Wrapped in Flame Read online

  “My mess. My marriage, such as it was. I retook control I never should have relinquished and worked it out. No sense dragging the rest of you into it. I didn’t want you to have to choose sides.”

  “We did that the minute we met you. The only reason we tolerate him now is because of you. There isn’t one of us who wouldn’t go to the mat for you, Erica.”

  He said that now, and Erica knew he meant every word, but… “You still have to work with the guy.”

  His scowl darkened the room. “Don’t remind me. I do my best to make sure we’re not on the same shift. He’s lazy, incompetent, and those are his good qualities. He has no friends at the station. You aren’t the only one he’s screwed.”

  “Well, technically speaking, he hasn’t been screwing me.” It was important Mike know that.

  There was a hitch in his breath. “Yeah, we’ve noticed the his-and-her rooms. Berto cornered him on that one day.”

  Erica could hear Berto. “What the fuck’s up with that, man?”

  “Apparently I snore,” she said. “Or his hours make it easier for him to sleep without me dashing all over the place. Or I twist the covers. Or my body’s too hot.” She lifted her palms. “It was fine with me because at that point the last thing I wanted was him anywhere near me.”

  “Keith is an ass. Always was, always will be. I’m glad it’s finally over.”

  Mike closed that last bit of distance between them. Her hands came to rest on his hard chest while he slipped one hand around her waist. Long, thick fingers coiled around her neck, cradling it, drawing her closer.

  “I know you had to live it, but we had to watch it. You have no idea how frustrating it was for us to not interfere. It’s been hell watching you—”

  He pressed his lips together, rolling them, moistening them, tempting her with a taste. What would he do if she stretched up on her toes and kissed him? There’d never been a hint her attraction to him was reciprocated. He’d never crossed a line, never made a pass, never treated her any differently than anyone else. But then, she’d been “taken.” Now she wasn’t.

  Mike cupped her head and drew it to his shoulder. “Someone needs a hug.”

  “You or me?” She slipped her arms around his neck.

  “Both of us?”

  Mike did like his hugs. He was always tossing them around. Granted, he never gave hugs this close, but this circumstance was unique. Erica was glad she hadn’t tried to sneak a kiss. She felt silly even thinking he’d want her. A man this yummy had his pick of the crop. Women were always trying to cozy up to him. Beautiful women. She’d envied every one of them when he’d cast that dazzling smile in their direction. A smile that promised a night they’d never forget. She’d wanted to draw them aside afterward for a blow-by-blow account. Nothing like living vicariously. But Mike was careful to keep his relationships clear from the crew. Few were allowed within the “family,” as they were called. He never spoke of them either. “Real men don’t need to kiss and tell.” How many times had she heard him say that? And there was no doubt Mike Barnard was a real man.

  One hand slipped to her lower back. There was the barest hint of pressure there, trying to pull her even closer than they already were. She felt the hardness between them. Hot and unmistakable.

  She swallowed, her throat gone dry. Make a move or ignore it? A mistake now risked ruining their friendship. Erica couldn’t bear that. She left control in his hands, let him make the next move.

  So why didn’t he make it? Her hopes fell. Because the erection pulsing between them meant nothing. Guys got hard-ons all the time for all manner of reasons. This was no different. She didn’t expect that knowledge to hurt as badly as it did.

  “Let’s face it, Erica. I didn’t marry you for your looks.”

  That knife thrust to the heart again, similar to words her own family had uttered time and again. Too tall, too big, too opinionated, too…everything that could possibly be wrong with a person. And she had the nerve to think a man like Mike would want her? She was buddy material, not mating material. How many men had told her that since college?

  Tears welled up. She tried her best to fight them. The hurt was too much. Words slashed at her heart. The fantasy she’d carried with her crumbled to ashes around it.

  “Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay.” Mike rubbed his big hands over her back. “I’ve got you.”

  How she wished that were true.

  Chapter Two

  Mike thought hell was wanting Erica and knowing she belonged to another man. That hell was knowing the other man was a worthless son of a bitch who didn’t deserve her. No, this was hell. Knowing she was finally free, being so hard he thought his dick would burst, wanting nothing more than to drag her naked body next to his and fuck her until he was dehydrated…and being too afraid and unsure to make a move.

