Bad Boy's Kiss (Firemen in Love Book 2) (17 page)

“I must say,” he whispered. “I don't usually kiss the girls I bring home.”

“Why not?”

“I don't know. The idea of it makes me feel uncomfortable, I guess.”

“But you're here kissing me now.”

He tensed. “You're not like them.”

“You have no idea what you want, do you?”

“Maybe you're right, darlin'.”

I reached for him again, and he for me. The ringing doorbell interrupted us, followed by an intrusive banging on the porch window.

“Oh, Anna! Where
are
you?” More knocking. “One of your silly, dirty chickens ran in front of the car. I think your father might have hit it – there was such an
awful
noise – but it's in the bushes now...”

Max exchanged worried glances with me. He squeezed my hand.

Would they notice my protruding belly? What would they say about me shacking up with a guy I wasn't married to?

In all of this, just one thing was for certain: I had Max by my side to get me through it.

For the first time in my life, I started letting myself trust him. What else could I do? That was my only choice. I just hoped he didn't let me down.

“Anna, open the door right now! How could you be so
rude
to your guests?”

“Time to face the music,” I said, forcing a laugh.

“We'll make it.”

I believed him.

Chapter 12 - Anna

I opened the door. Mom sashayed in wearing a red dress that looked completely out of place on the farm. I wasn't surprised. She'd always hated country living and described the people here as “poor, stupid rednecks.”

“Anna, my baby!” She gave me a hug, choking me with her intensely cloying perfume. “It's been far too long. If only you'd move to San Diego with us. Then we could visit all the time.”

Behind her were dad and Rachael. They were deep in some important discussion, so busy talking that dad didn't even seem to notice me. It felt like my childhood all over again.

Mom slapped dad's arm. “Daniel, pay attention! Your daughter is waiting to say hello to you.”

Dad looked up at me and made himself smile. His teeth were perfectly straight and white, salt-and-pepper hair neatly styled, and his skin almost orange from spending too much time in a tanning booth. His fancy suit was a good accompaniment to mom's hundred-dollar dress.

“It's great to see you again, sweetie. I love what you've done with the property.” He peeked into the living room. “A bit kitschy for my tastes, but it's got that adorable country charm nonetheless. How's your farming hobby? Still making money?”

I bristled at his insistence that my job was a hobby. If this farm was Rachael's, he'd have been all over it. He would have helped her turn the damn thing into a ranching empire complete with one thousand head of cattle.

Me? Nope. Just a hobby.

“Oh, daddy. She's doing just fine.” Rachael giggled. “She sells her stuff at the farmer's market. Did you know she's keeping bees now?”

His gaze fell to my stomach for just the briefest moment, but it panicked me anyway. I saw the question in his eyes. Thankfully, he chose not to say anything.

“Bees? Yes, that's wonderful.” He turned back to Rachael. “So, when are you and Trey coming to California?”

Max chose now to make his grand entrance. I had no clue if Rachael told them he was living with me. If not, they were about to get a great big surprise.

“Hi there, Mr. and Mrs. Southwell.” He grinned in his charming way and held up a pitcher. “Would either of you like some fresh-brewed iced tea?”

When mom saw him sitting there in the wheelchair, she yelped and backed away as if she'd seen a rat on the kitchen counter. Dad stopped his rambling conversation and stared at him blankly.

“Max.” Mom's tone turned cold and snippy. “What on earth are
you
doing in my daughter's house?”

Before he could answer, a car pulled up in the driveway. Seconds later, Trey walked through the door.

“I see everyone's here. I can't stay long; gotta get back to work, but –” He paused, finally noticing the thick tension in the room. “Oh, hey, Max. Is that some of your famous iced tea?”

“It sure is. No vodka in this one, though. You'll have to add that yourself.”

Mom looked like she might faint. Lovely. We'd only just gotten started, and his big mouth was already getting us in trouble.

Trey, smart man that he was, ushered Max away. “I'll take a glass. Come on.”

“I demand an explanation for this.” Mom snarled. “You know what he did to your sister.”

All he'd done was sleep with her once and bail. It wasn't like they were dating or anything. He'd made her no promises; she knew his reputation. And it happened in high school, besides.

Of course, Rachael acted like he'd killed her puppy. The way she cried and carried on and got all depressed for a whole week, she had mom eating out of the palm of her hand. I was starting to doubt whether anything Max said or did would change her image of him.

Maybe our half-assed plan wasn't such a good one after all.

“And you know what kind of guy he's like,” dad added. “He's rude, arrogant, selfish, with no class whatsoever.”

This was it. Moment of truth.

“I'd appreciate it,” I said loudly, “if you didn't talk about my boyfriend that way.”

The room went silent. Everyone stared at me, then him. Rachael let out a shriek.

“Your
boyfriend?
He's not your boyfriend! He got in an accident and you offered to let him stay here, for whatever idiotic reason.”

Trey gaped at his brother while Max poured him some tea. Then Max handed him the glass and rolled back into the living room.

“Actually, folks, it's true. We've been in a long-distance relationship for several months now.” Luckily, somehow, he said this with a straight face. “I live in Waco, but the two of us reconnected when we met in Dallas one day. It was love at first sight.”

Rachael's face turned red. “Bullshit!”

“Language, dear.” Mom hissed at her. “Now, Anna, this must be some sort of sick joke.”

Dad agreed. “Aside from your tarnished reputation, it just won't do to have you living together unmarried. The church won't tolerate such sin, and as your father, it's my job to save you from making wicked choices in life.”

