A Firefighter in Her Stocking

by Janice Lynn

  Sarah was breathtaking.

  How he’d not noticed that months ago was mind-boggling, but now that he had, he wanted to soak in her exquisiteness.

  Just as he wanted to see that smile over and over and was apparently willing to go to great lengths to do so.

  Which made him question why he was going to such lengths with Sarah. Possibly the hurt he’d seen in her eyes over the idiot who’d stood her up and Jude wanting to erase that pain, to replace those memories with ones so magical she’d never doubt her value again. That she’d never let any man dump on her, because she’d not seen herself as worthy of better. He’d show her how she deserved to be treated so in the future she’d not settle for some man who didn’t appreciate what a treasure she was.

  Not that Jude liked to think of her with another man, but he wasn’t a relationship kind of guy. He’d been a fool to think he had been with Nina. He’d learned better and that wasn’t a lesson he’d forget.

  Keeping Sarah’s hand tucked in his, he guided them through the crowd and into the line to enter the theater.

  “This. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” She glanced around, taking in the ornate decorations visible through the open doors. “This is so beautiful.”

  Her excitement was contagious and Jude couldn’t keep the smile off his face. Everything about Sarah was delightful. Any moment he expected her to spin around as if she were in a dream. Good. That’s how he wanted her to feel.

  “Just wait until you are inside the actual theater.”

  Excited blue-green eyes met his. “That good, huh?”

  He hadn’t necessarily thought about it being so on his previous visit, but he knew seeing the theater, the production, through Sarah’s eyes was going to be an entirely different experience for him.

  That everything, through Sarah’s eyes, was new.

  “That good,” he agreed, pulling their tickets out of his jacket’s inside pocket.

  They made their way to their seats and he was glad they were as good as the sales agent had promised. He wanted tonight to be as amazing as Sarah had dreamed of. Better.

  Her face shone with the excitement of someone who had looked forward to this moment for a long time and he was the lucky guy who got to share it with her.

  Why hadn’t she gone on her own when it was something she’d wanted to do for years? Why hadn’t she gone with a friend? With a family member? By herself?

  “Look. There’s the chandelier!”

  He chuckled. “Shh, you’re supposed to be pretending that you don’t see that yet.”

  She laughed and ran her gaze over the ornate ceiling. “I can’t believe I’m here. I’m really here.”

  At one point in the show, she grabbed his hand and, not seeming to notice, held on.

  Jude didn’t mind. He enjoyed Sarah’s warm, capable hand holding his.

  A hand that could save a life.

  A hand that could pull him closer or push him away.

  No doubt before everything was said and done she’d do both.

  A heaviness settled over his chest.

  Sarah was different from any woman he’d known. He’d recognized that immediately, had been intrigued by her outside his apartment door, impressed by her at the hospital, fascinated by her at her apartment, protective of her at his, enthralled by her tonight.

  There had been few times in his life when he’d made an effort to impress a woman.

  Nina. He’d tried to impress her. And he had. As her friend. They’d been great friends, the best, had had lots in common, but Charles was who she’d given her heart to. Wonderful, perfect, brilliant Charles.

  He wondered a moment if he was crazy when he began comparing the past with the present, when he wondered if there was something dark inside him that had caused Nina to fall for Charles instead. Jude had wanted to love her, to give her the world, and protect her. She’d loved his cousin and Jude hadn’t been able to forgive her for that, not even when it had cost him her friendship and undermined his relationship with his family.

  Since then, he’d not dated anyone, just had a flurry of one-night stands that had meant nothing more than physical satisfaction and reminders he didn’t have to be alone but chose to be.

  He glanced at Sarah, his mind racing in a thousand directions as he watched the play of expressions behind her ridiculous glasses.

  Perhaps sensing he was looking at her, she squeezed his hand, her gaze glued to the lavishly dressed cast on the stage. “This is amazing,” she whispered.

  She was right. This was amazing, but he didn’t mean the production.

  He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss there, momentarily distracting her from the show.

  She blinked at him. “What was that for?”

  “For coming with me tonight.”

  “I should be the one kissing you for inviting me tonight.”

  Wanting his melancholy thoughts gone, he waggled his brows. “I’d be okay with that.”

  Smiling, she rolled her eyes. “I bet you would.”

  The stage caught her attention again and Jude forced his attention back there, too. Not that his focus lasted more than a few seconds. Because to his surprise Sarah leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, then went back to watching the show as if nothing had happened.

  Something had happened.

  Something intense and deep and as swirling with rich emotion as the show.

  Sarah had kissed him and he’d swear whatever that dark something inside him was, her sweet kiss had just cracked it wide open.

  * * *

  Sarah doubted Jude would accuse her of being quiet again that night. From the moment the show had ended and they’d gotten back into the limo, she’d been talking non-stop.

  With an amused look on his face, he let her chat away, which was just as well because she didn’t think she’d have been able to hold back her excitement if she’d had to.

