Fighting for Love

  Clare sat there with her toast frozen at her mouth and stared at me. She dropped it to the plate and let a huge grin take over her face.

  “Wow. Please tell me you slept with this guy and that he was the best sex you’ve ever had, ’cause the look on your face right now is almost borderline…”

  She gasped.

  Leaning in closer, I asked, “Borderline what?”

  “First tell me, did y’all sleep together?”

  I shook my head and took a bite of yogurt. “No. He asked me out to dinner, but I turned him down.”

  Gripping the table, Clare shook her head. “Whoa…time out. Wait one damn minute. You haven’t even been out on a date with this guy? When did you kiss? You were at his condo? Why? How can you be that head over heels for someone and not have gone on a date?” Pinching the bridge of her nose, she moaned, “I’m so confused.”

  She turned and searched for the waiter. “We need two Bloody Marys stat!”

  In frustration, I said, “Get back to the whole borderline thing you were saying.”

  “I’m just saying for a moment there, if I hadn’t known any better, I’d say you were falling for this guy.”

  Laughing, I shook my head. “Impossible. I only found out his name yesterday.”

  “What?” she shouted.

  “Well, I mean I’d talked to him once before. For like, a minute or two. He was at a Boston Fire Fighters union meeting.”

  Her eyes widened in horror. “He’s a firefighter?”

  I nodded.

  “That explains the turning down his dinner invite. Rory, will you ever be able to stand up to your father and tell him you can date whom you’d like?”

  Shrugging, I responded, “I don’t want to upset him. Besides, I saw what my mother went through having a firefighter for a husband. The worrying she did when she heard his station called out on a fire.”

  Clare stared at me with a disbelieving look on her face. “You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s the best you could come up with? Your dad would be upset and you don’t want to worry about your husband, which, may I just say, you’re only talking about going on a few dates. So you think he’s great now—he might end up being a total dick.”

  I sighed. “The only thing my father has ever asked of me was not to date a firefighter. And I didn’t mention this before: Finn works for my father at his new station.” I inhaled a deep breath and blew it out as I kept talking. “And I’m pretty sure my father doesn’t like him. He made him take home the firehouse dog, who is four months old and tore Finn’s house to shreds.”

  Covering her mouth to hide her smile, Clare slowly shook her head as she picked up her fork. “So do I want to know why you found yourself at his place?”

  “It’s a long story, but nothing happened. Well…besides a mind-blowing kiss.” I waved my hands, dismissing it all. “But whatever. I have to focus on work, and Finn would be nothing but a distraction. I cannot have a distraction in my life right now.”

  With a wide grin, she stared at me for a second before saying, “Uh-huh. Well, good luck with that.”

  Chapter 7

  Finn

  Coffee, crates, and no dates

  The light was barely peering through the shade as I rolled over. My arm hit something. Smiling, I mumbled, “Rory.”

  Then I remembered she’d climbed into a cab in front of my place last night.

  Moving my hand, I felt…fur.

  “No. God no.”

  Slowly peeking one eye open, I came face-to-face with a wet black nose and big brown eyes staring back at me.

  I jumped out of bed and yelled, “What the fuck, Flash? You are not allowed in my bed!”

  He obeyed. Except he started leaping and barking while chasing his tail. I watched as the idiot went right off my bed, only to hop back up and start the whole process over again.

  “Off! Get off my bed, you bastard!”

  Flash stopped and stared me down. Daring me to take him on.

  “Oh, you think I’m kidding?”

  His front legs jetted out as he got into position and shook his ass.

  “Think you can take me?”

  His loud bark was answer enough for me. I lunged, prepared to take his ass down…only he moved at the last minute and somehow I flew completely over my bed, and landed on the floor with a loud grunt.

  Rolling over, I looked up at him peeking over the side of the bed. Is he…smiling at me? “I think I broke my ribs.”

  Another answering bark.

