Five Alarm Alphas

by Leah Braemel, Lexxie Couper, Delilah Devlin, Marie Harte, Desiree Holt, Lissa Matthews, Cari Quinn, Shelli Stevens

  “I’m hitting the shower.”

  “Good. You stink.” Jaden raised a brow. “What? Gonna hit me too?”

  “I would, but you’d tell Mom.”

  Jaden glared. “I would not.”

  “Momma’s boy,” Max teased.

  The others glommed on to Jaden and left Coop alone. Finally. As he showered, he tried to make sense of his confusing feelings. On the one hand, he and Josie had only begun dating. They hadn’t even committed to each other yet, though he would hope she took their time together as being monogamous. He certainly had no room for anyone but her in his thoughts and in his bed.

  He needed to have a firm talk with her, to nail down just what this strange, meaningful, wonderful relationship meant to her. But since he didn’t exactly know what it meant to him, he couldn’t ask her for clarity, could he?

  After cleaning up and dressing, he went back down to see about helping with dinner. Except they got two distress calls. He and Max took one, and Jaden and Lyle took the other. Hours later, he returned to the living area to relax after helping to stabilize a stroke victim. He was a certified Emergency Medical Technician—EMT—but had no intention of becoming a paramedic, which involved extra training. He knew at some point he’d move on to become an engineer and then captain of his engine, but until he grew too old to comfortably fight fires, he wanted to be in the thick of things, not administrative. He had a passion for his job, a need to help others and keep them safe.

  He and Josie had a lot in common in that respect. He fought fires and helped with emergencies; she fought emotional and mental hardships daily, trying to bolster her students into respectable, responsible young men and women. She was as passionate about her career as he was about his. And neither of them had entered their profession to make money, but to do a greater good.

  He sighed. I’m thinking about her again. Hell.

  “Hello?” His sister’s voice intruded, and he half thought he’d made her up, still obsessing about her dumb talk about destiny. It was as if she’d jinxed him into considering his future and wondering about a wife and children when he was nowhere near ready for that type of commitment. He was only twenty-nine. Too young for a family…right?

  Then again, his mother and father had married when four years his junior.

  Josie’s twenty-seven.

  He stopped himself from doing more math, not wanting to go down that road.

  Hell, for all he knew, Josie looked on him as nothing more than a casual friend with benefits. Out of this world, sexual benefits, but still, they did act pretty relaxed. Kind of.

  He groaned and rubbed his temples, easing into the large comfy chair near the TV.

  “There you are.” Great. Hannah had found him, as well as the rest of the crew loitering near the snacks on the coffee table.

  “Hey, Hannah.” “Hi, sexy.” “Oh, look who’s back. Our favorite artist.”

  The guys and gals at the station all loved his big sister. He did too—when she wasn’t on his ass about true love.

  “So, Cooper.”

  He groaned. “I’m busy, Hannah.”

  “I hear you’re two for three with the love of your life. Am I right?”

  “What’s this?” From behind her, Harrison walked in like he owned the place.

  Boos and hisses filled the area.

  “Get bent,” Harrison said. “Or I’ll arrest all of you for being inferior to our fine police force.”

  “Asshole,” Max muttered.

  “Harrison, why did you bring Hannah?” Coop wanted to know. “We’re working.”

  “I’m curious. And she wanted to see you. Apparently you’ve been avoiding her since you and Josie started dating.”

  Damn. Coop could feel the others drawing closer while pretending not to. So much for privacy among family.

  “Look, Hannah. While I’m so glad you volunteered me to hook up with Josie, you can let it go now. We’re fine on our own.” He tried to keep his voice low, but the others were grinning at him. Hell.

  “So you admit you’re a couple.”

  He shrugged. “No biggie.”

  Max gaped at him. “The commitment-phobe finally admits to a girlfriend?”

  Cheers sounded around them, and Coop flushed. “Assholes. Don’t you all have something to do?” He shot to his feet, took Hannah by the arm, and guided her down the hall to his room. Unfortunately, Jaden and Harrison followed. And then Ben entered.

