Boston Fire: Heat Exchange Part 11

"You, uh, forgot your clothes."

Aidan ran a hand over his naked chest and glanced down at his black boxer briefs. "People don't call before they come over, they get what they get."

"I texted you. Last-minute, but before you opened the door."

He'd probably be annoyed by the lecture, but he knew she was only b.i.t.c.hing at him because seeing him almost naked had thrown her off and she was trying to hide it. "If you'd like to make an appointment to visit, I'll schedule in putting on some pants."

Making a huffy sound, Lydia pushed off the wall and-giving him a look as she went by-walked past him into his apartment. "Do you always have to be an a.s.shole about everything?"

"Nice talk." He followed her in and kicked the door closed behind him. "Thanks for stopping by."

"I came to apologize."

"Okay."

She crossed her arms. "Okay? That's it?"

"No, that's not it. Okay, you came to apologize. So go ahead."

"I'm sorry."

He arched an eyebrow at her. "h.e.l.l of an apology."

"It's not easy being sincere when you're not wearing any pants."

"At least I don't go commando. But really, I don't feel like I'm obligated to make this easier for you."

She blew out a breath. "Can we sit down, at least? It feels so awkward and confrontational, standing here facing each other like this."

Deciding against the couch, because sitting next to her while in his boxer briefs would feel odd, he gestured to his tiny kitchen table. "You want something to drink?"

"Water would be great, thanks."

He filled a couple of gla.s.ses from the ice and water dispenser in his fridge, and then set them on the table. She took a sip of hers while he sat down in the chair across from her.

"I'm sorry I called you a reckless kid with a G.o.d complex," she said, all traces of annoyance with him gone. "I was losing control and it scared me, what I was willing to do with you in the storage closet of my dad's bar. I needed you to walk away."

"You could have tried telling me to walk away."

"I panicked." She ran a fingertip through the condensation on her gla.s.s. "I don't believe what I said, you know. I don't always like your job, but I respect it. You're so easygoing most of the time and you let things roll off you, so I went straight for the cheap shot and I'm very, very sorry."

He wasn't sure how he'd feel if it was somebody else who'd said it, but this was Lydia. She had her own issues with firefighting, including having been married to a guy who'd been ill-suited for the job because he had been somewhat reckless and gotten off on being a hero. Knowing the insult came from her life experiences and not her opinion of him made it a lot easier to forgive.

"Thank you," he said. "I accept your apology."

"Just like that?"

He met her gaze across the table and gave her a warm smile. "Yeah, just like that. I'd rather not wallow in it or hold a grudge. That's not really my thing."

The smile she gave him made the bad mood he'd been carrying around since he left her in the storage room disappear. "I'm glad. Beating myself up wasn't a pleasant way to spend the day, so I'd rather not keep on doing it."

"You could have called anytime."

"I never know when you're busy. And there was disagreement on whether I should apologize to you over the phone-which didn't seem good enough-or in person, which might lead to...another moment of weakness, if you know what I mean."

Aidan did know what she meant, but those weren't the words that really caught his attention, as intriguing as they were. "Disagreement? Who was disagreeing?"

Maybe she had a habit of talking to herself and it had escalated into a full-scale argument. He'd never seen her having a solo conversation before that he could remember, but maybe she saved that for when she was alone.

"Courtney-who I don't think you know-thought I should apologize to you in person, but Ashley said the phone would be better."

"Ashley." His fingers tightened around his gla.s.s. "So Danny Walsh's wife knows what happened between us."

She tilted her head. "My sister does, yes."

"Yeah, your sister who's married to my lieutenant."

"She won't say anything to him. I get it, Aidan. Danny's her husband and wives tell their husbands things. But not stuff like this. She's my sister and she's not going to share my secrets or do anything that might set Scotty off. I promise."

It still made him nervous. But Lydia knew what was at stake and if she trusted Ashley, he didn't really have a choice but to trust her, too. "I guess if I show up at the house one day and Scotty kicks my a.s.s, I'll know why."

She looked startled for a moment, but he smiled and, after a few seconds, she returned it. "What a mess."

"I'm glad you listened to Courtney, whoever she is, and came in person."

"So you could see me squirm?"

"I don't know about the squirming part, but I'm glad to see you."

Her eyes met his and he held her gaze, wondering what was going on behind that mildly amused expression. And he couldn't help but wonder if his own expression was giving away his thoughts. Despite what had happened, and despite the alarm he'd felt when she said Ashley knew about it, he still wanted her.

