Chapter Sixteen
When Aaron couldn’t find Jasmine inside any of the bars along Marina Pier, he started
to worry. His phone call went to voice mail, and she didn’t answer his text message
either.
Relief swamped him when his phone beeped and her name appeared as the caller ID. The
text told him she was at home.
Thank God she’s safe
, was his first thought, but then the reality of his position came crashing in, and
he made his way back to the apartment with a lump of lead in his chest.
He’d been given a chance tonight, a chance he had never imagined he’d be lucky enough
to have. And what had he done?
He’d messed up.
He hadn’t expected Cindy to turn up, but he could have handled things better when
she had. He hadn’t wanted to hurt Cindy—it wasn’t her fault that he’d changed—but
leaving Jasmine alone while he went down to find Cindy’s shoe had been the wrong thing
to do. He hadn’t told Cindy he was with Jasmine because she was bound to run into
Kane in the pub and blurt out the information, and with their secret revealed, everything
would have to change—their jobs, the team, everything. Neither of them wanted that.
Ever since his solo movie night, he’d been aware that what he wanted from life had
gone through a radical change, almost without him realizing that it was happening.
When he’d sought Jasmine out again, it hadn’t been with the aim of enticing her into
his lifestyle; it had been the tentative start of something new and hopeful for him.
Something different. Something better.
Even sharing so much information about his past with her had felt right. For once,
he’d been prepared to let someone see inside the walls he’d built. And he’d been rewarded
by her reaction, by her willingness to see him, to give him a chance.
And then the life he’d been ready to leave behind had collided with the new life he’d
been about to embark on, and caught between the two, he’d ended up with nothing. He’d
put Cindy in a taxi and sent her home, and Jasmine had left of her own accord. By
doing so, she had sent him a message.
She didn’t believe he’d changed.
Somehow, he was going to have to convince her that he had, and that his old lifestyle
no longer held any attraction for him.
“Are you trying to kill them or cure them?”
Oh, God.
Jasmine took a moment to steady her nerves. She’d hoped that Aaron would wait till
their next shift to talk about her disappearance last night, but she should have known
that he’d have his own ideas about that. She put down the watering can and turned
to face him over the new picket fence. She’d been working since the crack of dawn
to create a garden and had been waiting outside the plant nursery when it opened,
but really, she shouldn’t have bothered because the sun was too hot for planting today,
and they were already wilting.
“I’m giving them a tonic. The garden center said it would help them to settle in.”
“I see.” He glanced at the watering can. “Did they tell you how much gin to put in
it?”
“It’s seaweed. The plants are supposed to like it.”
“I didn’t get any seaweed.” His smile was as warm as ever as he held up two paper
bags. “But I did bring lunch.”
She looked from the bags to his face. The fact that he looked so perfect made it easier
for Jasmine, strangely enough. If something looked too good to be true, it usually
was.
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“What? Buy lunch?” He lowered the bags and his tone changed. “Or do you mean what
happened last night? Because I’m truly sorry about that. I didn’t know Cindy was going
to turn up.”
“I was referring to lunch. I’m actually glad that she did turn up. She stopped me
doing something I would have regretted later.”
“Ah.” He nodded gloomily, and then his mouth twisted. “That’s what I was afraid of.”
“I hope you both had fun.” She turned away from him. “Thanks for dinner, by the way.
It was a great restaurant.”
Bending, she picked up the watering can and moved to the next plant in the row. “I
want to finish this, so I’ll see you at work in a couple of days.”
She heard the
click
of the gate she’d just installed, and looking up, saw that he’d entered the garden.
And that he wasn’t smiling any more. She also saw that he was wearing shorts—knee-length
shorts, but still, it meant she was now staring at his bare calves as he closed the
gate.
“Oh,
blast
!” She’d managed to pour seaweed-scented water all over her feet.
Aaron swung around. “Are you okay?”
He hadn’t seen what she’d done, so she pretended it hadn’t happened, surreptitiously
shaking one soggy foot at a time as she put down the watering can. She straightened.
“I’m fine, but I don’t think we have anything more to say to each other. Nothing that
can’t be said at the fire station next week, anyway.”
