March Heat

by Chase Jackson

  All good things in life are earned. Beck had taught me that.

  EPILOGUE | OLIVIA

  One Month Later

  “HELP!” Gia Rogers hissed desperately as she grabbed my arm and pulled me to her side.

  “What is it?!”

  “He’s here!”

  “Who?!”

  “The most beautiful man that I’ve ever seen in my entire life, that’s who!” Gia twisted her face into a tortured expression, then she not-so-subtly gestured towards the opposite side of the room.

  I glanced up and my eyes immediately locked onto Duke.

  “You mean Duke?” I frowned. “I mean… I’m not sure ‘beautiful’ is the right word, but--”

  “No! Not your boyfriend,” Gia grunted. “I mean the guy he’s talking to!”

  I glanced back at Duke, then forced my eyes over to the guy standing next to him.

  “Oh, that’s just--”

  “Mr. May,” Gia Rogers finished for me. I recognized the man as one of Duke’s colleagues from the firehouse, but Gia clearly knew him based on his saucy spread in the Firehouse 56 calendar.

  “He’s so beautiful,” Gia pouted. “I think my vagina is weeping.”

  “Go talk to him!” I encouraged her. “He’s not going to bite.”

  “No way!” Gia shook her head. “Nope. Not going to happen.”

  “Come on!” I looped my arm through hers and started dragging her across the firehouse vehicle bay.

  Today was the annual Firehouse 56 summer picnic. The event was typically hosted in one of Hartford’s public parks but, due to the threat of imminent rain, today’s festivities had been relocated to the firehouse vehicle bay.

  There were nearly thirty guests in total, including the twelve Firehouse 56 crew members and their assorted friends and family. Luckily the bay was spacious enough to accommodate the crowd.

  A few trucks from the fleet had been rolled out of the garage to make room for folding tables, which were covered with gingham tablecloths and loaded with a mismatched assortment of snacks.

  Since it was impossible to find a cooler big enough to store the amount of alcohol necessary for a Firehouse 56 function, someone had gotten the genius idea to invest in a plastic kiddie pool instead. It must have taken over a hundred pounds of ice to fill the damn thing, but they had done it. Now the pool was filled with an assortment of beers and wines.

  In the gravel parking lot behind the firehouse, the fire chief was overseeing grill operations: a couple of Duke’s colleagues had rigged a makeshift barbecue by dumping lit charcoal into a steel drum. Once they had a decent fire started, they covered the top with a wire rack that they had “borrowed” from the oven in the firehouse kitchen.

  “Hey you!” Duke greeted me with a peck on the cheek once I managed to make it to the opposite side of the vehicle bay. Then he turned to Gia and grinned.

  “I’m so glad Beck talked you into coming today,” he said. “There’s someone I want you to meet! Gia, this is Mr. May…”

  After making introductions, Duke pulled me aside so that Gia and Mr. May could have some privacy.

  I was glad to see Gia’s nerves slowly fade away. We had spending a lot of time together ever since I had returned to work at the fire department, and there had even been some talk about her getting off of desk duty and joining my route as my new partner out in the field.

  Gia had really been there for me when I needed a friend, and I was grateful to have her. She was my first real friend in Hartford. Well, besides--

  “I’ve been wondering when I was going to get you alone,” Duke whispered into my ear, kissing me again.

  “I think we should do it now,” I whispered back. “I think now’s the right time.”

  “As you wish,” he smiled, then he took me by the hand and led me back to the supply closet at the edge of the vehicle bay.

  “Ladies first,” he teased. I rolled my eyes as I pushed open the door and slipped inside, immediately followed by Duke.

  As soon as we stepped into the closet, Cooper started yapping excitedly from his puppy pen.

  “Hey little guy!” I stooped down on my knees and wiggled a finger through the metal fence. “Are you ready to make your big Firehouse 56 debut?”

  Cooper sniffed my fingers and jumped up on his little front paws.

  “I swear he’s doubled in size since we checked up on him twenty minutes ago,” Duke joked, giving the pup some side eye.

