Up in Flames [The Heroes of Silver Springs 10] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) (28 page)

“Hey, I was reading that!” In truth she hadn’t been. If he quizzed her, she wouldn’t be able to tell him a thing on the pages she’d been staring at unseeing for the last half hour.

“Really?” Thaddeus shot her a boyish grin and turned the open magazine around for her to see. “Is there an upcoming test on upside-down reading skills I’m not aware of, because this is exactly how you were holding it.”

Terri snatched the magazine from his hands, closed it, and slapped it down on the end table next to her. “You never know when the talent might come in handy.”

“Mmm-hmm, I don’t think they do much upside-down reading in space, which is exactly where you were when I walked in here.” His boyish grin turned mischievous. “Were you daydreaming about a certain hunk in well-worn jeans and cowboy boots? Or, better yet, getting that certain hunky prosecutor
out
of his well-worn jeans and cowboy boots?”

Terri glanced around the small TV room, noted they were the only ones there, and rolled her eyes. “I was not daydreaming about having sex with Gage Britt.”

“Ah, but you were thinking about him.”

She couldn’t deny that one and didn’t bother to try. Thaddeus would see straight through the lie, anyway. “So what if I was?”

“Hey, I don’t blame you. He’s hot!”

Terri slapped his chest with the back of her hand. “You are supposed to be a very happy, very committed man to not one, but
two
seriously hunky men, Thaddeus Leopold Carter.”

Thaddeus winced. “You might as well tack the third onto the end of that if you’re going to use my whole name as a reprimand. And I am a very happy, very committed man to both of my men, thank you very much. Just because I’m gloriously in love with Adrien and Cam doesn’t mean I’m dead. I can still appreciate a fine specimen of man perfection when I see one, and Gage Britt definitely falls into that category.”

Terri smiled. “He does, doesn’t he?”

“Yep, and you want to know who he’s sharing that category with?” Thaddeus waited a beat before answering his own question when Terri didn’t say anything. “The tall, dark, and incredibly handsome Dr. Owen Banks.”

Thaddeus’s description perfectly summed up her initial thoughts about Owen. Midforties with thick dark hair, deep brown eyes, and a face like a movie star, Dr. Owen Banks was definitely Dr. TDH to the max. She remembered the way she’d been mesmerized by his gaze the first time they met. He’d suffered a light case of smoke inhalation after pulling a young woman from a burning apartment in a building where he’d been making a house call.

A house call. How many doctors in this day and age still did that? Owen did and, upon hearing about it, she’d gone all gooey inside.

Thaddeus propped his booted feet on the coffee table and stretched an arm along the back of the couch. “Where’s Owen been lately, anyway?”

“Around.” Saving one patient after another at the hospital, putting in extra volunteer time at the clinic, and making more of those house calls that had immediately earned him major brownie points and utter respect out of Terri.

“You’re still talking to him, right? Hanging out, getting to know him, and working on turning this friend thing the two of you have going on into something more?” Thaddeus angled his head and looked at her. “But if you were doing that, you wouldn’t have shown up at the captain’s house yesterday with Gage, would you?”

“Owen’s had a lot going on lately. He’s been busy. We’ve talked, gone out a couple of times, but no, we’re not any closer to anything more than a friendship than we were the night I met him.”

Thaddeus lifted a brow. “And Gage?”

“Is someone I met a few days ago who bought me breakfast, dinner later that night, and tagged along to a friendly get-together. A get-together, might I add, where a very good friend of his and every member of my non-blood-related family was in attendance.”

Thaddeus nodded slowly. “In other words, he’s another guy you’re hanging out with, getting to know, and…” He trailed off and pursed his lips. “Are you working on turning a budding friendship with him into something more, too?”

Terri slapped the arm of the sofa and then pushed to her feet. “Hell, Vegister. I don’t know.” She used the nickname for him she’d given him years ago because he always stayed on her case about her unhealthy eating habits and insisted she should eat more veggies. “I’ve barely talked to another guy since I met Owen. One look at him and I started going through all these crazy notions about settling down and actually devoting myself to a relationship with a guy instead of having my fun with whoever I found when the mood struck.”

“There’s nothing crazy about wanting a boyfriend, Ter.”