He shook his head. “No, I won’t let you dismiss me. We do have more to say.” He stopped
just inside the gate. She watched his chest rise as he took a deep breath and then
fall as he exhaled. “I know you’re mad with me about last night, but you have to know
that what happened was the last thing I wanted.”
He didn’t need to say that he’d wanted
her
. She hadn’t been alone in that cloud of desire that had enveloped them, and anyway,
whether he did or didn’t wasn’t the issue. Her problem wasn’t that he didn’t want
her, it was that she didn’t want to be one of many. Again.
“Look, all I did was take Cindy down to the car to find that stupid pink shoe. And
then she left.”
She opened her mouth to say that it wasn’t what he’d done last night that had upset
her, it was what he’d planned to do after he’d slept with her. But instead she said,
“Did it occur to you that she might be in love with you?”
His eyes widened. “What? Why would you say that? I’m sure she’s not. She knows I’m
not interested—”
“Oh, like that would make any difference. Falling in love is not something you can
control.” She knew all about that, didn’t she? “Apparently,” she added.
He shook his head. “She’s not. I promise. Look, I couldn’t tell Cindy I was with you
last night, because she’s a gossip, and she knows Kane.”
She hesitated. He had a point. But then she shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I’m
not mad at you. You can’t help being you.”
“Thanks.” He shrugged. “I think.”
“We had a nice dinner. Let’s pretend the rest of it didn’t happen. You go on sleeping
with all the women you want to”—she blocked the image that had nearly floored her—“and
I’ll…do whatever I decide to do. You have to admit, it’s easier this way. Much less
awkward at work because we won’t have anything to hide.”
“What do I have to do to convince you that I’m sorry?”
“Aaron, you don’t get it. Nothing you say about last night will make the slightest
difference. You are what you are.”
He was silent for several seconds, his expression grim. “And what am I?”
She sighed. “A playboy. A womanizer. A serial dater. Call it what you like; you aren’t
going to change.”
“What if I said I
have
changed?”
She was so surprised, she laughed. Did he expect her to answer that? From the intense
look in his eyes, he did. Sobering, she said, “You can’t change. You have issues that
you haven’t dealt with. You have a problem with commitment, and I don’t blame you.
You think that if you love someone, he or she will leave you. I understand that now,
I really do. So you avoid becoming attached to one person. At least you have a reason
for behaving the way you do; Craig was just immoral.”
He closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them she saw raw hurt glittering there
and she swallowed hard. She hated causing him pain, but for her own sake, she had
to be brave and see this through.
“I told you, I’m not like Craig.”
“I know what you told me, Aaron.” She shook her head. “As for me, I would need someone
to commit to me one hundred percent before I could put my happiness in his hands.
I won’t share. Anything less would be a deal-breaker. So, there you go. We’re fundamentally
incompatible.”
Throwing up her hands she said, “I don’t know why we’re even talking about this. It’s
impossible. Oh, and by the way, we’re not going to be friends outside work either,
because that will be too difficult. It’s better that we keep our distance, and nobody
at work need ever know what we nearly did.” She picked up the watering can and strode
toward the house. “There’s nothing else to say.”
“For now,” Aaron said, turning to leave. “But this is not the end of the discussion.”
…
Aaron stood at the window of his apartment staring at a small red light bobbing around
in the blackness. A marker buoy, he assumed. It was strange to think that he was looking
at the vastness of the Southern Ocean but all he could make out was one tiny light.
At least it was something to focus on. Without it he’d just be staring into space.
He didn’t want to return to the way he and Jasmine had been before. He’d never been
happier than he had been recently. He’d enjoyed everything they’d done together, even
working on her house, cooking for her, just spending time with her, watching her,
seeing the sun glint off the red highlights in her dark hair as she sat in his boat—which
was something he’d never shared with any other woman.
He’d never felt such an emotional connection to someone in his entire life. He hadn’t
dared to think about wanting more until, incredibly, more had been within his grasp.
And then he’d understood how very much more he wanted with Jasmine. Not just one night,
not several nights, not any kind of short-term liaison.
The possibility of more had been snatched from him, and he only had himself to blame.
Because of the way he’d chosen to live his life in the past, she’d rejected him. She
understood why he’d lived the way he had. She was the one woman who saw straight through
him.
