Let Me Burn (Angel Sands 1)

Wait a minute. Something about that photograph plucked at his brain. Lucas turned his head to look again. As soon as he focused on it properly, he realized exactly what it was.

The woman in the photograph was Ember Kennedy.

Her hair was shorter than it was now, curling around her shoulders rather than tumbling below them, but still as glossy and pretty. Her eyes were shining, her face the picture of happiness. And there was something about it that felt like a kick in the gut.

“Here you are… oh. Oh my goodness.” Janice came to a stop next to him. “I’d forgotten about that picture.” She glanced out of the corner of her eye, at the group of people outside on the deck. “I hope Ember didn’t see it. I don’t want to upset her even more.”

She sounded genuinely concerned.

“I’m sure she didn’t notice,” Lucas said, though he wasn’t sure at all.

“Of course she did. It was probably the first thing she looked for.” Janice’s eyes were shiny with tears. “She must think I’m some kind of monster for leaving it up.”

Lucas took the glass of soda out of her shaking hand before she dropped it. “It was an oversight.”

“You’re very kind. Thank you.” She patted his arm. “I’ve been so worried about her, and it’s so awkward with everything that happened. But Will’s our son and we love him.” Janice let out a deep sigh. Lucas couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. Living in a small town like this with people knowing your business had

to be hard, especially when your son had done the dirty on somebody as well loved as Ember.

“I’ve no idea why I’m telling you all this,” she continued. “I’m sure you’d like to go outside and join the others.” She made a shooing movement with her hand. “I’ll be out with you in a second. I just need to ask my husband to do a little rearranging.”

She wasn’t wrong – this whole conversation was awkward. He barely knew Janice Martin. Even at the best of times he avoided emotional interactions like this, especially when there were tears involved.

But it wasn’t just awkwardness that he was feeling. There was something else, too. Something stronger, more primal that was squeezing at his gut and making his body heat up.

He felt furious at the thought of Will Martin. Of the way he’d skipped town only a day after ending his engagement to Ember. He’d never met the guy and he already didn’t like him, the same way he hadn’t liked that Adam Michaelson guy when he stood her up at Delmonico’s. The thought of the way they’d both treated her made Lucas want to curl up his fists and punch something hard.

Instead he lifted the glass to his lips, hoping the soda might cool him down. Taking a mouthful, he followed the hallway out to the deck, raising his hand at Frank Megassey to let him know he was here.

Almost immediately he searched the rest of the crowd to see if she was there. It was as if his eyes had a mind of their own. They alighted on her – recognizing that dark brown hair and the slight tilt of her head as she was talking to another committee member.

For a second he held back. Not because he didn’t want to see Ember, but because he wanted it too much. He didn’t like the way he felt drawn over there, or the way he had to tense his thigh muscles to stop himself from walking. There was too much going on in his mind and it was driving him crazy.

The sooner he stopped hanging around Angel Sands and got back to work the better. Being here was making him feel all the things he didn’t want to, making him wonder if a life working and living here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Making him wonder if he could make her smile the way she did in that photograph.

Ember slowly turned her head, as though she could feel the power of his stare. Her eyes immediately met his, and he felt the shock of their connection. Her lips curled up, and even if her grin wasn’t as big as he’d have liked, it still did something to him. Made him feel warm from his cheeks down to his stomach.

He took a deep breath, and one more mouthful of soda, then walked over to greet her.

* * *

“Well that about wraps it up, folks,” Frank said from where he was standing at the edge of the deck. The committee was facing him, some sitting in chairs, others on the steps that led down from the deck to the gardens and the beach beyond. “Remember, I need you all up bright and early on Saturday. We start setting everything up at 5 a.m., and then we do it all again after ten o’clock that night – except this time we’ll be taking it all down. Now, any questions?”

Ember watched him from her vantage point at the far end of the steps, where she was sitting next to Frank’s wife. It was so strange being back here in a house that had felt like her second home for so long, seeing the familiar garden furniture mixed among some new acquisitions Janice and Richard must have made in the past few months.

Like the new statue at the far end. It was modern – made of some kind of bent metal. More Janice’s taste than Richard’s, if she had to hazard a guess. It was very striking.

Lucas was leaning against the back wall of the house. Every now and then she couldn’t help but turn her head to look at him. He was staring straight ahead, his jaw straight and set, the thick muscles of his firm body filling his blue pants and ASFD t-shirt in a way that nobody else could.

She felt a jolt of attraction when she looked at him, it was so visceral it made her spine tingle and her heart gallop. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact time when she’d realized exactly how much she liked him, because right now her mind was filled with nothing else.

She thought back to the first time she saw him. When she’d thought he had some kind of stick up his ass and a thing for health and safety. He’d been so sullen that day, yet even then he’d helped her lift that damn propane into her trunk.

And yeah, she’d noticed his muscles.

Did he like her that way, too? Ember wasn’t sure. He’d been more than kind to her, not only with the propane and the rescue at school, but also the way he’d taken care of her after that terrible night at Delmonico’s. But what she couldn’t quite tell was whether that kindness was something he offered to everybody. Maybe he had some kind of hero complex. It would make sense, wouldn’t it? After all, he was a firefighter; saving people was his job.