Todd Read online

  “Oh really?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “How’s Viv doing?”

  “Fuck off,” Kyle snapped while Daniel laughed. “Both of you.”

  “What did Sarra want?” Daniel asked, walking over to lean against my desk.

  “She asked me to come by the school tomorrow and give a fire safety talk to her class.” I blew out a sigh. “I talked to her this morning at the coffee shop and let her know what we suspect about the fires.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Kyle said. “She’s super involved with the community. Maybe she’ll hear something we wouldn’t. And it’s been a while since any of us have talked with the elementary kids. When David gets back, we’ll see if we can all work something out for the upcoming weeks. Summer’s coming and it would be good for us to remind kids to be safe around here.”

  Summer was the worst in Montgomery Valley. Everyone wanted to hike and at least once a week our cousin David, the town ranger, had to rescue some kid from the river or find someone who wandered too far off the paths. And more often than not, Daniel ended up giving them a ride to the hospital for dehydration or exposure.

  We had a pretty idyllic town, but there were dangers that people, especially locals, forgot about once the weather turned warm. Everyone wanted to be outside, and unfortunately no one seemed to be very good at it.

  “I’m gonna be in early tomorrow to wash the truck,” I told the guys as I gathered up my stuff. “So, I’m going home.”

  “Did you tell Sarra you were gonna do that?” Kyle asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, why?” I asked.

  “Twenty bucks says there is a group of women on the patio across the street at the diner tomorrow morning for a lady’s breakfast,” Kyle said with a smirk.

  “One hundred bucks says if you come wash the squad car, Viv will be there,” I countered.

  “Thousand says if we can get doofus over there,” Kyle motioned to Daniel with his thumb. “To wash the ambulance, Abby will be there, too.”

  “Piss off, both of you,” Daniel groused, flipping us off before storming outside.

  “Guess I’m not the only one avoiding hot women,” I said, knocking Kyle with my shoulder as I followed Daniel out.

  ****

  “Was that your work this morning?” I murmured to Sarra.

  We were standing in the school parking lot, watching the munchkins get fingerprints all over my nice clean truck while they played and we supervised.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she answered.

  “Uh-huh.” I turned and smiled at her. “Mrs. Dale sent us a fruit basket to thank her for the biggest breakfast crowd she’s had in three months.”

  “What happened three months ago?” Sarra asked innocently.

  “It’s the last time we washed our trucks,” I answered.

  “Oh. Strange coincidence.” She smiled sweetly at me.

  “So…is there like a phone tree or—”

  “Moses!” Sarra yelled, stepping toward the truck. “What did the chief say about the ladder?”

  “Stay off it,” the kid called back.

  “Are you off of it?” Sarra asked.

  “No,” the kid admitted before scuttling back down.

  “How do you deal with these monsters every day?” I asked her.

  “I love them. Which you know. And they aren’t monsters.” She rolled her eyes. “Thank you for coming today.”

  “Of course. The guys are going to get with the principal about setting up a regular thing for all the kids,” I promised. “We should have been doing this all along.”

  Sarra nodded, her eyes back on her class as they pushed buttons and pulled levers.

  I’d disabled anything that could have been an issue, so they weren’t going to hurt anything, but she stayed vigilant anyway.

  I watched her watch them and felt my heart clench. Usually, I was fine with the way things were. But sometimes, like now, I saw the kind of mom she could be. The kind of mom she should be. And I knew it was my fault she was alone.

  My fault we were both alone.

  My phone chirped and I looked down to see a text message from my cousin Sascha, who manages Montgomery Vineyard.

  Sascha: We had a table open up tonight at seven. You want it?

  Damn. I forgot I’d asked Sascha to get me in to the vineyard restaurant next time she had a spot. It was May, which meant their chef special was lamb and it was the only month they served it.

  Me: Yes. I’ll be bringing Sarra.

  Then she sent me an eggplant emoji.

  Sascha and I were the same age so we’d always been closer than any of the other Montgomery cousins. Which she thought meant she had the right to push me. Especially where Sarra was concerned.

  I put my phone away and steeled my nerve to ask Sarra out. I didn’t like to lead her on but felt like an ass every time I added the words “as friends” to the end of any invitation.

  “Okay guys!” Sarra called out to her kids. “We’ve used enough of Chief Montgomery’s time. Let’s get back to class.”

  The kids scrambled down and lined up, waiting to be lead back into the school.

  “Hey,” I whispered, pulling Sarra aside. “Sascha has a table tonight. You want to go?”

  “Lamb?” Sarra asked, her eyes lighting up.

  I nodded and she beamed at me.

  “I’ll pick you up at six,” I told her.

  I waved to the kids and climbed up in the truck, turning the ignition and the siren on as I pulled out of the parking lot. I could see the kids jumping up and down and waving in my side mirror until I killed the siren again and turned the corner.

  Honestly, I was in no hurry to get back to the station. By now, Sascha had alerted half of my family to the fact that I was having dinner with Sarra and I had no interest in listening to any of them tease me about it.

