head.
“I’m sorry,” he added with a sigh. “I have a feeling Emily isn’t going to be the only one in town who will feel that way about me.”
Liz unlocked her car door and slid inside. “Thank you for telling them you’re innocent. No matter what, they’re friends and I don’t know how I could have kept seeing them and talking to them without them knowing.”
“Ron is a good listener. I told him just about everything except about your scarf and your late-night visit to your uncle. Those details have to be kept secret, honey. I’ll meet you at home after I see Dave. We need to talk.”
Liz had a very quick internal dialogue about whether or not to set Alex straight regarding such mundane things as respecting boundaries when this greater issue hung over their heads like smoke hangs over an imploding volcano. She decided she might as well be honest with him. She said, “You shouldn’t have followed me today. I told you I was going to a business meeting. You showing up like that made me feel as though you didn’t listen to a word I said.”
“But it wasn’t business.”
“That’s not the point. I just want you to know that from now on, you need to respect my independence.”
One hand on top of the car, the other propped on his denim clad leg, Alex leaned down. His face was so close she could smell his aftershave. It had been months sinceshe’d sniffed this exact odor and the way it came when mixed with his body heat. It made her head swim.
“I have nothing but respect for you,” he insisted.
She made herself get over the arousing sensation of his proximity. She made herself get over the desire for him that seemed to permeate every inch of her body and grew stronger with each passing moment. “Good. I’ve been on my own for six months.”
“On your own because of me.”
“And in some ways, it’s been a good thing.” At the hurt expression that flashed in his eyes, she added, “Don’t get me wrong, I would rather be part of a team than all on my own, but that means I’m an equal partner, not a child.”
“I never think of you as a child, honey. You are all woman, every little delicious bit of you.”
She nodded. “Well, as long as we understand each other.”
“I think we understand each other, don’t you?”
She wasn’t even sure what he was talking about anymore. Giving up, she returned his smile. “Perfectly.”
Chapter Four
Thanks to the phone call, Dave was outside waiting when Alex pulled up in front of Ocean Bluff’s only fire station.
“I don’t think you’d better come in right now,” his friend said as he met Alex a few steps from the truck. He accepted the bag filled with his brother’s clothes and tucked it under one arm. Dave himself was a wiry man who barely came up to Alex’s chin.
“Battalion Chief Montgomery heard about the new trial but he still thinks you’re guilty as hell,” Dave added.
“Great,” Alex said, looking longingly at the station house, the doors all open. He could see the three red engines parked in the bay, all as shiny as the day they came out of production. He knew the big cardboard box inside to the left was used to collect toys for disadvantaged kids. This place had been his second home for three years; it might never be his to enter again and that thought created still another layer of ache in his heart.
“It’s politics,” Dave said, glancing over his shoulder. He seemed nervous, which wasn’t his normal state by a long shot. Any man who could share the responsibilities of raising three little kids under the age of four, let alonemaneuver seventy feet of hook and ladder through the narrow roads of Ocean Bluff, had to have nerves of steel.
“Most of the guys think you got railroaded,” Dave added, lowering his voice a notch or two. “The rest think the old man pissed you off to the point where you were justified in stabbing him. Some of them think you should have received a medal or something. But Battalion Chief
“I’m sorry,” he added with a sigh. “I have a feeling Emily isn’t going to be the only one in town who will feel that way about me.”
Liz unlocked her car door and slid inside. “Thank you for telling them you’re innocent. No matter what, they’re friends and I don’t know how I could have kept seeing them and talking to them without them knowing.”
“Ron is a good listener. I told him just about everything except about your scarf and your late-night visit to your uncle. Those details have to be kept secret, honey. I’ll meet you at home after I see Dave. We need to talk.”
Liz had a very quick internal dialogue about whether or not to set Alex straight regarding such mundane things as respecting boundaries when this greater issue hung over their heads like smoke hangs over an imploding volcano. She decided she might as well be honest with him. She said, “You shouldn’t have followed me today. I told you I was going to a business meeting. You showing up like that made me feel as though you didn’t listen to a word I said.”
“But it wasn’t business.”
“That’s not the point. I just want you to know that from now on, you need to respect my independence.”
One hand on top of the car, the other propped on his denim clad leg, Alex leaned down. His face was so close she could smell his aftershave. It had been months sinceshe’d sniffed this exact odor and the way it came when mixed with his body heat. It made her head swim.
“I have nothing but respect for you,” he insisted.
She made herself get over the arousing sensation of his proximity. She made herself get over the desire for him that seemed to permeate every inch of her body and grew stronger with each passing moment. “Good. I’ve been on my own for six months.”
“On your own because of me.”
“And in some ways, it’s been a good thing.” At the hurt expression that flashed in his eyes, she added, “Don’t get me wrong, I would rather be part of a team than all on my own, but that means I’m an equal partner, not a child.”
“I never think of you as a child, honey. You are all woman, every little delicious bit of you.”
She nodded. “Well, as long as we understand each other.”
“I think we understand each other, don’t you?”
She wasn’t even sure what he was talking about anymore. Giving up, she returned his smile. “Perfectly.”
Chapter Four
Thanks to the phone call, Dave was outside waiting when Alex pulled up in front of Ocean Bluff’s only fire station.
“I don’t think you’d better come in right now,” his friend said as he met Alex a few steps from the truck. He accepted the bag filled with his brother’s clothes and tucked it under one arm. Dave himself was a wiry man who barely came up to Alex’s chin.
“Battalion Chief Montgomery heard about the new trial but he still thinks you’re guilty as hell,” Dave added.
“Great,” Alex said, looking longingly at the station house, the doors all open. He could see the three red engines parked in the bay, all as shiny as the day they came out of production. He knew the big cardboard box inside to the left was used to collect toys for disadvantaged kids. This place had been his second home for three years; it might never be his to enter again and that thought created still another layer of ache in his heart.
“It’s politics,” Dave said, glancing over his shoulder. He seemed nervous, which wasn’t his normal state by a long shot. Any man who could share the responsibilities of raising three little kids under the age of four, let alonemaneuver seventy feet of hook and ladder through the narrow roads of Ocean Bluff, had to have nerves of steel.
“Most of the guys think you got railroaded,” Dave added, lowering his voice a notch or two. “The rest think the old man pissed you off to the point where you were justified in stabbing him. Some of them think you should have received a medal or something. But Battalion Chief
Similar Books
