Dallas Fire & Rescue: Chasing Flames (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Fiery Fairy Tales Book 1)

by Siera London

  “So… what? I’m your last ditch effort to get a girl to the ball?”

  “You’re my definite first choice. What’s your answer?” He pulled her on top of him. Her bare breasts rested against his chest. He lust meter shot to red all over again.

  “My answer is,” she angled her head up as if searching for the right answer.

  He tickled her sides until she gasped for air one minute and incoherent with peals of laughter the next. “Stop stalling.”

  “Yes, yes. I’ll be your pity date. Just stop tickling me.”

  Her head rested in the crook of his neck. Her breath came in rapid pants, moist and heated against his skin.

  “I have one more request.” He tried to keep the seriousness out of his voice, but failed. “You have a portable lifestyle, and…” he hesitated, looking around the room. She wouldn’t need packing boxes or a U-Haul. She could drive away and every tangible thread of evidence that they were together would be gone. How had they gone from easy to hard talk?

  Symphony raised her head, regarding him with a questioning stare.

  “Nathan?”

  “Don’t disappear on me,” he began, “This connection between us is more than physical.” Feelings swirled through his veins. Some were foreign to him, but welcomed. He wanted everything with Symphony—her trust, her love. He wanted a future with her. How would she respond?

  “It was,” she replied. Then she shook her head, like she’d said the wrong thing. “I mean… it is more than physical for me.”

  Nathan blew out a crap load of anxiety. “That’s good, Blue… really good to know.” How had he gotten so lucky? Blue was perfect and she was his, and his alone, untouched by another man.

  “Now I have a question for you,” she said.

  “Shoot.”

  “What’s your biggest fear?”

  Nathan adjusted, so that his arm was behind his head. His biceps served as a pillow. “Never really thought about it.”

  “What’s the first thing that comes to mind?”

  He cycled through the years of his life, sorting the happy from the sad, when they lost his mom, his brief naval career, the fire onboard the ship, his shipmate getting burned.

  “My father,” he started, “was a firefighter. One of the best. He always made the right decision. Not that he was perfect, but I can’t remember a time when he failed to make the best decision when at a crossroads. He never let anyone down.”

  “He sounds like a great man,” Symphony said, stroking his chest.

  “Yeah, he is. I want to be like him, but I’m not sure I can be when the time comes.”

  Nathan leaned in, loving the feel of Blue’s skin beneath his fingertips.

  “And yours,” he nudged her lower body, by lifting his off the bed.

  “That no one will stick around long enough to know the real me. My past will always anchor me to a life not of my own making.”

  Nathan captured her chin and kissed her.

  “Call me Sticky Nathan because I’m gonna be here for you.”

  She laughed and it was the most wonderful sound in the world. Covered him like the warm Gulf of Mexico waters.

  “Nathan, you don’t have to say that—I mean there’s no obligation.”

  He wanted to roar in protest. He had every obligation a man could have. She’d given him her virginity. They were bound together.

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re stuck with me. And, I want you to stick around.” There, he’d said it.

  “Then,” she paused and he held his breath, “I’ll stick, Nathan.”

  He’d known she was perfect for him the moment their eyes met. Now, that he’d spent time with her, met her friends, her neighbors, he knew they were meant to be together. Wow, he’d found his princess, a real, live, made for him, dream come true. He would never give her up.

  Chapter Seven

  A chorus of baritone voices greeted Nathan when he settled at his usual bar table. Claudia placed a longneck beer bottle in front of him, ice cool against his palm, before he could ask. Now that he and Symphony were together, he had another reason to love the place. He’d dropped her off at the door, unapologetic for giving her a third orgasm. Judging by the smile she sported when she exited the truck, she wasn’t expecting one.

  It took two trips of circling the block before he gave up and parked one street over on Whitehead near the Truman Annex presidential gate. By the time he walked through the open archway, Symphony had changed into a sequined T-shirt that revealed too much cleavage for his tastes. How the heck could he keep every guy from boning over his woman?

