Into the Fire (Bridge Book 2) (4 page)

“How does it feel to know you’re going to be a married woman in a couple days?”

“Feels right, in every way.”

The glittering sunlight coming off the ocean waves shimmered in Maya’s eyes. Something apart from her usual quiet excitement about the wedding passed over her expression. Maybe worry, or maybe a twinge of sadness. I couldn’t know for sure, and I didn’t want to ask and give whatever it was more energy.

I hugged her arm a little tighter. “You okay?”

She smiled quickly. “I’ve never been happier. I can’t wait to be Cameron’s wife. Honestly.”

I was more excited for her to tie the knot than I’d ever expected to be. Maya deserved happiness, and I had no doubts that Cameron would be the knight in shining armor she needed. A rock, a place to call home.

I wanted a happily ever after for her, even as the headstrong person in me disputed whether marrying the man of your dreams in your twenties should be a goal for a woman of her talent and education. Half my friends back home had families already, but that wasn’t me. I had a career, even if it felt like purgatory, and I lived in the greatest city in the world. I had a plan and a long way to go before I could slow down and think about how to achieve domestic bliss.

“Are you nervous?”

Maya shook her head. “Not really. I could marry Cameron tonight and I think it would feel like the most natural thing in the world. I already feel like we’re married.”

“You belong together.”

She stared down our feet making a path through the soft sand. “Deep down, I’ve known that for a long time.”

Other people staying at the hotel milled around the beach, but a small group of familiar faces gathered by the band. Nearby tables were set out with trays of food. Hints of spices and cooked meats wafted through the air.

I fixed on the two men standing several feet away, seemingly lost in conversation. Darren and Cameron were showstoppers in a crowd of fairly average-looking people. Gods among the masses. They were wearing even less clothing than usual, and I couldn’t stop myself from sizing up Darren’s physique, an occupation that I could probably devote several hours to each day. His biceps strained against the hem of his green T-shirt, and his calves were strong and sinewy, proof of the no doubt countless hours he’d devoted to his body at the gym. The overall result was a work of art.

“Maya.”

A woman’s voice interrupted my thoughts. The woman was Maya’s future mother-in-law.

“Diane.” Maya cleared her throat and gave me a tight look.

Oh.
This was Diane Bridge.

“This is Vanessa. Vanessa, this is Diane Bridge, Cam’s mom.”

“It’s good to meet you.” I held out my hand.

She lifted her hand slowly and took mine, her gaze traveling the length of me as she did. Her careful appraisal felt nothing like Darren’s. I stood awkwardly, waiting for her to say something. She let my hand fall after a moment and shifted her assessment between Maya and me for a moment.

“Vanessa is the maid of honor. Remember, I mentioned her,” Olivia chimed in.

I could see now where Olivia got her ice princess tendencies. Her mother carried an air of superiority that could not be missed. I was surprised it didn’t knock people over when they passed her in the street. Still, she was beautiful and unmistakably elegant. I’d never seen someone look so refined on a beach in eighty-degree heat.

“Hey, beautiful.” Darren came to my side, a welcome presence.

Diane frowned, and Olivia’s eyes widened. The way they looked at me and the heavy judgment that poured from Darren’s mother made me feel anything but beautiful in that moment.

“Mom.” He leaned in and gave Diane a polite kiss on the cheek.

Her hard expression softened. A crack in her armor. Maybe she did have a heart in there somewhere.

“Where’s Dad?” Darren asked.

She glanced over his shoulder. “Frank is arranging some tours for us this week. You know he can never sit still.”

“Cool. Well, if you don’t mind, I need to steal Vanessa.”

“Do you?” Her voice was even cooler, and her perfectly plucked brow lifted a fraction.

“Important wedding party business.” He shot her his dazzling smile.

I smiled and let him take my hand. Relief, warmth, and a giddiness I couldn’t ignore coursed through me as he led us away. I glanced back, grateful that Cameron was doing the same now with Maya, and I hadn’t completely abandoned her.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Darren smirked and threaded his fingers tighter into mine. “You’re welcome. I couldn’t stand there and watch that much longer.”

“Your mom…she’s a little intense.” I hesitated over the words. I didn’t want to insult his mother. But I had a feeling “intense” was a kind word. In an instant, she’d made me feel so small and unworthy in her presence, as if she’d had a bird’s-eye view of every insecurity I’d ever had.

He laughed. “You don’t have to spare my feelings. She’s my mom, but she’s a freight train of judgment. I have enemies I wouldn’t want to subject to her.”

“Why is she so…cold?”

