Boston Fire: Heat Exchange Part 6

He noticed the tightness around her mouth-since he was still looking at it-and knew she still wasn't okay with Danny staying at the Kincaid house, no matter which unit he was in.

"Yeah, he's in his room. Uh, the guest room. We have some free time, so we're going to do...some stuff."

She smiled, then, and that curve of her lips made him acutely glad the island was between them so she couldn't see him from the waist down. "Stuff, huh? Sounds very mysterious and guy-like."

"Men of mystery. That's us."

"Maybe a little trip to the strip club? Hit the gun range or the batting cages? Maybe stop at the salon and get pedicures?"

"Pedicures?" He laughed. "Hey, you never know. Those boots are hard on our feet."

"I'd pay good money to get my hands on a blackmail photo of Scotty getting a pedi-"

She broke off when Danny walked into the room, and Aiden felt the tension ratchet up a notch.

When Danny saw Lydia, he stopped in his tracks and his expression seemed to close off, as if he was feeling no emotions whatsoever. "Hi, Lydia."

Aidan watched her, hoping she wouldn't lose her temper or simply walk out the door. That wouldn't do anybody any good, and he knew for a fact Scotty being at odds with his sister upset him. If he heard her yelling and rushed out to defend Danny, it would get ugly and Scotty would be almost impossible to work with until it was resolved.

But Lydia's expression softened and she crossed the kitchen to wrap her arms around his neck. "Hi, Danny."

They embraced for a moment and then, when they broke apart, Danny gave her a half smile. "I wasn't sure if you were going to hug me or kick me in the b.a.l.l.s."

"Neither was I," she said, and they all laughed. "I'm kidding. It's good to see you."

"I hear it makes you unhappy that I'm staying here. Because of Ashley." He gave a little shrug of his shoulders. "I can find a couch to crash on at somebody else's place if you think this is too hard for her."

Since Aidan had overheard Lydia's feelings on the matter when she expressed them in no uncertain terms to Scotty the day before, he was surprised when she shook her head. "I might have overreacted. A little."

Danny's mouth quirked into a smile. "A little?"

"I was so focused on Ashley and being a good sister and making sure somebody stood up for her that, until I saw your face, I forgot we like you, too."

"A little?"

She grinned. "A little."

"Are you sure? Because I don't want to cause problems between you and your brother, or your old man."

"I'm sure. And I know Ashley wouldn't want you couch-surfing, either."

"How's she doing?"

Aidan watched Lydia struggle with an answer, even taking a sip of her orange juice before answering. "She's okay, I guess. Maybe you should call her."

"Yeah, maybe." He slapped his hand on the counter and forced a smile. "I'm running to the corner market for a few things before we head out. You guys need anything?"

Scotty walked in at that moment, a towel wrapped around his waist while he scrubbed at his hair with another. "What's going on?"

"I'm heading to the market. You need something?"

They were all good, and as soon as Danny was gone, Scotty gave his sister a look. "I didn't hear any yelling."

"It's all good," she said. "And I'm supposed to apologize for causing a scene yesterday."

"I guess I'm supposed to accept it, then."

Aidan shook his head at the strangeness of the Kincaid family dynamics and went into the living room s.p.a.ce. The apartment was too open concept to give them any real privacy to make their half-a.s.sed apologies, but he didn't need to stand at the island and watch. He knew it wouldn't take long. Scott and Lydia both had tempers with a low flash point, but they also burned out almost as quickly.

Sure enough, in less than two minutes, the siblings were laughing and Aidan exhaled a deep sigh of relief. The storm had pa.s.sed. This one, anyway.

"Why do you have a ceramic bear on your back deck with dead flowers in it?" Lydia was asking.

Aidan could see Scott shrug from where he sat on the couch. "It was a gift from a woman I dated a while back."

"Interesting gift."

"Black bear. Yellow flowers in it. It was supposed to be a Bruins thing."

"That's sweet," she said. "How come you broke up?"

"She just wasn't the one."

