by Molly O'Hare
Teased by Fire
Molly O’Hare
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Will Lord Waffles Really Rule the World?
Also By Molly O’Hare
About the Author
Stumbling Into Him Sneak Peek
Copyright
Copyright 2018 Molly O’Hare
ebook Edition License Notes
All rights reserved. This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form. Stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means. This includes, but is not limited to, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise. No part of this book may be reproduced or copied without prior consent of the author & publisher. All characters and towns are figments of the author’s imagination and bear no resemblance to any person living or deceased if there is any resemblance it is entirely coincidental.
Cover Model: Chase Ketron
Photographer: Furiousfotog: Golden Czermak
Cover Art: Just Write. Creations
Disclaimer: This title is intended for mature audiences due to adult situations and languages.
Molly O’Hare
www.MollyOHare.com
Acknowledgments
First, I want to thank YOU. Seriously, thank you!
I want to thank my husband, for always having my back. My friend, my editor, and one of my biggest supporters, Karen. KB: Love you guys.
Richelle – I can’t believe a small conversation about a website theme started a beautiful friendship. You’ve been there through it all. The ups, the downs, everything. I cannot believe what an amazing friendship we have formed and in such a short time. I love you so freakin’ much. You are the ultimate Great White shark, and you better never change.
Brittney, Julia, Ari – I think back at when I started this journey and love that you lovely ladies are right there. From the beginning, your support has meant so much to me. I would never be able to do it without you ladies. I love you all so much.
Christina – I am so thankful for you. You’ve helped me so much, you and J.E. have been so freaking amazing I don’t even know how to thank you.
I also want to thank Angela Verdenius. I am so honored to call you one of my good friends. You have been so unbelievably amazing in so many ways. I love you so much.
I do not really know how to thank any of you other than offering to give you my undying love, which you already have. No, take backs!
Dedication
I dedicate this story to you.
You are beautiful.
You are strong.
You are a freakin’ unicorn.
I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it. You are perfect just the way you are. If anyone tells you something different, mentally throat punch them. (Please don’t do it for real unless you want jail time. I am not responsible for it. – Although, if they said jerk things to you, they probably deserved it.)
This story goes out to all of you.
Be you.
Always.
Fuck everyone else.
Chapter One
Olive Quinn glared daggers at her traitorous best friend, Miranda Parker, as the bane of her existence moved yet another piece of his furniture into her apartment. This was all Miranda’s fault.
“Stop trying to murder me with your eyes, Olive.” Miranda sighed in annoyance as she pushed the hair out of her face.
That only caused Olive to glare harder in her friend’s direction. “I will not stop trying to murder you with my eyes,” Olive whisper shouted. “It’s your fault he is moving into my apartment.”
“What the hell did you want me to do, Olive? I knew I couldn’t leave you stranded to pay the rent on your own. You’re just pissed I’m moving.”
“Damn right, I’m pissed. If I were you I’d check every box you packed for surprises.” Olive squinted her eyes harder in Miranda’s direction trying to intimidate her.
Miranda shook her head. “How many times are we going to go through this? If I thought I had a chance of getting the job, I would have told you. I would have thought hell would’ve frozen over first.”
“And yet here we are. Hell must be mighty cold right now.”
“I’m sorry, okay. I’m freaking sorry.”
At Miranda’s defeated posture Olive softened. “No, I’m the one that’s sorry. You’ve got your dream job now. I need to stop being angry and just be happy for you.”
“It’s a lot changing all at once.”
Olive looked at Miranda, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m going to miss you. We’ve been stuck together since the first grade.”
“Nothing’s changing,” Miranda tried reassuring her.
“Everything is changing. You’re moving clear across the country and I only found out two days ago. I haven’t had time to accept the fact my only friend is leaving me.” Her eyes narrowed. “And, to top it all off, you went behind my back and gave your brother your room.”
Miranda sighed before crossing her arms over her chest. “I don't understand why you are freaking out so much? Yeah, Hank is an ass, but if you both stay out of each other’s way, you’ll be fine. Plus, I’ve brought you the best research tool a romance writer could ever ask for. You’ll be able to get a up close and personal experience on how he operates. I brought you a gift.”
“If you mean the gift of an STD infested man-whore? You can keep it.” Olive’s eyes widened as everything clicked into place. This wasn’t her best friend. There was no way in hell her best friend who she’d known for years would actually be doing this. That settles it. She’d somehow been abducted by aliens and the person standing in front of her was an imposter. This is it. This is the zombie apocalypse we’ve all been waiting for. Olive quickly grabbed Miranda’s arms examining them for any sign of an implant.