  It was hard to believe that this little brown mutt was one of the puppies that Duke had rescued from the storm drain. Those puppies had barely filled the palm of Duke’s hand when he had pulled them out of the sewer… now, he was twenty pounds of pure energy.

  After spending a few weeks in the vet’s care and being nursed back to health, this little guy and the rest of his litter had been cleared for adoption. The vet offered us first dibs, and we had both immediately fallen in love with the same pup: a loveable brown dog with long gangly legs, paws that were too big for the rest of him, and white spots over his eyes. We had named him Cooper.

  And today, Cooper was making his big debut at the Firehouse 56 picnic. We had kept him stowed away in the supply closet with a mountain of toys to keep him occupied, but now it was time for him to meet the crew.

  “Come on, Coop!” I reached down and lifted the puppy out of his pen, then I hugged him to my chest as I followed Duke back out to the vehicle bay.

  “ATTENTION!” he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. “WOULD ALL FIREHOUSE 56 CREW MEMBERS, FRIENDS AND FAMILY PLEASE GATHER AROUND!”

  Duke’s voice echoed through the brick walls of the vehicle bay, and an immediate hush fell over the crowd as everyone milled towards us.

  “I’ve got an announcement to make, guys,” Duke said.

  “What’s going on?” one of the crew members wanted to know.

  “You’re having a kid, aren’t you?! I knew you’d be next!”

  “Pipe down!” Duke grinned. “I’d like to introduce you all to the newest member of the Firehouse 56 family: Cooper!”

  He turned around and pointed to the puppy in my arms, and I waved Cooper’s paw to greet the crew.

  All I could hear was one big collecting “Awwwww!” as a stampede of people rushed towards me to greet the puppy.

  “Look at you, getting all domesticated and settled down!” Brady Hudson said, slapping Duke on the shoulder. “Who would have guessed that Duke Williams would get a dog before me?!”

  “Well there’s plenty more where he came from,” Duke told him. “A whole litter, in fact. They’re all available for adoption.”

  “Don’t get any ideas!” Brady’s wife, Cassidy, said sternly, pointing a finger towards him in warning.

  Brady smiled and looped his arm around her shoulders:

  “Well I guess we could just have another baby, if you’d prefer--”

  She rolled her eyes, but she seemed a lot more intrigued by that suggestion.

  “I think we’ll stick with the puppy for now,” I winked up at Duke.

  “For now,” Duke grinned down at me. Then he tucked his head next to my ear and whispered: “But I definitely plan on putting some babies in you, Olivia Beck.”

  I sucked in my bottom lip, and felt that fire come alive inside of me.

  “I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” I smiled.

  After making the rounds with Cooper, we led him outside so that he could do his business in the patch of grass behind the gravel parking lot.

  Josh Hudson was outside, scrubbing char off of the oven rack that had been used for the makeshift grill.

  The storm clouds were building in the sky and it was about to rain at any moment, but in the meantime there was a welcome breeze scuttling through the air and blowing away the end-of-summer heat.

  We had made a lap around the lot when we spotted dark figure leaning against the side of the firehouse, knee propped up on the brick wall. He looked like a greaser straight out of an old movie, down to his jet-bla
ck James Dean coif and the cigarette dangling from his lips. Both of his arms were covered in tattoos, he had a grizzly beard, and he was glaring over a pair of black Wayfarer sunglasses.

  “Who the hell is that?” Duke asked, glancing at Josh.

  Josh glanced up from the rack that he was scrubbing.

  “Oh, that guy?” he sniffed. “That’s Rory McAlister.”

  “Who?”

  “Rory McAlister,” Josh repeated. “You haven’t met him yet?”

  “No, why would I have?”

  “He’s one of the new hires,” Josh shrugged. “Chief hired him last week.”

  “That guy?” Duke frowned in disbelief. “He looks more like an arsonist than a firefighter.”

  “Based on what I’ve heard about him, I wouldn’t doubt it…” Josh muttered under his breath.

