The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (57 page)

Let the Fireworks Begin

T
hey returned back
to the cabin arm in arm enjoying the beautiful day. Blaze was going to cook for them, a feast he had promised. That gave her the rest of the morning and afternoon. Bella considered doing a bit more painting. The house looked funny with just the front finished, but Blaze told her not to when she suggested she might give the side of the house another go.

“Not on the Fourth. No way. We need something to stabilize the ladder before you attempt that again. Why don’t you sit on the porch and read one of those books you have, and enjoy the day.”

Blaze was preparing their meal when she’s made her suggestion. “I’m almost finished in here, and then I’ll spark up the grill and join you.”

She’d agreed, liking the idea of having some time to relax and read again would be pure bliss. She’d been too busy with all that needed to be done. Bella picked up one of the books she purchased four days ago. Was it only four days ago she’d met Blaze? It seemed longer. She opened the copy of the book, Love’s Tempting, by MaryAnn Jordan and scanned the dedication. It read:

I dedicate this book to women everywhere who through illness or injury, get up every day and face life knowing that it is not always perfect nor is it always fair. To the women who have endured pain, but have conquered. Have endured setbacks, but have continued. Have endured falling down, but have pulled themselves back up again. Have endured nightmares, but continue to hold fast to their dreams. Women are much stronger than we often realize and it is this strength that gives us the ability to continue through life, taking all from it that we can and giving back all that we have to give.

MaryAnn Jordan

Wow. She paused before continuing. It was almost like this author had written these words for her alone. It struck a chord with her. It made her think of her mom, and all she’d been through, and now herself. She was living a nightmare, but with Blaze here, it seemed like just maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We just had to pull out that inner strength the author spoke of. She loved books that gave her hope even in the darkest of times. She was now looking forward to reading this book even more.

Bella managed to read the first few chapters before Blaze came out and set his platter on the upturned crate.

He had two steaks, ribeyes salted, and two small baking potatoes wrapped in tin foil, and three ears of corn, shucked coated in lemon juice, mayonnaise and salt and pepper. It was one of his mother’s recipes he’d told her, and something he and his brother’s always enjoyed on the fourth. “You don’t even need butter,” he claimed. The beans were ready to be warmed in Bella’s electric frying pan, and he just needed to put the potatoes and corn on for a while before he cooked the steaks.

He already had the charcoal burning, and quickly took off the lid of the small appliance, and popped the potatoes on the bottom, and the corn on the top, then replaced the lid. He joined Bella on the porch and took his usual seat on the top step.

She set aside her book and smiled at him.

“Good book?” he asked eyeballing the front cover before she put the book face down.

“Yes, it is so far.” She’d only been reading for a half hour, but nodded. The book had captured her attention right away.

“What’s it about?” he asked.

“Well . . .,” she paused, not sure whether or not she should tell him.

“The cover looks hot,” he teased.

She laughed in embarrassment. “Um, yes, well it’s a romantic suspense novel. And um . . . it’s about this girl and this detective. The girl in the story, Lily, gets in over her head investigating a crime on her own, and I think this guy is going to help her out. I haven’t read much of it yet, but so far, I really like it.”

“Sounds interesting,” Blaze quipped quickly. Her synopsis of the book had given him an idea. It was a perfect opening and inspiration struck. He didn’t know if he should say anything yet or not. They still had a few hours left of daylight, and he didn’t want to ruin the perfect day, but she had promised to talk to him today. He knew she would pull away if he just blurted it out, and maybe try to run. But he could start, he could reveal just a bit. “It’s funny because I was a cop too.”

“You were a cop?” Bella’s voice cracked. Her face blanched. “I thought you were an attorney?”

He pretended not to notice how high her voice had become. “Was,” he emphasized. “And was a cop. Remember I told you, I studied law, and worked in the prosecutor’s office for a year, well back then my two older brothers were cops.”

“Your brothers are cops?” This time she managed not to let her voice crack, but her heart was hammering in her chest.

“Were,” he repeated. “Yeah, and then my youngest brother wanted to go the police academy too, so I wasn’t happy where I was, and I decided to do the academy with him. We were partners for a year. But then we, all four of us, decided to call it quits and open up our own business.”

“Your own business?” Bella was trying to keep her voice level, sound interested, which she was, but her mind was racing.
He couldn’t know who she was, could he?
She swallowed her saliva and picked up her book so she would have something to do with her hands.

“Yeah, it was Andreas’ idea. He’s the oldest. He and Gio, my other older brother, wanted to leave New York, and so Nikko and I followed. New York had burnt us all pretty bad. I guess, like you, we all needed to start over.” Blaze had been watching her from under his eye lashes and waited until she appeared calmer before making eye contact. He did that now.

“What kind of business is it?” she asked feeling afraid.

“We help people. Like private investigator stuff,” he told her, only revealing part of the truth. “Nikko has a degree in forensic and technical sciences, I have my law degree, and both Andreas and Gio were detectives. We won’t do the sleazy stuff you see on TV though. No cheating husbands and wives. We want to help people prove their innocence. We mostly get hired by defense attorneys.” He wanted to leave it at that for now. He feared he’d said too much and hoped she didn’t dig deeper.

“Wow, that’s interesting. Sounds like it could be dangerous work though.” Intuition told Bella he was not telling her something, but she was too scared to ask him anything else at the moment.

“Honestly, sometimes it does get tense, but we’re always careful. Like this one case last month. We were helping this girl. She was accused of drug smuggling, and we helped to clear her name, but one of my brother’s got shot in the shoulder. We were wearing vests, so it was nothing serious, but yeah it can get dangerous at times.”

