Page 5

“She couldn’t be happier to bring a female into the fold. Even better that it was Carson, her baby boy. First of us to get hitched.” Anderson shook his head.

I poked him in the ribs. “Well, Doc, if you’d quit chasing away every nurse from your clinic with that serious brain of yours, you might have caught one and married her by now.”

“Nope. Not me. I’ve got a ten-year plan. Settling down isn’t on it for a while.” He didn’t fool me. I suspected he had a nurse servicing him plenty now and then. “Maybe Lacey showing up isyoursign. Make your move right, you could be next. You know Mama always loved Lacey like her own daughter.”

“Knock it off. I’m not chasing her to New York. My life is here. Besides, she’s never even thought of me that way.”

“Aha. So you admit that in the short span of time between her showing up tonight and now, you’ve thought a thing or two about her and this situation.” He guffawed, but I maintained my scowl.

Then I saw Lacey take off with a few beers in her arms, heading back down the path to her car.

“Shit. Why’d she have to go and do that?” I sighed.

“Steal our beers?” he asked. “How dare she? Should we go after her?”

“I don’t care about the beers. I care about her. For someone with a high IQ and professional bedside manners, you lackpeople skills, you know that?” I shouldn’t say things like that considering the man was the smartest of all of us. Mama and I worked hard to support him through med school, and he was a huge benefit to the community.

“Says the guy the whole town calls the grumpy fireman,” he ribbed back. “So we’re not going after her?”

“You’re not. I am. I’ll make damn sure she doesn’t drink and drive.”

“Good thinking. Don’t need Branson pulling her over. Hell, he might be bold enough to steal her from you.”

“Shut it. Spread the word—none of our brothers better look Lacey’s way. Got it?”

I left him, ignoring his laugh, and his yelling after me. “Go get her, tiger!”

I moved close enough to keep an eye on her, but still visible to the party, so Mama wouldn’t chew me out for ignoring family responsibilities. Although I’d leave in a heartbeat if I could.

As the oldest, and as happy as I was for Carson, it didn’t sit right with me that my youngest brother would be the first to settle down. Hell, Carson barely got his shit together the past few years running the Java Company. If it weren’t for Emme getting a loan from her folks—arguably the richest family in town—I doubted Carson’s business would’ve stayed afloat.

Sure he loved her—no dispute. Just hoped he knew what he was getting himself into, mixing business and family like that.

Moonlight shone off the glass of a bottle in Lacey’s hand. As I suspected, she sat in her car, drinking. Probably crying. That stabbed my gut, knowing after all this time she’d cry over Carson. It’d always been clear to me she loved him more than he loved her. Maybe now, seeing him with Emme, she’d get the hint.

I let her get through three beers before I intervened. She hadn’t noticed my approach, and startled when I rapped on her driver’s side window.

“Oh, Hudson? What do you want?” She swiped quickly at her face, as if I couldn’t tell from her wobbling voice she’d been crying.

“Come on. Out. I’m driving you home,” I ordered. As second in command at the firehouse full of men, I’d gotten used to barking orders. I opened her door and offered my hand.

She grabbed the door to pull it closed. “Thank you kindly, but I don’t need your help.”

As much as she tugged, my grip on the door held firm.

“Fight me all you want, Lacey Andrews. But you’re not driving home in this condition. Now, give me those keys—please.” I tried a softer approach.

“Nope.”

“Don’t make me call Branson over here. He’ll arrest you before you even set out.”

“Aw, how is Officer B? Still sneezy?” She snickered. The old joke in town about us seven Goodson boys, each being like one of the seven dwarves, got old and made my teeth grind.

“His allergies are under control. Now get your little ass outta that seat.”

“Fine. It’s just a few blocks to Mom’s. I’ll walk.” She exited her hatchback and proceeded to tug at a bag and suitcase buried in the trunk. I sighed and came around behind her, giving the handle a good yank—too hard. The whole thing pulled free, and we tumbled backward.

Lacey landed on top of me, far too close to my family jewels. I groaned. Couldn’t help it. My cock had never been this near to Lacey before. I’d thought about it now and then—what it might be like inside her tight walls. The fantasy now ignited fullyunder the weight of her, thanks to sparks of electricity pinging between our bodies.