“He said Finn was the station player and that he and…I think the other guy’s name was Colton, that they liked their women, that’s all he said.”
Drawing back, I sucked in a breath. “What? Did he say anything else?”
“No. No, that was it. I mean he mumbled something else, but honestly I wasn’t paying attention to his conversation that much.”
Pressing my lips together, I got lost in thought for a moment. Maybe that was why Daddy didn’t like Finn. Why he gave him Flash to take care of. That didn’t make sense, though. My father would never make a comment like that about one of his guys.
“Are you sure he was talking about Finn? That doesn’t sound like my father to gossip about one of his guys.”
Russell shrugged. “I’m simply telling you what I heard. Maybe he didn’t like you talking to him. Who knows. Hey do you want that last piece?”
My eyes drifted down to the slice of pizza. I shook my head. “No. Have at it.”
The way my heart was aching left me confused. Or maybe I was confused at the idea of my father talking like that about one of his guys. I knew for a fact that most single firefighters had healthy dating lives. That never had my father commenting before, so why would he now?
“Rory? Hey, you in there?” Russell snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“Jesus, sorry. I was thinking about…about um…the case.”
“Yeah. Something’s not adding up right. This kid seems like an all-around good guy. Catholic schools growing up. Volunteers once a week. But then again, looks can be deceiving.”
Leaning back against the booth, I sighed. “I think I’m going to go down to the station and talk to his coworkers. If anyone knows him, they will.”
Russell laughed. “Listen, Rory, I know you’re fired up about this case and you have something to prove, but follow my lead on this one. There’s a reason I’m up for junior partner.”
Oh. No. He. Did. Not.
I tilted my head and took Russell in. “Are you worried I’m going to step on your toes, Russell? I thought we working on this together.”
“We are. But I’m lead attorney on this one, and to be honest, people are watching how I handle this case. If I was to let you walk into a fire station all alone, what would your mother or the other partners think? I mean after all, this is a sexual assault case against a firefighter.”
My brow lifted. “So that makes all of them guilty? Besides, are we condemning our client before we have all the facts? I thought we were on his side.”
“Don’t be daft, Rory. I’m saying for your own safety, it’s best if we go together. You can watch how I interview them.”
Now my blood was boiling. “I don’t mean to sound like a bitch, Russell, but we’re going to go ahead and get this all out in the open right now. This is not my first case. I’ve worked my ass off the last year taking on the shit cases other people like yourself felt too good to take on. I’ve won every single one of them. Maybe they weren’t huge-profile cases, but I won them nonetheless. I’m damn good at what I do, and I certainly don’t need you to show me how to do my job. The senior partners thought I was ready to jump on and work the Boston Fire Fighters union, and so do I. I certainly will not sit back and let you make me feel like I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Tossing my napkin onto the table, I grabbed my wallet and threw out some money. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll head home.”
I slid out of the booth, and Russell grabbed me by the arm. “Wait. Rory, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to come off like you didn’t know what you’re doing. It’s just, this case is very important for my career.”
“And you don’t think it is for mine as well?”
He laughed. “Rory, let’s be honest. Your mother is the boss. I think your career is set.”
Jerking my arm from his hand, I shook my head. “For someone who thinks I hold such an important role, you certainly seem to have no problem insulting me left and right.”
Russell took a step back, his expression horrified.
“Seriously…I can’t even believe you right now, Russell. I’m no different in my mother’s eyes from the next person. If you think I have it easy, then you’ve been living with your eyes closed the last year or so. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home to read over the files I didn’t get to earlier. Have a good evening.”
Spinning on my heels, I headed toward my condo. I didn’t live that far away, and the walk in the cool fall air would do me good.
“Rory. Rory wait. I’m really sorry.”
“Good night, Russell.”
—
As soon as I got inside my apartment, I kicked off my heels and leaned back against the front door, not sure if I was upset or really pissed. Slowly, a smile spread over my face. If Russell thought he could do better than me tomorrow, I’d stand back and let him have it.
I pushed off the door and headed to the bathroom, where I stripped out of my clothes, stepped into the hot shower, and let the stress of the day slide off my body like the water.
Russell’s words replayed in my mind. I couldn’t believe that even he thought I had it easy. I was never going to be able to prove myself to anyone in that firm. No matter how hard I worked or how many cases I won, there would always be doubt about if I’d earned my way or not.
I took in a deep breath to clear my head. The smell of the lavender scrub calmed me as I ran my hands over my body.
Closing my eyes, I saw Finn’s smile. With a slight moan, my hand slipped between my legs. One brush across my clit had me gasping.
Finn.
They way that dimple popped out when he laughed. Or the seductive way he barely lifted the corner of his mouth when he flirted with me.
My hand moved faster.
His kiss.
Those lips.
The way he tasted like pure heaven. What would it feel like to have those lips kiss every inch of my body?
My legs trembled as my orgasm rushed through my body and I whispered out his name.
“Finn.”
