well.
What Levi hadn’t told Wes, and what he wouldn’t tell any of them, was that he needed them more than they needed him right now.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Levi hammered nails into the platform that would be the floor of the wood-frame tent, listening to the police scanner.
Wes frowned as he prepped wood to be sawed. “Why do you still listen to that thing?”
“It calms me.” Levi wasn’t the least bit calm, but he had to do something to get his mind off Emily. He’d messed up and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. Listening to calls go out sometimes helped him relax.
He’d measured out, dug, and poured the concrete for the foundation piers yesterday, based on the exact measurements of the canvas that had arrived. The plain old pop-up tent had been fine up until now. Suddenly, he wanted something better for being out under the stars. Someplace where he could bring someone special.
He’d told himself so many times since Emily started working at Club Tahoe that he couldn’t go there. That she was off-limits. He’d closed off the relationship part of himself a long time ago, but now he wondered if he’d made the biggest mistake of his life. The more days she stayed away, the more restless he became.
Wes worked off in a corner with the saw, a brooding look on his face, presumably over the woman from the pro shop, while Adam hammered in boards across from Levi.
Adam rested the hammer on his thigh. “I spoke to our new CEO about Miller. He’s going to the board with the information you gave me. Not much we can do—there’s no law against buying stock in our company—but Blue Casino won’t consult with Miller regarding potential clients anymore. After what I told them, they don’t appreciate his ethics.”
Levi grunted. Blue Casino had taken advantage of an opportunity. What company wouldn’t? But he got what his brother was saying. The casino had a history of shady business practices. It sounded like the new management was keeping things legit.
Just then, Jaeg strode up the road carrying a twelve-pack. “Heard you needed some help.” He nodded at Adam, one of his best friends from high school.
Levi was a big guy, but Jaeg was huge. A bit of a gentle giant. Jaeg had been a professional
skier before a knee injury knocked him out of the game. Despite the failed sports career, he’d always had a trail of beautiful women after him. Until he met Cali. Now the guy was as hooked on Cali as Adam was on Hayden. No more late nights with the guys—these two stayed in with their women, and it sucked for the rest of them.
But Levi was beginning to appreciate the appeal. With the right woman, he wouldn’t mind staying in either. In fact, all he wanted right now was to see Emily.
He accepted the beer Jaeg handed him, but set it aside. His chest felt tight, his hands restless, which was why he’d started building.
Jaeg was an artist and had made the letters that hung from the wall at the engagement party for Adam and Hayden, not to mention having built Levi’s favorite tables in his house. Jaeg was a master wood craftsman. This shit they were making today was child’s play compared to the intricate stuff he did, which made his support all the more meaningful. “Thanks for coming.”
“No worries. Cali was having a girls’ night with Hayden, Mira, and Gen before I hightailed it out of there. Had to. They were starting to add items to Cali’s honey-do list.”
Adam sat back on his heels and scratched his head. “Cali has a honey-do list? Damn. I thought Hayden was the only one. That list grows exponentially the more items I knock off it.”
Jaeg’s deep chuckle rumbled throughout the space. He picked up a hammer and went to work on the other end of the platform.
The guys were bitching about a honey-do list, and all Levi could think about was how nice it would be to have a woman to take care of, but not just any woman. He wasn’t interested anymore in someone who needed saving. Suddenly, he wanted a woman who appreciated him. Someone he wanted to do things for just because he could.
Bran quickly polished off the beer Jaeg had handed him and crushed the can, tossing it with the rest of the trash they’d piled in a corner. He moved to lift a stack of two-by-six lumber from a squatted position. But as soon as he stood, the wood tipped and knocked over a sawhorse with expensive equipment on it.
“Would you watch it?” Levi said. “Since when did you acquire two left feet?”
Bran dropped the lumber. “You asshole! We’re here for you. Did you ever consider thanking us instead of expecting us to show up every time you need something?”
Adam, Wes, and Jaeg stopped what they were doing. Hunt hadn’t been invited. Levi wasn’t sure he’d ever invite Hunt over again after he’d dared touch Emily. Just the thought made Levi’s blood boil. “I’ve helped you out plenty over the years.”
“And I’ve thanked you!” Bran said, his face bright red. He’d only had the one beer, so he wasn’t drunk. “You’ve been an uptight asshole these last two weeks. What gives?”
Adam stood and threw down his hammer, glaring at Levi. “Bran’s right. The only reason I didn’t kick your ass after you attacked Hunt at my engagement party is because Hayden loved what Emily had done for us. She had a good time regardless of your stupid shit.”
Levi’s jaw tightened. Adam knew Levi could kick his ass. Levi was taller, weighed more, and truthfully, he was simply stronger. But his designer-suit-loving little brother was scrappy. Levi wouldn’t escape without a few bruises.
“Fucking go after her already!” Adam shouted. Jaeg looked at Adam with confusion. “Wes and Bran want to strangle you. Hunt does too, but that’s nothing new. And now I can’t stand to be near you for more than a few minutes. This is worse than after you left the fire department. Who cares if Emily is Lisa’s little sister? You love her or you wouldn’t be acting like a complete dick. This moping has got to stop.”
“Moping?” Levi’s face heated. “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” Levi jerked off his flannel and tossed it on the ground. A few bruises it would be, then. “You and me. Right now. Wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t bailed on us in order to work at Blue Casino.”