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “The guy has one hell of a story,” Josh shrugged. “Just wait until you get to know him…”

  The three of us glanced back at Rory, but he was already gone. All that was left of him was a ribbon of white smoke coiling into the air from the cigarette butt that he had flicked down onto the gravel.

  ***

  Hi Beautiful,

  Thanks for reading March Heat, my second romance novel. If you want to know more about me, you can join my publisher’s fan group on Facebook here. I stop in sometimes and visit.

  You should also sign up for my newsletter to get a preview of April Ignites, the next book in the series. If you sign up here you get a FREE copy of February Burning, the second book in the series. I won’t email you about anyone else’s books ever. Just me and you. I can’t wait to show you more.

  Until our next happily ever after,

  Chase

  Sinful Daddy

  Ellie Wild

  1

  Brady

  I glued the phone to my ear and didn’t even try to keep my voice calm. “That’s not the deal we had, and you’re not changing it now unless you want to wind up in court.”

  Roger’s voice crackled through the airwaves. “Come on, man. We’ve done enough of these deals together to know the drill. He got cold feet. Anybody can understand that on a deal this size.”

  “He got cold feet, but he’s also got an iron-clad contract,” I shot back. “If you think I’m gonna let a multi-billion-dollar deal fall through ‘cuz he couldn’t stand the heat, you don’t know me very well.”

  “I know you, man,” he replied. “I know you. I’m just saying....”

  “Well, don’t say,” I shot back. “If you know me, you should have told your client I don’t play that way. Now do you want to tell me the deal’s back on at full price, or do you want to tell him he’ll be hearing from my legal team?”

  Roger tried to play hardball, just the way he always does when his back was against the wall. These candy-ass chumps couldn’t swim with the sharks. “Just keep your shorts on, Brady. You don’t have to get nasty.”

  “Signing a huge industrial real estate contract and then backing out on the price at the last minute? Now that’s what I call nasty. Do you think I got where I am by playing tea party with the little girls? I’m hanging up now, Roger. I’m hanging up until I see the bank transfer notification pop up on my phone. Until that happens, I don’t even want to hear your client’s name. Have a nice lunch break now. See ya later.”

  “Just hold on, man.” His voice rose to a strident pitch. What a pussy. “He can’t pay, man. That’s the whole truth. Okay? He can’t pay. He thought he could get financing, but it fell through at the last second.”

  “Well, what does that have to do with me? What was he doing signing a contract like that if his financing wasn’t secure? What do you think a judge is going to say?”

  Roger’s voice quivered. He hung by a thread, and I enjoyed making him dance. “He’ll have to declare bankruptcy, man. You couldn’t do that to somebody, could you?”

  “I most certainly could, and I most certainly would. Do you see anybody crying over my finances? Do you see my fucking real estate agent calling anybody up at ten o’clock in the morning, whining about how I can’t pay? Of course not. I couldn’t show my face on the street if I did that. You should be ashamed of yourself, and your client shouldn’t be paddling in the big pool without his water wings on.”

  Roger had to chuckle. “Come on, man. Have a heart.”

  “Good-bye, Roger. Have a nice call with your client.”

  I hit the hang-up button before he could reply. I set the phone on my desk where I could reach it in an instant. I flipped through my schedule while I waited for the call-back. These inexperienced patsies get into the cutthroat world of industrial, commercial real estate. They see a big fat price tag and their eyes pop out of their heads. Then when the hammer comes down, they want to wring their hands and cry me a river.

  My office phone rang again. I let it ring for a minute before I answered. A moment later, I picked up.

  It was Roger’s secretary. “Good morning, Mr. Townsend. I’d like to send you over the bank transfer details we made this morning.”

  Of course. “Sure thing, Sarah. Send them right over.”

  “You should be receiving a call from Roger in about ten minutes to confirm.”

  “Thank you, Sarah, but I’ll be out of the office until two o’clock this afternoon. Please give Roger my regards. If he has anything to say to me, he can leave a message.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Townsend. Always a pleasure doing business with you.”

  “You, too, Sarah.”

