Saved by the Firefighter

by Rachel Brimble

  Izzy inhaled a shaky breath. “A jackass who’s made my decision of whether or not to work with Jay Garrett an easy one.”

  Kate’s eyes brightened. “You’re staying?”

  Izzy smiled. “I think maybe I am.”

  “Oh, Iz.” Kate pulled her in for a hug. “I am so happy about that.” She held Izzy at arm’s length. “I really didn’t want you to leave, but have no right to tell you how to live your life.”

  Izzy laughed. “You have every right...because nine times out of ten, you’re spot on. About everything.” Taking her hand, Izzy tugged Kate toward the sofa.

  “Now, enough of our soppiness. Come and have a seat. I’ve something to tell you that will undoubtedly cheer you up.”

  Kate smiled. “Ooh, sounds interesting.”

  They sat side by side on the sofa and Izzy told her all about her date with Trent a few days before. “And then I said, ‘Well, there you go, then.’”

  Kate burst out laughing. “Wow, you really are sexy personified, aren’t you?”

  Izzy grinned. “Just call me Izzy the Incredible.”

  “That was Friday? And you’ve seen him every day for the last four days? God, you guys don’t hold back once you finally get it together, do you?”

  Immediate worry hurtled into Izzy’s conscience and her smile dissolved. “Do you think it’s too easy?”

  Kate froze and hovered her coffee cup over the table. “What’s too easy?”

  “Us. Me and Trent.”

  “What are you talking about?” She put the cup on the table. “Nothing about you two getting together has been easy. Plus...” She wiggled her eyebrows. “You’ve got lots of missed time to make up for. I think it’s great you’ve stopped fighting your feelings for him, and so should you.”

  “I know, but—”

  “Ah, ah. No buts. Enjoy this, Iz. Please.”

  Izzy stared at her friend...the friend she’d come close to losing if Kate hadn’t so easily forgiven Izzy’s rejection of her comfort over the last few months. She inhaled as the enormousness of change she’d gone through over the last few days poked and prodded at her conscience. The happier, more hopeful feeling that now surrounded her was hard to describe or understand. It was as though Robbie had shoved Richard Crawley in front of her so Izzy could see the gargantuan mistake she could’ve made by leaving the Cove and turning her back on Trent.

  She touched Kate’s hand. “Why don’t you and I do something fun tonight? We haven’t been out in ages.”

  “Aren’t you seeing Trent?”

  “He’s on nights and anyway, no man will ever come between me and a good night out with my best mate.”

  Kate grinned. “I’m glad to hear it. We could go see a movie and finish the night off with a couple of glasses of wine at the Coast.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  They finished their coffee and Izzy carried their empty cups into the kitchen. She placed them on the drainer and stared through the window into the small backyard. As much as she had enjoyed every moment of her and Trent’s union so far, the niggling feeling that things might go wrong between them—or the unthinkable might happen—wouldn’t dissipate.

  If she were to lose him...a man she’d been attracted to for more years than she wanted to admit, she would never recover. Pain twisted inside her heart every time she thought of another loss, yet it quickened with excitement whenever she imagined she might be with Trent forever. Even have a family with him one day.

  As the view ahead of her blurred, Kate’s footsteps sounded behind her and Izzy swiped the tears from her eyes.

  “You okay?” The weight of Kate’s hand fell onto Izzy’s shoulder.

  Izzy swilled the cups under the tap. “Sure.”

  “Iz...”

  “Hmm?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” Izzy briefly closed her eyes before turning to face Kate. She’d promised her best friend she wouldn’t keep things from her ever again. Yet once again, Izzy fought to keep her fears inside. She took a deep breath. “Why me?”

  Kate frowned. “Why you, what?”

  “Why does the town’s hottest firefighter want me? Trent is great-looking, funny and knows how to treat a lady. All I’ve been is horrible to him over the past few months and he still keeps coming back for more.”

  “Because, for Trent, it’s always been you. You know that.”

  “Do I?” She put the last cup on the drainer and snatched a cloth from the hook beside her to dry her hands. “He’s hardly being standing around pining for me. He’s been dating. Admittedly, some of those relationships have lasted days rather than weeks, but still.”

  “Still what? This is Trent we’re talking about and now that you’re slowly returning to who you were before Robbie, Trent won’t be going anywhere.” She widened her eyes in warning. “Unless you let him go, of course. Is that what this is about? You’re not even sure you want to be with him?”

  Izzy’s heart swelled in her chest as certainty rushed through every cell in her body. “Oh, I’m sure.”

  Kate smiled. “Good, because you look happier than you have in months. Trent is good for you. Just trust that and don’t think any deeper. Thinking too hard isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. If I thought too much about half the people I try to help, I’d be in an asylum. We have to live day by day and be grateful for the good things that happen. Those are the rules.”

  “You’re right. Trent knows me better than most people, present company excluded. He gets my crazy and still wants me.”

  “Exactly. You’re lucky you found your man. Maybe this time next year, I’ll have found mine too.”

  Izzy smiled. “God bless the poor guy.”

