Firestorm

Chapter Seventeen

“Hey,” Emily said, giving Mallory’s arm a tug. “Isn’t that Cooper over there?”

Mallory followed Emily’s direction and took in the group at the table. Cooper’s distinctive gold-blond hair and massive shoulders flashed like beacons even in the hazy glow of the cobweb-coated light fixtures tucked under the heavy pine ceiling beams. But she wasn’t looking at Cooper when she muttered, “Uh-huh.”

Jac sat at the table next to Cooper, with Sarah beside her. Mallory hadn’t expected to see Jac tonight, definitely not here. Jac’s head was tilted toward Sarah, who seemed to be whispering something in her ear that was making Jac laugh. Mallory slowed her meandering course around the room, trying to give herself time to figure out what bothered her the most—that Jac had appeared somewhere Mallory thought she’d be free of the confusing and annoying reactions she had every time Jac was around, or that Jac seemed to be having a really good time while she was having a really off night. Jac looked great in a casual white button-down collar shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up. Mallory was glad she’d chosen her favorite sweater, a black cashmere pullover that she’d bought on a whim because it felt so good against her skin and did nice things for her breasts too.

Instantly she wanted to shake herself for the ridiculous thought. Ridiculous not to have anticipated Jac would show up here. Where else would she go on the one night off before a ten-day stint in the wilderness? Bear Creek was the only town within reasonable driving distance, and Tommy’s was the only nightlife.

“Sarah’s here too,” Emily said, delight infusing her tone. She grasped Mallory’s hand and pulled her along the sinuous path created by the haphazard placement of tables around the dance floor. “I haven’t seen her since last fall. What a treat.”

“Yes, she showed up early for training camp.”

“I should say hello, but we don’t have to hang with them if you don’t want to.” Emily half turned, walking backward and studying Mallory with a tiny frown between her brows. “I know you like to get away from work when you’re here, so if—”

“No,” Mallory said quickly. She wasn’t going to be derailed by Jac’s presence. She had control of herself, after all. “It’s fine. If you don’t mind.”

Emily pressed close against Mallory’s side to make way for a couple headed for the dance floor. “I like your crew. I don’t recognize some of them, though.”

“Three of the new guys.” Mallory made a conscious effort to sound upbeat. She was going to be seeing Jac on and off the base every day for the next six months, and she might as well get used to it. The conflicting blend of anticipation and wariness that stirred her insides whenever Jac was around had to burn off eventually. Sooner or later she’d be able to look at her without her heart jumping into her throat and every cell in her body starting to tingle. Hopefully sooner rather than later, because the on-again off-again, totally unwanted sexual charge that went along with everything else was making her damn irritable.

“Um, Mallory sweetheart,” Emily said laughing, “one of those guys is definitely not. If you haven’t noticed, I am going to start worrying about you.”

“I noticed.”

“She is one of yours, right?”

“One of the rookies.” Mallory was having trouble putting more than a few words together, and feeling more and more disoriented with every second. Especially when Sarah rose and Jac followed her to the dance floor. Mallory watched them find space on the crowded floor, watched Jac open her arms and Sarah step into them as if she’d done it a million times before. Sarah was beaming. She looked radiant, and Jac, sultry and sexy in the plain shirt and faded jeans, had a gentle amused smile on her face. Damn it, they looked like they were really hitting it off.

“You sure about this?” Emily asked. “Because you’ve got about two seconds to change your mind.”

“I’m sure.” Mallory jerked her gaze away from her best friend and the rookie she shouldn’t even be thinking about and drew Emily up to the table. “Guys, this is Emily.” She pointed to each of the men at the table in turn. “Ray Kingston, Ron Anderson, and you know Cooper.”

“The night is definitely looking up,” Ray announced. He and the other men hastily rearranged the bottles and glasses on the water-ringed tabletop and commandeered several more chairs from nearby tables. When Mallory and Emily settled at the table, Ray pushed two sweating bottles of beer across to them. “Here. These are fresh.”