  “I thought my heart was going to stop when...” She elaborated on one of the scenes.

  “I noticed tears rolling down your cheeks in that part,” he pointed out, his smile indulgent.

  “My glasses were supposed to keep you from noticing things like that.”

  His brow rose. “Is that what they were for?”

  She knew what he meant and she wasn’t going there. “That and the things glasses are usually for.”

  “Have you forgotten that I know you don’t need those things to see?”

  “I haven’t forgotten.”

  “But felt the need to wear them tonight to shield yourself from whatever it is you don’t want me to see?”

  Something like that, she admitted to herself. They were part of the armor she’d been wearing for years.

  “I think you see plenty despite the fact I have my glasses on,” she accused.

  “You hungry?” he asked, surprising her by his subject change.

  “Starved,” she confessed, telling the truth. “I didn’t eat much earlier. I was nervous about tonight.”

  “Your nerves have settled now?”

  “Now my nerves are so electrified from that amazing show that everything else pales in comparison,” she gushed, not caring he probably thought she was silly for being so excited. “I have such a rush from the show I’m surprised I even notice I’m hungry.”

  He laughed and the sound reverberated through her chest and mind, setting off happy bells.

  “Just you wait,” he promised. “The best is yet to come.”

  “No food is going to compare to what we just witnessed.”

  * * *

  “I take it back,” Sarah recanted an hour later as her lips closed around her spoon. The most delightful sugary concoction melted in her mouth and sent pleasure through her from head to toe. “Pretty sure this
stuff is straight from heaven.”

  “Like it?”

  Rather than answer him, she took another bite and slowly withdrew her spoon from her mouth. “I’m positive it’s illegal and some type of mind-altering goodness that makes the whole world seem absolutely euphoric.”

  He chuckled. “I assure you it’s perfectly legal.”

  “I know,” she admitted, meeting his gaze. “I didn’t mean to imply you’d drug me. I don’t think that at all.”

  “I never thought that’s what you meant.” His eyes twinkled. “Neither would I ever do that to you.”

  “You wouldn’t have to.

  Her admission had Jude swallowing hard and her mouth watering. Not because of the dessert.

  He’d been the perfect date. Kind, thoughtful, generous, attentive, sweet.

  “I’ve enjoyed myself tonight, Sarah.”

  “You make it sound as if you don’t usually enjoy yourself and we both know better than that,” she reminded him, as much for herself as him. She might not do this kind of thing often—ever—but Jude did.

  “You’re referring to sex. I’m not.”

  She didn’t bother to hide her disbelief. “You’re saying sex isn’t enjoyable?”

  “Sex is extremely enjoyable,” he clarified. “That’s why it’s so popular. But I was referring to a different kind of enjoying myself.”

  Her heart pounded, the beat echoing through her head. “Does that mean we’re friends?”

  “No, Sarah, I don’t think that’s what that means.”

  “I’m confused.” She took another pleasurable bite, trying not to let the fact that he’d stopped eating altogether and was just watching her do so bother her.

  “No need for confusion. I meant I enjoyed your company in ways that have nothing to do with sex.”

  She wasn’t sure whether to be insulted or complimented. What was she thinking? Wasn’t she the girl who always claimed to want to be appreciated for her mind? For her personality? For what was inside rather than her physical appearance? For her brain rather than her body? Wasn’t that why she downplayed her physical appearance to keep from attracting the wrong kind of attention?

  The wrong kind? She hadn’t attracted any attention in a long time. Not that she’d been trying. She hadn’t. The opposite, actually, because she didn’t want a relationship.

  Her efforts had worked. No one had noticed her. Not her brain or her personality or anything about her.

  Not until Jude.

  He’d noticed her buried beneath her coat, scarf, and hat. The memory of how his eyes had glinted when he’d looked at hers that morning assured that.

  He’d immediately recognized her at the hospital. Sans hat, coat, and scarf, even.

  Sure, he had seen her in the apartment hallway a few times, but he’d never looked at her prior to that morning, and when he had looked, he’d noticed.

  Despite all the reasons he shouldn’t have—like that she’d been hidden beneath a dozen, figurative and literal, layers and that he’d been with another woman.

  “You’re a complicated man, Jude.”

  He laughed. “Me? Complicated? I’m the least complicated Davenport you’ll ever meet.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not true. You have so many aspects to how you really are you make my head spin.”

  That was why she felt a little dizzy when looking at him, thinking of him. There couldn’t be any other reason.

  “What you see is what you get,” he pointed out, as if that somehow made his claim true.

  She knew better.

  “Every time I see you, I see something different.”

  That seemed to intrigue him. “In what way?”

  “For instance, right now, you are the very opposite from the man who stayed at the hospital with Keeley.”

  With a look of disappointment, he shook his head in denial. “I’m exactly the same man who stayed with Keeley. What’s ‘very opposite’ is what’s on the outside.”

  “Explain,” she said, hoping he would because she knew his doing so would give her insight he rarely revealed.