But what she didn’t understand was that she’d made him break out of the role he’d
created for himself and become accustomed to. She’d challenged him and made him grow.
He didn’t feel like a player around her. He didn’t feel in control.
He felt like a man who loved a woman.
There, he’d admitted it, if only to himself. That was why this whole thing was so
difficult, so thorny. Because he’d gone and fallen in love.
She wouldn’t share, she’d said.
Well, damn right. He wouldn’t ask her to, just as he wouldn’t dream of sharing her.
Even knowing that she’d once loved Craig rankled, but he would accept that he wasn’t
her first love—as long as he was her last.
She wanted someone to commit to her 100 percent. Even thinking the words should scare
him, but it didn’t. It felt like finding his place in the world.
Chapter Seventeen
Jasmine forced her way against the flow of stormwater in the flooded drain, but as
she approached the shape they’d been able to see from the entrance, thirty meters
or so along the drain, she could make out that it was only a pile of debris.
Exasperation at the waste of time made her want to howl, but she braced herself to
push farther along the underground drain.
“I have to keep looking,” she shouted over her shoulder above the noise of the rushing
water, not sure that anyone could hear her.
What had started as a summer thunderstorm had turned into an extended downpour. Flash
flooding had caused problems throughout the city and they’d been busy all day, but
this call-out was the most frustrating by far. A boy of about twelve had been seen
entering a storm drain carrying cans of spray paint, shortly before the rain started.
When the witness had returned to the spot, he’d heard screams coming from underground,
but by the time he’d called the emergency number, the screams had faded.
Now Jasmine and the rest of the crew had spent nearly an hour searching the stormwater-drainage
system with no success. Another crew had been dispatched to the ocean outfall, but
the boy hadn’t been spotted at that end, which meant he had to be inside these pipes
somewhere. She paused to take in several deep breaths before pushing on again. She
would find him. She had to.
Several tortuous meters farther on, she heard a cry. One meter more and in the light
from the torch attached to her shoulder, she saw him, clinging to debris that had
become wedged. But when she attempted to cover the remaining distance, the rope ran
out.
Damn.
She called to the boy. Even from this distance she could see that he was shaking,
and probably in shock, but certainly freezing. In all of her turn-out gear, she was
chilled to the bone, and he appeared to be wearing nothing but shorts and a T-shirt.
Either he couldn’t hear her or he was too numb to answer. She tried again, urging
him to let go of the debris, promising to catch him as he was swept toward her. This
time she knew he’d heard her because he shook his head.
Right. She ran through the possible scenarios in her head. Only one presented itself
as feasible. Breathing room was diminishing fast as the water level rose, and the
amount of stormwater still entering the system meant the time available to her was
severely limited. There simply wasn’t time to go back and discuss the options with
the crew. She had to act.
Without wasting another moment, she untied the rope from her harness with hands that
trembled with a mixture of cold and apprehension. She let the rope wash back along
the drain. Her colleagues would see it and understand what she’d done, and they’d
be ready to play their part.
Little by little, breathing hard, she made her way along the drain until she reached
the boy and was able to grab onto the same debris, a tree branch. She took a moment
to gulp in some air, then tried to coax him to let go. He wouldn’t. Or couldn’t, more
likely.
Jasmine turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the frustration and fear in her face.
Fear because the only course of action open to her was to pry his fingers from the
branch, one by one. It would take time—which was fast running out—and she’d be in
a precarious position while she did it.
She hooked an arm around the branch and grasped the boy’s wrist. Then with her other
hand she loosened his grip, bit by bit, but all the time she was being buffeted by
the rushing water and debris.
A piece of timber hit her on the shoulder and as she gasped, her mouth filled with
foul-tasting water. Sucked under, she hung onto the branch with grim determination,
all the while fighting against the powerful flow. Finally she broke the surface and
dragged in one breath after another, her eyes still squeezed shut.
The water was rising rapidly. There was every chance she wouldn’t make it out of there
alive, even if she succeeded in saving the boy. And Aaron would never know how she
felt about him.
If she made it out alive, she’d tell him that she loved him.
