For the Love of a Fireman

The officer drove off, Barclay stepped back into the diner and stilled. Molly had pulled the rubber band from her hair and was running her fingers through the wet strands that came to her elbows. God, what would it feel like to wrap it around his wrists and hold her head in place while he kissed those soft lips?

Good thing she would only be in Indian Rocks Beach for a few weeks. With his attraction to her growing stronger by the minute, he’d be in big trouble. Since he and Yvette split up, he tended to keep his relationships short and shallow. He’d seen firsthand the damage the so-called emotion, love, could do to a person’s life.

He slipped back into his seat. “I’ll drive you to the police station tomorrow. I’m on vacation for another day. Some of the guys from the fire station are coming to paint the cabins. I can sneak away while they work.” He smiled and reached to rub his thumb over her knuckles. Then in a self-preservation move, he pulled his hand back and wrapped it around his coffee mug. “The place you’d mentioned your family always stayed. That was my uncle Vern’s five cottages, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “My parents stayed there on their honeymoon back in eighty-two and came back every February for their anniversary. I was conceived there twenty-five years ago, or so my mother claimed. It was a second marriage for both of them and I was what old wives called a change of life baby.” She swiped at a falling tear. “Mom was killed in a car crash nearly three months ago on November twelfth.”

An old pain of loss and devastation charged into Barclay’s body and sprinted toward his heart. His mother had died just as suddenly two years ago, although bits of her emotions had been killed with every beating his bastard father had given her. Yet his abusive parent had bawled at her funeral, blubbering over and over about how much he’d loved his Carol. Drunk, abusive bastard.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Molly. You have my sympathies. My mother’s gone too. It leaves a big gap, especially when your siblings live in other states. Do you have any brothers or sisters?”

She shook her head and woeful eyes rose to meet his. “Life changes in an instant, doesn’t it? A tractor trailer hit a patch of black ice and lost control. He rammed right into her little compact. Neither my father nor I have been the same since. Dad’s grieving so badly, I don’t know how much longer he’ll last. I can barely get him to eat a proper meal. He’s been living on junk food. He’s under medication for early signs of dementia.”

Damn, she had her problems.

“Somehow, from picking up our rental car at the airport, Dad lost his wallet with most of our money and credit cards, my briefcase holding my laptop and my carryon of clothes. I’m a website designer back home, so I need a computer to keep my business afloat.”

“So that’s why you’re working instead of vacationing?”

She nodded again, the fall of her dark hair hiding part of her face. “I work the morning shift here and a few evenings at the drug store. I bought a new laptop on my credit card, but I don’t want to max it out. We’ll need it in case of emergencies and for our travel expenses from the airport in Denver to home in Breckenridge.”

“I’ve got what used to be the apricot cottage just about finished inside. It needs both interior and exterior painting and furniture moved in. Would your dad be more comfortable there? It has a new deck that backs onto the beach.”

A wistful expression kissed her battered face. “That’s the one we always stayed in, but until I get some customers to pay their bills and the replacements for dad’s credit cards, we can’t afford the security deposit or the rent.”

God, he wanted her to have the place for the time she had remaining here. The why of it escaped him; he just had this innate need to help, which hadn’t been a part of him since he lost little Bella Marie. How the hell was she going to work with her ankle and foot all banged up? No one ever claimed he was going to make a good businessman, besides he had the income from his job at the station. “If you want the place, it’s yours. No security deposit. No rent. Just clean it good before you leave.”

“You can’t do that. Isn’t the object of fixing them up to have rental income?”

He nodded and tucked into the piece of pie in front of him. “To a degree. I’m living in the cottage next to it. The aqua one.” He shook the fork at her. “You know, I’m also going to need a website under the new name. We could trade services.” He grinned at her and hoped she’d take him up on his offer.

“Now that’s a deal I could handle. I wasn’t raised to take charity, but if I can work part of our obligation off that would be great. Dad’s a retired carpenter. He might be able to help you a couple hours a day, but you’d have to keep a close eye on him. One minute, he’s on track and, the next, he can’t recall what he was about to do. Do you have a webpage reserved in your name?”

“It’s in Grey’s Cottages’ name. Not much to it, Sugar, I did it myself so it’s pretty lame.”

“I’ll get started on it tomorrow. You’ll have the best website I can create. One thing though…”

His fork stilled halfway to his mouth. “What?”

