Bad Boy's Heart: A Firemen in Love Series Novella (12 page)

“I don't know. I hadn't really planned on it,” I said with a shrug. “Honestly, I don't spend much time with one girl. I've always gotten bored. Figured if I settled down with just one, I'd be awfully tempted to cheat – and frankly, I'd hate myself if I did.”

“So that's why you ditched me after that kiss. Because you were bored of me.”

I punched the steering wheel. “No, damn it! You were my best friend. Of course I wasn't bored of you. Don't be ridiculous.”

“Then you were never really interested in the first place.”

We were supposed to be following Susie to the golf course, but I was too riled up to keep driving. Despite Alicia's protests, I pulled to the side of the road.

“Okay, enough. I thought we'd moved past this childish nonsense. You sure seemed to have forgiven me last night.”

She stared into the black hole that was her purse.

“Maybe last night was a mistake.”

“A
mistake?
It was fucking incredible, and you know it.” I shot her a smoldering stare. Even now, this woman managed to make me hard. “I made you come so many times, you couldn't take it anymore. Could have kept going, too. How is that a mistake?”

“I don't mean like that. Yes, you were excellent.” She quieted. “Best I've ever had, actually.”

“So then why are you so upset? All morning long you've been acting weird. And now you're freaking out because I prefer the single life over getting tied down. If you got something to tell me, say it now.”

“It was just sex to you.” She stared out the window at passing cars. “Wasn't it?”

I was too baffled to form a coherent answer. Sex was always “just” sex; what else could it possibly be?

But no. There was something different with her, a spark that I hadn't felt with another woman before, that comforted me and bothered me deeply at the same time.

Feelings, perhaps?

“What we did meant a lot to me, Allie. If you don't already see that, then I don't know what else to tell you.”

She pressed her face against the glass and said nothing. I got the car back on the road.

Yes, I felt things for her. She stirred emotions in me nobody ever had. When we got back to Texas, I didn't want what we had to end.

Yet it was obvious she wasn't gonna be the friends-with-benefits type.

“Let's just try and make it through the rest of the week,” she said once we'd reached the golf course. Then she put on a forced smile and went to greet her waiting grandparents.

I thought about my life back home as I watched her. It was a good life, with great friends, a sweet job, and all the pretty girls I could ask for. I didn't plan on giving that up for a good, long while.

Alicia would not be one of many in my address book, just another warm body to call up when I was lonely or horny. I knew what her problem was now.

She cared for me. Wanted
all
of me for herself.

How long had this been going on? Had she really felt this way for ten freaking years?

She and the family went into the building without me. I rubbed the ring on my finger.

My choice should have been clear, but it wasn't.

I was afraid.

“Carter, son, you coming?” Ed poked his head out the door. “We can't start the game without you.”

“Yeah. Coming.”

I put on a fake smile of my own and followed the old man inside.

Chapter 12 - Alicia

I hadn't visited grandma and grandpa's house in years, so I'd almost forgotten how big it was. A mansion, really, with more rooms and fancy features than they knew what to do with.

The party had only just begun, but already, a handful of rich-looking guests lingered on the patio, sipping their pricey wine.

“We're so glad you're here,” Susie gushed. “Go on and say hello to everyone, you two. They're all quite eager to meet the happy couple.”

Carter looked as uncomfortable as I felt. He'd told me that this whole thing was an awful idea, that I should just be honest and admit the truth.

But how could I? They'd been wanting me to find love for so long. To tell them I'd been dumped on my wedding day would break their hearts.

So, too, would telling them about our lie. If I stayed silent, however, I feared the guilt would destroy me.

“Let's get moving, then,
sweetie.
” Carter cupped my hand in his. “Suppose we've got to make our grand entrance.”

It felt so wrong – because I didn't want what we had to be fake anymore. I wanted him to hold my hand and call me pet names for real.

But that was never going to happen. He'd never settle down. Never marry. All he wanted was to pick and choose from a nonstop buffet of women.

“So you're a chef, I hear,” twittered a woman with a thick strand of pearls around her neck. “My sister's husband's son works at a lovely place downtown. Where did you get your schooling?”

Carter glanced at me for answers, but I wasn't sure what help he thought I'd be.

“Uh... self-taught, actually,” he replied. “My mother was a great cook. I learned from her when I was a child.”

“Ooh, how talented! And what delectable dish will you be whipping up for us guests tonight?”

“That will have to be a surprise.”

They moved on to mingle with someone else. He let out a long breath.

“You don't really have a plan, do you?”

“Sure I do.” He tapped at his phone. “I got the local KFC on speed dial.”

“You can't serve fast-food fried chicken at a dinner party!”

“Why not? Never met a soul who'd turn down an extra-crispy thigh or two.”

I grabbed him and pulled him into the kitchen. Lucky for us they kept a fully stocked fridge, because it looked like I'd need to whip something up to save his ass.

“You shouldn't do this,” he scolded me. “I'm supposed to be the pro chef here.”

“This is what you do when you care about somebody. You bail them out when they need help.”

He was quiet as I dug the linguine out of the pantry, and I knew the reason for his silence. Just as I'd expected, things got weird after we slept together.

Yes, my fiance just dumped me, and although it still stung, I couldn't change the way I felt. I'd cared for Carter for a long time, maybe even loved him. Sex only made those feelings a thousand times stronger.

But then to find out he had no intentions of settling down, or even of giving us a try...

“What are you making?” His breath tickled the nape of my neck.

