Light Up The Night: A Bad Boy Firefighter Novel

by Parker, Weston

  Over the last year, I’d shifted what I wished for. Rather than wishing for him to change, I wished I would. It would be so much easier not to care.

  But try as I might, I couldn’t not care.

  “Very well,” my father said. Then he reached for his book.

  Taking that as my cue to leave, I got up. I didn’t say a word as I went back in the house. Genevieve was there, and the smile she gave me this time was sad. She knew the relationship I had with my father. She’d been around to know what things had been like before I blew out my knee.

  “Have a good rest of your day, Hayden,” she said.

  “You too.”

  14

  Mel

  “Kylee? Where are your sandals?”

  “I don’t know!”

  I groaned. A kid keeping track of their shoes was as futile as a man keeping track of his keys.

  I dropped to my knees beside the shoe rack at the front door. I sifted through the stray pairs of Kylee’s sneakers, as well as my own boots and flats, until a shimmering strip of pink caught my eye.

  “Found them!” I yelled.

  I pulled the two miniature pink gladiator sandals out from the bottom of the pile of shoes that I now knew I needed to organize. I got to my feet and raked my fingers through my hair as Kylee came running down the hall toward me.

  She plucked the sandals out of my fingers and sat down on the floor to put them on. She struggled a little with the buckles, but she didn’t ask for help. I let her get them both done up on her own and smiled proudly down at her. “Soon, you won’t need my help with anything.”

  “That’s not true, Mommy,” Kylee said as she got to her feet and wiggled her toes in her sandals. “I’ll always need you.”

  I bent over and kissed the top of her head. “My angel.”

  Kylee giggled. “What color are you going to get?”

  We had plans to meet Tara at the spa downtown to get manicures and pedicures. I wasn’t the sort who wanted to have a stranger rub my feet or paint my nails, but Tara had turned Kylee into a fiend for all things girly, and I wasn’t about to get in the way of a good lesson in self care. Besides, Kylee saw Tara as her fun and wild aunt, and mani pedis were just the thing to get my mind off Hayden.

  Hayden.

  He’d been on my mind since the other night at the restaurant. When everyone else had gone. When he put his hands on me. Touched me. Kissed me. Made me feel better than I had in years.

  “Mommy?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry, kiddo. What’s up?”

  “What color are you going to get?”

  I patted Kylee on the head. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll probably have to look at all the polish options when we get there. Speaking of which, are you ready to go? Tara will have our heads if we’re late.”

  “I’m ready,” Kylee said, beaming.

  I grabbed my keys and locked the front door after we stepped out. I got Kylee buckled into the back seat and hurried around the back to get into the driver’s seat. We were running behind, and there was nothing Tara hated more than tardiness.

  * * *

  The nail salon was girly and frilly, with powder pink walls, white chairs adorned in small and very cheap crystals, lace curtains, and coconut room spray to drown out the heavy smell of chemicals floating in the air.

  It didn’t work.

  We started with our fingernails, and I couldn’t deny that I enjoyed the pampering as my hands soaked in warm water over hot stones. Afterward, I had a hand, wrist, and forearm massage with mango-scented lotion, and then the tech painted my nails a brilliant shade of Ferrari red. I asked for the same color on my toes, and by the time I sat in the pedicure chair and it started rolling against my back, I was completely relaxed.

  Kylee sat on one side and Tara on the other. The tech doing Kylee’s pedicure had her laughing and giggling as they chatted, so Tara and I had some time to talk just amongst ourselves.

  “So,” Tara said conspiratorially. “Why did you come home so late from work the other night?”

  “Customer stayed late,” I said hurriedly in an effort to cover up the fact that I’d had sex with a guy in my own kitchen. I’d crossed so many lines in the matter of an hour that I wouldn’t even know where to start if she asked me to tell her the story.

  “You are so full of shit,” she said, mouthing the last word just in case Kylee overheard.

  “I am not,” I said defensively.

  “Oh. You so are. I can see right through you, Mel. You got up to something the other night, and if I was a guessing woman, which I am, I’d say that something you got up to is tall, dark, and handsome as hell.”

  I groaned and rested my head against the back of the chair. The ball in the back rolled up my spine and massaged my shoulders. “It’s not what you think, Tara. I owed Hayden a free meal for what he did for Kylee the other day at school, and the restaurant was winding down early that night. So I let him stay, and I cooked him dinner.”

  “And that’s it?”

  “That’s it,” I lied.

  Tara was still staring at me. I could feel her eyes burning holes through my skin as I closed my eyes and kept my expression neutral, trying to play it off like I had nothing to hide. I should have known better. Tara was like a groundhog. She could sniff out a secret like nothing I’d ever seen.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered, leaning over the edge of her chair. “You had sex with him, didn’t you?”

  I didn’t open my eyes. “Do we have to do this right now?”

  “You’re not denying it! Tell me everything. How did it happen? Wait, where did it happen?”

  “Keep your voice down,” I reminded her as I opened my eyes and leaned closer to her so we could whisper like two teenage girls at the back of the bleachers during a basketball game. “Things just sort of… I don’t know… escalated. I didn’t mean for it to happen. And I made it perfectly clear that it cannot, and will not, happen again.”

