Page 50

However, Firefighter Ross apparently didn’t give a whit about decorum right now.

Suddenly, Becca was being embraced tightly by Ross. Instantly, she heard countless camera shutters clicking and saw the bursts of flashbulbs. There were exclamations of delight from all those assembled and more applause. Knowing it was too late to do anything about it now, Becca wrapped her arms around Ross, surrendering to the embrace. It felt strange holding a person who would not be alive had it not been for her, and Becca had this sudden urge to never let Ross go lest something awful happened to her.

You’re my responsibility now.

When they did separate, Ross, wiping away the tears from her cheeks, said, “Please forgive me, ma’am. I don’t know what came over me.”

Becca pulled Ross closer and looked down into her eyes.

“It’s okay, Peggy,” she said. “I wanted to do the exact same thing.”

***

“So, I’ve got good news and bad news,” Krissy said, approaching Becca a few hours later, looking down at her iPhone as she walked.

They were in the outdoor patio area of The Bluewater Grill, an upscale seafood restaurant on Carlsbad Village Drive. The patio had been completely taken over by those celebrating Becca’s Medal of Valor. Not only were her parents still here, but all of her friends and several of her off-duty firefighting mates and their families were present also. The food had been spectacular, as always, and there had been lots of drinking.

Now, Becca was sitting at a small table by herself, having snuck away from the large cluster of her family and friends in order to have a few moments to herself during this long night. She watched her best friend cover the last few yards separating them.

Krissy looked spectacular. That dress she was wearing was killer and Becca didn’t even attempt to not mentally undress her, making her thrumming clit thrum a little harder.

That thrumming turned into genuine pulsing, though, when Krissy reached her and, instead of taking one of the empty seats at the table, sat on her lap. She put one arm around Becca’s shoulders and leaned in super close, holding her phone so Becca could see it.

Becca wrapped her left arm around Krissy’s waist, resting her hand on the other woman’s thigh, just where the edge of Krissy’s dress ended and the smooth skin began. She thought she heard Krissy give a little moan of pleasure, but she was probably mistaken.

“Okay,” Becca said, tilting her head up to Krissy’s face, “I’m going to be different and ask you to give me the good news first.”

Krissy looked down at her. Becca’s heartrate turned staccato. Krissy’s lips, shiny with a lip gloss that had a slightly purplish tint, were so close.

“The good news is, that you’re trending.”

Becca rolled her eyes.

“How is that good news?” she asked. “I want all of this attention to go away. So what’s the bad news?”

“Kind of the same thing,” Krissy replied. “You’re trending big time! Like, holy shit! Those pictures of you and what’s-her-name, the firefighter you saved, are viral!”

Krissy showed her. On the screen of the iPhone, Becca saw a photo from one of the news services of she and Peggy Ross hugging, with the mayor and Chief Comstock standing nearby, applauding.

“Ugh!”

“Come on,” Krissy chided. “Be happy. This is a super sweet picture.”

Becca nodded.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “And I know I should probably try to parlay all of this attention into a movie deal with Marvel Studios where I get to play Wonder Woman’s sister.”

Krissy laughed.

“That would be so awesome,” she said.

“The only problem is,” Becca continued, “that I would insist on having a sex scene in the movie with Gal Gadot, which makes that whole ‘Wonder Woman’s sister’ thing really incestuous and illegal.”

“So, instead of Wonder Woman’s sister, you can be Wonder Woman’s third cousin twice removed,” Krissy suggested. “I think that’s legal.”

Becca laughed.

“Well, I’ll work on that movie deal tomorrow,” she said. “Right now, however, all I want to do is go home.”