by Caisey Quinn
Lit Fuse
A Nashville’s Finest Novella
Caisey Quinn
INTERMIX
New York
INTERMIX
Published by Berkley
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Copyright © 2017 by Caisey Quinn
Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.
INTERMIX and the “IM” design are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
ISBN: 9780399586569
First Edition: January 2017
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 7
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Playlist
About the Author
For Holden James—
who taught me to expect the unexpected.
There were never butterflies. Just fire.
—Unknown
1
“Must be the blonde tending bar tonight,” Chase Fisk muttered under his breath. He navigated the crammed sea of bodies that filled the bar with his roommates Aiden Gamble and Luke Foster.
“Must be. It’s a fucking madhouse in here,” Luke commented. The potent combination of booze and cigar smoke filled the interior of Hell & Back, growing heavier as they made their way deeper inside the cavernous space.
“Find a table. I’ll get the first round,” Aiden told them. He and Luke had been friends since high school and they’d met Chase in basic training at Fort Benning three years ago, bonding over the fact that all three of them were from Tennessee. They attended special ops training together and even served in the same unit on their overseas deployment the previous year. Then Chase had been separated from his buddies for a while and promoted to Specialist when he’d ranked higher than any Private First Class ever had on explosive ordnance disposal.
But now they were stationed together at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. Aiden was in security detail for some high-level political official. Most likely because the dude was built like a shit brick house at six four and two hundred fifty pounds of muscle. Aiden was the strong silent type, and Chase appreciated that. Luke had been assigned to the Intelligence sector doing some classified shit Chase knew better than to ask about. Leaner and more talkative than the other two men, Luke “silver tongue” Foster made Chase nervous at times when he ran his mouth. The bastard could get him to open up and admit to just about anything. Chase preferred to keep his secrets to himself and was perfectly content to spend his days on base training new recruits so they didn’t blow their stupid asses up. Cut this wire. Don’t touch that one. Shut your mouth and do your job.
Clean. Easy. No complications.
Shifts were insane and the days were long, not to mention the life-or-death stakes of training exercises in his field, but typically they got a weekend or two off a month to blow off steam. Which was good because Chase was made of steam.
A lifetime with an alcoholic father who communicated primarily with his fists had given Chase plenty of motivation for getting out of the backwoods of Jonesborough and becoming all that he could be.
The aspects of military life most grunts complained about—waking up early, running a dozen miles a day, barely having time to shit, shower, or shave—that was how Chase’s life had always been. Becoming a solider was a walk in the park on a breezy day compared to his childhood. He’d slept outside on the ground plenty growing up—at least now he was doing it to serve his country, not because his pop was on a bender and had locked him out. The food wasn’t gourmet but it was there. Commanding Officers and Sergeants screaming in his face were nothing compared to dear old Dad.
“So you get a new batch tomorrow, huh?” Luke said, lowering himself into the recently vacated corner booth they’d found.
Chase nodded. “Yep. Same old shit though. Bright-eyed kids who think EOD is all about the glory.” He shrugged, feeling much older than his twenty-two years and wishing Aiden would hurry up with that beer already. “They see a few guys looking like badasses on prime-time television and suddenly they’re signing up in hordes. Half of them will drop out before the end of next week. They don’t have a fucking clue.”
Luke grinned. “Admit it though. Being a CO in charge is a helluva lot better than being a grunt. Sure don’t miss those days.”
“It has its perks.”
The crowd parted as Aiden stepped through and Chase saw that he was right—the blonde with the perfect rack was tending bar. Hence the herd of salivating men breathing up all the damn oxygen in the place.
Aiden set two beer bottles in front of each of them. “Turns out the first two rounds are on me. Good thing, because I’m not fighting my way through that shit again.”
“How thoughtful of you,” Luke deadpanned with a wink.
Aiden grunted in response before downing half of his first beer in one swallow. “Don’t thank me. Blondie threw in a free round for ‘Chase’s friends’.”
Luke waggled his eyebrows. “You hit that and quit that, Fisk? Must’ve left her satisfied if we all get free beer out of it.” He lifted his hand in a fist bump that Chase ignored.
“No. I didn’t. I jump-started her car last weekend. I came to shoot pool with Tucker and we were here till closing. Battery was dead when she got off work.”
Aiden gave him a dubious glance, but it was the truth.
Luke grinned. “Is that what the kids are calling it these days? Fisk, you must be really good with your hands, man. Must be those bomb-tech skills.”
“Shut it, Foster.” Chase took a long pull from his bottle.
“You go get the next round,” Luke said in his direction when they’d polished off the first and started on the second. “Since the bartender is a fan of yours.”
