Bad Boy's Kiss (Firemen in Love Book 2) (10 page)

The father didn't even want to be part of our lives. He had his own family to tend to.

Me? I had nobody.

“Okay, I think that's everything. You sure you're all right with me taking all this food?”

“Yeah. It's not like I have anyone else around to help me eat it.”

She paused at the gate. “You could always invite Max over for dinner. The guy's a firefighter; he can eat like a horse.” Then she laughed to herself as if she'd made some kind of inside joke.

“You're kidding, right?”

“Eh, maybe. Maybe not.” She grinned. “He certainly has grown into a good-looking guy. I figured when he got older, he'd turn into a fat, balding loser. That's how it went with most boys on our high-school football team. Not him.”

I could hardly believe what I was hearing. She knew what Max and I had done, didn't she? Had to. She was just messing with me now.

“I thought you hated him. You sure were railing against him the other night at the cookout.”

“I don't care for the guy, but... Time does have a way of changing people.” She slid into her Lexus. “Ever since he came back to town, I've seen the way he looks at you.”

What had she seen, exactly? Oh, man. Knowing her penchant for gossip, the entire town would soon be talking about our little rendezvous in the restroom.

She gazed out the front window. “My point is, I feel bad for you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You just got seriously shafted by the guy you thought loved you. Since then you've been moping around, looking all depressed. You ask me, you need to find yourself a guy who
really
cares about you.”

“I appreciate the free therapy session, but aren't you late for work?”

She groaned and slammed the door in my face. Just as she started her engine and I turned to go back in the house, her window rolled down.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you the whole reason I came over here in the first place. I'm such a scatterbrain.” She chuckled. “Mom and dad are coming for a visit.”

My stomach churned. “What?”

“Yep. With dad's run for the governorship, he thought it'd be nice to get back to his hometown roots, so to speak. They'll have a TV crew here taking video of him with the community and stuff. We're gonna be on television! Isn't it exciting?”

I rubbed my tummy. “Yeah. Exciting. Uh, when is this happening?”

“He said they're aiming for the first week of July. Figure they're going to work the Independence Day angle or something.”

The first week of July? That was barely six days away!

“Why such short notice? That's not like them. They usually plan things months in advance, what with their tightly-packed schedules and all.”

She looked away. “Oh, well... It's kind of my fault for not letting you know sooner. Mom called and told me about their trip back in March.”

“They never told me.”

“Assumed I'd clue you in, probably. It's no big deal, is it? They'll be staying at a nice hotel in Austin, so it's not like they'll be infringing on your space.”

I felt like throttling her. This wasn't the first time they'd all pulled a stunt like this. Of course, mom went straight to Rachael without even bothering to call me.

Max was right about them and the way they treated me. Trouble was, raising hell about it wasn't an option. Which was worse – putting up with their nonsense to keep the farm, or speaking my mind and losing it all?

Yeah. The choice was quite clear.

“Anyway, gotta go, girl. You're making me even
later
for work than I already am.”

She peeled off down the road and whipped her car into traffic without even stopping. I went back inside, head swimming and stomach feeling rather sick.

After puking up what I'd had of the cheesecake – thank you, morning sickness – I sat at the kitchen table to think.

Just a few months ago, my life was going great. The farm was doing well, Rachael and I hadn't gotten into any nasty fights, and Rich was happily coming to visit me more frequently. I thought maybe we'd even get married one day.

The joke sure was on me, wasn't it?

Suddenly, I felt extremely alone. The only person who knew fully what I was going through was Max – the wise-ass playboy who'd strutted back into my life like the proud peacock that he was. Of all the men in the world who could have learned my secret, why him?

His name glowed in my phone's contacts list. I stared at it for a few seconds before selecting it.

The phone rang three times, then four. Nobody answered. Maybe I should just hang up. Why was I even calling him? This was so –

“Well, hey there, Anna. You're the last person I expected who'd call me this morning.”

His voice was rough and gravelly, as if he'd just woken up. I liked it way too much. Yep, if his freaking
voice
could turn me on, something truly was the matter with me.

“Why's that?” I asked him. “You expecting one of your dozen girlfriends instead?”

He laughed. I melted inside.

“I ain't got any girlfriends. Don't keep my conquests around long enough for that, y'know.”

“Friends with benefits, then. Whatever.”

But if he didn't keep them around long, then... What was I? Why wouldn't he talk about it, about that night? Did he regret it? Did I?

“My point is, I figured you were mad at me. If you called at all, thought it'd be to chew me out.” He paused. “It's not, is it? Because I have a limited tolerance for being yelled at.”

I went to the sofa and sank into the cushions. Something about his warm, sweet drawl made me feel better, if only for a little while. It was as if my problems didn't matter, only he and I did.

Of course, that was nonsense. “He and I” weren't anything at all. He was virtually a stranger, passing through town for a little while, and then he'd be gone. Everything would go back to the way it always had been.

I would still be alone, only with a baby this time. Too bad the chance of me finding love – me, a single mother with a newborn – were pretty darn slim.

“I didn't call to yell. I just needed someone to talk to.”

“Hmm. This guy isn't much good for listening, but I'll try.”

He'd try, he said. That shouldn't have meant anything, coming from him. Shouldn't have made me happy. But it did.

