Bad Boy's Heart: A Firemen in Love Series Novella by Amy Starling Page A

continued the story. “You left. Next day at school, you never mentioned what happened. You acted like it didn't matter.”
    “So did you,” he retorted, then looked away as he fiddled with his ring. “You want the truth? Fine. I was afraid.”
    “Afraid?”
    “Scared that I made a mistake, that I messed up the awesome friendship we had. Sure, I had guy buddies, but they were nothing compared to you. You understood me. Listened to me when I had a shitty day. I didn't want to lose that.”
    “Then maybe you should have talked to me about it instead of throwing yourself into the arms of an endless parade of other girls.”
    Even now, ten years later, it still pissed me off. The pain I felt when he found himself a girlfriend a few weeks after that kiss, it was agony. Part of me would always hate him for it.
    The boat came to a stop in a shallow bay, not far from the coast. The captain killed the engine, and it was quiet aside from the gently lapping waves and the calls of seagulls overhead.
    “Okay, folks, here we are,” shouted an employee. “Once we're in there, stay with the group. I'll be keeping an eye on your air supply. Since you're beginners, we won't go below a depth of thirty feet.”
    The man strapped an oxygen tank to my back. I tried to get up, but the dang thing weighed a hundred pounds, and the awkwardly large flippers weren't helping.
    “Gimme your hand.”
    Carter held onto me and yanked me to my feet. I stumbled back; he caught me by the waist before I could fall.
    With his hands on my hips, it felt as though we'd traveled back in time to the night of our first and only kiss.
    “If you'd like to continue this conversation, we can do so later.” He held up the mouthpiece connected to the tank. “No talking down there, you know.”
    “There's nothing more to talk about.”
    The other divers jumped off the edge with a loud splash. We were up next.
    “Allie,” he murmured. “Even if this doesn't work out, I'm still glad I got to do this with you.”
    Then he put the breathing thing over his mouth and leaped into the sea. The others had gone beneath the surface already, but he hovered, waiting for me.
    If what didn't work out, exactly? Trying to fool my grandparents – or something else entirely?
    Hurting and unsure, I followed him into the water, where I hoped the calm silence of the deep blue could help me collect my thoughts.

Chapter 7 - Carter
     
    The card reader beeped as Alicia slid her key into it. This was the honeymoon suite, a fancy room designed for lovers, so you can bet I had mixed feelings following her inside.
    “This is it,” she muttered, fumbling for the light switch. “Let's see what three hundred bucks a night got us.”
    It was the biggest hotel room I'd seen, for sure, with crimson walls and marble floors. Vases of roses adorned each end table, which sat on either side of one very big, fluffy-looking bed.
    It all looked like something out of a porno, but I knew better than to announce that.
    “There's only a single bed,” I noted, trying pretty hard not to grin about it.
    She stared at the gold-wrapped chocolates housekeeping had left on the pillows. “Yeah, there is.”
    “You want me to get a room at the motel down the road?”
    “Don't be dumb. What will people think if they find that out?” She gestured to a futon against the wall. “You can sleep there.”
    Aw, man. That was disappointing, but what did I expect – especially after our unpleasant conversation aboard the dive boat?
    Ten years had passed, and she was still angry about that kiss. How long was she going to hold that against me? I was just a young, dumb high-school kid, following my hormones instead of my brain because Alicia was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
    “Hey, a bath tub with massaging jets.” She pointed to it as she set her suitcase down. “Sure could use a dip in that after all the stress I've been under lately.”
    Was this woman trying to torture me? First, she bent over