Dax Page 4

  “If you want me to go, I will. No hard feelings,” he said. He set his mouth into a hard line as he watched the reluctance and debate filter though her normally happy eyes. For a brief second, he wondered if she might kick his ass off the property.

  “No,” she finally said, looking away and across the front yard. “Stay, please.” Her hands tightened around a mug on the lap of the turquoise flowing dress she wore. Although the soft material draped over her legs, leaving only her bare feet showing, the top snuggly hugged her breasts and the capped sleeves exposed her long, lean arms. She had subtle beauty, not like the type of woman he usually picked up at bars, half naked and flaunted their curves. She was not the type of woman he wanted, now or ever.

  Besides, his dad loved Ava like his own daughter and Dax wouldn’t be surprised if the old man kicked him to the curb before her. She was nicer, sweeter, and happier, the complete opposite of Dax’s serious and sometimes grouchy self. He didn’t doubt Ava’s delightful attitude reminded his dad of Dax’s mother. His mother’s death had crushed and broken his dad. At one point, Rowdy had been lost beyond what Dax had thought would be mendable. Watching his father go down that path of depression, hardly able to pick himself up, had been the exact reason Dax wouldn’t allow a woman to have that kind of power over his heart.

  His reasonings scared the apology right out of him now. Then, as if Ava had heard his inner thoughts, an apology simultaneously flew out of her. “Sorry.”

  They paused, looked at each other and a hint of smiles lifted the edges of their mouths.

  Ava’s was the first to drop. “It’s not funny. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

  He felt his body straighten, in a man-versus-the-world sort of way.

  She must have noticed. “I should have never used Olivia as a boundary between us. We’ve been alone in your office before, alone in this house. The truth is, if you’d shut those blinds, I wouldn’t have been able to resist you.”

  He wished she hadn’t resisted him, hadn’t stopped his hands or let the outside world into his office with them. They would’ve been explosive together…and his dad would’ve kicked his ass afterwards.

  “Dax, we can’t pursue whatever was happening in your office. You’re Olivia’s hero and Rowdy’s son and if anything were to happen…. I don’t want that awkward tension between us. Any sort of sexual relationship between us would affect them. I love Rowdy too much to come between you and him and I fear that’s what has happened already.”

  This woman did not understand the concept of a one-night stand. What happened in the bedroom, stayed in the bedroom. There was no room for awkwardness afterwards. Her reaction was a flashing red sign that they were not on the same page.

  “Ava, we’re fine.”

  Now her cheeks flamed pink. “I want you to know that I didn’t ask you not to close the blinds because I was embarrassed by you, or your reputation, but rather, I didn’t think I could tell you no.”

  “You can always tell me no. About anything. Ever.”

  She stood. “You’re a good man and it was wrong of me to throw your lifestyle in your face the way I did. It’s not as if I would have expected more than what would have happened in there. In that sense, I’m the same as you.” She was so wrong. “I’m sorry.”

  Damn, her confessions were making it difficult for him to walk away from her. If only she could alter how she viewed casual sex.

  “You don’t have to apologize. It’s the truth.”

  “Not the way I said it.”

  He reached out to lightly graze her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Is there any other way to say it, sweetheart?”

  Her eyes fluttered closed, her lashes sweeping again against her silky skin.

  He grabbed the back of her neck and pulled the top of her head to his lips. “You don’t ever have to worry about losing yourself with me. I have control. We’re good, Ava.” He let her go and walked away before he went back on a single word of his promise.

  ~

  FOLLOWING AN EVENING of eating and laughing, Ava didn’t think she’d ever be able to put another piece of food in her mouth. Rowdy’s famous, marinated steaks that melt in your mouth were hard to put down. She sat back, enjoying another gorgeous, brisk September evening as each week grew a little cooler. Soon fall would be here and their outdoor nights would end, but winter dinner’s inside were cozy and intimate, too.

  After she and Wanda finished clearing the table and washing the dishes, they all relaxed around the fire pit where the boys had built a blazing fire. The clouds blackened the sky above, but the clear lights entwined in the lattice on the fence twinkled around them like the stars.

