America's Bravest (29 page)

Which Felicia had done for seven days
running. Ryan had been totally shocked when he woke in the cozy
little inn and found her gone. And she’d refused to talk to him all
week. He’d texted her, phoned her and even stopped over to her
house. No luck. He didn’t even know if she was coming to the
wedding. He could have gone to the firehouse when she was working,
but he had to respect her wish that no one in the department know
about them--even though she was giving him the brush off.

As if he’d let her.

Brody came up to the table and dropped down
on the top of it. They were wearing similar outfits--khaki shorts
and polo shirts—though Ryan wore blue and Brody green. Everyone in
attendance was told to dress casually. The bride sported a pretty
white gauzy dress that hit above her knees, her sister a peach one.
Gabe was in linen pants and shirt, and his best man, Mitch, in
similar garb. May had turned hot with the sun blazing above so Ryan
welcomed the cool of the shade where he sat. There were two tents
set up for food and drink, and umbrellas tables spread over the
lawn and deck.

He and Brody made small talk and Ryan kept a
weather eye on the side of the house. When Felicia finally arrived,
his heart soared.

Then nosedived. What the hell? She brought a
date? He was too dumfounded to do anything but stare with his mouth
open.

“See a ghost?” Brody asked.

“No, no ghost.” His voice was hoarse with
emotion.

Brody tracked his gaze. “Ah, it must be on
again.”

His head snapped around to his brother.
“What?”

“Licia and Derek. They’ve been together on
and off for years.”

“Like sleeping together?”

“No, I think the play tiddlie winks.”

“Very funny.”

His twin frowned. “Where’s Shelly? I thought
you’d bring her.”

Hmm. He covered fast. “She wasn’t sure she
could make it but she was going to try.” And, he thought as he
watched Dennison slide his hand around Felicia’s waist and whisper
intimately in her ear, maybe he’d call his own on-again-off-again
to see if she might be able to sneak over to the wedding.

Shit, he wasn’t going to sit by and take
this! So when Brody left to find Emma, Ryan stood and approached
the couple where they’d disappeared into the drink tent. Felicia
was alone by the wall of canvas and Dennison was at the bar.
Stalking over, he grabbed her arm none too gently. “What the hell
do you think you’re doing?”

Her pretty hazel eyes widened. She had on a
yellow sundress that made her skin golden. “What do you mean?” At
least her voice was shaky. He felt as if his stomach was going to
cave in on itself.

“You know damn well what I mean. Why would
you bring a date here?”

She seemed to regain her cool. “The
invitation said to bring guests.”

His heart lurched at her dismissiveness. “I
thought we’d come to this wedding together.”

Doubt flickered in her eyes. “Why? We’re not
dating, O’Malley.”

Streams of anger rolled through him now.
“Like hell we’re not.”

Her eyes widened. “We had an agreement.”

“That lasted six weeks with neither of us
dating others.” His chest got tight. “You weren’t like…you weren’t
sleeping with Dennison while you were with me, were you?”

“No, of course no!”

At least her expression was disgusted at the
thought.

“Here you go, Licia.” Dennison looked to
Ryan. “O’Malley, right? You’re Brody’s cop brother.”

“Right.” The guy held out his hand to shake,
which Ryan forced himself to do.

“Nice crowd here for only inviting family and
dates. You close to the couple?”

“Yeah, with Gabe.”

“Ryan fraternizes with all his brother’s
firefighter friends.”

Now that made him mad. They’d more than
fraternized.
Much, much more.

From outside, Gabe called for attention,
asking everyone to be seated down by the water.

“If you’ll excuse us,” Felicia said as if he
meant nothing to her. “Derek, we need to sit.”

Still in shock, Ryan found a place next to
Emma and Brody. His heart felt as if somebody had ripped it out of
his chest and stomped on it. He barely registered the happy couple
taking their vows, the exchange of rings, the clapping. He kept his
gaze four rows down, staring at Felicia letting another man touch
her.

