It was a mistake to reveal that much emotion to Reese, and I realized it too late, when her eyes went round in shock. Genuine shock. “Holy crap, you like her!”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you didn’t not say it either.” Reese leaned forward in her seat, blond hair swinging around her shoulders as she took pity on me. “Janey sent a message. Your presence is requested early Sunday morning at the firehouse. Bring your gear, she said.” Reese smirked. “She said you’d know what that meant, but now I want to know too.”
“Bye Reese,” I told her with a roll of my eyes that pulled a loud laugh from her petite frame.
“Oh no,” she said and leaned back in the chair as she crossed her legs. “I’ve got plenty of time for my bestie.”
The worst part of having a female best friend is that she never missed an opportunity to throw my words back in my face. “You’re not gonna let this go, are you?”
Reese arched a brow and shook her pretend magic eight ball, looking at the imaginary screen. “Outlook not so good. Spill.”
So, I did. I didn’t spill everything because I was a gentleman and Reese didn’t really want to hear all the details. “The sex is great, obviously, and I have no problem with a casual relationship.”
“Ew, too much information. Please.” She let out a pretend shudder that earned her a scowl. “What? Sorry but I don’t need to know all that about anyone but Jackson.”
“Remember that the next time you want to tell me how you got a bruise on your thigh.” Her cheeks reddened at the reminder and she raked both hands through her hair.
“Okay fine, noted. But seriously, do you even want anything more than sex? With Janey, or anyone else?”
I sighed, tired of hearing this question. “Why does everyone assume that I have some fear of commitment? Did it ever occur to any of you that a man doesn’t settle down until he finds the right woman?”
“And none of the women have been right?” I heard the disbelief in her words but I refused to back down.
“None. Look, women find a man and they think ‘good enough, I can mold him’ and a man just keeps looking until he finds the woman he wants to settle down with.” I had no desire to change a woman, or be changed by anyone.
“That’s not offensive at all.”
I shrugged, not bothered by her tone. “You expect me to believe that I’m such a great catch that a dozen different women have wanted to settle down with me? Or is it that I’ve got the makings of a good partner they can shape over time?”
I didn’t need an answer, Reese’s speechlessness told me everything I needed to know. “So, you do want more than sex with Janey?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, knowing it made no sense. “But I don’t like that she just automatically assumed I wouldn’t want anything but…that.”
“Ah,” she said, nodding her head with a knowing smile. “Your ego is dented, and I’m sorry Rafe, but that’s not a good enough reason to pursue anyone, never mind Janey.”
“Why?”
“Because things will be awkward after,” she said sheepishly.
“After what, Reese?”
She shrugged. “After you break her heart Rafe, what else?”
“Unbelievable! Even you, my own damn friend has so little faith in me. Well thanks Reese. Thanks a fucking lot.”
“Oh, spare me the melodrama Rafe. You’re an alright guy, there’s no doubt about that. But your track record for serious relationships is…nonexistent, whereas your record for short, shallow affairs is pretty extensive.”
“And that’s a crime?”
“No, not at all, and I’m sure Janey doesn’t think so either. But it’s a red flag for a woman who is in search of a life partner, someone who doesn’t seem to want to settle down.”
“That’s pretty much what she said. Which means this is a lost cause, right?”
Reese stood and frowned at me, placing both palms flat on my desk, her expression fierce. “Not even a little bit. Do you like Janey? Honest answer.”
I sighed, but the answer came easily. “Yes.”
“Are you sure you want more than sex?” I nodded again, my expression darker now. “Good, then prove it. Don’t go crazy and make a big scene about it, but show up when you say you will. Keep your word. Treat her like you treat me, only more romantic. And with more orgasms.”
“Got that part covered,” I assured her and she responded exactly how I expected, with a bunch of phony gagging noises.
“Thanks for the visual,” she said finally. “I’ll be sure to return the favor. Soon.”
“Don’t feel that you have to,” I told her with a nervous smile that made her laugh again. “Thanks for lunch. And the talk.”