“My parents are coming to town. Dad's on some political campaign and he wants to come back here to make himself look good or something. I have no clue what he's thinking. Rachael dropped this bomb on me like, ten minutes ago, and she knew about it for months and never told me. She
always
pulls crap like this! And then I threw up my cheesecake because morning sickness sucks
so bad.
”

“Whoa there, girl. Take a breath.” He laughed softly. “What do you mean, your parents are coming?”

“Just what I said. Staying at a hotel, thank God. I couldn't handle them staying with me. But still... This is my worst nightmare. You know that.”

“So what are you gonna do?”

“I've asked myself that and have no answers. Maybe I'm just screwed.”

Suddenly, the prospect of losing the farm was a very real possibility. Now I knew what people meant by “that sinking feeling.” For sure, it did feel like I was sinking into a pit from which I couldn't possibly escape.

“Let's be rational for a moment.” He hummed some tune, then gasped. “Ah, I know. You could take off to Thailand on an impromptu trip to 'find yourself' – leaving just as your folks arrive, of course. You'll express terrible regret that you weren't able to visit with them during their stay.”

His plan was ridiculous, yet it actually kind of made sense. Made me smile, too.

“If I could leave this place so easily, I would. Too bad I don't have anyone to feed the chickens or check on the plants. And if my plants die, my profits do, too.”

“Can't you hire somebody?”

“With luck, one day I'll make enough to have employees. Until then, I'm owner, manager, and everything in between.”

He whistled. “You really are something else, Anna. I daresay you work even harder than me.”

“Well, I imagine it couldn't be too hard to beat you in that regard.”

“Hey, when I see something that needs doing, I step up to the plate. Ask anybody. Trey knows what a hard worker I am.”

“You don't have to try and convince me.”

He couldn't solve any of my problems, yeah, but... Talking to him made me feel good for a little while. Joking with him made me forget.

In the background, there was the noise of him starting coffee and the beep of something being microwaved. When I realized I wanted to be there making coffee with him, I knew something was really the matter with me.

“You know what you need?” He sipped his drink loudly in my ear. “You need to get totally shit-faced drunk.”

The man was either an idiot or forgetful as all hell. Either way, I burst into laughter.

“Did you forget the bun I have in the oven?”

“Mm? Oh, yeah.” Did he sound disappointed or was that just me? “Then I know what else you need instead. You need a good, hard screwing.”

I choked on my water. “E-excuse me?”

“You heard me. Nothing better to take your mind off those troubles like a romp in the sack.”

“And who would I be romping with?”

His voice lowered. “Don't tell me you put that night we shared out of your head.”

“You want to sleep with me. Again.”

“What of it? Try and tell me you didn't enjoy it. I had you bent over that bathroom counter, moaning and trembling in my arms. In fact, I'm willing to wager I'm the best you ever had.”

I'd slept with Rich for months and never felt like this about him. Same thing for all the other guys I'd had sex with, although there weren't too many of those. But it didn't take a genius to realize something was very different about Max.

“I don't really like talking about this stuff. It's embarrassing.”

“Then don't talk. No need for it when we can let our actions do all the talking.”

I ached inside for him all over again. No – worse this time than the last.

Casual sex
did
help me ignore my messed-up life for a little while. Oddly, however, this was starting to seem more than casual to me.

I was developing feelings for Max, and that was the stupidest thing in the world any woman, conquest of his or not, could do.

“I'm not trying to push you. I know you're going through a hell of a lot. It's just...” He breathed deeply. “I enjoyed myself very much that night, and I'd be honored to have you again.”

“Why me, when you can go back to Waco and have any girl your heart desires?”

“Don't worry about them. Right now, it's you I want.”

I wanted to say yes so badly. But how could I, and still respect myself in the morning? I'd just gotten out of a relationship where the guy used me for sex and then bailed. I couldn't possibly handle getting attached to Max, just for the same thing to happen in the end.

“You only want to get laid,” I assured him.

“Nothing wrong with that.”

“I'm pregnant with another man's kid. That doesn't bother you?”

“Nah. You don't have much of a belly yet.”

His remark struck a nerve. “Wait. Are you saying if I
did
have a belly, that'd be reason not to have sex with me?”

“Well, uh...” He offered a weak laugh. “I mean, don't get offended or anything. I'm just not really into the pregnant look. It sort of freaks me out. Babies aren't really my thing, y'know.”

I don't know what it was, but I lost it right then. Rage billowed inside of me so fast and strong, I was sorely tempted to chuck the phone at the wall.

“The pregnant look,” I repeated. “I'm attractive to you now, but the moment my stomach gets too big because of the baby, you can't get it up anymore.”

He was silent for a painfully long time. The hormones coursing through me made me want to cry and scream and hit things all at the same time. Why was I so pissed? I didn't know, but I hated him right then.

“I'm real sorry,” he said at last. “You know I got a big mouth that I can't keep shut. I was only being honest.”

“If that's the case, I'd rather not hear your honesty. Now I know you'd only screw me so long as I'm thin and pretty, like all your other fuck buddies.”

He growled. “That ain't fair. Where do you get off being such an asshole to me? You're not my girlfriend; I don't owe you a thing. The sex was great and I wanted to do it again. That's all.”

Did he seriously just call me an asshole? No way was I putting up with that kind of talk. After what Rich did to me, I'd never let a man treat me so poorly again – starting with Max.

“I've had enough. Yeah, you were good. And maybe if you weren't such a dick, I'd have liked more, too.” I swallowed hard, on the verge of a breakdown. “Don't call me again. I mean it this time.”

“Anna, come on.”