Chapter 9
Rory
Married to my job
Russell and I walked into Engine 17, and I couldn’t help but notice how he pushed out his chest a tad bit more. It was obvious he was threatened by these men.
Rolling my eyes, I shook my head.
Men.
“Now, Rory, let me handle this.”
I didn’t utter a word. If Russell thought he could do better than I could, he was more than welcome to take the lead.
He walked up to a firefighter and cleared his throat. “Excuse me, is your captain available to speak with us?”
The firefighter looked Russell up and down and frowned. “Who wants to know?” he asked in a thick Boston accent.
Standing behind Russell to his right, I stood there attempting to hide my grin.
“I’m Russell McCormick, and this is Rory Adams. We’re with the Adams, Burks, and Monroe law firm.”
When the firefighter lifted his brow and shot Russell an I-don’t-give-a-damn-who-you-are look, I stepped up closer. I glanced down at his shirt, and smiled.
“Good morning, Lieutenant. We really hope that we’re not intruding on your morning schedule. Our law firm represents the Boston Fire Fighters union, as well as Mr. Robert Long. We’d like to be able to speak with a few of you about Mr. Long. Is your cap in?”
The guy looked me over. I had purposely dressed in a tight skirt today. Not to mention the fact that my shirt showed a bit more cleavage than usual. I’d been around firefighters my whole life. If there was one thing I knew about them…it was that they could be like putty in a woman’s hands, even the married ones. Yet I’d never once had one misbehave, which spoke volumes to me about these men.
“No intrusion at all, ma’am. Anybody here to help our boy is welcome. Let me go let Captain Riggs know you’re here.”
With a bigger smile, I replied, “Thank you so much, Lieutenant…”
“Hendricks, ma’a
m. Just call me Hendricks.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Hendricks.”
He turned and took off up the stairs. Trying to contain my smile, I glanced over to Russell. The look on his face alone was priceless.
“How did you know he was a lieutenant? And I thought there were only fire captains.”
My mouth nearly fell open. And this man called himself a good lawyer. Had he not read up on the fire department? Amazing, since most of his cases would be representing the fire fighters’ union. “There’s a rank structure within the fire department. His T-shirt said, ‘I’m in Charge When the Captain’s Away.’ The lieutenant is under the captain, and if the captain is out, he is acting captain. I simply put two and two together.”
“Right. I knew that.”
Responding with a half smile, half smirk, I glanced around the station. God, how I’d loved spending time with my father at work when I was younger.
“Little Rory Adams. How the hell are you?”
Glancing over my shoulder, I grinned wide. “Captain Riggs. How are you?”
He pulled me into a hug and whispered into my ear, “Jesus, when did you grow up to be a beautiful woman? Does your father know his little girl is here?”
With a chuckle, I squeezed him harder. He pushed me out at arm’s length and shook his head. “If any of these guys makes one comment to you, you let me know, you hear?”
“Yes sir, but I’m sure they’ll all behave.”
He rolled his eyes, then turned to Russell while extending his hand. “Captain John Riggs.”
“Russell McCormick, sir.”
“Let’s head on up to my office and talk.”
Russell motioned for me to go first as he said, “Sounds great.”
As we walked back to the captain’s office, I couldn’t hide the fire in my cheeks at the stares I was receiving. One guy tripped while mopping as he watched me walk by.
Russell leaned closer to me and whispered, “I’d say you’re making a nice first impression.”
Digging my teeth into my lip, I was now regretting my shirt choice.
As we walked into the captain’s office, I pulled my sweater from my bag and put it on, making sure to pull it together to hide the fact that I had on a low-cut blouse.
“Cold?” Russell asked while smirking.
Asshole.
“A little,” I answered with a sweet smile.
“So, you’re here to talk about Long?”
Russell and I both responded with a “Yes.”
“Well, he’s a great firefighter. A great person. I hate that this is happening to him.”
Taking out a notebook, I went to ask a question, but Russell beat me to it.
“Captain Riggs, was there anything different you noticed about Mr. Long before the alleged incident?”
He pinched his brows together. “No, everything seemed to be normal. He was getting ready to ask his girlfriend, Rochelle, to marry him, and we all knew he was nervous about that.”
I wrote that bit of information down and Russell didn’t.
Russell then asked, “Has anyone ever come to you with any such allegations before regarding Mr. Long? A female firefighter?”
“No. Never.”
With a curt laugh, Russell said, “Is that a truthful answer?”
My head turned quickly as I gave Russell a dumbfounded look.
“What do you mean is that a truthful answer?”
“I know you all consider yourself like family around here, so I’m sure if anything like this was brought to your attention in the past, you’d share that with us so that we aren’t caught off guard at the trial. Am I correct?”
Riggs looked at me and then back to Russell. Leaning forward, he pointed to him. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“No,” I responded. “Russell, may I speak with you in private please?”
He didn’t even bother looking at me. “It’s okay, Rory. I’m sorry, Captain Riggs. But you have to know my number one interest is the client and the Boston Fire Department. This allegation was made while Mr. Long was on duty and here at your fire station. I need to know if there has ever been anything that this woman’s lawyer is going to dig up and hit us with at the last minute.”
