March Heat: A Firefighter Enemies to Lovers Romance

by Chase Jackson

  I saw quite a few that I’d like to punch. Fucking pricks.

  I took a seat at the far end of the bar, turning my seat to face Alexandra and the girls at their table. My back was against the wall, and I put my feet on the footrest of the stool in front of me. It was surprisingly comfortable. I’d waited in much worse places for much longer, that was for sure.

  My solitude was cut short as a smartly dressed and very professional barman quietly approached me. “What would you like, sir?” he asked with just a hint of a French accent.

  “I’ll take a whiskey on the…with ice.” I paused to survey the vast array of whiskey lined up behind the barman. “A nice one. Not too expensive, but not too cheap.”

  “Ah…American, yes?” the barman said, looking surprised. “I thought you were English. You look like a… like a big James Bond! No?” He smiled before turning to select a bottle of whiskey from the selection behind him.

  “Thanks…” I said, not really knowing if it was a compliment.

  A large whiskey was placed in front of me in a fancy tumbler. “Here you go, sir.” The barman left me to my drink as he went to attend to a middle-aged guy who’d taken a seat farther down the bar.

  I leaned back against the wall, taking a large gulp of whiskey and grunting in pleasure at the taste and the gentle burn as it went down.

  Nothing remotely interesting happened for the next half hour. I nursed my whiskey, knowing I might have to stretch two or three drinks out over the evening. All the while, I kept a nonchalant pose, trying to stay still and fade into the background.

  I wasn’t paid much attention, apart from the wistful looks sent my way by a few older women at a table nearby, whom I ignored.

  I consciously tried not to look at Alexandra too often, her beauty standing out in the middle of her two friends. She looked like she was enjoying herself immensely. Even her friends seemed to have loosened up, chatting, joking, and laughing with her.

  A short while later, I ordered my second whiskey. As I did so, I saw a group of young men enter the restaurant. They walked toward the raised platform at the back of the restaurant, looking snottily down at the various diners seated at the lower tables as they did so. There were five of them, and they all looked sleazy and arrogant. They were all dressed similarly in tight shirts and skinny jeans with huge watches on their wrists. Two of them wore sunglasses, and one had on an all-too-revealing V-neck t-shirt that made me shudder.

  Guess that’s what passes for fashion, these days, I thought, amused. Money just can’t buy you class…

  All five of them ogled the girls as they approached their table. Olivia smiled back, Lucy pouted, and Alexandra looked pissed off.

  I sensed trouble, knowing these guys would probably harass them if given half a chance. Olivia and Lucy would likely give them more than half a chance though, I suspected.

  The five douches took seats around their table. Mr. V-Neck sat in the middle, looking like he might be the ring leader. He didn’t take his large, gold framed sunglass off, which made me dislike him even more.

  I relaxed though, because I didn’t think they were any real danger. Plus, I could take them all down in a matter of seconds before anyone even knew what had hit them.

  Still, I didn’t want any of them going near Alexandra. She was mine and after days of questioning myself, knew for sure that she wanted me too. So if any of those guys so much as touched her, they would be going home in a fucking ambulance.

  Nothing happened for a while, the guys seeming to lose interest in anything other than the expensive drinks that they rudely ordered. I felt sorry for the young waitress serving them. She looked flustered at what were likely lewd comments from the guys, though I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

  As the drinks continued to flow, their brash voices raised in volume as they tried to speak over each other. Visibly annoyed, the middle-aged couple decided to leave, their meals finished.

  The American family looked like they were getting pissed off at the noise as well. Although they’d been a little loud themselves, they were respectful and hadn’t been disturbing anyone. After a while, the American mother approach the young guys at the table, I presumed to ask for a little peace and quiet while her family finished their meal. Some of her kids were quite young, and probably a little too sensitive to what I could guess their conversations were about.

  The guy in the V-neck said something, gesturing angrily, and his four sycophants laughed at the woman.

  Right then and there, I could barely resist the urge to go and punch him right in his stupid sunglasses.