  Kate grinned. “Hey, it’s just going to take a certain kind of man to handle me, that’s all. I’m too much woman for any bloke in Templeton, that’s for sure. Anyway, enough about me. Tell me about the sex.”

  Izzy laughed. “There’s nothing to tell. At least, not yet.”

  Her eyes widened. “No wonder there’s so much sexual tension flying around when you two are together. What’s wrong? Is it you or him?”

  Izzy lifted her shoulders as though it was no big deal that neither her nor Trent had made a move toward the bedroom yet, for reasons she wasn’t sure she understood. “I don’t know. We’ll get there when the time is right, I suppose.”

  Kate lifted an eyebrow. “From where I’m standing, the time is right every time I see the pair of you together. The tension is hot. H.O.T. Hot.”

  Izzy shook her head, tucked her arm into Kate’s and steered her out of the kitchen and back to the studio seating area. “Sit. Let’s concentrate on Maya Jackson instead of my sex life, shall we?”

  “Fine. But don’t think the subject won’t come up again if you don’t get on with it. A good session is just what you need.”

  “Give me strength.” Izzy lifted her sketch pad off the table in front of them. “Right. Concentrate. Do you have the color copies of the firefighters’ IDs? We’ll use them to allocate their chosen month. Hopefully, one look at their picture will differentiate Mr. May from Mr. December.”

  Kate hauled her bag from the seat beside her and unzipped it. She grinned and pulled out a large brown envelope. “Ready?”

  Izzy nodded and poised her pencil over her sketch pad. “Ready.”

  Kate opened the envelope and showered the copies of the firefighters’ IDs onto the table. She spread them out, her eyes fiendishly bright. “It’s a dirty job, but someone’s got to do it.”

  As though drawn to Trent’s picture by a tracker beam, Izzy plucked it from the lineup of twelve muscular and extraordinarily handsome men. “I know just what I have planned for this guy.”

  Kate grinned. “Really? What a surprise.”

  Izzy met K
ate’s gaze and they burst out laughing.

  * * *

  IZZY STOOD IN the studio and took another long drink from her water bottle. The group cover shot with Richard and the firefighters had been done and now Trent was the next person due to arrive at the studio. She lowered the bottle and closed her eyes. She needed to focus on raising money to help Maya, nothing else. Not why Trent hadn’t made a move to get her back into bed...or how much she wanted him to. It had been months since they made love, and Izzy’s desire for him burned hotter than ever.

  The agony of not knowing him in every way was becoming worse than not knowing him at all, but she didn’t have the confidence to make the first move.

  She opened her eyes and stared toward the front window, insecurity twisting inside.

  After spending so much wonderful time together, laughing and dating, Trent still seemed to be holding himself back physically and she had no idea why. Their kisses were passionate and full of yearning. He touched and caressed her but always pulled back when they could’ve taken that final, blissful leap.

  It was as though he wanted her to be sure; that he waited for her to want him. Did he not sense how much she wanted to be with him? Or did he sense her fear of truly surrendering every part of her? Because that was exactly what she continued to do.

  Once she and Trent made love again, there would be no going back. Her heart would be his, for better or worse—but she couldn’t wait one more day...

  A soft tap sounded on the studio door before it opened.

  Trent lingered in the doorway, his gaze immediately on hers. Izzy’s heartbeat quickened as he glided his study over her neck, breasts and lower until his appraisal reached her feet. Every inch of her body zinged with awareness. All six feet two inches of him filled the entrance, his wide shoulders almost brushing either side of the door frame as he stepped into the studio.

  “Here I am. Reporting for duty.”

  She smiled and the tension eased from her shoulders. “You’d better shut the door, then.” She wandered toward the tripod facing the white sheets that would provide the backdrop to Trent’s partially naked body. “On second thought, you might want to lock it and lower the blinds too.”

  “What?”

  She turned around, planted her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows. “What I have planned for you will be for my eyes only until the calendar’s released.”

  He grinned, his gorgeous green eyes darkening. “You’re not going to scare me away, you know.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  He threw the bolt into place and turned the key in the door before walking to the picture window in front of the studio and lowering the blind with achingly slow precision. Izzy stood stock-still and resisted the urge to storm across the space between them, leap into his arms and devour his lips with hers.

  He turned. “Where do you want me?”

  Her gaze glided over his broad chest, strong and hard beneath the cover of a crisp, white T-shirt. Now, there’s a question. “Lose the shirt and go into the bathroom. You need to douse your upper body in water.”

  His cocky smile vanished. “I need to what?”

  She lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

  “Fine.” He raised his hands in surrender. “Whatever you need.”

  The deep, husky and entirely masculine tone of his voice slithered over her skin and into her weakened heart. Their reunion had brought forth a new awareness, a new acceptance that life was too short to waste. Now was the time to act, to take Trent and face whatever happened next.

  She inhaled and forced a wide smile. “When you’re done, come and stand in the center of the sheets. I’ll direct you from there.”

  His gaze held hers as he strolled past her, and a flutter of anticipation sent tremors through her abdomen. The sexual tension in the room was rife and he was one of the most intelligent men she’d ever met. He would know what she wanted just by looking into her eyes. She smiled...and the hunger in his eyes told her he might just be more than a willing participant in her plans.

