Fiery (2 page)

Watching him dominate the volleyball game, the attraction returned. The man aroused something she’d never felt before. She suspected it was the same something that had landed Aimee in Josh’s bed the first night she’d met him. Now her big sister was married, had a baby and was touring with her famous husband’s band.

“You should be playing and laughing today, Carmen.” Vic dropped down beside her and pulled her knees to her chest. She kept her gaze glued to her husband as he popped out of the water beside his daughter.

“This whole beach party is about having a good time.” Dani sat on Carmen’s other side and also watched the men in the water. Marriage had done nothing to ease the moon-eyed looks when their men were around. It was sweet, if
sickening
was an enjoyable taste. Carmen had mixed emotions about it.

“Are you kidding? I’m having a great time.” Carmen smiled for her friends.

“Tell that to your face,” Vic teased. “Or Dr. Dani may have to prescribe something like she did for Aimee at Christmas.”

Carmen widened her smile and knew it must look as false as it felt. “Guess I’m missing Aimee and Kendall.”

Dani wrapped an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. “They’re going to be home by the Fourth, right?”

“Yeah. Kendall’s going to be walking by the time they get back.” Carmen had done almost as much for her niece as Aimee had until Josh came back into the picture. Having them gone was like being ripped apart in foster care all over again.

“Babies sure grow up fast.” Dani’s voice drifted off as Braydon tossed their daughter into the air and caught her again just before she hit the water. Her giggle was pure and rich as it floated to them.

“It’s scary how fast.”

“Yeah.” Dani rested a hand on her stomach and sighed. “Even before they’re born.”

“Oh my God.” Carmen pulled Dani close and hugged her tight. “You’re pregnant.”

“Holy shit!” Vic jumped to her feet, grabbed Dani’s hands and pulled her up into a hug. “Who have you told? Tell me you told us before Braydon. Especially before you tell the grandpas.”

She looked around as soon as she mentioned the grandpas as if they’d automatically hear her mention a baby and come running.

“I told Braydon first. I’m surprised he’s not over here telling me it’s nap time.” Dani laughed and pulled free. “And no, we haven’t told anyone else yet.”

“Well, if we’re sharing secrets…” Vic cleared her throat. “Hauk and I have come to a decision.”

“Yeah?” Dani asked.

“Since I can’t have children, we’re going to adopt.”

“Seriously?” It didn’t surprise Carmen that Hauk and Vic would open their home to a child that wasn’t theirs. Vic and Sophia were closer than any true mother and daughter could be, probably because they were friends before they were family.

“We’ve been talking to a social worker in town. There’s a brother and sister who just lost their parents in a boating accident. We’re supposed to meet them tomorrow.”

“You’re taking in two?” That had always been the dream for Carmen and Aimee, that someone would have a big enough heart to take them both, but it had been one they’d never seen come true. Instead, they’d aged out of the system.

“Possibly.” Vic moved to stand between Dani and Carmen and slipped her arms around their waists. “Until we’re all ready to share our secrets, though, I say we join the party.”

She tried to resist when Vic pulled her toward the water. Toward the men swimming and playing there. “I’d really rather watch.”

“Yeah?” Vic asked. “You watching anyone in particular?”

The purple streak in her hair matched her shiny bikini and broadcasted the brightness of her spirit. A key to her spirit was that she took care of the people she loved, and she’d taken Carmen in as one of those people. It was a reality Carmen loved more often than not, but occasionally, it was a bit unsettling.

“No. Of course not.”

Vic’s smile turned smug. Dani simply projected sweetness as she quietly said, “I saw you walking with Ryan Alden earlier.”

“It was nothing. He was just telling me we’d be working together on the town square project.”

“You…” Vic gasped for a breath. “I didn’t even know you’d submitted a drawing.”

“Seems Carmen has more secrets than we thought.” Dani winked.

“It’s no big deal. I just outlined an idea for Byron.” Carmen shrugged. She’d wanted to lose, because then she could keep her secret to herself. God. She hoped they didn’t run her drawing in the paper, but every instinct told her they would. Byron would see no reason to keep the design a secret.

