Sudden Response (15 page)

this you're going to work with me so that I can keep you safe."

She shoved him back. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she demanded, stepping forward to shove him back again. "You're

not my boss or my keeper! If I want to switch my shift then I'll switch my damn shift! A nd if I want to keep working on the

truck until I'm old and gray then that's my goddamn business!"

"Bullshit!" he snapped, grabbing her hands when she went to push him again and shoved them behind her back. The movement

forced her to arch into him until her breasts were plastered against his bare chest and she was forced to glare up at him. "A

nything that concerns you is my business."

"No, it's not!" she said, struggling against his hold. "I can take care of myself!"

"You don't have to!"

"Yes, I do!" she yelled.

"Why?" he demanded, yanking her back against him when she managed to put some distance between them.

"Because I don't have anyone, you asshole! Now let me go!"

He glared down at her. "That's bullshit, Joe."

"No, it's not" she snapped, renewing her struggles, but he didn't let her gain so much as an inch this time.

"You have me, Joe! You've always had me," he bit out evenly. How the hell could she say that or even think that?

She'd always had him. A lways. They'd been inseparable since they were eight years old and that hadn't changed, wouldn't

change. She was just too damn stubborn to realize that she wasn't alone in this world, but she was hung up on that bitch that

abandoned her and refused to see that she'd done her a favor. She was the most important person in his life and he thought that

he was the same for her. It killed him to know that she thought she was alone. She wasn't. Not as long as he was around.

"No, I-"

Whatever she was about to say was cut off when he did the one thing he'd longed to do since the dare he'd accepted when they

were fourteen, he kissed her. For a moment she stood there, tense, but he didn't let that stop him from enjoying her lips. They

were so warm and soft and he couldn't seem to get enough.

He knew he'd fucked up, but he couldn't help himself. She felt so good in his arms and when she moved her lips slowly against

his she felt perfect. It was so damn good, but he wanted more.

With a groan he released her hands and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her impossibly closer as he tilted his head and

traced the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue. When she opened up to him he didn't hesitate. He slid his tongue inside of

her mouth and couldn't help but feel like he was coming home.

She suckled his tongue into her mouth as her arms wrapped around his neck. In seconds the kiss went from cautious to out of

control and desperate. He couldn't get enough of her and if the way she was fisting his hair was any indication then she felt the

same way. They stumbled back until his back met the wall.

Without breaking the kiss he turned them around until she was against the wall. He removed his arms from around her and slid

his hands over her back to her sides and up. He ran his hands over her breasts, earning a needy little growl from Joe as her

hard nipples teased his hands through her shirt. She felt so good, a thousand times better than he ever imagined she would.

A fter a moment he needed more. He released her breasts and reached down, cupping her behind her knees and pulled her legs

up. She didn't hesitate in wrapping her legs around his waist and he sure as hell didn't waste any time in shifting until his

erection was pressed against her center.

Even through multiple layers that separated them he could feel her heat. He couldn't remember ever wanting a woman more

than he wanted her at that moment. He ground himself against her as he swallowed her moan of pleasure.

She ran her hands over his back and ass, encouraging him on and he knew by the sounds of her breathing and the way she dug

her nails into his back that she was close and god help him, but so was he. It wouldn't be enough. Not nearly enough, he thought

as he pulled her away from the wall and placed her on the edge of the kitchen table. He needed to be inside of her.

He reached for her pants button when he heard her front door open. They both went completely still.

"Joe? Look, I can't stand you being mad at me so I brought you another milkshake."

The moment he pulled away from her, reality crashed in over them like a bucket of cold water and they both realized they'd just

fucked up.

Chapter 16

"A re you going to share that with me?" Nathan asked, pouting.

"No," she said, sighing as she took a big bite out of her fried dough. She didn't really want it, but she needed something to do in

order to distract herself from the colossal mess she'd made out of her life.

"Cheap," Nathan mumbled, throwing her a little pout that had her rolling her eyes.

"You can have some of mine, Nathan," Caitlyn said, smiling sweetly up at Nathan.

"Thank you," Nathan said, looking a little uncomfortable as he accepted a bite of her fried dough. Caitlyn must have noticed it

too, because her smile slipped a notch.

She just barely stopped herself from slapping him upside his head. What the hell was wrong with him? Caitlyn was smart,

funny, sweet and kind and he was pushing her away. He did this so often that she knew the signs by heart now.

Right now he was distancing himself from Caitlyn and in a week she'd be gone from the picture. In another month or two he'd

find another woman that was just as perfect for him and he'd be happy until whatever stupid notion he allowed to take over his

common sense had him pushing that one away too. She wanted to scream at him and slap some sense into him, but she honestly

didn't know where to start.

"I-I'm going to go get a drink. Does anyone else want one?" Caitlyn asked, shifting uncomfortably.

"No, thank you," Joe said, throwing Caitlyn what she hoped was a warm smile.

"I'm all set," Nathan said absently as he watched the teams of firefighters run a relay race with rolled up hoses.

"Okay," Caitlyn said softly as she turned and walked away.

"Do we need to send you to therapy?" she asked when Caitlyn was out of hearing distance.

He frowned down at her. "No. Why?"

She rolled her eyes as she gestured towards Caitlyn's retreating back. Nathan followed her gesture and sighed.

"It's just not working out," he said with a shrug.

"Then tell her that instead of dragging this out. It's not fair to her."

"I will," was all he said and she had to ball her hands into fists to stop herself from choking some sense into him. What the hell

was wrong with him that he couldn't even see what was right in front of him? How the hell could he push someone who was

obviously perfect for him away like that?

