On his way out the door, Jax debated with himself and then sent Karma a quick text. There was no sense in playing hard to get. They were on a timeline. One that he hoped to push forward indefinitely. Hope your day goes well.
A couple of minutes later his phone chimed. He wondered if he’d woken her. Yours too. Be safe.
He jumped in his truck and headed to work. A full twenty-four hours without his Karma fix. He could do it. No problem. Yeah right, he already missed her quirky personality and beautiful smile, not to mention her kissable lips. Jax groaned to himself; he was in way over his head.
Jax shook his head and tried to concentrate on the road.
A little while later he pulled into the fire station. He looked at the clock on the dashboard; he had five minutes to spare. The guys were waiting to be relieved, and no one liked to have to stay late on a twenty-four-hour shift.
“’Bout time,” Amy yelled out.
“Yeah, yeah. I still got five minutes,” Jax shot back with a half grin.
Amy was tiny, but tough as nails. She could outrun most of the guys, and could bench press her own body weight, not a small feat for a female. She was the only female on the team, so she had a lot of pressure to work harder than the rest of the guys. And she was a mother of three, so he could understand her need to leave ASAP.
“Slow night?” Jax asked.
She shrugged. “The usual, only got called out once, and it was for an accident. Drunk driver.”
“Well, get out of here. Sorry to make you wait around.”
She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out to the parking lot, yelling over her shoulder, “Coffee and doughnuts are waiting inside.”
Jax was hungry. He usually tried to eat before he left for work, but he’d been running late. He even forgot to grab a protein shake. Guess it would be doughnuts and an extra-long workout today.
He went into the main office and clocked in. Cpt. Clark looked up from behind the desk. He was watching the news on TV.
“Morning.” Jax nodded.
Captain Clark grunted in response. He was slow to wake in the morning.
Jax watched TV for a few minutes then made his way out to the open bay area. The other guys were all sitting around drinking coffee and shooting the shit. Everyone thought being a fireman was a glamorous job, but truth be told it was a lot of sitting around doing nothing, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. When they got called out it meant something bad had happened. Even though a lot of time was wasted, it was part of the job.
Jax poured himself another cup of coffee and grabbed a glazed doughnut. Just as he took his first bite the alarm went off. Shit.
They all dropped what they were doing and raced to get into their gear. Every alarm had to be treated as a life-or-death situation even though more often than not it was nothing major.
The captain came running out. “Real deal, guys. A house is ablaze on Washington and Fourth.”
That put a little pep in their step.
Harrison jumped behind the wheel, and the rest climbed into the truck.
Jax’s heart hammered against his chest. He lived for this shit—the adrenaline rush.
They went screaming down the highway and made it there within seven minutes. The smell of smoke assaulted his nostrils, and they could see the angry flames well before they reached the house.
Jax stared at the red and yellow flames shooting out the windows, devouring the house, before he pulled down his mask. Grady and Adam went to work on the hose. Neighbors were standing outside watching the house in flames. Pieces of soot floated through the air. He could hear the hisses, crackles, and pops, as the violent whoosh of flames tore away at the building. They had to act quickly before it spread to the other homes.
“Someone’s in there!” a woman yelled on the verge of hysteria.
“What?” Jax’s heart thudded in his ears, and panic raced through his veins. He tried to slow his breathing without much success.
“We saw someone in the window!” an elderly woman said, her face pale, and a shaking hand covered her mouth.
Jax yelled to the others that there were people still inside. Grady came forward holding the hose. He yelled back to Adam, who turned on the water pressure.
Jax, Ryan, and Charlie ran forward. Jax was in the lead. Thoughts of his father being trapped in the fire flooded his mind and spurred him on. They had to get whoever was in there out. And they had to work fast. Before it was too late.
Using his ax Jax busted through the door.
Captain Clark yelled through a bullhorn that help was on the way. Stay low to the ground.