  “Is that all you know how to say, for fuck’s sake?”

  Flash whimpered, then did some weird growl.

  I sat up, and Flash took that as a hint to jump off the bed. His back paw landed right on my crotch.

  With a grunt, I fell into a fetal position, experiencing the most extreme pain I’d ever felt. “Never. Can. Have. Kids. Now.”

  Flash ran out of the bedroom as I slowly got on all fours and crawled out to the living room. Once I felt like I could breathe again, I stood.

  The little bastard was standing at his food bowl, wagging his tail.

  Shooting him a look that clearly said I hated him, I asked, “You want your breakfast?”

  He barked three times.

  “Well, tough shit. I’m having coffee first, and then I’ll get your breakfast.”

  The doorbell rang, and Flash took off toward it, barking the entire way.

  “Go away!” I cried out.

  It rang again. I heard a muffled voice say something, and that cued the demon to start jumping on the door like mad.

  “Flash—down! Bad dog. Sit!”

  He immediately sat. Wow. Okay, so maybe he is smart…when he wants to be.

  Peeking through the peephole, I jumped back in shock.

  Rory.

  With a wide smile, I opened the door and got ready to say something flirty, when suddenly Flash took off down the corridor.

  “Flash! No!” Rory yelled out as she took off after him. It took me about five seconds to decide if I wanted to let him go or if I wanted to go after him. I decided I liked my job too much to let him go. But just as I was about to chase after them both, Flash came charging around the corner, with Rory hot on his paws.

  I stepped out of the way as he raced in and went right to his food bowl. Rory stopped at my door and giggled. “I told him he would get a treat, so he headed back to your place. He’s so smart!”

  “Good morning to you too, Rory.”

  Her eyes lit up, and I couldn’t help but notice how my chest tightened. Her gaze roamed over my body. “Looks like you just woke up.”

  With a huff, I motioned for her to come in as I headed to the kitchen. “I did. And let me add that I woke up with Flash in bed with me.”

  “Aw, you let him sleep with you?”

  Contracting my brows, I replied, “No. I put his bed at the bottom of mine. He moved into my bed after I fell asleep.”

  She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. “I think it’s kind of cute he slept with you. You must not have minded him being there if you didn’t even know he was there.”

  With a frown, I replied, “His head was on my pillow, Rory. My pillow!”

  Rory turned away from me and headed into the kitchen, where she promptly made herself at home while getting the demon dog his breakfast.

  “Coffee?” I asked.

  “Nope. I had breakfast with my best friend Clare earlier. I had coffee then. I only allow myself one cup a day.”

  I lifted my brow and looked at her. She was opening a can of dog food while whistling. Flash was as taken by her as I was, and the two of us just stood there staring at her like she was about to give us both gold. Shaking my head to break the trance, I went back to my coffee making.

  “What brings you by?”

  “Making sure you didn’t do harm to my dog.”

  With a chuckle, I replied, “Such trust you have in me. And last I checked…he belonged to Engine 33.”

  Rory emptied the food into
Flash’s bowl, then tossed the can into my trash. She leaned against the counter wearing the cutest fucking smile on her face, which made my knees actually tremble.

  What kind of power does this woman have over me?

  “Considering I don’t even know your last name, or really know you all that much, can you blame me for wanting to check on him?”

  I took a sip of my coffee and appeared thoughtful. “You’re right. My last name is Ward.”

  “Finn Ward. I like it.”

  With a wink, I replied, “I think you’ll like the place we’re going to do dinner tonight too.”

  She responded with a slight grin. “I don’t know about you, but I’ll be having dinner with my parents. It’s a Sunday tradition, ever since I started college.”

  I took another sip of coffee, then replied, “That’s a damn shame.”

  For some reason, she started to fiddle about, like she was nervous. “Well, do you mind if I take Flash out for a walk?”

  “Dog walker. I like that idea.”

  She threw me a smirk and grabbed Flash’s collar.

