“If he’s looking to make trouble, he might be out trying to hunt you down,” CJ said.
Erica closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against her temple. Mike would kill the son of a bitch before he let Keith torment her any longer.
“She can stay with me.” Mike tucked her under his arm. “I have an extra room. Keith won’t get near her.” He dared someone to raise an eyebrow over the arrangement. No one did. Then he held his breath as he waited for Erica to protest.
Glancing up, she moved away and lightly touched his arm. “Thank you. I’ll pack some essentials for the evening.” She headed for the bedroom, talking as she left. “You guys want to help tonight? Go grab some pizza and beer and meet us at Mike’s. I’ll call Trish. I don’t want her stewing.”
No one moved. All looked to Mike for direction.
“We feel so helpless,” Bub said.
Mike knew the feeling well. “This has to be on her terms. Understood? I don’t want us to be the reason she doesn’t get the successful and clean break she needs from him.”
“How can you be so calm?” Gina asked.
“I’m a fire captain. Calm is my middle name.” Sarcasm dripped with every word, bringing out their snickers. Mike was anything but calm. Grace under pressure was the name of the game. He hated that he was forced to play it now, when all he wanted to do was grab Keith Randall by his scrawny throat and shake him until his eyeballs rattled. Yet everything he wanted depended on him taking this a step at a time, not going all balls-out.
Cell phones announced texts for all of them. Tension in the room rose. Simultaneous messages weren’t good news. Silent prayers to gods only imagined ran through Mike’s head as he pulled his phone from his jeans pocket. CJ, the fastest cell phone in the West, beat them all.
“That fucking little bastard.” CJ spat the words out through clenched teeth. “I’m sick of his bullshit.”
Bullshit, indeed. According to Mike’s text, Keith had filed a harassment suit against the fire department. Tim Delaney had received the papers minutes ago, along with restraining orders for every person on the force to stay at least fifteen hundred yards away from Keith during off-duty hours.
“How the hell are we supposed to get Erica’s things with this?” Berto waved his phone.
Bub shrugged. “He’ll be at work. He can’t stop us. We’re supposed to stay away from him. It doesn’t say anything about the house.”
“I don’t understand.” Gina scowled at her phone. “What could he hope to accomplish?”
“It’s called divide and conquer.” Erica walked into the room, overnight bag in one hand, phone in the other. “Yeah, I got the text too. He told me you’d choose him over me. I’d bet this is his way of ensuring that. Counsel’s next move will be to order all of you to stay away from me as well. He won’t want the taint of divorce and suggestion of involvement in it by you to screw the department’s case. No blurred lines. It’s Keith’s way of getting even with me, of hurting me. Well, that and money from the lawsuit if he wins.”
“He expects us to cut you out of our lives?” Gina’s grip on her phone threatened to crush the device.
Erica nodded. “I realized when I picked up my luggage that it was inevitable. You have to work with Keith. Your safety depends—”
“No one tells me who to be friends with.” Berto thumped his chest. “Especially not some whiny, sniveling, lazy, cheating bastard like Keith Randall. He couldn’t give a shit about anyone’s safety. I’m surprised he lasted this long. Rumor has it he was on his way out.”
Rumor was correct. Chief Stanton had spoken to both fire captains about termination last week. Mike was starting to wonder if that action was the catalyst to all this crap now. Though how he could have found out was a mystery. Only he, Tim Delaney, and Craig Stanton knew.
Gina dropped her phone into the pocket of her olive drab cargo pants. “If they try to play that card, I’ll quit.”
Mike swore her short blonde hair stood up on end. “Everyone calm down.” He fanned the air with his palms. Hard to do when all he wanted to do was vent his frustration—on the nearest target, Keith. “Let’s be prepared, not hasty.”
“
Can
they impose a restriction like that?” Bub asked. “Tell us to stay away from our girl here?”
Mike and CJ exchanged a look, silently debating their response. CJ drew a breath, taking the lead.
“Conflict of interest. Standards of conduct. There will be an investigation. Everyone will be questioned, even Erica. Her word will have bearing. However, Keith’s attorney could very well claim it’s prejudiced because of the divorce. That she’s trying to get even. He might even claim one of us is responsible for the divorce. That one of us was having an affair with her.”