Miranda snatched her hands back. “Jesus, Olive, what are you doing?”
“Checking to see if you have a tracking device somewhere,” she said as a matter of fact.
Miranda rolled her eyes. “Do you ever live anywhere other than your fantasy world?”
Offended, Olive crossed her arms over her chest. “Hey, my weird brain is a masterpiece. How else do you think I come up with my stories?”
“I don’t know how you function when all you think about is the zombie apocalypse or some strange alien race invading the earth.”
Olive pointed at her head. “This imagination makes me money.”
“How? Your brain makes zero sense. You don’t even write the shit that goes on in your mind.” Miranda shook her head. “Olive, you write contemporary erotic romance. Please explain to me how a brain so involved in aliens and zombies writes hardcore romance with alpha males that make all women drool?”
Olive shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s a weird yin and yang thing, you know, balance to the Force and what not.”
“Fuck!” They heard from the other room as a loud bang echoed throughout the space.
Olive’s eyes narrowed back at her friend as her lips thinned. “He’s a big oaf, and he’s gonna use his big oaf muscles to make holes in my walls.”
Miranda crossed her arms over her chest. “All right, Olive, I get it.
You’re fucking pissed. Okay. If I were you I’d be pissed too, but there is nothing we can do about it now. Hank is moving in. Right now, as we speak. He needed a place and you need someone that can pay half the rent. End. Of. Story.”
Olive knew Miranda was right, but that didn’t stop the betrayal and hurt from running through her. Within two days, everything she was accustomed to had been upended. That’s a lot for anyone to take in.
“It’s not like he’ll be here often anyway,” Miranda remarked. “He’s always at the fire station, and when he’s not, he’ll be out with his flavor of the week.”
“That isn’t the point. With Hank the Tank…” Olive physically revolted. “I hate that nickname everyone calls him.”
“It’s stupid, I agree.”
“Back to what I was saying,” Olive started again after shaking the thoughts from her head. “With Hank moving in, I can’t be me anymore. Olive Quinn: awkward, hates people, never goes outside or wears a bra. I’ll be banished to my room or forced to wear a bra. I don’t want to wear a bra. Bras suck and stifle my creativity. Oh god, don’t even get me started on underwires. Who the hell came up with underwires for bras, anyway? I bet you it was a man. Yup, it had to have been a man. A woman wouldn’t have invented something that after a little while, a hard metal wire pokes out and causes you excruciating pain; when all you want to do is walk to the store and buy some snacks. But no, instead I'm walking down the sidewalk discreetly trying to move the wire to a place where it’s not trying to puncture through my skin and kill me.”
Miranda chuckled. “You have a point about the bra, but you said the same thing about pants and you’ve grown accustomed to wearing them.”
“Not by choice! I only wear them because you kept the air on “cold as fuck.” If I didn’t wear pants these thunder thighs would have gotten frostbitten.”
“I keep it cold because you have that weird obsession with the holidays.”
“I do not!”
Miranda’s brow rose before she pointed to the corner of Olive’s bedroom. “You have a freakin’ Christmas tree up.”
“Yeah, what’s your point?”
“It’s the middle of June. No one needs a Christmas tree up in the middle of June.”
Olive held her hand to her chest as if she’d been shot. “How can you say that?”
Miranda instantly rolled her eyes. “It’s the middle of June. That’s how I can say that.”
“Haven’t you heard of Christmas in July? I’m just a few weeks early.”
“Christmas in July,” Miranda scoffed. “Olive, you haven’t taken it down in the three years we’ve lived here.”
“Damn, Scrooge much? Sorry, my joy of the holidays makes you a bitter humbug.”
Miranda held Olive’s shoulders. “Please leave this apartment more often and get some fresh air. I really am worried about you.”
“Do not shit all over my love of the happiest time of the year. And, stop deflecting on the fact that you went behind my back and moved in your brother.”
“Think of all the material for your books you’ll get now.” Miranda swiped her hand towards the bedroom door. “His friends are delicious, what more can you ask for? Hot firemen as your personal research subjects. You can save your computer from all the viruses from those porn sites you...” She made air quotes. “…use for research.”
“Hey, don’t knock it. Those sites are a golden tool for my line of work.”
“Whatever. It’s done. Now, let’s go back out there and get the rest of my stuff packed away.”
Olive huffed before following her friend. “Remember those research subjects include your brother the next time you read one of my books.” Olive couldn’t help the smirk that spread across her face when Miranda’s eyes widened. Take that you, traitorous devil woman!
“Oh shit, what have I done?”
Olive pushed Miranda’s shoulder shoving her towards the door. “Serves you right.”
