CHAPTER 8
Easy conversation flowed around the table as everyone on the team got to know Tim better over a relaxing evening at the team’s usual watering hole.
The staff at the Rose and Crown pub had greeted them happily before leading them to the area they’d claimed as their own. Comfortable couches slightly away from the rest of the bar and the live music. A place they could sit and relax.
Erin alternated between lazing and madly assessing exactly what needed to happen next.
They shared rescue stories—a bit of one-upmanship with a twist. Sad stories were in the mix as well. The victims who weren’t reached in time, the heartbreak of having to bring home not a found loved one, but their body.
Everyone who worked in search and rescue knew it could go either way at any time. The flip of a coin, a moment’s chance, and it didn’t matter how skilled the rescuers were.
The unexpected could take even the best of them to their knees without a moment’s notice. It was part of the reason that Tim was there in the first place, replacing Lifeline’s badly injured paramedic.
“What’s the latest word on Xavier? Anyone heard this week?” Anders asked.
Devon waved. “I stopped in the last time I was in Calgary. He’s okay. A little depressed, but slowly recovering.”
Damn. “Seeing Xavier a little depressed is like seeing a kicked puppy. Anything we can do?”
Devon shook his head. “He needs more time and therapy. He’s still got a good chance of walking again.” Devon turned to Tim. “Our man who got hurt back a few months ago.”
“Tough to see a teammate suffering that hard.” Tim nodded slowly. “If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“Will do. Mostly, we keep in touch. Let him know we’re thinking of him.” Alisha stared at her drink. “Try not to feel too guilty that he’s the one who’s there, and we’re still here.”
Devon caught her hand and squeezed her fingers, but the sentiment was there, in all of them.
Sometimes the bad things that happened were inexplicable and wrong, and all you could do was move forward the best you could.
Erin waited and watched, some of her concerns easing as Tim talked about situations where he’d not only accomplished amazing things, but often placed others he’d worked with into the spotlight. The man sitting with the Lifeline team was a different man from the cocky, occasionally arrogant bastard whom she’d lived with years ago.
Working with him wouldn’t be a problem. The skills were still there, the additional years of maturity adding a touch of well-deserved confidence to everything he did.
No, there were other areas she needed to focus on. Other questions.
How far should she take things with Tim? How fast? It was now a given that they would be getting involved, but staying in control was important, and unless she planned ahead she was afraid of losing sight of that, even if Tim appeared to be going along with his promise.
Devon broke in with a change of topic. “Heads up for the holiday season. It’s likely to get crazy around here starting any day now.”
“You’ve got your calendar screwed up.” Anders leaned back on the couch. “It’s still two weeks until Christmas.”
“Yeah, but the school break is early this year,” Devon warned. “My brother who’s a teacher mentioned it to me. The layout of the calendar means everyone from Alberta is off starting next week. The good part is that means school’s back in on January second, including the university. Expect the disasters to begin soon.”
“Lots of additional work over the holiday season?” Tim asked.
Tripp nodded. “The week between Christmas and New Year’s is the worst, with people trying out new gear they got as presents and getting in over their heads.”
“Reading week is even crazier,” Alisha warned. “Mid-February. Everyone from the university who had family commitments in December goes wild for one week. We’ve had to go haul people out of the strangest places then.”
“Sounds exciting.” Tim grinned as the team groaned at his enthusiasm. “Oh, come on. Tell me you’re not all thinking the same thing.”
Devon shrugged. “Fine, work is exciting, and we wouldn’t trade it for anything. But come March I propose we put in for a week off and head somewhere hot.”
“Hmm, now you’re talking.” Tripp raised his glass in approval. “To Lifeline and to excitement, whatever form that takes.”
The guys took off on another tangent. Plans for kayaking in Belize or something. Alisha leaned closer to Erin to whisper in her ear. “You got plans for tonight?”
Erin shrugged. “Nothing specific. Why?”
There was no mistaking who Alisha’s gaze drifted toward. “Oh, no reason in particular.”
“Stop that,” Erin ordered, resisting peeking at Tim as well.
Alisha’s cheeks dimpled as she grinned. “You could watch a movie with me and Devon if you want an excuse for why you’re too busy for your nonspecific plans.”
“I don’t need an excuse.”
“You could invite Tim to come along,” Alisha offered relentlessly. “If you want a safe place to spend some time with him.”
“You’re being annoying.” Erin glared at the other woman. “I don’t like you enough to put up with annoying.”
Alisha laughed. “Now I know you’ve got something on your mind, because you like me plenty.”
There was no avoiding Alisha’s glaring positive energy. “You take perky pills this morning or something?” Erin snarked.
“It’s all the regular sex. You should try it.” Another noise of amusement escaped Alisha. “And you should see your face right now.”
