Chapter 10

ten

R owan

I’m hosing down Engine 1 when Sagan pays me a visit.

He walks in through the open bay door and nods when he spots me at the back of the garage.

Since I came back to work, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Briar. I wonder if she’s doing OK.

I texted her earlier, but she hasn’t replied yet. The concern was making me stir crazy, which is why I decided to wash the fire engine.

“What’s up?”

“You saw her this morning,” Sagan says.

“Saw who?” I ask, not looking him in the eye. I don’t officially know if he’s talking about Briar or Esme.

“Where did she go?”

I don’t answer, but I keep washing the truck.

“You know where she lives!” Sagan bellows, pointing at me.

“No comment.” Now that I’ve done some googling, I understand even more about who Esme Bryant is. She’s a known recluse. After her stint as a model in Europe, she had some kind of breakdown, and now she never leaves the house.

Except to get tattoos from strangers, apparently. If Sagan learns who she really is...

“I have to find her.”

“Do you even know her name, dude?”

“She said her name was Esme.”

Damn. It’s only a matter of time before he figures out she’s the Bryant heiress.

“Did she say anything else?” I ask.

Sagan takes a step closer. “What are you not telling me?”

“I’m not not telling you anything.”

The tattooed man growls low in his chest. “You’re holding out on me. I thought we were friends.”

“We are.”

“Then you gotta help me.”

I set the hose aside and start to work on the engine with the foaming brush, my pal Sagan hot on my heels. “If I help you find her, then Briar could lose her job.”

“Who?”

“Briar! The girl I was helping last night when Esme disappeared.”

“I don’t remember another girl.”

I snort. “Red hair. White sneakers. A little jumpy.” The most gorgeous creature who ever set foot in Fate? That part, I don’t say out loud.

“OK. Maybe she did mention she had an intern,” he says, scratching his head.

Sagan already knows too much.

I say nothing more.

“Fine,” he says, jutting out his chin. “I’ll just follow you the next time you go to see the intern.”

Trying hard to appear nonchalant, I work the soapy brush over the tires. “I can’t stop you. And I did not officially hear that.”

What am I saying? I’m just going to leave him to his own devices? This is all kinds of wrong.

“Rowan, listen. You saw us together, right?”

“Yeah.” I put the soap brush away and fire up the hose again, and begin rinsing the engine. Sagan is still following me around the garage as I work.

“And you know I don’t act like that around just anyone.”

“I guess not.”

“Then you know I’m dead serious, man. I need to talk to her. She said something about needing protection. I don’t like the sound of that. It’s making me crazy, do you hear me, buddy?”

Making sure no one else is watching, I turn off the hose and pull out my phone.

I open my Notes app and show it to him. “Here’s her address. Here’s the code to the gate, but you did not get it from me.”

“Understood.”

I can’t believe I just did that.

Sagan disappears. Whatever chaos he’s about to enact will probably get traced back to me one way or another. And I’m going to owe Briar a huge apology. She’ll be pissed off, and she won’t want to see me once she learns what I did. But I’ll own up to it and take the consequences.

When my shift ends 24 hours later, Briar still hasn’t replied to my texts.

Tonight is Halloween, and I was really hoping to spend some quality time with her. I wanted to show her around my town and maybe get an idea if she’d like to stay here after her internship. I know I’m dreaming, but I’ve always been an optimist.

Back at home, I lie on my sofa in my sweats. Her text must’ve come in while I was in the shower. Thank god, she’s alive. I feel like I can breathe again, and my muscles unclench. My body was physically carrying the pain of this separation; the worry over her well-being was physical and not just mental.

Frye came back early. He fired me.

Shit. Is it my fault?

No, silly.

Are you OK?

Yep. Esme came through for me. She knew what she did, and you were right. She likes having me around. She won’t let Frye fire me.

When can I see you?

No reply.

I sent that text about 30 minutes ago. Where is she?