“I don’t know.” He winced, like something unpleasant had crossed his mind. “You hungry?” We’d meandered near the tables catered with food.

“A little.” Several trays were piled with meats that were almost unrecognizable with all the spices caked on them. The smells stirred my faint hunger. Next to them were an array of fruits and pretty desserts cut into small pieces. I made a small plate for myself and took a bite out of one of the desserts first. Coconut and a fruit I’d never had. I moaned a little. Yummy.

“God, you’re pretty.”

I caught Darren staring intently at me. Something about the look in his eye, more wonder than seduction, had my heart skipping a beat. I warmed, and suddenly the tropical heat had become too much. Would I ever get used to Darren’s compliments? Not likely. Still, I could spend a week listening to them, definitely. I didn’t know what to say though. Thank you? I swallowed my dessert over the little knot that had formed in my throat. Being around Darren was doing things to my body, no doubt about it.

I stared down at my plate, my thoughts taking dangerous turns. Seconds passed and no words would form. My hands wanted to do the talking, but deep down I knew that was a terrible idea.

“Darren…”

“Come on, dance with me,” he said.

I caught my lip between my teeth and sized up the area around the band. Diane’s unimpressed attitude wasn’t making me want to put on a display with Darren. If her aim was to discourage me away from her son, she was doing a great job.

“No one’s dancing,” I said.

“Not yet. That’s where you and I come in.” He caught my hand and pulled me toward the music. “Come on, then. Let’s show them how it’s done.”

T
he reggae playing
didn’t lend itself to any kind of beat that I was used to, so I pulled Vanessa close to me and we swayed together in a rhythm that was ours. I had to do something because watching her put exotic fruits in her mouth was giving me too many inappropriate thoughts. I was ready to kiss her, to taste whatever delights were on her tongue. I wanted to kiss her right now, but that was impossible. We were on display. Then Maya and Cameron joined us. Cameron’s military pals and their kids posted up around us…watching, talking, drinking too much.

Vanessa sighed and settled against me. She fit nicely in my arms, like she’d been there many times, like she could easily belong there.

I caught a glimpse of my mother’s face on our next turn. She was shooting me a look that was as predictable as it was irritating. Some of us thought we were here to witness two families coming together in holy matrimony. Not Diane. I knew better. She was losing one son this week. The idea, however unlikely, that she could lose me to Vanessa now was probably sending her into a full-blown tailspin.

I couldn’t bring myself to care. I’d stopped caring about what she and Frank wanted a long time ago. My brother and sister had followed suit in their own time. One by one, they’d opted not to live under the superficial and unrealistic expectations that our parents had grown to believe were normal—white-collar jobs, debutante dating, country clubs.

Fuck all that. I wanted to
live
.

“What are you thinking about?”

I considered Vanessa’s question a moment, wondering how I could explain what had happened to our family over the past fifteen years. Did I even know?

I tightened my hold on her and searched her thoughtful eyes. “I was thinking about you,” I fibbed, but quickly turned it into the truth. One look at Vanessa and she’d stolen every thought. I’d been with plenty of beautiful women, but had anyone ever captivated me this way? I searched and came up with nothing, and I was suddenly compelled to know why. What was it about her that drew me to her this way?

She laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“No, right now I’m thinking I want to know everything about you. Which is lucky because we’ve got the whole week together.”

“Why am I suddenly so interesting to you?”

I didn’t know how to answer that truthfully. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her for the better part of the last twenty-four hours. Already I knew she wasn’t like anyone else. Still, she looked genuinely perplexed. God, she really had no idea what she did to men.

I was determined to figure her out, and I was determined to get her under me.

“I think there’s a lot more to you than meets the eye. Believe me, everything that meets the eye is driving me fucking nuts, but I want more. I want to see everything else.”

She was quiet a moment. “From what I know, that seems unlike you.”

I stared at her silently, not liking this reputation thing that kept coming between us. A little voice in my head told me I should let her off the hook. Like she said, I could make plenty of friends on this trip. But I couldn’t bring myself to give up that easily. I wanted to know Vanessa, and I wasn’t going to let my past get in the way.

“You know what? You’ve got a past too. I’m guessing you’ve got a life with some shadows that maybe you’d rather not see the light. How about we forget all that? For the next few days, let’s just be us, without all the baggage. Let me get to know you, Vanessa, and I’ll do my best to let you get to know me too.”

“Okay.”

Relief settled in my shoulders.

She took a breath, seeming resigned to the proposition, and simultaneously giving me a new spark of hope. I had a feeling she might have been overthinking her decision to devote any amount of time to me on this vacation. She’d be wise to, but I was determined to keep her talking.