  The rustle of clothes being discarded filled the room and Izzy returned to the table where she’d left her water. She took a drink and switched on her iPod. A 1980s rock ballad filled the room.

  From the corner of her eye, she caught a flash of Trent’s darkly tanned and ridiculously muscular back through the doorway as he stripped off his T-shirt in the bathroom. She strolled across the room for her camera as he pulled the bathroom door slightly closed. The muted sound of running, then splashing water, filtered from the bathroom into the studio.

  Izzy concentrated on mounting a lens, desperately trying to dispel the images of what Trent was doing from running through her imagination. Her heart skipped as the shower abruptly stopped, followed by his footsteps as he reentered the studio.

  She raised her head. Oh, for the love of God...

  His black firefighter-issue trousers were tucked into steel-capped boots, red suspenders dangling, leaving his torso and chest bare. His thick, glossy hair matched the dark line running from his navel to the waistband of those stupidly sexy trousers. Izzy licked her lips as her body hummed with arousal.

  Mr. April...

  The idea to douse Trent in an April shower had come to her in the middle of the night. A sexily splendid idea. She’d battled with the decision to change the design over and over—but had kept to her creative plan. How the hell was she to know how much his glistening skin would turn her on?

  “You want me on the sheets, right?”

  “We’ll start there, yes.”

  He grinned, his eyes dancing in such a happy and sexy way, Izzy fought to maintain every ounce of willpower not to jump him there and then. Instead, she stepped forward and put her eye to the camera, taking in more of what her mind and body had already been exposed to. Her mouth drained dry. He was beautiful. The golden-bronze sheen of his skin, the hardened ridge of his wide shoulders leading down to arms, sinewy with muscle and tendons. A body like his wasn’t something a woman saw on a daily basis.

  She took a few shots, before pulling back and meeting his cool green gaze. “Step toward the back a little. That’s it. I need a bit of breathing space.”

  He smiled. “Got it.”

  Biting back her smile, Izzy returned to the camera, her heart beating out of control. His voice—and smile—was torture as she continued with her plan of slow seduction. The plan wasn’t working in quite the way she anticipated. Trent had the benefit of being covered in water, whereas she was burning up...everywhere.

  She peered back into the camera lens, mesmerized by the gorgeous sight of him. Her body yearned for his on top of hers...in hers. As much as she wanted to protect herself from further loss, further hurt, she wanted Trent. So much.

  Swallowing the unexpected lump that formed in her throat, she forced a smile. “Okay, let’s do this. Tip your head back as though you’re enjoying the sexiest rain shower of your life. Let me see your acting skills.”

  The next torturous half hour passed as Trent posed and flexed under her increasingly erotic direction. She pretended she was in control of the situation, secretly hoping every direction she made would make him blanch or at least flinch. Yet the man looked as though he was enjoying every damn minute. Somehow he’d turned the tables and the whole shoot was tormenting her, not him.

  “Are we done?” The low, confident rumble of his voice splintered her reverie.

  She abruptly stepped back from the tripod. “Sure. That’s a wrap. You did well...” She winked. “For an amateur.”

  He smiled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  She detached the camera from the tripod, her fingers shaking as she fought the need to run her hands over the width of his biceps, up and over the rigid plane of his shoulders to his thick neck and into his hair.

  The timing had to be
perfect. Romantic. Cool. Gentle.

  She cleared her throat. “I’ll send you copies when I’m happy with them.”

  “Great.”

  The steady approach of his heavy tread sent her heartbeat into overdrive.

  He came closer and she shot a glance at the locked door of the studio. Their easy flirtations had come back tenfold, their kisses and touches simmering with a heat they both knew would reach boiling point sooner or later.

  Izzy closed her eyes. She’d actually believed she could handle today.

  He touched his finger to her chin, just a whisper of skin-on-skin contact as he tilted her face upward. “Hi.”

  She opened her eyes and her stomach knotted. “Hi.”

  He eased the camera from her hands and laid it carefully on her workstation. She stared at his beautiful face, and her breathing turned harried. Could she really let down her defenses and love Trent without fear of him being taken away from her one day?

  His gaze ran like a soft caress over her face. “You’re so sexy and talented. Just looking at you drives me insane.” His gaze bored into hers, the muscles of his arms flexing and relaxing. “So I’m going to make love to you. Right now.”

  Her entire body weakened under the intensity of his gaze.

  He eased her back until her butt pressed up against the edge of the workstation.

  Her heart picked up speed as her body ached with the need to nip her teeth along one of his incredibly hard, darkly tanned shoulders.

  He brushed some hair from her eyes. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone. You feel it, don’t you? You feel the heat between us. Nothing bad is ever going to happen again. I promise.”

  “Don’t...don’t promise me that.” She squeezed her eyes shut and cursed the warmth of her tears as they slipped to her cheeks.

  Sobs clogged her throat as her body trembled with animalistic need to take him, own him and make him take her under, over and over again until the memories vanished and all she saw was him.