Chase drained his second beer and stood. Whatever. He didn’t mind elbowing his way through the crowd. Better than enduring the third degree from Foster.
Chase was a solidly built guy—six feet, two twenty-five, swirling black and bruise blue tattoos covering the scars on his chest and arms. Not quite as broad as Aiden but the sea of drunken patrons parted all the same.
“Hey, handsome,” Kat the bartender greeted him warmly. “You’re welcome for the beers.”
He smiled back. “I appreciate the drinks. You didn’t have to do t
hat though. I didn’t do anything anyone else wouldn’t have.”
Katrina rolled her eyes as she used an opener to pop the tops off three bottles of Budweiser. “Yeah right. Except every other guy would’ve been so busy staring at my ass or tits he probably would’ve electrocuted himself. And he most definitely would’ve expected more in return than a few beers.”
Chase wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He gave a half nod. “Well, in that case, I’m glad it was me.”
Kat grinned. “Me too. If you’re around later, the POS still might not start. Might need your services once again. Swear I’m going to buy some jumper cables soon.”
Chase handed over a twenty for the beers and told her to keep the change. “I can handle that. What time do you get off?”
Kat took an order from a group of women beside him before turning back to answer. “Two.”
Chase checked his phone. It was going on eleven. He had training with new recruits at oh eight hundred hours. Two would be a late night.
“If that’s too late, no worries. I can always hoof it back to my place if my beater won’t crank. It’s not far.”
Chase frowned. Lots of drunken, horny soldiers around these parts. The bar was barely two miles off base. “Naw. Two is fine. Probably about the time we’ll be wrapping up anyway.”
“Awesome.” Kat returned to the full house waiting on her to serve them, leaving Chase to himself.
“She’s not going to fuck you, you know,” a female voice piped up from beside him. “In case you were getting your hopes and other body parts up.”
Chase turned and narrowed his gaze on the redhead who’d spoken. “Excuse me?”
The woman wrapped full, succulent lips around a Michelob Light bottle. After she’d taken a long pull, she smirked at him.
“The sex kitten tending the bar,” she clarified, nodding at where Kat was mixing a cocktail a few feet away. “She’d rather get my number tonight than yours.”
Chase let out an amused breath. “Is that right?”
“I’d be willing to place a wager on it. If you doubt me and want to put your money where your mouth is. . . .” Red lifted her eyebrows, challenging him to argue.
“Well I’d hate to take your money.” He wasn’t sure she was entirely wrong about Kat, but he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. And there were plenty of places he would like to put his mouth.
Regardless of which team Kat was on, Red was appealing to anyone with a pulse. Thick auburn hair with sunset-colored streaks cascading halfway down her back. Delicate, petite straight nose overshadowed by wide bright hazel eyes. The casual black sundress she wore was loose fitting but short enough to place her long, toned legs on display. And God Almighty, that sensual mouth had spouted more sass than he’d heard in years. His authoritative presence and official position kept most of the women around referring to him as sir.
“So don’t,” Red offered. “Who says we have to put money on it?”
Now Chase was particularly intrigued. Aiden and Luke could wait a little longer for their beers. “Then what is it you’d like to bet, sweetheart?”
Red’s eyes narrowed practically to slits at the term of endearment. “Your table. The corner booth you and your boys commandeered so you could nurse your beers all night.”
Chase nodded. “Okay. So what do I get if I win?”
The hint of a smile lifted Red’s luscious lips slowly before she took another unladylike swallow from her bottle. “I don’t make bets I can’t win, so I’m not worried.” She shrugged. “Whatever you want, you can have it.”
Chase nearly choked on his own drink. Balls of brass on this one. “You sure about that? What if I want you to buy my drinks for the rest of the evening?”
Red shrugged. “It’s a lame choice, but if that’s what you—”
“I didn’t say it was what I wanted. I said what if?”
She sighed as if growing bored with him. “So what do you want then? If you win.”
Chase decided to push and see how far Ms. Cool and Collected would let him go. “You. If I win, if Kat here would rather go home with me than you, then you go home with me.”
Red frowned. “If she picks you, wouldn’t she be going home with you?”
“Is three a crowd for you, sweetheart?”
Something sparked in her eyes and Chase felt the mood shift from teasing to something more intense. The thought of a threesome turned her on, that much was obvious by the flush in her cheeks, but it did something else too. Jealousy, he thought to himself. That was an ignited flare of jealousy gleaming in those gorgeous eyes.
Red shrugged. “I don’t like to share. I’m an only child. Sharing never was my thing.”
