by Jane Jamison
“No. He’s not opening up.”
“Well, at least you got him to open up about Lenny yesterday. That’s something.”
“I guess.” She’d managed to find out that he was being bullied by Lenny and another boy. They’d taken steps to rectify the situation, but that wasn’t her main concern regarding Curt. He had something far worse going on, something she hadn’t quite gathered proof to know for certain, but she still couldn’t bring herself to mention her concerns to anyone, including Elbert. If she did, Curt would be gone within the week. She couldn’t bear to think about sending him away. For him, it would be another rejection in an already long line of rejections.
“Anyway, that’s not why I came over. You’ve got a couple of visitors in my office.”
“I do?” She couldn’t imagine who they were since she had no family in the state. Most of her friends worked and wouldn’t be able to get off in the middle of the day. “Who are they?”
“One said his name was Wiley. And the other one’s Brody Russell. They’re brothers, I think. Miss Michelle, are you all right? You suddenly got pale.”
She cleared her throat, forcing out the words. “Did they say why they were here?”
“No. I assumed you were working on either setting up a field trip to the fire station or getting together some kind of a fundraiser.” He drew closer, taking her by the arm. “Michelle”—he dropped the miss, concern on his face—”are you sure you’re all right? Should I tell them you’re busy?”
Yes. Oh, damn, how I want to say yes.
“No. That’s okay.” She’d have to face them at some time and Elbert would get suspicious, especially after her initial reaction to learning they were at the school. Judging from the way the one man had acted, he wouldn’t give up until she talked to him.
The walk to Elbert’s office had never seemed so long. As soon as she stepped through the door, she sensed a tension filling the room. Yet it was more than simple anxiety causing that tension. There was more, an awareness that the two men in the room would change her life. Growing up in a troubled home, much like many of the teens at Hope House, had taught her to listen to her gut. And her gut was shouting at her, telling her that they would mean more to her than anyone else ever had or ever would.
They stood as she came in and yet she wished they’d remained seated. Their size, coming close to a foot taller than she, intimidated her. Their brawn, too, made her feel small and defenseless, yet strangely comforted, like she could count on them to guard her sides, both with their physical size and their loyalty. Thinking that made no sense, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.
She threw back her shoulders, determined to show them just how formidable she could be. She’d gotten caught off-guard at the firehouse and wouldn’t let that happen again.
“How’d you know where I work?” She sounded harsh, abrupt, but it was too late to soften her tone.
“You told Paul your name. Plus, you were wearing your name tag from work, remember?”
Wiley’s smile was an attempt to show her that they were there to help, and strangely, it helped.
“Oh. Right.” She tried to make herself seem taller. “I heard you wanted to talk to me?”
The taller one gave her a look of distrust, then struck out his hand. She hesitated, then took it, shook his hand once, then pulled hers away. The mere sensation of her skin against his made her nervous. But it was a good kind of nervousness. The kind that ran all the way to the perfect spot between her legs.
“We met at the fire station. My name is Brody Russell and this is my brother Wiley.”
She almost laughed. How could she have ever forgotten their names? “I remember.”
“Then you’ll remember that you came in search of the Firemen for Hire team.”
Wiley shook her hand, too, tighter than Brody had, and held on to it a moment longer. She’d used the same technique when attempting to calm one of the boys. Again, the odd nervousness hit her, and again, it centered in her pussy. “I did, but I’ve changed my mind. I don’t need their, your, help any longer.”
She started to leave, to get away from them as soon as she could, but Brody blocked the way out. “Excuse me. I need to get back to work.”
He leaned in closer, and if she’d had to swear to it, she would’ve thought he dragged in a long, slow breath.
“I’m sorry about yesterday, Miss Rossin. I was on edge.”
As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep her pulse from picking up speed. Or her chest from rising as her breaths grew shorter, faster. “It’s okay. But I still should get—”
Wiley’s hand on her arm had her dragging in her own hard, very noticeable breath. “We saw you at the fire and it’s okay. We know you didn’t set it.”
He’d said it, but the quick glance from one brother to the other made her think that the feeling wasn’t mutual between the two men.
“You did?” She backed up, careful not to make it appear that she was afraid. Or nervous in that good kind of way. “You didn’t act like you thought I was innocent.”
Wiley jumped in before Brody could speak. “My brother gets a little…intense at times. He just wanted to know if you knew anything about the fire. After all, you were there and you were closer to the fire than anyone else. Other than the firefighters, that is.”
“I, um, I happened to be going by and I saw the commotion. I’m guess I’m like anyone else. Curious.”
“Curious enough to get past the police lines?”
Brody crossed his arms over his chest, making her notice the way the muscles in his arms worked. What would it be like to have those massive arms wrapped around her? Would she feel trapped as she had in the station? Or safe and protected? How long had she wanted to feel that way, with a man’s strong arms wrapped around her? The answer was simple. Too damn long.
“Yes. My foster mom used to tell me I was too curious for my own good.”
“So you’re a foster kid, huh?”
Where Brody’s eyes glittered with suspicion, Wiley’s dark ones filled with understanding.
