Set the Night on Fire: A Bad Boy Firefighter Novel

by Parker, Weston

  The house must have been at least eighty years old. Maybe a bit more. It appeared to have the original crown molding up around the ceiling, which was the same dark wood as the stairs. I ran my hand along the banister as I made my way to the second floor and turned right.

  I chuckled to myself. Katie’s door had a small white floral wreath on it surrounding the gold number for unit 4. After rapping my knuckles against the door, I leaned back against the banister on my right and slid my hands in my pockets.

  The deadbolt slid out, and then I heard the distinct sound of a chain falling from its place on the doorframe. Another lock clicked, and then the door opened.

  Katie was on the phone. She motioned me inside and hurried back inside. I followed her in as I heard her say, “Well have you looked under the bed? Or the La-Z-Boy? That’s where he was the last time you couldn’t find him.”

  She mouthed “sorry” to me and rolled her eyes as someone’s tinny voice said something on the other end of the line. I couldn’t make out the words, but I could tell the other person was a woman and she was speaking quickly.

  “No, Mom. I can’t come over right now and help you look. But trust me, he’s fine. He’s a cat. This is what they do. They’re assholes.”

  I chuckled as Katie grabbed a pair of shoes from a closet in her hallway. Black heels. I was surprised. She was wearing a pair of form-fitting black jeans that hugged her legs from hip to ankle and a long-sleeved charcoal-colored blouse of silky material. Her red hair was down and slightly curly, and she had a bit of makeup on. She looked beautiful. And the heels were a nice touch.

  “He’s under the La-Z-Boy? See, I told you. Next time, check there before you start freaking out. You’ll save yourself a headache. And me.”

  As Katie finished talking to her mom, I checked out the rest of her apartment. I wasn’t being nosy. It was quite the opposite. I was enjoying admiring the architecture of the old building. The fireplace in her living room was the original and had not been fitted with a gas one like most old homes were these days. She’d filled it with white pillar candles of varying heights. It looked quite nice.

  Her furniture was the palest shade of blue and adorned with cream-colored cushions and blankets. The space was bright and airy but also quite cozy.

  And there were no pictures. Not anywhere.

  I frowned and looked a bit closer. No. Nothing. Not even one on her stainless-steel fridge in the kitchen.

  Katie got off the phone with a huff. “Sorry about that. My mom is a bit of a stress case, and she lost track of her stupid cat this afternoon.”

  “It’s all right.”

  “I just need to find my purse, and then we can go.” Katie pressed a hand to her forehead and turned in a full circle as her eyes darted around her apartment.

  “Do you need help finding it?”

  “No. It’s probably in the bedroom. I’m turning into my mother. But worse. A purse doesn’t actively get up and find a hiding spot. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay, take your time,” I said while trying not to laugh. I watched her hurry down the hall and disappear into a room at the end. Even the walls in the hallway were bare. Completely naked.

  Maybe she’d just moved into this place?

  Not likely. There were usually signs that pointed to a new home. A box in a corner, a lack of things on surfaces. She had coasters out and center pieces and a table runner on her coffee table. She’d been here long enough to have hung photos.

  When she came down the hall, I just couldn’t help myself. “I notice you don’t have any photos on your walls or anything. You’re not one of those superstitious chicks, are you? Afraid your photos are watching you or something?”

  Katie blushed, and I regretted asking the question. I didn’t know her well enough to pry. But she answered me, and that was a win in my eyes. “No, I’m not superstitious. I just… don’t have time for that. You know. Printing photos and buying frames.”

  I arched an eyebrow but said nothing.

  “Come on. Let’s get going. I’m starving.”

  I followed her out of her apartment and didn’t say anything about not believing her. There was no woman I’d ever met on the face of this planet who didn’t have time for photos. All they wanted was to take photos and hang photos and replace old photos with new photos.

  It was never ending. Like men with their cars.

  * * *

  I brought Katie to The Glade, Mel’s restaurant. I asked the hostess for a spot out on the patio so we could look out at the ocean while we ate our dinner. There was a bit of a breeze dancing over the sand, so Katie took one of the blankets off the shelf by the front door and draped it over her lap.

  “Are you okay outside? We can go in if you want.” I didn’t want to freeze her out. That was a poor way of apologizing.

  “No, I’m all right. This is really nice. I’ve always meant to come to this place, but I never got around to it. I’ve heard really good things.”

  “One of the guys on my crew is engaged to the owner.”

  Katie smiled, and the server came to take our drink orders. She opted for a glass of chardonnay, and I ordered a rum and coke. After our drinks were brought out, we put in our food orders. Katie wasn’t sure what she wanted, so I recommended a couple things I always had a hard time choosing between. “The seafood carbonara is really good. But so is the lobster macaroni and cheese.”

  “Lobster mac and cheese?” Katie asked, her eyes widening a little as she read the description. She closed the menu and grinned up at the server. “I’ll have that, please.”

  I ordered the seafood carbonara and watched Katie as she pressed her pink lips to the rim of her wine glass. It was sweating, and a little bit of condensation dripped onto her chest. I tried not to look at the sparkling bead of water on her breast, but it was difficult.