“Anytime. Also, you’ll need to be patient with this, prove to her you’re in it for the long haul. Good luck.” Reese gave a quick wave and seconds later I heard the fast pace of her feet running down the steps, always in a hurry to get back to her kitchen.
Alone with my thoughts again, I picked up my phone, unable to stop the smile on my face when her voice sounded down the line, like she was smiling. “You got lunch.”
“I did,” I told her with a smile. “Thanks. Got your message too.”
“Excellent. I take it that means your calendar is clear?”
“It means I will be there, and so will my gear.”
“Good,” she said in a low husky breath before clearing her throat. “Then I’ll see you Sunday morning.”
“It’s also the end of my long shift,” I told her just in case she was interested in meeting up.
Her answer shocked the hell out of me. “I know,” she told me and then quickly ended the call.
I don’t know how long I stared at the phone wearing a goofy smile, but I know it was too damn long.
Janey
Sunday morning came too early, as it always did when you planned a job earlier than was necessary. But a quick talk with some of the Tulip firefighters revealed that there was a mandatory training session on the books today, which meant the guys on shift would still be sleeping, and all the rest would far away from the firehouse until nine a.m. At least.
I got up after just one press of the snooze button, grabbed a quick shower as hot as I could stand it to wake me up and pre-soothe my muscles from bending and contorting my body for the next few hours. I dumped half a pot of coffee in my Welcome to Tulip thermos and drank it slowly while I loaded the necessary equipment into my car. It occurred to me about halfway through my journey to the fire station that maybe, just maybe, I should have made more of an effort on my appearance.
Rafe didn’t seem to mind, then again he was getting no strings sex on a regular basis so what did he have to complain about? Then there was the niggling sound of the matchmakers’ voices talking about what kind of woman Rafe needed. That woman was well put together, ultra-feminine and probably a knockout. I was none of those things and a quick look down at my worn in jeans with a small slit across the left knee, and the loose tank top commemorating Tulip’s yearly food festival with a smaller plain white tank underneath, proved it.
It was too late to do anything about my appearance but when I pulled into the nearly empty parking lot of the emergency services building, I fixed my lopsided ponytail, pinched some color into my cheeks and slicked some black cherry lip gloss across my mouth. Just to make myself feel better and no other reason. Certainly not to impress Rafe because that’s not what this was about. This was work.
After two minutes of wandering the firehouse and not seeing any actual firefighters, I got busy unloading my equipment and setting it up in two different locations I’d already scouted. This was the final photo shoot in the Hometown Heroes series and I was determined not to let anything get in the way. Sure, the calendar was for charity and the proceeds would go towards repairing Tulip’s Tribute, but this had been my idea, my brain child and the fact that it was almost over was bittersweet.
Or something.
Which made it kind
of weirdly appropriate that Rafe was today’s subject. Or maybe it was just weird.
“It’s too early to be so lost in thought.” Rafe’s deep voice sounded behind me, no more than five feet based on the way that rich sound affected me physically. It was deep and honeyed, the kind of voice that could command you to do all manner of depraved acts, and you would. Without hesitation.
I turned slowly and took in the early morning yumminess that was Rafe. He wore jeans that were so worn and faded, they looked like cotton. But it was the long sleeve gray t-shirt he wore that hugged his muscles and showed off his narrow waist and wide back, that really sent my body firing on all cylinders. “Good morning, Chief.”
His gaze darkened and his nostrils flared, making me gasp. “Mornin’ Janey. Sleep well?”
“Perfectly,” I lied easily.
Rafe flashed a grin and shoved one hand in his front pocket. “I slept like shit too. Could’ve used some company last night.”
I laughed and shook my head. “A dozen firefighters not enough company for you?” I arched my brows playfully and soon, Rafe’s smile joined the party.
“Not exactly the kind of company I was looking for.” His gaze bore a hole right through me and my breath hitched in my throat at the heat contained in the depths of his dark blue eyes.
