Doris O'Connor (8 page)

“
What’s so funny?” Alex’s tired
voice brought her out of her lustful musings about his excellent
physique as he awkwardly climbed into his king size bed, which
dominated his bedroom. Not much else in there, apart from the huge
wall-mounted plasma TV, a twin to the one in the living room, an
iPod docking station, and exercise equipment stacked into one
corner next to the walk-in wardrobe. Black-out blinds on the window
were a testament to many a nightshift. A stack of books was piled
next to the bed. The top one was Tolstoy.
Interesting.

“
Nothing, Alex, get some
sleep.”

And he did just that, his soft snores filling
the room almost instantly. Kitty stood there, just watching him
sleep, once again struck by the resemblance to Noah. She had to
tell him about his son and soon. He needed to know the truth,
whatever the consequences.

****

The next few days flew by. Kitty was busy with
preparations for the upcoming Ofsted school inspection, and the
work on the fire equipment was completed by a neighboring station,
as Alex’s watch underwent counseling and physiotherapy. Alex
himself was tied up in debriefing meetings. This was standard
procedure whenever the death of a fire fighter occurred on duty.
Alex had told her this during one of the many telephone
conversations they had shared. There would be a full-scale
investigation.

Today was the day of the funeral of the fire
fighter who’d lost his life. The media interest had been huge, of
course, and parts of the funeral were televised and shown on the
news. Kitty managed to snatch bits of it on the staff room telly.
The mood had been somber in school today, as everyone remembered
the young fire fighter in their own way. The children had made
several cards for his family, and Kitty had been volunteered to
drop them round. She now stood outside Alex’s house, clutching the
little bundle awkwardly in one hand, whilst trying to control her
hair that the wind was tossing this way and that. Before she could
ring the doorbell though, she could hear raised voices inside.
What the heck?

****

Alex had had enough of today. The funeral had
been harrowing and emotional, the grief of Lewis’ parents
compounding his own, and clouds of misery threatened to engulf him.
He had said some words at the church, as was expected of him.
Lewis’s parents had hung onto his every word as he had praised the
young man for his heroic efforts and spouted the usual spiel of how
much he would be missed. He meant them, of course, but the words
stuck in his mouth nonetheless. Life was so cruel at times, and it
was all so pointless. He had poured himself a large brandy when
he’d got home and had been on the verge of phoning Kitty. She had
proven to be an amazing listener, and he was looking forward to
hearing her soft voice, which always made him smile, even if their
calls were always interrupted by Noah. Alex’s heart had turned
over, thinking of the little man. Now that this nightmare was over
and he had some leave, he would have to take the two of them out.
Half term was next week, so Kitty would be free.

His smile had turned wicked, thinking about
all that free time that he had every intention of putting to good
use, when the hammering on the door had brought him back down to
earth with a bump.

His mother and Irene had walked in the minute
he opened the door. Irene had brought some food and had given him a
hug that he’d had the devil of a job extricating himself from. And
then, the niceties over with, they had once again launched into the
age-old tirade of the inherent danger of his job.

Right now he was looking down on his mother,
his face grim, and he was gritting his teeth so hard they hurt to
stop him from completely losing his temper.

“
You promised, Alex.”

“
I’m well aware of what I promised,
Mamma, and you’ll know my decision soon enough. Bringing Irene into
this is low. It’s never going to happen. No offence, Irene, but we
tried that once, and look where it got us.”

His ex-fiancée looked hurt, but smiled at him
nonetheless before looking at Stella.

“
Why? Do you think that red-head is
going to stick around? You need a good solid woman, and Irene has
been here for us for all those years, even when you swanned off,
not wanting to see sense. Your duty is to your family; the business
needs you, and you promised Pappa that you would do your
duty.”

“
And so I will, Mamma, but there is
more than one way of achieving this, as you well know. I still have
time.”

The knock on the door interrupted him, and he
swore softly.
Who the hell is it now?

Kitty stood on his doorstep. Her hair an
endearing mess around her slightly flushed face, she clutched a bag
of something; he couldn’t quite decide what. She looked up at him,
her full lips curved into a worried smile.

“
Urm, is this a bad
time?”

Alex felt the ton weight he had been carrying
around with him all day slowly lifting off his shoulders. He pulled
a startled Kitty into the house and poured all of his frustration
into the kiss he gave her. Her immediate, passionate response to
him soothed his nerves even more, whilst it made all his blood
shoot south and his smile was sinful when he finally broke the
kiss.

“
On the contrary, your timing is
perfect.”

****

Kitty looked from Alex towards his mother and
Irene. They both threw dagger looks at her, and she wondered what
she had walked into. Alex seemed as tense as a bowstring again, now
that he had mercifully let go of her after that kiss. Her lips
still tingled, and her libido was once again sitting up calling
“Come to Mama”
.
A completely inappropriate response,
considering the two pairs of eyes, drilling holes into her from
across the other side of the room.

“
Urm, I— ”
Oh bother
. That
bedroom voice would never do, even if it made Alex chuckle behind
her. “I was just stopping by to drop these off.” Marginally better
imitation of her normal voice. Kitty had to smile looking at Irene.
If that woman’s eyebrows rose any higher, she could take
off.

“
Have you forgotten that I’m
cooking you dinner?”

Alex pulled her against him, his arms round
her waist, his mouth nuzzling her neck. What was he doing?
Oh,
oh shoot.

“
Dinner?” she managed to moan, as
all her female senses sprang to the alert, and her breathing sped
up against her will. Alex’s teeth nibbled at her earlobe, his hot
breath making the hair on her neck stand up, sensual awareness
trickling down her spine.

