Her Protector: A Firefighter Secret Baby Romance

by Ashlee Price

“I can respect that,” he said, backing off. “But you know I’d be like this with you even if—”

  “Even if what? You and Brandy were still together?” she laughed.

  “Yeah, I guess that doesn’t sound too good. I mean, I’m always going to have feelings for you. That’s it. End of story. If you don’t feel anything like that, tell me and I’ll back off.”

  “That’s not it. It’s just that I’ve been the rebound girl before, and guess who gets her heart broken? You need at least a two-week window in case you decide to reconcile with Brandy.”

  Tanner burst into laughter. “Who made up that rule?!?”

  “It’s not funny. I’m sure there’s some sort of scientific study on it. But human nature doesn’t lie. The last time you and Brandy broke up, how long from then until you decided to patch things up and give it another go?”

  Her question made him sit back and actually think for a moment. But before he could answer, she asked him, “Okay, now think about the time you broke up before that; same question. Think about all of the times you’ve broken up and gotten back together, how long was the time in the middle?”

  “You’re right,” he admitted. “It’s been about two weeks every single time. But I’m done this time. I’ve never had a guy text my phone telling me what my girlfriend was doing with him and then send me photographic proof. I mean, I was definitely a fool before for taking her back, but I’d have to be downright stupid to do that again. I’m done, Jen. I swear.”

  “I believe you, but will Brandy?”

  “It doesn’t matter if she does or not,” he told her with his face twisted in confusion.

  “Yeah, it does,” Jenna said frankly.

  “Why?”

  “Because she just walked in and is coming this way,” she huffed.

  “Crap, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologize yet. See what she wants first,” Jenna laughed.

  “I can’t believe you’re here, in my favorite diner, with somebody else!” Brandy yelled for the entire restaurant to hear.

  “You don’t own this place. I can eat wherever I want, with whoever I want,” he told her, not putting too much energy into his response. “Are you following me or something?”

  “No, I just want to talk to you. We need to fix this thing between us,” she said, eyeing Jenna nervously. “I don’t care if you’ve slept with her, I forgive you. Now let’s go outside and talk!”

  “You might as well,” Jenna told him, sucking her teeth and shaking her head. “You know she won’t leave until you do.”

  “Fine, outside,” he told Brandy, pointing to the door.

  Jenna wasn’t exactly sure why she was mad that he did what she told him, but she was. A part of her wanted him to tell Brandy to hit the road, but maybe that was unreasonable. Their history was far more recent than the history she had with him. So, with a heavy sigh, Jenna turned around to watch the two argue in the parking lot. The fire between them was obvious. There was nothing Tanner could tell her that would make her believe they were done. She’d have to hear it from the both of them, and even then it would still be a stretch.

  Instead of waiting for her order to come out, Jenna got up from the booth, adjusted her shorts and walked toward the door. She wasn’t far from The Wheel, so she decided to take a walk. She had grad schools to think about. As much as she wanted Tanner to literally be the man of her dreams, his reality was wrapped around a tall, leggy blonde who loved to cause drama. That wasn’t her, and she wasn’t going to become that kind of person for anyone.

  Leaving Tanner alone was going to be hard, but with so many other things going on in her life it wasn’t going to be that hard. Even better, she had a party to throw at The Wheel. That would be a wonderful distraction for her. Jenna was sure that her feelings of ‘more than lust’ and ‘less than love’ for Tanner would subside as time went by.

  Chapter 7

  The sound of Jenna’s phone vibrating across the bar top was distracting. It became even more annoying when she glanced down to see it was Tanner calling her again. It had only been a few days since she walked out on him at the diner while he was arguing with Brandy. She’d just figured they’d gotten back together; it had taken him over an hour to call her after she left, and then he cut the conversation short, promising to call her back. However, even though Tanner had kept his word, Jenna wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Everything had seemed wonderful right before Brandy interrupted them—but then, so had her dream.

  “So you never did tell me the details about what happened that night at the diner. And why you refuse to answer his calls,” Hannah said, moving next to her. They both stared at his face flashing across the screen.

  “That’s because it doesn’t matter.” Jenna fished around a box of decorations and handed her a bunch of leis. The flower necklaces came in every shade under the sun. “Hang these by the door. I want everyone to get one along with their complimentary drink ticket.”

  “I still don’t understand how giving away free drinks is going to make us any money!” Paul shouted as he fought with one of the grass skirt tablecloths Jenna had told him to decorate with.

  “Well, Dad, it works like this: The first 50 people get a free drink, and everyone else after that gets half off until eleven. From eleven until closing drinks are full price. Most people will order as many drinks as they can before the cutoff time. We shut the bar down by one and have everybody out of here by two. It’s going to work, Daddy. I promise,” Jenna assured him.