“Just a simple pasta with lemon and capers.”

“Where'd you learn how to cook like that?”

I tossed the pasta into a big pot of boiling water. “Andy taught me a few things.”

“Andy.” He bristled. “Yeah, of course he did.”

There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice. I set the spoon down and stared.

“What's your
problem?
Are you jealous of him?”

“Only thing I'm jealous of is that he had you before I did.”

I sliced into a lemon so quickly, I nearly cut off part of my finger. Okay, I couldn't let him get under my skin. If he could play games with me, I could do the same back.

“I don't see what it matters. You had plenty of other girls to keep you occupied in the meantime. In fact, I'm sure they'll all still be waiting for you once we get back home.”

He growled. “That's not fair, damn it. How dare you say – ”

“There you kids are.” Grandpa shuffled into the kitchen holding his usual glass of bourbon. “Mmm, something smells fantastic. Maybe I'll hire you to do our entire party next time, eh?”

Carter gave me a nervous glance. “Yeah. Maybe.”

A few guests milled into the kitchen, so he had to take over the cooking while I tried to give him subtle hints.

“Don't turn the heat up so much. You'll curdle the cream,” I hissed over his shoulder. “No, no. You're supposed to add the herbs at the end.”

“If you'd like to take over, you have my blessing.”

He fiddled with the knobs on the stove, trying to get the flames just right.

“I hate these gas stoves. They're an accident waiting to happen.”

“It wouldn't be dangerous if you'd just pay attention!”

“Oh, Alicia, dear!” Grandma yelled for me from the living room. “Your mother just sent over some wedding photos, and you simply must tell us all about them.”

My mother did
what?
How could she have sent pictures when there was no wedding?

“Can you handle this?” I brushed past Carter on the way out. “I've gotta go do something before this gets out of hand.”

He sighed and gave the pot a stir. “You ask me, it already has.”

The guests and I left him alone to “cook” while Susie and friends cooed over the pictures. Mom had apparently sent them to her email, and they were browsing them on her laptop – which, up until now, I wasn't even sure she knew how to operate.

“Look how lovely she is in that dress,” grandma cried. “Oh, the church is stunning. Makes me feel like I'm right there watching her walk down the aisle.”

“What a great reception you had,” grandpa added. “The cake looks to die for. Wish you'd brought some back for us, right, darling?”

After scrolling through three dozen photos, some people began to get a weird look on their faces. They all realized there was a problem, and grandma knew it too.

“Perhaps this is just me,” she said slowly. “But isn't it odd? I haven't seen one picture with your husband in it yet.”

They all gaped at me. Yikes. Kind of hard to talk my way out of this one.

“There must be a few in there. Or maybe mom forgot those ones,” I squeaked. “And Carter's a bit camera shy, besides.”

They exchanged curious glances. It was one thing for a few random people not to show up in pictures, but the groom himself? No way.

“Oh, there he is!” A woman pointed. At first I was relieved, but then I immediately wished she hadn't spotted him.

There he was, all right, hovering around the bar with his buddies and slamming back drinks. He had a beer in one hand and a glass of something in the other.

The looks turned from curious to worried. I didn't blame them. Carter wasn't dressed like a groom, and worse yet, he didn't even have his ring.

Grandma looked at me to explain – but just before I could ramble out some more lies, the smell of smoke hit my nose.

“Is something burning?”

“What is that awful stink?”

My stomach in knots, I raced to the kitchen, from which the odor came. Clouds of smoke billowed through the door.

“Damn it, Carter. I leave you alone for five minutes, and...”

The kitchen was empty, but one of the pots had caught on
fire.
Flames from the burner leaped about a foot in the air, so high and hot that I couldn't reach the knob to turn it down.

“Oh my gracious!” Grandma howled. “My kitchen; my favorite copper frying pan!”

The cream sauce in the pan had turned from a pleasant white to charred and black. I gagged on the smoke and raced to open a window as the fire alarm began to blare.

The guests ran for safety. Grandpa charged into the room, yelling and swearing.

“What is the meaning of this? I was all about to close a sale with the biggest client of the year.”

The shrill alarm drew Carter out from wherever he had been hiding. He bolted into the kitchen, eyes wide with horror.

“Carter! Where the hell did you go?!”

“The sauce was taking forever to cook, so I turned up the heat,” he said, dashing for the stove. “And then I really,
really
had to use the bathroom.”

If he had any hope of fooling them that he was a pro chef, it sure was gone now.

Everyone watched as he calmly and coolly filled a pot with water, then dumped it into the frying pan inferno. The blaze weakened and threw out big clouds of smoke, hissing as the cool liquid met it.

“Everyone stay calm,” he shouted over the racket. “I'm a firefighter. I've got it under control.”

Oh, crap.

Though the alarm was enough to deafen anyone, it was clear everyone in the room heard him – including the two people who mattered most.

They stared at him, then me, then each other.

“Excuse me,” grandpa said as Carter turned the flames down. “Did you say... a firefighter?”

Carter froze with his hand still on the knob. “Yeah. Um, I mean, a
volunteer
firefighter.”

They didn't believe him. Grandma shook her head, disappointment on her weathered face. Seeing them so sad broke my heart, and I knew what I had to do – even if it meant giving up millions of bucks and pissing off mom.

“Carter,” I whispered. “Just stop.”

He blinked in surprise, then kept on slowly mopping up the sauce which had splattered all over the counter and floor.