“I am. I went into a foster home around twelve, after my parents died in a car wreck.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She nodded, accepting Wiley’s condolences. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.” It was the lie she often told, shoving down the still painful feelings of loss.
“As for the fire? Can you tell us anything?”
She swallowed and hoped they couldn’t see the lie on her face. “No. I’m sorry. I can’t.”
Brody didn’t believe her. She could see as much. Wiley, however, was harder to read.
“Okay, then, back to our real purpose for coming. Why did you need the Firemen for Hire team?”
“I told you. I’ve changed my mind.”
“It’s okay, you know. We’re kind of like attorneys or preachers. Whatever you tell us is kept in the strictest of confidence.” Wiley sat down in one of the worn and torn armchairs in front of Elbert’s desk.
Brody waved to the deck chair, waited for her to take a seat, then took the other chair across from his brother. “I don’t know if your friend of a friend told you, but our services are free.”
“Free?” She’d forgotten about that. Had, in fact, worried about how she’d afford them.
“All we ask is that, after we’ve helped you, you pass along the favor to someone else. Oh, and help us out whenever you can.”
She remembered now. The selflessness of giving to someone else, of helping another through a hard time without expecting payment was part of why she’d decided to trust the Firemen for Hire team.
Wiley’s smile was one of those that made a person want to smile in return. If she wasn’t so nervous, she would’ve given him one. Her “nervousness” was hitting her even harder between her legs and making her want to squirm in her seat.
“So it’s a pay-it-forward kind of thing?”
“Exactly.” Brody leaned forward, his intensity level picking up. “So g
o on. Tell us how we can help you, Michelle.”
Hearing him say her name was like a lightning bolt to a sexual frustration she’d buried two years earlier when she’d found her long-time boyfriend of three years lying between one of her friend’s legs.
Nix that. Ex-friend.
Since that time, she’d devoted every hour to work and her studies. Then, when the opportunity at Hope House had come along, she’d jumped in with both feet, even using weekends to read through the young men’s files and see how she could help them. She hadn’t had time for dating, much less relationships. And she sure as hell hadn’t had time for sex.
Of course, that hadn’t stopped her from fantasizing. In fact, once she’d stopped dating the fantasies had grown stronger, wilder, bringing two men together who would teach her what being a real woman was like.
The lack of recent sex explained the strange nervousness, but not the growing craving that had her wanting to call “Submarine!” and dive bomb her body on top of them. Her self-imposed celibacy had gotten her hormones into a funk, and, all of a sudden, Wiley and Brody had broken the seal and let her libido’s rage take hold.
Maybe they could help her in a different way than she’d planned. “Okay, then, here it is. I assume you’re aware of the type of boys we have here?”
“If you’re asking if we know they’ve had a rough time of it, then the answer’s yes.” Brody sat back, his own curiosity showing.
“Well, I was thinking that you, I mean, your team could help out by becoming mentors.”
“Mentors?” Wiley crossed his legs, resting his ankle on top of the other knee.
The action was a simple, every day one, but it gave her a quick thrill as she let her gaze fall to his crotch. As soon as she was aware of what she was staring at, she jerked her attention up again, then over to Brody. But not so fast that she didn’t catch Wiley’s knowing smile.
She cleared her throat and hoped it would get her mind out of the gutter. “Yes. The boys could use good role models in their lives. Male ones. And what’s a better role model than a firefighter? A man who risks his life to save others? Real, live heroes?”
“That’s really why you came to the station?”
She did her best not to fidget in the chair, but it was hard. Both because of Brody’s scrutiny and because of the tightening of her pussy muscles at the sound of his deep voice. “It is.”
Liar, liar. Pants on fire.
Oh, my. I bet they could put out my fire.
“And just how would we do this? We don’t have a lot of spare time.”
She lifted her eyebrows at Wiley. Was he turning her down? “I thought you wanted to help.”
“We do. It’s just that you didn’t need to contact the Firemen for Hire team for something like this. Any of the other firefighters would say yes.”
She tried to shrug it off, but doubted he bought her casualness. “Sure. But you’re the best of the best. I figured that out after hearing about you guys”—she paused for emphasis, unable to toy with them—“from a friend of a friend.”
“Okay. Sounds good. Count us in.”
She rose and stuck out her hand to Wiley. “Great.”
“And how do we get started?”
“For starters, I’d say start showing up and hanging outside with the kids. Let them get comfortable around you. Although there is one boy in particular I’d like you to get to know.”
Brody stood, his hand out ready to shake hers, but she didn’t take it. “Who’s that?”
She caught the quick movement outside the office and knew who it was. She lowered her voice to a whisper. “This one.”
Turning to face the door, she called out to him. “Curt? Is that you? Come on in. I want you to meet someone.”
* * * *
The young boy who came through the door had a chip on his shoulder bigger than the state of Oklahoma. Brody didn’t doubt some of the chip was well-deserved, but if the kid wanted to grow up to be the best man he could be, he’d have to get rid of all of it.
“Curt, this is Mr. Wiley and his brother, Mr. Brody.”