  What a pussy. I got on the phone with my agent and explained the whole mess. He laughed his ass off. “You’re not serious.”

  “Just want to warn you about those two.”

  “Thanks, man. I’ll be sure never to do business with Roger again.”

  “Any word on that condo block you mentioned?”

  “I got the plans this morning. Hang on. I’ll get the details for ya.” Rifling of papers muttered swearing.

  Just then, my secretary Melissa strolled into the office. She set a stack of mail on my desk and sauntered out. I flipped the pile around to have a look while I waited for my agent to respond.

  The first thing I noticed was a big white envelope on top with Brady Townsend written on the front in big loopy cursive writing. That’s funny. I never get mail with my name written like that, and I never get anything handwritten—ever. I turned it over.

  A silver sticker with two matching wedding bells sealed the flap closed. Down at the bottom, one of those stick-on return address labels ready Mandy Lewis, 14 Rochester Avenue. What the fuck? I never heard of any Mandy Lewis, so what’s she doing sending me big fancy envelopes with wedding bells on the back?

  The phone twanged in my ear. “Found it. The price went up to 15 million. Can you handle that?”

  “Hey, listen, Jack,” I replied, “I’ll have to call you back.”

  “Sure, buddy. We can always find you another condo to invest in.”

  “It’s not about the price. The price is fine. Something just came up. I’ll call you back after lunch.”

  “You bet.”

  He hung up, and I put the phone down. I had another look at the envelope. Then I turned my phone off completely. I leaned back in my chair. This was gonna take a while.

  I took a deep breath and ripped open the envelope. Once I read the invitation, everything made sense. The bride and groom’s parents requested the honor of my presence at the marriage of their son Charlie Adams to Mandy Lewis.

  Charlie Adams was my best friend growing up. We were like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. We got into all kinds of mischief together, and we always got each other out of it and had each other’s backs. I would do anything for Charlie.

  I didn’t know this Mandy Lewis from a hole in the ground, though. It was six or seven years since I laid eyes on Charlie, much less talked to him. What happened? I couldn’t even remember. We just sort of drifted apart over the years. I got into the
big-time world of commercial real estate and he.... well, I don’t know what he got into. I guess he got into Mandy Lewis.

  The thought of Charlie made my mind wander to his younger sister Victoria. I never gave her the time of day the whole time I was growing up with Charlie. Then, all of a sudden, one day in junior year of high school, wham! She hit me like a ton of bricks. Fuck, she got hot.

  I couldn’t keep from drooling every time she walked into the room. The subtle blush on her cheeks when she caught me staring at her, the gentle sway of her curvy ass. I was getting hard just thinking about her.

  Charlie never found out we had a hot fling in high school. It lasted until freshman year of college. Fuck, she was amazing back then. Was she just as tasty now?

  Her blonde hair curled over her shoulders. Her green eyes sparkled under her long eyelashes. She never got any taller than 5’4”, but she kept putting on the womanhood long after she stopped growing. She just got more and more unstoppably hot the older she got.

  She couldn’t get rid of those curves no matter how much she worked out. Her hips curved around her big beautiful ass with a chest to match. A guy could get lost in those magical tits. I could lay my cheek against them and listen to her heartbeat. She would sigh and cuddle me close, and her body seethed with inner energy.

  She could sling the sass around, too. She never took my stupid jokes lying down. She shot her mouth off and put me in my place. I always liked that in a woman.

  I was never one for weddings, but if Victoria were there, I would be in. Hell, she would probably be in the wedding party. She’d be wearing a nice, close-fitting gown that showed off her assets. Victoria Adams. I couldn’t wait to see her again.

  I couldn’t wait to get her under me again.

  2

  Victoria

  “I’m so happy for you, Charlie.”

  I could just hear the big, sloppy grin on his face. “I just wanted to make sure you got the invite. I couldn’t get married without my little sister there.”

  I twirled the big envelope between my fingers. I didn’t tell him I hadn’t opened it yet. What was the point when I already knew the details? “I got it. Mandy already asked me to be one of her bridesmaids.”