  “Guys, get out.” Cooper tried to hold on to his patience. “This is between Hannah and me.”

  Ben shook his head. “No. If this works, I want Hannah to do me next.”

  “It’s not a parlor trick,” she groused. “It’s psychic matchmaking at its finest.”

  Coop scowled. “Bullshit. You sicced your cat on me, and I tripped into Josie in the first place.”

  The guys all looked at her.

  “Oh, well. That was Mephisto, all right. But I did predict it.” Hannah beamed.

  “Yeah? Well you predicted the faulty toaster too. Except you forgot to mention you saw it when you first went to Josie’s.”

  “Hannah.” Jaden shook his head. “I thought you were better than this. How can any of us take you seriously if you’re so obvious about how you get your clues?”

  “Hey. It’s an art.” She flipped back her hair. “Besides, Cooper wouldn’t be so bent out of shape about all this if he wasn’t believing in his destiny. He’s in love with Josie and afraid to say it.”

  “I am not,” he groused. Oh God. I am. I fell in love with the woman in a handful of days. I’m a total idiot. But he couldn’t help how he felt.

  “Oh. He is.” Harrison smiled at him. “So what did she say when you told her?” At Coop’s look, his smile faded. “You haven’t told her?”

  “Really, Cooper.” Ben frowned. “I thought you were the smooth one in the bunch. God knows it isn’t Officer Slick or Fireman Dud behind you.” Both Harrison and Jaden glared back at him. “Go nab the redhead before someone else does. She’s hot.” Ben grinned. “Get it? Really hot—perfect for a firefighter.”

  “Bad pun, Ben.” Coop sighed. “Look. I have no idea what’s going on with me and Josie. But it would help if you all would back out of it. Especially you, Hannah.”

  “I can’t help it, Cooper. There’s one more sign waiting. The wrong address. That’s how you’ll know her.”

  “Her?” Harrison asked.

  “His true love,” Ben answered. “Apparently Hannah’s an astrologer matchmaker now.”

  “It’s my new niche,” she agreed. “Much better than plain old fortune telling.”

  “I thought you were an artist,” Coop drawled.

  “That’s just to pay the bills. Clairvoyance is my calling.”

  Jaden rolled his eyes. “She gets this from Mom.”

  “I know,” Coop, Harrison, and Ben said as one.

  “Oh, I love when you guys do that.” Hannah smiled at them. “You used to smile together too. Such cute little babies. And you grew up into such handsome men.” She stared at Cooper and sighed. “Some of whom don’t know a good thing when it’s right in front of them. Well, good luck. You’re going to need it.”

  He knew better than to question her. Yet… “What does that mean?”

  “It means I saw Josie and some handsome guy last night at the movies. Now if you had told me you two were exclusive, I’d be more upset on your behalf. But it can’t be cheating if you never told her how you feel, can it?”

  His brothers gave him sympathetic looks before hustling Hannah away.

  He couldn’t think past the notion Josie might be seeing some other guy while having sex with him. Women never cheated on him. They were too busy trying to win his affections, not the other way around.

  Hadn’t he gone to a chick flick with her last week? Sat through her shoe shopping—and had fun? What was that if not a commitment? Hell, he’d even thought about moving out from his manly bachelor pad and getting his own place so they could be alone together.
Now this? Yeah, it was past time they had a talk about where their dating might be going. Way past time.

  Chapter Seven

  Josie stared at Miranda over the kitchen table and groaned. “I know. I feel like a fool. We’ve only been going out for a little over two weeks, but I think I love him.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Well, the sex is amazing.”

  Miranda sighed. “Hard to get past great sex. But that doesn’t imply hearts and flowers, does it?”

  “It does when he gave me roses and chocolates. Not for sex or because I was mad. Just because. But it’s more than us getting along. We’re not a perfect couple, but somehow we are. We fight about things, then make up so well.”

  “What do you fight about?”

  “Well, he annoyed the crap out of me by siding with his brother when we went miniature golfing that one time.”

