Hothead (Love Burns #4)

CHAPTER ONE

O f all the times Luke could have walked into a door, it had to happen now, didn’t it? At the fire station. And he didn’t even care that it was in front of all his fellow firefighters. Or that he’d spend the rest of his shift getting the piss taken out of him. No. What mattered was that she was there to witness his humiliation. The angel who had just entered the room. The most beautiful woman he’d ever laid eyes on.

Way to go, Cappelli.

“Luke Cappelli?” the woman in question repeated, finally pulling him out of his head.

“Uh, yeah,” Luke rasped, his hand shooting up to his forehead to rub what was most likely going to be a big ass bump. “How can I help?”

He watched her take a wary step forward, trying his hardest to keep his expression neutral. The closer she got, the better she looked. And when her silver eyes flashed, he knew he was in trouble.

An errant strand of dirty blonde hair fell to her face as she took her time perusing him. “I’m a friend of your brothers ... Well, I was a friend.”

Wait. What?

“I’m sorry, darlin’, you’ve got the wrong man. I don’t have a brother.” His eyes began to narrow now. Suspicion not just pulling at his brow. “What did you say your name was?”

She didn’t flinch at his denial. Or his tone. It was almost as if she’d expected him to say just that.

Who the hell is this girl?

“My name’s Bella.” A faint smile began to curve her lips. “I worked with your brother. Well, half brother, I guess. Marco. Marco Cappelli.”

He didn’t know what was making his stomach churn more, those glittering eyes, that smile, or hearing that name again. After all this time.

Then something clicked. “You said was ... was a friend —what does that mean?”

He immediately regretted asking as he witnessed her spark slowly dull and anguish seep into every pore.

Chatter in the background came to a stop. The whole main floor was eerily quiet. So quiet he heard the footsteps of his friends as they began to scatter, pretending to busy themselves. He didn’t miss that they were all still very much within earshot.

Nosy bastards.

Another step closer and something that smelled a lot like wild berries hit the back of his throat.

“Marco died. Two months ago,” she announced.

His stomach was no longer churning. It was spasming from the punch to the gut he’d just received. Marco was fucking dead? How the hell could he be dead?

You have an audience. Get your shit together.

It was getting harder and harder to think straight. He needed to get out of there before he asked the questions he didn’t even know that he wanted answers to. This time his facial expressions weren’t neutral, they were blanked as he took another step toward the heavenly being before him, ignoring the berries and closing what little distance was left between them.

“Why are you here?”

Her chin lifted while his dipped. Holy hell. How was it possible that a woman who had the face of an angel could inspire so much fucking sin? Especially now. Corrupting her is the last thing he should be thinking about.

Talk about not the fucking time. Maybe concentrate on the pounding in your ears first, man?

“Your brother sent me.”

“My dead brother sent you?” He felt one eyebrow quirk up. “No. Wait. Don’t tell me ... you’re here to bridge the gap between the living and the dead. Relay a message to me from beyond the grave? All for the bargain price of ninety-nine ninety-five.”

His sarcastic reply didn’t exactly elicit the reaction he was expecting. Bella’s mouth stretched so wide in response that he got his first glimpse of straight white teeth.

Her teeth had to be perfect too, didn’t they?

“Marco was right about you.”

That jolted him back to reality.

“Look, lady—”

“Bella,” she corrected.

“Look, Bella , I don’t know exactly what Marco told you, but—”

“I have a letter,” she cut him off again. Was it him, or did she look like she was enjoying this a bit too much? “He left you a letter.”

Luke lost her eyes for a moment as she reached around and pulled out an envelope from her back pocket.

“I don’t care if you’ve got a damn book, lady—”

“Bella,” she corrected again.

Seriously? Is this chick for real?

Back was the smile. Oh, she was definitely enjoying this.

Air whooshed in his face as the piece of paper came up. She was waving it, as if that would make him take it.

“You can keep it,” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t want it. Like I said earlier, I don’t have a brother.”

It took all of his willpower to turn on his heel and walk away. But he had to. Needed to. It didn’t matter that she was an angel. That she’d managed to stoke a fire in his belly that he’d never felt before. And it definitely didn’t matter that she was faking a dramatic sigh behind him. Even if it was award-worthy.

He headed over to the bunks that were off to the left of the main floor. While he may not need sleep, he did need to be alone.

As soon as he shut the door behind him, he let out the breath he’d been holding.

Shit. Marco.

Collapsing into the bottom bunk, he let his head drop into his hands. Marco couldn’t have been more than a few years older than him. Late thirties were no age to die. What the hell happened?

Maybe you should have read the letter and found out, dumbass. Or better yet, ask the fucking angel outside.

Speaking of. Just a second later, the door swung open, causing his head to shoot up.

Okay. Maybe she’s not outside anymore.

“You always walk away from people mid-conversation, Luke ... or am I special?” she scolded.

