Teased by Fire

by Molly O'Hare

  We all did things we didn’t like for the people we love. Hence the constant Bigfoot marathons he watched on tv.

  “Leave it.” Hank rolled his eyes. “Let Olive have this moment, okay? I promise as soon as she sees you, we will take it off.”

  Dog hissed in his direction.

  He winced. Maybe I should have left her in the apartment? When Dog opened her mouth again, she broadcasted her sharp teeth. Was this how Olive felt?

  Now he understood why Olive was always so adamant about Dog trying to make a meal out of her when he first moved into her apartment. He decided he didn’t want to anger the beast any more than he had. He made the move to remove the sweater from Dog when he heard Olive’s car pull into the driveway.

  He froze.

  “Sorry, girl. It’s showtime.”

  Olive huffed as she pulled into the driveway of the address Hank sent her. She couldn’t help but be a little miffed he hadn’t given her any information other than “I need you to come to this address”.

  For all she knew, someone could have stolen his phone and this was a setup. What if it was the government finally going after her after all her years of spouting the existence of Bigfoot and Aliens?

  This could be her end.

  Or worse.

  What if this was a party he wanted her to attend.

  That’s probably exactly what this was. Knowing Hank this was his attempt to get her to go outside but do it in a sneaky way as to not freak her out.

  Well, he was wrong.

  This did freak her out.

  She needed to be warned at least three days in advance if she was to have other human interaction. It was a common courtesy.

  Plus, if Olive were being honest, she wasn’t fully comfortable driving on her own yet. No one could blame her. Although, most of her nightmares had disappeared, she still had a tiny fear of getting behind the wheel.

  Once Olive had gotten a clean bill of health from the doctor, Hank and Miranda forced her to get a brand new car.

  A safe car.

  This one had brakes that worked wonderfully, and she knew that. However, she still wasn’t comfortable driving without someone in the passenger seat.

  That whole stronger in numbers thing really spoke to her.

  Hank knew that.

  She narrowed her eyes. After whatever this was ended, she was going to give Hank an earful and then make him sleep on the couch.

  Olive shut off the car and hopped out into the driveway. That’s when she got her first good look at the house.

  She stopped dead in her tracks.

  The house was absolutely breathtaking.

  Olive had never seen anything so beautiful in her life. Quickly she pulled out her phone and started snapping pictures. “This is one hundred percent going into my next book.” Olive continued to take pictures until she realized what a creeper she was being. She sighed before she placed her phone in her back pocket.

  Might as well get this over with.

  Cautiously, she walked to the front door before ringing the bell.

  Please let this be easy. Please let this be easy.

  “The doors open!”

  “Hank is that you?” she asked as she reached for the handle.

  “Yeah, come in, baby.”

  Olive pushed open the door only to freeze in her tracks.

  There in front of her was a room filled to the brim with holiday decorations. There was garland hung from the fireplace and all around the banisters. There were candles, and lights everywhere the eye could see.

  It was like Christmas threw up.

  And she loved every single second of it.

  As Olive tried to control her rampant heartbeat her mind started to register everything she was seeing.

  That’s when Hank came into view.

  He stood in front of one of the largest Christmas trees Olive had ever seen.

  She stood there in awe as she took in all of his glory. He wore dark blue jeans and a maroon long sleeve shirt, that made him look like a model come to life. That wasn’t the best part though. No, Hank Parker also wore a Santa hat.

  “What’s going on?” she asked as she took a step closer to him while she cocked her head to the side.

  That’s when out of the corner of her eye she saw Dog. “Oh my word, why is Dog wearing an ugly Christmas sweater, and how in the hell did you get it on her and not end up in the emergency room?” Olive shot her head from Dog to Hank and then back again. “Wait, why is Dog even here? I thought she was at home. How did I miss you taking her out of the apartment? No, wait, why are you wearing a Santa hat?” Olive threw her hands in the air. “I have so many questions!” Olive watched as Dog tried to fight with the sweater before flopping onto the floor giving up, but not before glaring at Hank.

  Olive had to bite her cheek not to laugh at the sight before her.

  “I said give it twenty minutes, Dog,” Hank growled. “That’s all I asked. Why do you have to be so goddamn stubborn?”

  Olive snapped her gaze back to Hank, as she did her best not to burst out in laughter. “Hank?”

  “Dog’s just being dramatic,” he assured Olive. “She’ll probably murder me in my sleep tonight, but it’ll be worth it.”

  Olive quirked her brow at him. “What?”

  Hank cleared his throat before taking a step closer to Olive. He then opened his arms. “Welcome home, baby.”

  “Home?”

  Olive looked around the room, her eyes wide as she took everything in as the word home rang throughout her head.

  “When I came across this house for sale I knew it was the one for us,” Hank spoke softly. “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “This is your home?” she asked completely dumbfounded.

  He bought a house? Like as in a place you live?

  “Our home,” he corrected. “I bought this place and fixed it up for us. It has a master bedroom on the second floor, and three additional bedrooms for when we have children.” He winked at her. “If you think the living room is full of Christmas you should see your office I set up off the kitchen.”