  If this were any other woman, he’d have her up against the wall, legs around his waist, dry humping her to an orgasm. But he’d known Erica wasn’t just any woman the moment he’d laid eyes on her. Mike damned himself a thousand times over for not having made a move on her then. If he had, she damn sure wouldn’t have married fucking Keith Randall. But no, he’d diddled around, thinking he had time to go slow and sweet, to savor every second of seduction, only to realize after the fact that Keith had stolen the prize, stolen the woman of his dreams and his happily-ever-after. Because that was what Erica was to him—his future. If he didn’t fuck it up yet again.

  Being cocksure he’d have her before had gotten him nowhere. Now fear held him captive. They were best friends. That much he had obtained for himself, and he sure as hell didn’t want to lose it. Mike had no idea how she felt about him on that level. If she thought about him beyond the bounds of friendship, if she entertained any fantasies about him, if the mere thought of him got her hard and moist between the legs.

  Mike clenched his jaw against the rush to his cock. With her this close to him, there was no hiding the erection now. He moved his hand down to the small of her back, aching to bring her closer so he could grind into her soft belly. Then he’d cup her sweet ass and haul her up until she tossed those long legs around his waist.

  A sniffle stopped him cold. Yeah, he wanted her bad, but not at the risk of making a false move or being the rebound guy or losing her forever.

  “Oh, sweetheart, it’s okay.” Mike rubbed what he hoped were soothing circles over her back. “I’ve got you.”

  Liar. You don’t have shit and never did. Do something. Take a fucking chance. What do you have to lose? Everything, but he had everything to gain as well.

  “Erica, I think—”

  “This is so messed up! I’m gonna kill that little bastard!”

  Mike and Erica started as Bub Shephard’s voice blasted through the house. She jerked away and flicked tears from her cheeks while Mike racked his brain for a way to explain his hard-on. Maybe they won’t notice. Right. They noticed. Every single time. It wasn’t a secret how he felt about Erica. Well, maybe to Erica.

  “This is bullshit,” CJ added. “Little prick’s got a lot of nerve, kicking her out.”

  “The hell with waiting.” Oh shit. Now Gina Cannon was all stirred up. “I say we go over there right now and get Erica’s things.”

  Erica darted past him when a chorus of “yeahs” rang out. “No, no, no.”

  Mike hauled his dick into a more comfortable position and hurried after her.

  “Please don’t,” he heard her tell them. “Keith’s looking for any reason to call in sheriff’s deputies. I’ve had enough drama because of this man to last a lifetime. I really don’t want any more. Keith’s on-shift tomorrow. We’ll handle it then.”

  “He’s not there now.” Berto Trejo shoved his way inside. “I did a drive-by. His car’s not there. I got my truck. Mike and CJ got theirs. We get Tim’s—”

  “Come on, guys. Erica said no. She’s got this under control.” One thing Mike wasn’t about to do right now was take that control away from her. She was standing tall, on her
own. “We follow her lead. We do what she says. She’s the one who has to face him in court.”

  Bub snorted. “Not if I—”

  Mike snapped his hand up. “Don’t finish that sentence.” Bub was strong enough to turn Keith into matchsticks. Angry enough too.

  Gina rubbed her hands together. Worry deepened the furrows in her forehead. “What can we do? We have to do something. What will you do tonight? You can’t stay here in an empty house. Are you staying with Trish? Do you want the kids to see you like this? You’ve been crying. You can stay with me. My couch is pretty comfy, and—”

  “I was going to get a room at the Circle Inn,” Erica said, interrupting Gina’s litany of questions. Typical Gina, always needing to have all the answers now.

  Silence lasted for about ten seconds.

  “If he’s looking to make trouble, he might be out trying to hunt you down,” CJ said.

  Erica closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her temple. Mike would kill the son of a bitch before he let Keith torment her any longer.

  “She can stay with me.” Mike tucked her under his arm. “I have an extra room. Keith won’t get near her.” He dared someone to raise an eyebrow over the arrangement. No one did. Then he held his breath as he waited for Erica to protest.