Erin could imagine it. “Somewhere between envy and exasperation?”
A small shrug of Alisha’s shoulders. “You know how to solve the envy bit. I’m pretty sure I’ll continue to be exasperating, so you’re stuck with that one.”
She winked, then turned to answer Devon, who had laid a hand on her arm on her other side.
Loud laughter rang out from another part of the pub, and Erin let her gaze drift over the entire group, not only Tim. She’d worked with most of them for years now, and it had taken time for her to settle into actually liking them outside rescue situations.
Of all the people she’d become friends with over the years, Alisha was a complete surprise. The relationship was real, though, and Erin gave it a deeper examination.
It was about choices. About trust. She’d found the unexpected in Alisha—something beyond the innocent façade that the blonde projected. The naïve woman had turned out to have nerves of steel, not only on the job but when facing down family.
She’d taken control of her life and grabbed the things she wanted, one of whom was Devon.
Erin did envy her a bit, but that envy was not going to be a wasted emotion. It was going to encourage her to move forward and take hold of her own happiness.
She glanced across the table at Tim. His dark hair framed a laughing expression as he bantered with the team. He held a glass of beer in one hand, his tanned fingers wrapped easily around the stein. She wanted to have those talented hands on her body. Teasing her and bringing her pleasure.
He’d been so . . . proper the entire day. Had kept things light. Casual. He didn’t give her any extra attention while the team visited, just easy smiles and glances that were no more intimate than the ones he shared with Alisha or Devon.
Out here in the real world she still wasn’t sure what she wanted, but in private, she was ready for the next step. Tim had said the timing was her choice to make, and she was making it.
The conversation died around ten. Tripp was the first to rise to his feet. “Jonah will be home by now, and I should be getting back.”
Alisha yawned. “I need to call it a night as well.”
“Which means I’m done.” Devon lifted Alisha’s knuckles to his mouth and kissed them lightly. “Come, my lady. Your chariot awaits.”
Farewells echoed, coats were gathered. Erin eyed Tim carefully, but he remained a complete gentleman. All the way up to the moment she slipped beside him and rested her hand on his back.
He stiffened for a moment, then shifted position slightly to allow her to touch him more easily.
“Training tomorrow,” Anders reminded them. “Unless we get a call-out. Check in at nine.”
“See you then,” Tim answered, not even twitching as Erin traced a figure eight with her fingertip. He waited until they were nearly alone, a single busboy clearing the table behind them, before turning slowly to face her.
Her fingers lingered on his side before resting on his hip.
“Do you need a ride home?” he offered, the words coming out soft and husky.
His tone triggered an instant response as a shiver raced up her spine. She shook her head. “I have my car. But if you’d like, I’d love to stop in for a nightcap.”
Blue eyes flashed with wildfire before he pulled his response back to casual. Nonchalant. “Of course. I’ll meet you at the apartment doors.”
Anticipation made her clumsy as she hauled her keys from the ignition. She tucked them safely in her pocket, smoothing the front of her coat. Distracting herself from the torrent of ideas pouring through her brain.
Excitement bubbled through her veins as she stepped through the fresh-fallen snow toward Tim’s apartment. She left footprints behind her, the temperatures low enough to let the thin layer of powder settle on the walk. Small puffs of light flakes shot upward as she walked, and she smiled at the winter wonderland around her, her breath a puff of white.
He was waiting for her. A tall, lean shadow standing to one side of the main doors. Tim smiled as he let her in, turning her toward the elevators and leaving his hand behind briefly.
Erin wasn’t often giddy, and she wasn’t often tongue-tied, but it seemed right now she was both. She wanted Tim’s hand on her body again with a whole lot of layers gone so she could fully appreciate the contact. She wanted him to look at her with his beautiful blue eyes that could make her tremble with lust.
She just plain wanted.
“I enjoyed the training test the team arranged, but did you get to see any of it?” Tim asked.
She stepped into the elevator. “I was watching what I could through the holes in the top section. Mostly I took a break, though. Napped. Relaxed. No use in all of us working all the time.”
He chuckled in response.
Erin turned to him and found herself crowded to the back wall. His arms framed either side of her head as he leaned in tight, his smile shifting into something hungrier.
Feral.
Her breath caught in her throat, and she pressed her hands to the wall as the lift mechanism murmured around them. Tim didn’t move. Not closer to her to make contact, nor farther away so she could fill her lungs with much-needed oxygen.
It seemed he was going to keep her there until she grew dizzy and collapsed.
Except it was up to her to take this forward—the realization struck like a siren, and she tilted her head slightly. Pressed forward an inch to connect their bodies in a soft, seductive glide as the elevator eased to a halt.
A low rumble of approval escaped Tim’s lips. “Finally.”
