Bad Boy's Lust (Firemen in Love Book 1) (19 page)

Could also be why I had such a thing for Jayce.

Yes, he was a bit rough around the edges. But underneath his rough, tattooed exterior, he also had the potential to be a good man.

A good husband, though? I still had my doubts about that.

Heather was quiet for a long while. Then she took my hand. “Let's face the facts, Elle. Hidden Cove is stealing away our tenants, more of them everyday. New people who move to town go straight there instead of even considering us. Why would they, when the other guys are cheaper?”

And all I could do about that was lower rent – after I'd just raised it. Had I made a major mistake?

“They've got amenities we can't even dream of affording.”

I grunted. “Yeah, and I know what's up. David
owns
the place. He's offering all that for so little to steal our tenants on purpose!”

“So he can get the property for himself.” Her shoulders slumped. “He'll end up winning even if Jayce does get married. Which won't happen in this lifetime, I promise you.”

I'd thought about telling her, actually. Letting her in on our plan. But what was the point now?

“I hate that guy,” she continued. “How could he fall in love with your mom as soon as my mother died? How could they be getting hitched? I feel like it's totally disrespectful.”

A sickening thought came to me, but I didn't want to say it. Didn't have to. Heather thought of it first.

“Oh, no.” Her eyes widened. “You don't think maybe... They were seeing each other before my mom passed?”

“You mean, was he cheating on Debbie? I wouldn't know. I haven't lived anywhere near my mom in years.”

Poor Heather paced the room. She eyed the vodka bottle but, unlike me, didn't give in to temptation.

“We moved into David's house a few months after they began dating. A big place, but I never noticed anyone there that wasn't supposed to be.”

“He travels a lot for work, though. Could have been doing anything when he left home.”

Heather tried not to cry. I swore if mom had been screwing around with David behind her sister's back, she and I were through. David was a dick, but Debbie had loved him. I couldn't look mom in the eye knowing she'd done something so callous to her own flesh and blood.

“It's not like either of them would admit the truth.” I tried to soothe her. “I guess all we can do is deal with the mess we're in right now.”

The phone rang – the emergency ringer.

“I'm getting
really
sick of hearing that noise.” I reached for the thing to shut it up. “Hey, Frank. What is it?”

Frank, our latest maintenance guy, didn't waste time. “It's the elevator, Miss Gardener. It's, well... Stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“Yes, ma'am. Caught between floors four and five. There's a couple people on it.”

Heather must have seen my panicked eyes. She waved and silently mouthed “What is it?”

“So can you get it open?”

“You got any emergency access to it? Maybe through the stairwells or a wall panel, something like that?”

I told him to hold on and asked Heather.

“Emergency access? I highly doubt it. This building was built in the 1960s. We're lucky the stupid elevator even runs.”

“Well, it's not running anymore.”

“
What?
”

I considered pouring myself a shot straight from the Smirnoff bottle as Frank went on.

“Sorry, miss, but this is kinda out of the realm of my abilities. A busted pipe or window I can fix, but I ain't got any experience with elevators.”

Crap. Okay. All right. Do
not
overreact.

“It's not going to fall, is it?” My squeaking voice did nothing to calm Heather down.

“Fall! Damn it, Elle,
what
is going on?”

“I seriously doubt it. Wouldn't have far to go even if it did. Still, if we're gonna get those people out, we need to call the fire department.”

“The fire... Oh, Jayce!” I whipped around to Heather. “Where is he? I've been trying to get hold of him all day.”

“He was at work earlier. Haven't spoken to him since this morning.”

Of course. The one time we seriously needed his help, he was out slacking off again. But where, exactly?

I got off the line with Frank and dialed his number. Went right over to voicemail. He didn't have a home phone, either, and a quick glance at the parking lot told me his truck was gone.

“Where
are
you, Jayce?”

“Oh, man. I knew that thing was going to fall apart someday.” Heather sprinted out the door. “There's a phone in the office that connects to the one in the elevator. I'm gonna see if I can talk to the people that way. Make sure they're okay.”

Jayce had given me a personal number to call the station if I ever needed it. I dialed, and a guy named Oliver picked up. There was raucous laughter in the background.

“Yo. Who's this?”

“Is Jayce there? I'm at Shady Acres and I have a problem.”

“Uh... No. He's not.” Oliver coughed loudly into the speaker. “What's going on?”

“There's people stuck in our elevator.”

He sighed, clearly bothered by having to actually
do
something. Wherever firefighters got their badass reputation, I had no earthly idea.

“I'll send a couple of guys down in a minute. Is there anybody in immediate danger?”

“No, I don't think so.” Not knowing where that slacker was really gnawed at me. “I've got a question. Do you have any idea where Jayce is? I can't find him anywhere.”

Oliver yawned. “There was a party for Max tonight at Twinkles. That's all I know. Probably there. Lucky bastard.”

Then he hung up on me. Twinkles? A party?

I found Heather and Frank in the office. She held the phone to her head and paced in circles.

“Don't be scared, Mrs. Plum. Someone will be there to get you out very soon. Promise.”

Mrs. Plum yowled like a banshee at her. I couldn't understand a word of it.

Frank ran a hand through his thinning gray hair and whistled. “You kids always have this much excitement here? I think I'm getting too old for heroic stunts.”