With difficulty she repositioned herself to begin the arduous task again. She’d thought
of Aaron as lacking courage when it came to his emotional security, but was she any
better?
No. She hadn’t been prepared to take a risk on him, had she? And now she wished she
had because he was the most important person in her life, and what would be the point
of being alive without him?
If she made it out alive…
The boy’s grip loosened suddenly, and she looked into his eyes. He trusted her. She
could see it. He believed that she wasn’t going anywhere without him.
She nodded at him and took him in a firm hold with one arm while with the other she
clung to the branch. When she’d positioned in front of her, she took a deep breath,
braced herself, and let go of the branch. The rushing water swept them along the pipe.
It was like a water slide in a theme park, except that this was no laughing matter.
And then they hit a brick wall. But it wasn’t a brick wall, it was Aaron. She’d known
it would be Aaron. She would have staked her life on it.
In a very short time, the boy had been hauled out of the manhole, and she followed,
shivering but elated. While the others occupied themselves with the boy and handing
him over to the waiting ambulance, Aaron pulled her aside and right there in front
of the whole crew, he wrapped her in his arms. Tightly. She didn’t care what anyone
thought; she was right where she wanted to be. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears
and as her trembling arms clung to him, she could feel his heart beating against her
chest.
Now
she was safe.
“You took a risk there,” Aaron said after several long moments of silence.
“Not really. I knew you would catch me.”
“Always.” He touched her cheek. “When you need me, I’ll be there. Guaranteed. I
love
you. I need you to know that. I made a deal with myself that I’d tell you as soon
as you made it out of there.”
She stared into his face, her heart thumping so hard, everybody in the area had to
be able to hear it.
“Mate, mate! Are you all right there? What’s going on? Aaron, are you feeling all
right?”
She heard Dave’s voice and tried to pull away, but Aaron held on.
“I’m feeling great. Never better. Although there’s one thing I need to make everything
perfect.”
When he didn’t elaborate, Dave nodded. “Go on, then. I’ll bite. What do you need?”
“For you all to witness what I’m going to say.”
“Huh?”
“Jasmine, I’m committed to you, and I want the team to know that, because if I mess
up, I’ll be dead meat. And I want you to know that I know that.”
She shook her head. Shock. It must be the shock of the rescue. Aaron couldn’t possibly
have just said what she thought he’d said. In front of
everybody
.
John and Kane were standing next to Dave now.
“John,” Aaron went on. “I’m going to need an application form for a transfer to another
shift crew.”
“What?”
She realized that the squeak she’d heard was her own voice. Luckily, hers wasn’t
the only voice demanding to know what the heck he thought he was doing. And doing,
it seemed, very calmly.
Dave shushed them all. “Let him speak, or we’ll never find out what’s going on.”
Still looking at her, Aaron said, “It’s against policy for romantic relationships
to occur between members of the same shift crew. I checked.”
Aware of all eyes on her, she tried to swallow the lump that was still expanding in
her throat. “You did?”
“I did.” It was clear that, for once, he wasn’t joking.
“Can we talk about this?” She flicked her own head toward the group gathered alongside
them. “In private, I mean.”
John cleared his throat. “Dave, Kane, let’s get this equipment packed away.”
Jasmine waited till they’d moved off, then she met Aaron’s eyes, which he still hadn’t
taken off her face. “Are you crazy?”
His face softened. “Maybe, but I do love you. And I am committed. One hundred percent.”
“Why?”
“Why?” A thoughtful smile curved his mouth. “You’re good for me. You challenge me
to do better, to be better. You make me laugh, and you get my jokes. You
know
me. You’re brave and strong, and capable—”
A noise escaped her throat. She’d never thought to hear that word
capable
used in this context.
“I like to be around you. When I’m not with you, I
want
to be with you. And when I’m with you, I don’t want our time together to end.” He
paused, then said in a serious tone, “And today, I could have lost you. It would have
killed me. That was when I knew that I couldn’t let another day go by without telling
you how I felt and what I wanted.”
“But will you be able to handle this? I mean, you’re talking about changing everything
about your life, even your job.”
“You’ve changed me. I don’t want the life I had before. I don’t want your life either”—he
grinned briefly—“that would get boring. I want the life that we could build together.