Their lips met as Erin wrapped her arms around his shoulders, leaning in as they made more intimate communication with their mouths than any recent speech. Hot and directly to the point. Tim kissed her passionately, ripping the limited air from her lungs as their tongues clashed. Fought, then retreated.
His body was a wall of muscle she rubbed against, the contact not enough to satisfy but more than enough to fan the flames. Hungrily, they enjoyed each other even as the desire for more rose quickly.
A strange noise interrupted them. The elevator door pinged, and the musical tone broke through her concentration.
That wasn’t the first time she’d heard the sound, only it was the first time it had registered for what it was. They’d been necking for far longer than she’d imagined.
Erin fisted her fingers in his hair and tugged until he broke the connection.
He gasped a couple of times before finding his control. Erin didn’t mind the wait. She needed the time to get her legs back in working condition. Behind them the doors slid closed again, and she laughed.
Tim glanced over his shoulder and joined in her amusement. He stood and offered her his hand. “As attractive as I find the elevator, could I interest you in moving this to my apartment?”
His fingers were warm around hers as they exited the elevator and headed to his door. She leaned against him as he slipped his key into the lock. “I’m not staying the night,” she warned.
“Stay as long as you want,” Tim offered. “Only, please don’t tell me you want to play chess or something stupid.”
“Strip poker sounds better.”
He had her inside the apartment, the door closed behind them and her back in his arms, before she’d finished speaking. His gaze burned her with its intensity, his hands working to remove her coat. “Naked. I can do that.”
He kissed her while jerking her coat off her shoulders and abandoning it to the floor. She was lifted in the air and settled on the couch. When she went to protest, he ignored her, instead removing her boots, tossing them aside. Her shirt lifted off her torso, the button on her slacks opened without even trying until suddenly she sat in her underwear on the buttery softness of the leather.
Only then did he slow, taking a deep breath and rocking back on his heels to admire her.
Her heart pounded in her throat. “Strip poker usually involves cards.”
“I don’t have any,” Tim retorted, his gaze lingering on her breasts. “But to make it fair, that’s as far as I’m going. You have to take off the final layers.”
Erin’s head spun. “Give me a second. Going from winter wear to underwear in three seconds is a bit of a change.”
Only it wasn’t the near nakedness that had rocked her. It was the order for her to take charge of the final steps. For her to be the one to get naked with him.
Tim eased forward, his hand sliding along her thigh. “Take your time. I’m content admiring you. God, Erin. You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
If it was anything like what she was experiencing . . . She leaned forward and unzipped his coat. “Let’s make the playing field a little more even,” she suggested.
Tim shrugged out of his jacket, throwing it in the general direction of the front door. He’d managed to rid himself of his shoes, but he didn’t go any further.
Instead he touched her again, both hands running upward from her wrists toward her shoulders. Slowly, his hands opened and wrapped around her limbs as if trying to make contact with as much of her at one time as he possibly could. He paused when he reached the junction of her shoulders and neck, his thumb caressing like a tender kiss over the spot where her heartbeat pulsed.
Erin took a shaky breath as she waited for him to continue.
Tim turned his hand over and stroked down the center of her body, knuckles soft against her skin. His gaze followed along, as if mesmerized by the sight of them touching.
Her body was nothing but a giant aching need. Breasts heavy, nipples taut. She wanted to squeeze her legs together to ease the pounding in her sex, but he knelt between her thighs. Forced her open to his examination. His admiration.
His lust, which matched her own.
“So soft, yet so strong,” Tim said, continuing to touch her, his fingertips splayed over her belly. “I’ve always admired the way you don’t take the easy way out ever. Not in work, not in play.”
He wrapped a hand around her waist, slipping up to her back. He pulled her forward in an arch to meet her lips as he pressed a kiss over her heart.
Erin relished the connection, craving more. Slid her hands over his shoulders, saddened to discover fabric instead of skin. She tightened her fingers in the material. “You need to give me some skin.”
“If you want.”
He was gone for a brief moment to undo his buttons, then he was back, shirt open so his heated flesh made contact with hers. Their torsos rubbed as their lips met, and it was amazing and sensual and . . .
She wanted more.
Erin forced her hands off his body and pushed past where he was caressing her back. He smiled against her lips as she unhooked her bra and tugged it from between them. She shoved at her panties, letting them fall from her hips to the floor, leaving nothing but intimate connection.
A sigh escaped her as he kissed his way along her neck, one hand cupping a breast as if he couldn’t wait.
Every time he moved, another shot of pleasure roared through her system. “Hell, yes. It’s been too long.”
Tim paused with his mouth against the upper curve of her skin, his whispered words heating her like a torch. “Too damn long.”
His lips closed around her nipple and Erin gasped, stars floating in front of her eyes.
The night had just begun, and already she was half drunk on him.