  Olive tried to make sense of everything Hank was telling her, but she was coming up short.

  To her utter surprise, Hank lowered himself to his knee. “I knew this house was the one we would raise our children in. I have no doubt in my mind about that. I also know you aren’t the biggest fan of change, so I figured I would take all the stress and unknown out of the equation and place your mind at ease by just doing it.” He motioned to the room around him. “The Christmas tree in our bedroom reminds you, you’re free and I love that about you. While you’re in our home I want you to always remember you are free. We’ll keep the decorations up all year long if that’s what makes you happy. If not, there is a Christmas tree in the master bedroom that will stay up all year. We can binge watch zombie movies in the comfort of our own winter wonderland.” Hank pulled out a small box from his jeans. “All you have to do is say yes and we can start our conspiracy filled, holiday infused, lives together.”

  Tears formed in Olive’s eyes as she watched the man she loved give her everything she’d ever dreamed she wanted. Olive had always wanted a happy ending like she wrote about in her stories, but this was better.

  This was real life.

  A lopsided grin formed on Olive’s face. “What exactly am I saying yes to?”

  Hank’s brows shot to the ceiling before a wide smile spread across his face. “One.”

  Oh, for the love of…

  Olive rolled her eyes before she ran toward Hank jumping into his arms.

  When they both fell back onto the floor Olive started to smother Hank in kisses. “I’m not saying yes until you ask me properly,” she teased as she kissed along his jawline.

  “Fine, you pain in my ass.” Hank rolled Olive under him. “Would you put me out of my misery and marry me?”

  Olive’s heart was seconds from exploding. “Now, was that so hard? All you had to do was ask.”

  “Is t
hat a yes?”

  “Of course, it’s a yes!” Olive pushed Hank’s shoulders making him fall onto his ass. That’s when Olive jumped to her feet running back to the front room towards the stairs.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Hank growled, as he started to chase after her.

  “I’ve got some exploring to do.” Olive raced up the stairs. “Someone decided to buy the house I’m going to live in for the rest of my life without consulting me first. I need to make sure it’s up to my standards,” she teased.

  “Two.”

  Olive stopped once she made it halfway up the stairs before she pivoted back to face Hank. “You’ve got to catch me first.”

  Olive took off up the stairs leaving Hank at the bottom a broad smile going across his face.

  “Oh, I plan on it.” He took off in a full sprint after her as he yelled out, “Three!”

  Will Lord Waffles Really Rule the World?

  Did you enjoy the very opinionated Lord Waffles, his accident prone mom, Holly and her Adonis veterinarian husband, Ben?

  If so check out their story in Stumbling Into Him.

  Look for a sneak peek at the end of this book.

  Did you enjoy Lucas and Miranda?

  They will be getting their own standalone book too. Keep an eye out for more information on their story.

  Also By Molly O’Hare

  Hollywood Hopeful Series

  Hollywood Dreams

  Risking It All (Danny and Lexi’s Story) – Coming soon

  Stumbling Series

  Stumbling Into Him

  Stumbling Into Him II -Coming soon (sign up for my newsletter for updates)

  Teased by Fire -This book

  Lucas & Miranda’s story- coming soon

  Stay up to date on New Releases

  Sign up for my newsletter by clicking the link or going to my website: MollyOHare.com

  Check out the Fun Facts on the next page.

  About the Author

  Much like any author out there, sleeping does not come easily to me. It turns out I have the worst insomnia of anyone I have ever met. Since I was a little girl, to help myself fall asleep, I would recite stories. Each night I would pick up where the story left off previously until the tale was complete. One morning, after I finished a particularly fun story, I decided I wanted to start sharing them with others. A few months later, here I am, sharing my lack of sleep with all of you. Who says the stories in our heads can’t be fun for others?

  I think I will bestow upon you some fun facts about me.

  Fun Facts for Teased by Fire:

  I have two cats named after the Muppets, Beaker and Bunsen Honeydew.

  I hiked a mountain in Colorado this summer… and didn’t die.

  I poked myself in the eye this morning, because I forgot I was wearing my contacts instead of my glasses.

  I don’t eat any type of ground beef. The texture is really weird to me… No hamburgers for this girl!

  Corgi butts still drive me nuts.

  Stay Connected

  Stumbling Into Him Sneak Peek

  Chapter One

  “Watch out!”

  Holly Flanagan heard a commotion coming from the other side of the park. Ignoring the shouting, she bent over focusing on picking up her Corgi, Waffles, most recent deposit. With Holly’s track record, though, she should have known anyone yelling “watch out,” “take cover,” or “that’s about to fall” was directed at her. Even after years of being the spokesperson for “unlucky,” “klutzy,” and “clumsy” she still disregarded the shouting as she carried on with her dog parent duties.

  Before she could register what happened, she was knocked onto her back with a pain radiating from her mouth and nose.

  “Well, at least the sky is pretty today,” Holly mumbled as she tried to get her bearings. She reached for her mouth as she felt the pain start to spread.

  “Ma’am, are you okay?”