  “You can be a tad competitive,” Miranda ventured.

  “Me?”

  “Let it go, Ms. Must-Win-At-All-Costs.”

  “I’m just saying that during our time together, even though it’s been short, it’s been so full. We laugh and joke, we argue yet have so much in common. It’s weird how alike we are.”

  “Well, you’re both loud, that’s for sure.” Miranda fanned herself. “I wonder if Officer Do Me is that good in bed.”

  “Oh, sorry.” Josie blushed. “I hadn’t realized.”

  “Yeah, well, you deserve it after that run of no luck.” Miranda grinned. “Besides, I like when Cooper spends the night. He sits at the breakfast table shirtless the next morning. It’s like an extra dose of sugar on my cornflakes. Ah, man sweets.”

  Josie groaned. “And that’s another thing. He never looks at you. All guys look at you. But not Cooper. God, what should I do? It’s too soon to feel this way.”

  “He’s a keeper. Geez, Josie, try to keep it together. You don’t have to marry the guy. So you commit to how you feel and go from there. What’s the rush?”

  “I just worry about putting the big L-word out there too soon. If he doesn’t feel it, he’ll get weird and feel pressured to say it back to me.”

  “That’s a good point.” Miranda pursed her lips in thought. “But you can commit to a label of boyfriend/girlfriend, can’t you?”

  “I don’t know.” And the not knowing killed her. She wanted to be Cooper’s girlfriend. Just her and him. They had sex, a lot, and they liked being together. It was pretty much a no-brainer to her. But men could be odd. And stupid.

  “I guess I’ll talk to him when he’s done at work.”

  “When’s that?”

  “Tonight. He’s on his next rotation off. And yeah, we’re past the time for a talk.”

  “Good. Because you’re getting moody. But first, admit you owe me.” Miranda smirked. “If I hadn’t made up that lie about helping out a student, you never would have let him do you on the couch. Hussy.”

  Since Josie had admitted to her sins and since cleaned the couch, Miranda had been all smiles.

  “Okay, I owe you.”

  “He’s the one for you, Josie. Remember what Hannah said? ‘He’s fire and smoke. Of shine and fur, of flesh and bone, will your destinies come together as one.’”

  “You remembered all that?”

  “Of course. It’s destiny. I want something that poetic for my future when she tells me. Fur and shine? The cat was furry, the toaster was shiny. That’s fate right there.” Miranda had obviously been reviewing Hannah’s prediction for some time.

  But Josie didn’t need a fortune teller, even a fake one, to tell her what she’d known for a while. Cooper was hers. He had been since she’d first spotted him back when she’d been a freshman and he a junior, the most handsome boy in her school. Now the most amazing man she’d ever met.

  He could be so gruff, so big and mean-looking one minute, then sweet and soft and tender the next. She’d seen him talk to small children at the fire station on a field trip when she’d swung by just to say hello. Had watched him tease his brothers with good-natured humor the few times she’d caught them all together. The way he treated her, as if she really mattered, meant everything to her. He talked to her, not at her. And when he asked questions, he listened to her answers.

  “Oh man. You look dopey.” Miranda started to say more when the doorbell rang. “I bet Wonder Stud is here. I’m going out for a while, so don’t wait up.” She blew Josie a mock kiss, then darted out the front door, around Cooper.

  He wore his dark blue trousers and firehouse shirt, and he looked like a poster child for the Department. Strong, handsome, and…annoyed?

  “Hi, Cooper.”

  Instead of greeting her with a kiss, as he usually did, he ran a hand through his short cropped hair and glared at her.

  “What did I do?” she asked.

  “You and I need to have a talk.”

  Everything inside her stilled, because that sounded ominous. She hadn’t thought he would end things between them, not when they’d been going so well. But perhaps she’d been the only one feeling so attached to him.

  “O-kay,” she dragged out.

  “Look, we’ve only been going out a short while. But I’m thinking we should only be seeing each other. We’re having sex, so that’s a one-partner deal, right?”

