Loe raamatut: «Saved By The Firefighter»

CHAPTER ONE

Three months earlier

IZZY SLOWLY OPENED her eyes and languidly stretched, inhaling the scent of sandalwood and man. Turning her head, she stared at Trent’s dark brown, sleep-ruffled hair as he dozed peacefully beside her. She smiled and waited for the regret to set in...but instead only happiness flowed through her.

She’d done it.

She’d finally invited Templeton Cove’s hunkiest firefighter into her bed.

After months of self-protection, weeks of carefully executed sanity, she’d let down her defenses and given in to the man any sane woman on the planet would want to wake up next to. Would this morning bring a new beginning...or would they slip back into their casual friendship once more?

Her smile dissolved. A friend with benefits was most definitely not on her agenda. Her morals and need for order put paid to that sort of nonsensical relationship.

She couldn’t guarantee Trent would feel the same way.

He was a firefighter. A man who thrived on the thrill of risking his life every day; a man who needed to save people. Templeton considered Trent a hero. Someone who lived and breathed his job. One part of a team relied upon by the Cove’s residents to keep them as safe as much as they relied on their police force to do the same.

Izzy turned her gaze to the ceiling. Her life was the antithesis of Trent’s. She was methodical. Careful. About everything. Trent lived his life as though every moment was his last.

He shifted and murmured something intelligible. Izzy glanced at him just as his eyes flickered open. His bright green gaze met hers and he smiled sleepily. “Hey.”

Izzy forced a smile, her stomach tightening just at the sexy sight of him. “Hey.”

He reached his hand across her naked abdomen and tugged her closer, brushing a kiss over her ear, inching lower to kiss her jaw. He inhaled. “How come you still smell like flowers first thing in the morning?”

She grinned. “I didn’t realize I smelled like flowers any time.”

“You do. Always.”

As he moved his hand higher to gently stroke the underside of her breast, her body heated, and all thoughts of making it clear to him that their relationship couldn’t be a casual thing faltered.

The frenzied, almost illicit surrender of just a few hours before was replaced with gentleness. A slow, exquisite exploration of each other’s bodies. Izzy stared into his eyes, secretly hoping he saw her and no one else. That she was special to him.

Her reward was better than she could have imagined or hoped for. His usually intense, concentrated gaze was soft, trusting and full of only her. She had no choice but to respond, her body turning pliant under his gentle caresses as her heart inched closer to love than like. Surrendering, she moved her hands over his back, higher to his shoulders until her fingers were in his hair and their kisses intensified.

She made love to Trent with every part of her. Held him. Touched him. Loved him because whatever happened next between them...her eyes smarted with tears, it felt so right to be with him. Always.

* * *

IZZY BLINKED AND the memory vanished.

She took a deep breath and clutched her newest portfolio of photographs to her chest as she walked from the developing lab at the back of her photography studio into the front open-plan office. Spreading out the shots on the surface of her huge workstation, she battled the unjust resentment she felt toward the family who’d paid for them. Mother, father, toddler son and his baby sister all smiled at the camera, their eyes shining with love and happiness. She squeezed her eyes shut, anger and frustration making her tremble.

Nine weeks had passed since Robbie was killed in an explosion at the garage, but the pain still resided in her heart as mercilessly as it had the day it happened. She was nothing but a shell, inside and out.

She had no brother and two parents who spent months at a time traveling the Mediterranean as they worked as singers on a cruise ship. And now she was entirely alone. Maybe she should have tried harder to reconcile with her parents, apologized for pushing them away. They had tried so hard to comfort and be there for her, but there was nothing Izzy wanted other than her brother. She swallowed. And now separation from her mum and dad had eased a little of the fear of loving them too deeply.

Opening her eyes, she snatched up the photographs and reached beneath the workstation for an envelope. She slid the shots inside, her hands trembling. Kate, her best friend, continued to accuse Izzy of changing beyond recognition. She’d even suggested counseling. Izzy swallowed against the lump of humiliation as it rose in her throat.

Doesn’t Kate know how strong I am? That I’ll deal with my grief any way I see fit, and right now that is work, work and more work.

The security alarm chimed. Someone had stepped inside the studio. Exhaling a heavy breath, Izzy pulled back her shoulders, lifted her head and forced a smile.