“Holy crap!” Bella exclaimed. She was still nervous, but the thought of Blaze getting shot terrified her. “That’s nuts. You willingly do this kind of work?”

“Well, like I said, I, we like to help people. We don’t like bad guys, but we also don’t like it when innocent people get the shaft. This girl had no one else. We were it. We did a sting operation, and she was cleared. This could have ruined her life; she was a college graduate, just twenty three. Now she’s got a future,” he added trying to appear nonchalant.

Bella’s mind was spinning. It was almost like he was trying to tell her something. It sounded like he was talking about her.
But how could he know?
This guy, Blaze, helped people to clear their names.
How could it be he had come stumbling up her mountain?
She was too afraid to ask, too afraid to hope. Her mom’s words,
trust your heart
, kept hammering at her, but she was reluctant to say more now. She needed to think.

When Blaze got up to go check on the potatoes and corn, she excused herself to go use the restroom.
Who in the heck was Blaze Marino?
Her stomach lurched as she shut the bathroom door.
Could she trust him?

Bella splashed cold water on her face and looked in the ancient speckled mirror above the sink.
What just happened outside?
Her mind was spinning.
Should she tell him who she was? Should she keep quiet and see if he revealed anything else? Could she let him slip out of her life tomorrow and not take advantage of this opportunity?
Bella took several deep breaths trying to calm down. Her mother’s words kept coming back to her.
Trust your heart.

“Hey, Bella, I’m putting the steaks on now. Everything should be ready in five minutes. Watch the barbecue beans for me, okay?” She heard Blaze call through the door.

“Okay,” she managed to get out. When she heard the screen door close behind him she cracked open the bathroom door, and seeing the coast was clear, she crossed to the kitchen and took the lid off the beans and gave them a stir. The pungent aroma of the barbecue sauce he added struck her, but they were still cold. She replaced the lid.

Her heart still hammering in her chest, she watched him from the kitchen window.
Could he be trusted?
He was whistling softly and appeared so at ease as he lifted the lid off the grill, and set the steaks in the center. Replacing the lid, he stood watching the sun begin its descent and continued to whistle his tune, smiling.

Bella shook her head, and whirled around away from the window. She noticed the table was set, and there was even a checkered plastic table cloth on her old wooden table. There was also a bottle of wine sitting uncorked, and everything looked so cozy. She turned to look out the window and Blaze was now looking at the book she had been reading, smiling down at it. He turned it over to scan the back, and read the synopsis. He laughed softly and glanced at the cover once more, and Bella had to suppress a giggle when she noticed Blaze puffing out his chest, and flexing his biceps while looking at the male model on the cover once more.

Bella, who had been feeling strange, sick, and confused until now, was finally able to let out the breath that she hadn’t known she’d been holding. Somehow, that little action set her mind at ease. He was worried she found the man on the cover more attractive than him, and it gave her a bit of confidence. That one little thing. Her butterflies were still there, but they had settled down. Yes, he was okay. He must be. Just maybe him coming here hadn’t been a coincidence; just maybe something in her life could go right.

Bella ran out to the porch and the open door clanged shut behind her.

Caught red handed, Blaze quickly dropped the book onto Bella’s chair a bit embarrassed to be caught red-handed, but Bella just threw herself into his arms. And she was crying, but laughing too.

“What’s wrong Bella?” he asked, worry and fear consuming him all at once.

“I’m just so glad you are here,” she muttered into his chest. “These past four days have been so wonderful. Thank-you for making my birthday special.” She hadn’t meant to reveal it was her birthday, but it had just slipped out. She felt such relief; he seemed to be a regular guy with regular worries, and his job was similar to the character in a book.
Was that just a coincidence; the heroine being in trouble another coincidence?
She thought about meeting Graham and Clara in the park and wasn’t sure any of this was coincidental at all. He might be able to help her, if only she had the courage to ask. He could be her answer to all her problems—
someone was watching over her.

“I’m glad I met you too Bella, so glad.” He held her close as her tears and thudding heart subsided. He didn’t want to push. He’d already gone further than he dared. She needed to take the next step. She needed to trust him. But there was one thing he could say that might make it a bit easier he thought, and so he dared to reveal something that had been bothering him for the last two days. “I didn’t know I could care about someone again, Bella. But I care. I care about you.”

Bella gasped and looked up into his blue eyes. They looked down on her fiercely, possessively, and she felt in her heart the words were true, even though her mind may have still had doubts. Many doubts. But her mom’s dying words were to trust her heart and that is what she needed to do. Later tonight, she would tell him everything. How? She didn’t know yet, but it was the only thing that would or could give them a chance. She had to trust her heart.

Standing up on tiptoes, Bella reached for Blaze’s face. “I care about you too, Blaze. I do,” and she pulled his face the remaining inches between them and pressed her lips to his, and when his tongue sought entrance to her mouth, she opened and let him into her heart.

*     *     *

Blaze held her
until he felt she had settled then pulled back enough until he could see her face. “I’m glad I am here too. Is there something I can do?” he offered, “I can tell something is bothering you.”

She shook her head at her folly embarrassed by her show of emotions. “I’m sorry. No, not now. Later, maybe. I just want to enjoy the rest of this day with you. Now get those steaks off the grill before you overcook them,” she teased.

“Oh, shit,” he rumbled. He’d nearly forgotten about the steaks, but he didn’t need to worry as they were done to perfection. He felt in his heart that Bella was beginning to crack. He just hoped she would let him in.