“Right.” I wisely took a step back, hoping he wouldn’t see the fluttering pulse that gave away thoughts and emotions I tried to hide. “Are you ready to work or do you have firefighter work to do first?” I clenched my jaws and prayed to anyone who might be listening that he had some kind of work to do first, any excuse that would give me a break from his teasing and flirting. From his overwhelming presence.
Rafe took a step forward, his gaze locked on mine. “I’m here for you Janey. Only you.”
If only. But he was right. I asked him to show up and here he was. It was really a no-brainer. “Okay then, let’s start with you in the dressy stuff.” He didn’t often have a reason to wear the dress uniform but when he did, it really wasn’t fair to the female population.
“Dressy stuff?”
Damn, that smirk was a panty dropper. “Yeah, the dressy clothes you only break out on special occasions. The dressy stuff.”
This time Rafe let out a long, low laugh that hit me low in my gut. My nipples beaded and I was grateful for the cotton bra I’d chosen for functionality rather than sex appeal. “The dressy stuff it is, then. Do you want to help me, you know, make sure everything is in its place?”
Absolutely. “You wish. Get a move on, Chief.”
The look he sent me over his shoulder was hot enough to singe my panties, a thought I quickly shoved out of my mind and focused on the shots I wanted to get today. All of the Hometown Heroes were sexy as hell, something I would never ever tell any of them, which made shooting them easy. But Rafe was last and I wanted to do something a little different, or maybe I just wanted to keep the sexy version of him all to myself.
“Yeah right.” That was the last thing I was doing, but the shots of the fire at the old grain mill had inspired me to do more.
“Talking to yourself? Isn’t that a sign of madness or something?”
“Probably,” I told him with a dry laugh. When I turned around though, I was completely unprepared for the sight just three feet in front of me. Rafe in his navy blue dress uniform, single breasted with gold bars around the cuff area, white hat tucked under one arm. “Holy hell that is one smokin’ hot uniform!” I grabbed the camera closest to me, my fingers itched to capture the image he made.
“You think I’m hot,” he teased, though I was too focused on getting the candid shots of Rafe smiling and teasing, making eyes at me through the lens of the camera.
I shrugged and stopped shooting. Finally. “If I say yes, will you let me shoot you in only the protective pants?” Did I really just ask that? Yes I did. I was turned on and out of sorts and it was all Rafe’s fault. It was only fair we both be a little bit out of sorts.
Rafe’s grin, when it appeared, was wide and damn near blinding as I moved him to the exact spot I wanted him to stand under the lights. “Sure. In exchange for a kiss.”
I looked up at him and then over my shoulder before continuing my impersonation of a very paranoid person and checking to the left and the right for any ear hustlers or gossip hounds within hearing distance. “Here? Don’t be crazy?”
“You ashamed for people to know you find me attractive?”
I frowned at him and barked out a laugh. “You’re kidding right? I’d have to be blind not to find you attractive you big dummy. I just don’t want anyone getting any ideas.” And by anyone, I meant me.
“The matchmakers,” he guessed correctly.
“Yeah. Even though I’m in no danger of them hooking us up, I don’t want to tempt them into adding me to their list of people to screw with.” It didn’t matter that they didn’t think Rafe and I were right together, I wasn’t sure they were wrong.
Rafe’s blue eyes stared at me for a long time, like he was trying to figure me out and then his expression shifted, like he was amused by me and I wasn’t sure if that was more or less comforting. “Not here,” he said with a smirk and pointed up. “There.”
My gaze followed the line of his finger to the top of the fire truck that stood sentry behind us, providing the perfect backdrop for Tulip’s last Hometown Hero, and I sucked in a breath. He wanted a kiss on top of the fire truck. Hell yes. Was it some kind of weird fetish that I recently developed, because now that he’d mentioned it, I wanted nothing more than to climb on top of that fire truck. With Rafe. “Up there? On the truck?”
He nodded and took another step closer. “Scared?”