“Don’t call me Sugar.”

CHAPTER THREE

The door to the diner flew open and a dark-haired beauty squealed as she barreled in. “Ice Man, my hero!” The woman’s hands cupped Barclay’s cheeks and she kissed him full on the lips.

Molly sipped at her lukewarm tea, taking note of the affectionate exchange. One of his many conquests, no doubt.

“Angel, you’re going to make me beat his worthless ass.” The tall, dark and incredibly handsome man accompanying the beauty looped his arm around her waist, pulling her away from Barclay and back to him. He kissed her neck. “You know how I get.”

Barclay grinned and shook his head. “Molly, meet one of the most possessive son of a bitches to ever get married, Quinn Matisse, and his wife, Cassie.” He extended an open hand to her. “This is Molly. We just met tonight and, as you can see, she’s had a rough evening.”

“Nice to meet you.” Quinn’s eyebrows dipped when he looked at her. He slid onto the seat next to Barclay, who gently wrapped his hand around her bandaged ankle and lifted it onto his thigh, evidently to make room for his friend. Once Quinn sat, their broad shoulders met, creating quite a wall of macho muscles.

Cassie sat next to her and reached for her husband’s hand before turning a warm smile on Molly. “I’m happy to meet you.” She peeled the ice pack away from Molly’s cheek and winced. “Looks like Ice Man’s been busy doing some first aid work.”

“Yes. The man carries around a portable operating room.”

“So does my Quinn. It comes with the job.”

Sarah came over to get their orders, so conversation stopped.

The heat from Barclay’s thigh warmed Molly’s ankle, ice pack or no ice pack. If she slid her foot over just a couple of inches, it would touch his manhood. Her gaze rose to lock on Barclay’s and a slow, sexy smile spread as if he read her thoughts. The heat of a flush spread just as slowly across her cheeks.

Quinn aimed a raised eyebrow to Barclay or, Ice Man, as the two apparent newlyweds called him. In response to Quinn’s silent question, Barclay never mentioned the cause of her battered face. Quinn turned his gaze to Molly. “You’re looking at a very happy man.”

“Really?”

“I’ve started a whole new life, recently. New last name, new wife, new rancher.”

“Now all we need are babies to fill it.” Cassie flashed Quinn a wide grin.

Her husband shook his head. “We agreed to wait three years, Angel. Just because you held baby Andy Jace from the moment we stepped into Jace and Wendy Anne’s house, don’t go getting any maternal ideas. I want you to myself for a few years.”

“That little kid is quite the charmer, isn’t he?” Something in the tone of Barclay’s voice—pain, longing, devastation—nearly tore Molly’s breath away.

Cassie’s hand slid across the table to touch fingertips against his rigid fist. “Ice Man,” she whispered, her face sorrowful. “I know this is hard for you.”

His hand moved to his lap and then rubbed Molly’s bandaged leg, so both of his hands were on her—one at her instep and the other on her calf, gently and slowly massaging. Her nipples were all but crying, “Me next! Me next!” Molly crossed her arms to muffle their sensual plea.

“I took him a toy last week. Seeing him was only half as difficult as I’d expected. I actually held him for a few minutes.” Barclay’s voice was strained as he stared out of the diner window. “I’d put it off for months. I mean, I went to see the kid in the hospital after he was born, gave them a baby present, but I just couldn’t bring myself to see him up close and personal.” He shook his head. “Chicken shit, huh?”

Why would it be so hard for him to see a baby?

Quinn tapped Cassie’s hand once and she pulled it back to her lap. Her husband slouched in the seat. “We just came from a family picnic and noticed your heap of a truck in the parking lot.”

His friend’s insult seemed to snap Barclay out of his deep thoughts. “Hey, buddy, watch it. That’s a valuable antique sitting out there.”

Quinn laughed. “Yeah? How many times has it been worked on this week?”

“Kiss my ass, Quinn.” Barclay sipped his coffee and winked at Molly.

“Thought we’d stop by and chat a bit. How’s vacation going?”

Barclay’s head leaned side-to-side once, the joints in his neck popping. “Good. Haven’t gotten as much work done as I’d hoped. The cabins were pretty decrepit. Plus the beach keeps calling to me. The girls and I have played a lot of Frisbee on the sand. Thank goodness some of the guys from the station have helped me on their days off.”