  When a thin guy with a spotty beard standing by the jukebox grabbed her around the waist, twirling her through the air in the process, Nathan came up off his bar stool. A hand settled on his shoulder and a firmer hold on his forearm.

  “Not so fast, Special Nathan.”

  He looked down to find Adam’s eyes filled with understanding.

  “Symphony can handle herself. She don’t need no trouble on her job.”

  Adam angled his head toward the jukebox. “Watch.”

  Nathan swiveled his head in Symphony’s direction. With a wide grin on her face, she strategically danced away from her would-be suitor, all the while flashing Fred Astaire a dazzling smile.

  So, she wasn’t oblivious to male attention, more like tactful.

  “I’ll join you for a beer, Special.”

  Reclaiming his seat, Nathan pegged the old timer with a frown. Why did Adam persist with the special reminder?

  The swallow of beer tasted bland on Nathan’s tongue after feasting on Symphony’s sweet honey. After their morning together, all food would be little more than hospital quality. He palmed the half-empty bottle, scanning the room like the Terminator, ready to annihilate the Resistance, single-handed. His grip on the longneck bottle tightened. Symphony’s section of the bar filled while he stood preoccupied with Gandalf the Grey.

  “This your first merry-go-round with a lady?”

  “No.” Nathan grumbled. He wasn’t a horny teenager, but with Symphony, he felt a loss of control. Glancing around the bar again, he scowled. The problem had gotten worse.

  Only men occupied Symphony’s tables. The disproportionate number of male bodies in his woman’s space was obviously orchestrated. Not appreciating someone had stacked the deck against him, most likely Rachel because nothing happened in Hobo’s without her knowledge, Nathan wore a scowl that even his mother wouldn’t ask him about.

  “Not much of a conversationalist, either?”

  Adam took a swig of his beer. He sloshed it around in his mouth before swallowing.

  “I talk fine, when I invite someone to the conversation. The firefighters usually start filing in about five o’clock.” With any luck, Adam would take the hint and move on.

  “Don’t have to be an ass because you got feminine problems.” Nathan grounded his teeth so hard, his jaw hurt. He made it sound like Nathan needed a visit to the lady doctor. The evening paled in comparison to his day with Symphony. Sitting at his usual table at Hobo Alley, he felt anything, but his usual laid-back self.

  “Don’t worry about me, Adam.”

  “Not you…her.” Adam bent his head in Blue’s direction.

  Symphony seemed comfortable in her interactions with men, but Nathan was well aware that the three guys at the table right of the stage, ordered one item at a time to keep her coming back. Nathan smiled when she walked in his direction. She stopped next to him, but she kept both hands on the empty serving tray propped on her hip.

  “Rachel wants to talk with me before the happy hour rush,” she whispered to Nathan before facing her neighbor. “What brings you to town on a Saturday night, Adam?”

  “Other than looking for a hot toddy to spend my social security check?”

  “There is that,” Symphony jibbed.

  “Not expecting much play with Special Nathan hanging around the table, making me look bad. I’ve heard things, you see.”

 
; “Never,” Symphony replied in mock horror, “Ladies like worldly men. You’re a classic.” More like a relic, Nathan thought, but he kept a straight face while Symphony stroked the older man’s ego.

  Her response seemed to please Adam; he settled back on his stool and drank his beer in earnest.

  Symphony rounded on Nathan. “Don’t tell me you kiss and tell?”

  “I don’t, but I think your neighbor has a bionic ear.”

  Nathan smiled as red crept up Symphony’s neck and her cheeks flushed. Slowly, they pivoted in Adam’s direction. Sure enough, he clung to every word they said in between sips.

  ***

  Symphony blinked twice, shocked at the flyer she held in her hand. A triple take was in order at the numbers printed on the page, ten thousand dollars in a week. The Saturday night air was cool as she stood on the sidewalk outside the Silken Pearl, but she felt the heat of a hundred furnaces. Could she perform on stage to earn that amount of money? Before Nathan…maybe, but how could she be so close to a solution, only to risk the safe haven of happiness she’d found with him?

  “You ready?”

  She jumped when Rachel appeared at her side. The Silken Pearl thrummed like an electric guitar under the fingers of The Artist Formerly Known As, and they were still on the sidewalk.

