Read Online Rekindle the Flame by Kate Meader - Free Book Online Page A

be a firefighter, to honor Sean and Logan and everything they had done for this family, this city. My life was here, but hers . . .” Another solid blow to the bag kept him focused on getting out words that had never before found air. “Not sure I could have lived with what a life with me would have turned her into.”
    For a start, her father would have cut her off for hooking up with a punk-ass street kid. Staying in Chicago with her wings clipped, living on the fumes of teenage love that might not pass the test after a year or two of real life—no way did Beck want to shoulder the blame for that cluster.
    “Love someone, set them free. That your angle?”
    “I s’pose.” Beck landed a hard, yet unsatisfying one-two-punch on the bag. “She’s turned into this amazing woman, Wy. Strong, beautiful, independent.” As for what Beck brought to the table, the jury was still out. He knew one thing, though, with a clarity that cut him to the core.
    He wanted her.
    “Becky, you’ve got a visitor,” Luke called out from the gym’s entrance.
    “Are you decent?” a sultry voice crooned. Speak of the green-eyed temptress herself . . .
    Darcy peeked around Luke’s shoulder, her palm caging her eyes inadequately as she scoped out the gym. She dropped her hand dramatically. “Oh, that’s disappointing. I was hoping for more sweaty men.”
    Beck’s heart punched his ribs with all the force of an attack hose pumping out water at 400 psi. Just when he thought he’d have to chase her down, here she was, and holy shit, she had dressed up for her Engine 6 debut.
    Leather molded to her curves like it had been painted on with a brush—or tattooed with her gun. High-heeled boots brought her up to Luke’s chin, and he was taller than all of them. The jacket she wore was unbuttoned, revealing that revolt of colorful florals on the rise of her breast. All she was missing was a frickin’ crossbow.
    “Hey,” he said. Wow, positively Shakespearean.
    “Hey, yourself,” she said back, a smile in her voice. “Can I have a word?”
    That should have been enough of a hint for Beck’s nosy brothers to clear off, but from their assorted smirksand raised brows, no one was budging. Fuckers. Hurriedly, he made introductions and was about to quickstep her out of there when Gage strutted in.
    “Hey, it’s Darcy, isn’t it?” Gage asked. “Hot damn, I love your ink!” Never one for boundaries, baby bro nudged the lapel of her jacket aside and scrutinized her cleavage. “Heard you’re a big-time tattoo artist now.”
    “I wouldn’t go that far,” she said, a becoming watercolor bloom of pink suffusing her cheeks.
    Gage threaded his muscled arms over his chest. Today’s T-shirt slogan announced: I’m a Firefighter—What’s Your Superpower?
    “Beck’s been stalking you on the Web, trying to piece it all together Sherlock-style. Those pics . . . Darcy Cochrane, you are a stone-cold fox!”
    “Sometimes I wonder if this gay thing is just a phase,” Beck muttered, drawing Wyatt’s low huff of laughter.
    “Oh!” Surprise perked up Darcy’s face, and she considered Gage with renewed interest. “That’s right, you’re gay. Mel is going to be stricken with grief.”
    Gage winked. “Yeah, I get that a lot.”
    As he stripped off his gloves, Beck recalled the details of his investigations on Darcy, which had turned up far-flung locations like London, Paris, and LA. She lived a nomadic lifestyle, always leaving her clients—and no doubt her many admirers—wanting more. In the tattoo world, Darcy Cochrane was a big fucking deal. She had won contests, displayed her art at something called the Body Expo, was a respected force in the business of drilling pigment into the skin. She’d even inked a well-knownrock star, and there were rumors of a brief, combustible relationship, if TMZ was to be believed.
    Gage was still gabbing. Jesus. “I couldn’t believe that in all this time, he’s never once looked you up. I