  Glancing up, she moved away and lightly touched his arm. “Thank you. I’ll pack some essentials for the evening.” She headed for the bedroom, talking as she left. “You guys want to help tonight? Go grab some pizza and beer and meet us at Mike’s. I’ll call Trish. I don’t want her stewing.”

  No one moved. All looked to Mike for direction.

  “We feel so helpless,” Bub said.

  Mike knew the feeling well. “This has to be on her terms. Understood? I don’t want us to be the reason she doesn’t get the successful and clean break she needs from him.”

  “How can you be so calm?” Gina asked.

  “I’m a fire captain. Calm is my middle name.” Sarcasm dripped with every word, bringing out their snickers. Mike was anything but calm. Grace under pressure was the name of the game. He hated that he was forced to play it now, when all he wanted to do was grab Keith Randall by his scrawny throat and shake him until his eyeballs rattled. Yet everything he wanted depended on him taking this a step at a time, not going all balls-out.

  Cell phones announced texts for all of them. Tension in the room rose. Simultaneous messages weren’t good news. Silent prayers to gods only imagined ran through Mike’s head as he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. CJ, the fastest cell phone in the West, beat them all.

  “That fucking little bastard.” CJ spat the words out through clenched teeth. “I’m sick of his bullshit.”

  Bullshit, indeed. According to Mike’s text, Keith had filed a harassment suit against the fire department. Tim Delaney had received the papers minutes ago, along with restraining orders for every person on the force to stay at least fifteen hundred yards away from Keith during off-duty hours.

  “How the hell are we supposed to get Erica’s things with this?” Berto waved his phone.

  Bub shrugged. “He’ll be at work. He can’t stop us. We’re supposed to stay away from him. It doesn’t say anything about the house.”

  “I don’t understand.” Gina scowled at her phone. “What could he hope to accomplish?”

  “It’s called divide and conquer.” Erica walked into the room, overnight bag in one hand, phone in the other. “Yeah, I got the text too. He told me you’d choose him over me. I’d bet this is his way of ensuring that. Counsel’s next move will be to order all of you to stay away from me as well. He won’t want the taint of divorce and suggestion of involvement in it by you to screw the department’s case. No blurred lines. It’s Keith’s way of getting even with me, of hurting me. Well, that and money from the lawsuit if he wins.”

  “He expects us to cut you out of our lives?” Gina’s grip on her phone threatened to crush the device.

  Erica nodded. “I realized when I picked up my luggage that it was inevitable. You have to work with Keith. Your safety depends—”

  “No one tells me who to be friends with.” Berto thumped his chest. “Especially not some whiny, sniveling, lazy, cheating bastard like Keith Randall. He couldn’t give a shit about anyone’s safety. I’m surprised he lasted this long. Rumor has it he was on his way out.”

  Rumor was correct. Chief Stanton had spoken to both fire captains about termination last week. Mike was starting to wonder if that action was the catalyst to all this crap now. Though how he could have found out was a mystery. Only he, Tim Delaney, and Craig Stanton knew.

  Gina dropped her phone into the pocket of her olive drab cargo pants. “If they try to play that card, I’ll quit.”

  Mike swore her short blonde hair stood up on end. “Everyone calm down.” He fanned the air with his palms. Hard to do when all he wanted to do was vent his frustration—on the nearest target, Keith. “Let’s be prepared, not hasty.”

  “Can they impose a restriction like that?” Bub asked. “Tell us to stay away from our girl here?”

  Mike and CJ exchanged a look, silently debating their response. CJ drew a breath, taking the lead.

  “Conflict of interest. Standards of conduct. There will be an investigation. Everyone will be questioned, even Erica. Her word will have bearing. However, Keith’s attorney could very well claim it’s prejudiced because of the divorce. That she’s trying to get even. He might even claim one of us is responsible for the divorce. That one of us was having an affair with her.”

  Erica’s burst of laughter widened everyone’s eyes. “Trust me, Keith would never accuse anyone of that.”

  Because she saw them only as friends? Panic burned through Mike.

  “Why?”

  Mike blessed CJ for asking.

  A flush filled her face. He saw tears shimmer in her eyes, then disappear when she blinked. She cleared her throat, licked her lips, and slowly shook her head.