  The massive doorman strode over to their table, glaring at the five of them. He said something quietly and gestured towards the door, giving them what looked like a last warning.

  Bet they won’t say a fucking word now, I thought. And I was right about my measure of their character, as they suddenly turned into the sheepish little boys that they were.

  The woman returned to her table, scolding all five young men as she did so. She certainly had balls.

  The bouncer returned to the door, making an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture with his hand as he turned away.

  I refrained from gesturing that I was watching them too.

  When the family left a little while later, the guys immediately resumed their loud banter. The pack leader gestured rudely at a passing waitress, and then said something else, pointing to the girls’ table.

  I glanced over, seeing that Alexandra, Olivia, and Lucy had finished their meals. The waitress returned with an expensive looking bottle of champagne for them, which made Lucy and Olivia beam and wink at each other. Alexandra, however, took a glass reluctantly when they handed it to her.

  Alexandra

  The five guys that had arrived a while ago had stared lewdly at us as they’d approached their table. To me, they looked disgusting, pretentious, and cocky. I hated them as soon as I’d seen them. Olivia and Lucy, on the other hand, loved the attention.

  I looked over at Cruz sitting at the bar, a pleading look in my eyes. He was staring at the guys’ table to my left. Although I couldn’t quite make out his expression from where I was, his body language suggested that he wasn’t happy at all.

  After a moment, he turned to look at me and nodded. I smiled, relieved that he was monitoring the situation.

  “Really, you two?” I looked at my friends, exasperated. “Haven’t you had enough male attention for a week? Also, how are you going to handle five of them?”

  “Oh, we can handle five. Or four, if you want to help us out…” Lucy said, her voice low.

  Olivia poked me in the ribs. “You need a good seeing to. It might get you stop staring at him.” She gestured towards Cruz and my face grew warm.

  I sighed. “I am not letting some disgusting sleazy douche put his hands all over me.”

  I wanted a man. A big, strong man who knew what he was doing. Who could look after me…

  “Whatever. We’re inviting them over.” Lucy got up, adjusted her dress, and walked slowly over to their table. From where I sat, I could see her butt peeking out as she leaned over the table, probably resting her chin on her hands and giving the boys an eyeful, no doubt. Their boisterous laughter and lewd compliments rang out from the table.

  I inwardly cringed, knowing this was going to be awful. If one of them so much as touched me, I hoped Cruz would break his hand.

  Lucy returned with the five guys in tow. “Okay, so this my friend Olivia and my other friend, Alexandra. She hasn’t had it in a while.”

  One of the guys, wearing a low V-neck t shirt, whispered something in another’s ears, loud enough for all his friends to hear. They all laughed.

  I frowned at them, my face burning in frustration and anger.

  “Pleased to you meet you, ladies. What a nice surprise to find three beautiful young women so near our table. Let’s get some drinks, shall we?” the guy in the V-neck said. He was clearly the ringleader. He had an odd accent, a mix of French, British, and
American. Though he was trying to sound like he had class, he just came across as a sleazebag.

  Lucy scooched up next to me, and Olivia stood up to let the douche in. He slid around to sit next to me, entirely too close. I could smell alcohol on his breath and liberally applied aftershave on his skin. I took a large gulp of champagne, uncomfortable and wanting to be literally anywhere else.

  “Hey, Alexandra. I’m Jordan.” He held out a manicured, spindly hand.

  I shook it as quickly as I could. “Hi. Look, don’t listen to my friends. I’m not looking for anything, I’m afraid. I’m just here to have a quiet evening,” I said, hoping he would get the message.

  “Oh, we’ll see about that!” He winked. I shuddered.

  “Don’t worry. A few more drinks and I bet she’ll be well up for it!” his equally disgusting friend said in a strong British accent. So much for the stereotypical British gentleman.

  “Excuse me?” I said, incredulous.

  “Don’t worry, love. I’m just pulling yer leg.” He smiled crookedly, revealing bad nicotine-stained teeth.

