Fireflies From Heaven (13 page)

“I love the
look on your face when you come.” I’d been thinking the words, and they tumbled
from my mouth causing Reed to peer down at me.

“Jesus,” he
breathed. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”

Smiling against
his chest, I said, “I must have done a good job.”

“You took me to
heaven. I’ve never felt anything like it, but I wasn’t talking about the blowjob.
It’s you, Ellie.
 
You’re amazing.”

“So are you,
Reed.”

He dismissed
the compliment. “You don’t even know how special you are, do you?” he asked studying
me as if I fascinated him.

“I feel special
when I’m with you,” I answered truthfully, tracing little circles over his
heart.

“God knows no
one deserves to feel special more than you, Ellie. I feel the same way around
you.”

I liked that. I
liked how Reed was gazing down at me thoughtfully, as if he cared to know
everything he could about me.

“The other
night, when you said you hadn’t had any other boyfriends besides Davy he
drawled, deliberately mispronouncing Davis’ name, you meant that you hadn’t had
any long term relationships, right?”

Shaking my head
against his chest, I looked up at Reed and met his curious blue gaze. “Davis
was never my boyfriend.
 
We only
dated casually for a couple of months before he met Brooke and fell in love
with her.”

“I can’t
believe that,” he replied with amazement.

“It’s true. We
never slept together and we weren’t exclusive.”

“No, I can’t
believe he would prefer Brooke over you.”

“Davis is from
an affluent family, and Brooke is beautiful and polished.
 
She appreciates the prestigious society
obligations that are important to him because she’s been attending those
functions for years.”

“So he’s
marrying her for her money,” Reed surmised.

“No!” I slugged
him lightly in the arm and my fist felt as if it had struck rock.
 
Reed laughed. “It’s not that. They’re in
love.” I frowned. “I’m sure he cares Brooke.” I wasn’t all that sure.

“Don’t worry about
Brooke,” he said gently. “Ellie, have you been with anyone else in the last two
years?”

 
“Only you, Reed.
 
I’ve only ever been with you.” I felt
him relax, and saw the relief mixed with something else in his eyes. “I never
forgot you or that night. Cora was starting to worry about me.” Seeing the look
on Reed’s face, I kind of wished I’d left that part out. “I went on with my
life, and I dated but I never met anyone that made me feel the way you did.”

He was quiet
for several moments before he spoke. “You told Cora what happened between us?”

“I wouldn’t
have, but the day you left I was upset,” I said carefully, underestimating what
I’d felt that day. “Cora came home and I needed to talk to someone.”

“Ellie, I don’t
care that you told her,” he assured me, correctly guessing the reason for my
concern. “I should’ve gone to see you again before I left. God knows I wanted
to, but I was afraid it would be that much harder for both of us. I never meant
to hurt you.”

I thought about
what he said. “If I’d have to choose between the pain of you leaving and having
never made love to you that night, I would always choose the pain.”

He pressed a tender
kiss to my temple.

“I won’t hold
it against you,” I told him, knowing I shouldn’t ask the next question. “Were
you with a lot of women after me?”

Lifting my chin
to meet his eyes, he said, “No one, Ellie. There’s been no none after you.”

 
Propping myself on my elbow, I glanced up
at Reed as he tilted his head down and kissed me soundly enough to send shivers
down my spine.

The doorbell
rang once and then I heard a familiar voice call out, “Sergeant Bentley, it’s
Sandy with the VNT!”

I quickly got
off of Reed, stood up and reached down for my scrubs.

“Too many
people have keys to my house,” Reed grumbled but he didn’t seem all that
irritated because he suddenly smiled. “If you stay, maybe she’ll stop offering
to give me a sponge bath.”

I laughed as I
ran into his bedroom and quietly shut the door.

“Who was that
guy you were talking to at the grocery store?” Cora asked in between sips of
beer.

The three of us
Isabelle, Cora and I were hanging out as Shooters having a girl’s night out,
but I was distracted thinking about Reed’s surgery Monday morning.
 
It took me a moment to realize whom Cora
had been talking about. “Oh, that’s Jase, he’s Reed’s friend.”