“I'm not in the church anymore, and I'll have you know I'm an adult now.” I settled my hand on Max's muscular back. “This is precisely why we kept our relationship a secret all this time, because we knew how the family would react.”

Mom sputtered. “But what is he doing in this house?”

Max held up his hand. “It's only temporary, I assure you. I came up to do a job fighting wildfires, but as you can see, that didn't end too well.” He gestured to the casts on his legs. “I clearly can't return home like this. My only option was to stay with her until I healed.”

No one believed him; I could tell. Trey, especially, looked like he was going to strangle Max. He probably knew we were making it all up. I just hoped he understood why.

Dad's jaw clenched. “I don't like this one bit. There simply must be another way. Hire an aide to care for you at home, perhaps.”

“Kind of hard to go home when I live in a second-story apartment.” Max's eyes twinkled. “But hey, think about it. You can still use this to your advantage. You're running for governor, aren't you?”

Uh-oh. What did he think he was doing? There he went, straying from the plan we'd laid out, just like knew he would.

“That's right, I am.”

“Your selfless daughter is so kind and generous that she's taking care of a cripple in her own home, asking nothing in return.” He grinned. “That's the kind of story the news would eat up.”

I could see the wheels spinning in dad's head. Anything that made him look good, he'd do. Okay, maybe Max wasn't as big an idiot as I thought.

In all the hoopla, I had barely noticed Rachael being so quiet. She'd slunk off to a corner of the couch where she sat, dazed almost, while tears formed in her eyes. What the heck was the matter with her? Me being with Max made her
sad?

I didn't get it. She sure didn't care about my well-being that much. Something was up, but now wasn't the time to figure out what.

“Perhaps the boy is right,” mom finally consented. “But of course, make no mention of their scandalous relationship to the media.”

“There's nothing scandalous about it.” Max looked me dead in the eyes. “What's wrong with me loving your daughter? She's a wonderful girl.”

I got shivers when he said those words. Either he was a real good actor, or he meant what he said.

Yeah, right. Max didn't love anybody. He'd told me so himself.

Still, against all reason, I wished that he would change. I wished he'd love
me.

Trey's brow furrowed. “Anna, I forgot to tell you. Some of your chickens were wandering around in the road. I think the fence fell down again. Why don't we go round 'em up?”

We went outside together. I felt bad leaving Max alone in there with them, but he could hold his own. Probably.

A couple of hens were busy pecking up bugs in the driveway. Trey followed behind me as I shooed them into their yard.

“You're not dating Max,” he said finally.

“Of course I am. I just never told anybody about it because I knew how you all would react.”

He shook his head. “Please don't lie to me. There's no way you're with him. You think I'm stupid?”

I busied myself with picking a few cherry tomatoes off the vine so I wouldn't have to look at him.

“When Max came into town a few weeks back, you looked like you wanted to punch him. We've had several cookouts, dinners together, and not once did I get the inkling you cared for each other. If anything, seemed as if you were trying to avoid him.”

“Maybe we hid it well.”

“You rarely leave town, and I know for a fact Max never really left Waco 'cause he was always busy with work. Not much of a relationship, is it?”

“So we don't see each other often. It's no fun, but we make it work.”

He sighed at my insistence. I feverishly dumped tomatoes into my basket. Inside the house, people were yelling. I felt like running into the woods and hiding until it was over with.

“And what about Rich?”

“Shortly after he left me, almost four months ago now, I went to Dallas for work. Remember? That's when I met Max.”

“I find it hard to believe you'd jump into another relationship so soon, especially with
him.
You're not that kind of girl. He's a playboy. The two of you would be totally wrong for each other.”

Out of tomatoes to pick, I fiddled with the sprinkler system instead.

“Not to mention... I know you're pregnant.”

I froze. Oh, shit!

“I... How?”

“You've got a definite tummy going on, for one thing.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “And Max told me, too, just the other day.”

Were Max standing here, I would have pushed him into the pond, wheelchair and all. What the devil was he thinking? He was supposed to keep his mouth shut about that!

“He
told
you?”

“I mentioned that I thought you might be, and he admitted you were. Said Rich did it. That's why the jerk abandoned you so fast.”

I started to cry. Trey dutifully offered me his arm for a hug.

“Max was very mad when he talked about it with me. Said he couldn't believe a guy could do such a thing to you.” He chuckled. “I haven't seen him so fired up about anything in quite a while.”

I stroked my tummy. If Trey noticed, everyone else did, too. They were probably just too polite to say anything.

“Why haven't you told anyone?” he asked softly.

“You know what my parents are like. They're super religious – or they pretend to be, anyway – and my dad is trying to become governor. If they found out I slept with a married man and got pregnant with his baby, they would be furious.”

“But none of that's your fault.”

“It doesn't matter whose fault it is. All that matters is how bad it makes
them
look. If I make them mad enough, I'm scared they'll take away the farm from me. The only reason I've got this place is because dad gave it to me, but it still belongs to him.”

“What about Rachael? She's your sister.”

“And also my biggest competition, if you haven't noticed. She's mom's special princess, and she'd rat me out to them if it meant looking better in her eyes. I'm frankly surprised she hasn't told her about Rich already, but I'm sure it's coming.”

The yelling inside the house got louder. Trey and I slowly made our way back to the porch. I wasn't in any rush to go in there.

“They're obviously going to find out eventually.”

“I know. That's why Max and I came up with this plan.”