When Sparks Fly (First-Responders Book 1)

by Essen, JA

  I think this girl is strong and determined to be self-sufficient, but no way am I about to let her walk the rest of the way home. That shit just wouldn’t sit right on my conscious. Plus, my mother raised me better than that. Her house isn’t far, so I insist on taking her home. When we get there, I hurry around to her side to open the door and catch her with my iPhone. I cock my eyebrow at her.

  “Just in case you might want to check up on me later.” She smirks, knowing she’s caught. You better believe I’m going to be checking up on your cute little ass.

  Walking her to the front door, I finally get her name. Macy. Mmm. Short, little, sexy Macy. I flash her my brilliant smile as I walk away. Seeing the flush to her skin, recognizing her attraction to me, I know this won’t be our last interaction.

  As I drive back to the station, I realize I can still smell her in the Hummer. I take so many deep breaths, pulling the floral scent into my lungs that I’m dizzy by the time I park. Remembering Tyler and Blake’s comments about “taking my time with that cute little thing,” I start plotting. Seeing as they had the energy reserves for comments like that, I think some additional expenditure tomorrow will be necessary. The entire bay at the station could use a good top to bottom cleaning and organizing, on top of their daily exercises of course.

  I smirk as I climb out of the Hummer and head back inside.

  Karma’s a bitch, and tomorrow that bitch is named Seth Avery.

  Chapter 3

  The second my heart rate returned to normal, I was on my cell dialing my best friend. Rachel and I have been inseparable since the second grade. We had the chickenpox at the same time our third-grade year and went to D.C. together after sixth grade for a Future Leaders of America camp. Got in our first car accident together, and even went to Senior Prom together as “friends.” Yeah, that was an interesting summer of discovery. I wipe my chin at the memory like I do every time I think about it.

  “Oh my God Macy, tell me everything!” Rachel screams as she comes crashing through the front door.

  “I’m feeling fine, not that you even care, obviously.” I jab her in the side with my elbow as she walks past. “Shit!” I grab my left elbow. Acting out of instinct, I didn’t even think before throwing my injured limb into her ribs.

  “Ha! That’ll teach you.”

  “Rachel, you’re such a bitch.”

  “Yeah, but I’m your bitch.” She winks at me as she carefully takes me in a hug. “So, tell me what happened. And get us a bottle of wine.”

  “Do you think drinking is the best idea in my current condition?”

  “Okay, well then get me a bottle of wine. I’ll drink enough for the both of us.”

  “Geez,” I whine stomping off toward the kitchen. I grab a bottle of blush from the fridge but I don’t even bother with grabbing her a glass; she won’t use it while drinking alone. Returning to the living room, she takes the bottle with a smile, well aware that I didn’t bring a glass on purpose.

  “I’ve got to say; I’m a little hurt that you’re more interested in my five minutes of contact with Fireman-Joe, whose name is Seth by the way, than the fact that I’m all banged up.” I cross my arms and flop down into the soft heaven of the double-sized living room chair.

  “You wished you were all banged up by Seth,” she says over the lip of the wine bottle, a mischievous twinkle in her light blue eyes.

  The pillow I chuck at her narrowly misses her head. “You know what I mean.”

  “Are you walking, talking, and attempting to cause me bodily harm? Then I’d say you’re just fine, normal in fact. Now, spill the damn beans! Is he as gorgeous up close as he is from the road?”

  Rachel has listened to me speak about the sexy fireman for weeks. She demanded I take a more direct approach than just jogging by and praying for him to speak to me.

  “Even more so,” I say dreamily I roll my head back and close my eyes briefly, reliving the feel of his strong, rough hand on mine and the sound of his deep voice reverberating through me. “Mmm,” I moan lightly.

  “Um, need a moment, Macy?”

  Opening my eyes, I let go of the lip I’m rolling between my teeth. “Or maybe you could help?” I cock my head to the side and stick my tongue out at her.

  “That was a couple of times a long, LONG time ago,” she reminds me.

  Instinctively, I wipe my chin. We both laugh, full-body giggles taking over.