“You want to go for a walk? Get away from all the prying eyes?”

After one glance in my mother’s direction, she returned her attention to me with a tight smile and a quick nod. “Sure.”

Together we walked away from the party and down to the water. The sky had gone from pink and purple to a deep magical blue that matched the darkened waves crashing gently at our feet.

I threaded my hand into hers and she didn’t protest. Good sign, I thought, but also there was something comforting about the simple connection that had nothing to do with the great sex I hoped it would eventually lead to.

“So tell me about you. I want to know the real Vanessa Hawkins.”

“I wish I had an epic tale for you, but my story really isn’t anything special.”

“I find that hard to believe. The woman I met at the club months ago worked a million hours a week and danced her ass off every weekend. I want to know that one who sings karaoke like a pro. Where’d you learn to sing like that? I’ve never heard anything like it.”

“My mom. I never had voice lessons, but she and my dad were both musicians, so I guess it’s in my blood. We didn’t have much when I was growing up. For a while, we didn’t even have a TV, so my mom and I would sing songs she’d learned on the road. She’d play her guitar and teach me the lyrics.”

“So why are you working on Wall Street with a voice like that?”

She shrugged, her focus narrowing toward the melting colors of the sunset ahead. “I love to sing. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s not something to pin my future on. Didn’t really work out so great for my mom.”

“Why is that?”

“When my parents were still together, they were on the road a lot. Toured at different little clubs and bars all over the country. That kind of life wasn’t really conducive to parenthood, so when my mom got pregnant, it came as a bit of a surprise. Her last stop on the tour was a little bar outside of Pensacola, not far from Callaway where I grew up. My mom was eight-and-a-half months pregnant, so she came home to her parents. My dad said he’d come back after a few more shows to be with her. He never came back.”

“You never met him?”

“No, I’ve met him a few times, in New York when he was coming through town. He’s a fun guy. Very charismatic. Talented too. I’ve seen him play a couple shows.”

“So you get along. That’s great.”

She shrugged. “Sure. Talking to him is like talking to a friendly acquaintance. I know he’s my father, but I don’t think I feel the way I’m supposed to about him. The relationship we have is very casual. Disconnected in a way that doesn’t bother me as much as maybe it should. That’s weird to say, but he was never around. He has no idea how to be a parent. I guess I just accept that.”

“Sounds kind of refreshing. Maybe Diane and Frank can pick up a few tips.”

“Were you ever close with your parents?”

“Yeah, way back. Way,
way
back. I think I was nine when we started to see less of my dad. We moved out of the city but he commuted in. The more he worked, seemed like the less happy my mom was. For some reason it didn’t bring us any closer, but Cam and Liv and I sort of bonded together from that point.”

She leaned into me a little. “Seems like there’s been tension between them and Cam, from what Maya’s told me.”

“Oh, yeah. They’re uptight with too much money on their hands. The way my dad sees it, he worked as hard as he did so Cameron, Liv, and I could have the best of everything. Go to the best schools, marry into the wealthiest families, get the best jobs an Ivy League network can buy, and on and on and on.”

“Doesn’t sound like a bad life.”

“It doesn’t. But it’s their life. Not mine.” I couldn’t hide the spite in my tone.

Why be a firefighter when I could be a banker? Why live in the heart of Brooklyn when I could have a house in the Hamptons? True enough, some people would give their left nut for the life of privilege that Frank Bridge wanted to give us. What those people didn’t see was how the light left my mother’s eyes a little more every weekend he stayed away working on a deal or schmoozing some new client. He lived and breathed work, and for my mother, no amount of vodka could replace the husband who’d left her to raise a family and keep up with the image of a banker’s wife. For as long as I could remember, I’d wanted to be as far away from that life and lifestyle as I could get.

While my mind spun, Vanessa had grown silent beside me. I gave her hand a little squeeze.

“Truth is, I’ve never felt comfortable wearing boat shoes. I’d look terrible on a yacht.”

Her jaw fell a fraction. “Your parents have a yacht?”

“No. Plenty of their friends do though. Keeping them staffed can be a chore, I hear.”

We both laughed at that, and the sound instantly lightened the heaviness that had fallen with the subject of my family. Her natural beauty was amplified with the smile she wore. Sweet and genuine.

I wanted to see that more. She’d been so guarded with me since that night at the bar. I resolved then to keep her smiling on this trip.

We walked in silence for a few minutes. We were close enough to the party that the dim beat of the music could still be heard, but the nightfall had given us some privacy. I wouldn’t have her devoted attention for too much longer.

