Fire: A Quinn Brothers Story Read online

  Fire

  A Quinn Brothers Story

  by

  CASEY CLIPPER

  The Right of Casey Clipper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her.

  ~

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights.

  ~

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictionally, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  ~

  First Published 2014

  Copyright © Casey Clipper 2014

  ~

  Published by

  Independent Publisher

  www.CaseyClipper.com

  Cover by Joanna Chlasta

  1

  Liam looked out over the packed party. Hundreds of guests, dressed in their Halloween finest—some barely clothed. His single buddies from the firehouse were in bunny heaven. The married were out for a good time with their wives.

  Heavy music beat through the floor, drinks were flowing, and dark corners were filling with debauchery. All the norm for the city firefighters’ annual Halloween party. Liam remained disinterested, leaning casually against the bar with two of his friends, who were in deep convo with two busty blondes.

  Twins. Yeah, his pals were all over those two.

  Sighing, Liam scanned the room for his brother, Aaron. He’d been the only one of his four brothers that took up on the invite to the party, because he was actually in town to attend. Usually Aaron was off piloting a private aircraft to some exotic location for high-profile athletes, Hollywood stars, or corporate bigwigs. His other three brothers were no longer impressed with the yearly gathering.

  “Looking for me?” Aaron sauntered up to him, a young brunette tucked under each arm.

  Liam snorted. “What’s up?”

  “Me, shortly. Meet Bridget and Brenda. Ladies, this is my older brother Liam. Liam, say ‘hello, ladies,’” Aaron said smoothly.

  “Hello Liam,” both girls said in unison, waving.

  “Interested in joining us?” Aaron raised an eyebrow.

  He shook his head. “No thanks. Have fun.”

  “Ladies, can you give us a minute?” He swatted their barely-covered behinds and shooed them away. Their sexy firewomen costumes fit into a sea of red and orange cleavage and bras. They scooted off, giggling. Aaron turned on him. “You can’t still pine after her. It’s been a year.”

  Easy for his brother to say. Each of his four brothers relentlessly hounded him that he needed to move on. But he couldn’t. It was difficulty to get past the fact he’d fucked up and lost the love of his life. The woman he’d been in love with since they were seniors in high school. The one woman who knew every personal life detail, more so than his own brothers. The woman who’d supported and stood by his side through all his crazy shenanigans. Until the day he stepped over the line.

  Liam glared at his brother, the A-typical playboy. “Mind your own business.”

  “I’m just concerned, that’s all.” Aaron held up his hands. “We don’t like seeing you like this.”

  “We?” he asked. “You four talking about me?”

  Aaron shrugged negligently. “You come up in conversations, along with Brayden.”

  “Just be concerned over Bray, not me. I’ll be fine,” he snapped.

  That was a bold-faced lie, and he knew that his brother knew it. He wasn’t fine. Not even close. When he wasn’t working at the firehouse, he was at the gym punishing his body or in his apartment sulking. Except for poker night with his brothers, when he forced his fine-and-dandy face on.

  Aaron narrowed his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that, Liam, but we know better. If you want to stand here and do the oh-woe-is-me thing, suit yourself. But sooner or later, we’re going to beat the shit out of you to pull you out of your misery.”

  As if. He was by far the largest of the brothers. Though they all had similar physiques, his job required him to bulk and stay strong. His brothers hit the gym for purely aesthetic reasons.

  “Don’t you have twins to tackle?” he growled.

  Aaron’s light blue eyes lit with excitement. “Yes, I do. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  All five of them were getting together for a day of male bonding over football, since Aaron was in town and Liam had the day off. Those occasions were rare. Even poker night usually consisted of only four of them.

  Aaron turned and sauntered off, the two girls bolting out of their hidden corner to wrap their arms around him. Liam watched his brother leave with both girls in tow. He sighed, part of him wishing he was capable of going the hound-dog route like Aaron. But he just didn't have it in him. Not when he'd known true love and had had something meaningful and soulful.

  “Liam?” the soft, familiar voice shook him to his core. He went rigid and closed his eyes. He had to be hallucinating.

  2

  Liam spun to find his Candace looking up at him with her large chocolate-brown eyes.

  She hadn't changed in the year since she broke his heart. Same long wavy dark brown hair, sun-kissed skin no matter the time of year, same tiny hourglass figure.

  "Candy," he said, internally rolling his eyes at the breathy sound.

  A once-over of her outfit about did him in. She was dressed for the occasion, but unlike the other bunnies, Candace didn't feel the need to show of her terrific assets. That police officer's costume hugged her curves like a second skin and didn't leave much to the imagination. If they'd been together, he'd have never allowed her to leave the house in that getup. A potato sacked worked just fine for a get-up, right?

  "I thought I saw Aaron." She smiled, revealing that radiant grin she'd spent years in braces to get.

  "He just left." Really, he didn't know what to say to her as he shuffled from foot to foot.