“Hi, how can I...” Her heart stopped. Trent Palmer stood just inside the door. “Why are you here?”

His dark green gaze bored relentlessly into hers, his strong jaw set as he reached behind him and shut the door. “I came by to see how you’re doing.”

Traitorous attraction skittered over the surface of her skin before Izzy turned and strode toward the corner she used for staging portrait shots. The fluffy bunnies, huge furry dice and toys she’d used to relax a toddler earlier now felt macabre.

She spun around, clutching a teddy bear. “The same as I was doing yesterday and the day before. I told you I don’t want to see you. I don’t ever want to see you. Why do you keep coming back?”

He came closer, his gaze locked on hers. “You have to talk to me. I was Robbie’s friend. There was nothing—”

“You could do. Fine. I get it, but why do you feel the need to keep coming in here and checking up on me? What do you want me to do? Dance in the street? Kick up my heels at the fairground? God, just leave me alone.”

“There’s a beach party tonight. I want you to come with me.”

She stared. Why him? Why would a man she really liked—a damn firefighter—have to pursue her like she was someone worth pursuing? “No.”

He looked at the equipment covering the desk alongside him. He lifted and replaced a camera, the hunch of his wide shoulders indicating his discomfort. Izzy hated that she drew no satisfaction from that...only sadness.

He turned. “I want you to come and show your face to the people who care about you. Kate said—”

“Kate had no right to say anything to you.” She lifted her chin. “I’m fine.”

“Then come to the beach.”

“No.”

He crossed his arms. “Why not? What good is it doing you, hiding away in here twenty-four-seven?”

“I’m not hiding.” Liar. “My work is better than it’s ever been. I have lots to keep me busy, and I don’t need you or a damn beach party to make me feel better.”

“This isn’t who you are, Iz. You’ve always worked, always been ambitious, but everyone is used to you taking pictures while you play as well as work. Where have you gone? Don’t you think Robbie would’ve wanted you to step out into the sunlight now and then?”

The sound of her brother’s name on Trent’s lips brought the sting of tears to her eyes. “Don’t talk to me about Robbie. He would want me to do whatever I wanted, and right now the last thing I want to do is talk to you.” She turned her back to him and tossed the bear into a plastic crate of other props. She sighed. “Please, Trent. Just get out of here.”

“You know as well as I do that Robbie wanted us together. He actively encouraged it.”

“Yeah, he did and look how that turned out.”

His jaw tightened. “Are you saying it was no good? That we were no good? God, Iz, Robbie would’ve loved knowing we finally got together.”

Loss wrapped around her heart, making it ache. “Maybe, but he would’ve also seen we were a bad idea together too.”

Hurt flashed in his eyes, before he exhaled heavily. “Look, you might not want to talk to me, but there’s someone else we have to think about.”

She planted her hands on her hips, her body humming with irritation and the urge to grip him by his stupidly large biceps and march him out of her studio. Didn’t he realize he was invading her only place of peace? “Who?”

“Maya Jackson. We have to do this calendar, Iz. We promised. If we don’t set up the shoot soon, it won’t be ready for Christmas. That little girl, her family and Kate are relying on you...us...to do this.”

She tipped her head back and glared at the ceiling. There was no way she’d let down Maya, suffering so acutely with leukemia, any more than she would continue a relationship with the firefighter who’d failed to respond quick enough to save her brother. No matter how the results of the ensuing investigation had confirmed that it was a falling beam that killed Robbie at the garage, she had to blame someone or she’d go insane.

The safest person to blame was strong, reliable Trent. A man she’d grown to deeply care for and admire during the four years before Robbie died. A man who knew her and her brother. Knew her home and her life...and who still wanted to know her.

He didn’t deserve her derision; he didn’t deserve everything she threw at him, yet time and again he became her target. She had to keep his interest at bay. Better still—stop it altogether.

She dropped her chin. “Fine. I’ll call Kate and set up a meeting. I don’t see how that has any bearing on my going to a beach party. I’ll call you when you need to be involved with the calendar, okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. I wanted you before the explosion and I want you now. Why are you shutting me out like this? What good is it doing you?”

“For your information, I’m doing just fine. Just forget about us. We aren’t right for each other.”