Riggs leaned back in his chair and studied Russell. “To my knowledge, there has never been any other such allegation brought forth concerning Robert Long.”
“May I question some of the other firefighters?” Russell asked.
“I have no problem with that.”
“Thank you so much for your time, Captain Riggs.” Russell stood and reached his hand out. Captain Riggs took it, and turned to me.
“Rory, you might have a better shot of getting the guys to open to you, since you’re a part of the…family,” he said, glaring back at Russell.
A smile danced on my lips while I nodded my head and shook the captain’s hand. “Thank you, Captain Riggs, for your time.”
We’d turned to leave the captain’s office when he said, “Robert Long is probably one of the most caring guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and working with. There isn’t a person around he wouldn’t give the shirt off his back for. We’re counting on you to get him out of this.”
I swallowed hard. What if we can’t do it? What if we lose? An innocent man could be sentenced to jail.
“We’re going to do our very best, sir,” Russell responded.
The captain walked us to a private office after introducing us to the firefighters. The moment he mentioned who my father was, all eyes were pinned on me.
We spent the next hour and a half asking the firefighters who worked on Robert Long’s shift questions. The more we asked, the more one thing stuck out to me.
When a call about an accident came over, everyone quickly dispersed.
“Well, I guess we’re done here,” Russell said with a sigh.
As I glanced down at my notes, one word caught my eye…“fiancée.” I had a gut feeling something wasn’t right…but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
As we approached Russell’s BMW, he stopped and turned to me. “Well, that didn’t really get us anywhere.”
“What about his fiancée?”
Holding the car door open for me, he pulled his head back and asked, “What about her?”
“I think we should talk to her. Maybe there was something she noticed or she knew.”
Russell nodded. “She’s on my list. I want to talk to his parents, then her.”
“Rory?”
Looking over Russell’s shoulder, I saw Finn.
“Finn, what are you doing here?” I asked as I made my way over to him. His eyes were fixed to mine, and when he smiled, he stole my breath. He looked past me and saw Russell.
“I think the better question would be what are you doing here?” Finn asked Russell.
I glanced over my shoulder to Russell, then quickly turned back to Finn. “Mr. McCormick and I are working on Robert Long’s case.”
Finn’s eyes moved from Russell back to me, and I thought I saw a look of relief move across his face. “We were talking to some of his coworkers. Do you know Long?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ve met him a few times. Really nice guy.”
“That’s what everyone says,” I responded.
Finn took me by the elbow and walked me back toward the firehouse. “So if you have time to go out to eat with your…coworker…you surely have time to to go out to dinner with me.”
It wasn’t lost on me that a few of the other firefighters were watching us.
“This isn’t the time or place to talk about it, Finn.”
Narrowing his eyes at me, Finn leaned in closer. My heart skittered when I felt his breath against the soft skin under my ear. “Then where is?”
“Rory, we really need to get back to the office,” Russell called out.
Locking my eyes with Finn’s, I smiled. “I have to run. How’s Flash?”
I could see the disappointment on his face. “Come find out for yourself
.”
My lips pressed tightly together.
“Rory!”
“Jesus Christ, dude, give us a second, will you?” Finn called out to Russell, the disappointment on his face turning to agitation.
“I really should go. I’ll see you around, Finn.”
He looked like he wanted to kiss me, and Lord help me, I wanted him to as well. “See ya around, Rory.”
And with that, Finn walked into the firehouse while I stood there like an idiot watching his retreating body.
Russell cleared his throat, pulling me out of my temporary daze.
I quickly got into his car. My heart was pounding and my head spun. What was it about Finn Ward that made me so crazy and had my body begging for more. More of his smile, his laugh…to be near him.
“Rory, are you even listening to me?”
Snapping my head to the left, I stared at Russell. “I’m sorry, what were you saying?”
“This firefighter. Is he going to be a distraction for you on this case?”
My breath caught. “What? No! Of course not. We’re only friends—why would you think that?”
Lifting his brow, Russell didn’t say anything, but I knew he was referring to the last few minutes, when I’d been totally lost in thought.
“Good. Because the last thing you or I need is for you to be distracted by someone.”
I was instantly pissed off. Even though I knew Russell was right. I couldn’t afford a distraction like Finn Ward, but I didn’t need him telling me.
“You don’t have to worry about me, Russell. I’m married to my job.”
He smiled and hit the gas as we weaved in and out of Boston traffic on the way back to the office. “That’s what I want to hear.”
Chapter 10
Finn
Confused feelings
It had been a week since I’d seen Rory, and I couldn’t get that last encounter out of my head. She’d acted like she wanted me to kiss her. And I was tempted to kiss her, but I didn’t want it getting back to her father. Plus the asshole lawyer coworker of hers was standing there.
I peered down to Flash. “Finally, boy, we get a day off.”
Flash barked and attempted to jump up on me. “No! Down.”