The Heat Is On (Boston Five Book 1) (6 page)

“And you can’t arrest anyone either,” the blond joked good-naturedly.

“Right.” Hayden smiled briefly at him before throwing Shane an expectant glance. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten the dripping faucet.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Shane nodded, his mouth still full. “In a minute.”

His new partner cleared his throat, eliciting her attention again. “Are you part of the famous Fitzpatrick family then?”

“The famous Fitzpatrick family?” She raised her eyebrows. “That sounds like a Broadway musical. What do you mean?”

With a shrug, he placed his glass on the counter next to him. “I’ve only been in Boston a short while, but that name seems to be on everyone’s lips. Two fire chiefs, several detectives and police officers …”

“My family suffers from Mother Teresa syndrome,” Shane chimed in carelessly, which made Hayden shake her head. While it might be true that the Fitzpatricks were quick to help anyone, they had picked their professions for different reasons, such as their love of adventure and their penchant for heroism. For Heath, it had been clear from an early age that he wanted to be a firefighter, just like his dad, and his granddad before him. And Shane’s role model was his other grandfather, who had been a patrolman all his life. Nobody was surprised when he and then Ryan had become policemen, instead of joining the fire department. Kyle was the only brother who was more like his sister, interested in medicine, and he was studying to be a paramedic.

“So are you a Fitzpatrick as well?” Alec prodded.

Hayden threw Shane an uncertain glance, but, as usual, his face remained blank. She shrugged and said, “No, I’m not.”

“So how do you know the clan?”

She folded her hands in her lap. “My dad used to work with Joe Fitzpatrick,” she said airily. “I grew up with Shane and his siblings.”

“Any lasting side effects?” Alec asked playfully, winking at her with his light brown eyes.

Hayden suddenly realized he was flirting with her. She had to force herself not to look at Shane again, for permission or censure, she didn’t know. She didn’t even know how to flirt. She’d never had the need to learn the art, after all, and she didn’t know if she wanted to. Her thoughts were still filled with Heath, and part of her wasn’t willing to accept that he’d broken up with her. Flirting with Shane’s partner was out of the question, as long as she was still unhappily in love with another man.

“Well.” She shook her head nervously. “They’re really very pleasant, mostly. Shane could work on his table manners, but apart from that, they’re not hard to get along with.”

Shane didn’t comment on that, but he cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Kayleigh told me there was a problem with the dad of one of your kids. Do I have to pay this guy a visit?”

Wonderful
, Hayden thought, feeling irritated. Though it was nice of Shane to be concerned, sometimes his authoritarian manner annoyed the heck out of her. “Kayleigh exaggerates and should get a hobby.”

“You know you need to tell me if anyone threatens you, right?”

“Yes, Dad,” she replied, rolling her eyes like a teenager.

Alec chimed in, trying to voice his offer in a more charming manner. “Of course you can also call me if you have to deal with unpleasant people again.”

“That is—”

“Hayden’s engaged to my brother.” Shane interrupted her reply in a tone that raised the hairs on the back of her neck.

She turned to him with a frown. “Shane!”

“Oh.” Alec immediately dropped all playfulness. “I didn’t know that.”

She didn’t understand why Shane was suddenly behaving like a mongrel, marking each and every tree he passed. For three months now, he hadn’t spoken a single word to his brother. Two days ago, he’d suggested he punch him for her, and called him an asshole. But now that another man was showing the tiniest bit of interest in her, he got all ruffled and felt the need to harshly point out she was taken? She wasn’t taken! And she had
never
liked the male tendency to behave like angry birds, fluffing up their plumage, especially when it concerned her.

“We are no longer engaged,” she stated smoothly, sounding all but vicious.

Shane’s face darkened into a major frown that almost made her flinch. “To me, you still are.”

Hayden had a mind to slap him, but she managed to merely answer his frown with one of her own. “Well, it’s none of your business.”

“Okay.” Alec shoveled the last of his piece of pie into his mouth and nodded at her. “I’m going to wait outside. It was nice meeting you, Hayden.”

As soon as he left the house, she burst. “What is
wrong
with you? Heath broke up with me!”

“And you want to go out with other men?”

She silently counted to five to get a grip on her anger before answering. “Shane, you’re not my brother-in-law. Heath broke up with me, so you have no reason to act like that!”

His dark head nodded toward her hand. “You’re still wearing his ring.”

Her hands balled into fists. “That doesn’t give you the right to treat me like your brother’s possession. Have you forgotten that you’re the one refusing to even speak to him?”

“That doesn’t change the fact that you two are a couple.”

She shook her head. “That isn’t the case anymore—”

“Heath would go apeshit if he saw you with another man,” he prophesied darkly.

“Fine!” she gasped, her throat going tight. “So let him! He’s been sleeping with other women, so what do I care what he thinks about me going out with other men?”

“You can’t do that,” Shane decided, like a strict parent.

“I’ve really had it with you bossy Fitzpatrick men!” Angrily, she pulled the ring from her finger. “Take that!” She flung it at his chest. “If you’re so close to your brother, you can give him that back!”

Hayden had been postponing this conversation for several days now, but she knew that that wasn’t a permanent solution. Instead of burying her head in the sand, she had to face the fact that she and Heath needed to discuss a few things, including the house and the car. Ellen had informed her that Heath was working the day shift, so after school was over, she got into her car and drove to the fire station.

Her reasoning was that, in front of his long-term colleagues, he wouldn’t make a scene or try to evade the necessary discussion again. Five days ago, he’d succeeded in making her run, crying, from his apartment, but that wasn’t going to happen a second time, she vowed. Heath might no longer want anything to do with her, but that meant they needed to negotiate the very things he seemed intent on neglecting.