“Why? Because I’m a firefighter?”

The disbelief in his tone hitched her stretched nerves tighter. “You’re too different. I’ve told you this before. I want more than you’ll ever be able to give me.”

“Like what?” His gaze burned with frustration. “You don’t want a man who can care for you, look after you and treat you how you deserve?”

She closed her eyes. She wanted all of those things. So much. “You really don’t understand what I’m saying, do you?”

“No.”

“Because it’s you, Trent.” Izzy opened her eyes, her heart aching. “Before Robbie died, I was reluctant to date you because half the female population wants to sleep with you. Now that Robbie’s gone, I would never, ever go out with a firefighter. Whether he was you or not.”

The silence stretched. Izzy fought not to squirm under his appraisal, fought not to reach forward for one blessed kiss from a man any woman would be a fool not to want. Well, better a fool than a grieving girlfriend.

His eyes darkened with determination. “I’m not giving up on you, Iz. You can fight me as much as you want. I won’t give up. If we’re nothing else, I hope we’re still friends.”

“For God’s sake, what is it you want from me?” Her eyes filled with tears. “I didn’t ask you to look after me. Why do you feel you have the right to keep hassling me?”

“Hassling you? I’m not hassling you, I’m caring about you. You accused me of hassling you before Robbie died... Nothing’s changed.”

“Nothing’s... How dare you? Everything’s changed.” Her cheeks burned hot as her traitorous tears slipped to her cheeks. She swiped at them with trembling fingers. “Everything. If you can’t see that, then I have less to say to you than I thought.”

He briefly closed his eyes. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out.”

“No? Then if you can’t think before you speak, why would I want to spend time with someone that insensitive?”

“Iz, please. Just come to the beach party tonight and I promise if you don’t have a good time, or at least relax awhile, I won’t bother you again.” He raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll respect whatever it is you’re doing on your own and leave you be.”

“On my own. Something you, Kate and every other person with a family alive and well will never understand.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. She’d revealed every ounce of her vulnerability. She crossed her arms and dragged her gaze from the humiliating sympathy in his expression to look toward the window behind him. “Is Kate going? Is this invite some way to get her and me talking again?” She looked at him. “I just told you I’ll call her and get things in motion with the calendar.”

“I don’t know if she’ll be there or not.” He stepped toward her and then stopped as though he changed his mind. He shoved his hand into his dark hair and held it there. “Doesn’t the fact that you two aren’t talking show you something is seriously wrong? You need people around you who care. Work doesn’t do what a hug can.”

She frowned. “A hug? You think a hug is all it will take to get rid of this pain?”

“No, but it will go a damn sight further than making another bundle of money will. Just take a break.”

Izzy glared. She’d made more money in the last few weeks than she ever thought possible. Her phone was ringing nonstop with assignments. It seemed the photography world, and collectors, relished pictures leaning more toward the dark than the dazzling. It was true the money had done nothing to alleviate her grief, but the work provided her with something to stop her thinking about her dead brother.

He cleared his throat. “You need something to take your mind off Robbie.”

She blinked. “I have that.”

“Let me guess...work.”

Asshole.

Their gazes locked until Izzy weakened under the weight of his glare. She spun away from him and headed to her desk. “Fine. I’ll come to the party.” She met his relieved gaze and ignored the way her heart lifted to see that her agreement had banished his rare and unwelcome anger. “I’ll go to the beach and I’ll eat, drink and be merry if you think that will fix this, but believe me, nothing will scratch the surface of what I’m feeling. Nothing. You’ve got what you come here for, so just go.”

He strolled toward her and came around the desk, standing so close she was forced to tip her head back to meet his eyes. Her heart picked up speed as she resisted the urge to inhale the musky, male scent of him. “What?”

He leaned down and brushed his lips over her cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

Her body paralyzed, yet her heart beat out of control as he turned and walked toward the door.

Only when the studio door swung shut behind him did Izzy drop into her chair and finally cry. She wanted to hit him. Hurt him. Inflict some of her physical pain onto Trent’s wide incapable shoulders and see what the hell he would do about it.

Tears rolled down her cheeks like water releasing from a dam, yet all she could think of was how it would feel to have Trent hold her. Now. At this moment when the pain came and hurt so damn much.