“Thanks,” Mallory said, shifting her seat so she couldn’t see the dance floor. Too bad she couldn’t as easily dispel the image of Jac and Sarah from her mind.

Emily leaned into Mallory and sipped her beer. “So how are you all liking training camp?” She squeezed Mallory’s knee and grinned. “Or maybe I shouldn’t bring that up with Mallory here.”

The guys laughed.

“Please,” Mallory said, spreading her arms to indicate the whole of Tommy’s, “feel free to speak your mind. I hereby declare this a penalty-free zone. In here, I’m not the boss.”

From behind her, Jac said, “If that’s the case, we need to spend more time around here.”

Jac’s voice feathered down Mallory’s spine like warm honey and settled in the pit of her stomach. Heat flowed indolently through her depths, and she had to force her fingers to relax their grip on the bottle she was clutching. “Don’t get too used to it.”

“Actually,” Jac said, sitting opposite Mallory, “I don’t know about these guys, but the only complaint I have about training camp is there aren’t enough hours in the day to train more.”

Ray and Anderson cracked up, and Mallory couldn’t help but smile a little bit. “I’m also not giving out any points for kissing up tonight, Russo. So you can save it.”

Ray hooted and poked Jac’s shoulder. “Busted, buddy. You can forget about impressing the boss tonight.”

Jac stared at Mallory, her mouth curved into a smile, but her eyes more searching than amused. “Apparently so.”

“Emily,” Sarah said with a big grin, crowding next to Jac, their shoulders touching familiarly. “Great to see you. I can’t wait for you to catch me up on all the news.”

Emily laughed. “That might take five minutes or so.” She stretched her hand across the table to Jac. “We didn’t get introduced. I’m Emily Sorensen.”

“Jac Russo,” Jac said, shaking Emily’s hand.

“What do you think of Tommy’s?” Emily asked.

Jac glanced at Sarah, her eyes sparkling. “I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun. Dancing isn’t usually my thing, but Sarah is a great teacher.”

Sarah draped her arm over Jac’s shoulders. “That’s not true. You’re a natural. I told you that.”

A buzz of annoyance swarmed Mallory’s throat, and she swallowed back the unexpected surge of jealousy. Sarah was just being friendly. Sarah was a friendly person. In fact, that was one of the things Mallory liked best about her. Right at the moment, though, she would’ve preferred Sarah being a little less friendly. Sarah touched Jac with a whole lot more than friendliness. They’d obviously been having a great time together all evening. While she’d been out of sorts and unable to connect with Emily the way she wanted, Jac was off painting the town with Sarah. Wonderful.

“Anybody for refills?” Ray asked, rising.

When everyone answered in the affirmative, Sarah got up. “I’ll give you a hand.”

Emily shifted her chair toward Anderson, who was telling her about his wife and kids and job back home, and Mallory found herself with nowhere to look except at Jac. The conversation faded into the background and Jac was all she saw. Garth Brooks started singing about thunder and lightning and lust, and for a millisecond, Mallory thought about asking Jac to dance. The idea came out of nowhere and hit her harder than a falling tree, but fortunately she came to her senses instead of losing them. Tommy’s might be a work-free zone and she might not be the boss tonight, but she couldn’t afford to drop her barriers around Jac whether they were at work or not. If she did, she might not be able to get them back up again when she needed them. A body brushed by her arm trailing a cloud of vanilla and sandalwood and complicated florals. Obsession. She knew the perfume, and she knew who wore it.

A busty blonde in tight blue jeans that accentuated her heart-shaped ass and a tight white stretch top that made it very evident she wasn’t wearing a bra leaned down and murmured something in Jac’s ear. Chantal Burns. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

“I’m not very good,” Jac said, subtly shifting on her chair as if trying to put a little space between herself and the breasts that were very close to her cheek.

Chantal put her red-tipped fingernails on Jac’s shoulder and smiled across the table at Mallory. “Hi, Mallory. I see you’ve brought us some interesting new…faces.”