He jerked a thumb toward his friend and spoke to Molly. “Quinn is on the same fire squad I am and he also drives the boat for our marine rescue team. Cassie is a beautician who chased him for three years until he wised up and let her catch him.”

Cassie squirmed in her seat, a bundle of nervous energy, and grinned. “Men can be so dense, you know? Why, I even had to seduce him the first time.” She winked at Molly, who didn’t know if she should believe the sparkling woman or not. “We’ve been married for almost eight months.” She grinned at Quinn and sighed. “It was a very good seduction.”

Molly finished her piece of pie, her previous shakes nearly gone. “Why did you refer to Barclay as your hero?”

Cassie’s eyes widened. “Ice Man? Oh, you wouldn’t know the story. I was abducted by this weird guy who was working for…” she glanced at Quinn. “Well, it doesn’t matter who he worked for. Not really. But my man, here, plus my brothers, Wolf and Jace, Barclay and a couple other friends formed an unsanctioned SWAT team and rescued me. Blew up the building I was held captive in. I’ll never forget that night. Neither will the two guys who have to sit down to pee the rest of their lives because of what Quinn and my big brother did to them.”

Quinn snickered and lifted his wife’s hand to his lips. “Neither will I. She and I broke up on the way to the hospital from her rescue. Was one hell of a gawd-awful evening.”

Molly’s gaze ricocheted from Cassie to Quinn to Barclay. Abduction, blowing up a building, castrating men… What the hell? I’ve fallen down the nutso rabbit hole. All three of them looked normal, but what was normal anymore? “How long were you two apart after you broke up?”

Quinn held up four fingers. “Four hellacious hours. I got knocked unconscious after I got home and she took pity on me once I was found.”

“Some men need a good woman more than others. Quinn just needed me. I couldn’t let him go.”

“Would you just listen to her brag? All full of feminine power.” Quinn looked at Molly

Cassie mumbled, “Here we go. Just pay him no mind.”

Quinn pointed to her engagement ring. “I had to handcuff her to the headboard to slip that diamond on her finger.”

Cassie extended her ring hand and rolled her eyes. “You just have to tell everyone that story, don’t you?” Her husband laughed softly when she stuck her tongue out at him. “And I think you might be mistaken. I’m sure we said we’d wait one year to start making a baby.”

Quinn blew on his cup of coffee. “Nope. Three years.” He winked at Barclay who smirked in return.

“Gee, and I was going to pole dance for you tonight.”

Her husband choked and sputtered coffee on his shirt. “Dammit, Cassie!” He swiped java off his chin and t-shirt. “You never did fight fair.”

Cassie laughed. “No, and you love me that way.”

Over coffee, shared French fries and more pie, Molly told them about Wade.

With the ice pack against her cheek, she recanted her harrowing experience of less than an hour ago. She also shared her and her dad’s bittersweet journey to Indian Rocks where they intended to spread her mother’s ashes on the beach in front of the cabin they’d always stayed in.

Her gaze locked on Barclay’s. “Though I’m not sure the new owner will allow that.”

His gaze hadn’t moved from her face since she’d started talking. The man treated her as if she were the only person in the diner. His dimpled smile—she could only describe as dangerous and damned sexy—made her toes curl, even the painful broken one. As if he could read her reaction, his fingers caressed her unbound toes. “I don’t see that as being a problem.”

She couldn’t help herself; she smiled for the first time in months. “Thank you.”

Barclay stared at her for several minutes before Quinn’s elbow bumped his—twice. As if to erase some kind of mental vision, Barclay shook his blond head a few times, cleared his throat and looked at her again. “Sorry, did you say something?”

“I said thank you, Barclay. You don’t know what your kindness means to us, to me. Your offer to let us stay in the little cottage we have so many great memories of and allowing us to spread Mom’s ashes there.” She smiled again and he looked as if he’d stopped breathing for a minute. “If Dad can spend some time at the cabin he and Mom loved, maybe it’ll help calm him down. His dementia not only makes him forgetful, but he agitates easily too.”

Cassie rubbed Molly’s arm with sympathy. “You poor dear. One of my customers has a husband with dementia. He puts things where he can’t recall. She found the TV remote in the ice maker of their freezer. He put his razor in the linen closet behind the towels. Then he tears the house apart hunting for the items he’s misplaced.