Chase let out a low, dark laugh. “Question is, who would you be upset about sharing? Me or her?”
Red pursed her lips together in an I’ll-never-tell position. “Guess you’ll never know,” she said so low he almost didn’t hear.
Damn if he didn’t want to find out more than he wanted his next breath. His male DNA demanded that he form a vivid mental image of both Kat and Red naked in his bed. Bare breasts, smooth skin, pouty mouths, and slick pussies all his for the taking. Touching him, touching one another. It was a hot fantasy, but then he found, surprisingly, that he didn’t particularly love the idea of sharing either.
If he took Red home, he wanted her all to himself. Wanted to spread her out on his bed and show her what he could do with his mouth, fingers, and cock. Wipe that confident smirk off her face and make her beg for him to let her come.
Hear that husky voice screaming his name out in ecstasy until she went hoarse.
“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked, her expression the picture of innocence, but another wicked gleam in her eyes indicated she knew there was nothing innocent about where his train of thought had traveled.
“Guess you’ll never know,” he parroted back at her.
Red shook her head and let out a sexy peal of laughter. “All right, big boy. Time to see which one of us has the right equipment for our pretty kitty cat.”
She waved Kat over and Chase felt the impending doom gathering in a cloud above him. What the hell was she going to say—“Which one of us would you bang, hypothetically?”
After ordering another drink, Red smiled seductively at Kat. A tinge of jealousy soured Chase’s stomach.
“So, my new friend and I, we’re sort of in disagreement about something, and we’re hoping you could clear it up,” Red began.
Kat opened several beers and set them on the bar. “I’ll do what I can.”
Red smiled. “Thanks.” She took a deep breath that made Chase realize he was holding his breath as he waited to see what she would say next. He had no desire to piss off Kat or hurt her feelings by being offensive. He hoped Red wouldn’t do so either. “So my buddy here thinks 24 is the best show ever. Don’t get me wrong—Keifer’s great and all. But I told him The L Word is and always will be my favorite. Hands down.”
Kat smiled the most genuine smile he’d seen from her in the few weeks she’d been working there. “My roommates and I actually had an L Word party every week before it was canceled.” She tossed Chase an apologetic shrug. “I love Keifer too, but L Word and Orange is the New Black have him beat. Sorry.”
“Thanks, again,” Red said as Kat made her way to more demanding customers. “There you have it,” she told him as if he was supposed to have gleaned the answer to Kat’s sexual preference from a random conversation about television shows. He never even watched any television. No time.
“Have what?” Chase lifted Aiden’s and Luke’s beers from the bar. “Because she likes some shows better than others? So she’s more into you than me? How do you figure?”
Red looked downright annoyed with his ignorance. “Get your phone out. Google The L Word and Orange is the New Black. Right now. I’m serious.”
/>
She took the beers he was holding so he could do as she’d instructed. Once the descriptions of each appeared, Chase skimmed them and did the mental math.
“Okay then. I guess you win. If you say so.”
Red frowned. “You don’t believe me? Seriously?”
Chase shrugged. “I think you believe you and I suppose that’s good enough.”
Turning abruptly back toward Kat, Red hollered over at her. “Hey, Kat?”
Kat turned. “Need another round already?”
Red shook her head and leaned as far as possible over the bar, gifting Chase with a perfect view of her juicy peach of an ass he wanted to sink his teeth into.
“If you had your pick tonight, going home with muscles here or going home with me, which would you choose?”
Jesus. Chase wanted to clamp a hand over her damn mouth. Who did this woman think she was?
To his surprise, Kat giggled at the question. “Well you’re both so pretty, it’s a tough call. But you’re much more my type, Viv. You know that.” She winked at Red, then glanced thoughtfully at Chase. “But Chase is a sweetheart, so I’d definitely let him watch.”
Annnd his dick was going to be perma-hard for all of eternity now. Thank you very much.
“Hear that, sweetheart?” Red, whose name was apparently Viv, gave him a taunting grin. “I win. Tell your boys to ship out.”
She waved two other women over from where they stood perched by a high-top table with no chairs.
“You set me up,” Chase said, realizing one of the women heading over was now chatting with Kat in a way that indicated they had carnal knowledge of each other.
“I hustled you,” Red corrected. “It’s a little different. And just out of a table. You’ll live.”
“So it’s Viv then?”
“My friends call me Viv.” She tossed him another mischievous grin. “You can call me Vivien.”
“Chase,” he said, accepting a firm handshake from her warm, supple fingers. Before he could say that he’d like to call her and ask for her number, she gestured for him to move out of her way.