  “Rachel, what if Nathan finds out? He’s going to flip out with me singing in a place like this.”

  “Are you going to tell him?” Rachel smirked, hands on her hips.

  “Of course not.” Her stomach did a backward flip thinking about his response.

  “You plan to ask him for the money?”

  Symphony did a double blink, “I can’t, but… I don’t know if I can do this.”

  “The idea came to me, so trust that I have a plan.”

  “Does it involve you climbing on stage with me?”

  “No, but… you just warm up that beautiful voice of yours and I’ll do the rest.” Rachel held up a small crocodile leather train case and a garment bag, but still managed to grab the door for her.

  “Your new identity is in this case. Adam loaned it to me.” Rachel lifted the case higher, gesturing her to the darkened interior of the club.

  Symphony slapped a hand to her forehead. “Adam knows?” Oh no, what would he think of her? Adam was like a father she never had.

  “Heck, to the no! The makeup was for me, but I’m sure he doesn’t mind me sharing it with you.”

  She remembered Adam and his wife had worked in the entertainment industry, but most of his tales were told in generalities. Often times, each retelling added a layer of grandiosity. She figured it was a part of getting older. Being alone did interesting things to the mind, regardless of age, so she indulged him.

  Symphony couldn’t hide the shock on her face. A horrible thought struck her.

  “He won’t be inside, will he?”

  “No, he’s back at the bar, none the wiser. Now stop being dramatic. This is a good idea.” Rachel beamed.

  Symphony stood paralyzed as Rachel banged on the club’s side entrance door with the train case.

  “Can I help you, sweetheart?” The voice belonged to a reed, thin man with neat trimmed hair, dressed in all black. His appearance surprised Symphony. Maybe she expected to see a greaser, with a ham shank body, and a toothpick hanging out his mouth.

  “I’m… we,” she stuttered, pointing at Rachel, “We’re here for the singing job.”

  “You’re pretty,” he said as a matter of fact, the assessment more clinical, than adoration. “I’m Richard, the owner. Can you sing, sweetheart?”

  “Well, my mother…” Richard regarded her with a narrowed eyed gaze. “Yes.”

  Rachel nudged her shoulder, “Give him a taste of that voice of yours.”

  Symphony didn’t hesitate when it came to the song in her heart. She began with Alicia Key’s “How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore,” before adding a melody of Chrisette Michelle, and ending with Joss Stone.

  “Damn, woman. I think I need a cigarette.”

  Symphony blushed. She realized that she could carry a tune, but she never considered making money from it.

  “So, I’m in?”

  “Sweetheart, the men will lay their paychecks at your feet. With your angelic voice and that pin-up girl body, I might have to invest in chicken wire.”

  Symphony drew up short.

  “Wait… what? I’m just singing, right?”

  “While you’re hitting the high note, your clothes will be hitting the floor.”

  Symphony shook her head vehemently. This was the wrong place for her. “No, no, no.”

  Rachel stepped in front of her, a protective stance. Symphony shook her head no before he finished the sentence. “Rachel?”

  “Make an exception. There’s not a voice on the island that can compete with hers.”

  Symphony noticed Rachel was careful not to use her name.

  “Rules are rules.”

  Richard crossed his arms over his chest. He wore a make a decision expression. Panic rose in her chest. Her chance at ten thousand dollars was about to walk.

  “But,” she said.

  Rachel interrupted. “She can do it,” Rachel said with confidence.

  Symphony’s chest heaved, because it sounded like a lie. And the look Richard gave her reeked of skepticism.

  “Just to be clear,” Rachel chimed in. “She has to sing and have her clothes off by the end of her number, is that right?”

  “You got it… ah…” He paused. “What’s your name again?”

  “I’m Rachel, her manager.”

  She extended a hand, which Richard accepted. With their negotiation complete, Rachel settled behind Symphony again.

  “Really,” Richard grinned, “whatever you say. The show starts in forty-five minutes, little siren.”

  “I was hoping to start tomorrow night. My boyfriend picks me up in—” Richard held up a hand.