They pushed through and immediately walked into a wall of heat and smoke.
Jax yelled but in the roar of the fire, he doubted anyone could hear. “I’ll check upstairs, you guys do a sweep of the downstairs.” He used hand signals at the same time.
They nodded and took off into the smoke.
Jax took the stairs two at a time, not even aware of the heavy equipment on his back. He checked the first room he came to. A child’s room. The bed was unmade, and empty. He checked the closets and raced down the hall to the next room. Also empty. He yelled that he was there. The flames were growing stronger and it was hard to see through his mask.
Finally, he heard someone screaming. A woman? “Please. Help us!”
“Where are you?” Jax yelled, searching the next room and also finding it empty. Fuck!
“Bathroom,” the woman choked out, sobbing. “Please help my son. He’s not breathing. I can’t open the door, the handle is too hot.”
Jax saw a closed door at the end of the hall and slammed into it with his body. He was afraid if he used the ax, he would hurt someone on the other side.
The door gave a little but not all the way, so with all his might he drove his shoulders into the door again, and it flew open. Sitting in the bathtub was a woman with a boy on her lap. He was pale and not moving. Jesus.
“We have to get out of here now!” Jax yelled and picked up the boy in his arms.
The woman scrambled out of the tub.
“Grab a towel and put it over your face, you’re going to have to crawl. The smoke is too thick.”
She nodded and grabbed a towel, her eyes wide with grief and fear.
Jax draped a towel over the unmoving boy. He hoped it wasn’t too late.
Ryan and Charlie came bounding up the stairs. “Empty downstairs.”
Jax came down the hall. And Ryan and Charlie cursed under their breaths.
“Anyone else?” Ryan yelled.
The woman shook her head no, crawling on her hands and knees. Her hair was singed, and her face was black with soot.
“Wrap the towel around your head,” Ryan demanded.
The woman complied, and Ryan threw her over his shoulder.
They raced down the stairs just as the roof crashed down. The house was going up like a box of matches. They had maybe a minute or two to get out. The front door was wide open and Jax ran out with the boy in his arms. A medic ran up and grabbed the boy from him.
“He’s not breathing!” Jax yelled.
The medic nodded, and another ran up with a gurney. They laid the boy down, and Jax stood motionless as they gave the boy CPR. The house crackled behind him, but his focus was on the boy. After what felt like a lifetime the boy coughed and Jax’s heart soared.
The woman cried hysterically on her knees. Jax watched as one of the paramedics pulled her up, talking soothingly to her. The mother pulled away and threw her arms around the gurney.
The boy’s eyes blinked and closed shut again, but he was breathing. They rushed him into the ambulance and the mom jumped in with them.
Hours later Jax was back at the firehouse with his head in his hands. What a fucking day.
CHAPTER 19
How much longer is this damn class going to last? Karma checked the clock for what had to be the hundredth time. Professor Hughes droned on in his monotone raspy voice. She caught herself nodding off a
few times when her mind wasn’t on Jax. Hell, even when she dozed she probably dreamed about him.
“Ms. Points, would you mind repeating what I just said?” Hughes asked, his narrow little eyes staring straight at her. Karma had no idea what the hell he’d been talking about. She stared at the tufts of gray hair above his ears, his hawkish nose, and his shinny dome head, trying to think of something that sounded somewhat intelligent. But she had nothing. Her mind was on Jax—as usual.
Karma shrugged. “No idea, I keep falling asleep.”
A few people in the class snickered.
“Is that right? Late night or just find my lecture not stimulating enough?”
Stimulating? Please. “A little of both, I guess.” Karma straightened a little in her chair.
“In that case, perhaps you should finish the lecture?” The professor raised one of his huge caterpillar eyebrows.
Karma’s mouth fell open. No way in hell was she getting up in front of the class. “Umm, no, thank you. I’ll pay more attention.”