  “Um, yes?” Just what she wanted, so why was she waiting for the other shoe to drop?

  “Were you out with a guy the other night or what?”

  “I’m confused. What are you talking about?”

  He growled, “Yes or no? Were you flirting with some guy at the movies?”

  She glared at him. “Wait a minute. You’re just going to accuse me of sleeping around on you without asking?”

  “Without asking? What do you think I’m doing right now?”

  “I think you’re accusing me of something without knowing the facts.”

  “The facts.” He nodded, looking satisfied. “I knew you had an explanation.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

  “No.”’

  “Huh?”

  “No. I’m not explaining myself. Hell, Cooper. I didn’t even know we were officially dating until just now.”

  “Well, we are. Now you know.”

  “Hell no. I don’t think so. You don’t trust me.”

  “What?”

  “Look, if I saw you with a woman at the movies, I’d ask about her. I wouldn’t automatically assume you were sleeping with her.”

  “First, I said flirting, not sleeping. But you admit you’d ask about her. Like I’m asking about the jackass you were with.”

  “Do you trust me or don’t you?”

  “Hell, Josie. I barely know you.”

  Okay, that hurt. But he had a point. “You know, you’re right. We’ve only been going out a short time. Until today, I had no idea if you considered me more than a mattress buddy.”

  “Don’t even try it.”

  “What?”

  He frowned. “You and I share something special. It’s not just sex.”

  She let out a breath, pleased he’d at least realized that about them. “Oh?”

  “Look, I may be thickheaded about women—I admit it. But we connect.”

  “Good to know I’m not the only one who thinks that. Though note, I would never blame you for something without talking to you about it first.”

  “Shit, Josie. What do you think I’m doing here?”

  “Accusing. Watch the tone, Talbot.”

  “Fuck the tone.”

  She glared. “You know, maybe we need a break. This has been really fast from the get-go. I trust you, but you obviously don’t trust me. We should take some time to think about that.”

  “So you still won’t tell me about the guy?”

  She mentally counted to ten. “Fine. You want to know? He’s my older brother’s best friend, in town visiting for a few days. Since Jeff won’t be back until tomorrow, I offered to take Don out for dinner and a movie. Happy now?”

  “Ah, maybe.” He gave a
tentative grin, but she wasn’t having it.

  “Look, Cooper. You’re a firefighter. I’ve seen the way women watch you. I know how many groupies dream about doing you, but I trust you. I can’t say why, especially since I wasn’t even sure we were doing more than fucking before today.” She added the F-word for blunt effect, pleased to see him flinch. “For someone who considered us so close, I’m surprised and hurt you didn’t try to talk to me about it.”

  “You’re being ridiculous. We just talked.”

  “No. You accused me of something, which implies you went with a guilty before innocent verdict.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose. “You’re making my head hurt.”

  “Yeah? Well you’re making my heart hurt.” She tried to blink away her tears, but he saw them, because he grew apologetic. “No. You have to feel the way you feel. It takes time to build trust. I know that, but silly me, I thought we’d magically moved beyond it. Look, I need some time to think about this.”

  “Come on, Josie. Don’t be like that.”

  “Don’t be thoughtful, introspective, and emotional? Don’t be a woman? Too late. I am one.”

  “No kidding,” he muttered.

  “Yeah? Well, take your horny ass out of my house. I want to stew for a little while. And before you call me irrational, realize that I’m mad because you automatically charged me with cheating. Not because you had questions about the guy.”

  He left because she demanded he go. But he didn’t look happy about it.

  Josie wondered if she was making too big a deal about the matter. Then she realized she had to put her foot down right here, right now. Time to make a stand. If she and Cooper were to have a future together, they needed to develop some fundamental truths from the beginning.

  Time to slow down the courtship and think without sex hormones clouding her judgment.

  So why did she miss him already when he’d barely been gone?

  ***

  Cooper wanted to punch something. So he did the next best thing and went home to sleep in his own bed. As expected, he dreamed of Josie dumping his ass and woke up tired and cranky the next morning.