After the ceremony, people began to mingle.
An hour later, Ryan caught sight of Felicia heading into the house.
He made a beeline for the same doorway and followed her when she
went down the hall, tried one bathroom, then disappeared into a
bedroom. He stepped into it too, just as an inside door closed.
Leaning up against the wall, he folded his arms over his chest and
waited. She wasn’t getting out of this room until he had some
answers.

oOo

Felicia was barely keeping it together. In
the bathroom, she stared at herself almost losing it. Her hands
were shaking and her face flushed. “Breathe deep,” she ordered the
image in the mirror. “Like you do when you’re scared in a
fire.”

Ryan had thrown her by his confrontation out
in the open, in front of everyone else. She didn’t think he’d do
something so blatant. But then, he didn’t play fair. Like killing
her with gentleness and sweet talk the last time they were
together. Still, she couldn’t believe her own reaction to his
anger, his nearness, his hurt. She splashed water on her face and
then took in more fresh air through the open window. After a while,
she felt better and opened the bathroom door, stepped out into the
bedroom and…Jesus Christ, there he was.

“What are you doing here?”

“I followed you inside. I want some answers.”
His tone was angry, but it was the shock in those beautiful blue
eyes that got to her.

Pretending to be cool, though her heart was
galloping in her chest, she said, “All right, ask away.”

“Why did you leave the inn last week so
abruptly? Why wouldn’t you answer my texts and phone messages?”

How much to say? “I didn’t like how you acted
that night at the Hideaway.”

“You could have fooled me. You seemed to like
it fine.”

“You were too…clingy.”

He laughed. “Boy, I really got to you, didn’t
I?”

Nerves jittered inside her. “What do you
mean?”

“We were close that night. Hell, we’ve been
getting close for six weeks.”

“It wasn’t just sex that night. You changed
the rules.”

“Because I care about you! I want a real
relationship with you.”

She began to shake her head wildly. “I don’t
want one with you. We’re done, O’Malley. We had an agreement, you
reneged and I don’t want to play the game anymore.”

He puffed out a big breath, ran a hand
through his hair. “Licia, please. Let’s talk about his calmly.”

“I am calm. Look, I know this has to be a
first, a woman ditching you, but you’ll get over it, O’Malley.”

Now he swallowed hard, his expression bleak.
“I can’t believe you’re saying this me. After all we…” He broke off
as if he couldn’t continue.

She felt tears well in her eyes, but she
couldn’t show any weakness, so she battled them back. “I’m sorry,
Ryan, truly I am, but the thing between us wasn’t working for me
anymore. Now please, let me get back to my date.”

Please,
she thought weakly,
let
me out of here before I make another big mistake.

Thank God he stepped aside. She reached for
the door handle but he stayed her arm. “Don’t sleep with him,
Felicia. We won’t be able to work through this if you do.”

He had no idea he was giving her a way out of
his trap.

“If I want to sleep with Derek or any other
man, Ryan, I will. But it won’t be you.”

She made it out of the door, stumbled into
the other bathroom and dropped down onto the toilet seat, horrified
that she’d done this awful thing to him. But deep in her heart, she
knew why she behaved so badly. Protection, pure and simple. She’d
protected herself all her life by not making commitments after the
bad experience with Tim. By not getting close to anyone. But more
so, Ryan O’Malley was a player and there was no reason to think
he’d change. Nope, it was better to be the dumper than the
dumpee.

Still, none of that rationalization prevented
Felicia from quietly crying into her hands.

oOo

Two hours later, after Ryan made a phone
call, he was dancing with Shelley, semi-drunk and still simmering.
Especially when he watched Felicia snuggle up to Dennison on the
improvised patio dance floor.

“I’d like to leave,” Ryan told Shelley.

“Yeah, where to?”

He winked at her. “For a smart girl, that’s a
very dumb question.”

She raised blond brows. “I haven’t heard from
you in weeks.”

“I got caught up in something.” He glanced
over her shoulder at the woman he…never mind. He gave Shelly his
killer grin. “So, my place or yours?”

“Yours.”

Twenty minutes later he led her upstairs to
his bedroom. He wouldn’t think about finding Felicia here that day
snooping. Or all the times they’d made love on that bed.

He turned to Shelley, grasped the hem of his
shirt and yanked it over his head. Then his hands went to his
pants.

“Let me,” she said. She already had her top
off.