“You do that. I would like a ten-page paper from every one of you on my desk by Wednesday.” The whole class groaned and glared at Karma. As if it were her fault. Hughes probably had it planned all week.
She just rolled her eyes. Great.
When class was dismissed Karma made her way to the cafeteria, where Eva was waiting on her.
“Damn, girl. I thought you disappeared for good on me.”
“Nah, and it’s only been like three days.” Karma shifted her backpack onto her other shoulder. “I’m starving, let’s grab something to eat.”
They made their way to the end of the line, and Karma put a ham and cheese croissant and a bag of chips on her tray. She eyed the desserts, debated for half a second, and tossed an oversized chocolate-chip cookie on her tray.
“So how’s it going with the bouncer?” Eva bumped her hip to Karma’s with one of her devious grins.
Karma sighed, remembering the previous evening. “Incredible, but he’s really going to make me wait the full three weeks.”
“I think it’s kinda cool.” Eva shrugged. “Honestly, I’m a little envious.”
“Really? But if I’m only going to have three weeks with him, I’d rather it would be mostly horizontal. You know what I mean?” Karma grabbed a paper cup and filled it with raspberry ice tea.
“You should be glad he wants to get to know you. Most guys are wham bam thank you ma’am. And half of them don’t even bother with a thank you or even learning your name.” Eva took a bite out of her pickle and made a face like it was too sour.
“I wouldn’t know,” Karma said wearily and pulled out her wallet to pay.
“We should go back to the club this weekend,” Eva said.
“I’ll see if Jax is working.” She liked the idea of seeing him at work. He looked so sexy with that no-nonsense face of his.
“Good, because I feel like I haven’t seen you in ages. I hope you’re not going to forget about your friends for a guy.”
“You’re my only friend and not a chance I would ditch you.” Karma took the change and threw it into her change purse.
“Good, now that we got that settled, are you ready for the psych test this afternoon? It’s supposed to be a doozie, and you’re barely hanging on as it is.”
Karma’s shoulders dropped. She hadn’t studied at all. Last thing she needed was to flunk a class. “Haven’t even cracked the book.”
“Good thing I brought my note cards. You can look them over while we eat.”
“You’re a lifesaver. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Be lost and lonely,” Eva shot over her shoulder with a grin as she made a beeline for the only open table.
Somehow Karma made it through the rest of the day. Thanks to Eva’s notes she probably passed her test by the skin of her teeth. Thankfully, because if she didn’t pull her grades up, she was never going to get accepted to a real university. Her mother would never let her live that down.
Karma pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. She rolled her shoulders a couple of times, trying to release the tension she always felt before walking into her shrink’s office.
She let out a breath. She just had to make it through her therapy session, and she could go home and catch up on her TV shows. Maybe even do a little school work? She wanted to text Jax, but she wasn’t sure if he was allowed to text at work. And she didn’t want to come across as the clingy girlfriend. It was best to give him some space.
“All right, let’s get this over with,” she said out loud before pushing her car door open and swinging her legs out. A cool breeze rustled her dress and Karma was glad she thought to grab a sweater.
The receptionist gave one of her usual toothy smiles as Karma walked through the door. Karma gave her the thumbs up and a cheesy grin. That woman was always way too chipper. It wasn’t normal.
“She’s in a session but will be with you soon. We got a few new magazines in.”
Karma nodded and dropped into one of the colorful fluffy chairs. She looked around at the toys that dominated the waiting room. Thankfully, she was always the last appointment, so there were no kids playing or clinging to their parents. Dr. Blackwell was a child psychologist, but since Karma had been seeing her since she was young she’d agreed to keep seeing her. Really, she should have moved on by now, but Karma didn’t like the idea of having to bare her soul to someone new. And Blackwell had been with her through everything.
Ten minutes later a middle-aged woman and a young girl about the age of seven walked out. The girl clung tightly to her mom’s leg and kept her eyes cast downward, not looking up at Karma. Karma wondered what her story was. What horror had happened to the girl to take her innocence away, or was she just born with social issues? It’s amazing—you see people every day, but never know what goes on behind closed doors and closed minds.