  Recomposing myself, I continue, “So apparently I tripped over my own feet as I was gawking at him and went down hard on my left side. It knocked the wind out of me, and I hit my head on the concrete. When I woke up, Seth came in to check on me and let me know they had already looked me over. The cuts on my leg are the worst of it. That, of course, is when I started to cry.

  “He was so kind, Rachel. He sat down in front of me and took my hand in his, consoling me. His touch was so easy, yet strong and comforting. And my God; his voice could melt the polar ice caps.” By now, Rachel has already set the bottle down. She has her chin resting on her palms, elbows on her knees, drinking in every word.

  “I was going to start walking home; he said he wouldn’t have it. So he drove me home himself. I must say, though, if his jacked-up, black-as-sin Hummer reflects on his personality at all, I’m in way over my head. You know my run of luck with bad boys.”

  “Yeah girl, I do. So what’s the next…”

  Her sentence is interrupted as my phone starts to ring. This is strange, to say the least. No one ever calls me except my parents, and it is way later than they would ever call. “Hello?”

  My eyes bug out of my head when I hear his voice, and Rachel knows exactly who it must be.

  “Hi, Macy. I hope I didn’t call too late. I just wanted to check in again and make sure you were still feeling alright. Any further headaches or blurred vision?” Seth’s voice makes my mind go stupid.

  “Uh, hey, no I’m doing fine.”

  “If you come on over and give her a full body eval, she’ll be doing even better,” Rachel pops off in the background. I wave at her to shush, and cover the bottom of the phone with my hand.

  “You have company?”

  “Yeah, my bestie came over to check on me.” I roll my eyes at Rachel.

  “That’s great actually. I feel better knowing someone is there as a precaution.” He hesitates for a split second. “So listen, this might be a little forward, but I was wondering if maybe I could swing by this weekend, talk to you a bit more? You seemed in such a rush tonight and I didn’t want to press my luck.”

  My jaw hits the floor.

  Rachel’s eyes are asking what is going on?

  “Um, sure. Rachel and I were going to head to the beach on Saturday morning before the masses came out.”

  “Well why don’t I just meet you two there? It’s neutral ground and might make things a little less stressful.”

  Wow, he is so total opposite of the vibe his truck gives off.

  “That sounds great, Seth. Nine A.M. then at East Beach by the umbrella rentals?”

  “Sounds perfect. See you then!”

  I hang up the phone and Rachel squeals! “Oh. Em. Gee, Macy. Are you serious? We get to hang out with the fire-god, at the beach, on Saturday?”

  I start nodding my head like a damn fool.

  “And to think, all it took was you falling down and causing tons of bodily injury to get his attention.”

  “Shit, if I’d known that, I would’ve tripped over the hoses at the station the first time I ran past, rather than hopscotch over them like a damn elementary school girl.”

  This time, it’s Rachel chucking the pillow at me. “Slut!”

  “And?” We both die laughing!

  “Well you have class in the morning, and I have, well, nothing on my agenda actually but I can pretend. You want me to spend the night as a precautionary measure and wake you up every few hours?”

  “Nah, I’ll be okay. Thanks for caring enough to ask, though.” We get up and hug it out again.

 
“Call me first thing in the morning when you get up. I need to know that you are okay.”

  “Will do. Have fun doing nothing and living off your trust fund.” I cut her a snide look, even though she knows it’s only in jest.

  I watch while she walks to her Mustang GT, or as she calls it, her ‘slumming-ride,’ since her Daddy wouldn’t buy her another Shelby after she drove it into a ditch at eighty miles an hour and destroyed it. She waves out the window as she peels out.

  Dear Lord, please see her home safely.

  Chapter 4

  The rest of the week seemed to drag on forever, but Saturday is finally here. Rachel came over last night, and we had a girl’s movie and wine-o night. Sweet Home Alabama is so much funnier with a bottle of red swimming in your system. The face Jake makes while downing the beer when he realizes where the money for Melanie’s kitchen makeover came from nearly made me piss myself.

  I’m wearing my cute little red and white polka dot tankini, but have to cover up my lower half in a blue wrap thanks to the lovely scrape-job I did on my left leg. The damage on my elbow is much smaller, so I’m not worried about it.