The jealousy that had plagued her earlier buzz-sawed back. Chantal was a sometimes bartender at Tommy’s, married to a long-distance trucker who was never home. Chantal filled the hours while he was away fooling around with the customers, male and female alike. Mallory squelched the desire to pluck Chantal’s hand off Jac’s shoulder. “How are you doing, Chantal?”

“Much better now.” Chantal cocked her hip, trailed her finger up Jac’s shoulder, and twirled a lock of Jac’s hair around her fingertip.

“I can see that.” Mallory raised her brows at Jac, whose expression vacillated between amusement and disbelief.

Chantal bumped Jac’s shoulder with her hip. “Come on. If you need lessons, I’ll teach you.”

Emily grasped Mallory’s wrist as Lady Antebellum started singing “Need You Now.” “This is a great song. Want to dance, Mallory?”

“Sure,” Mallory said, determined not to ruin Emily’s evening.

Jac’s smile never wavered but her eyes shuttered closed, locking Mallory out. The sudden change sent a cold blast through Mallory’s insides. As Emily pulled Mallory toward the dance floor, Jac’s whispered words to Chantal roiled in her depths.

Let’s dance. I’m sure you can help me out with whatever I need.

*

“So,” Chantal said, sliding into Jac’s arms, “you’re going to be up at Yellowrock all summer?”

“I don’t know yet,” Jac said, trying to inch back and still keep her rhythm. Chantal didn’t seem to care if they were actually following the dance steps. She was so close against Jac’s stomach and hips there was no way Jac could actually carry off the pattern. “I’ve still got a lot of boot camp to go.”

“Oh, you’re a rookie.” Chantal managed to lean her head back while pressing her breasts even more tightly against Jac’s. She had nice breasts, full and firm and probably not all completely original, but nice all the same. Jac straightened to ease some of the contact. She didn’t usually go in for bar pickups, at least not without a little conversation and a bit of connection first, and she was totally not in the mood at the moment. She’d only agreed to dance to get away from the uncomfortable tension at the table.

Mallory obviously wasn’t happy to see her, and that hurt. She kept trying to figure out what she’d done wrong. What she’d said, what invisible line she’d crossed. She appreciated boundaries. She respected them. She never would’ve pushed Mallory… Okay, maybe that wasn’t true. Maybe she had pushed. Mallory fascinated her. Mallory was aloof, remote, controlled—everything Jac understood and most of the time emulated. But there were moments when Mallory smiled at her, and the sky opened and sunlight drenched her. Waiting for those moments seemed endless, and then when they came, when she and Mallory connected, every second of waiting was worth it.

“Hey,” Chantal murmured, skating her fingertips down Jac’s neck. “I hear boot camp is really rough. All the guys complain about what a ballbuster it is. You could probably use a good massage. I’ve got a great hot tub back at my place. We could—”

“I don’t think so, Chantal,” Jac said. “Really, I appreciate it, but—”

“Baby,” Chantal said laughing lightly, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but you’re not going to have a lot of choices around here. And trust me, neither Mallory or Emily is really your speed.”

Jac stiffened. “I’m sorry?”

“Come on, baby—with a reputation like yours, you need a woman who’s been around, and I bet I can show you things even you haven’t done before.”

“I don’t recall us meeting before, and you I’d remember.” Jac forced a playful tone. “So how do you know anything—”

Chantal waved her hand dismissively. “A face like yours is hard to hide. Hey, baby—really, it’s cool. I think I could really get off doing a celebrity.”

“Probably. But not tonight.” Jac’s guts turned to ice. Maybe she’d been fooling herself that she’d found a safe haven at Yellowrock. Maybe she’d never outlive her past or her birthright.

“Tell me you wouldn’t like a little TLC.” Chantal rolled her hips into Jac’s crotch.

Jac registered the pressure and the surge of sensation shooting through her pelvis and down her legs. Was that what she wanted? Someone to take her mind off what she shouldn’t want and couldn’t have? She wouldn’t mind not thinking, not guarding, not second-guessing everything and everyone for an hour or two. She’d never really been able to do that with anyone, except Mallory. Everything came back to Mallory. “I’m not fond of one-way streets, and I’m running on empty. I think I’m gonna have to take a rain check.”