Terri made a raspberry sound with her lips and started to pace. “Apparently there is when that guy you set your sights on puts you in an entirely different category than the one you’ve put him in.” She took a few steps, pivoted on her heel, and paced back. “Then, Gage walks up, and for the first time in months, I actually notice another guy. I mean
really
notice him, as in, hot damn, Skippy, he’s off the charts! He’s fun, has a fantastic personality, and seems to think the same about me. Except, I’ve already put Owen at the top of that chart, so what the hell do I do now?”

“The same thing you did before you met Owen, only you tweak your performance a bit,” Thaddeus suggested. “The Terri I used to know would set her sights on a hot guy and go after him. She’d go on a date or three with the guy, have fun, probably have some wild and seriously universe-exploding sex, and she’d move on.”

Terri bowed her head as she spun and treaded the same path across the floor she’d just come from. “Owen has made it clear, in not so many words, that’s what he wants. Not the moving on part, exactly, but the fun and sex.” She let out a half laugh that held little humor. “I doubt Gage would balk at the idea, either.”

“But the Terri I know now is.” Thaddeus’s tone was full of understanding. “This new Terri is all up for the dates and the fun, but she doesn’t want the meaningless sex anymore. She doesn’t want to move on after she spreads her legs.”

Terri whirled again in time to see Thaddeus grimace.

“Sorry, that was pretty crude.”

She gave him a half smile. “Crude, but true. So, what are these little tweaks you’re talking about?”

Thaddeus shrugged as if the answer was so simple it should’ve been right in front of her nose. “You go out, you have fun, but you don’t have sex with either of them.”

Terri frowned. “Newsflash, Vegister. That’s what I’ve been doing for months with Owen and what I’ve been doing since I met Gage.”

Thaddeus grinned. “Then you’re already on the right track.”

“Yeah, the right track if I was looking to become Sister Terri,” she muttered.

“The celibacy thing isn’t doing it for you, huh?” She shot him a look that cracked him up. He held up both hands, palm out, in a sign of surrender. “Hey, I get it. At least you haven’t given in once only to wait a year and a freaking half before it happens again.”

Adrien. Terri didn’t need to ask. She knew he was talking about Adrien and the time the two of them had given into their attraction for one hot and heavy afternoon in Thaddeus’s kitchen. That afternoon hadn’t repeated itself as Thaddeus had hoped it would, though, because Adrien had been at a crossroads between Thaddeus and Cameron.

“On the other hand, maybe you should,” Thaddeus added after a moment.

Terri’s pacing had put her with her back to him again. Rather than turn fully around, she shot him a questioning look over her shoulder. “Should what?”

“Have sex with Owen. Or Gage.” His lips stretched into a full-blown smile that reached his eyes. “Or, you could go for broke and have sex with both of them.”

“And exactly what good is that going to do me?” Terri asked as she turned. “That’s something the Terri you used to know would’ve done. No need for tweaks there, Vegister.”

“I didn’t say you should move on after the deed is done. You might want to,” he added. “It might get one, or both of them, out of your system.”

“Right,” Terri said, her tone full of disbelief. “And, being my luck, I’ll fall for both of them.”

“Allow me to speak from experience when I say that’s definitely not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Please.” Terri rolled her eyes. “Very few people on this planet get as lucky as you and find two impossibly hunky, loving men who don’t mind that you’re in love with both of them.”

“Apparently there’s enough of us to fill Silver Island.”

“Touché.” Terri shot him a mocking smile. She finally stopped pacing only to bury the fingers of both hands in her hair, fist the strands, and tug. “Ugh, why didn’t I realize how simple my life was before I had to go all wonky and start trying to change it?”

“It’s not all that complicated now, Ter,” Thaddeus said calmly. “Relationships take time. Sometimes, one of the people involved isn’t sure of exactly what they want, but they know they don’t want to cut the other person out of their life. Cam is a prime example of that. He was so afraid to fall for me or Adrien, but he couldn’t let go of either of us. It took him time to see what he really wanted was to be with both of us, to love both of us, and spend his life with us.”

