Into the Fire (Bridge Book 2) Read online

  “Well, we’re kind of in the middle of getting ready.” I studied the ornate carpet floor of the hallway to avoid his stare. Why did I have to sleep with him hours before the wedding?

  “You’re stunning.”

  “Thanks,” I said, so quietly I barely heard it.

  “Vanessa, please. Just give me a couple minutes.”

  He slid his hand into mine, and I let him guide me through the doorway into the hall where we were alone. I closed the door behind me and chanced a look at the man who’d blown my mind and wrecked my night. He was cleanly shaven, tanned from the island sun, but he didn’t look at ease. His jaw was firm and his lips were tight. He looked a little bit like how I felt. All made up, but restless and unsettled under it all.

  I chewed the inside of my lip a second before speaking. “What did you want to talk about?”

  “Why you left me last night…”

  My heart twisted at his words, at the hint that maybe he cared. But I played it off like I didn’t. “I was tired. I didn’t figure you needed me hanging around.” That was at least half-true.

  He shook his head, seeming no lighter. “I’m sorry.”

  “Why?”

  “I was an ass last night, and you know it. Stop pretending that you don’t care, Vanessa.”

  I searched his eyes, wanting to believe him. The truth was I didn’t want to care. I really didn’t. But maybe this was the time to own up to it.

  “Darren… This is my fault. I knew what I was getting into with you, and I let myself get too emotional about it.”

  He hesitated long enough for me to regret the admission. I should have stuck with my not-caring facade. I’d already let him into my body. Why bring him into my heart and show him without a doubt why I wasn’t the kind of girl he could want for more than a night?

  He threaded his fingers more tightly with mine, and hope fluttered in my chest.

  “I freaked out. Okay? I care about you, and I’m not used to caring about the women I’m with. That reality hit me at an odd moment, and I didn’t handle it well. I wanted you to stay, truly. I was…”

  He winced.

  “What?” I whispered. My heart was thrumming back to life, hope and unexpected feelings for Darren riding over the disappointment I’d left with last night.

  This time he looked away. “I was hurt…seeing the bed empty, when all I wanted was to come back to you. But more than that I was pissed at myself because I knew I deserved it.” He lifted my hand and pressed a soft kiss to the back. “Believe it or not, I don’t want to be a cold-hearted bastard.”

  “It’s fine,” I lied.

  “No, it’s not. Last night was exceptional. I’ve never wanted someone so goddamn bad and then…” He hesitated. “Maybe it wasn’t the same for you.”

  I shook my head. “It’s never been like that for me. I was telling you the truth.”

  “Give me another chance, Vanessa. I’m asking, but you have to know me well enough by now to know that I’m tenacious as a motherfucker. I am not letting you slip away this easy, and I’m not giving up on whatever this is between us.”

  “What can there possibly be between us?”

  “Whatever we want.”

  “You can’t possibly want—” I couldn’t finish my own sentence. The words died in my throat.

  “Believe me, I want.”

  Then he melded his lips over mine, silencing my doubts and filling the space between us with all the fiery tension that had plagued me for days. He pulled away abruptly, leaving me panting and overwhelmed.

  “I want it all,” he said.

  I caught my breath, and the seriousness in his eyes leveled me.

  “I’ll see you tonight.”

  And with that, he disappeared down the hall.

  DARREN

  The ceremony went off without a hitch. Watching Maya and Cameron say their vows against the sunset was nothing less than postcard quality. I’d never been a hearts and flowers guy, but even I couldn’t deny the beauty of the moment.

  The guests all meandered into the reception hall. I caught up with some of our extended family, cousins, and friends I hadn’t seen in ages. A jittery kind of energy pulsed through me. Maybe it was watching my brother profess a lifelong commitment to the love of his life. Maybe it was the hope I saw in Vanessa’s eyes hours before, hope that I’d dashed by being a heartless piece of shit last night. I still didn’t know what it all meant. The foreign feelings this woman inspired inside of me.