  Rachel, on the other hand, is doing her best to show me up; not that she has to try that hard. Her light blue eyes and long blonde hair just scream Malibu-Barbie. This is a deadly combination with her five-foot-nine frame and perfectly tanned legs that stretch from here to fucking Saturn. That’s alright, though, she’s no competition for these. I admire the amount of cleavage I’ve got going on with my top.

  “Ready to go?” Rachel hollers from the living room.

  “Yeah, I’m coming. Keep your panties on. And I mean that! No flirting with Seth.”

  “No worries, babe. I’ve got my sights set on a certain lifeguard I’m hoping like hell is on duty this morning.”

  It’s a little early for popping beer tops, so I grab the cooler full of water and Cokes and throw it in the back of the Jeep. Rachel already has the soft top off and is ready to roll.

  “Thanks for getting everything together and ready this morning. I’ve got butterflies doing a total gymnastics’ routine in my stomach.”

  She comes up behind, wraps her arms around me and fills her hands with my tits. “Like you have anything to worry about,” she teases.

  Slapping her hands away, I climb up into the driver’s seat and slam the door shut with a thud. This is my pride and joy. A silver Jeep Wrangler that I saved up for three years for and was able to buy outright. “Come on ‘Barbie’; your ‘Ken’ awaits!”

  Putting the Jeep into reverse, I back out into the cul-de-sac, toss my shades on, slap the manual into first, and away we go. The breeze on my face feels wonderful, and we’re rocking out to Work From Home by Fifth Harmony, doing our best seat-dancing moves for everyone to witness.

  Turning out of the subdivision and onto the highway toward East Beach, Rachel plops her feet up on the dash as I slip through the gears. The drive takes about ten minutes before I make it to the turn-off. Pulling past the few cars in the parking lot, I drive through the off-roaders entrance. I can already see Seth’s Hummer, and my stomach does another quick flop.

  “Just breathe girl. Damn. It’s not like you’re meeting up with Zac Efron. Now THAT would be reason enough to act as you are.” Rachel starts fanning her top in jest, and I catch an eyeful.

  “Okay, that’s enough of a show already.”

  “Whatever are you talking about?” She does her best southern belle imitation and then chuckles.

  I ride right up next to Seth and put it in park. He’s standing out in front of the Hummer, playing something on his phone when we drive up. Walking around to open up the door for me, I notice he’s wearing black and red board shorts that are riding ridiculously low on his hips. His head is topped with a matching DC ball cap. I’m biting my bottom lip so hard, I taste a faint hint of blood.

  “Good morning, Macy.” He takes my hand as I jump down out of the Jeep.

  “Hey, Seth,” I say meekly. “This is my friend Rachel that was blabbering in the background when you called the other night.”

  He nods his head. “Nice to meet you.”

  I walk around to the back and open the rear gate. “Let me get that for you gals,” he’s quick to add as he grabs the cooler. We each grab our tote bags containing towels, sunscreen, and what not.

  “Got a favorite spot?” Seth looks around.

  “Actually, over by that stack of driftwood is great!” Rachel puts her two-cents worth in.

  “Close enough so you can keep an eye on the lifeguard stand, huh?” I lean over and whisper to her.

  She smirks at me. “I’m going to rent one of those big ass umbrellas. Join you guys in a minute.”

  My eyes bug out when I realize she’s abandoning me.

  “So, how’s your leg feeling? I don’t see any signs of a limp.”

  “Fine actually.” We set our little area up while we wait for Rachel. Towels out, cooler open, music on.

  “Mind if I take a look?” Seth motions for me to come in front of him.

  I stand up, blushing a little as I start to take the wrap off. It kind of feels a little like stripping in front of this gorgeous specimen of a man. I take a half-step forward with my left leg and put it at a slight bend in between his legs. He begins to run his fingers around the edges of the abrasions on my calf, applying light pressure. The combination of the tingles his fingertips are creating and the slight pain of the pressure on the bruising is erotically blissful. Seth switches to his thumbs as he continues to trace the larger portion of the injury, past my knee, up onto my lower thigh.