  “What you see on the outside tonight is what you lump into being a Davenport. That’s not who I am.”

  “You’re not a Davenport?”

  “By blood, yes, but I’m not like my family.”

  “In what ways?” Because she’d swear he was a lot like her boss. A good man, only Jude was a whole lot sexier than his handsome cousin could ever hope to be.

  “I don’t fit in with them, Sarah. Neither do I want to.”

  “More of a ‘march to the beat of your own drum’ kind of man?”

  He shrugged. “I suppose. From an early age, I knew I wasn’t going to grow up to make the family proud.”

  Which sounded odd to Sarah because he was a man who risked his life on a regular basis. Surely that he was so heroic made his family proud?

  “Tell me about growing up as a Davenport,” she said, because she wanted to know everything there was about him, to understand why he didn’t think he belonged in his prestigious family.

  He shrugged. “Not much to tell that you couldn’t read in the papers or assume about the kid of a wealthy family. I went to all the right schools, did all the socially expected things of the wealthy, and was fairly miserable.”

  “A poor little rich kid kind of thing?”

  He snorted. “I guess. But don’t feel sorry for me. My parents loved me. Still do. They’re just waiting on me to get my wild ways out of my system and take my right place within the family.”

  “Which is?”

  “Not being a firefighter.”

  “Is that why you do it?”

  He shook his head. “Not even on days when I’m most frustrated with my family.”

  “How did you end up running into buildings on fire? I doubt you just woke up one day and realized that’s what you were meant to do in life.”

  “When I was fifteen I lived at the private school I was attending. One of the kids in my dormitory decided to give smoking a try late one night and ended up setting the building on fire. The place was old, couldn’t have met fire codes, and went up in flames.”

  “Oh, no! Was anyone hurt?”

  He shook his head. “Because of where the fire had started, everyone on my floor was trapped. Even now I remember the terror of my classmates, and how, when the fire department rescued us, I was fascinated by those who risked their lives to save others. From that point on, much to my family’s disappointment, fighting fires is the only profession I can imagine making me happy.”

  She took his hand and squeezed it. “For whatever it’s worth, I’m very proud of you and what you do, Jude.”

  He didn’t say anything, just stared at her in a way that made her feel as if he were trying to see inside her head.

  Trying not to be overly self-conscious at the intensity of his stare, she finished her dessert.

  After he’d paid for their lavish meal and their coats had been brought to them, Sarah was still fighting self-consciousness.

  “Don’t do it,” Jude said from beside her.

  “What?” she asked, letting him help her into her coat.

  “Whatever it is you’re thinking.”

  She turned, met his gaze, and felt her tension ease at the sincerity she saw there. Goodness, he was unlike anyone she’d ever known. In a good way.

  She arched her brow and gave him what she hoped was a flirty look. “Fine. I won’t, but it’s your loss.”

  He gave a wry grin. “Because you were going to throw yourself at me in the foyer of an exclusive French restaurant?”

  Pretending shock, she covered her mouth with her fingertips. “How did you know?”

  His eyes darkened and he took her hand into his. “You win
,” he conceded, pressing his lips to the top of her hand, as he continued in a tone that was only half teasing. “I take it back. Do it. Please, just do it.”

  The fact his words tempted her to do exactly that, that his lips were soft, warm, electrifying against her fingertips, should probably worry her. But at the moment she just felt glorious and as if she was the envy of every woman who’d seen them that night, as if she were floating through some amazing fantasy that was too good to be true.

  “Too late,” she teased. “The moment is lost forever.” But as she stared into his sparkly blue eyes, she mentally corrected herself.

  This moment was forever.

  CHAPTER NINE

  JUDE MIGHT BE in over his head.

  Way over his head.

  He’d never told anyone, not even Nina, about how he’d felt about his family, about why he’d become a firefighter. Why had he opened up to Sarah?

  He’d not even thought about it, just answered when she’d asked, as if what he was saying was no big deal.

  What was it about Sarah that made telling her things easy? As if spilling his guts to her was the most natural thing in the world?

  That she hadn’t judged him, hadn’t found him lacking for not embracing what it meant to be a Davenport, surprised him. He was used to women who were with him as much due to the Davenport name as they were for him.

  Not that there weren’t advantages to being born wealthy and a part of the Davenport clan.

  For instance, Sarah’s surprise.

  Penny, his daredevil cousin, had been over the moon at his request. Then again, she’d have likely agreed just to meet Sarah.

  He’d made the mistake of mentioning a name, of mentioning how much Sarah loved the city, of how he wanted to show New York to her in a way she’d never seen it.

  What better way than from Penny’s helicopter?

  Or so he’d thought until that moment.

  Sarah’s face had gone a ghastly pale shade at the sight of the helicopter.

  “We’re going somewhere in that?” she asked, her voice strained.

  “You’re not afraid of flying, are you?” He’d not considered that possibility, but knew there were lots of people who didn’t fly.