“Why do you
ask?” I smiled, knowing the answer.

“No reason. I
was just curious.” I knew Cora well enough to know she was lying.

“Maybe I could
introduce the two of sometime, if you’re curious,” I suggested.

“Forget it,”
Isabelle said shaking her head. “She’s too innocent for Jase.
 
He’s
 
 
a player.” When Cora and I just stared at
Isabelle, she went on. “He’s a man-whore. Jase doesn’t date. He has sex. You
don’t want to get involved with him unless all you’re looking for is one night
and no phone call the next day.”

“Maybe I’d like
that,” Cora replied, looking as if she might really like it. “He’s hot, and he
has soulful eyes.”

“What color are
Jase’s eyes?” I asked.

“Green,” Cora
and Isabelle cried at the same time.

They both
turned to look at me, and I held my hands up in mock surrender. “Okay, they’re
green. I’ll take your word for it.” I didn’t notice any other guy when I was
around Reed.

“I thought eyes
were what you first noticed about a guy.
 
How did you not notice Jase’s?” Isabelle asked me. “He might be a slut,
but he’s panty dropping gorgeous. Even I noticed his eyes.”

“After you
checked out his ABC’s,” I laughed.

“Yeah, how
could you not notice Jase’s eyes, Ellie,” Cora teased. “Jase is almost as
drop your panties hot
as Reed.”

Isabelle
groaned. “Do not mention my brother and any phrase that has to do with losing panties
around me.
 
You’ll traumatize me.”

We all laughed.

Spotting
someone she knew, Isabelle lifted her arm and waved. I was glad we’d changed
the subject.

“Who’s here?”
Cora asked, glancing in the direction Isabelle had waved.

“Amber. Hey, I
don’t think she saw me. I’m going to go get her,” Isabelle told us before
walking into the sea of people.

“Great, Amber
is here,” Cora said in a joyless voice. “And we were just starting to have
fun.”

“Cora. Be
nice.”

“Don’t ‘Cora’
me. You’re happier than I’ve ever seen you, and Amber and Isabelle are
determined to screw that up.
 
If she
keeps trying to steal your man, I’m not going to play nice.”

“She’s not
trying to steal Reed.
 
Amber doesn’t
even know about us.”

“I don’t know.”
Cora looked thoughtful.

“What’s that
supposed to mean?”

“I think she’s
jealous of you, which is understandable since you’re more beautiful than she
is, and smarter and funnier and nicer.”

Isabelle and
Amber walked up to the table and I shot Cora a warning look, but she didn’t see
because she was glaring at Amber.

“Hi, Amber,” I
said, smiling.

“Hey Amber,” Cora
added, then shot me a
see how nice I was
look.

The four of us
sat and talked while we drank draft beer from plastic cups. Every now and then,
one of us would get asked to dance, but whenever guys asked me, Cora would pipe
up that she’d love to dance.
 
After,
she’d done this several times she leaned over and whispered, “They’re going to
get suspicious if you keep turning guys down.” Looking up, I found Amber
watching me and I wondered if Cora might be right.

“I think Reed
is seeing someone else,” Amber said loudly enough to Isabelle that Cora and I
heard.

“That’s crazy.”
Isabelle shook her head.

“Totally
insane, who would want to get with someone as sexy as Reed?” Cora whispered, so
that only I could hear.

I had to force
myself not to smile.

“First, you
found the sex toys and then I found and earring in his couch,” Amber told us.

“When was
this?” Isabelle asked, frowning.

“Earlier
tonight. I stopped by and brought him dinner, and I found the earring.”

Jealousy rose
within me because Amber had seen Reed.
 
I hadn’t stopped by to see him because I knew he was hanging out with
the guys tonight, and it bothered me that Amber had. On the heels of that
thought came the worry that Amber might have recognized my earring. I’d worn
those silver hoops many times when we’d been out together.

“You searched
his couch?” Cora asked dryly.

Amber shook her
beautiful head, not picking up on Cora’s sarcasm, but Isabelle was shooting Cora
a look of warning. “No. I just thought I’d straighten up a little, and that’s
when I found it.”

“Did you ask
him about it?”