  She wasn’t desperate. Not remotely. I’d had to gracefully work my way away from some stage five clingers more than once, but she wasn’t like that. It was almost like she didn’t want to want me the way she did. I’d gotten her to let go of that for a few precious moments last night, when I was inside her, taking her, making her feel things she could no longer deny. The physical connection had blown me away, making it easy for me to believe her when she’d admitted it had been the same for her. We had chemistry. That was undeniable now.

  My thoughts spun around Vanessa, around the past few days. Then my life, somehow easier to see from the outside in a place like this. An oasis from reality.

  The setting sun basked the sand and sky in a pink glow. Cam and Maya were moving with ease on the dance floor, seemingly lost in each other. Maya was beaming, and hell if Cameron hadn’t been smiles all damn day. As usual, he couldn’t keep his hands off her, and why would he today, of all days?

  I’d never known a guy to fall so hard and stay wrapped up in the same girl for so long. Through war, through two botched proposals, through a score of demons that Maya tried to put between them. His love for her had always been so foreign to me, but I’d admired it. Something equally foreign was the envy I now felt. Envy and a growing sense of having fallen short.

  Not that it mattered what anyone else thought, but I could read it on people’s faces around us. Wasn’t I supposed to be the one taking the plunge first? I was the oldest, but Cameron had beaten me to it.

  Putting someone else first and trusting implicitly that she’d do the same for you… That wasn’t how we’d been raised. Was I even capable of it?

  I couldn’t even keep a woman in my bed after making love to her, if I could even call it that.

  Maybe at first. I’d felt a connection with Vanessa when we joined that took my fucking breath away. Like our two bodies were made to accept each other, to bring each other to heights that no one else could come close to. Then, somewhere along the way, my mind went into autopilot and whatever spark of magic there’d been between us had been reduced to fucking. I’d fucked Vanessa, ultimately, the same way I’d fucked so many others. Like it meant nothing.

  But she meant something.

  I’d spent most of the morning by myself, lost in these thoughts, trying to sort things out in my head enough to figure out what the hell I was going to say at the reception. Me, of all people, ruminating on love.

  Time was up.

  I brought my knife up to my glass and dinged. I cleared my throat and glanced at the battered piece of paper on the table in front of me for a moment. When I rose to speak, the room grew silent.

  “I’m not sure what Cameron was thinking when he picked me to be his best man. I think the love gods are looking down on us right now having a good laugh, wondering what this bachelor could possibly say to honor the sanctity of marriage.”

  Laughter rose up from the tables.

  “I’ll try my best though, because these two deserve it.”

  I’d never shied away from speaking in front of a crowd. I’d gotten my laugh, but now that I had to get talking about the nuts and bolts of love, I was stuck. The words…I’d written it all out.

  Just fucking do it, Darren.

  I forced the next words out.

  “I’ve been thinking lately that love doesn’t always come easy. Sometimes true love doesn’t find a person for years and years, despite searching and any number of obstacles put in their way by others or by themselves. Seems like people can find love a
nd forget its magic too.”

  I found my mother’s face in the crowd. Schooled in detached politeness. Cold and hard, like her heart. Between her and Frank, it seemed like all three of us kids were damned. The fact that Cameron had found love among us was a miracle.

  I looked away, not wanting to dwell on the loveless union of our parents and what it had been like to grow up surrounded by that empty shell.

  “What Cameron and Maya have found… I’ve never seen anything like it. They’re two halves of a whole. Two hearts meant to find each other. Their kind of love runs deep and lasts a lifetime. It’s a love to look up to, to fight for, to hold onto if you’re lucky enough to find something so precious.”

  My voice wavered a bit, and a strange emotion gripped me, tightened my gut. Was I fucking this up? One glance at the tears in Maya’s eyes told me I wasn’t. Then Vanessa beside her, a rapt expression on her face. I swallowed hard. “Either way, seems like love can be a fragile gift. Something to be treasured once found. I know that Cameron and Maya will always treasure it in each other.”