  “You know,” she said, and I looked up at her beautiful green eyes. “I thought we agreed that we wouldn’t go anywhere fancy?”

  “The Glade isn’t fancy.”

  “They serve lobster mac and cheese.”

  “Which you seem pretty excited about.”

  She blushed. “Not the point.”

  “What is the point?”

  Katie put her wine glass down and smacked her lips. “The point is, you weren’t supposed to take me somewhere fancy.”

  “Would you have preferred McDonald’s?”

  The corner of her mouth twitched as she tried not to smile. “No.”

  “I think I’ve been enough of an ass to do a bit better than that, too. The Glade isn’t fancy. It’s classy. There’s a difference.”

  Katie giggled. She actually giggled. It sounded like music, like elegant, joyful, gentle music. “I suppose you’re right. What better way to make mac and cheese classy than throw lobster in it?”

  “Right?” I asked. I lifted my rum and coke. “Cheers to a clean slate?”

  She drew the corner of her full lower lip into her mouth and pinched it between her white teeth. Looking at her made my cock twitch. She was so damn sexy and had no fucking clue. It was like sitting across the table from a siren who was singing her intoxicating song to a tune only I could hear. “A clean slate,” she said finally. Then she tapped her wine glass against the side of my whiskey glass, and we both drank.

  “How was your shift this morning at the hospital?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “Same old. Busy. Half the time, I feel like I’m not actually being productive or getting anything done. I just run around like a chicken with my head cut off. It can be maddening at times.”

  “There’re not many people out there who could do what you do.”

  “I believe it. Half the time, I don’t think I can do it either.”

  “Nah. I see you work. You’re good at what you do. You care about everyone who comes into your ER, and that’s the hardest part. Caring.”

  Katie nudged her cutlery a little to the right. “Do you not care, Derek?”

  “I used to,” I said.
<
br />   “But now?”

  “Now? I’m not sure. I think I’ve seen enough idiots taking advantage of the system that my outlook has become a bit jaded. At least, that’s what my fire chief says. That’s why I’m working in the box.”

  “The box?”

  “The ambulance.”

  “Oh,” Katie said. She cocked her head to the side a bit. “So, you’re usually doing what?”

  “Search and rescue.”

  “Oh,” she said again.

  I nodded. “It’s more my speed.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “Running into blazing fires is more your speed?”

  I chuckled. “I know it sounds insane. But I’ve been doing it for such a long time. And I go into them with my brother, Hayden.”

  “You have a brother?”

  “No.” I shook my head. I didn’t know why I referred to Hayden as my brother. I guessed I saw him as that. “No, I don’t. Hayden is my best friend. He just feels like a brother. We’ve been through a lot together.”

  “The one who’s engaged to the woman who owns this place?”

  I nodded. “Yeah. That’s him.”

  “He’s also on search and rescue then?”

  “Yeah. We’ve been doing it together for years. So, I’ve had a bit of a hard time adjusting to this new assignment. I’m not much of a people person, if you haven’t noticed.”

  Katie giggled again. “I noticed.”

  Our meals arrived, and we ate while having a pleasant conversation. We talked about work mostly, but that was fine because it felt like safe territory for both of us. When we were done eating, Katie leaned back in her chair to finish off the last few mouthfuls of wine in her glass.

  “Do you want another?” I asked, nodding at the glass.

  She stared at it before looking back up at me. “One more can’t hurt, right?”

  “Right.”

  12

  Katie

  The wine might have been to blame, but Derek got hotter and hotter all throughout dinner and the half hour we lingered at our table afterward. It might have also been due to the setting sun and the way dusk cast half of his face into shadow.

  It might also have been that I was realizing he wasn’t a total ass like I’d thought he was.

  Emily had been right. She would never let me hear the end of it.

  I took the last sip of my glass of wine, and Derek polished off his water. He hadn’t ordered another drink. He stood up and offered me his hand. “Should we get out of here?”

  I nodded and took his hand. Before we left the table, I draped the blanket over the back of my chair, and he pulled me along between the tables and out onto the beach. We walked the long way around the restaurant to his car in the parking lot. Somehow, sand got in my sandals.

  After sliding into the passenger seat, Derek reversed out of the parking lot, and we started driving to my place. The radio was playing quietly, and it was set to a country station. I glanced over at him.

  He had one hand draped over the top of the steering wheel. The sleeves of his black Henley shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and whenever we passed under a street light, the veins in his muscular forearms were briefly visible.

  I swallowed and looked out the window as my panties suddenly grew wet. I pinched my knees together like that would stop my body from getting carried away.

  “I had a nice time tonight,” he said.

  I looked back over at him. He was smiling at me. I nodded, and he turned his gaze back to the road. “Me too. It was nice.”

  I licked my lips and watched the houses pass by as we drove down my street. It seemed like we were parking in front of my building all too quickly. Derek got out of his side and walked around the hood of the car to open my door for me. I was completely out of my element here. I wasn’t used to a man who had manners.

  A man who believed in chivalry was staggering new territory.