Jaeg stepped between them, a hand on each of their chests. “Whoa. You two haven’t fought since we were kids. Pull it together.” He stared at Levi. “If this is about a woman, get her out of your system.”
Adam glared at the others. “And I’m sick of you assholes blaming me for the shit you’re in at Club Tahoe. If you don’t want to work there, hire someone else!”
“Unlike you four,” Levi growled, “I feel a sense of responsibility to fulfill our father’s wishes.”
“Since when? You’ve never done what Dad wanted.”
“Since he died.”
“And you’re still alive,” Adam shot back. “So live your damn life. Even Dad wouldn’t have wanted you to run Club Tahoe if he thought it would make you this miserable. Maybe, just maybe, he thought it would give you a sense of purpose after the accident. And maybe he also saw something in you he thought would be good for the club.”
Levi didn’t say anything. Because he wasn’t this miserable working at Club Tahoe. It wasn’t his dream job, but it had grown on him. He was motherfucking pissed that Emily was pulling away.
An announcement came over the scanner. A fire in an apartment building.
Levi swiveled his head, listening intently. “That’s Emily’s address,” he said to himself.
A second later, he was running full tilt downhill toward his house, his brothers yelling after him.
The key to Adam’s truck was in the ignition. He hopped in and cranked the old beast, throwing it into drive and tearing down the road. Good thing he’d followed Emily home that one night; he knew exactly where to go. He might have also memorized her address when she first started working at Club Tahoe.
Levi had checked out Emily’s HR paperwork to make sure his dipshit lawyers were correct and she was actually of legal age. Now he couldn’t remember why he’d thought her young. She was youthful looking, but even then he’d been trying to find reasons to keep his distance—a way to convince himself she wasn’t right for him. Because he’d felt the spark.
He’d been denying his feelings all this time, and now she was caught in his worst nightmare. In danger, possibly at risk of losing her life.
The reason he’d become a firefighter all those years ago wasn’t because he wanted to protect the mountains he loved, though he did. And it wasn’t because a firefighter had been a perfect fit for his need for physicality and order, though it was. It was because he’d never wanted to lose another person he cared about the way he’d lost his mother, and, figuratively, his father.
The best way to prevent losing those he loved was to become someone able to protect them. To protect Emily. Because he loved her.
Emily filled a hole he hadn’t even known existed. A place in his heart that had never been opened. And now that it was, it hemorrhaged without her. He’d been bleeding, taking out his pain on all those around him.
Emily was his. He might not be a fireman anymore, but he’d be damned before he sat back and let her come to harm.
He pulled so hard on the steering wheel he nearly ripped it off.
Calm down, asshole. You’ll get to her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Stupid man. Emily swiped at the tears pouring down her face. The only way she knew how to get over something that had really upset her was to cry it out. Only these waterworks had been a three-day deluge.
She cycled harder on her stationary bike, Spandau Ballet playing in her earbuds on repeat. Her eyes were so swollen she didn’t dare go outside for a walk, looking like she’d been battered. Besides, the Oreos were in the apartment.
She reached for one and jammed it in her mouth. “Soopid ann,” she said, bits of Oreo flying from her lips.
Levi was wrong. What they had was special. How could he not see that?
Stubborn, bullheaded brick wall. She’d been ramming up against that wall repeatedly. Well, no more! She was finished. Her own sister had predicted this outcome, because Lisa knew Levi as well as anyone. Emily wasn’t some exception to the rule. She was the rule—no different than anyone else he’d been with. Only he’d at least committed to Lisa. All Emil
y got was sex.
Okay—good sex.
Hot sex.
But she deserved more from Levi or any man.
More than the occasional phone calls she’d received from her father when he felt like it.
More than put-downs from her asshole ex.
She’d never had a man who cherished her, but she deserved one.
She’d gotten to know Levi. He was dependable, honorable, and protective of the people he cared about. But he was being an ass. If he wasn’t willing to put her first, she wasn’t going to continue pining after him, no matter how much she cared for him.
Stupid men. She growled—and a crumb of cookie lodged in her throat, making her hack. Which made her cry harder.
Stupid tears!
Why would the universe do this to her? She’d fallen in love with the most stubborn male alive. And now she had to live with not living with him.
Emily reached for the tissue on her nightstand, but her stationary bike was too far away and she nearly tipped it. She pulled out the tissue from inside her pocket, but she’d used it so often the material disintegrated in her hand.
Tugging out her earbuds and hauling her wobbly legs off the bike, she walked across the room and blew her nose a few thousand times until she could breathe again.
And that was when she smelled it.
Smoke.
Levi pulled up to Emily’s house right as the firefighters were climbing down from their trucks. He overheard the words “fast attack” on one of the crew’s radios, but he didn’t need the update. Flames were visibly pouring out of the upper left window.
Levi’s heart raced, his muscles bunching.
While the crew jogged to the main staircase and around the back of the building, Levi ran for the side railing. He’d be in deep shit if he hindered the firefighters’ ability to do their jobs, but no way in hell he was staying out here while Emily was inside. She wasn’t answering her phone, and he didn’t think she’d be out and about if she’d called in sick. Even if her reasons for doing so were to stay away from him.
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