  I dropped the truck in the lot and took my own truck home, not bothering to go inside the office. I had my phone if anything urgent came up and I just couldn’t face those assholes right now.

  Chapter Four

  ~ Sarra ~

  “This is so good,” I told Todd around a mouthful of asparagus.

  “I know,” he agreed, spearing a piece of meat and admiring it before popping it in his mouth. “Thanks for coming with me.”

  “Sure,” I said. “I never turn down lamb at the vineyard.”

  I’d actually been kind of relieved when he’d invited and me and didn’t add his usual, ‘you know, just friends’ to the end of it. I was well aware this wasn’t a date. I was well aware nothing we did together was ever a date. He didn’t need to point it out to me every time.

  “So,” Todd said, setting his fork down and looking over at me. “Did the kids have fun today?”

  “They really did,” I assured him, unable to keep from smiling. “All they could talk about was fireman Todd.” I didn’t add that half the teachers were talking about him, too.

  When he’d shown up at the school in a tank top and his fire pants…I had no idea what they were actually called, it’s just what we called them behind his back. Anyway, he looked like one of those guys from a fireman calendar and the women on staff just lost their damn minds.

  I was not immune and own my own heart may have been in my throat a couple times. Especially when he’d picked up one little girl to put her on the truck and all the muscles in his back flexed…

  “Sarra,” he said, pretty loudly which made me think it wasn’t the first time he’d tried to get my attention.

  “Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “Zoned out for a minute.”

  “What were you thinking about?” he asked, his tone flirty.

  “David,” I said with a shrug before popping another bite into my mouth.

  “You’re a brat.” He pouted for a minute then resumed eating.

  “Any word on…what we talked about yesterday?” I asked him, lowering my voice and leaning forward a little.

  “No.” He sat back and pushed his pl
ate away. “It’s frustrating. Like I said, we just suspect arson at this point. We have no hard evidence. But Kyle and I can both feel in our guts that we’re not wrong. So, we just sit and wait for the next one to pop up, hoping whoever it is at least leaves a clue.”

  “That’s got to be awful,” I said sympathetically.

  He nodded in agreement but said nothing as his cousin Sascha walked up to the table.

  “Hey guys,” Sascha said brightly, leaning down to hug me. “How was everything?”

  “Perfect, as always,” I assured her. “Thanks for getting us a table.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said, beaming. “It’s not an easy feat, but anything for my favorite cousin.”

  “I’m telling Kyle you said that,” Todd teased her.

  “He knows,” she and I said together, then we both laughed.

  “How about some dessert?” Sascha asked us. “I set aside some lavender-lemon cheesecake for you.”

  Before I could answer, phones across the restaurant started beeping and chirping. Todd looked down at his cell and jumped to his feet.

  “Sarra, take my truck home. There’s a fire at the ranch. I’ve got to go.” Todd dropped his keys on the table, kissed the top of my head, and ran out with half the men in the restaurant.

  “He’ll be okay,” Sascha said, taking my hand and sitting down across from me.

  “I know,” I agreed, nodding through my tears. “This is why he won’t be with me. Every time he gets a call, I’m just reminded that he’s never going to choose me.”

  “He loves you.”

  “I know. But it’s not enough. It’s never enough.” I shrugged and blew out a sigh. “I’d better take care of the check and head home.”

  She waved me away. “Don’t be ridiculous. Family doesn’t pay here.”

  We hugged goodbye and I drove Todd’s truck back to my house alone. Not how I’d envisioned the evening going. Though, it had ended the way I expected.

  Me alone in bed.

  ****

  I woke up in the middle of the night and jumped. Todd was sitting in a chair in my room, in the dark, staring at me.

  “What the hell!” I shrieked, sitting up and turning on the bedside light.

  He was a mess. His clothes were torn, he was covered in soot, and he looked as if he’d been crying.

  I climbed out of bed and fell to the floor next to him, pulling him into my arms and holding him tightly.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know I shouldn’t be here. I just…”

  “Shh,” I insisted. “You can always come to me. Do you want to talk about it?”

  He shook his head. His hands gripped mine and he pulled me into his lap, wrapping me in his arms with his head buried in my chest. We sat like that for a while, until he finally stopped shaking.

  “Can I use your shower?” he asked.

  “Of course,” I said, getting to my feet so he could stand. “Towels are under the sink. I’ll see if I have some sweats or something that might fit you.”

  I turned to walk away but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back to him. His finger traced my jaw and he stared down into my eyes. There was so much pain in his gaze that it broke my heart. I wanted to ask him what had happened, but I could see that it was still too raw, that he wouldn’t be ready to talk.

  He leaned forward and brushed a kiss across my lips, then released me and walked toward the bathroom.

  I let out a shaky sigh as I headed downstairs to see if there was anything in the donation bin I kept for the church in my garage. Families donated stuff to the school all the time and I had offered to gather, wash and drop it off once a month.

  Fortunately, I was able to locate a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that looked like they would fit him, and I knocked on the bathroom door, intending to set them on the counter for him.

  “Come in,” he called.

  I opened the door and steam billowed out of the small room into my face.

  “I’m just gonna leave this here,” I told him, setting down the clothes and turning to leave again.