“I did,” Amber
answered with a defeated look in her eyes. “He politely told me it was none of
my business.
 
What should I do
Isabelle?”

“She could stop
throwing herself at him,” Cora whispered to me while Isabelle hugged
Amber.
 

“You see Reed
every day, Ellie.
 
Have you noticed
anything unusual at his place? Have you seen him with any women?” Amber asked
me.

“I’m sorry
Amber,” I answered.

“It’s alright.
 
I know you’d help me if you could.”

Something in
her voice nagged at me, making me think of what Cora had said earlier, but I
knew that it wasn’t possible for someone has beautiful as Amber to be jealous
of me.
 
Still, I couldn’t help but
wonder if she knew something that she wasn’t revealing to us.
 

“I’ll bet my
next paycheck that Jase has something to do with this,” Isabelle said
suspiciously. “His harem is big enough that he could share a babe or two with
Reed and still have a dozen women lining up to be his Mrs. Right-Now.”

“You don’t like
Jase, do you?” Cora asked Isabelle.

Isabelle looked
surprised.
 
“I love Jase. He’s
Reed’s best friend, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know what a bad influence he
is on my sweet baby brother. The more I think about it the more I realize that
Jase probably gave Reed those handcuffs and riding crop.”

Amber’s mouth
tilted upward into a sly smile. “Reed isn’t that sweet, Isabelle.
 
He’s never tied me up or spanked me, but
we’ve had plenty of dirty sex.” Amber closed her eyes, as if savoring the
memory of sex with Reed.

“Careful,” Cora
warned her. “Isabelle doesn’t like to hear about anything that involves sex and
her brother.”

“Sex with Reed
is incredible,” Amber lamented, ignoring Cora. “He’s the best lover I’ve ever
had.”

I felt sick
with jealousy imagining Amber and Reed having sex, but I knew that I couldn’t
show it. Keeping a smile carefully in place, I was dismayed to find Amber, once
again, watching me.

“How many
lovers have you had?” Cora asked bluntly, drawing Amber’s attention.

“Enough to know
how amazing Reed is.”

Out of the
corner of my eye, I saw Isabelle frown and I guessed that she was as surprised
as I was at the mention of Amber’s lovers. Since Amber and Reed had dated all
through high school, and Amber had been trying to get Reed back ever since
she’d broken up with Cade, I’d assumed Amber and only been with those two guys.

“I should never
have let Reed go, but he’d only been with me at the time and I didn’t want him
to have regrets.”

“You wanted him
to sleep with other people?” I asked.

“She wanted to
sleep with Cade,” Cora said so that only I could hear.

The expression
on Amber’s beautiful face was troubled. “I know Reed slept with other women
after we broke up. None of them lasted. I just pray that we can find our way
back to each other.”

“You can’t give
up hope,” encouraged Isabelle.

“I haven’t.”
Amber smiled confidently. “Even if Reed is seeing another woman, eventually
he’ll get tired of the kinky sex and her and then he’ll come back to me.”

“Is that what
happened with you and Cade?” asked Cora innocently.

“Cora!”
Isabelle snapped. “What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m sorry,” Cora
replied easily. “I didn’t mean to offend you, Amber.”

“It’s okay, Cora.
The answer to your question is yes.
 
Reed and I have a love that’s deeper than whatever we may temporarily
feel for someone else. He’ll come back to me.”

“That’s
romantic,” Isabelle told Amber. “I wish I had someone that would always come
back to me because they loved me more than anyone else.”

Cora turned
away before rolling her eyes. “She should want someone that doesn’t freaking leave
her for someone else in the first place,” Cora snapped as soon as Amber and
Isabelle headed for the bar.
 
“What’s
the matter with Isabelle?” Cora waited a moment and then said to me, “Well?”

“I thought it
was a rhetorical question.” I thought for a moment. “You’re right. Isabelle
deserves better. So does Amber.”

Cora’s jaw
dropped.
 
“How can you possibly feel
sorry for Amber?”

“She thinks
it’s okay for a guy to sleep around on her and she’s willing to take him back
when he’s done having his fun.
 
That’s not love.
 
It’s sad.”