The man needed his ass kicked. That's really all there was to it.

"What's going on with you two?" Nathan asked, gesturing towards the row of ambulances lined up for the EMS competition.

She spotted Eric leaning against the ambulance, shirtless of course, talking to an equally shirtless Dave, the EMT that took her

spot, but the sight of Dave didn't send her heart racing, make her palms sweat or confuse the hell out of her.

A fter their momentary lapse in sanity he hadn't said one single word to her. He simply stepped away from her and went to her

bedroom to get dressed, leaving her sitting on the table, confused, aching and furious. Of course the milkshake Nathan brought

her had helped calm her down. It really was too bad they weren't selling them here because she could really use one right about

now.

By the time Eric reappeared he was dressed and wouldn't make eye contact with her for which she'd been immensely grateful.

She'd never been more embarrassed in her life than in that moment. He kissed her and what had she done? She'd turned into

Super Ho and practically swallowed his tongue and rubbed against him.

She still couldn't believe it happened and if there was any doubt in her mind then the way her nipples tightened and tingled

every time she thought of him was proof enough. It didn't help that she couldn't stop thinking about him and what almost

happened. It didn't matter that she'd always been attracted to him. He was her best friend and she didn't want to lose that.

When he kissed her she should have put a stop to it and pulled away and laughed it off like she did when they were fourteen.

But had she done that? Oh no, not her. She practically swallowed his tongue and was seconds away from begging him to screw

her on the kitchen table before Nathan thankfully came by.

Now they weren't talking. They'd never gone a day without talking, but not one word from him over the past three days. Then

again she wasn't exactly reaching out and trying to connect with him either. For the past of couple of days she'd been screening

all her calls and avoiding all his usual haunts. If Nathan and Caitlyn hadn't showed up and bugged the hell out of her until she

gave in and let them drag her here to the Fireman's Muster she'd still be avoiding him.

"You're not still mad at him, are you?" Nathan asked, thankfully drawing her attention back to him before Eric saw that she was

watching him.

The last thing she needed was for Eric to think that she thought that kiss meant something when it clearly didn't.

Not at all.

She barely even thought about it or how good it felt to be in his arms. It was the furthest thing from her mind. Of course she also

wasn't curious about what would have happened if Nathan hadn't showed up or wondered if it would have been good. She

didn't, because that would be counterproductive when she was trying to forget it ever happened and figure out a way to act like

it never happened.

"Everything's fine, Nathan," she said with a shrug.

"Really? Is that why he won't even look this way and you haven't gone over there to kick his ass for getting you kicked out of

the competition?" he asked, throwing his arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle pull until she was walking with him

towards the food vendors.

"It's just a simple misunderstanding. It's nothing," she explained as they stepped in line, hoping he'd let it go. Thankfully by

some miracle he did.

"I'm starving. What are you buying me?" he demanded as he gestured towards the two man team working the grills.

"Nothing. You kidnapped me. That means you feed me."

"I guess I'm not up to date on my kidnapping etiquette."

"Guess not," she said, feeling her lips twitch in amusement. "You'll have to work on that."

"I guess so."

"Hey, Joe!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled.

She looked past Nathan to see Johnny, an EMT from the 505, waving to get her attention. "We need a patient. You interested?"

Was she? Yes, yes she was. The fact that she'd be helping the competition beat Eric didn't hurt. She was still pretty pissed

about being kicked out of the Muster and after all this weirdness was behind them she fully planned on kicking his ass for

screwing her over like this.

"I'll take a rain check on that double rack of ribs," she said, pulling away from Nathan to go help kick Eric's ass.

"Wait. When did I promise to buy you a double rack?" Nathan asked, sounding adorably confused.

"A bout ten seconds before you promised to buy me a double fudge brownie sundae," she said, throwing him a wink.

"Gold digger!"

********

"What the hell is she doing?" Dave asked as he gestured behind him.

Eric looked back and had to bite back a curse or two as he watched Johnny Powers sweep Joe off her feet and place her on his

stretcher. His eyes narrowed to slits when the bastard ran his fingers through her hair as he moved it out of her face.

What the hell was she doing?

Was she really that pissed at him that she was willing to help his competition? Or was it something else, he wondered.

Everyone knew that Johnny had the hots for Joe. A lthough whenever anyone told her that she'd just laugh it off. She thought

Johnny was just a buddy and being friendly. She was so fucking naive sometimes.

"That reminds me. We're going to need a patient too. Should I go get my sister?" Dave asked, moving to go do just that.

"Nah, I got it covered," he said, tossing the straps back on the stretcher.

He ran his fingers through his hair, questioning his motives even as he weaved his way through the other teams getting their

equipment together.

"Maybe after this we can go get a drink," Johnny asked, sounding eager.

Joe opened her mouth, probably to say yes since the damn woman no doubt thought it was just the guys hanging out together. He

really had no idea why the hell she couldn't figure out that she was pretty much the only one that saw her as one of the guys. A ll

the other guys as far as he knew looked her at her as a hot piece of ass and she was too damn oblivious to see that, which was

pretty fucked up since she wasn't like this with guys from outside of work.

"She's busy," he said, cutting her off before she could inadvertently lead the poor bastard on as he shoved past Johnny and

scooped her up.

He ignored her sputtered protests as he carried her back towards his ambulance.

"Where the hell are you going with my patient?" Johnny called after them.

"She's mine, dipshit," he yelled over his shoulder, wishing like hell that he didn't like the sound of that.