  For the rest of the night, everything fit back into place, eliminating the uncertainty which had flagged her during supper. She’d been thankful to see Dax’s typical quiet, but opinionated self return as he carried on regular conversations at ease without a hint of discomfort.

  But there were looks. Neither of them could deny it. Ava caught him staring at her and he caught her staring at him. To make the awkward moments worse, Rowdy caught most of them, too.

  However, the night went on, just as their lives would, in a routine they’d grown accustomed to. And whether they distanced themselves more after tonight or worked around their obvious desires, Ava had a good feeling about their platonic future. Maybe it had only been a matter of time before they slipped up and been forced to have the talk. Now, she was glad they’d gotten the misconceptions out of the way.

  When Olivia started to roast the marshmallows, Ava realized she could eat more and she couldn’t resist toasting a few for herself. Her daughter entertained the circle with humorous stories about going back to school until she could hardly keep her eyes open any longer.

  “Are you ready for bed, Olivia?”

  Her daughter looked across the fire with half-shut eyes. “No, Mommy. I’m listening to Grandpa’s story.” A yawn followed and she dug her closed fists into her eyes.

  Ava chuckled. “You’re falling asleep and you have school in the morning.”

  “Please, Momma….”

  Ava stood and walked around the fire, holding her arms out. “Come on. Say goodnight to everyone.”

  As she lifted her daughter into her arms, the young girl pouted and said, “Goodnight everyone.”

  The adults chuckled in unison at her daughter’s young rebellion.

  “Where’s my kiss, sweetheart?” Rowdy lifted his cheek and Ava shifted her daughter to give him a peck.

  “Goodnight, Grandpa.”

  “Goodnight.”

  “Don’t forget it’s movie night on Friday,” she murmured, nuzzling into the crook of Ava’s shoulder.

  Rowdy didn’t point out that movie night was still a week away, but, instead, winked at Olivia and said, “I would never miss a movie night.”

  Upstairs, while Olivia dressed for bed, Ava stepped into the shadows of the guest bedroom overlooking the backyard and slightly drew back the curtain. Dax hadn’t moved from his attempt at slouching in the lawn chair. She smiled at how the chair propped his burly body into an almost upright sitting position. A drink in one hand, resting on his knee, his gaze trained on the flickering fire. He was a lot like that flame: a promise of trouble.

  She’d once been attracted to men who fell into that category. A quick high, a passing thrill, but she thought she’d left that part of herself in the past.

  Clearly, after the two failed relationships with men who had their lives together on a straightforward path, and her underlying desire for Dax, she hadn’t changed much at all. She had bad choices in men. Not that Dax was bad, he was a good guy, but not when it came to relationships. He offered only casual sex that she wasn’t interested in.

  Her other side, however…that had been outnumbered.

  CHAPTER SIX

  ~

  DAX’S BODY ITCHED TO DO something. Sitting around the campfire tonight hadn’t provided the relaxing feel he generally found. When Ava returned, he stood
, needing to busy himself. He set his drink down and then moved back to the deck to replace the cover on the cooled barbecue.

  Rowdy followed him. “It doesn’t appear that you and Ava had that long overdue talk you’ve been cowering away from.”

  This topic was why he couldn’t unwind, and he didn’t need to add his father’s opinion to the mix.

  “Dad, whatever you thought you saw today—”

  Rowdy’s loud laughter roared across the backyard and those left sitting around the campfire turned to look at them. “Thought I saw today.” His laughter doubled. If the old man had been Stone or Hawk, Dax would have punched him on the shoulder.

  Even across the darkened yard, Dax could see Ava’s eyes flutter between him and his father, probably speculating if their conversation involved her or not. The others remained oblivious, their voices quickly moving back to their conversations.

  As Dax straightened the cover over the barbecue, his dad sobered and his chuckle diminished into an exhaled sigh. He wiped away the tears under his eyes.

  Good lord, it wasn’t that funny.