“I’ve been giving Owen time.” Terri heard the defensive ring in her own voice, but couldn’t make it go away. “I haven’t been pressuring him at all. Hell, I haven’t even told him I want more. And, as for Gage, jeez, I certainly haven’t said anything to him.”

“For two reasons.” Thaddeus held up a finger. “One, because you aren’t entirely sure either of them is the man you want to keep.” He held up a second finger. “Two, because you’re enjoying the game for once. You’ve been riding on the anticipation with Owen, giving him time, and letting it ride even though it’s been driving you nuts. Now, you’ve met Gage and you’re starting the same thing with him. The only thing I want to know is if you’ve told either man about the other one.”

Terri planted her fisted hands on her hips. “Why would I do that?”

Thaddeus tapped a fingertip to his chin thoughtfully. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because it would be the right thing to do.”

Terri drew her brows together. “Why? It’s not like I’m exclusive with either of them. You just said it yourself, I’m not even entirely sure either of them is the man I want to keep.”

“No, but you’re thinking one of them might be. You’ve been seeing Owen and only Owen for months. Now, Gage is in the picture. Owen knows you haven’t been dating anyone else, at least up until now. Did you ever think he’s found a comfort in knowing that? Then, there’s Gage. I don’t know for sure, but I’m betting he’s under the impression you’re single.”

“I am single.”

“Single as in there’s absolutely no one else in your life that you’re interested in,” Thaddeus elaborated. “What happens when one of them decides they want to take your friendship to the next level? Then, you’ve got to go to the other one and, what, say hey, sorry, but there’s this other guy you never knew I was seeing that I’ve decided I’m going to devote all my time and attention to now. It’s been fun. See you around.” He shook his head. “That’s not likely to turn out too well, Ter.”

“And if I tell Owen about Gage and vice versa, both of them are likely to come to the conclusion I’m playing them,” Terri argued.

“Maybe, but I’m thinking they’d both appreciate the honesty, and if either of them really likes you, he’ll be willing to hang around until you make up your mind.”

Terri pushed a hard breath from her lungs. “Like you did with Adrien.”

Thaddeus shrugged. “He was honest with me from the get-go. He didn’t tell me Cam’s name back then, but I knew there was someone else in his life. When I finally met Cam and he became a part of my life, I was honest with Adrien about it, too. That’s another thing about lasting relationships, Ter. Not only do they take time to build, but they demand honesty between all parties involved if they’re really meant to last.”

* * * *

Max hated sleeping alone. It wasn’t like he hadn’t done it for the bulk of his life. Hell, he’d always enjoyed crawling into his bed knowing he had the whole thing to himself. Yet, one night spent in Regina’s bed, one night spent with the woman he loved cuddled in his arms against him, and suddenly even climbing into his bunk at the firehouse alone had lost its enjoyment.

He lay awake for most of the night staring at the ceiling, waiting and half hoping for the tones to drop. He lay there thinking about Regina, too, wondering if she was still awake. Was she thinking about him? Did she miss him as desperately as he was missing her?

Damn, dude. You’ve really got it bad.

Yep, he did, and he didn’t see a way out of it even if he’d wanted to find one. Which he didn’t. He may not have ever fallen in love, but that didn’t mean he’d been scared of it. He’d simply never met a woman that had crawled into his heart, claimed it, and possessed his very soul the way Regina had done.

You need to tell her.

He’d started to last night. He’d lain in her bed with his arms locked around her and talked about everything under the sun except the one thing that had been on the tip of his tongue. He knew why he’d held back. Part of it was fear. Geezus, he was actually afraid to admit to her that he’d fallen in love with her. What if she didn’t feel the same about him?

Now you’re sounding like you’re back in grammar school, dumb shit.

The other part sounded far more mature. He didn’t want to complicate her life any more than it already was. She was planning to move. As soon as she caught the Flame Jumper, she’d be leaving town and going back home to be there for her father. He didn’t want to interfere with that.

He finally dozed off in the wee hours of the morning with his mind reeling and images of a gorgeously naked Regina writhing in his arms. He woke barely an hour after falling asleep when the ear-piercing blare of the tones sliced through the silence of the firehouse. Groans followed the blare as B-shift dragged their asses out of their bunks, groggily snapping into action as the dispatcher relayed the location of the fire.