She was special all right. “You always walk into rooms with big ass Do Not Enter signs on them ... or am I just lucky?”

A genuine sigh left those sweet red lips, enough to make him regret snapping back. “Look, I get this is hard for you. Believe it or not, I understand. My family are as dysfunctional as they come. Think the Lohans ... on meth. So, trust me, I get it.”

Seriously, who the hell is this girl?

Rising from the bed, his feet were moving toward her before his brain had a chance to catch up. Only fully registering when nerve endings began lighting up as he sucked down more berries.

Before he knew it, he’d invaded her space. Personal bubble officially popped as his head bowed and their mouths lined up. All it would take was one small dip and he’d know for sure if those lips tasted as sweet as the woman who owned them smelled.

“Why are you here, Bella?”

He noticed her breath quicken. “Marco asked me to come.” She rushed out. “To give you the letter and ...”

“And what?”

“And h-he wanted me to stick around for a while.”

He ignored the hammering of his heart at her declaration. His body couldn’t be trusted.

“And why would he want you to stick around?”

“Are you going to take the letter?”

“You always answer questions with questions?”

Luke felt her breath warm his skin and found himself wishing away his stubble. He wanted to feel her sink into every inch of him.

Yeah. That’s normal.

“Is this the proximity you conduct all your conversations?” was her reply.

It looked like he’d met a fellow smartass. The first one to drag a smile out of him.

This chick is something else.

“I’ll tell you what, angel”—his grin only grew as her eyebrow raised—“you tell me exactly what Marco told you about me, and I’ll take the letter. Then you can go on your merry way back to wherever you came from.”

“You got a spare few hours?”

What a stupid question. He made sure his face conveyed as much. “You know I don’t. In case you haven’t noticed, darlin’, I’m at work.”

“I guess I’ll be sticking around then. Until you have time.” With that, she abruptly turned, leaving his body begging for more as her hand met the door handle. “I’m staying at the Evans ranch—come find me when you’re ready to talk.”

The Evans ranch? For fuck’s sake.

***

L uke’s friend Zach gave him a wide berth for the rest of his shift, clearly picking up on Luke’s “I don’t want to talk about it” vibes. While Hunter left without saying a word. It was only Benny who dared to approach Luke, the youngest of their little friendship group.

The default grin that was normally on his friend’s face was replaced with something sullener. Serious.

Here we go.

“So ... is it true? Do you have a brother?” Benny decided then to lean against the fire truck. Against the exact spot Luke had just finished cleaning.

This day just gets better and better.

“I really don’t wanna talk about it.” He puffed, continuing to clean, putting a bit too much weight behind the steel spot he was drying.

“Come on, don’t be like that, man. Put yourself in my shoes. You really think that if the roles were reversed and some chick came in and announced I had a brother—a dead one at that—you wouldn’t be all over me?”

“Actually, Zach would be all over you,” Luke corrected. “ I would mind my own business.”

And it was true. Zach was the one always wanting to talk about crap. Hunter was the strong, silent type. And Luke, well, he wasn’t interested in talking either. Unless, of course, there was a sarcastic comment to be made or a man to wind up.

“Bullshit,” Benny spat. “My long-lost brother turns up dead and you’re seriously telling me you wouldn’t have shit to say?”

This was one of the problems with having friends. They liked to insert themselves into your business. Whether you liked it or not.

Luke realized then he would need to throw his friend a bone if he had any hope of being left alone. Not too much information. Just enough to get him off his back.

Taking a break from drying, Luke pushed against the truck with both hands, his head dropping between his outstretched arms.

“Fine. Technically, yes, I have a brother. Or had one. But I didn’t know him. Didn’t grow up with him. I met the guy a couple of times. Like twenty years ago. My dad put it about, okay? He had a bad habit of making kids he had no business having. You happy?”

There. He’d done it. Short and to the point. The only way he knew how to be. Not that he did talking about his past very often. In fact, right there was probably the most he’d ever shared out loud before. Taking him to his maximum sharing limit for the day. Quite possibly the year.

When Benny didn’t reply, Luke forced his head up, pushing against the steel one last time until he was facing his friend.

“What?” Luke asked as soon as he caught a glimpse of Benny’s thoughtful expression.

“It’s just ... it’s good to hear you talking about this shit, man. We’ve worked together ... what, five, six years? And never once have I heard you talk about anything real. Like your family or your shithead of a dad.”

It was ironic how little Luke had actually shared to get such a reaction out of Benny. That was just the tip of the iceberg when it came to Luke’s childhood. But he wasn’t about to point that out. Not when his friend seemed somewhat satisfied with his answer.

He nodded then. A silent gesture indicating that was the end of the conversation as he went back to cleaning the truck.

Benny was off his back, now all Luke had to do was stop thinking about the goddamn angel who’d caused all of this commotion. He had a niggling feeling that getting her out of the fire station was the easy part. Getting her out of his life though ... that would be another story.