“Be my guest, dollface, be my guest.”

oOo

Across town, Felicia took Derek’s hand and
led him down the hallway to her bedroom. She felt like crying,
screaming, swearing. Instead, she gave him a sexy smile. “I’m glad
you came home with me,” she lied.

“I was wondering where you disappeared to all
these weeks.”

“Doesn’t matter.” Her hands went to the
buttons on his shirt. “I’m here now.”

oOo

He was sick and sweating when he woke up, but
Ryan bounded out of bed. He took the quickest shower on record, and
without even stopping for coffee, he drove the distance to
Felicia’s house. Bolting out of his car, he hurried to the front
steps, his heart beating at a clip. He only hoped she’d done what
he’d done last night. And had the same revelation. Ringing the
bell, he waited. No answer. He rang again. On the third try, she
pulled open the door. And he had hope. She’d obviously been crying.
Her hair was a mess, his eyes puffy, her face blotchy.

“Ryan? Oh, my God.”

“I’m not giving up. And by the looks of you,
you don’t want to either. I’m in love with you Felicia, and I’m
ready for a commitment. I promise I won’t let you down.”

Her eyes widened. In fear?

“There’s nothing to be afraid of. I went home
with Shelley and I was gonna make love with her but I couldn’t so I
asked her to leave.”

She stared up at him. “Oh, Ryan, I feel the
same way about you. I know that now. But--”

“But nothing. That’s all I need to hear.” He
reached for her.

Again she shook her head.

He was distracted by something behind her.
When he realized what it was, his whole world turned dim.

Derek Dennison stood a few inches away in
unbuttoned slacks, no shirt and barefoot.

Apparently, Felicia
hadn’t
done what
he had. Instead, she fucked somebody else. Amidst the shock and
sourness in his gut, Ryan was struck with the realization there was
no future for him and Felicia.

In early June, the sun was high and the water
calm for the first camp of the summer at Hale’s Haven. Felicia
stood by the entrance to the lake front property on Hidden Cove
waiting for the campers to arrive. She tried to cancel out on being
a counselor for the week but two other volunteers had been unable
to come so Felicia didn’t feel right about letting the kids down.
She hoped she could get through the week without any confrontations
with Ryan.

While the rest of the counselors talked in
small groups, she sat down on the grassy incline and looked out
over the camp. Would she have to watch him reach and dive for balls
on that baseball field or the tennis court? See him climb the ropes
and hurdle all the obstacles on the beams course? Dance in the big
open pavilion where group activities were held? She glanced further
out at the cabins, the boats and swimming areas and shook her head.
It would be impossible not to run into him. Though she’d gotten
stronger in the last four weeks, and resigned herself to their
split, she hadn’t had to see him. Not once had he come to the
firehouse, gone to Badges or shown up at a fire scene or accident
site she was called to. He must be keeping track of her schedule.
But any minute he’d pop up at the camp. Hell, she’d just have to be
strong.

“Hey, there, why so glum?”

Felicia looked up at Jenn O’Connor and smiled
genuinely. Her shoulder length dark hair was damp from the heat and
her face had a glow to it.

“Hi, Jenn.” They hugged, awkwardly because
Felicia was sitting down, then Jenn dropped to the grass, too. “I’m
excited about chaperoning the seven-to-ten cabin with you.”

“Same here. I’ve been so busy between my job
and Angel and Grady.” She rolled her eyes and placed her hand on
her stomach. “And it’s only going to get worse.”

Simultaneously Felicia felt joy and envy. She
picked at the grass to have time to rein in her emotions. “You’re
having another one?”

“Two. It’s twins.”

Felicia swallowed hard at the reminder of
Ryan and Brody.

“There’s a lot of twins among us.”

“Yeah, I heard you worked with Eve Callahan
for a while. Was it cool? She’s so good at what she does. They’re
thinking of letting me assist her since I’m off the line now,
though I can’t go to fire sites.”

“There’s a lot of other arson work to do.”
Jenn elbowed her arm. “Now tell me why you look so sad.”

Because I slept with one man when I was
in love with someone else. Even though he told me if I did it was
over.

“I guess all these weddings, babies, that
kind of thing are making me melancholy.”