A knock on my door gives me the answer.

I bolt to my feet and open my apartment door.

“I wish you could have seen her stand up to Frye!” Briar looks tired, but her stressed-out vibe has gone.

I smile. “Some people start with hello and a hug if you’re into that sort of thing.”

She rolls her eyes. “I don’t have much time, just a few hours off today before I have to be back.” I stand to the side, gesture for her to come in, and then close the door behind her.

Briar sits on the sofa, her hands in her lap. “I was ready to book a flight back to Indy, assuming my ass was grass. But Esme and Frye had a huge argument. She said she needed me to stay and further said I needed time off like a normal human being. She read the contract out loud to him, letting him know he’d falsely advertised what the internship was supposed to be. On top of that, he’s under orders to make sure I have access to the archives, the library, the art — everything I was promised. I needed to see you after your shift so I could tell you. I’ll be here until after the New Year.”

I go to her, planting myself on my knees at her feet.

“I’m so damn relieved,” I say, clasping her hands in mine and kissing them. “And I’m glad you came all this way to tell me everything.”

I say this knowing full well there’s no way I’m letting her leave after the New Year without me. I don’t know how we’ll make that work, but we’ll have to.

“It felt so weird when you drove away. I didn’t realize I would miss you.” She lets out a little sob.

“Hey,” I say, pulling her into me and wrapping her up in my arms. “I missed you too, but I’m so damn happy you’re here now.”

This gets me a small smile. “Me too.”

We share one long kiss, her sweet mouth soft and yielding to my tongue. The last bit of tension falls away.

“Tonight’s Halloween. The crew at the station always puts out a huge buffet of candy for the kids downtown. You can come with me and help hand out candy. Do you have time for that?”

She nods. “I completely forgot about Halloween. Sure. Nobody ever took me trick-or-treating. It’ll be fun to do that for someone else.”

She’s so thoughtful, and so wrung out. “You look like you could use a nap.”

Briar nods weakly.

I pick her up and carry her to my bed. I know she’s not feeling herself when she doesn’t object to being carried, or to having her shoes removed for her, or to being tucked under the covers.

I spoon up behind her with no expectations other than for her to get some rest.

With my arm snug around her, breathing in the scent of her, she feels like she belongs here. She feels like my wife.

Closer. I just need to get closer. I give her a quick squeeze, but then she rotates around to face me.

“Sleep,” I tell her.

“In a minute,” she says, her hand on the waistband of my sweatpants.

Who among us would object to this?

“Baby, you’re exhausted.”

“Rowan, I can’t sleep. My body doesn’t realize yet that I’m safe. I swear to god, if you don’t fuck the last remnants of stress out of me right this instant…”

Enough said.

We make short work of our clothes with desperate hands, punctuated with urgent kisses and tangling limbs.

Has anyone ever owned me the way Briar does? Have I ever felt like I belonged anywhere, honestly, before she walked into my life less than 48 hours ago?

This was meant to be.

Her thick thighs hug me to her, and she uses two hands to guide me to her heat. “There’s my girl. Where have you been all my life?”

“Don’t make me cry, just dick me right now, do you understand me?”

Make her cry? Her tired, creaky voice is so full of emotions, and I know exactly what she needs.

“Understood,” I say, slipping into her tight, wet, welcoming cunt.

She’s so damn tight, my world fades to black for half a second. “Shit, baby. Holy fucking shit.”

“Rowan! Oh god…oh my god…you’re so…fucking thick!”

I wait for her body to tell me when she’s ready for more.

Briar makes a raspy, throaty sound, her arms gripping me tight, her thighs squeezing.

I surge into her deeply, her sweet honey painting my cock, making me insane with need. I close my eyes as I move in her and see a future devoted to her.

My Briar.

Did I say she felt like my wife a moment ago?

Now, I know she’s my wife. I just have to put a ring on her finger and sign some paperwork. But she’s as good as mine.