Bad Boy's Heart: A Firemen in Love Series Novella (15 page)

“And I thought
I
was a clueless dunce. Why the hell would you do that?”

“It was a friendship I didn't want to ruin. Only come to find out recently that Alicia would have rather taken that chance.”

I had a second chance now – or at least I did until I screwed up again.

When I stripped her naked and had her in my arms that night, it was like a religious experience. And once again, like the first kiss we shared, after it was over I found myself full of fear.

Not fear that I'd mess up our friendship this time. No, I was afraid of giving up the girls, the partying, the fun, all to settle down and grow up at last.

But Max wasn't wrong. I
was
the eldest of us. My youth and looks wouldn't hold out forever.

When I was forty years old, would I still want a new girl in my bedroom every night – or would I want it to be someone I loved?

“You were her best friend in school, and then you stopped talking to her for ten years?”

“We went our separate ways. Life got in the way, as it does.” I grabbed the fresh beer out of the bartender's hands. “But I wish it hadn't.”

I was such an idiot. She clearly wanted me, but I ignored the signs – and now she was considering marrying this Andy dick for his money!

I couldn't let it happen. I refused to let anyone else have her, not ever again.

Whatever I could do to make her mine, consider it done.

“If you want her that bad, go after her then.” Jayce reached for the peanuts. “But we all know how it goes. You shack up with a girl, the nights touring bars for chicks will be over.”

“It was getting old anyway.” I smiled. “Besides, even if I win her heart, I'll probably be single again soon enough. I got no idea what it's like to be in a relationship that lasts longer than a month.”

“If you love the girl,” Brett said, “then every day you spend with her's like winning the lottery.”

“Never took you for the philosophical sort. Anyway, she's a little ticked at me. So if I'm gonna get her back, I gotta do something big.”

I didn't have money like Andy, so it couldn't be some egregious display of roses and candy. What mattered to her most, anyway, was her job and those kids.

Kids who wouldn't have a field trip that the school couldn't afford.

That's when it hit me: I didn't need money to make her happy. All I needed was a few good friends.

“All right, boys.” I put my arms around Brett and Jayce. “Who's gonna help me nab the woman of my dreams?”

“You're paying for drinks afterwards, then we have a deal.” Jayce grinned. “Just kidding. We'll always be there for you, no matter what dumb thing you decide to do.”

Soon, Alicia.
Soon her lips would be on mine again, and she'd be back in my embrace where she belonged.

This time, I was never gonna let her go.

Chapter 15 - Alicia

Twenty children gathered eagerly around me to hear one of their favorite stories – for the hundredth time.

“Green Eggs and Ham!” They cheered. “Miss Prescott is the best.”

These kids meant the world to me. Every day I worked with them made me wish I had some of my own. Tough to do that without a father, though, wasn't it?

Andy had offered. There were ways, he said, to make it work. But it felt so wrong.

I wanted to have them with the man I loved.

Too bad, however, that the guy I loved happened to be more into partying and flings than making a go of things with me.

“I do not like green eggs and ham,” I read in my special voice, and they all giggled. “I do not like them, Sam I Am!”

How I was gonna hate disappointing them when I told them the field trip had been canceled.

As if our current budgetary woes weren't bad enough, the fire last week scorched some of the paint on the wall, revealing asbestos from when the building was built way back in the forties.

That meant we needed to shut down the bathrooms and pay for professional removal – which pretty much put an end to trips, parties, and all the other fun stuff planned for the end of the school year.

Little Harry, with big blue eyes and red hair, climbed into my lap.

“When are we going to see the animals, Miss Prescott? I like lions the best.”

How did I explain to a bunch of kids there would be no animals this time? If only I could afford it out of my own pocket, I would.

“Well, Harry, you see...”

A knock on the classroom door made me jump. When I pushed it open, there was Carter himself, wearing his uniform and a wide, sexy-as-ever smile.

“Hello there, Allie. You look lovely this morning – but then again, I'm sure you always do.”

The kids jumped up and down trying to see who the visitor was. I tried to block their view. Carter was
not
the sort of influence these innocent things needed in their lives.

“What are you doing here? Can't you see I'm working?”

He grinned wider. “Hope your kiddos are ready for the super-secret, most awesome field trip ever.”

They overheard him and began to squeal with delight. As for me, I stood there, baffled, wondering what kind of game he could be playing with my emotions now.

“Start explaining,” I said, closing the door and pushing him out into the hall. “If you plan on causing trouble for me –”

“Certainly not. I already got permission from the principal.”

“Permission for what?”

“Bring your class outside and I'll show you.”

He made his way down the hall to the front doors. Reluctantly, I gathered the students and led them outside in a line. They were so excited for whatever Carter had planned that they refused to use their quiet voices no matter how I warned them to.

Out in the parking lot, the children were thrilled to find three shiny fire engines waiting. They ran and stared up at the giant trucks in awe.

Carter sat in the driver's seat of one truck. His friends Jayce, Brett, and Max were in the others.

“It's so cool!” Angel cried. “Can we get in?”

“Sure you can,” Carter said. “We're going on a tour of the Waco fire department – and maybe you'll get to be junior firefighters, too.”

I was speechless as his buddies helped the kids into the trucks. Though I tried to be mad at him for how he'd hurt me, it didn't last long. Watching him laugh with Harry on his shoulders warmed my heart so much that I nearly cried.

“Well, Miss Prescott?” He set the boy down and offered me his hand. “I'd be honored if you'd ride in the front with me.”