“Karma.” Dr. Blackwell smiled. Her eyes looked a little strained, like she was tired or had a long day. As usual, she was dressed in all black. A black pencil skirt and a black button-down shirt with a high collar. Her pale blonde hair was pulled up in a severe bun. She seemed to go for the no-nonsense look, but it just highlighted her natural beauty even more.
Standing up, Karma trailed behind the good doctor. Her eyes darted over to the fish tank, which always soothed Karma for some reason. She watched as the large koi swim back and forth before she sank into the red leather seat across from Dr. Blackwell. As usual, her pen tapped against her leather notebook. She seldom took notes, but she always had it ready just in case.
Dr. Blackwell stared at her expectantly. Karma hated this part. Sometimes they would sit there the whole session and not say a word. Her shrink always wanted Karma to talk first. She told her to say whatever came to mind, and they would work on that. Because whatever was at the forefront of her conscious was what needed the most attention.
Karma thought it was a crock of shit. The woman made a killing just sitting there sometimes.
“I met a guy,” Karma said and was surprised the words came out of her mouth. She hadn’t meant to say it.
Blackwell sat up straighter. “Tell me about him.”
Karma squirmed in her chair. You would think after all this time she would be used to the shrink’s probing gaze, but it still made her uncomfortable. “His name is Jax; he’s a bouncer and firefighter and he wouldn’t have sex with me.”
“Wouldn’t have sex with you?”
“Well, he said he will, but I’d have to spend three weeks with him first.” Karma crossed her ankles and tucked them under one of the legs of the chair.
“That is very interesting.” Blackwell scribbled something on her pad.
Karma shrugged. “I guess. At first, I just thought he didn’t want me, but now I’m not so sure.”
“You’re still a virgin, correct? We haven’t talked about this in quite a while.”
“Unfortunately, still holding on to the V-card.” Karma slid down the seat a little bit.
>
“And you like this Jax?”
Heat rushed to her face. “Probably too much.”
“You’re afraid he’s going to hurt you?”
Karma’s eyes shifted back to the fish tank. “I don’t know. I guess I’m afraid he’s going to spend time with me and not like what he sees.”
“Karma, what are you afraid he’s going to see?”
“Me. I’m afraid he’s going to see me.” Her eyes cast down at the carpet. How in the hell did this woman get her to admit these humiliating pieces of her soul?
“Oh, Karma. All these years and you still can’t accept you are a wonderful young woman.”
Gazes locked, Karma said, “Jax thinks my shrink sucks.”
“Wh—” Dr. Blackwell tapped her pencil again. “Maybe I do. We’ve been at this a very long time, kiddo. Perhaps it’s time for you to see someone else.”
Panic gripped at her chest. She had just wanted to get under the woman’s skin, not have her throw her out on the curb. “No, I don’t want to see anyone else.” Karma crossed her arms over her chest.
“Karma you are holding on too tightly to your childhood. You’re still living at your dad’s, and seeing your child psychologist. Maybe it’s time to branch out on your own.”
“If you don’t want to see me anymore, that’s fine,” Karma huffed. She knew she sounded like a spoiled brat, and she didn’t care. This woman was one of the few things in her life she knew she could count on, and now she was telling her to see someone else?
“You know that’s not it. But you haven’t seemed to advance much in all these years. We take one step forward and two back.”
“What do you want me to do? I think I’m fine.”
“Do you really? You just told me you didn’t want Jax to get to know the real you. But from the sound of it maybe he is the first person you are letting see who you really are. What are you really afraid of? That he’ll like what he sees?”
“Maybe,” Karma said quietly. “I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you want to be on your own? What are you so afraid of?”
The XOXO New Adult Collection: 16 Full Length New Adult Stories Page 256