Maybe his eyes did give it away, because she stood and carried her gla.s.s to the sink. After slowly dumping what remained of the ice and water down the drain, she set the gla.s.s on the counter and wiped her hand on her jeans. He got the feeling she was composing herself or struggling with something or stalling. He just wished he knew which.

He stood up, thankful he had a little bit of self-control, since he was wearing only the snug boxer briefs and, when she turned around, he noticed she kept her eyes on his face.

"I should go." She opened her arms and stepped forward. "Thank you for accepting my apology."

By the time he realized a hug might be a very bad idea, she had her arms wrapped around his neck and his hands slid over her hips and up to her back.

"Maybe I should have shaken your hand," she said, but instead of pulling away, she dropped her forehead to his chest. Her hands were splayed against his back muscles and Aidan was careful to keep any body contact limited to above the waist. The boxer briefs were growing more snug by the second.

"Do me a favor," he said, "and keep in mind you can't chase me off this time. I live here, and I'm not wearing any pants."

"Trust me, I'm very aware you're not wearing pants. Or a s.h.i.+rt." Her fingertips trailed down his spine.

Aidan lowered his head to kiss her temple, and she tilted her head so he could work his way down her neck. When he got to her collarbone, he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head back. He wanted her mouth.

There was no hesitation in her kiss. She opened her lips to him, her tongue meeting his. He slid the finger under her chin down to the hollow at the base of her throat before cupping the back of her neck.

There was body contact below the waist now, and it took every ounce of Aidan's self-control not to grind against the front of Lydia's jeans. The hunger he felt in her kiss matched his own, and he wanted to bury himself deep inside of her, right here on the kitchen floor.

She broke off the kiss, resting her cheek against his so he felt the breath of her sigh. "We shouldn't do this."

And there it was. He pulled back so he could see her face. She'd said shouldn't not can't, and he didn't want to misjudge the significance. "Why not?"

"I don't remember, but I think it was probably a good reason."

"I think you're right, but I'm having trouble caring right this second." He touched his fingertip to her bottom lip, and smiled when she caught it between her teeth. But this push/pull thing they had going on wasn't fun and he'd rather common sense killed the mood now than later, if and when they made it into his bed. "You know what? Let's not do this."

Her eyes widened and she let go of his finger. "What?"

"No, not this this. I want to do this, believe me. I just don't want games between us. We both know sleeping together is a bad idea and we both know why. I'd rather we decide together, right now, if we're going to do it anyway."

"Making a decision to not sleep together isn't going to make me not want you, which will make it hard to be around you. I'm going to try too hard not to look at you, and then fail because there's no way I'm not staring at your a.s.s when you walk by. People are going to notice something's up because we're trying unnaturally hard to act natural."

He grinned because he knew exactly what she meant. "So we should get it out of our systems, then. Or try to."

She took his hand in hers, threading their fingers together. "You have more at stake than I do, Aidan. I mean, yeah, they're my family, but I can handle them. They have to come around eventually because I am family. But you, they can alienate and it'll matter. You work with Scott. If the other guys think you've done him wrong, you'll suffer for it. My dad means the world to you, and you guys all go to the bar. You play hockey together. It seems like there's no part of your life that wouldn't be affected."

"I'm willing to take that chance." Maybe it wasn't the right decision, but in this moment, it was the only one he was capable of making. "I want you so much, every part of my life already is affected."

When she hooked a fingertip under the elastic of his boxer briefs, running it back and forth across his hip, he sucked in a breath and she gave him a smile that promised there was better to come. "There's only you and me in this room. n.o.body else."

Aidan shoved everybody and everything out of his mind except for the woman standing in front of him. "Just you and me."

Lydia enjoyed running her finger around the inside of the waistband of Aidan's boxer briefs. He was mostly made up of hard muscle and tough skin, but the flesh under her knuckle was soft and sensitive.

Every time her finger came close enough to almost brush the hard length of his erection, which was straining against the cotton, his breathing would change. She changed direction and worked her finger back toward his hip.

When she used her other hand to cup him through the fabric, he hissed and grabbed her wrist. "Gimme a minute to run box scores through my head or something."

"Your hose fully charged, is it?"

He groaned. "If you're going to crack lame firefighter jokes during s.e.x, at least try to be original. But, to answer that ridiculous question, yes."