Erica’s burst of laughter widened everyone’s eyes. “Trust me, Keith would never accuse anyone of that.”
Because she saw them only as friends? Panic burned through Mike.
“Why?”
Mike blessed CJ for asking.
A flush filled her face. He saw tears shimmer in her eyes, then disappear when she blinked. She cleared her throat, licked her lips, and slowly shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter.” The hurt in her eyes said otherwise.
Gina drew in a breath. Mike raised his hand to stop the questions before they started. He had questions, too, but wasn’t sure he wanted the answers.
“It does matter.” Berto pushed forward. “It’s more of Keith’s bullshit, isn’t it? He thinks because he doesn’t want you, no one else does either. He fed you that line, didn’t he?”
Tears she blinked away confirmed it.
“That’s a goddamn lie.” Berto stabbed his finger her way, then waved it at each of them. “There ain’t a man in here who wouldn’t—”
“Back off, Berto.” Mike blocked his path to Erica and glared him into silence, letting him know he’d crossed a line.
His face coloring, Berto muttered apologies as he backtracked.
Another text, this time for only him and CJ, covered the awkwardness. Mike let CJ check it.
“It’s Tim. Chief needs us at the station. Now.”
“You go. I’ll be right behind you,” Mike said.
CJ wasted no time leaving.
“What about the rest of us?” Bub asked.
Mike pulled his key ring from his pocket. “The lady asked for pizza and beer. See she gets it. I’ll meet you at my place as soon as I can.” He peeled his house key off the ring while they filed through the door. Once it closed behind them, he faced Erica.
“Take this.” He lifted her hand and placed the key in her palm. “Make yourself at home.”
She tried to pull away. “A clean break will be better for all of you. Keith’s going to make everyone’s life miserable until then. Can’t you see? Don’t be stupid, Mike.”
It took no force to hold her in place. “Oh, I’ve been stupid all right. I’m not going to make that mistake again.” He shuffled closer and slipped his arm around her waist, drawing her near. “I need you to take this key.” He folded her fingers over it, then draped her arm over his shoulder. “I need you to be at my house when I get home. Promise me you’ll be there.”
Mike dusted his fingers over her cheek, watched the pulse leap in her neck, felt her heart racing with his. Close as they were, there shouldn’t be any doubt in her mind how he felt. Like earlier. Why hadn’t she said or done something then? Why hadn’t he? Didn’t matter. He was going to do something now.
“I
need
you there, Erica. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
The tip of her tongue parted her lips, but she said nothing.
“I’ve waited forever for this moment, baby. Wanted you forever. Am I wrong? If I am, a no is sufficient. Don’t knee me in the groin.”
“You’re not wrong.” Her breath wafted over his lips.
She stretched up, or he leaned down. Whatever…they met halfway. She wanted the kiss as much as he did. His heart jolted when their lips touched. His knees nearly gave way with the impact. He kissed her the way he wanted to fuck her—slow, deep, hard. Erica clung to him, giving it right back. There was a whimpered groan. His or hers or both? Mike couldn’t tell and didn’t much care. His brain was drowning in backed-up cum. In his arms was the release he been craving for the last year. He cupped her fine ass, ground his cock against her belly—
A sharp
bling bling
shattered the moment. One arm still around her, he dug the phone from his pocket. Tim again.
Now, Barnard. Sheriff’s deputies here.
“Shit. I’ve gotta go.” He shoved the phone away. “You’ll be at my house?” Not a demand or a plea. A request. The choice had to be hers.
“I’ll be there,” she replied softly. “Leaving now.”
Mike dropped a kiss to her lips, then walked to his truck before he could change his mind and drag her against him for something more.
“This better be good, Delaney,” he muttered as he started the engine.
He waited there long enough to see Erica safely on her way, even followed her a short distance to make sure Keith wasn’t around, then turned toward the station when he no longer had an excuse to follow.
An empty patrol car was parked in front of the fire station. The doors to the truck bay were open, and Mike could see the shift crew working. From the look of things, they’d just returned from a run. He turned into the fenced parking lot. Tim Delaney waited at the gate to open it for him, since it was generally locked at five. Though Mike appreciated the courtesy, he had a feeling Tim had done so to expedite his arrival. CJ hovered at the side entrance. Both men looked pissed. If it was at Mike, they were going to have words. Tim and CJ of all people knew exactly how he really felt about Erica. Neither could fault him for wanting to be with her now that she was free. He braced himself for a confrontation, parked, and headed their way.