Think Maggie, think Maggie, think Maggie.
His mother is over there, for cripes’ sakes. Ah that's better,
picturing Margaret Thatcher in a thong work
s
every
time.

“
Oh for pity’s sake, Alex, put the
woman down. This conversation is
not
over, not by a long
shot.” And Stella marched past Alex and Kitty with a furious glance
at her, Irene in hot pursuit. Kitty was stunned to see the tears in
the other woman’s eyes.

Alex’s deep sigh spoke volumes as he murmured
to her retreating back.

“
I didn’t think for one minute it
was, Mamma.”

Chapter Nine

Alex shut the door a bit too forcefully, and
Kitty swallowed at the expression on his face when he turned round
and advanced towards her.

“
Urm, Alex.” She put one hand up in
a vain effort to stop him, but he simply pulled her into his body
and with a groan buried his face in her hair. Kitty squirmed to put
some distance between them, but froze when his deep voice mumbled
into her hair.

“
Just let me hold you, Kitty,
please.”

Oh hell, there was a world of hurt in that
voice of his. How could she deny him this? Her arms went round his
waist, and she held him close.

“
What’s wrong, Alex? I mean apart
from the funeral. What did I walk in on just then?”

Alex tensed before he let go of her. “You
don’t want to know, trust me.” He ran one hand through his hair and
walked over to the open plan kitchen.

“
I forget my manners. Would you
like some coffee? I made a fresh pot just before my mother turned
up.”

Kitty looked at the glass, next to the
half-empty brandy bottle on the counter that separated the kitchen
from the living room. Yeah, it really looked as though he had been
drinking coffee. Something was very wrong here.

“
I don’t want coffee. I want
answers, Alex. What’s going on? Why were you arguing like that with
your mother? And what is the deal with Irene?”

Alex poured himself another glass of brandy,
his face grim. She thought he wasn’t going to answer her, but he
looked up, his blue eyes searching her face.

“
How long have you got?”

Kitty looked at the solemn expression on his
face and suddenly knew exactly what she had to do. “Give me a
minute to get someone to pick up Noah for me, and I’m all
yours.”

****

Alex knocked the brandy down in one go.
All
his, was she?
If only that were true. But she was here, and she
was making arrangements to have Noah looked after. She was so damn
hot in the prim-and-proper skirt and blouse that she wore to
school. Just watching her had him shifting in his suddenly tight
jeans.
Down, boy. She wanted to talk, remember.
But then,
they could always talk afterwards. He closed his eyes, recalling
the way she had trembled in his arms earlier, and his smile turned
wicked. This was long overdue. What he needed was to lose himself
in her soft curves, and maybe then he would be able to sleep
tonight without reliving that damn fire every time he closed his
eyes.

****

Alex’s gaze scorched her back whilst she was
on the phone getting Noah’s care sorted out for tonight. Thank
goodness for her neighbor. Gwen readily agreed to get Noah from
nursery.

“
Don’t you worry about a thing, my
dear. Noah and I will be just fine. You take your time with that
fire fighter of yours. I will make sure Noah has some dinner, and
he can stay with me as long as it takes. All night if need be. I do
love having him here.”

Heat rose in Kitty’s cheeks, and she heard
Alex’s low chuckle when she answered Gwen. “He’s not my fire
fighter, and I’ll be over as soon as I can. I have no intention of
staying the night, Gwen.”

“
Now that is a shame.” Alex’s low
whisper right behind her made her jump. When had he gotten that
close? She felt her hair lifted away from her neck, and replaced
with Alex’s firm mouth as he rained kisses on the sensitive skin,
whilst one hand reached around her to take the phone off
her.

“
Hey, Gwen. Alex here. Thanks for
this…. Yes, I will. Don’t you worry…. I think so, too.”

Before she could stop him, he ended the call
and threw the phone on the leather settee just in front of them.
She turned around to look at him. “What do you think you’re doing,
Alex?”

“
I’d have thought that’s
obvious.”

“
Alex, we need to talk.”

“
Talk is overrated,
Kitty”

She took a step back from the intense heat she
saw in his eyes and swallowed nervously as Alex
chuckled.

“
Thought you were all
mine.”

Oh, me and my big mouth!
She spotted
the bag of cards she had brought over and, sidestepping Alex,
hastily grabbed it. She held the bag in front of her as though it
was a shield.

“
Urm, you haven’t looked at these.
The kids made them for Lewis’s family, and—” The words stuck in her
throat when Alex stopped where he was, and the sadness that
suddenly came off him in waves was almost palpable.

He stepped away from her and poured himself
yet another glass of brandy, one hip balanced on the kitchen
counter, his knuckles white where they grabbed the
decanter.

Kitty’s heart went out to him, and she dropped
the bag. She crossed the distance between them and put one hand on
his arm. “I’m sorry. Was it truly awful?”

Alex nodded grimly. “He shouldn’t have died.
He was so young, Kitty, so goddamn young, his whole life in front
of him. He was their only son. Imagine that. And I was the one who
sent them into that building. I underestimated how unstable that
side was. This is my fault, and there they were looking to me to
tell them how he died.”

He reached once again for the bottle, but
Kitty wouldn’t let him.

“
It was an accident, Alex, a tragic
accident. You can’t blame yourself; you were right there with them,
weren’t you?”

She almost didn’t see Alex’s barely-there
nod.

“
And you said the initial
investigation showed that it could not have been prevented. You
told me that only yesterday. So it’s not your fault. It’s the fault
of whoever the thug was that set fire to that lot in the first
place. Think of all the lives you did save. All those neighboring
houses that would have gone up in flames, too. All those families
whose homes you saved. All the lives you’ve touched over the years,
Alex.”