  Dax rolled his eyes at the man’s intolerable stubbornness. When he tried to walk past, Rowdy gripped his shoulder, stopping him. “Not everyone dies, son. And if you stopped running from your mom’s death, and opened your eyes to your future possibilities, you’d see that you and Ava are good together.” He paused and Dax watched emotion run through his father’s eyes. “I wouldn’t trade the short years I had with your mom to never have felt the love we shared. Would you trade those years with her?”

  Of course he wouldn’t. But how could he tell his dad the truth? How could he say that his father’s breakdown had firmed up his decision to never marry? His dad had always been a solid rock, but his wife’s death had taken him to his knees for too long. It was that weakness Dax hoped never to encounter.

  “Don’t miss out on love because you’re afraid.” Rowdy reached around Dax in an unexpected, full, arms-wrapped-around-him hug, forcing Dax to reciprocate. He was his old man, after all.

  On the way back to the fire, Rowdy made it a point to look back and forth between his son and Ava, silently clarifying they’d been discussing her. Dax saw Ava turn away.

  He purposely sat next to her in Olivia’s empty chair. Ava’s fretful eyes followed him. “I got him under control,” Dax whispered to her.

  She rolled her eyes. “No one has Rowdy under control.”

  That was the truth, but she didn’t need to worry about what his father thought or suggested when they both knew where their platonic relationship stood. Ava needed a man to take care of her and Dax was a man who only took care of himself. Still, he’d rather see a smile on her face than worry, so he asked, “How’s your ass?”

  Her mouth fell open. “Excuse me?”

  “When you hit it off my desk. Did it need icing? You iced my shoulder, I could ice your—”

  She shook her head, but a smile lifted her lips. “You’re a pig.”

  “That’s a gentleman’s offer.”

  “You keep telling yourself that.” The worry in her eyes diminished and he sipped his beer, satisfied. They’d be just fine.

  “What’s with all the whispering?” Stone’s booming voice slashed through the private bubble existing only around Dax and Ava.

  “Leave the love birds alone.” Rowdy chuckled.

  Ava tilted her head at Dax and launched her eyebrows upwards. “You really have him under control.”

  “Old man, you going senile?”

  Hawk laughed too. “He must be senile to come up with a ridiculous conclusion like that when Dax had his share of ‘loving’ from a pretty little redhead a couple nights ago.”

  Silence and awkwardness swept across the group. Stone, always having a soft spot for Ava, punched Hawk’s shoulder. “Dude, not the place.”

  “What? It’s not like it’s a secret. Maybe you should’ve joined us and grabbed yourself a piece of—”

  Stone cut Hawk’s sentence short when he jumped from his seat and knocked Hawk over, chair and all. Stone landed on top and the two burley men shared a few cuss words and punches as they rolled around on the ground.

  Dax jumped to his feet and ran around the fire. He could barely see anything in the pitch black, but grasped the first arm he could and yanked. His dad managed to take hold of the other man, and they pulled the men apart.

  “Enough!” Rowdy shouted, and shoved Hawk behind him, holding a threatening arm in his direction.

  Stone turned to Dax and shoved his chest. “He’s not good for you,” he muttered for only Dax to hear. “I’ll let myself out.” He yanked out of Dax’s grasp, said a quick goodnight to Wanda and Ava and then walked through the gate to the driveway.

  Hawk up-righted his chair and sat down. “I think that man needs to get laid.”

  Rowdy slapped the back of his head, but didn’t have a chance to give a short lecture as his phone buzzed in his pocket.

  Still standing, Dax stole a glance at Ava and regretted the action. Her eyes shown with hurt. Son of a bitch, what the hell had she expected of him?

  Hawk and Dax’s phones followed with buzzes, a familiar alert and dispatch tone meaning only one thing: fire.

  They all bolted for the house. Dax grabbed his car keys, overhearing the same instructions Ava gave Wanda every time they were paged. “Call me if you need anything. I’m only a short drive away and I’ll have my phone on me the entire night.”

  Wanda gave her a small hug and pushed her toward Dax. “Get going. We’ll be fine. She’ll sleep like a baby and I’ll take the bed in the guest room. You take care of our local heroes.” She winked at Dax, but it was missing its usual spark. Was she mad at him too? For what? Living his life the way he liked? He was beginning to think he should have skipped Sunday supper like he’d originally planned.