“The little prick’s been busy,” Tim said when he got within earshot.
Considering everything that had happened in the last hour, he could only mean one person. “What’s Keith done now?”
“His car was stolen. He’s accused Sandy of stealing it. Crew just finished a run. She’s cleaning up. Chief wanted all of us there when the deputies talk to her.”
“It’s fucking bullshit.” CJ wrenched the door open and stormed inside. “We’re the ones who should be suing him for harassment.”
Sandy Freeman stood in the hallway before them. Her normally pale cheeks were flushed pink from the fire call. Sweat dampened her short dark hair.
“How’d the run go?” CJ asked. The four of them fell in step and walked toward the chief’s office at the front of the station.
“Two-vehicle collision. Minor injuries.” She snorted and stopped short. “I see someone finally decided to show up. They took their sweet time about it.”
“Whoa.” Tim stopped and parked his hands at his waist. “So you really did do it? When the hell did you have the time and opportunity?”
Confusion twisted her face. “What are you talking about?”
“Someone stole Keith’s car. He told the police he thought it was you,” CJ told her.
A subtle tremble overtook Sandy’s body. Mike watched her fingers flex into fists, then immediately uncurl. He couldn’t tell if she was going to cry or hit the roof.
“What’s going on, Sandy?” Mike held back from telling her that Keith was on a tear. He wanted to know how she fit in to all of this first. “Why did you think the deputies were here?”
She stared into space for a second or two before hiking her chin to a defiant tilt. “Because Keith Randall raped me.”
Chapter Three
Mike had kissed her. Said he needed her. Asked if she understood. The feel of possession that came with the words and the pressure of his lips on her own lingered. That was how she knew it wasn’t a product of her imagination. It
had
happened. So why did she have a hard time believing it?
While the crew settled in for pizza and beer, she stayed within her own thoughts, barely registering the conversation around her.
“Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Erica wanted to. Wanted Mike to crave her as much as she did him. Too good to be true? Then there was Berto earlier, going on about her desirability. He was defending her as any friend would. Rather like,
Am I too fat? No, absolutely not.
But Mike was different. He was her
best
friend. Saying she was desirable wouldn’t be enough. He’d want to show her. Right? Why else would someone as hot as Mike want someone like her? If she let him pursue this course to spare her feelings, it would ruin everything.
Oh, but she wanted him bad. The feel of him hard against her, arms locked tight, him taking what he wanted, and her giving it up. There had been no faking the hard-on trapped between them earlier. Impossible dream, or the real deal?
Erica covered the hitch in her breath with a sip of beer. The cold bottle against her lips did nothing to quell the memory of Mike’s tongue diving into her mouth, taking possession.
“Don’t let Keith get to you.” Gina nudged Erica’s foot from the other side of the long couch. They each had claimed the space. Bub and Berto had taken the recliners. So far, no one else had arrived. They would soon, though.
“We’ll get your stuff first thing. No problem,” she added.
Erica reached for a slice of pizza from where the boxes sat on the coffee table. “I’m sick and tired of him and his games. Now this suit. It’s ridiculous.” She wasn’t about to tell Gina that her thoughts had been nowhere near Keith but had been locked fully on Mike and what was going to happen once everyone left.
Gina swung her feet to the floor and shifted her way. “Okay, I’m out of place here, but there’s something you need to know—”
“There you are.” Bub raised his beer to Mike and CJ as they walked into the house.
Neither looked happy. Thoroughly pissed was a better description. They each grabbed the beer bottles Berto held out, then aimed for the couch. Gina scooted back to her original spot. Erica slid her feet to the floor, making room for Mike.
“What’s wrong?” Gina asked.
CJ plopped down beside her, reaching for a slice. Mike twisted the cap from his bottle and slugged down half of it, took a breath, then drank the rest. Berto took the empty one and handed him another. The silence in the room was scary.
“Was there an incident on-call?” Bub asked. “Is someone—”