  She laughed. "I bet. I saw the two girls on each arm." She glanced around, nervously biting her bottom lip.

  Liam took a swig of his beer. "How are you?"

  His eyes scanned the room, looking for the guy who’d brought her. There might be a possibility he'd actually get tossed out of the party for beating the hell out of someone. A first.

  "Okay," she answered.

  He looked back at her, knowing that unsure tone. "You sure?"

  "How are you?" she deflected. "You look bigger."

  He snorted. "Yeah, I spend a lot more time in the gym."

  "How's the firehouse?" She moved in closer as the music increased in volume. Her natural floral fragrance wafted up to him, drawing him into her.

  "Good. Guys are good. The usual." He reached out and brushed a hair that kept swinging in front of her eyes out of the way.

  "That's good." She gave a small wave. "I'm going to go. It was good seeing you. Tell your brothers I said hello."

  Before he could stop her, she quickly spun and rushed away, taking his heart with her. Again. Damn it.

  ***

  For the rest of the night, Liam's focus never left Candace. Oh, she might have walked away from him, those delicious hips swaying as she retreated, but she hadn't left the party. And she wasn't hiding her peeks his direction. That hadn't changed either. She was never good at sneakiness. The minx.

  As far as he could tell, she was with some girlfriends, ones he didn't recognize. No man in sight. Well, except for the many that approached and she turned down. Talk about a testing a man's self-control.

  Eventually she ended up alone as her friends made
off with their choices of companions for the evening. She kept glancing around, uncomfortable with being alone. She always had been. When she started to make her way to the door, he chased. Liam refused to allow her to walk to her car at this time of night without an escort. What the hell was she thinking?

  He caught up with her at the door. "Candy."

  She turned reflexively.

  "Are you leaving?"

  "Yeah, my friends found company." She laughed, obviously jittery.

  "Let me walk you to your car," he insisted.

  She nodded. "All right."

  At least she didn't fight him on that. Probably because her former military father would have had her head if he found out she was walking the city streets at night by herself.

  "Where are you parked?"

  She pointed down the street. "Pretty far."

  "Candace," he scolded.

  "I know, but there wasn't anywhere to park."

  "You drove yourself? You've been drinking." He stopped and grabbed her elbow. "You've had at least three beers and two shots. You can't drive."

  Her pink-painted fingernail pointed directly at him. "Don't you lecture me, Liam Quinn. You, of all people, have no business telling me what I can or cannot do."

  He grabbed her around the waist and hauled her into his body. Her hands went to his chest to brace herself. The sensation of her touch, even through his tight black tee, an ache he craved since the day she left. Her hourglass shape fit perfectly in his large palms. How much did he miss holding her like this? His towering size engulfing her small stature, making him feel fifteen feet tall when she cozied into his body.

  "Don't do this, Candy," he said softly. "You know better."

  "No, Liam, don't you do this. You don't get to lecture me on responsibility," she spat. She pushed out of his firm grasp, turned, and stormed away.

  "I've changed, Candace," he yelled after her.

  Didn't stop her progression.

  "I don't take unnecessary risks anymore," he called out.

  She ignored him.

  "I almost died nine months ago in a fire."

  3

  Yeah, that got her attention.

  Candace stopped and slowly turned. "What?"

  Shoving his hands into his jeans pockets, he remembered the call vividly. It'd been routine. He'd quit taking the moronic risks that'd put him on probation and caused Candace to leave him three months earlier. Well, for the most part. His fellow firefighters had finally come around and were all right going on calls with him.

  The team had been on the second floor of the warehouse. All seemed secure. Then the floor suddenly gave way beneath him and three of the other guys. He'd been the most seriously injured, with punctured lungs, a broken femur, a ruptured spleen, and smoke inhalation. His equipment had broken, dislodged during the long drop. For over a week, he'd been unconscious while his four brothers and father sat vigil by his bedside, all worried they'd lose the next to oldest sibling.

  When he woke, he wholeheartedly understood why Candace had walked out on him. He'd been reckless with his own life. He didn't take into consideration his family and how it would effect them if something dreadful happened. He'd been selfish, an adrenaline junky who thought he was invincible.

  "A group of four of us had a floor collapse on us," he answered. "It'd been touch and go there while they fixed me up."

  She took a step closer. "No one called me. Why wouldn't they call me?"

  "They weren't sure if they should, and when I woke I told them not to."

  He had to look away. He remembered their breakup all too well. Like it happened yesterday. Candace screaming that he'd end up dead at an early age and leave her alone to pick up the pieces. Him screaming back that she wasn't supportive of him or his career, and how she never had been. Which was entirely untrue.

  The look of hurt on her beautiful features. The tears that stained her cheeks as she tossed her clothes into a suitcase. Him calling her bluff and telling her to get out and never come back. Then reality a week later, that she was never returning. The woman he'd loved for years left him because he'd pushed her loyalty and love too far. He could still feel the punch in the gut with that horrible battle and her departure.