  I can feel my body start to waver under his touch, and the tingle between my thighs is starting. I don’t even realize it until I hear Rachel say, “You two need a moment alone?” but my head is lolled back, and my tongue is tracing a line on my upper teeth. I turn beet red and try to pull my leg back, but Seth locks his fingers behind my thigh and keeps it in place.

  “Almost done.” He places his wide hand over the bulk of the scabbed-over scrape. “Good, no heat. Everything seems to be healing perfectly. Keep up with the Bacitracin and the scarring should be minimal.”

  Once he releases my leg, I grab the wrap and throw it back around my waist before I take a seat.

  “So Seth, how long have you been at the fire department? What did you do before that?” Rachel nudges me, as she gets the interrogation rolling.

  “I’ve been with the SBFD for three years now. I’m the Medical Services Battalion Chief. Before that, I served two tours in the Middle East as a Fire Protection Specialist onboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower.”

  My jaw drops again. A Firefighter and ex-military. Mmm. So much potential.

  “What about you, Macy? What do you do?” Seth rolls his head on his shoulder and looks me right in the eyes.

  “Me? I… um… well, I’m working through my last semester of my teaching degree. I have an incredible group of second graders right now. I’ll graduate the end of the month with my Bachelor’s.”

  “And after that?” His tone is so smooth. It just rolls over you like the waves.

  “Well, I have a couple of offers with the school district. Just trying to decide which school I want to accept.”

  “That’s awesome. Always great to have options. And what about you, Rachel?”

  “Oh, she’s my spoiled-brat, best friend since forever, that will never have to work a day in her life.”

  “Yeah. Daddy’s a big time architect in San Francisco. So I just spend my days at the beach or bugging the hell out of Macy.” She giggles as she responds.

  “And wrecking cars,” I add. Rachel just sticks her tongue out at me.

  “So, Seth, no current girlfriend I presume?” Rachel chimes in.

  I just look at her like, really?

  “No.” He furls his brow, insulted by the question. “I kind of figured you already guessed that with me asking Macy to the beach today. Haven’t really had time. It’s not been conducive with the requirements the job p
uts on me.”

  “Just checking. Macy’s had a bad enough run of douchebags.”

  “Okay, Rachel. That’s enough about me.” I can’t believe she just said that.

  We spend the rest of the morning chatting and playing at the water’s edge since I can’t get in with the injury. When the crowds start really filling in on the sand, I decide to call it a day. Seth helps us pack everything up in the Jeep, and Rachel goes to return the umbrella.

  “Since we’ve got a couple of minutes to ourselves now, I was wondering if I could take you on a proper date? My schedule keeps me from planning too much in advance, but maybe dinner one day this week?”

  The sound of his voice washes over me like the warm, salty air. I could just lie out and listen to him talk all afternoon about anything and everything. “Sure. I just have classes in the mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then teach until three each day. I have plans on Monday, but I’m available any other day.”

  “Thursday then?”

  “Mm, hmm. That would be great.”

  “Pick you up at your place at six then.” He slams the gate of the Jeep shut.

  Rachel comes jogging back up at just that moment. “Ready to go?”

  “Yep. All loaded up. See you on Thursday, Seth.” He gives me a hug and a quick peck on the cheek before helping me up into the driver’s seat and closing the door behind me.

  “Bye, Rachel. It was nice meeting you.”

  Rachel waits until Seth drives off and then unloads on me. “Holy crap. He’s like absolutely perfect, Macy. Six o’clock Thursday, huh? What’s happening on Thursday? Have you ever seen such yummy brown eyes? And that voice. You weren’t kidding. If he wasn’t so completely into you, I’d be mounting that up in a heartbeat.”

  “Hands to yourself there slutty-Malibu-Barbie. That fire-fighting god is all mine! He’s taking me to dinner on Thursday. Crap. I didn’t even ask where we were going so that I know what to wear. Guess I’ll just have to give him a call. Worse problems to have I suppose.” I crack a huge smile as we drive off the beach.