She laughed as he grasped both of her wrists and pulled her hands up toward his chest. It pulled her closer to him at the same time and he kissed her. She loved the way he kissed. His mouth wasn't gentle or tentative, but neither did he just mash his lips against hers. She thought she could happily spend hours kissing him. Until his hands slid down her arms and sides to the hem of her T-s.h.i.+rt, and then she decided there might be better things than kissing in store for her.

"Keep your arms up," he said, his voice low and firm in a way that made her s.h.i.+ver. He slowly pulled the s.h.i.+rt up and over her arms before tossing it aside. His eyes widened slightly, and then he stroked the lace edging of her bra. "I don't know what this color is, but it's my new favorite."

"I think it's called beige."

"I love beige."

She still had on a lot more clothes than he did, so she tried to give him a little incentive. "The panties are beige, too, and have lace."

When he made a mmm sound low in his throat and reached for the b.u.t.ton on her jeans, she was never so thankful to have forgotten to switch her laundry over from the washer to the dryer. She usually wore her older, plain cotton underwear sets for work because they were comfortable, but they hadn't dried in time, so she'd grabbed the lace set.

As he popped the b.u.t.ton on her jeans open and undid the zipper, she toed out of her sneakers and kicked them aside. She used his shoulders to keep her balance as she hooked a toe in each sock and pulled those off, too. "You have the most amazing shoulders."

"I carry heavy things a lot," he murmured, obviously distracted by the revelation of beige lace as he slid her jeans down over her hips.

When he got them down as far as he could reach, she wiggled her b.u.t.t, making them fall a little more until she could stand on the hem of each leg in turn and pull her legs out.

His eyes widened a little. "You should do that again."

"Yeah, I don't think so." She stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, which pressed the length of her almost-naked body against his almost-naked body. His skin was warm and she wondered if hers felt the same to him.

"Maybe later." He kissed her, his hands sliding down her back and under the waistband of her panties to cup her a.s.s.

His erection was pressed against her abdomen, and she wanted the boxer briefs gone, but she didn't want the kiss to end. He was a perfect kisser, with just the right amount of pressure and demand, without being overbearing. She liked a man who could kiss and, in her experience, they were rare.

Another thought occurred to her, and she broke off the kiss. "I know this is not a great time to ask, but do you have condoms? I didn't bring any because I came to apologize and didn't realize it would go so well."

He chuckled. "It's going very well, and, yes, I do. But they're in my bedroom, so we should start moving in that direction."

"Yes, we should." She smiled and then stepped around him to walk toward his bedroom. On the way, she reached behind her and unhooked her bra so it could slide slowly down her arms. Then she caught it and tossed it behind her without looking.

"I love beige," he said again, and she smiled.

His bedroom was clean, which she'd expected based on the rest of his apartment. A lot of blue, with sports memorabilia hung on the walls and on the bureau. The bed was definitely the centerpiece-king-size with lots of pillows.

She lifted the comforter and then slid in between the sheets, surprised by the feel of the fabric against her bare skin. "These are really nice sheets."

"Thank you."

"No, I mean it. Do you know the thread count?"

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Really? Is that something most people know? And I feel like I need to try harder or something if you're a.n.a.lyzing fabric in my bed."

She laughed and spread her arms out, running her hands over the sheets. "It feels nice against my skin. Very sensual, actually."

"Oh, sensual is good. You should feel free to spend as much time as you want between my sheets. With me, though. It's kind of pointless for you to roll around in the bed alone."

She held out her hand. "I'm alone in the bed right now."

"Only because the view from over here is incredible. You, almost naked in my bed? I want to memorize this moment."

"Let me know when you're done, because I'm waiting to memorize how you feel."

"Okay, got it." He stretched out on the bed over her, and cupped her breast in one hand. "Have I told you how beautiful you are?"

She smiled, knowing it was a little goofy, but unable to help herself. Of course he was going to tell her she was beautiful, but for some reason when Aidan said it, she believed him.

His mouth closed over her nipple and she buried her hand in his hair. He sucked gently at first, but then harder, until she hissed and her back arched off the bed. Then he s.h.i.+fted his attention to her other breast and did it again.

She raked her nails up his back, feeling his muscles twitch under her touch. When his hand slid down her stomach, she held her breath until it skimmed over lace and he cupped her mound.

He turned his face up to hers so she could see his smug smile. "Should we see how fast I can make you come tonight?"