  “Have fun, you two!” I called out.

  “Oh, we will. Don’t you worry about that.”

  Once she was out the door, I picked up my phone, found Colton’s number, and hit Call.

  “Hello?”

  “I need you to do me a favor.”

  Yawning and then moaning, Colton asked, “What’s up, dude?”

  “You still in my building?”

  He paused. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Can you puppy-sit for me?”

  I heard a female gasp at the same time he replied, “Hell no.”

  “It’s not only my dog, Harris. It’s your fucking dog too.”

  He laughed. “How do you figure that?”

  “It’s the station’s dog. You don’t do this for me and I’m sure Cap will be very eager to hear about how you volunteered to pick up dog shit.”

  “You wouldn’t.”

  “Yes. Yes I would.”

  He covered the phone as I headed into my bedroom. “Fucking hell. When do you need me? Us! When do you need us?”

  “How about two hours? I need to take the demon dog for a run to get some energy out of the little bastard. That way the shithead doesn’t act up.”

  “Damn, dude, that was a lot of name-calling on one small dog. You and Flash not getting along?”

  “Just be here in two hours.”

  Hitting End, I tossed my phone onto my bed and pulled off my T-shirt. I headed into my bathroom, quickly brushed my teeth, took a piss, and stripped out of my sweats. When I walked back into my bedroom, I jumped when I heard Rory’s scream.

  “Oh my God! You’re naked!”

  Glancing down, I looked at my boxer briefs. “No I’m not.”

  “Why? Why don’t you have any clothes on?”

  Shaking my head, I headed over to my dresser. “Why are you in my bedroom?”

  She sliced her fingers open to peek at me and replied, “I was telling you we were back.”

  “Welcome back. I’m going for a run with the hellion.”

  Rory stood there staring at me. Well…she was actually staring at my junk. Feeling like I’d just got a confidence boost, I grabbed a T-shirt, sweatpants, and socks. I walked over to Rory and leaned closer to her. She licked her lips, and hell if I didn’t know what she wanted.

  Lifting my hand, I used my thumb to wipe the corner of her mouth. “You’ve got a bit of drool there.”

  Snapping out of her daydream, she slapped my hand away. When she spun around, she almost lost her balance, but recovered nicely.

  “Okay. So it looks like you’ve got this covered. I’m out of here.”

  I chuckled as I quickly pulled my sweats on. “So should Flash expect you back tomorrow for your morning walk?”

  She lifted her hand and gave it a wave, not so much as glancing back at me over her shoulder. “Bye, Finn Ward. Have fun with Flash.”

  “I’ll take that as a no.”

  I was behind her and opening the door before she even knew I was there. “Well, aren’t you fast,” she gasped.

  Lifting the corner of my mouth into a half smile, I replied, “I know when to go fast and when to go slow.”

  She swallowed hard and stared into my eyes. “I bet you do.”

  “I can show you…if you’d like.”

  Her eyes quickly searched my face. “I’ve got to run….See ya around.”

  My heart dropped. Shit, I’ll never get her to go to dinner if I keep saying shit like that.

  Opening the door, I winked as she walked by. “See ya, Rory.”

  Chapter 8

  Rory

  Work, pizza, and misunderstandings

  I moved my neck from side to side. “You okay over there?”

  Lifting my eyes to Russell, I smiled. “Yeah. My neck is stiff.”

  “We can call it a night, Rory.”

  With a sigh, I glanced at all the papers spread over the table. Russell and I had been combing through the history of a firefighter who was being accused of sexual assault while on duty. Our law firm handled all of the cases for the union.

  I nodded. “Maybe we should,” I replied as I looked at the clock.

  Russell leaned back in his chair and stretched. “Damn, I’m starving. Want to grab a quick bite to eat?”

  My stomach took that moment to growl. With a chuckle, I replied, “I think my stomach is saying yes.”

