America's Bravest (61 page)

And then he left the kitchen to get into his
officer clothes for yet another fire tonight.

His men would be exhausted, but Cal was
enervated. Plain old desire did that to you, he guessed.

oOo

As the August sun blistered the landscape the
next day, Parker headed to the lake to swim, where she often
planned her blogs. This morning’s entry had been complimentary. How
could it not be? Parker had witnessed a night where it didn’t seem
humanly possible to do what the Rescue Squad had done. Yet, she’d
seen it with her own eyes.

I don’t like to go on gossip. Only what
happened on my watch.

And what had she seen for herself last night?
Ah, the million-dollar question. She reached the lake, but instead
of going in, she sat on the dock and dipped her feet in. The warm
water tickled her skin. She tried to concentrate on the beauty of
the day, the purr of boats passing by and the soft swish of their
wakes, but she could only think about one thing. What was in Cal
Erikson’s eyes last night. And if the PA hadn’t sounded, what would
have happened?

There was no denying she wanted him to kiss
her. When was the last time she’d felt so drawn to a man? But it
wasn’t only chemistry sparking between them. She’d gone and liked
the guy. He was gentle, yet firm. Smart. And sensitive. No one knew
about her past, and she still couldn’t figure out why she told him,
but he’d listened and sympathized. And, thank God, didn’t try to
make things right, like most men would do.

I don’t like the
interconnections.

Some of that’s inevitable.

Was that happening to her? To them? No, no,
there was no
them.

Sick of this rumination, she stood and dove
in. The water was soothing. As her arms cut through the water, she
thought about what topic to write about for tomorrow. She was
losing her edge and she needed to keep it. She couldn’t let Cal
Erikson or a group of firefighters she was beginning to soften
toward. She had to stay tough.

Why Parker? Why do you need
that?”

To protect myself.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone in
your life?”

Maybe, but not Cal Erikson.

After ten laps between buoys, Parker had an
idea. It would kill two birds with one stone. She’d call the next
blog. “Too much togetherness? You decide.”

She needed to distance herself from Cal, from
these people, and what better way to do it than to criticize
exactly what was happening to her? The blog would take care of his
attraction to her. For good.

Parker finished her laps and walked out of
the lake. Usually the endorphins kicked in by now but not today.
Today, she was feeling unaccountably sad.

Work was a good antidote, she thought as she
headed to the house. In reality, that’s all she had.

Cal held his grandson by the hands and swung
the boy in front of him as they wandered around the annual August
Firefighter Festival. “Cool, Papa. Do it again.”

Ah, he’d gotten himself into something now.
But he was glad to have Tommy with him. Everybody brought their
kids, and he’d convinced Peter to let Tommy come along. He couldn’t
talk his son into joining them, though. As Cal held his
flesh-and-blood’s hands, he vowed to find more ways to make inroads
with Peter.

“Papa, look there.” Tommy pointed to a
dunking booth. “Can we do it?”

“Sure.” They meandered over. A group of
firefighters were scheduled to sit in the booth. As he and Tommy
waited in line for their turns, he tried to concentrate on the
event, which would raise money for Hale’s Haven. He needed
distraction from thinking about Parker Allen. After the call to a
false alarm, the rest of the night shift was fairly uneventful and
there had been no repeat of their…closeness. Hell, he’d almost
kissed her right there in the firehouse! What had he been thinking?
The answer was, he
wasn’t
thinking. With his head at
least. Jesus, he was forty-five and should be past reacting with
his dick.

“Oh, just what I was waiting for.”

Recognizing the voice, Cal’s head snapped up,
and he angled his body to see Ed Snyder from Engine 4, two people
ahead of him. The guy was not his favorite person.

“There’s a lady in the booth,” Tommy
said.

Cal checked. Rachel Wellington Malvaso,
Gabe’s wife, had taken the hot seat. And Snyder was a notorious
misogynist. Cal surveyed the scene.

The bucket to dump water was triggered by a
tennis ball. Nothing bad could happen with that, could it? Still, a
skitter ran up his spine as Snyder’s turn came up. His meaty fist
closed around a ball. Drawing back his arm, he bulleted it—right
into Rachel’s forehead.