Unless… “Vic, would you excuse me? I need to talk to Byron.”

“Avoidance doesn’t suit you, Carmen.”

“I’ll be back when I’m finished.” It was a lie and they both knew it, but Vic let it go.

Carmen ran across the beach to where Byron sat with Errol and Harold.

She’d left the foster care system with two valuable lessons: adjust quickly and quietly to new surroundings and choose friends wisely.

Those lessons had been easy to practice in Whispering Cove. It had only been a matter of weeks before she and Aimee had become part of a tight circle of friends. Through those friends, they’d developed an understanding of how things worked in town.

The pace was slow and easy, unlike any other place they’d travelled through. The people held each other close and protected their own; anyone lucky enough to be included had friends who would last lifetimes. The town had a government body, but the three grandfathers—Errol, Harold and Byron—had their fingers on the town’s pulse and were rarely denied.

That power was how Carmen would get her way.

“Byron.” Her breath came in rushed pants after trudging up the sandy hill, but she had a plea to make.

“What’s the rush, Carmen?”

“Has the story already been written for tomorrow’s paper? About the gazebo design?”

“Yes. They’ll go to print as soon as the recap on today is written up.”

Yes. There was still time.
“You didn’t ask them to include the drawing, did you?”

“Of course.”

“It was a mighty fine drawing, lass,” Harold interjected.

“Thank you.” She nodded absently at Harold. It was a huge compliment, but that didn’t mean she wanted to share her hobby with anyone else. “I think you should run the announcement without the drawing.”

“Why would we want to do that?”

She dropped to her knees before Byron and took his hands in hers. “You know how much you love your surprises.”

“We do.”

“What if you kept the design a secret? Make it a big reveal at the end of the parade.”

All three men narrowed their eyes and began nodding. She’d interested their inner schemers. Anything they came up with would be entirely their idea, and she was fine with that as long as she got to keep her life her own.

“Nothing says we have to announce the winning drawing in the paper.” Byron nodded faster, excited.

“We could just say Alden Landscaping won the bid,” Harold stated.

“We’d have to close the gazebo to everyone in town until it’s finished.” Errol picked up the thread, and the idea was officially theirs.

“Sky’s wedding reception is gonna be in the square.” Harold shook his head, clearly ready to veto the idea on behalf of the newcomer he’d set up at Christmas. “Her daddy won’t like it if we have the place torn up.”

“They decided to have it on the church lawn since we had planned on re-landscaping the town square.” Errol waved a hand dismissively.

“We’ll do an update each week on how many of what plants, flowers, etcetera are being used.” Byron squeezed Carmen’s hands and grinned. “Carmen will be riding in a convertible at the end of the parade. When she arrives she’ll do the honors of pulling the curtain back to reveal the design.”

Damn.
She’d have preferred the drawing to be in the paper. Keeping her smile pasted on her lips, she extracted her hands from Byron’s and stood. “I’ll just leave you all to your plans.”

She was still backing away when she smacked into a hard, wet, naked chest. Sparks shot through her and she knew without turning to look whom she’d run into.

Ryan.

“Woman, I don’t think they’re the only schemers in town.” His voice was a rumble of humor as she moved away from him.

“Don’t call me Woman.”

“You are one.”

“That doesn’t make it respectful.” She was stopped from saying anything more when Byron called out.

“Gunny. We need to talk.”

“I’ll see you at 0600. Don’t be late.
Woman
.” Ryan spoke like he had authority over her.

Carmen backed away, stopping herself from laughing in his face. She was no longer a charity case dependent on the goodwill of strangers. She no longer had to dream that she would be accepted and loved. The freedom of those realities came with the knowledge that no one, Ryan Alden included, had the power to give her commands.

Chapter Three

Ryan shoved bush branches into the mulcher, each one with a little more force. The hour of 0600 had come and gone. So had 0700 and 0800. Now 0900 was nearing and still he saw no sign of Carmen Smith.

He and his crew had erected a temporary wall around the gazebo to keep people out of the work zone. Then they’d started pulling out the bushes that had rooted deeply in just a couple of years.