He wondered why she’d called them that instead of giving the kid their full names, but shoved the question away. Instead, Brody stuck out his hand as he’d done to Michelle. And like her, the boy didn’t take it. Nonetheless, Brody figured the reasons were as different as night and day. “How’s it going, Curt?”
The kid didn’t like to talk much that was for sure. He hung his head for a while, but once he finally managed to meet Brody’s gaze, there was nothing but defiance in them. The kid had to have seen a lot of shit in his time to have that much anger built up. But that didn’t fool Brody. Fear always lurked behind anger.
The kid’s afraid of getting hurt again.
He dropped his hand and looked to Wiley. His brother had always been better with kids than him.
Wiley stuck out his hand, and again, Curt ignored it. That didn’t faze Wiley. He simply brushed his hands together and made a joke out of it. “Sure. Why shake hands? Who knows where they’ve been?”
“Curt, you’re being rude.”
Brody could see that Michelle was upset by the way the kid treated them, but she needn’t have been. She wasn’t responsible for his manners.
“Hey, Curt, do you like basketball? I saw a hoop outside. Am I right?”
“You are. We have two courts and I’m sure one of them is free right now,” offered Michelle.
“Good deal. How about you and I take on Michelle—”
“It’s Miss Michelle here. And the staff’s last names are private.”
“O-kay. How about we take on Miss Michelle and my brother? We’ll give them handicap points. You know. To make up for my brother’s sorry playing.”
Wiley gave Brody a light punch on the arm and Michelle laughed at his joke. Curt, however, didn’t act like he’d even heard the offer.
“Seriously, Curt, you’re being very rude.”
The boy’s gaze jerked to her. “I don’t need a big brother and I don’t want to play any stupid basketball.” He spun around on his heel and hurried down the hall at a quick clip.
Brody held back a curse. The boy could use a good talking to. Hell, if he’d acted that way with their dad, he would’ve gotten his hide tanned.
“I’m so sorry.” Her voice dripped with embarrassment. “Curt’s been through a tough time. His father was abusive and his mother treated him like he didn’t exist. After the authorities took him away from them, he spent a lot of time jumping between foster homes. Some of those foster parents weren’t much better than his real parents. He’s gotten into all kinds of trouble, some serious. Not that it excuses his behavior, of course. I’ll have a talk with him later on. But don’t give up on him, please. Underneath that hard wall is a kid who needs help and love. It’ll take time for him to warm up to you.”
“Has he warmed up to anyone other than you?” Brody was pushing it to assume that the kid had warmed up to her.
“Truthfully? No. And not that much to me. But let’s hope one or both of you will break through that barrier of his. He could use a couple of friends.”
He couldn’t have said why or how, but he got the impression that there was something more going on between her and the kid. Nothing sexual, of course. More like they shared a secret neither one of them would expose until they had no other way to avoid it.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ll come back another day and try again.”
“Yeah.” Wiley put his hand on her shoulder. “We don’t give up that easy.”
Brody felt a rush of jealousy as Wiley slid his hand along her arm. He’d liked to have done the same, but he didn’t think she’d go for it. She still seemed skittish and he guessed he couldn’t blame her. Maybe Curt was the way to make her feel more comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to tell him the truth about the fire and why she was there.
* * * *
I have to be the world’s biggest idiot.
Michelle peeked between the blinds
of Elbert’s office and watched Wiley and Brody jump into their Jeep, then drive off down the street.
She was trying to protect Curt and yet she’d invited two firefighters into his life. Curt needed them as role models, but she could’ve found others to do that. Instead, she’d gotten backed into a wall, and instead of telling them the truth about why she’d been at the house, she’d used the first idea that had come to her to deflect suspicion. But damn. She hadn’t been thinking when she’d put their focus on Curt.
She would’ve gotten frazzled just as much if it had been two other firefighters waiting for her. At least that’s what she told herself. It was a lie, one of many that she’d told lately, but maybe it was the worst, since it was the one she was telling herself.
What the hell was it? Why did those two men affect her so much?
Was it because they were handsome? But she’d met plenty of handsome, sexy men before. She hadn’t felt anything like that with anyone else. No one had tugged at her pussy like they had.
Was it because she was sexually frustrated, as she’d thought earlier? But that didn’t make sense, either. If it was merely a sexual attraction, why hadn’t she gotten turned on by other men?
Was it because they were firefighters? Granted, she, like thousands of other women, loved a man in uniform. Especially one who was willing to help others in need whenever he wasn’t risking his life to save others. But she doubted that was it, too. Dealing with the young men of Hope House put her in contact with policemen and not one of them had made her hot between the legs.
Was it more complicated than that? Was it because it was them? She hesitated, not sure if she wanted to know the answer to that question. If it was—and she had a strong inclination to think so—then she’d made a huge mistake in giving them yet another reason to visit Hope House. Had the strong attraction she’d felt for them taken over her common sense?
“Yeah. I am the world’s biggest idiot.”
She had to talk to Curt again. Had to stop him from going off the deep end and doing more damage. As far as she was concerned, she’d given him enough breaks. If anything more were to happen, or God forbid, if anyone were to get injured, she’d have no choice. She’d have to turn him over to the authorities.