Feeling sick to her stomach, she parked on the street next to the station. She immediately registered that all the trucks were sitting in the lot, or the garage behind it. On the one hand, she was relieved Heath wasn’t out on a job, so they would be able to talk. But, on the other hand, part of her would have preferred to put it off a little longer.

She locked the car with trembling fingers and then crossed the lot to get to the open garage, burying her hands in the pockets of her jeans.

The first person to cross her path was Sam, who was busy cleaning a truck. He gave her a warm, welcoming smile. “Hey! Look who’s found her way into our humble abode.”

“Hi, Sam.” He threw his dirty rag into a red bucket, and she let him hug her. Her smile was a bit forced. “You’re looking good.”

“Thank you, honey.” Before she could stop him, he bellowed out, “Line up, guys! Get ready for inspection, we have a visitor!”

Hayden cringed and shook her head, resigned. “I wish you’d kept your mouth shut.”

“We don’t see you here often enough,” Sam said, placing a heavy arm on her shoulder, steering her toward the crew room. Several of his colleagues were already sticking their heads out, greeting her affectionately.

“Well … you know why.”

The bald fireman sighed and whispered to her, “Your lieutenant is making a huge mistake, but he’ll realize that at some point.”

What was she supposed to say to that? Hayden was silent. Before long, the entire gang was welcoming her like a long-lost sister, which wasn’t too far from the truth. She knew the station inside and out, because she’d spent so much time here after her dad had been transferred to Boston when she was five. And when Heath had been assigned to this particular station, too, several years ago, she’d constantly been dropping by, bringing over cakes and cookies she made. She’d even spent quite some time in the rec room studying for her exams in her last semester of school, because the neighbors at her old place had been atrociously loud.

When Heath broke up with her, she’d ceased coming here. And it felt like losing a home.

“Hey, sweetheart.” Greg O’Sullivan, a man who had served on the same truck as her father, pulled her close and patted her back. “Are you alright, little lady?”

“Sure, I’m fine,” she replied airily, and then she saw over Greg’s shoulder that Heath had entered the crew room, too. He gave her a quizzical look, before setting his face in a frown and crossing his arms.

She quickly focused her attention on Greg again. He was still holding her in his arms, lost somewhere in an age-old story about his days with her dad, but then he abruptly changed the subject. “You’re coming to the family picnic next weekend, right? Are you bringing your fabulous pudding again?”

She cringed. She’d totally forgotten about the annual family picnic—or, rather, consciously repressed any thought of it. She couldn’t remember missing it once in all those years, but considering the current situation, it was probably better not to go this year.

She forced her eyes not to roam to where Heath was standing against the wall, looked at Greg, and gave an apologizing shrug. “I don’t think I should …”

“Of course you should! This year, we’re holding it in memory of Joe. That should be reason enough for you to be there.”

Hayden swallowed, all too aware of everyone’s eyes on her. She gave a curt nod, hoping to cut the discussion short. “Okay … okay, I’ll be there.”

“Atta girl.” Greg turned his head and nodded at his comrades, who took the hint and filed back out of the crew room, patting her arm and murmuring their goodbyes.

“See you again soon, Hayden.”

“Take care!”

“Bye-bye.”

Greg finally let go of her, too, kissed her on the cheek, and turned to Heath. “You behave yourself now, you hear me?”

She felt like rolling her eyes again, but she merely watched Greg maneuver his constantly growing beer belly through the door, leaving them alone. Silence descended, only interrupted by the sounds of the television from the rec room.

Hayden raised her eyes and looked at Heath, who stared right back at her but didn’t say a word. Contrary to their last meeting, he seemed neither bleary-eyed nor hungover, which made her sigh with relief. She’d been really concerned by the way he’d looked, but seeing him now in his fireman’s outfit, black work pants and a gray t-shirt with the department’s logo, he looked soothingly familiar again. His face was slightly stubbly, but that was normal, too, towards the end of a long shift. He had lost a little weight, which made his face seem more angular than usual, but that did nothing to diminish his attractiveness, she had to admit to herself. Her throat felt tight.

Heath had been a cute kid and a handsome teenager, and he’d grown into a man who made her knees weak every time she looked at him. He was tall, the muscles underneath his t-shirt were hard to overlook, and his thick, dark brown hair felt unbelievably soft when she used to grab it. He could look at her in a way that made her feel she would shatter if he didn’t touch her right then.

She felt uncomfortable under this onslaught of unwanted sensations. “Hey, Heath. You got a minute?”

He nodded and pushed himself away from the wall. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. But we need to talk about the house, and the car.”

“Why?”

She sighed. “I get it. You really want this separation, but that means there are a few things we need to discuss.”

Looking into his eyes, she hoped with all her heart that he would object to the part about wanting their separation. But he remained silent and seemed utterly impassive.

Hayden took a deep breath and fought the tremor in her voice. “We need to decide what to do with the house and the car. And then there’s the joint account that’s in both of our names, and we have to pay off the personal loan we took out nearly two years ago.”

“But I already said you should stay in the house. And keep the car—”

“I can’t,” she interrupted him. “You can’t just give the house and the car to me, Heath. That wouldn’t be right.”

“Hayden,” he pleaded quietly. “
I
broke up with
you
. You should go on living in the house.”

She shook her head resolutely and then stopped herself as she realized she was about to take a step toward him.

“I’m not going to move into that house again,” he said with finality.

“Fine,” she replied firmly. “But I’m not going to stay there under these circumstances. I guess that means we’ll have to sell it.”