  He pulled the shower curtain open and stuck his head out. His eyes were red rimmed again and he nodded.

  “Todd,” I said, my voice catching on a sob. I stepped toward him and cupped his face in my hand, searching his gaze.

  One minute we were staring at each other, and the next I was soaked, in his arms, fully dressed in the shower with him.

  His mouth crashed over mine and he pinned me against the wall, his hands roaming up my body, tugging at my shirt before he finally pulled away to yank it off and throw it over the curtain rod.

  I kicked my pants off, letting them pool on the floor at our feet and he lifted me, pressing my back against the wall, his hips between my legs as I wrapped them around his waist.

  My fingers dug into his shoulders as he ravaged my mouth. Small moans and gasps coming from each of us the few times we broke for air. Then he shifted, his manhood sliding inside of me in one sharp, smooth, slightly painful movement.

  Todd held me tight as he moved, his hips quickly losing rhythm until he cried out, his erection jerking, heat even hotter than the water filling me as he came.

  His head fell to my shoulder as he eased my feet back to the floor. He took a couple heavy breaths, then turned off the faucet and flung the curtain open. He stepped out, then reached in for me and scooped me into his arms. Flinging the bathroom door open, he carried me back to my bedroom, laying me on the mattress before climbing over me. We were both soaked, but it didn’t matter.

  We didn’t speak. I didn’t think we needed to. I’d been saving myself for him anyway. I was his however he wanted to take me.

  His movements were slower now, more controlled. He kissed hot, wet trails down my throat, over my breasts, back up to my lips. His hips were between my thighs again, and I spread them wider, silently encouraging him to take me again.

  And he did. Several more times that night, until we fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  Chapter Five

  ~ Todd ~

  I woke up and for a moment couldn’t figure out where I was. Then Sarra shifted in my arms, and I remembered everything.

  Oh God. She was never going to forgive me for this.

  “Good morning,” she whispered.

  “Morning,” I said, trying to smile, but failing miserably.

  “I’m going to go make coffee,” she said, sliding out of bed and pulling the sheet around her body. “I left those clothes in the bathroom for you.”

  She walked into her closet and came back out with a robe tied firmly around her waist. I waited until I heard her walk downstairs, then went in search of those clothes she’d promised.

  When I met her in the kitchen, she’d already poured me a cup of coffee and left it sitting in my usual spot at her table.

  “Do you want some eggs?” she asked when I sat down.

  “No. Thank you.” I shook my head and stared into my mug, trying to figure out what I was going to say to her.

  “Are you ready to talk about it?” she asked, sitting across from me.

  “Talk about what?” I asked, too chicken to look up at her.

  “About what happened last night.” When I didn’t answer her, she clarified. “The fire.”

  “Oh,” I said, letting out a soft huff. “The ranch lost one of their small barns and two horses. The rest were able to escape but the two mares in the back couldn’t get out.”

  I didn’t go into too much detail. As it was, remembering it turned my stomach. The whole place smelled like burning meat. I might have to turn vegetarian after that nightmare. It was brutal.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said, reaching across the table to put her hand over mine. “Was anyone hurt?”

  “No, fortunately all the people are fine,” I assured her. I finally looked up at her and my heart ached. She was so beautiful. So kind. All of her concern was clearly for me. After what I’d done to her last night, that was not the look I’d expected to see on
her face.

  “Does it look like arson?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I answered. “We could smell gasoline at the site. Bobby assured me they don’t keep fuel in the barns.”

  “That’s terrifying,” she said, shuddering visibly.

  “Yeah, I need to get home and change and get into the office. Kyle and I need to run some stuff and see if we can find any kind of lead.” I bit my lip and looked at her. “Listen, Sarra. About last night—”

  “Don’t. You. Dare.” She glared at me, her anger very clear.

  “What?” I asked.

  “If you apologize for last night, then our friendship is over, Todd Montgomery.” She stood up and took her mug to the sink, gripping the counter and staring out the window. “I know exactly what last night was. I’m a big girl. I knew what I was doing. And I don’t regret it. I won’t regret it.” She turned and looked at me, her gaze softer. “I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I don’t love you. And you can’t lie to me either. But I understand that last night was about comfort. About solace. I am your friend, Todd. Your best friend.”

  She walked over to me and cupped my cheek in her hand, then leaned down and kissed my forehead.

  “Go catch bad guys with your brother,” she said, slapping her palm against my face. “I’m fine. We are fine.”

  “I don’t deserve you,” I told her, letting my emotion out in my tone.

  “I know,” she said, smiling sadly. “But you’re stuck with me.”

  ****

  After stopping briefly at home to shower again and change, I went straight to the office, where the whole team was in full investigative mode.

  Kyle had pulled a big ass whiteboard from the storage room, and was taping up pictures and maps, while Daniel and David were pouring over reports at the conference table.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Kyle asked when he noticed me standing at my desk.

  “I’m here,” I said, rolling my eyes. “What do you have?”

  They walked me through all of the nothing they’d been able to put together and by the end of their report I had a headache blooming behind my left eye.