“The department's sending some guys to help,” I announced. “And I think I know where Jayce is. Either of you guys ever heard of Twinkles?”

Heather shrugged. Frank's face reddened.

“Frank? What's wrong?”

He chuckled weakly. “It's, ah... You really don't know?”

I did
not
like the sound of this.

“No, I don't.”

“It's... How do I say this?” He looked away. “It's what you might call a gentleman's entertainment venue.”

My stomach churned. “A strip club?”

“Well, that's one way of putting it.”

I nearly exploded with rage. All the vodka in my blood made the fury burn even hotter.

Jayce was partying at a
strip club
while I busted my ass for this place!

I normally wasn't the confrontational sort. I tended to let things go easily and never held a grudge.

Now, I wasn't sure who to be angrier at – Jayce, or myself for being stupid enough to believe his lies.

Hot tears streamed down my face as I fled from the office. Heather ran after me, begging me to come back.

“Elle, please! Why are you so mad? Jayce does crap like this all the time. You know that's just how he is.”

Maybe he
used
to be like that. But lately, he made me think he'd changed. Made it sound like he was mature enough to knock this crap off.

Told me there was only one woman he wanted. Me.

Until something better sashayed along in front of his face, just like I told him would happen.

“Elle!”

Heather grabbed my shirt, forcing me to stop. She really had no idea, did she? Probably thought I was effing crazy for acting like this.

“Why are you crying? There's no need to be so upset.”

I knew what I had to do.

Jayce said he wanted to marry me. Was he serious? Who would believe such a sham, when he was acting like the man-whore he'd always been?

And if I let that go on, I'd look like a complete fool. Like the poor wife who couldn't keep her man under control.

Jayce didn't want to be controlled, but the moment he signed that paperwork, he didn't really have much choice. He couldn't be pulling stunts like this anymore.

I fumbled for the keys in my pocket as I checked my phone for the club's address. Old Farm Road, huh? That was on the outskirts of town. A good spot to put a disgusting place like that.

“Whoa, girl. Where do you think you're going?”

I slipped and almost fell as she pulled me back. There was some brown, sticky liquid spilled on the tiled floor just in front of the entrance.

No wet floor sign. Someone could slip, fall, and sue us into oblivion.

Right about now, I didn't care.

“I'm going to Twinkles.”

“You're not going anywhere. You're drunk.” She furrowed her brow. “And please tell me
why,
for God's sake, you're chasing after Jayce? He's a big boy. He'll probably be home around two or three.”

Two or three? Why was he acting like a college frat boy at 28 years old? Anger boiled up in me even more.

“Not this time. I'm going to get him.”

She stood in front of me. “It's almost midnight.”

“Don't care.”

She sighed heavily. “Look. If you're absolutely serious about this, let me drive you.”

I rubbed my eyes. They burned with the need for sleep.

“It's not your problem, Heather. You stay here and wait for the fire department to show up.”

“
What's
not my problem? You're making no sense.” She put her arm around me and walked me to her car. “Come on. We're family. I'm not just gonna let you drive drunk and kill yourself in an accident.”

“Yeah, because then there would be nobody left to run this place. Lord knows
he'll
never do it.”

Heather pushed me into the backseat of her car, and off we went. Away from downtown, onto the highway, then to the Old Farm Road exit. It was very dark out here. Dark and lonely.

Lonely... Like me, when I pictured Jayce in another woman's arms.

“Almost there. I think I see it up ahead.” She pointed to the spot of brightness ahead that lit up the night sky. “Are you sure about this? Why the heck are we chasing Jayce to a strip club? This isn't like you.”

How could I possibly tell her this – that her playboy jackass of a brother seduced me? That when he held me, I truly felt alive for the first time in years?

That I might be falling in love with...

No.
This wasn't love. It's just sex. That's what Jayce said.

A tear rolled down my cheek. Where there was one, more waited to fall.

We made it into the parking lot. It was surprisingly full of cars for this time of night, and I resisted the urge to see if I recognized any of them from town.

Well, there was one I
did
recognize. Jayce's imposing black truck, right there in the front.

I also resisted the urge to throw a rock through his windshield. Lucky that Heather was there to talk me out of it.

“I don't think you should go in there,” she pleaded. Good for her, trying to be the voice of reason.

Sadly, I was too far gone to listen.

I pushed through the door with her in tow. Nobody in the smoky, dimly lit bar looked up at us. They were too busy gawking at the girl dancing on the counter.

The
topless
girl.

I bristled as an old man stuffed cash into her underwear. Didn't see Jayce among the men, though. But his truck was outside, which meant he was in here somewhere – doing things I knew were gonna make me cry even harder.

“Where is he?” I stormed up to the bartender. “Where is Jayce Reinhard?”

He and the other patrons exchanged amused looks. Heather tried to pull me away, but I shook her off.

“Go wait outside. You don't want to see this.”

She groaned. “Why do
you
want to? I don't...” Her eyes widened. “Wait a minute. No. It can't be.”

But she'd already figured it out. I didn't even bother to deny it.

From somewhere down the long, dark hallway came the hoots and laughter of men. Then, the sound of a hand striking flesh and the playful yelp of a woman.

I ran. Heather didn't follow this time. She hung back and stared at the floor.

I followed the noise to a room near the back, then paused. He was in there. Only a thin black sheet separated us.