  I was fuming. One of the guys ordered a few more bottles of champagne. Crude conversation surrounded me. Jordan tried to chat me up, but I wasn’t remotely interested and tried my best to ignore him. Yet, he wouldn’t take a hint.

  A while later, I felt a hand on my thigh. I looked at Jordan to find him grinning at me. His hands were small and feminine, his muscles were out of proportion to his skinny body, and he had a poor attempt at a beard growing in his childish face.

  I pushed his hand away in disgust, rising to my feet. “I’m going to the bathroom,” I said, annoyed.

  Olivia and Lucy chimed in, almost in unison. “We’ll join you. Won’t keep you waiting too long, boys.” They were having the time of their lives.

  I hurried to the bathroom, the girls behind me. I was tempted to go and get Cruz, but I knew it would piss the girls off, so I considered just leaving them in the restaurant.

  “What’s your problem, Alexandra?” Olivia said as she followed me into the bathroom. “They’re just being nice. Why can’t you lighten up for once?”

  Lucy had her arms folded, looking annoyed at me. “He’s nice. And I bet he’s damn rich as well. Why don’t you give him a chance?”

  “Because he won’t take no for an answer, that's why! You think he’s going to let me go back to my room alone when you’re each taking one or two back with you? You're disgusting, sometimes.”

  “Whoa. Hold on there.” Olivia held her hand up. “Don't be annoyed at us because we like having fun. It’s not our fault you’re a stuck-up bitch!”

  I stared at them, stunned. They had certainly had shown their true colors, and I hated what I saw. I felt like I’d been wrong about them actually being decent-hearted people.

  I sighed, almost feeling sorry for them as I left the bathroom. I was going to tell Jordan in no uncertain terms where he could shove it, and then I was leaving.

  Cruz

  My hand froze, my whiskey glass halfway to my mouth. A few minutes ago, I’d seen the leader of the douches scoot in next to Alexandra, leering at her. Seeing how disgusted she looked, I had tried to shrug off my jealousy, only to find my heart beating faster and my hands clenching.

  I tried to calm down, fearing I would crack the whiskey glass. I took a measured gulp, my hands shaking. And then I drained the whole glass.

  “Would you like another, sir?” the barman said, appearing at my side. I looked at him, my eyes burning with poorly controlled anger, a visage of rage combined years of suppressed emotion rising to the surface.

  He stepped back with fear in his eyes, fleeing straight for the other end of the bar.

  I looked back at the group, my tunnel vision setting in. I froze for a while, waiting for an excuse to approach the men.

  A long minute later, the other girls rose, with Alexandra rushing off to the bathroom looking pissed. Lucy and Olivia hurried after her, looking equally annoyed, but I could tell their frustration was at Alexandra, not the guys.

  I looked back at the guys. The leader had a bottle of champagne in his hands, laughing. He then began rummaging around in his right pocket for something. Looking around, the others leaned over in a poor attempt to obscure what he was doing. But I still saw him.

  He’d put something into Alexandra’s glass before filling it up with champagne that fizzed a little too vigorously.

  I was on my feet in an instant, striding across the restaurant toward their table, reaching it in mere seconds. My cold stare was fixed solely on the leader with his stupid V-neck t-shirt.

  He looked up at me and grinned. “We’re okay. Thanks, waiter. Just got some champagne, see?” He gave a patronizing smile and waved the half-full bottle at me. “You can go away now.”

  I leaned over the table, smashing the bottle out of his grip with one strong backhanded slap of my left hand. The bottle flew at his friend, breaking on his chest. Sharp glass shattered everywhere, and the guys shouted.

  I swung on my hips, sending a vicious right backhanded punch that connected with the side of his face without even taking my eyes from the ringleader who’d spiked Alexandra’s drink.

  The guy I’d hit flew backwards through the air, landing at Alexandra’s feet. She stood there, shocked. But I couldn’t concern myself with that right now.

  “As for you, you piece of fucking shit!” I said, leaning across the table to the ringleader. “You’re dead!”