Aidan laughed. "She wasn't the one whose name he said in his sleep is what he means."

"Screw you," Scotty shot back. "I'm going to get dressed. Try not to spill all my secrets, Hunt."

"I'm heading out," Lydia told him. "But I'll talk to you later."

Scotty waved goodbye before disappearing into his room, and Aidan stood as Lydia walked toward him. "Feel better now?"

"Yeah, I do. I don't like fighting with my brother, believe it or not. And I love Ashley, but I can't kick Danny while he's down." She shrugged. "I guess I should mind the bar and my own business."

It was close enough to what Scott had said so he had to fight not to grin. "I don't think minding your family's business is a bad thing. I wouldn't mind mine interfering now and again."

"It's their loss," she said in a quiet voice rich with sincerity.

The affection she clearly had for him shone in her eyes and it kicked his heart rate up, even though he knew it only came from having known each other for so long. "Thanks."

"I should head out and let you guys get ready for your pedicures."

Aidan chuckled. "Not quite that glamorous. We're helping Rick Gullotti build a wheelchair ramp for his landlords."

"Hot day for it."

"Yeah, but we've all got the time off. Maybe I'll stop by the bar later for a beer. And to say hi."

He said it casually because, as far as he knew, they were friends and it seemed like something a friend could say without deeper meaning, but she c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at him. "Maybe I'll see you around, then, kid."

"Definitely," he said as she opened the gla.s.s slider and stepped out onto the deck.

And the first chance he got, he was going to get to the bottom of this kid thing.

Chapter Six.

AN HOUR BEFORE closing time, Lydia gave up on seeing Aidan walk through the door. It was late enough so if he hadn't stopped in by now, he probably wasn't going to.

She figured he wasn't doing the night s.h.i.+ft at the station or he wouldn't come in and have a beer beforehand. And if he had to be in at eight tomorrow morning, ten o'clock at night was a little late to head out for a drink.

It had probably just been a throwaway line anyway. Hey, maybe I'll stop in and say hi. She'd heard it many times before. Sometimes people popped in to say h.e.l.lo and sometimes they found better things to do.

Hoa.r.s.e laughter caught her attention and she looked to the back corner of the bar where her dad and his buddy Fitz were perched on stools, one on each side of the polished wood. Besides that pair, there were a couple of firefighters she didn't really know sitting at the bar, and three guys she pegged as not from around there sitting at one of the tables.

"Hey, Dad," she called. "Are you going to be here awhile longer?"

"Yeah, I got another half an hour or so in me."

He shouldn't, she thought. He should be home in bed already. "I'm going to go check the other room, then."

When her dad waved her away, Lydia grabbed an empty bus pan from under the bar, along with a rag and the spray bottle of cleaner. The more she did now, the closer she was to being able to go home once she'd locked the door. The kitchen closed at nine, so all she had to do was cash out the register, clean up the last few mugs and wash the floor.

The room wasn't too bad, most of their patrons knowing enough to bring their empties to the bar when they were done, but she found a couple of bottles on the floor next to the leg of the pool table. And there was a half-full bottle balanced precariously on top of the rack of pool cues. Shaking her head, she dropped it into the bus pan.

Movement at the door caught her eye, and she turned to watch Aidan walk through the door. Heat suffused her body and she moved away from the opening before he saw her. While she could see the door from the alcove, she couldn't see the bar. She imagined him going over and shaking her dad's hand, though. Maybe accepting a beer.

"Kinda late," she heard her father say. The place was quiet enough so his loud voice seemed to echo through the bar. "We'll be closing up soon."

"I was going by and figured I'd say hi for a few minutes. See if anybody was around."

"Lydia's in the pool table room. If they made a mess, that bus pan might be heavy. And she's gotta put the chairs up. Go give her a hand, would ya?"

Great. Thanks a lot, Dad.