“When she comes in my shop, I give her extra pampering because I know she has to be exhausted from caring for her husband. I massage her arms and fingers, her neck and shoulders. Little things, you know. It’s rough to see your loved one deteriorate mentally and emotionally.”

“Tell me about it. Some days, dad is coherent. Other days, he’s all befuddled. He was fine on the flight down. I was so pleased with how well he did.” Molly rubbed her forehead and sighed. “Then there was a bit of a mix-up with our car reservations. He got flustered and impatient. Started pacing and mumbling. Then he swore we left Mom on the plane and went into a panic that she’d been flown to Iraq or Afghanistan.” She shook her head and sighed. “Two places you don’t want to be yelling in an airport. Calming him down took a lot of effort. When I told him she was dead, his eyes went wild and he started crying and screaming.” She twisted her napkin in her hands. “Security came running and told me I’d have to get him out of there. Like that wasn’t what I’d been trying to do all along.”

Quinn pounded on the bottom of a ketchup bottle. “Give a man a badge and his common sense shrivels.”

Molly nodded in agreement. “We always got a sedan and this trip we ended up with a compact. Dad started whining as soon as he saw it. Claimed his long legs would never fit in it.” She shot a glance at Cassie. “He’s only five-eight and to hear him talk, you’d think five feet of him are legs.

“Anyway, somehow, between the emotional fiasco at the car rental desk and our arrival at the condo, his wallet, my briefcase and carry-on had disappeared. My fault, I guess. When I asked Dad where everything was, he narrowed his eyes and jutted his chin, claiming he had it all and to stop treating him like a child. I was just too frazzled to push the issue and check behind him.”

Barclay’s pressure as he massaged her toes and calf increased. She nearly purred, even if it was just an act of pity on his part. What else could it be?

“I called the police, the Tampa International Airport and the car rental agency but, so far, no one’s seen a thing. So now I’m working at two jobs, trying to keep us financially flush. Dad’s medicine is pretty expensive. He’s lost it twice since we’ve been here. I found the bottle inside his pillow case the first time, but could never locate it the second time he misplaced it. So I had to call his doctor back in Breckenridge to send a prescription to the Walgreens here where I work.”

Tears pooled and she blinked to clear them. The stress of living in a continual scavenger hunt with her dad was getting to her. Then to have Wade show up and knock her around. “It’s…ah…been a little rough.” Two traitorous tears overflowed.

Cassie’s arms instantly went around her. “Oh, honey. I know some of what you’re going through. I lost both of my parents in a fire. You just cry when you need to. Get it out.” She kept patting Molly’s back. “Besides, you’ve got friends here now. There’s no one sweeter than Ice Man. I’ve known him since I was a teenager. ʼCourse he was known to everyone as Barclay back then. He and my brother Jace were good buddies. Let him help you. My own personal hero and I are here for you too.” She pulled out of the embrace and slipped a business card from her tiny purse. “Here’s my cell number.” She jotted a number on the back and handed it to Molly. “Just wait until you meet the whole gang. Firemen, their wives and girlfriends. You’re not alone anymore.” Cassie cast her gaze on Barclay. “Is she, Ice Man?”

“No. I’ll keep an eye on her and her dad. Which bedroom did he and your mom use? I’ll see most of the same furniture goes back in there so he feels a sense of familiarity. I’ve ordered new mattresses and living room furniture for each unit, though.”

“Oh, Barclay, that’s so kind of you. Or would you rather I call you Ice Man?” He was such a caring individual, what had prompted such a nickname?

“Barclay’s fine.”

“They had the room that overlooked the beach. It was always painted blue and there were oars crisscrossed over the headboard, fish net wrapped around the oar handles with star fish and pretty shells tucked in the net. When I was a kid, I thought that arrangement was the neatest thing. I had the bedroom toward the driveway in front.” He nodded, no doubt making a mental note. “Cassie and Quinn, it’s been great meeting you, but I have to get home to Dad. He’ll be wondering what’s happened to me.” Her gaze swept to Barclay. “Thanks for chasing off Wade and tending to my sprained ankle and bruised face. Good luck bathing your dogs tonight.”

She went to slide her heel off his thigh and his hold on her tightened. “I’ll drive you to your condo. You’re in no condition to walk anywhere. Besides your foot’s probably swollen so bad you won’t be able to get your sandal back on. Stay where you’re at. I’ll come for you as soon as I carry my first aid kit out to the truck.” Quinn stood and Barclay slid out, grabbing his case and lugging it outside.