  “The next seven nights, I expect you on stage. In fact, you’re my new headliner. If you do as well as I think you will, I’ll consider two shows a night for you.”

  “Excuse us,” Symphony said, pulling Rachel aside. They huddled in the corner like two kids conferring on the playground, an adult playground. “Nathan expects me to be at Hobo’s when he arrives in an hour.”

  “We’ll figure something out. Let me check out the stage, while you get changed.”

  “Rachel, what if I get stressed and need—” Symphony knew her boss understood her fear.

  “You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. You don’t need the fire, Symphony. You’re in control.” Rachel sneezed, her hand and eyes unwavering as she looked at Symphony.

  Richard’s throat clearing had them both turning around, “You two finished taking over the world? I got a show to run.”

  An image of Nathan, looking ridiculously sexy sitting in her too little for him buffet had her smiling. God, she enjoyed his touch, his kisses… his possessiveness. Was she doing the right thing? Losing Nathan would be a push down a rusty playground slide that left a permanent scar.

  “Siren,” Rachel said. “That’s your stage name,” she whispered. “We should get ready.”

  “Right,” she said, descending deeper into the club. Into the frying pan, could she avoid the fire?

  ***

  Confusion, fear, and anger churned inside Nathan. The emotions heavier than wet cement in his gut.

  Where was Symphony? With the seventy-five thousand tourists on the street, he’d never find her on a Saturday night.

  “Where’d she say she was going, Claudia?”

  The pitying look she gave him, as they faced off in the bar, only served to piss him off more.

  “She didn’t, so stop grilling me. Don’t worry, Symphony’s a good girl. You just make sure you don’t do her any harm,” she warned, with a rhinestone fingernail pointed between his eyes like a shotgun.

  Well, he was worried. “Ask Rachel, she’ll know.”

  Finally, he found a
woman he could like—love and she’d ghosted on him. Symphony had laughed this morning when he asked if she had some secret life he needed to know about. He wasn’t so sure.

  Claudia gave him an exasperated look, “Rachel’s not here, you done with the fifty questions? I have paying customers.”

  Hands on her hips, she waited for Nathan… to what?

  “It was one question,” he defended. “Tell Symphony I came by, when she comes back.”

  Claudia only shook her head and walked away.

  Nathan stalked to his truck. He felt like his skin was on fire. Symphony had slipped through his fingers before he had a chance to get her hooked and reeled in. He needed a drink, but there was no way he’d get it at the bar.

  Every man in the place knew Symphony stood him up. She’s on foot, he reminded himself. Maybe she forgot he planned to pick her up and decided to walk home. What the hell did that mean for his first impression? He’d fantasized about making love to her all day. Had she forgotten him in a matter of hours?

  His cell phone rang.

  He slid his finger across the red phone icon, “Zachary, here.” Hearing the fire chief’s voice had him on his feet. Another fire? He listened, mentally recording the address. “Be there in ten.”

  Nathan cut the call. He had no idea how long he’d be at the scene. With Symphony’s whereabouts unknown, he knew he’d be distracted until he knew she was safe. Nathan told himself the knot in his chest was about Symphony’s safety, not his own messed up insecurities.

  She’d asked him his biggest fear; he hadn’t known it at the time. He did now. Losing Symphony would crush him. He knew it as sure as the marrow in his bones. She was his, but did she truly feel the same about him?

  ***

  Symphony had to be the fastest virgin to nightclub stripper convert in the history of mankind. Would she be able to take off her clothes in front of strangers? Ten hours ago, a man had never seen her nude body; now she was prepared to get butt naked in front of a room full of ogling guys waving dollar bills.

  The Silken Pearl took the name seriously. There was square-backed leather sectional seating placed equidistant around the room. Like Richard, the interior surprised her. A black lacquered bar ran the length of the rear wall. Cream satin drapes hung from the ceiling along the sidewalls. There were large plate-glass mirrors framed with expensive crown molding frames between each curtain panel. The floor was an alternating pattern of cream and black marble tiles. The place looked like an upscale supper club. It was a definite step up from Hobo Alley.