He needed to discuss the design with Carmen so he could get supplies ordered, but since she’d gotten her way with Byron and the announcement of her victory had been pulled from the town paper she probably thought she’d get her way with Ryan too. The first time he saw her she’d learn differently. He didn’t appreciate being stood up.

Like he’d conjured her, Carmen slipped through the last open section of the wall that would close the gazebo off for the month. With a smile and fingertip wave to his crew, she strolled across the grass. She wore straight-legged jeans rolled at the ankle and a blue-and-white-checkered top that was tied at her waist to show off a hint of skin below her belly button. The buttons were undone to the top swell of her breasts so each step enhanced them with a slight bounce. A wide, red hair band secured her hair back, keeping the bangs off her forehead.

Ryan’s body hardened, trembled, with a combination of rage and arousal.

When she lifted a paper coffee cup to her red-glossed lips, arousal knocked rage back a step. When she walked past him and sat on a bench in the gazebo, rage kicked arousal’s ass.

“Carmen,” he said, pitching his voice over the mulcher.

She nodded pleasantly.

“You can’t do landscaping work dressed like that.”

“It’s not a dress like I normally wear.” She glanced down at her clothes, studied her tennis shoes and blinked up at him. “Besides, you’re the landscaper, Gunny. I’m the designer.”

Being called Gunny had never pissed him off before. He’d worked damn hard to earn the rank before leaving the Corps. Yet, the way she said it, as if she thought for half a second she was better than him, managed to detonate his anger.

Ryan flipped the switch to turn off the mulcher. Doing an about-face on the ball of his right foot, he moved in her direction. Each step was a heel-toe strike that vibrated through his shins and up his thighs. As he neared, she lifted her head and took another drink.

Inciting him further, she smiled at his crew as they secured the last of the temporary wall. They needed to keep their eyes on their work if they wanted to keep their jobs. “You’ve gotten a lot of work done already.”

“We could have more done if you’d reported on time.”

She pointed to herself. “Artist.” She pointed at him. “Landscaper.”

She smiled with that pretty mouth of hers and all he wanted to do was wipe the cheer away. He just wasn’t sure if he’d do the wiping with his hand or his lips.

He was still trying to decide when she set her coffee on the bench. Then she stood and stepped up on the bench. The extra foot and a half put her closer to his height, and she gestured for him to come nearer.

“Guys,” he called to his crew without looking at them. “Would you excuse us, please?”

The men headed through the gate they’d erected and pushed it closed, giving him and Carmen complete privacy. Not one to back down from a challenge, Ryan took the three steps necessary to stand in front of her.

“Let’s get something straight, Gunny.” She curled her fingers into the collar of his shirt, leaned in close and spoke in that irritatingly haughty tone of hers. “You’re no longer in the Corps. I am not an enlisted grunt below your rank. The orders and militant expectations end. Now. Do we understand one another?”

Damn, but he wanted to throttle her
and
kiss her. Every spark that had been detonated at her touch yesterday fired in her eyes as they locked with his. His skin heated more than it had from the morning’s labor. His decision was made for him.

The woman had taunted him from a distance, awakened him with a touch and then haunted his dreams. He’d awoken hard and on edge, looking forward to seeing her. Then when she finally bothered to appear it was in a shroud of arrogance.

“Do you want to know what I understand, Woman?”

“I told you not to call me that.”

Ryan took another step. His toes bumped the bench. “You’re pissed that I didn’t ask nice enough.”

She leaned marginally closer, pinning her hand between them. “You didn’t ask at all.”

“I’m not a soft man. I don’t have the patience for female games like the other men in this town.”

“I am
not
playing games.”

“You’re just trying to prove you won’t be bossed around by me. That doesn’t make us equals.”

She leaned into his face, unblinking, and shook her head. “I am no man’s subordinate. If you want my help, you’ll take it on equal footing.”

He grinned. “Says the woman standing on a bench so she can have a chance of looking me in the eye.”

“But I have your attention, don’t I?”

“Oh yeah. I wonder if you captured it the way you’d hoped.” Proving the point, he placed a hand at the back of her neck and pulled her close. Her smile was gone, but he was still going to taste her sassy mouth.