  “Why?” she asked incredulously.

  “Because. I have my hands full enough already. I want to focus on Kylee and my business. Not some guy that just waltzed in thinking he could sweep me off my feet. This isn’t a Disney movie, Tara. This is real life. I have responsibilities.”

  “Just because you have responsibilities doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. Or let someone in who might be a really good fit for you. I know it’s hard with what happened with Evan. I get that. But it’s been three years, Mel. You don’t have to be so loyal.”

  “It has nothing to do with being loyal.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes,” I said. I wasn’t lying. I had moved on. Even though I missed him, I knew he would want me to be happy. And I was.

  At least, I’d thought I was until Hayden kissed me, and I found out what I’d been missing out on all those years.

  “Well, if that’s true, I can’t think of a single reason why you can’t let yourself have fun with a hunky firefighter. Hayden is hot as hell. And sex is good for you.”

  I rolled my eyes. “What is this, sex ed?”

  “It could be. It’s been ages since you got laid. You might need a refresher course.”

  I laughed and shook my head. “I definitely do not.”

  “So, the sex was good then?” Tara asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

  I looked around to make sure nobody was listening. My toes were being painted, mine and Tara’s techs were talking, and Kylee was still giggling up a storm with the woman painting her toes. I turned back to Tara. “It was incredible.”

  Tara squealed but got herself under control when I widened my eyes at her. “I’m sorry. Sorry. This is just really exciting.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  Tara peered around me and made sure Kylee was still distracted. “Because you’ve dedicated all of your time and energy to everything but yourself. This is something you can have that’s just yours. And selfishly, I want to know more about that sexy fireman.”

  “Well, you know as much
as you’re ever going to. Like I said, it was a one-time thing. We both got caught up in the moment, and one thing just led to another. It’s out of my system for a long time now.”

  Tara shook her head in disapproval and sank back in her chair. Her nail tech was almost done painting her toes hot pink and was about to start swiping glitter over top of the nearly fluorescent color.

  I knew there was more she wanted to ask. There was a question on the tip of her tongue. She was practically vibrating in her chair by the time the tech placed a UV light over her feet to cure the gel polish, and she finally spat out her question. “You never told me where you guys, you know, did the deed.”

  I gave her a sideways look. “You probably don’t want to know.”

  Tara giggled and rested her chin in her hand. “Oh, I definitely do.”

  I licked my lips.

  “It was at the restaurant, wasn’t it?” Tara asked. “You guys couldn’t even wait. You had to do the dirty right then and there.”

  “Tara! Hush. I couldn’t help it. It just happened. Like I said.”

  “Where?”

  “I told you where.”

  “But I want to know the exact spot.”

  “I’m not telling you,” I said airily, lifting my nose and facing forward.

  “Tease.”

  She could think I was a tease all she wanted, but I wasn’t going to confess to having hot, steamy, passionate, orgasm-inducing sex on the back counter where the line chefs worked. Sharing that little bit of information would serve no purpose other than to hand Tara a juicy bit of information she could use against me for the rest of my life.

  And I didn’t want to risk my staff ever finding out. Not that I thought Tara would ever spill the beans, but sometimes, shit like that just happened.

  I waved Tara away. “I’m done talking about it. And thinking about it. I just want to move on.”

  Tara slumped in her chair, and I watched the final top coat get swiped over my toenails. The red was a beautiful shade, and soon, it was covered by my own UV lamp.

  It wasn’t until that moment I realized the color was fire engine red.

  Damn it.

  Now I’d think of Hayden every single time I looked at my hands or feet. I should have gone with a blue or light pink. Anything but red.

  I tried to tell myself it didn’t matter. I was thinking too far into things. I could hold my own against the sexy fireman and keep my word. It was a one-time hookup, an abnormality in my normal routine.

  Despite all my “I don’t need a man” talk, I was still finding myself thinking about that night with fondness. It had been the first time in quite a while that I laughed so freely and that I was able to just let go and not worry about anything. He’d put me at ease, which was a difficult thing to do since I was so high strung all the time and so focused on running a business and raising my daughter that half the time, I was afraid to blink for fear of something going wrong in a half a millisecond.

  I knew firsthand that a millisecond was all it took for somebody’s world to come crashing down around them.

  15

  Hayden

  I was sitting in my truck when the garage doors to the firehouse rolled open. Derek was inside, and he had his clipboard in front of him as he ran through the usual pre-shift checklist for Gerty and Berty. I got out of my truck and walked up the drive to help him out.

  Derek greeted me with a grunt. He wasn’t much of a morning person.

  “Morning,” I said, walking around the back of Berty and calling out confirmations. Everything was, as usual, in tip-top shape.

  Derek hung the clipboard back in its place and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning,” I commented.

  Derek snorted. “Yeah. And every other morning.”

  I chuckled. Derek’s sour attitude usually only lingered until he had a cup of coffee and some food in him, so I clapped him on the shoulder and nodded at the door that led inside and down the hall to the kitchens. “Let’s brew some coffee. I could do with a caffeine fix.”