  "Why would you do that, Liam?" she asked, approaching him. Her gaze raked him over, as if to make certain he was all right. He'd always loved the way her beautiful dark eyes drank him in. Didn't matter whether it was with concern, desire, humor, or adoration. Those kitten eyes made him melt.

  He shrugged. "I didn't want to upset you."

  She stared at him. "Liam, if you would have...if something...and I never..."

  He waited for her to finish, but she didn't.

  "Let me walk you to your car, Candace," he said, hoping she calmed enough and allow him.

  She nodded. "All right."

  They walked side-by-side down the few blocks to her car. The same Ford Fusion she'd had when they'd been together.

  "How are you?" he asked. "I heard you were engaged."

  Talk about breaking a man. It was a month after he'd been discharged from the hospital, and his brother Shane broke the ball-busting news. He'd then gone into a week-long drunken rampage.

  Her brows knitted together. "How did you hear that?"

  "Doesn't matter." His body grew tight. He noticed she wasn't wearing an engagement or wedding ring.

  She snorted. "Shane, right?" She shook her head. "How does that man, who's stuck up in a sky-rise office all day, hear so much damn gossip from the little people?"

  Liam tossed his head back and let out a boisterous laugh. Because it was true. Amazing that she knew him and his brothers so well. But then again, she'd been around for ages. How many family pictures included Candace front and center with all the boys? Hell, she'd taken Brayden to his senior prom because he never asked a girl, and their mother insisted on her youngest son attending.

  His brother had come home that night and professed his platonic love for Candace. She'd been the perfect non-dramatic date, not expecting post-prom sexual activities for Bray, which was the only reason his brother agreed to attend.

  "I'm not engaged. Never was, Liam," she said softly. "He asked, but I couldn't say yes."

  She pulled her keys out of her purse and hit the fob button.

  "Why couldn't you say yes?" Please let it be the answer he wanted. His stomach did a little uncomfortable jump as that nasty little thing called hope popped its head out of hibernation.

  Ignoring his question, she opened the car door. He didn't want their time to end. Not like this. It felt like a hint of when things were perfect in his life. When she was a part of his world day and night. When his world revolved around her.

  Clueless as to how to keep her there in conversation, he decided it was best not to stick his foot into his mouth. No pressure there. Maybe he could drop by her place tomorrow? A surprise visit to check and make sure she'd gotten home safely. Yeah, that'd work.

  She climbed into the car, started the engine, and secured her seatbelt. She looked up at him, those eyes filled with sorrow. "Because he wasn't you."

  4

  Liam braced himself on the car before he did something stupid like haul her out, lay her on the hood, and reclaim her. Candace never was a fan of the whole Neanderthal thing.

  "We need to talk," he insisted.

  She shook her head. "I can't go back, Liam. I can't be the outsider to your reckless world. I can't be the one who lies awake at night, hoping you haven't taken some stupid risk with your life." She whispered, "I love you too much for the kind of heartbreak that will occur when you get yourself killed."

  A year ago, she was right to dread each day he left for his shift. But she wouldn't have to worry any longer. He'd grown up, faced with his own mortality. An intervention from his brothers and father, as well as the fire chief and assistant chief, hit him upside the head. Nothing like worrying his aging father and his four brothers to make a man look at himself in the mirror to recognize what he'd become. I
t’d been his next to youngest brother, Justin, who’d tossed in his face the exact reason why Candace walked out on him. A reality check that made him swallow his arrogant pride.

  “Candy,” he said, kneeling down beside her, “I promise you I’ve changed. Let’s talk, and I’ll explain it all to you and where I’m at. Please.”

  She sighed, closing her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have come tonight.”

  “But you did. Why?”

  She snorted and looked at him. “Why do you think?”

  He grinned. “Was it to see me?”

  “I’m an idiot.”

  “No, you’re my girl. Always have been.”

  “I hate you for that,” she growled.

  His eyebrows slid together. “For what?”

  “For owning my heart.”

  He had her. Now to just convince her to come back to him. “You know you own mine, right?”

  Her chocolate eyes grew warm. To be the one on the receiving end of that look made his chest swell with pride. God, he needed her back.

  “Talk to me,” he whispered.

  “All right,” she relented with a heavy, defeated sigh.

  Jumping up, he kissed her hard on the forehead, then motioned her to move over. She scrambled to move to the passenger's seat without argument. Smart girl. Before she changed her mind, he threw the car into drive and took off towards his apartment. Candace could and would backtrack on a decision, claiming it was a woman’s prerogative.

  “We'll go to my place on Mount Washington,” he said.

  “You moved?” she asked, sounding surprised.

  “I couldn’t live in that apartment without you. It was no longer a home for me without you there.”

  He felt her eyes steady on him, like she was thoroughly studying him. It made him squirm in his seat.

  “Why couldn’t you have been like this when we were together?”

  “Because I was stupid.”