  Ava smiled and gave Wanda a thanking nod before turning to face Dax. Wanda’s extra shove had them standing so close now they almost touched. Ava held her hands between them and backed away like his touch would scald her.

  Dax pretended not to notice and held the door open for her. She slipped under his arm and out of the house without a word.

  “Be safe.” Wanda rubbed his arm before he followed behind Ava.

  Ava had never stayed alone at the house while Rowdy attended calls. When she’d first arrived, she’d drive to the station with his father to wait alone in the day room. Although the space was decent enough with a kitchen, couch and pool table, his father had made a few calls so Ava wouldn’t be alone. Over time, more wives and significant others of the other fireman began showing up during calls and, eventually, the women had unintentionally formed a new tradition of volunteering their time, preparing meals or snacks for the safe return of the firemen. While Willow Valley didn’t have a lot of serious fires, they still had their fair share of collision calls and were often required to assist in the surrounding areas for serious fire breakouts.

  Dax hoped for a good outcome today. Although details hadn’t been given yet, he sent a little prayer upstairs.

  Outside of his dad’s house, the men split to their respective vehicles where they kept some of their turn-out gear on hand.

  Ava climbed behind the wheel of her car. Before she closed the door, Rowdy called to her, “Ava, until tonight.”

  “Until tonight, Rowdy.”

  It had always been their promise to see each other without actually saying a promise neither could keep.

  As Dax passed by, he gave her a nod. She forced a reluctant smile, and he wanted to tackle Hawk for putting it there with his outburst.

  “Until tonight, Ava,” he said for only her to hear.

  “Until tonight, Dax.”

  He jogged the remainder of the distance to the side of the road and climbed into his truck, starting the ignition to join the convoy of flashing lights speeding to the firehouse.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ~

  SUITED IN HIS TURNOUT GEAR, Dax climbed into the truck, sat down, and sli
pped into the breathing apparatus mounted on the back of the seat. The fire truck rumbled out of the firehouse, sirens sounding and traveling out of town.

  “Engine eleven en route.” the driver said into the radio.

  The dispatcher’s voice followed. “We have engine eleven en route. Engine eleven to give you updated information: smoke and fire showing on multiple levels at an industrial building prior known as The Mill located at twenty-six north Lakeshore Road.”

  “Message received.”

  Dax knew the exact location of the abandoned mill, a once booming heritage of Willow Valley. But even when he’d been young, the business had ceased to exist and the local teenagers had snuck past the “no trespassing” signs, using the empty building riddled with graffiti as an unsupervised hangout spot. He’d gone often himself, ignoring his father’s warnings.

  Picturing the old building in his head, he could now visualize the hazards they might encounter. Falling debris, old machinery, mold and other forms of toxic chemicals could hinder their work.

  He pushed the thoughts away to listen to the information broadcasting through his radio. The first truck must have arrived at the scene, establishing the size of the fire, verifying multiple floors were burning on the east side and the size of the building—approximately three-hundred-thousand square foot.

  Upon arrival at the scene, the four men barrelled out of the truck to view the seriousness of the blaze. Fire heavily engulfed the east side’s multi-level structure, billowing smoke from the blown out windows. There were no known potential victims trapped inside the building, no signs of cars or trespassers. Their concern would be preventing burning embers from falling and starting a fire in the wooded brush surrounding the mill.

  The incident commander came over the radio ordering different engines various assignments, requiring a defensive attack of the primary structure, and prevention of fire spreading to the trees. “Pumper two advance a one-and-half inch hose line to contain fire and control exterior fire advancement...”

  The scene quickly became a hectic scene of activity. A barricade was set up around the perimeter to not only prevent onlookers from getting in, but also to provide rapid access for ambulances and other transport vehicles to come and go. The trucks with the aerial ladders got into position, raising their ladders to the upper floors of the building. The hose operators moved into action. Since they were in a rural area with no hydrants they would need tankers to shuttle in extra water.