Just This Once (The Kings)

I checked my phone for the hundredth time and frowned at it when she still hadn’t texted. Half a dozen times I’d typed out a pathetic text to check in with her, but I didn’t want to interrupt if they were still hashing it out. Clingy was not the light in which I wanted to be viewed by her, but the truth was I had been crawling out of my skin. I was spending the last few minutes of my shift in the break room and I was anxious to hear how the conversation with her father had gone.

Word spread quickly about Emily and me, and my phone had been buzzing all morning with nosy texts from friends and my sisters.

If she’s your friend, then you can ask her.

Sylvie immediately sent an adorable selfie of her squishing little Gus’s drooly face.

With half a smile, I looked up from my phone and around the station. Chief hadn’t been in yet, and dread seeped into my gut, erasing any relief my sisters had given me. I knew before I did it that going after Emily was wrong—her father was my boss and mentor. I was shit at relationships, and when I inevitably fucked it up, it would put us both in the awkward position of having to take sides. But now that I was in it, I couldn’t get myself out—and didn’t want to. My soul called for her, and I would always choose her.

I only hoped that was a choice I wouldn’t be forced to make.

The longer uncertainty hung in the air, the more agitated I became. Sitting around and waiting for the hammer to drop was excruciating. I drummed my fingers against the counter as I waited impatiently for the coffee maker to hurry the fuck up.

With the first sip, my coffee tasted like bitterness and anxiety as I mulled over the possible outcomes of Emily’s talk with her dad. My eyes kept flicking to the clock, each passing second a painful reminder of the unresolved tension. I couldn’t shake the image of Chief storming into the station, his face stern, disappointment etched in the lines of his forehead. My heart pounded, a steady beat of dread accompanying each tick of the clock.

“Yo, Whip!” Connor’s voice called on the intercom. “You’ve got a visitor downstairs.”

I walked to the top step and looked down at his grinning face. I sighed. “Don’t fuck with me. I can’t handle another granny gorilla striptease.”

Connor barked a laugh. Last year I had gotten a “visitor,” and it turned out to be someone dressed as an elderly gorilla. As soon as I walked to the door, the gorilla started playing music and removing her clothing—complete with granny panties. I knew Lee was behind it. Hell, I was fairly certain it was him dressed in the costume, and it was fucking hilarious—not that I’d ever admit that to him.

Connor jerked his head to the side. “Come on. I think you’re going to want to see this one.”

Taking the steps two at a time, I bounded downstairs. My heart thunked against my ribs when I saw Emily standing with a large white bakery box in her arms and a wide, bright smile on her face.

“Aww . . .” Her lower lip jutted out. “I thought maybe you’d ride the pole down.”

Connor covered his laugh with his hand, and I shot him a look, telling him to get lost.

I stepped up to Emily. She’s actually here—standing in the apparatus bay surrounded by trucks and the smells of rubber and lemon cleaner.

She hefted the box higher. “I got something for you.”

“Is that so?” I tipped open the lid to find an array of neatly arranged pastries from the Sugar Bowl. “The crew will love them. Thank you.”

She beamed up at me, and we smiled at each other like fools.

How was this actually happening?

Emily gently cleared her throat. “I talked to my dad.”

I searched her eyes, but they were clear and sure. The tightness in my shoulders relaxed the tiniest amount.

“I think we’re going to be just fine, you and me.”

You and me.

I liked the sound of that.

Sure, I still wanted to talk with my chief about everything that had happened, but for the moment, Emily assured me things were going to be okay. It almost didn’t feel real. Things like this didn’t work out for guys like me. Women like Emily Ward didn’t fall for unworthy men.

“So we’re good then?” I asked.

Her gentle, excited nod was enough to send my mind sailing. She shrugged as I relieved her of the pastry box. “I’m sure there’s going to be a level of ball-busting I don’t really understand, but from where I’m standing, Dad took the news about as well as he could have.”

My tongue was thick and my jaw twitched. Was it really that easy? If I trusted in the carefree way she showed up at the fire station and the brightness in her blue-green eyes, then yeah . . . I guessed it was.

“I’m taking you out.” I grinned.

Her eyebrows shot up. “Oh, really?”

My molars clamped down to hide my cheesy grin. “Damn right. If this isn’t a secret anymore, the whole damn town is going to know you’re mine.”

Her lips folded in as a shy blush pinked her cheeks. “I think I’d like that.”noveldrama

“Be ready by seven. I’ll pick you up at the house.” I nodded toward the open bay door. “Now get out of here. You’re too distracting to be walking around here looking all cute.”

She used two fingers to give me a salute. “You got it.”

When she turned, I balanced the pastry box in one hand and used the other to playfully smack her ass. She yelped and giggled before stepping out into the sunny July afternoon.

“It’s kind of hard to tell.” Emily leaned in and whispered as I slid her fruity drink in front of her. The Grudge was busy, and old country classics crooned from the jukebox as a new band set up on the stage.

I grunted a response and sipped my beer. “It’s subtle, but it’s there.” I leaned in to inconspicuously point toward the west side of the bar. “If you look, those are all Sullivans and their allies. You can tell by the way they all have sunbeams shooting out of their asses.”

She gave me a dry side-eye and slyly smiled. “And what about the Kings?”

I chuckled and sat back. “That’s easy. Any King carries the weight of the world. You can see it in the shoulders.”

Her eyes raked over the east side, taking in members of my extended family and those associated with us. “Always ready to fight, huh?”

I nodded and sipped. “Pretty much.”

“It’s wild that this feud has gone on so long and anyone who’s not from here is none the wiser. Tourists just exist alongside it and have no idea.”

I stretched my arm over the back of her chair and allowed my fingertips to brush along the soft skin at the base of her neck. “We’re no fools. This is a tourist town, and because of that, it keeps us in check. The town may be divided from years of rivalry, but neither side would put the town at risk by alienating the main source of income. We rely on families visiting Outtatowner and coming back every year. How our families feel about each other really doesn’t matter. Just the way it goes.”

My sister walked in, tucked under the arm of Duke Sullivan, and I watched as they took up space directly in the middle of the bar.

“Maybe not so divided after all.” Emily was smiling at my sister and gave her a friendly wave, which Sylvie returned.

Duke and I locked eyes, and he tipped his chin in greeting. I lifted my glass to return it. “You might be right about that.”

Things were shifting in Outtatowner—you could feel it in the air. Lines were blurred all over the place, and if I knew anything, my father would be the first person to push back. He’d all but disowned my sister.

I swallowed another gulp of beer and pushed away any thoughts of Russell King from my mind. Tonight was about Emily and me, and he couldn’t take that from me.

As the band started their first set, I drummed my hands on the wood tabletop. Then I held my palm to her. “May I have this dance, Prim?”

Excitement danced in Emily’s eyes as she slipped her hand into mine. “I would love to.”

Slowly, I led her to the dance floor and felt eyes swivel in our direction. Emily had been in Outtatowner long enough now that everyone knew she was Chief Martin’s daughter. Word about us kissing at the carnival, only to be discovered by her father, had also blazed through town like an inferno.

I twirled Emily under my arm as we reached the dance floor. Together we swayed to the music. Emily rested on my chest, and I held her close, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. Memories of the night we met swirled in my mind. I’d known then she was something special, but I hadn’t had a clue how much she’d completely upend my life.

How much I craved that.

Curious eyes swept over us as we confirmed the speculation that Whip King was, in fact, together with Emily Ward. I basked in the knowledge that this fiery, amazing woman was mine.

And the only person who could ruin it was me.