  We gathered the papers and put them into the files. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right with this case. We’d spent hours searching through Robert Long’s information, and nothing even hinted at this type of behavior. He was looked upon by his fellow firefighters as a guy who could do no wrong. Then again, being a firefighter, you belonged to a brother and sisterhood whose members would literally die for one another.

  Pulling out my pad, I made a note to head over to his firehouse tomorrow and talk to his coworkers and captain. We needed to get to know the more personal side of Mr. Long. Did he have a reputation as a ladies’ man? Did he date a lot of women? What type of a person was he?

  I locked the door behind us and turned to Russell. “What are you in the mood for?”

  A strange look crossed over his face before he looked away and headed to the elevator.

  “How about pizza?”

  “The Upper Crust?” I asked with a hopeful expression.

  He laughed and glanced back at me. “I take it that’s one of your favorites.”

  “It is. I go there often, so it’s a good thing I also run every day.”

  The elevator doors closed, and we made our descent quickly. “Favorite thing to eat there?”

  “That’s easy, the Harvard Street pizza. Fresh basil, tomato, mozzarella, and garlic. Yum!”

  “So it’s basically a cheese pizza with garlic and basil?”

  I gasped as we walked out of the elevator and exited the building. “Bite your tongue if you’ve never had it before.” Russell chuckled, and whistled for a taxi.

  Thirty minutes later we were eating our pizza and I was laughing over some lame joke Russell had just told me.

  “Don’t you look like you’re having fun.”

  My heart dropped upon hearing Finn’s voice. Setting my pizza down, I glanced up at him. “Hey, Finn. Where’s Flash?”

  He narrowed his brows and stared at me for a second.

  “He’s in his crate, safe and sound.”

  “My father still making you take him home?”

  Finn turned his attention to Russell and nodded his head. Extending his hand, he said, “Finn Ward. Nice to meet you.”

  Russell flashed a huge smile. “Russell McCormick, and the pleasure’s mine.”

  Damn it. I’m so bad at introducing people. “Oh, sorry!” I was about to explain who Russell was when Finn spoke first.

  “Well, y’all enjoy your date night. I’ve gotta run.”

  My mouth dropped open, and got even wider when I saw Russell
sit up a bit more and stick out his chest. He made no attempt to make clear to Finn that he was my coworker.

  “No…wait. Russell is—”

  The radio on Finn’s belt went off with an alarm. I wasn’t sure why he was wearing it if he was off duty.

  Glancing over to me, he gave me what appeared to be a forced smile. “See you around, Rory.” Then he quickly headed to the door and left.

  “Firefighter friend?”

  I’d been staring at the door. I quickly looked at Russell. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “This Finn guy—friend of yours or more?”

  With an awkward laugh, I shook my head. “No, we’re just friends.”

  “Sounds like he knows your father.”

  I nodded. “He works at the same station my father is the captain of.”

  “I see.”

  Taking a bite of my pizza, I forced myself to chew it and swallow. For some reason I was bothered Finn thought I was on a date. There was no way anything could happen between the two of us. As much as I wanted to feel his lips on mine again. The distraction would not be good at all. Especially starting this new case. But knowing he thought I was seeing someone didn’t sit well with me.

  “Wait. Finn Ward. I believe I’ve heard your father mention him and another firefighter from his station.”

  Perking up, I leaned in closer. “When did you hear my father mention Finn?”

  Russell shook his head and pinched his brows together. “Let me think….His name sounds so familiar.” He snapped his finger and pointed at me, causing me to jump in surprise. “I know! It was at the union meeting. Finn was talking to you, right?”

  “For a brief moment.”

  “Yes, your dad made an off-the-wall comment about Finn being…well…maybe I shouldn’t repeat what I heard.”

  My eyes widened. “Yes, I think you should repeat it. Now that you’ve brought it up and made me curious.”

  Russell looked around and leaned in closer. It was like he was about to let me in on some big secret.