Page 17 of Return By Fire

Now we’re both glaring at my sister. My fork clatters down. “Are you for real right now?”

“Yes. No.” Her hands flap up and down helplessly. Her eyes drift toward Kevin. “I’m just worried about if something happens to you.”

My ire dissipates but something restless replaces it—a desire to see my sister happy and settled. Not merely content with the life she could live but having more. Then again, what kind of example are you? I berate myself silently. Aloud, I tell her, “I may be going out for a few drinks later.”

You’d have thought I announced we won lotto considering the shock on Kara’s face. “Seriously? Is it a date?”

“Nothing special. Just meeting up with someone.” I pick up my fork and attempt for casual as a gobsmacked Kara does the same.

In the silence that ensues, I consider what I know about Jedidiah “Call me Jed” Smith. He’s the older brother to Kara’s best friend Maris. His best friend knocked up my baby sister.

It seems like it would be wise for us to share a drink while we exchange information—namely, how to protect my sister.

Yeah, having a man-to-man talk with Jed is an excellent idea.

Tonight.

Before he knows what’s coming.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Lounging on deck, I spy Dean’s broad shoulders and long legs eating up the distance between the entrance to the dock and the slip where my boat is docked with ease. Lifting the dark ale I’d been drinking to my lips, I call out, “Now, why am I not surprised to see you here, Mr. Malone.”

His lips twist in a smirk. “Actually, it’s Captain Malone. Just got promoted from Lieutenant down at the station. Papers came in earlier in the week.”

My brows wing upward. “Well, no shit? Congrats.”

“No shit. Thanks.” His eyes drift to the dark glass bottle I’m holding. “Got another one of those?”

I step back from the rail and offer, “Come aboard.”

“Thanks, Captain.” He bounds up the plank.

I’m about to pitch the glass bottle in his direction, but I pause. “Shit, this is going to get confusing.”

“What is?” His amber eyes catch the light of the rose-colored sky behind him. Dean Malone is backlit in such a way that I’m sure if I squint hard enough I could see his ripped muscles through the linen shirt he’s wearing over his jeans. Mentally, I drag my hand across my lips to wipe off the drool.

Christ, he’s gorgeous. Instead of voicing that, I lob the beer at him and point between us. “Captain. Captain.”

He chuckles. “Sorry, not sorry. Then again, for one of us this is only temporary.”

What a damn shame. For just a moment, I wonder if I spoke the words aloud because the muggy air between us crystalizes. Dean’s lips lock around the bottle and keep the liquid suspended from reaching his mouth. His eyes pin me where I’m leaning against the railing. I feel a quiver at the base of my spine I haven’t felt in far too long.

For the first time I wish I could be someone, anyone, other than who I am—the man who knows. The man who plans on returning to Alaska. The man whose soul has slowly been dying since the day his baby sister sat on a phone call from over three thousand miles away as she was strung out on drugs and listened to this man help coach his sister through delivering a baby.

I wish I could be the man to forgive all that.

“Tell me about yourself, Jed. Everything I know is through stories from Kara—and of course Maris.” Dean’s lips twist in amusement. “Your sister has a way with words.”

“Should I be afraid?”

“Very. I hazard you might know more about me than I suspect.”

“I’d like to say yes, but Maris has been remarkably tight-lipped about you,” I return.

“Interesting.”

“Why?”

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