“Tell me something about you that no one else knows.”

“Like what?”

“A secret. An embarrassing story. A weird habit.”

She smiled again, all the way to her eyes. “Why on earth would I tell you?”

“We’re getting to know each other. Come on. There’s got to be something.”

A secretive smile curved her lips.

“What have you got?”

She shook her head several times. “No. Nothing. I can’t tell you that.”

“Spill it.”

“Forget it. I’ll think of something else.”

I stopped walking, twirled her around, and brought her back into my arms. Why did she feel so perfect there? Like she fit just right, her lean torso molding to mine, her breasts soft against me. Her smile faded, and the quickening pulse at her neck caught my eye. She licked her lips, a little movement that didn’t seem intentionally seductive at all. But I couldn’t help but think about all the other ways we would fit. Of course, there was only one way to find out.

“Listen, you’re stuck on an island with me. Like it or not, you need to get used to having me around interrogating you.”

“It’s a big island.” A hint of a smile played at her lips.

I slid my palms up the sides of her ribcage, trying to memorize the feel of her. “Run, and I’ll find you.” My tone was a little more threatening than I’d intended. It was true though.

She licked her lips again and averted her eyes. If I held her much closer, she’d feel exactly what that little movement was doing to me.

“How about this? Tell me, or I’ll kiss you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t.”

“I absolutely would. Right here, right now. Do you have any idea how badly I want to taste you?”

Her breath seemed to cease completely. She stared up at me, lips parted. Those pretty green orbs so open and asking. I pulled her closer, so her hips touched mine. I wouldn’t mind keeping her this way all night, in fact. I had to figure out a way to keep her close this week. Call it the player in me. I was determined to win her over. For the sake of my increasingly evident physical needs, but also because I actually wanted to show her I could be more… More than what?

“So ’fess up. What is it?” Last chance. I traced her bottom lip with my thumb, counting down the seconds until I could have my mouth on it, nipping and sucking. Damn, I wanted to figure out what drove her crazy more than anything else.

“I still sleep with a teddy bear.”

She said the words so quietly I barely heard them.

I laughed, and her pretty pink mouth turned down into a pout.

“I’m sorry, red. That’s a good one.”

She slapped my arm and tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her. I liked her close like this.

“Fine. Do
you
have any deep dark secrets you want to tell a complete stranger?”

I could see now I’d opened Pandora’s box. I’d have to maneuver this one carefully. I gave her my best innocent face. “No secrets here. I’m an open book.”

“That’s not fair. You need to tell me something.” She trailed her fingertips over my forearms.

I leaned down, whispering in her ear, “I’ve got a weakness for redheads.”

“That does
not
count.”

“Sorry, red. I’ve got nothing. Nothing that can beat sleeping with a teddy bear anyway.”

She was quiet, but I knew she wasn’t mad anymore.

“I’ll kiss you,” she threatened.

“I dare you to.”

“I will. Two can play this game, you know.”

Her eyebrows went high, but I knew I could beat this girl at poker any night of the week.

“Then do it.” The taunt left me, but I’d decided that second I wasn’t going to wait for her to follow through on that empty threat. Her hands, once soft against my shoulders, tightened. If I could get her alone, I’d be making her tight everywhere. I groaned at the thought, and all my better judgment flew out the window. I sifted my fingers through her hair and angled her for a kiss she’d never forget, so close I could smell the coconut on her breath.

“Darren! Buddy!”

I cursed and tore myself away from Vanessa’s half-lidded gaze. One of Cameron’s military friends was trudging through the sand and coming our way. Clearly, he couldn’t recognize that I was far too busy for a reunion.

“Darren!”

Jeffrey’s voice was like a fucking megaphone. He must have had hearing loss from all the gunfire when he was overseas with Cameron. “Man, I haven’t seen you in ages. What the hell have you been up to?”

“I’ll let you two catch up.” Vanessa’s voice was quiet as she stepped away.

“No, stay.”

I reached for her, but Jeffrey slapped his hand into mine and then slapped me hard on the back at the same time.

Before I could argue, she was backing away. Lifting her fingers to her lips, she blew me a kiss.

I shouldn’t have done that. Blowing Darren a kiss was stupid because now it hung in the air between us like an IOU, and I had a feeling Darren wouldn’t be forgiving the debt. With him, a kiss wasn’t a kiss. It was a gateway drug into sleeping with him, and already I couldn’t get the possibility out of my head. He’d crept into my dreams again, and suddenly I was wound tighter than I’d been in months, maybe years. I had several more days on the island, and chances were good that, at this rate, I’d end up in his bed.