It all happened so quickly, Cal only had time
to get Tommy out of the way. Gabe hopped over the fencing of the
small enclosure, then vaulted the above-ground pool and waded to
his wife.

And two men jumped Snyder. The O’Malley
brothers. Glancing around, Cal saw Sydney and Max standing off to
the side with their two kids. Syd looked ready to pounce, too. He
hurried over with Tommy and said, “Watch my grandson and stay
here!”

Max automatically grabbed the boy, and Cal
rushed back. Brody had gotten one of Snyder’s arms and Ryan the
other, but Brody had raised a fist and was about to take his own
swing. He lowered his arm when he saw Cal.

“What the fuck is wrong with you guys?”
Snyder spat out.

Ryan yanked on Snyder’s shoulder. “You hit
Rachel in the head on purpose.”

“Let me go or I’ll kick you in the
balls.”

Great language for a family event. “I got
this,” Cal said evenly. “Snyder, you’re coming with me.”

The guy opened his mouth to speak, then his
eyes widened at something behind Cal. He turned to find Noah, his
eyes flaming, had come up to them. “I’ll take him,” Noah said.
Under his breath, he muttered to Cal, “I’ve been waiting for
something like this to happen.”

Snyder went along with the chief, though he
was scowling.

The rest of the day went downhill from
there.

Tommy got sick on a hot dog.

Max, Syd and even Amber were sleep deprived
from Daisy’s teething.

And Gabe was fit to be tied because Rachel
had a huge welt on her forehead. Even though the standby paramedics
checked her out and put ice on the welt, Cal could see his captain
was livid.

But it was when he noticed great legs in a
pretty pink skirt that his own heart started thumping. His gaze
trailed upwards and to a pretty white blouse.

Parker Allen was smiling up at a tall,
good-looking guy. Who, from how he grasped her hand and didn’t let
go, was obviously her date.

Still—or because of that?—Cal approached
them. “Parker, hello.”

Her face didn’t soften at all as she rested a
cool gaze on him and introduced him to Jordan Jacobs, an old family
friend. But when she caught sight of Tommy, her body language
changed. “Well, hello there.” She glanced from Tommy to him. “You
resemble your grandpa.”

“The spittin’ image, my daddy says.” Tommy
stared at Parker and mumbled something.

“What was that, son?”

“She’s pretty.”

“I heartily agree,” Jacobs commented, sliding
his arm around Parker’s waist. Cal took satisfaction in the fact
that she stiffened—like she
hadn’t
that night at the
firehouse when he’d held on to a few locks of that lovely hair.

Cal managed to get away from her and soon he
and the boy headed home. But he took another emotional jab on the
jaw when Peter made a disgusted sound as Cal informed Sally that
her son had vomited. Peter’s expression said,
You’re not any
better at being a grandfather than you were a father.

So when Cal got home and checked his email,
and saw one from Parker, he knew she must have sent it before she
left. “Thought you’d like to see the new blog.”

He smiled. Maybe the day was looking up.

Eagerly he clicked into the link she sent.
“Too Much Togetherness? You Decide!”
jumped out at him.
Damn. This couldn’t be good.

It wasn’t.

oOo

Parker fell asleep fine with the help of a
pill. She often had to take one to settle down. But she awoke with
a start at one in the morning. She’d been dreaming about the
festival, only she was with Cal and not Jordan, they’d been holding
hands, and he’d kissed her on the Ferris wheel. She was aroused
when she awoke.

She lay back onto the pillows, but instead of
reliving the dream, which she wanted to, she pictured what his
reaction would be when he read the blog. His chiseled features
would harden. His shoulders would tense. And he’d be disappointed
because he expected better from her. But she had to keep her edge
with the blog. And she had to protect her heart. So she imagined
every little detail of his anger and disappointment. Not only had
she criticized the department, but she’d used some of his own words
against him.