  “It doesn’t matter.” The hurt in her eyes said otherwise.

  Gina drew in a breath. Mike raised his hand to stop the questions before they started. He had questions, too, but wasn’t sure he wanted the answers.

  “It does matter.” Berto pushed forward. “It’s more of Keith’s bullshit, isn’t it? He thinks because he doesn’t want you, no one else does either. He fed you that line, didn’t he?”

  Tears she blinked away confirmed it.

  “That’s a goddamn lie.” Berto stabbed his finger her way, then waved it at each of them. “There ain’t a man in here who wouldn’t—”

  “Back off, Berto.” Mike blocked his path to Erica and glared him into silence, letting him know he’d crossed a line.

  His face coloring, Berto muttered apologies as he backtracked.

  Another text, this time for only him and CJ, covered the awkwardness. Mike let CJ check it.

  “It’s Tim. Chief needs us at the station. Now.”

  “You go. I’ll be right behind you,” Mike said.

  CJ wasted no time leaving.

  “What about the rest of us?” Bub asked.

  Mike pulled his key ring from his pocket. “The lady asked for pizza and beer. See she gets it. I’ll meet you at my place as soon as I can.” He peeled his house key off the ring while they filed through the door. Once it closed behind them, he faced Erica.

  “Take this.” He lifted her hand and placed the key in her palm. “Make yourself at home.”

  She tried to pull away. “A clean break will be better for all of you. Keith’s going to make everyone’s life miserable until then. Can’t you see? Don’t be stupid, Mike.”

  It took no force to hold her in place. “Oh, I’ve been stupid all right. I’m not going to make that mistake again.” He shuffled closer and slipped his arm around her waist, drawing her near. “I need you to take this key.” He folded her fingers over it, then draped her arm over his shoulder. “I need you to be at my house when I get home. Promise me you’ll be there.”

  M
ike dusted his fingers over her cheek, watched the pulse leap in her neck, felt her heart racing with his. Close as they were, there shouldn’t be any doubt in her mind how he felt. Like earlier. Why hadn’t she said or done something then? Why hadn’t he? Didn’t matter. He was going to do something now.

  “I need you there, Erica. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  The tip of her tongue parted her lips, but she said nothing.

  “I’ve waited forever for this moment, baby. Wanted you forever. Am I wrong? If I am, a no is sufficient. Don’t knee me in the groin.”

  “You’re not wrong.” Her breath wafted over his lips.

  She stretched up, or he leaned down. Whatever…they met halfway. She wanted the kiss as much as he did. His heart jolted when their lips touched. His knees nearly gave way with the impact. He kissed her the way he wanted to fuck her—slow, deep, hard. Erica clung to him, giving it right back. There was a whimpered groan. His or hers or both? Mike couldn’t tell and didn’t much care. His brain was drowning in backed-up cum. In his arms was the release he been craving for the last year. He cupped her fine ass, ground his cock against her belly—

  A sharp bling bling shattered the moment. One arm still around her, he dug the phone from his pocket. Tim again. Now, Barnard. Sheriff’s deputies here.

  “Shit. I’ve gotta go.” He shoved the phone away. “You’ll be at my house?” Not a demand or a plea. A request. The choice had to be hers.

  “I’ll be there,” she replied softly. “Leaving now.”

  Mike dropped a kiss to her lips, then walked to his truck before he could change his mind and drag her against him for something more.

  “This better be good, Delaney,” he muttered as he started the engine.

  He waited there long enough to see Erica safely on her way, even followed her a short distance to make sure Keith wasn’t around, then turned toward the station when he no longer had an excuse to follow.

  An empty patrol car was parked in front of the fire station. The doors to the truck bay were open, and Mike could see the shift crew working. From the look of things, they’d just returned from a run. He turned into the fenced parking lot. Tim Delaney waited at the gate to open it for him, since it was generally locked at five. Though Mike appreciated the courtesy, he had a feeling Tim had done so to expedite his arrival. CJ hovered at the side entrance. Both men looked pissed. If it was at Mike, they were going to have words. Tim and CJ of all people knew exactly how he really felt about Erica. Neither could fault him for wanting to be with her now that she was free. He braced himself for a confrontation, parked, and headed their way.