Well, really, she could walk. She didn’t need to listen to him. “Would you let me out, please, Cassie?”

“And have Ice Man give me the stink eye? No way. A smart woman knows when to listen to her man.”

Her man? Cassie must be delusional. “Barclay is most definitely not my man. He’s not even my type.”

“Type? If he was any more your type, he’d have you sitting on his lap. I sense a definite attraction. You’ve never been around a group of men like the ones at Fire Station Thirty-two.” Cassie snorted. “If you try to go off on your own, he’ll just catch up with you, toss you over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and—if you’re lucky—smack your behind.” The woman actually winked at her.

He smacks my behind and I’ll pop him in the eye. Although the more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea seemed—having a man take control. She could use a break from all the problems and pressures.

Barclay sauntered back into the diner and Cassie obediently slid out of the seat. He reached in, slipped his hands under Molly and lifted her as if she weighed no more than the role of Ace bandage he’d wrapped around her foot earlier.

Quinn stood and extended his hand for Cassie. “I’ll be at the cabins to help paint tomorrow, Ice Man. You’ll be back on the job the day after, right?”

“Yeah, can’t say I’ve missed those forty-eight hour shifts. By the time you get rested during your days off and do a few things, it’s time to start another round.”

Quinn wrapped his arm around Cassie’s waist, drawing her close. “See you in the morning. Just not real early. I do believe my wife promised me a pole dance tonight.” He leaned in and planted a kiss on her neck.

Oh, yeah, I’ve dropped into some strange kinky lifestyle hole. Women handcuffed to beds and dancing on poles—seemingly on command. With a gentle strength, Barclay pressed Molly to the firmness of his pecs and carried her from the diner. She clutched her wet hoodie to her side.

“You seem upset. You okay, Sugar?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to call me Sugar?”

He tilted his head to the side and, for a few seconds, she could have sworn his jaw clenched. Would he hit her too? Choke her? Knock her around?

Oh, he’d call her Sugar, all right. And before he was through with her, she’d damn well know how a man should treat a woman, because he bet she’d never been shown tenderness and protectiveness before. He gave a mental shrug. Okay, maybe from her father, but certainly not from any guy she’d dated. She had no clue she was about to start school—Seduction 101 and maybe, if she was into it, light BDSM 102.

He’d left the passenger door open on his reconditioned antique truck when he returned to the diner to get her. With great care, he placed her on the wide bench seat, pushing his bags of shopping products over. Slipping his hand beneath the silky fall of her long hair, he cupped the back of her neck to hold her head in place. With slow, deliberate movements, he leaned in and, using the barest of touches, dragged his lips across her cheek until they scarcely made contact with the corner of her mouth. Good God, he couldn’t help himself, couldn’t resist that beauty spot of hers and, against his better judgment, he swept the tip of his tongue over it—ever so lightly.

Her breathing hitched and his all but seized in his lungs for the want of her, the taste of her, the feel of her under his hands. His lips whispered against the curve of hers, where her cheek ended and her very sexy mouth began. “Then what shall I call you?”

She swallowed and the sound echoing in his old Chevrolet was something he’d never forget. He couldn’t recall anything so damn enticing. “My…my name is Molly. You know that.”

He tilted his head toward her a fraction as he reached for the seatbelt and stretched it across her stomach that quivered at his brief touch. “No nicknames?” His eyes focused on hers in the dim interior lighting. Beautiful, magnetizing were the only terms he could think of to describe them. He’d been resisting their pull from the first time he’d seen her.

She cleared her throat. “N…no.” She jutted her chin. “Well, one, but I refuse to divulge it.” Her gaze centered on the windshield and she wiped her palms on her capris. Was she nervous over his closeness or turned on?

Either way, she obviously had his attention. Fuckin’A. Both his and his cock’s.

“Then, with you being so sweet, I’d say Sugar fits. At least between you and me. And I can tell you I have never abused a woman. Argued with, yes. Hit or called names, no. Never. A real man provides and protects.” His lips lightly brushed hers as their breaths mingled and his words stroked her mouth. “Do you know you have the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen? It makes your indigo eyes go almost violet. A man could virtually fall into them and never want to climb back out.”