  I grabbed him by the neck, my muscles bulging as I dragged him across the table.

  I punched him savagely in the gut, knocking all the air out of him.

  Alexandra was next to me all of a sudden, her hand on my arm.

  “Cruz,” she said, softly. I looked down at her as she held onto my arm, which I’d drawn back for another brutal punch. But as soon as I saw her face, my rage lifted.

  Realizing I was still holding the guy by his neck, I dropped him to the floor, where he began coughing and sputtering, gasping for breath.

  Olivia and Lucy had just then arrived on the premises. “What the fuck are you doing?” Olivia screamed. When she turned her gaze from the guy on the floor, to me, her eyes widened. “Oh…my…God. Did you kill him?

  The two bouncers approached, although they stopped a distance away, neither wanting to come near me.

  “These pieces of shit,” I said, my voice calmer, “needed to be taught a lesson.” I pointed to the guy on the floor in front of me. “Look in his right pocket.”

  His friend behind me suddenly become brave, now that the bouncers were here. “You can’t search him, mate! You ain’t the police!”

  I turned to face him, poking a hard finger in his chest. “Sit. The. Fuck. Down.” I said, accentuating each word with a hard poke to the chest. His face drained of color and he flinched away from my touch.

  I turned back toward the bouncers. “Please,” I said, gesturing to the V-neck wearing punk again. “I swear, it was him. Trust me.”

  The big bouncer hesitated for a moment, but then bent down and began rummaging around in the guy’s pocket, struggling with his massive hands. He froze, frowning. Then he removed a small bag of white powder.

  He looked up at me, eyebrows raised. I turned around to grab Alexandra’s glass, and showed it to him close up. A trace of sediment was still visible at the bottom of the champagne flute, slowly dissolving.

  The bouncer looked down to the guy again. “You fucking scum,” he said, in a deep voice heavily accented in French.

  Not before long, the guy was escorted, or rather carried, out towards the back entrance of the restaurant by the bouncer, disappearing out of sight. I suspected his punishment was not yet over.

  I turned to face his friends. “I suggest you all fuck off. Before I get angry again. Nobody wants to see that.”

  The other bouncer, roughly the same size as me, punched his fist into his hand and the remaining guys left swiftly, gathering their semi-conscious friend that I’d hit earlier.

  I
looked at the bouncer and he looked at me for a long moment before subtly nodding and leaving to follow the guys to the front entrance, making sure they left.

  “I can’t believe you did that,” Lucy said, glaring at me. “You’re a psycho.”

  I grit my teeth and kept my mouth closed.

  “We’re leaving. You coming, Alexandra?” Olivia said, her expression and tone indicating that she shared the same sentiments as Lucy.

  It wasn’t until then that I noticed Alexandra was still holding onto my arm. Her grip was tight, and when I looked down at her, her gaze was hard. Yet, it wasn’t directed at me.

  “Just go. I’ve had enough of you two,” she said, waving towards the front entrance.

  My heart sped. She was taking my side? She wasn’t afraid of me?

  The sneers on Olivia’s and Lucy’s faces deepened.

  “You’re choosing him over us?” Olivia said, shaking her head and turning her nose up at me. “You’re just desperate.”

  “Fuck both of them. Let’s go,” Lucy said.

  And with angry huffs, they two of them locked arms and headed for the door.

  Alexandra sighed and leaned against my muscled shoulder. I felt her warmth seeping through my suit and suddenly felt aroused.

  She knew I was just trying to do my job, to keep her safe.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I said, putting my arm around her waist and pulling her in towards me.

  To my surprise, she grabbed my ass through the pants of my suit.

  All I could do was laugh, so many emotions running through me I could hardly make sense of them.

  Chapter Eleven

  Alexandra

  I reluctantly let go of my grip on Cruz’s strong arm as our car was brought to the front of the restaurant. He gently pushed the valet aside as he approached us after taking the keys from him. He opened the passenger door for me, his eyes not moving from my face for an instant.