  I smiled and raised my glass.

  “Cheers, to the happy couple. Wishing you every happiness together.”

  VANESSA

  Maybe it was the pink champagne, but now that all the formalities had passed, I felt lighter…relieved. Even if I was still reeling a bit from Darren’s speech. I had a hard time believing that those seemingly heartfelt words had originated from some sort of canned speech he’d found online. That moment of hesitation…recognition…when our gazes had locked was still haunting me.

  Something inside of me wanted to believe our time together had inspired some of those thoughts, but the fact was, we’d been in each other’s lives for a matter of days.

  Love took years. And sometimes years weren’t enough. Seemed like he understood that too.

  Maya turned in her seat beside me. The nonstop traffic at the wedding party table had finally died down a little. I had wanted to ask her if she’d spoken to Cameron, but the day had flown by.

  “Has Cameron’s family worn you out yet?”

  She laughed. “No, I’m actually enjoying meeting everyone. Thank God not everyone is like Diane.” She sipped from her water glass.

  “Did you talk to Cam?”

  She smiled widely and happiness glittered in her eyes. “He came to my room last night. You were right, as usual. He was over the moon. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so happy.”

  Suddenly the news hit me all over again. I leaned in and hugged her tight. “I’m so happy for you, Maya. I truly am.”

  She pulled back and held my hand. “Thank you, Vanessa. For being a true friend, through everything. I know I haven’t been around as much lately.”

  “Totally understandable. And for the record, I’m not going anywhere.”

  “I want this for you too.” She gestured to the room that was alive with celebration for her and Cameron. “One day.”

  I smiled and cast my gaze to the floor. I wanted that too, but I had a long way to go.

  “Eli told me about Darren,” she said quietly.

  I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he’d mentioned it. But among the three of us, few secrets were ever kept.

  “Don’t be mad. I asked him about it. He said you didn’t really seem like yourself this morning. Is everything okay?”

  I sighed. “Everything’s fine. I’m just not sure what to expect. There’s chemistry between us. No doubt about it. And he says things… Sometimes it feels like this could be more than just a fling. But it’s hard not to be guarded with him.”

  “I know his reputation isn’t promising. But maybe you should give it a chance.”

  She had no idea how much I wanted to, especially after my encounter with him this afternoon. Before I could say more, Cameron came up to her. He stood tall, towering above us both. She gazed up at him, stars in her eyes and glowing with love.

  “Can I steal you away for a dance?” He held out his hand.

  With that wordless gesture, she rose. “Of course.” She glanced back to me. “I’ll catch you later.”

  I waved her off and tipped back the last of the bubbly in my glass. I was ready to make my way to the dance floor, shake these thoughts, and have some fun. The party guests were starting to loosen up, and I was too.

  Diane came up beside me as I rose. “Having fun?”

  “Of course. What an amazing day.”

  She drifted her gaze to where Cam and Maya now danced. He was whispering something in her ear, grazing the slight swell of her belly. My heart swelled for their newfound happiness.

  “Assuming you knew about the pregnancy?” Diane did a poor job of masking a grimace. “Cameron told us the news this morning. Makes sense now why they were in such a rush to get married.”

  “I think marriage has been on their minds for a long time.”

  “True enough. He’s been lovestruck over that girl for years. I have to admit, I never understood the infatuation.”

  The way she said that girl grated over my nerves. How could she talk about Maya that way, especially on the day she became a true part of her family? This woman was cold beyond comprehension.

  “I suppose they’re the only ones who really need to understand it. It’s their relationship.” I seethed under my forced politeness.

  She narrowed her eyes and then relaxed. A crooked smile curved up the corner of her mouth, and she glanced over at Darren sitting at the other side of the long table set for the wedding party.

  “Darren will never make that mistake. He’s not like Cameron.”

  “How is that?” I couldn’t hide the edge in my tone. Somehow, the conversation was beginning to feel very personal.