  Holly closed her eyes pondering that exact question. Was she okay? She’d just been hit with something in her mouth. She was pretty sure some part of her face, she didn’t know which part, but she was sure something was bleeding. Waffles started barking uncontrollably, and her head hurt. So, was she okay?

  Holly sighed. Yeah, she was fine. This was just another day for her, and so far, if being hit by an unknown projectile to the face was the worst thing that happened to her, she’d considered it a good day.

  Opening her eyes, she gasped. Above her, only a mere few inches from her face was by far, the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. He had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes that were richer than the ocean. His jaw was chiseled, with a light dusting of scruff, in the alpha male, I’m in charge here kind of way.

  Wonderful. Okay, let’s add embarrassing yourself in front of a Greek God to your lists of attributes for the day. Hey, it can only get better from here, right?

  She realized she was staring at him for what could have been considered too long. She quickly jerked her head forward trying to right herself. Unfortunately for her, she slammed her head right into the Greek God’s forehead.

  Freaking wonderful.

  Not only was her mouth hurting, her head now pounded.

  Absolutely freaking wonderful!

  “Shit,” she heard the Greek God say through the wave of pain coursing through her body. Taking the chance, she opened her eyes once more only to see her Adonis holding his own head. And, to make matters worse, Waffles started barking at her, then looked at his recent deposit still on the ground, and then back at her.

  “For the love of all things. I was trying to pick it up,” she mumbled taking her hand away from her mouth to deal with his majesty, Lord Waffles. However, the second her hand came into view she saw the blood and screamed.

  “Oh shit. Lady, you’re bleeding,” the Adonis said before reaching his hand out to grasp her mouth.

  “What happened?” she asked as panic started to course through her. Did she break her nose? Was she unconscious? Was she dying?

  The Adonis removed the hand that covered her mouth and tilted her chin back. He then gently held onto her jaw and slightly opened her mouth. “I was tossing the Frisbee with Ripley, and somehow it veered off course. I tried to warn you to watch out.”

  Typical. She groaned. Hot guy throws Frisbee. Said Frisbee hits me in the face. Hot guy then insinuates it’s my fault for not getting out of the way fast enough. I mean, I know I’m generally invisible to men like him, but, damn. You’d think these extra wide hips would make me more visible. Instead, invisible me is at fault for being in the firing line of a dang Frisbee. She glared at the Frisbee sitting next to her. Ignoring the object, she moved her attention back to the Adonis.

  Holly tried to speak, but he was still holding onto her jaw. “I can’t tell if it’s a busted lip or worse,” he said as he examined her.

  Holly ripped her face from his hand. She’d be able to tell if it was just a busted lip. She’d had enough of them from falling down, objects to the face, and even falling up the stairs. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the napkin she had stuffed in there from her soft pretzel. She blew off some stray salt and started feverishly wiping at her mouth.

  “Let me see,” he demanded, before taking one of the napkins from her hand. He started dabbing at her lips as well.

  Well, Holly. This is the most action you’ve had in months. And, if some hot guy who typically wouldn’t have paid any attention to someone like you, is all over you, you might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

  She turned her head to face him fully. Waffles, who was now crawling into her lap demanding attention, started to kiss the underside of her jaw.

  Why thank you, Waffles, for bringing the attention of my double chin to the Adonis.

  “Thanks buddy for trying to help me clean up your mom,” the Adonis remarked before quickly abandoning his job of cleaning off the blood to pat Waffles on the head.

  “He’s not trying to help you,” she remarked.
“He’s trying to remind me I still need to pick up his poop and then give him his treat.”

  “Shouldn’t your mom be the one getting the treat if she’s the one picking up your shit?” he asked the dog.

  Waffles, ever the one to argue, looked at the man whom now was sporting a mischievous grin, with the most judgmental side-eye he could muster. She had to give it to her dog, though, no one came between him and his treats.

  The Adonis once again pat Waffles on the head before moving back to Holly’s mouth dismissing the pups glare. “I think it’s just a busted lip, but, your front tooth…” he coughed while he looked away.

  “My front tooth?” Holly quickly ran her tongue along her front teeth. Sure enough, she felt a jagged piece. “Oh, crap.” She rapidly pulled her phone from her pocket and launched the front-facing camera.

  As soon as she saw her appearance, she jerked back. You’ve had better days, Holly. Ignoring her outward appearance, she hastily opened her mouth.

  “Oh no.”

  Staring back at her was a chipped front tooth along with a busted lip. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Universe. Thank you, so very much. She didn’t know whether she wanted to laugh or cry. Unlucky, clumsy, klutzy, Holly, strikes again, she thought.

  As her eyes flooded with tears, a sudden cold nose hit her arm distracting her. She looked to her left and saw one of the most beautifully colored gray and black Australian Shepherds she’d ever seen. Thankfully, her love of animals overrode any sadness and pain she was feeling. “Aren’t you a cutie?” she softly said.

  “That’s Ripley,” the Greek God chuckled deeply. “I’d thought you’d be more concerned about your mouth than a dog.”