Light up the Night (Firehouse Three #2)(30)

She took a deep breath before turning and walking over to her father. Sinking onto the chair arm, she wrapped both of her hands around one of her father’s.

“Daddy, all I want is for Drake to reach his full potential. You did the right thing by promoting Watson. Drake isn’t a chief like you, and he never will be. He’s supposed to work in the investment firm with his family. Trust me, it was for the best .”

“He could have been a good chief,” her father said, but the tone was weak. Belinda smiled. Daddy never could deny her when she was being reasonable.

“It’s better for him to join his family’s company.” She leaned over and picked up her father’s cell phone, pressing it into his hand. “So, why don’t you try one more time with Drake’s new boss? Just tell him he screwed up on the job, and it’s dangerous to have him out on a fire crew.”

But then, in a move that shocked the shit out of Belinda, her father shook his head.

“I can’t, baby. I’m sorry. He’s a good kid, and I can’t ruin his job for no reason.”

“Wh-what?”

Chief Pearce pushed himself out of the chair. Without turning, he fisted his hands at his sides and spoke to his daughter in a way that he never had before.

“He’s gone. And you’re going to have to realize that you can’t scheme your way into getting him back. I’m not going to ruin that kid’s future to give you what you want, baby. I’m sorry.”

And then he walked out of the room, leaving her stunned and staring after him.





10.

When Everly finished the phone call, she rolled the phone lines over to the voicemail. Technically, it should have been done already, but ever since they’d brought the last of the animals back from the festival that afternoon, she and Charlie had been kind of tied up.

Charlie looked up from the computer screen after finishing the note she’d been typing. Arching one blonde brow at Everly, she just waited.

Resisting the urge to shift her weight from one foot to the other, Everly stacked clipboards behind the fresh, white stack of adoption applications she’d printed for the festival tomorrow. Distraction. Change of subject. Anything would be better than continuing to hash out her actions—and reactions—to Mr. Hot Pants, as Charlie had dubbed him.

“So, Lila should be going home in a couple of days. That family really fell in love with her this afternoon. They’re going to bring their other dog over for a play date in a few days and then as long as that goes well, she’ll head home. You should have seen that little boy snuggling with her, it was really cute.”

“I’m sure. That was Hot Pants on your cell right then, wasn’t it?”

Shit. A clipboard fell from her hands and clattered to the floor. Everly narrowly avoided clipping her head against the corner of the counter as she bent to pick it up. “No. Yes. Damn it, Charlie.”

“Why did you tell him you were home?”

Everly shot her assistant a desperate glare. “You were on the phone. How do you know what I told him?”

Charlie sat back in the desk chair, crossing her arms over her chest as her braid fell back from her shoulder. “I heard you. I’m excellent at multitasking. It’s why you hired me.”

“Damn it,” Everly muttered. “Yes, I lied to him. But I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You need to relax about this,” Charlie said, a calming smile spreading across her pretty features. “Drake isn’t a bad guy, from what I saw of him. Why are you so keyed up?”

“Because this isn’t me!” Everly’s knuckles were white as she gripped the edge of the counter. She clenched her eyes shut and leaned forward, searching for an anchor point in the confusing sea of emotion around her. “I’m not the kind of girl that goes out and just sleeps with anybody. I don’t know what he thinks about me, and I don’t know what I think about me.”

“Okay, stop right there.” Charlie launched herself out of the desk chair and grabbed Everly’s hands, forcing her upright. With an icy blue stare, Charlie skewered Everly. “What did you do wrong? List out every single mistake that you made with him.”

Stunned, Everly sputtered. “Um, er, I guess…”

“Nothing. You did nothing wrong. You are young, single, and hot, and you found a guy you like and you slept with him. You used a condom, right?”

Everly nodded numbly.

“He wanted it, right? He made sure you wanted it too, right?”

Nodding again, Everly swayed a little.

“Everly, cut yourself some slack. From everything you’ve told me, you’re into this guy, and he’s into you. What’s stopping you from seeing him again?”

Biting her lip, Everly glanced away. As much as she hated to admit it, Charlie was right. She’d climbed all up into her own head about this, and what should have been a simple case of mutual attraction had turned into a big, ugly, snarled mass of complicated. So what if she’d slept with him on the first date?

“Nothing’s stopping me,” Everly whispered.

“So here,” Charlie said, passing the phone over to her. “Give him a call. Tell him you’re feeling better and you’d love to grab some dinner.”

Fingers curling around the cell phone, Everly smiled at her assistant. “Charlie, thank you.”