If you’ll have me.
“You were right when you said that I was scared to let myself love someone in case
she left me,” he said. “But you were also right when you said that falling in love
is not something you can control. I can’t control anything about this. I fell in love
with you, and all I can do now is ask you to take a risk on me. I’m terrified that
you might leave me, but if I don’t take a risk, how can I expect you to do the same?”
He pointed toward the entrance to the storm drain. “You trusted me to catch you down
there. You knew I’d be waiting. Take the same chance now. Please. I promise I’ll always
be there.”
Life with Aaron…was a life she could have. For real. If she let go of her fear and
trusted him, the way she’d trusted him to catch her earlier.
Could she do it?
Damn right she could. If ever there was a time to take a risk, this was it. And while
she’d been underground her true feelings had made themselves heard. There was no one
more important to her than Aaron, and no one she could ever love more.
He cleared his throat, reminding her that he was there. “An answer would be good.”
“I’m thinking.”
“Oh, God, if you have to think about it—”
“Shhh.” She touched his face, ran her fingertips along his jaw. “I’m thinking about
all the reasons why I love you.”
“That’s good.” He broke into a wide grin and even with water dripping from the end
of his nose, he was the most good-looking man she’d ever seen. He nodded. “Keep thinking.”
“Now I’m thinking about what it would be like to be in a serious relationship with
you.” She frowned.
“Uh-oh.”
“You do know that I can’t compete with the women you’re used to dating, don’t you?”
“Compete with them? What would be the point? You’ve already won…if you consider me
a prize, that is.”
“I do.” She smiled. It was finally sinking in that Aaron had chosen her. She leaned
forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. How many kisses did they have ahead of
them?
He drew in a sharp breath. “Does this mean you want to be with me too?”
“Yes, it does. It definitely does.”
He gathered her into his arms again and kissed her. But just as she felt herself sinking
into the sweetest kiss she’d ever known, the fire truck’s siren blared out.
“
What?
” Aaron swung her around and, pulling her with him, strode to the front of the truck.
The door opened. John, Dave, and Kane looked down at them.
“We thought you’d had long enough to seal the deal,” Kane said.
“Well?” Dave said. “Did she say yes?”
Aaron grinned. “Yes, she did. It’s been nice knowing you, guys, but I’ll be moving
to another crew as soon as possible.”
“We’ll survive,” John said. “Now get into the truck and let’s get out of this rain.”
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
“I love this dress,” Sasha said from the corner of the room where she was studying
her reflection in her full-length eggplant bridesmaid dress. “It’s such a classy color.”
Jasmine smiled. “I know, and you look beautiful in it.”
“You only chose it because you wanted to wear your purple shoes again.” Sasha picked
up one of the heels from the floor beneath the ivory wedding dress on its hanger,
and turned it around in her hand. “They are lovely, though. I can understand why you’d
want to.”
“They’re gorgeous, and they’re my
something old
.”
“You’ve worn them once. They don’t really qualify as old.”
Leanne gave both of them an indulgent smile. “Just think…two years ago we were sitting
in this very room, and I told you there was someone out there for both of you. Now
look, Jasmine’s getting married and it will be your turn next, Sasha.”
“We’ll see.”
Leanne sighed. “I knew it would happen for Jasmine, I just didn’t know exactly when.”
“And Aaron’s the last man you thought she’d be marrying,” Sasha added.
“That’s true.” Leanne shrugged. “But I’ve changed my opinion of him now. I’ve never
seen a man more in love. Except for my Mike.”
“I agree.” Sasha nodded. “I think we can safely say that Jasmine’s made the right
choice there. I wasn’t sure she’d ever get her act together.”
“Hello. I’m still in the room, you know.” Jasmine got to her feet. “And I could really
do with some help to get into my dress.”
“You look incredible,” Leanne said a short time later. She stood back for a better
view and tears instantly filled her eyes.
“Mascara!” Sasha handed her a tissue, then turned to stare at Jasmine. “You really
do, you know. Aaron will think he’s in heaven.”
Jasmine shook her head. “I honestly believe he’d be just as happy if I turned up in
uniform. He loves
me
, no matter how I look.”