Read Bad Boy's Heart: A Firemen in Love Series Novella for Free Online
Authors: Amy Starling
my stomach when he looked at me. He was just a friend. Off-limits. Besides, he wasn't interested in me anyway.
He proved that to me ten years ago, when he moved on after one kiss. It was a kiss I'd never forgotten, but he obviously regretted it.
I'd never had the courage to ask why.
“This is your last chance to bail out,” I told him as he sank into the window seat.
“Not happening. How could I possibly pass up a free trip to Disney World?”
“Who said we were going to Disney World?” I took my own seat in the middle. “My grandparents live in Sanibel, which is several hours away. Plus, most of the activities have already been booked. Andy would never have agreed to visit a theme park.”
He balked. “What? But I thought you loved roller coasters and crap. I remember we had a blast on that trip to Six Flags.”
“Yeah, a blast. You insisted on riding the Texas Giant over and over again until you threw up.”
“Point is, what kind of guy doesn't like amusement parks?”
“He had a litany of complaints. Lines too long, the heat, people in costumes creep him out...”
“Sounds like a pain in the ass.”
I buckled my seat belt and thought about how right Carter was. Andy always had a complaint ready about something. I'd learned to tune him out, but his constant pessimism wore on my nerves.
Could I really have spent the rest of my life putting up with that?
It hurt to admit it, but maybe he did me a gigantic favor by cutting me loose. At least now I could find a man who didn't annoy me whenever he opened his mouth.
“So what kind of amazing 'activities' do we have lined up, then?”
“There are some museums he wanted to see. Golfing. Tickets to a jazz festival.”
Carter pretended like he was snoring. I smacked his chest, surprised to find that he was solid muscle beneath that t-shirt.
“What's wrong with those things?”
“You don't really want to do any of that stuff.”
“How do you know what I wanted to do?”
The pre-flight safety instructions came on before he could answer. Honestly, he was right – and that bothered me even more. Andy was the one who picked out most of our itinerary, usually protesting when I offered my own ideas.
I just shut my mouth and put up with it. Now that he was gone, I saw clearly that he wasn't such a catch after all.
Once the plane had taken off, Carter pulled something out of his pocket. He unfurled his hand and showed me two gold rings.
“I almost forgot. Picked these up just this morning. Hope you don't mind that they're from Walmart's jewelry department.”
I took the smaller ring and held it up to the light. It was a simple band, but he'd engraved our names on the inside.
“What is this?”
“We're married now. It'd look weird to show up without our wedding bands, don't you think?”
I hadn't even thought of that. Ugh, how were we supposed to keep up this lie for five days? My grandparents were old, but still sharp as tacks. They'd see right through the charade in no time.
“You bought this for me.”
He nodded and took the ring from my palm. “Let's hope it fits.”
He held my hand the way you would hold a lover's, not a friend's. There was a hitch in his breath as he slid the band onto my finger.
His touch made me shiver. Why did this have to feel so right?
“Perfect.” He let me go to put on his own ring. “I was worried I'd forgotten your size.”
I was too dazed to respond. Only when he pulled out a lunchbox did I come back to reality.
“Breakfast?” He handed me a blueberry muffin. “I know these cheap bastards won't give you more than a handful of stale peanuts, so figured I'd come prepared.”
A flight attendant glared at him as she strutted past with her cart.
“I've got to say, you do seem a lot more responsible than you used to be.” I popped a berry into my mouth. “Years ago, you'd forget you had a paper due until the night before.”
“Mm-hmm. If it wasn't for you reminding me, I'd have failed more than a few
He proved that to me ten years ago, when he moved on after one kiss. It was a kiss I'd never forgotten, but he obviously regretted it.
I'd never had the courage to ask why.
“This is your last chance to bail out,” I told him as he sank into the window seat.
“Not happening. How could I possibly pass up a free trip to Disney World?”
“Who said we were going to Disney World?” I took my own seat in the middle. “My grandparents live in Sanibel, which is several hours away. Plus, most of the activities have already been booked. Andy would never have agreed to visit a theme park.”
He balked. “What? But I thought you loved roller coasters and crap. I remember we had a blast on that trip to Six Flags.”
“Yeah, a blast. You insisted on riding the Texas Giant over and over again until you threw up.”
“Point is, what kind of guy doesn't like amusement parks?”
“He had a litany of complaints. Lines too long, the heat, people in costumes creep him out...”
“Sounds like a pain in the ass.”
I buckled my seat belt and thought about how right Carter was. Andy always had a complaint ready about something. I'd learned to tune him out, but his constant pessimism wore on my nerves.
Could I really have spent the rest of my life putting up with that?
It hurt to admit it, but maybe he did me a gigantic favor by cutting me loose. At least now I could find a man who didn't annoy me whenever he opened his mouth.
“So what kind of amazing 'activities' do we have lined up, then?”
“There are some museums he wanted to see. Golfing. Tickets to a jazz festival.”
Carter pretended like he was snoring. I smacked his chest, surprised to find that he was solid muscle beneath that t-shirt.
“What's wrong with those things?”
“You don't really want to do any of that stuff.”
“How do you know what I wanted to do?”
The pre-flight safety instructions came on before he could answer. Honestly, he was right – and that bothered me even more. Andy was the one who picked out most of our itinerary, usually protesting when I offered my own ideas.
I just shut my mouth and put up with it. Now that he was gone, I saw clearly that he wasn't such a catch after all.
Once the plane had taken off, Carter pulled something out of his pocket. He unfurled his hand and showed me two gold rings.
“I almost forgot. Picked these up just this morning. Hope you don't mind that they're from Walmart's jewelry department.”
I took the smaller ring and held it up to the light. It was a simple band, but he'd engraved our names on the inside.
“What is this?”
“We're married now. It'd look weird to show up without our wedding bands, don't you think?”
I hadn't even thought of that. Ugh, how were we supposed to keep up this lie for five days? My grandparents were old, but still sharp as tacks. They'd see right through the charade in no time.
“You bought this for me.”
He nodded and took the ring from my palm. “Let's hope it fits.”
He held my hand the way you would hold a lover's, not a friend's. There was a hitch in his breath as he slid the band onto my finger.
His touch made me shiver. Why did this have to feel so right?
“Perfect.” He let me go to put on his own ring. “I was worried I'd forgotten your size.”
I was too dazed to respond. Only when he pulled out a lunchbox did I come back to reality.
“Breakfast?” He handed me a blueberry muffin. “I know these cheap bastards won't give you more than a handful of stale peanuts, so figured I'd come prepared.”
A flight attendant glared at him as she strutted past with her cart.
“I've got to say, you do seem a lot more responsible than you used to be.” I popped a berry into my mouth. “Years ago, you'd forget you had a paper due until the night before.”
“Mm-hmm. If it wasn't for you reminding me, I'd have failed more than a few