Chantal pretended to pout and gave up all pretense of two-stepping. She wrapped both arms around Jac’s neck and cleaved to her, her mouth moving indolently against Jac’s neck. Jac just prayed for the song to end. She wasn’t made of stone, and Chantal was hot and wanting. She really needed to escape before she gave in and took Chantal up on her offer out of sheer fatigue.

Cooper tapped Jac on the shoulder. “Cut in, Russo?”

Jac could’ve kissed him, but damn it, her mother’s manners kicked in and she hesitated, glancing at Chantal. “Okay?”

Chantal shrugged and gave Cooper a hot smile. “Sure. Coop and I are old friends, aren’t we?”

“Not so old, gorgeous.” Cooper laughed and pulled Chantal into his arms.

Jac backed away and bumped into Ray. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” He tapped Mallory on the shoulder as she danced close by with Emily. “Cutting in.”

Mallory released Emily, and her eyes met Jac’s. “Guess we’ve been retired.”

The fire in Mallory’s gaze melted the ice in Jac’s belly. “Want to dance?”

Jac held her breath while she waited for Mallory to say no.

“Okay,” Mallory said softly, and Jac stopped breathing altogether. When Jac didn’t move, Mallory laughed. “Having second thoughts?”

“No,” Jac said quickly, sucking in a breath. She willed her feet to move and prayed she could remember what she was supposed to do.

Holding out her left hand, she slid her right arm around Mallory’s waist. Mallory moved close. Their bodies didn’t touch, but heat shimmered between them all the same. Jac licked her lips. “I guess I should warn you now, it’s my first time.”

Mallory laughed again, free and unburdened, and she was so incredibly beautiful Jac wanted to kiss her throat where the sound echoed.

“Thank you so much for telling me ahead of time.” Mallory leaned close and whispered, “I could lead if you need me to.”

“I’d like to try, but it’s up to you. I do know how to follow.”

“Why don’t you go ahead and we’ll see how you do.”

The music changed, slowed, and Jac found she could manage the waltz steps fine as long as she didn’t think too long about the way Mallory fit in her arms, the way her hair smelled like honeysuckle and sweet clover, the way Mallory’s fingers slid so easily between hers.

“Jac?” Mallory murmured, her cheek grazing Jac’s.

“Yeah?” Jac said, ordering herself not to look down at their feet.

“You’re shaking.”

“I’m terrified.”

“Do I scare you?”

Mallory’s breasts and belly and thighs glided over Jac’s, subtle and so, so sexy. Jac couldn’t think, lost track of the people moving around them, forgot her own name. “You have no idea.”

“You survived Chantal.” Mallory’s lips were so close to Jac’s ear, Jac could hear each breath, feel the warm exhalations trickle down her neck.

Jac swallowed back the plume of excitement that shot through her chest. “You could’ve warned me.”

“I didn’t want to make assumptions. She might have been exactly what you were looking for.”

“You know she isn’t, don’t you?” Jac spread her fingers over Mallory’s lower back but didn’t pull her closer.

“Jac,” Mallory said, her tone a warning even as she trailed her fingers across Jac’s shoulders and into the hair at the back of her neck. Her mouth skimmed Jac’s earlobe. “We have a rule I haven’t gotten around to telling you.”

“What’s that?” Jac forced herself not to tense. Here it comes. The escape clause, the exit, the line that couldn’t be crossed.

Mallory leaned back, the playfulness gone from her eyes. She was still so close their lips nearly touched. “What happens in Bear Creek stays in Bear Creek.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Jac wondered if Mallory was talking about herself or Chantal.

“Good. I wouldn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“Don’t worry, I understand the rules.” The song wound down and Mallory pulled away. Jac still had enough sense left to know wherever they were going, Mallory was leading. She let her go.