Lydia grabbed the spray bottle and spritzed the nearest table before wiping it down. And when Aidan stepped into the alcove, she gave him a welcoming smile. He was wearing a Boston Fire T-s.h.i.+rt with a pair of faded jeans, and his hair looked freshly washed. She wanted to run her fingers through it and see if it felt as soft as it looked, but she curled them in the cleaning rag instead.

"Hey, kinda late to start the night, isn't it?" she asked.

He held up the open bottle of beer. "Told you I'd stop by. But it took forever to build that d.a.m.n ramp and then Gullotti's landlady insisted on making supper for us. After that, we went upstairs to his place because he needed a hand moving some furniture. Next thing you know the night's gone and we've all got to work tomorrow."

"But you still came here? Just because you said you might stop by."

"I wasn't going to but I took a shower and I wasn't tired and..." He set the bottle on one of the tables she hadn't wiped yet and alarm bells went off in her mind. "There's something I wanted to talk to you about."

He walked slowly toward her as he said it, his voice low. She could almost feel the energy crackling between them, and she tried desperately to remember this was Aidan Hunt. He was Scotty's best friend. He was a firefighter. He could be an annoying pain in the a.s.s. That was three strikes and he was out.

"What is it you want to talk about?" she asked, surprised her voice sounded as steady as it did.

"You keep calling me kid."

She tried to ignore the way he moved into her personal s.p.a.ce, but it wasn't easy. He smelled too good and she was eye level with that hollow at the base of his throat.

"I'm not a kid anymore," he continued when she didn't say anything.

Oh, she knew that. But calling him kid was her way of reminding herself he was her younger brother's best friend. Or attempting to, anyway. It didn't seem to be working.

"You're younger than I am," she said, with a new tone in her voice that bordered on husky.

Touching him would be a mistake. She pressed her hands to the wall behind her, the old brick coa.r.s.e under her palms.

When Aidan braced his hands against the wall, too-one on either side of her head-Lydia's breath caught in her chest. He was close enough so she could smell his shampoo and the slight tang of his aftershave. And he was close enough to kiss her.

She was not going to touch him.

"Not by enough years to even count," he said, "unless you're sc.r.a.ping the bottom of the barrel looking for reasons why I shouldn't kiss you."

"There are so many reasons you shouldn't kiss me, I don't need to sc.r.a.pe the bottom of the barrel."

With his hands still braced against the wall, he dipped his head low, so his mouth was close to her ear. "Trust me, I know. But it's all I think about so unless you tell me you don't want it, I'm going to kiss you anyway."

His breath was hot on her neck, making the soft wisps of her hair tickle her skin. Lydia knew she should tell him she didn't want him to kiss her, but she couldn't make herself say the words. "It would be a lie."

Aidan's cheek grazed hers and she sighed at the contact. His lips pressed lightly against the corner of her mouth and then she had a brief moment of staring into his pretty blue eyes before his mouth was on hers.

Her fingers curled against the wall, the brick rasping her nail tips like an emery board. Their breaths mingled and the desire that had been building in her since he walked into the bar her first night back solidified into a needy ache. He kissed her until she made a hungry sound deep in her throat, and then lifted his right hand from the wall to cup the side of her face.

"Why do I want you so much?" he whispered against her lips.

"It doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't." He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, looking into her eyes. "I don't care."

His mouth closed over hers again, more demanding this time. Giving up on her determination not to touch him, Lydia ran one hand up his chest and buried the other in his hair. It was as soft as it looked, and she moaned against his lips when he put his hands on her hips and pulled her hard up against him.

The sound of a breaking plate jerked her back to her senses. When he lifted his head, looking in the direction of the noise, she sidestepped so she was no longer between him and the wall. Saved by the jinx. "I should be out there. I need to go."

"Or you could stay here and kiss me some more."

She laughed, and it sounded a little more high-pitched than usual. "I'll feel bad if the poor schmuck doesn't kiss Bobby's picture and then gets. .h.i.t by a car or something."

Aidan nodded and picked up a chair, turning it upside down in his hands. "Go ahead, then. I'll put up the chairs and bring the bus pan back."

"Thanks."