“I guess so,” Cora
relented. “It’s also sad that Reed has told her several times that it’s over
and she still doesn’t get the message.”

“She has
Isabelle encouraging her. Do you think Amber knows about Reed and I?”

Cora didn’t
answer right away. “Maybe. She’s been giving you the stink-eye a lot lately.”

Isabelle and Cora
came back to the table with drinks, and, thankfully, we didn’t talk anymore
about Reed.

“Hey, Ellie.
Isn’t that your dad?” asked Cora, glancing in the direction of the bar.

I followed her
gaze and spotted him sitting at a table with two other guys I recognized from
the department. One of them was Travis, the officer that had confronted Reed
and I.

“Yeah, that’s
him.”

“Which one?”
Amber asked curiously.

“He’s the one
with the brown hair.”

“The guy with
his arm around that waitress?” Amber asked, glancing at a fiftyish man with a
large belly and jeans that sagged in the rear.

“Wrong table,” corrected
Isabelle, pointing to where my dad sat. “See the guy with the black shirt,
faded jeans and boots?”

Amber’s eyes widened.
“Wow. Daddy is hot,” Amber drawled with obvious appreciation.

I’d never heard
anyone describe my dad that way, and it was weird.

“Ellie doesn’t
want to hear that.” Isabelle crumpled a napkin and tossed it at Amber.

“I’m sorry,
Ellie,” Amber told me. “I just didn’t expect your dad to be so young. My dad
wears pleated khaki pants, has silver hair and wouldn’t think of setting foot
in someplace like Shooters.”

“It’s okay,” I
told her. “Eventually, I’ll overcome the emotional trauma of hearing ‘Daddy is
hot’ in reference to my dad.”

Amber gave me a
blank look.

“She’s joking,”
Isabelle and Cora said at the same time.

“Oh. That’s
funny, Ellie.” Amber laughed.

“He’s coming
over. It’s too late to hide the beer. You think he’ll call my mom?” Cora
laughed.

“Is that what
he did in high school?” Isabelle asked.

“Ellie and I
never got into trouble back then. We haven’t gotten around to making up for it,
but soon we’re going to cut loose and go wild.”

Isabelle
laughed. “I can’t wait to see that.”

Dad walked up
to the table as Isabelle’s dark head was tossed back in laughter and his gaze
flicked over her a moment before he said, “Ladies,” to all of us.

“Hi Dad.” He
put his arm around my shoulders and hugged me.

Amber and Cora
said hello. Isabelle, who’d suddenly stopped laughing, said almost shyly, “Hi, Captain
McAllister.”

 
Dad looked over at Isabelle and smiled.
“Isabelle, how are you?”

“I’m great!” she
chirped with an enthusiastic wave of her arm, knocking her beer over and
watching with wide-eyes as it splashed over Dad.

 
“I’m so sorry!” Grabbing a pile of paper
napkins from the center of the table, Isabelle scooped them up and began to
blot the front of my dad’s shirt and jeans as an awkward silence fell over our
table.

Cora’s hand
flew to her mouth and Amber stared speechless at the scene that played out
before us.
 
I was shocked at how
flustered and clearly embarrassed Isabelle was because I’d never seen her lose
her cool around men.

“It’s okay,
Isabelle,” Dad said calmly.

“I should’ve
been paying attention!” Isabelle frantically wiped the front of my dad’s jeans,
oblivious to what she was doing.

“Isabelle,” Dad
said when she continued to touch him.

“I’m really sorry,
Captain McAllister.”

I stared in
horror as tears filled Isabelle’s eyes.

Reaching down
and plucking her hands off of him, Dad said gently to Isabelle. “A little
spilled beer won’t hurt me.” He looked down into Isabelle’s eyes, and lightly
chucked her under the chin like he’d done to me a thousand times, but somehow I
knew that the way he looked at Isabelle was completely different from how he
was with me.

“If any of you
need a ride, let me know,” Dad replied, glancing over at me.
 
I knew he was talking about Isabelle,
thinking a few too many drinks were responsible for strange behavior.

“Thanks, Dad.”

“Don’t forget
about next week,” he said, reminding me that he wanted to meet Reed.