As they walked back into the living room, Olive’s heart stopped as she saw a shirtless, sweaty Hank standing in the middle of the room. How in the hell was it possible to look that good? He had muscles for days. Her eyes went to his abs as she started mentally counting them. Sure, half the men in her books were described like him, but that was in her mind. Men did not look like them in real life. And, why the hell was he looking at her like she was a tall glass of water and he was a man dying of thirst?
Her whole body shivered. She one-hundred percent stepped into an alternate universe.
“There you two are,” Hank remarked. “I thought you’d left all the work to us.” He nodded his head towards his station buddies that’d agreed to help move Miranda out and him in.
Olive looked around at the men scattered throughout the room. It was like a Hot Fireman/Paramedic calendar threw up in her apartment. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
She turned towards her friend and smirked, which made Miranda blanch for a brief second before she spoke. “No, we haven’t left. We were just discussing something in Olive’s room,” Miranda announced before making her way to one of the many boxes in the living room.
“That so, and what did you and Olive Oil need to discuss?” Hank smirked in her direction.
“Do not call me that!” Olive glanced around the room for something to throw at his head. She’d grown up with Hank teasing her every chance he got, and if he thought she would just stand by and let him do it in her own home he had another thing coming.
At her annoyance, Hank chuckled. “Oh, I think living with you will be lots of fun, Olive Oil.”
Olive turned back to Miranda ready to demand she make him leave when Hank yelled out, “Any of you seen Dog?”
A chorus of no’s rang out throughout the room which made Olive roll her eyes. “Let me guess, another one of your degenerate friends?” she asked glaring at Hank.
His eyes brightened with laughter as his smile grew wider. “Miranda didn’t tell you about Dog?”
Olive’s eyes shot to her best friend who now busied herself with removing an invisible piece of dirt from her shirt. “No, I guess that tidbit of information escaped her,” Olive sneered.
Hank disappeared out of the room leaving Olive with her brow raised and her arms crossed at his sudden departure. Well, okay then. Clearly living with Hank was not going to be a walk in the park.
A few minutes later she heard Hank shout, “Found her!” He then made his way back into the living room. That’s when Olive spotted the largest Maine Coon cat she’d ever seen in her life cradled in Hank’s arms.
“What is that?”
Hank pat the cat on its head causing the ginormous thing to tilt its face in his direction seeking out more attention, or possibly meat from a small animal being used as a sacrifice. “This is Dog,” he said with a grin.
That’s when she snapped. “Who the fuck names a cat Dog?”
Chapter Two
“Dude, Hank, she looked pissed,” Hank’s longtime best friend and fellow firefighter, Lucas said as he shoved another piece of pizza in his mouth.
“Yeah man, she looked pissed.” His buddies all chimed in together as they sat around the table scarfing down their food.
Hank smirked. “Did she? I hadn’t noticed.” Olive did look pissed and he loved every second of it. The moment he brought Dog out, Olive’s arms crossed under her chest pushing those delectable tits up to her chin. He’d chastised himself for fantasizing about those babies for years. Your younger sister’s best friend was off limits though. That’s written in the man code rule book. However, when it came to Olive Quinn, there was something about her that made him forget his own name. One look at her and he wanted to break all the rules.
Hank remembered coming home from a summer away, working at this uncle’s construction company, and seeing just how much Olive had grown into her body. It was the first time he took notice of her more than his little sister’s best friend.
Lord have mercy!
And as Olive got older, s
he only filled out more and more. It was like she was made to purposely get his motor running. She had hips that begged to be held on to. Thighs that he knew would cushion him as he fucked her, and a stomach that would be soft against his head as he’d fall on top of her after a fuck session that would blow them both away.
Her curves made his mouth water. He wanted nothing more than to sink his teeth into her and get lost inside of her.
But, he couldn’t.
And, he shouldn’t. It didn’t matter how many times she’d appear in his fantasies. No one should have those types of feeling towards their little sister’s best friend.
Olive was meant to be worshiped from afar.
That was until everything changed.
The moment his sister announced she was leaving and Olive needed a roommate he jumped at the opportunity. Even if he wasn’t in the market at looking for a new place to live he would have arranged it.
The chance to finally get up close and personal to his little wallflower, made his skin heat. Hank was tired of denying himself and at thirty-four, why the fuck should he? He was tired of constantly sneaking glances at his Olive Oil. Especially, since the opportunities to get a glimpse of the elusive creature were few and far between.
He’d long since given up on seeing Olive in any social settings. Every time Miranda came out to the station, or to some party or event, Olive was never in tow. She stayed to herself with her head buried in a book or on her computer.