The Firefighter and the Virgin Princess by Jemma Harte Page A

I?"
    His heart was thumping way too hard. It was
Saturday so he knew she had no class in the morning. He cleared his
throat. "You should. Definitely."
    "Okay then." She slipped her hand through
his arm, and the four of them left the skating rink together.
    Joe stayed quiet, his breath and his
heartbeat loud in his own ears, afraid that if he said the wrong
thing she'd take flight again. But she was hanging on to his arm,
touching him in the street— a public display of some affection that
she would usually avoid. That had to be a good sign, right? He
daren't believe she was really coming with them until they were
safely on the ferry and halfway across the water.
     
    * * * *
     
    They dropped Nicky and Antonia off at his
brother's house first. Lily saw at once that no one had been told
anything about her. Standing in the small, brightly lit kitchen,
she felt Joe's sister-in-law raking over her skin with sharply
questioning, wary eyes, while his brother tried not to look
surprised.
    "Nice to meet you...Lily. You've known my
brother long?"
    "A few weeks. He drove by in a fire truck
and splashed my coat in the street one day."
    "Uh huh?" He looked over at Joe, who was
fidgeting, ready to leave, not volunteering anything to the
conversation.
    "Lily's a ballerina," Antonia announced, in
a tone that suggested they were dumb for not knowing. "She's the
best ballerina in the world. We saw her tonight, and she's going to
teach me to ploopret."
    "Really?" the little
girl's father exclaimed. And then a light seemed to switch on
inside his head, for he smiled widely at his brother. "Right! Now I
remember. A dancer ."
    "So you live in the city?" the wife asked
stiffly.
    "Yes."
    "I didn't think you were from around
here."
    There was an awkward pause, broken by Joe's
brother. "Let me get you a drink, Lily."
    "We gotta go," Joe replied hurriedly. "I
gotta get Lily back on the ferry."
    She turned. "I thought I was staying with
you tonight?"
    His lips parted, he looked paler than usual.
She realized she probably shouldn't have said that in front of the
others, but why not? He always claimed to be a man who said what he
thought. No lies.
    One hand cupping her elbow he steered her
out of his brother's house as if it was on fire.
    "I wasn't ready to tell them about you," he
muttered.
    "Interesting. You were mad when you thought
I was keeping you out of my world, but you hadn't told anyone about
me."
    "I didn't have the chance to tell anyone. I
don't even know what's going on with us now, do I?"
    Lily thought for a minute and then said,
"You're going to make love to me, all night long. As you suggested
at the ice rink."
    With a groan he put his arm around her
shoulders. "All you ever want from me is sex. We've been through
this—"
    "You told me I should come on the ferry with
you."
    He grimaced. "I did."
    "And you came to see me because you missed
me." Lily licked her cold lips. "And I missed you." Tonight she was
going to be brave and not hide everything she felt. She wanted to
be more like him. It was so warm under his arm, his body heat
seeping through their clothes.
    They turned down another street, and he
picked up the pace. "If you stay tonight, and you want to make
love, you have to spend the day with me tomorrow. No running
off."
    "I might have known. Now you have me on your
territory, I'm trapped."
    "That's right. You might never escape Staten
Island again now we got you here." Lily felt the laughter vibrating
deep through his chest. "Come to dinner with me at my mother's
house tomorrow. I want her to meet you." A soft groan escaped his
mouth with another cloud of breath. "She'll have to, now that
Sherri and Mike have seen you, because they are sure to tell her
and she won't shut up until she's met you. Given you the once over
and her stamp of approval."
    "Approval for what?"
    "For you to be in my life, Lily Keene. Did
you think you're the only one who's fucking choosy about who they
let in?"
    "You drive a hard bargain."
    "Exactly. No