  What if Darren could fall in love? What if he fell in with someone like me? Would this witch still look down her nose at me the way she did Maya? What would that do to her high hopes?

  “He’s never let himself get swept away.”

  “Don’t you want him to be happy?”

  “Believe me, marriage won’t make him happy.” With that she turned, moving swiftly in the opposite direction away from me.

  Relief and rage coursed through my veins. One day someone would make Darren happy. Who cared if I entertained a little fleeting fantasy that it could be me? I wanted Darren to find love even if it wasn’t with me. I wasn’t sure who or what had warped this woman’s heart, but if any of the Bridge siblings had trouble finding love and keeping it, I wouldn’t hesitate to place a fair share of the burden on the example she’d set for them.

  Emboldened, I walked to Darren. He shifted from his conversation with the man who’d interrupted our almost-kiss on the beach and looked up at me from his seat. Heaven help me, one look at the man made my skin tingle.

  His lips curved into a grin as his friend chatted away, and all the pleasures from the night before seemed to flicker in those beautiful brown eyes. Something had passed between us beyond ecstasy. Whatever that was had thrown us both off, and as long as we were here, together, I was going to live it and feel it.

  “Want to dance?” I mouthed, not wanting to interrupt the conversation that was looking a bit one-sided.

  He turned to his friend. “Hey, Jeffries, this is Vanessa.”

  The man had big eyes and a genuine smile. “Nice to meet you, Vanessa. You keeping this in guy in line?”

  “Doing my best. He doesn’t make it easy.”

  He laughed. “I bet.”

  “Can I steal him away for a few?”

  “Sure thing.” He slapped Darren on the back and winked in my direction before leaving us alone.

  Darren rose and took my hand, gently tugging me to him. “This is a slow song. You know what that means, right?”

  I lifted an eyebrow.

  “Means as long as that song plays, I get to put my hands on you, and I can’t guarantee I’m going to be a complete gentleman about it.” The way he looked me over, I guessed he was only half joking.

  I ran a finger down his teal tie and smirked
. “Well, we’re not in middle school. I think you could probably cop a feel without serious consequences.”

  The edge of his teeth dug into his bottom lip, and he brought his arm around me. I closed my eyes a moment, tempted to skip the dancing part and get right to the ungentlemanly part…in his hotel room.

  But the night was young.

  I took his hand and pulled him toward the filling dance floor. “Come on, Casanova. Let’s dance.”

  Once there, he pulled me into his arms. I melted into his embrace, one I was soon becoming addicted to. I rested my cheek against his solid chest and breathed him in. The cool and uniquely male scent that hit my lungs became a sixth sense. No doubt about it, I was attracted to this man on a level that felt primal and beyond my control.

  He roamed his hands over my back, along the edge of my dress where satin hit bare skin. “Good speech,” he said against my ear.

  “Thanks, you too. Where did you dig that up?”

  “The speech?” He arched an eyebrow and a knowing grin curved his lips. “That was all me. Trust me, I surprised myself.”

  “I’m impressed. Love isn’t the easiest thing to talk about in front of an audience, I guess. But it was beautiful.”

  “Thanks, red.”

  He stared down into my eyes, making my heart hammer the way it always seemed to when I was around him. Would that ever go away? Would a day go by when I was with him and didn’t feel that addictive pull? No matter if my brain knew better, my body wanted him. A kind of unseen magic lit up under my skin and made me want to take chances with this man.

  The song changed, and the slow sway of our bodies seemed out of place. Darren spun me away, pulling me back close. We moved together to the faster dance beat, and I giggled, loving the way my soul came alive around him.

  If I was being honest with myself, I didn’t care enough if this tryst with Darren only lasted one more night. I wasn’t going to let a minute pass me by without making the most of this time. Who knew what real life would throw at us back home? For the first time in a long time, I was really happy.

  We danced until we were out of breath and I was nearly boneless from keeping up with his crazy moves. We finally took a break and grabbed some water at the bar. He loosened his tie, and I fanned myself.