“No,” I insisted because that wasn’t what I was feeling. “Cautious,” I corrected because it felt like an important distinction. Making out on top of a fire truck was like a fantasy fulfillment kind of thing, the kind you’d do with a boyfriend. Or something more than a boyfriend but definitely not a booty buddy.
“Tell you what,” he said and took a step closer, putting his hands on my hips and gliding them up and down in a slow, drugging motion. “I’ll even let you get a few shots of me up there. That way if anyone comes we’ll have the perfect excuse.”
I glared at his smug, satisfied smile. “You don’t have to look so pleased with yourself.”
“Don’t I?” His thumb found a strip of skin and slid across it, catching my breath in my throat.
I put a hand to his chest, slightly mollified that his heart raced as fast as mine, and nodded. “One kiss. I get a dozen shots of you up there. In the pants.” His grin grew even wider. “Only the pants.”
“Be right back,” he said and took off once again, leaving me to figure out how I would get a light on top of the truck. The sun was shining bright so I opted for a small handheld light and my lightest camera, climbing slowly until I made it to the top.
“Oh.” It wasn’t as big as I thought it would be. Well it was big but it wasn’t spacious, since the giant firehose and the ladder extension took up all the surplus space.
“You didn’t wait for me.”
I sucked in a startled breath at Rafe’s words or maybe it was his nearness or that hint of man and coffee and early mornings in bed. “It’s cozy up here.” And it got cozier by the second when his arms wrapped around my waist and his lips touched down on my neck and shoulder, sending shivers down the length of my spine. He nipped my ear lobe and dragged his tongue along my jawline until I trembled with need. “Rafe.”
“Janey,” he groaned and spun me around in a move that was both overdramatic and incredible, and then slammed his lips against mine as if he couldn’t get enough. Of me. The kiss went on and on, heating up as the sun rose higher in the sky, heating my skin as much as the man underneath my fingertips. He was shirtless and his skin was hot to the touch as my fingers skidded up his triceps and wrapped around his hard shoulders. “Cozy is good,” he said when he pulled back with a lazy smile and sex in his eyes.
�
�Very good,” I responded in a voice that was huskier and sexier than my normal voice. Goodness the man was too potent by half, something I didn’t need when I was trying to work. No matter how much I appreciated it.
“How do you want me?” Rafe knew exactly the impact his teasing words would have on me so I ignored the blush staining my skin and focused my attention on the arm muscles highlighted by the way he held his arms out at his sides.
Naked and in my bedroom. The thought came immediately and I knew it was true because my pulsed raced, my belly clenched and my nipples were hard enough to cut glass. “Lie down.”
“Bossy.”
“You like it,” I tossed back and set my camera down once again to arrange him exactly how I wanted him.
“No I don’t. I love it.” His gaze was serious and the way he looked up at me with that sleepy smile was perfect. If I wasn’t being so mature and pragmatic about this whole sex with Rafe thing, I might be worried about that smile.
But I wasn’t.
“Perfect. Now keep looking at me. Just. Like. That.”
Rafe lifted both arms over his head, looking almost exactly the way he had in bed the other day and my whole body caught fire. “That was shot number fifteen. You owe me.” His smile was playful but when his pink tongue seeped out and swept across his bottom lip, the last thing on my mind was playing.
“Owe you?”
He nodded and jumped to his feet far too quickly for a man his size, particularly in a space as tiny as the top of the fire truck. “Yeah. You said twelve shots and I counted fifteen.” Rafe was so close that his scent wrapped around me and his breath fanned my face.
I looked up at him and willed my pulse to slow down to normal before I spoke. “Maybe it’s because you’re such a compelling subject.”
“Thanks, but try again.”
“Dammit.”
The sound Rafe’s laughter did nothing to cool my overheated skin or calm my frayed nerves. “Don’t worry Janey, I’ll think of some way you can pay me back.”
I had a few thoughts of my own on that topic. “And I’ll consider paying the debt.”
That Hot Night: A Firefighter Romance Page 9