  I took his hand, and he guided me out of the car. He closed the door and told me he’d walk me to my place. I thanked him—or tried to. It came out as more of a nervous murmur.

  Derek opened the front door to the house and let me in ahead of him. His footfalls echoed on the stairs behind me as I walked up to my door. I stopped in front of it and pressed my back against it. My hair got caught up in the floral wreath I had hanging on it, and I had to untangle myself.

  Derek laughed at me and lifted his hands to start freeing my hair from the petals and branches. “Here, hold still. I’ve got you.”

  His face was inches from mine. I could count every one of his lashes if I wanted to. I took a slow deep breath, drawing his scent into my lungs.

  He smelled like rosewood.

  I pressed my knees together again when my hair came free, and he lowered his hand to my shoulder. “There you go.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered.

  “Don’t mention it.”

  “Thanks for dinner. This is probably the last time we should see each other outside of work.”

  “Whatever you want.”

  I stared up at him. At the line of his jaw and the dark shadow it cast along his throat. At his mouth.

  Oh God.

  Before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing him. I had my arms wrapped around his shoulders, and I was holding myself against his body as his lips parted and he yielded to my tongue.

  He tasted like rum.

  I moaned softly into his mouth.

  And then his arms were wrapped around my waist, and he practically lifted me off my feet as he pushed me against my front door. The wreath fell off its hook and landed at our feet. I didn’t care.

  I grabbed at his shirt, and he chuckled as our lips came apart. “Maybe we should go inside before you strip me naked?”

  “Oh,” I whispered. I was out of breath. Had I really just tried to fuck him right here? Right on the top landing of my apartment? My cheeks burned.

  He chuckled again and gently turned me around. As I searched for my keys in my purse with shaking hands, he trailed his hand along the top of my shoulders and drew my hair to one side, exposing the side of my neck.

  When he pressed his lips to the bare skin there, I shivered. Goosebumps decorated my skin, and I slid the key in the lock. Giving it a sharp twist, I put both hands on the door and pushed it open. I stumbled inside, and Derek was hot on my heels with his lips still tickling my skin. He worked his way up to my ear, and I giggled and tried to wriggle away from him.

  He caught me around the waist with one arm and held me against him.

  His dick hardened against my ass.

  I turned my head to the side to meet his searching mouth, and he sealed his lips over mine. His tongue slipped between my teeth and explored my mouth with insatiable curiosity as his hands wandered up my stomach. He closed his hands over my breasts and squeezed them together. I smiled into our kiss, and he made a deep, appreciative sound in the back of his throat.

  Kissing him was euphoric. I felt like I was taking my brain out of my body and placing it on a shelf to pick up later so that I could just follow the impulses sent by my needier organs—like my aching clit.

  For now, I wasn’t Katie, the nurse. I was Katie, the girl who was going to fuck the hottest fireman in Searing. And I wasn’t going to hold back. It had been too long, and his hands on me felt too good.

  I arched my back and pressed my ass more firmly into his crotch. Derek kissed me deeper in response and grabbed my chin with one hand. He held my face as he ravaged me with his mouth, and I submitted to him and reached behind my back to massage his cock through his jeans.

  It was a truly masterful erection.

  I was going to have to throw my panties out.

  “Do you want me to fuck you right here?” Derek growled against my cheek. He still held my chin in one hand, so I couldn’t shake my head. I had to speak. But my tongue was thick and useless and only suited to kissing him more. “Answer me.”

  “N—no,” I said huskily.

  “Then where?”

&nb
sp; Where? I didn’t really give a damn. Bedroom. Living room. Kitchen.

  He nipped at my lips and tightened the hold he had on my chin. “Where?”

  “Bedroom,” I whispered.

  Derek let go of my face, spun me around, and picked me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist and held his face in my hands as I kissed him. He carried me to the back of the apartment where my bedroom was. I smiled as our lips parted, and he kissed my jaw and neck.

  I wouldn’t mind having him come to rescue me from a fire. I wouldn’t mind at all.

  “What are you smiling about?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  Derek threw me down on the bed. I tried to look serious, but I couldn’t hold in my giggle. He smiled too as he pulled his shirt off over his head.

  Then I stopped laughing.

  “Holy shit,” I breathed.

  Derek gave me a cocky grin. Apparently, he was used to women being stunned by his incredible body. His physique was mind boggling. Not only was every inch of him rippling with muscle, but he was covered in tattoos, too.

  I almost started drooling.

  “Come on, girl. Your turn.”

  I hurried to pop open the fly of my jeans. He helped me work them down my legs. He stopped when they were down around my knees, and he saw the two thigh pieces I had. I had a dream catcher on one thigh, which was the first piece I ever got, and a badass pin up girl on the left. I’d gotten that one after I moved out of my parents’ house and didn’t have to endure my asshole father anymore.

  It was my turn to give him a cocky smile. “Surprised?”

  “Yeah. I did not expect that.”

  I shimmied my jeans off the rest of the way and then pulled my shirt off to show him the rest of my tattoos. He whistled and raked his eyes all over me. “Well. Fuck me.”