Finally sick enough of what she’d done to
make her realize nothing could happen between them, she slid out of
bed, made coffee and took it out to her deck. The early morning was
beautiful, with chirps from cicadas accompanied by the soft whoosh
of the waves on the lake. For a long time, she sat watching them
crash on the shore. She was enjoying the solitude when she heard
the engine of a car. Odd, this end of the lake was not well
traveled. Frightened some, she decided to go back inside when a
figure appeared at the bottom of the deck in the darkness. Her
heart started to stutter. Gripping the arms of the chair, she
froze. Parker had made a lot of enemies with her blog. There were
any number of people who would want to do her harm and she was
totally alone back here. And very vulnerable. Oh, dear God!

“Parker, it’s me. Cal.”

Expelling a heavy gasp, she fell back onto
the cushions. She couldn’t take in enough air. He climbed the steps
and came into the light shining from the kitchen. “I scared you.
I’m sorry. I drove out and saw the light. You said you couldn’t go
back to sleep once you were up, so I came back to see if you were
around.”

Still, she said nothing. Just stared at him.
In the light from the house and the moon, she noticed he was
dressed in shorts with a T-shirt, which was not tucked in. Noting
the fact that he was unshaven and messy provoked a different kind
of fear in her.

“Parker, are you all right?”

Sanity returned, thank God. She sat up
straighter. “Um, yes. You did scare me, though.” She cleared her
throat because her words husky. “What are you doing here?”

Without invitation, he dropped down onto an
adjacent chair, on the edge, hunching forward. His face was
shadowed but she could tell he was looking at her. “You know why
I’m here.” His voice was raw.

“Because of the blog?”

He waited a beat. “Partly. Who was the
guy?”

Caught off guard, she stammered, “I, uh, I
told you. An old friend of the family.” Who her mother had tried to
set her up with for a long time. She’d refused until yesterday,
when she needed cover from Cal and called Jordan.

“Are you sleeping with him?”

“That is none of your business.”

“Isn’t it?” His tone was as rich as the
night.

“Why would it be?”

Again he waited.

She blurted out, “Nothing happened the other
night between us.”

“Something’s been happening since I met you
at the Lakeside months ago.”

“No, Cal, don’t say that.” Panic welled
inside her. “It’s not true.”

“Believe me. I don’t want it to be true.”

“Then why did you come here tonight?”

Looking heavenward, he shook his head. “I
couldn’t stay away.”

She stood, more fearful of his words and how
he uttered them than she had been of anything in long time. “I
think you should leave.”

He rose, too, and came close. Too close. “All
right, I’ll go if you want me to. After this.” Reaching out, he
drew her into his arms.

His touch was gentle; one hand slid to her
waist as his other cupped her neck. His mouth, when it settled on
hers, brushed softly, with no hint of insistence. Even when his
tongue probed open her mouth, it was a tender assault, meant to
coax and not demand. By the time he drew back, she was trembling,
grasping on to the cotton of his shirt. He didn’t let her go.
Instead, he wrapped her up in his arms. “Don’t be afraid. I’d never
hurt you.”

She buried her face in his chest.

“Please, Parker. I wouldn’t.”

The gentle lull of his voice settled her, as
did the way he massaged her back. She relaxed by degrees. Then
other things came to the forefront—how he smelled like man and
soap. How big his chest was. How broad his shoulders were. They
were so close she could feel his hardness against her. And instead
of frightening her, it excited her.

She hadn’t felt a man’s erection or the
gentle wave of desire that swept through her since one cold October
morning when the beating that changed her life had happened. Her
sensible side, the person who took over that night, told her to
pull away and run into the house. But from somewhere, the woman
Parker had been at one time surfaced and would no longer be denied.
She drew back and he let her.

When she peered up at him, his hand cupped
her cheek. “I’ll do whatever you want, Parker, but you have to tell
me.”

She whispered, “Take me inside, Cal. Make
love to me. That’s what I want.”

And she really meant it.

oOo

Cal knew he was a considerate lover, but as
Parker led him up a circular oak staircase, he prayed for the
gentleness, the tenderness that this woman needed. Her hand in his
felt small and delicate, fragile like she was on the inside. When
they reached an open door, she drew him into the bedroom. A soft
light glowed from the corner, so he took in the spacious suite with
a glance, then dismissed the high-ceilinged space decorated in
green and white. His gaze focused on her and he smiled.