  Derek grumbled about how that would be nice, and I steered him down the hall in the kitchen. We were the first from our crew to arrive, so I flicked the lights on and went about brewing a pot. I made enough for all the guys when they came to start their morning. The kitchen filled with the rich scent of coffee.

  I opened the fridge and scoured it for something to eat. I found blueberry bagels, which weren’t my first choice but would do, and put two in the toaster. When they popped, I put butter and cream cheese on them, poured Derek and me each a cup of coffee, and brought the feast over to the table.

  Derek’s eyes immediately lit up. “Thanks, man.”

  “No problem.”

  We ate in content silence, and when we were done, Derek leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head. “So. What’s new with you? Haven’t seen you in a few days.”

  “Missed me?”

  “You’re like my second skin. ‘Course I missed you.”

  I smiled sheepishly. “Well. I did get up to something on Friday night.”

  Derek’s eyebrows lifted. “Oh?”

  I nodded. “The owner of The Glade made me dinner at her restaurant, and one thing sort of led to another.”

  “You fucked her?”

  I wouldn’t have put it like that, but I wasn’t going to correct Derek on his choice of words. “Yeah. We hooked up.”

  Derek leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. “You’re a crazy bastard, you know that? Throwing your lot in with a single mom like that.”

  “I wasn’t ‘throwing my lot in’. We both just sort of… I don’t know. Gave in. I like her.”

  “Man. You don’t even know anything about her besides the fact that she’s a single mom. Why is she single? What happened to the dad? Is he still in the picture? Is he a nutcase? None of that is worth it. Not in my opinion.”

  “Well, then I guess it’s a good thing you weren’t the one to sleep with her.”

  “Touché.”

  I heard boots striking the floor as someone came down the hallway before Rinehart popped his head around the corner of the kitchen. “Miller. A word?”

  I drained the last mouthful of my coffee as Derek made a taunting sound deep in his chest. I shook my head at him, and he cracked a smile. “Good luck.”

  I went down the hall to where Rinehart had disappeared back into his office. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me before taking a seat across from him.

  The fire chief watched me with calculating eyes. “How have you been this past week?”

  “Good, sir. Well, as good as I can be while on hose duty if I’m being honest.”

  It had been a blow to my ego to be manning the hose, with Maddox of all people. I was meant for taking initiative and going into the fires, not standing outside of them. Both roles were equally as important, but the former called to my soul.

  “Do you feel ready to go back on Search and Rescue, or are you still going to be pulling little stunts like that last one?” Rinehart asked.

  “I’m ready, sir.”

  Rinehart arched an eyebrow and sat back in his chair. “I hope so. I’m not going to tolerate anything like that from you again, Miller. It was reckless and showed a side of you I haven’t seen since your days in the academy. A young, foolish side. I have no time for that on my team.”

  “I understand.”

  “I hope so.”

  I fidgeted with my thumbs. “Does this mean I’m back on S and R?”

  Rinehart nodded slowly. “It does.”

  “Thank you, Chief. You won’t regret it.”

  “I sure as hell hope not. I run a tight operation here. If I have to call your father one day because you bolted into a fire like an idiot, it will be a dark day.”

  “Firemen die in fires, Chief. Haven’t you had to make that call before?”

  “Plenty of times,” Rinehart said. “But there’s a difference betw
een a man going in completely informed, knowing the risk, and following orders, and a man who rushes in on a whim. A man who was wrong, I might add.”

  I nodded. I should have kept my mouth shut. Rinehart didn’t mess around. He was a serious guy, and he cared about all of us like we were his sons.

  “I won’t put you in a position like that again, sir,” I assured him.

  “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll have my eye on you, Miller. And on Janson too. Let him know that, will you? A man who jumps just because his buddy does shows a childish vulnerability.”

  I wasn’t going to tell Derek that Rinehart had called him childish or vulnerable, but I would tell him the chief would be keeping a close eye on the both of us. I got to my feet. “I’ll let him know. Is there anything else, sir?”

  Rinehart shook his head. “Nothing for now.”

  I nodded and took my leave. I walked back down the hall to find Derek, Maddox, and Mav all in the kitchen. They were talking and joking and sipping on the coffee I’d brewed.

  Mav glanced up at me. “Still on hose duty?”

  I shook my head. “Back where I should be. Rinehart just gave me a warning not to be a dumbass again.”

  Derek smirked. “He knows that’s impossible, right?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “He also said he’d be keeping his eye on you.”

  “Me? Why?”

  “For following me in without questioning it.”

  Derek scoffed as Mav and Maddox laughed at him. “I thought your dumb ass heard something. I wasn’t going to hang back and let you go in on your own. What sort of partner would that make me?”

  “The kind who survived if his partner fucked up?” Mav asked slyly.

  Derek threw his hands in the air, knowing this was a battle he would not win. “Whatever. If Rinehart wants to waste his time babysitting me, that’s fine. But we all know Hayden’s the one he has to watch out for. You’re the loose cannon, man. Not me.”

  “Right. Loose cannon.” Mav chuckled. “Hayden is the most low-key out of all of us.”