I accepted and slid into the seat beside him. He threw one arm around me, and I snuggled against his shoulder without thinking.

“Why are you doing this?” I whispered.

“You said the zoo trip was canceled.” He shrugged. “This might not be a day at the zoo, but I hope your kids will have just as much fun.”

We raced off to the fire station, where the class was given the grand tour. Carter demonstrated how the truck hose worked, let them turn on the sirens, and showed them what all the buttons did.

Then they went to the building where workers trained to put out real fires. The kids watched in amazement as the men raced to put out the flames.

By the end of it all, my students were exhausted but very happy. They all decided that they, too, would be firefighters when they grew up.

Carter came to me as they played soccer in the yard with Jayce and his buddies.

“Seems like they enjoyed themselves. I'm glad.” He laughed. “Entertaining five-year-olds isn't as tough as I thought.”

“You did all of this for them.”

“And for you. I know how important this is to you.”

He wrapped me in a hug, but the confusion persisted.

“What do you want out of me?”

“Everything.” He stroked my cheek, just like he did the night of our first kiss. “I made a huge mistake, Allie. At your grandparent's house, when I said we were only friends? That was a lie.”

“But – ”

He put a finger to my lips. “I said it because I was terrified to admit the truth. I wanted you to be mine. Didn't care about other girls anymore. But in order to have you, I knew I'd have to give up who I've been, and the way I've lived, for so many years.”

“And you made it perfectly clear you weren't going to do that.”

“I changed my mind. When you told me Andy had returned, that you were thinking about marrying him anyway, I decided you meant too much to me to give up.”

His words were sweet, but could I believe them? If I gave him a chance, what was to say he wouldn't get bored and move on in the end?

“I may not be rich like him, or powerful, or important. I'm just a regular guy. But I love you, damn it, and I hope to God that means something to you.”

Stunned, I pulled back and studied his handsome face. There wasn't a hint of sarcasm to be found there.

“You... love me?”

“I've just been denying the truth for all this time. I've loved you since high school, Allie. I was an idiot to ever let you go.”

“You were an idiot for a lot of things,” I said, laughing through my tears. “But I guess I forgive you. How can I help it when I love you too?”

“Does that mean you'll – ”

“Yes.”

He pulled me back into his arms and kissed me so sweetly, I knew I'd never forget it.

Maybe life hadn't worked out the way I planned, but then I guess it rarely ever does. That was okay, though. As long as I had Carter, what more did I need?

The children surrounded us, giggling and teasing. Carter smiled and reached down to ruffle one's hair.

“Maybe one day, we'll have some rugrats of our own,” he whispered.

“Thought you said you didn't want kids?”

“I dunno.” He took my hand. “You make the idea sound rather appealing. If you wanted to convince me, I doubt it'd be very hard.”

“You're being a pervert again, aren't you?”

“Always.”

We walked back to the firetruck, hand in hand, with a parade of little ones behind us.

Epilogue - Carter

“Weddings are usually too tacky for my tastes,” Jayce said. “But yours, man? Totally brought a tear to my eye.”

“Maybe you'll be the one getting hitched next,” I teased.

“Hell will freeze over before that happens.”

He reached into one of the food trays with his bare hands. Elle, his childhood friend and somehow the only girl able to keep a leash on him, slapped his arm with a disapproving frown.

“You're
so
gross, Jayce.” Her nose wrinkled. “You can't just stick your dirty fingers in there. Who knows where they've been?”

“I think you can use your imagination.”

“...I'd rather not. I'm starving, and I'd prefer if you didn't ruin my appetite.”

He made a show of stabbing a cocktail shrimp with a toothpick.

“You happy now?” He gestured to a pack of single guys hovering around the dance floor. “Bet you wouldn't be so uptight if you had a man in your life. Hell, you're so celibate, you could be a nun.”

She sputtered and threw a piece of her dinner roll at him. “How do
you
know I'm celibate? Maybe I get laid all the time. Unlike you, I don't enjoy blabbing about it to anyone who'll listen.”

“I hear they're taking applications at Saint Michael's,” he added with a laugh. “Hey, I bet you'd look pretty cute in a habit.”

“You're
such
a dick.”

I left them to their arguing and turned to survey the rest of the reception hall.

Alicia, my lovely new bride, was busy chatting with her girlfriends. They were the same bridesmaids that had shown up last time – and luckily, they seemed to like me a lot more than Andy.

I went to go give her another kiss because I simply couldn't keep my hands off her, but someone grabbed me by the arm.

“Carter McGraw.” Her mother, Ellen, greeted me with a polite smile. “I must say, I never imagined a delinquent like yourself would be marrying my daughter.”

“Aw, gee. Thanks, Mrs. Prescott. Sure am glad I got a sweet lady like you for a mother-in-law.”

She grumbled and wandered away to gossip with her friends. Ellen still didn't much like me – probably because my bank account wasn't hovering in the six figures – but I figured I'd make her warm up to me in time.

“There's my beautiful wife.” I put my arms around her from behind. “Sneaking a bite of the cake before it's even been cut, huh? You're more devious than I thought.”

She let out a surprised gasp and hurried to lick the frosting off her fingers. Even now, a year after we first started dating, the cute little things she did never failed to make me melt for her.

“I wasn't sneaking,” she said quickly. “Just, ah, testing it. We can't serve crappy cake to the guests.”

“You're an adorable liar.”