  The bar was already much brighter than the dreary wooden shell it would go back to after this party was over. There were hula skirts around the tables. Paper lanterns were strung from the corners of the room, meeting in the center right above the bar. Jenna had tiki torches set up at each corner and flowers draped around the counter top. Taking a glance around the place, she was happy with the result.

  Paul, on the other hand, thought it was way too frilly for his place. He wanted it to end before it even started. Aggravation came easy as the grass skirt he was still fumbling around with got tangled. He threw it on the floor and stormed off to the back office without saying a word.

  “I guess we gotta finish this up on our own,” Hannah laughed.

  “Yep, I guess so,” Jenna giggled as she pulled a banner from the box. “Um, I’m going to hang this outside. You finish putting those flowers up. Oh, and put the oil in the torches on the table.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous and stupid having fire around a bunch of drunk coeds?” Hannah scrunched up her face.

  The entire scene played out in Jenna’s mind and she had to agree. “Yeah, on second thought, I’ll only use one torch. I’ll keep it behind the bar and only light it when the party starts. After that, I’ll put it out. But can you do me a favor?”

  “What?” Hannah sighed with her hands on her hips.

  “Can you run out and get some of those LED flame looking things? We can put those in the torches instead of the oil. This way we don’t burn the place down.”

  “Fine,” Hannah said, grabbing her keys and taking off.

  Jenna turned back to the banner, but then the sound of a string of red paper lanterns falling from the corner let her know she still had work to do inside. Grabbing the ladder, she made her way toward the corner with a roll of tape and her staple gun. She was determined not to have to put either of them up again for the rest of the night.

  The rickety ladder was covered in paint and had been loaned around town for as long as she could remember. No one even remembered who the ladder belonged to. The next business that needed it would come to the bar and it would get moved around just like that. It was a piece of Doveport charm that Jenna loved. But she didn’t particularly love the way it shook under her feet as she climbed to the top rung.

  With her back to the entrance, Jenna heard the door open but couldn’t see who it was. She didn’t really care all that much, either; she was focused on keeping her bala
nce and stapling the decorations in place.

  “Why aren’t you answering my calls?” Tanner asked from behind her. The sound of his voice startled Jenna so much that she yelped and fell back off the ladder, right into his arms.

  “Damn it, Tanner! What the hell?!? You scared me half to death. I could have fallen and broken my neck or something!” she yelled, hitting him as he put her down onto her feet.

  “I’m sorry, but you’ve been ignoring my calls all week. You walked out on me at the diner. Every time I show up at your house, either no one answers the door or your father threatens to shoot me! He knows we’re not dating, right?” he said, running his fingers through his hair—his sandy blond hair that was product-free and flopping around charmingly as he followed Jenna, who was storming off toward the bar. He took a look around at all the tiki torches on the tables. “You’re not going to light those, right? That’s against fire code. You don’t have enough ventilation in here for the oil to burn off, and you don’t have a sprinkler system. As a matter of fact, I only see two extinguishers.”

  “Okay! Stop!” Jenna shouted angrily, “What do you want from me?”

  “I want us to be friends again. I want us to talk. We were in such a good place and—”

  “You mean your hand was in a good place,” she hissed. “I told you that you guys were getting back together. You’re still in that two-week window, and I don’t want any part of that. Granted we’re not in love anymore, Tanner, but I still care about you. And I care about myself even more. I’ve lost enough people in my life, and I don’t want to take you back in just for you to cut me loose again when your girlfriend says she doesn’t like me. Oh, and the other extinguishers are in the kitchen, and there are two mini ones under the bar at each side, per code and our last passing inspection by the Fire Marshal.”

  “I can’t talk in here. I feel like your dad is going to come out here any minute with a shotgun to chase me off the premises. Let’s go outside for a second,” he pleaded with her.

  “No, Tanner, I have to stay here and finish setting up. This party is in a few hours, and I don’t have time for this,” she told him with her arms folded across her chest.

  Tanner’s eyes danced around the room until he found a compromise. Grabbing her hand, he pulled Jenna toward the back room, closing the door behind them.

  “Okay, Tanner, you have me back here. Now what do you want to say?” The annoyance in her voice cut through the air.

  “Alright, me and Brandy are over. I don’t care about your two-week rule. I know when I’m done.”

  “But you’re going to keep entertaining her antics, and I don’t want any part of that, either! She’s never going to leave you alone, and if she never leaves you alone, then you know what that means? That means she never leaves me alone! I’m too young and too old to deal with that kind of unnecessary stress, especially if all you want us to be is just friends.”

  Her reasoning was solid, but Tanner smiled. “So you would put up with it if we were trying to become more than friends?”

  “That’s not what I meant.” She narrowed her eyes to him. Tanner stepped closer to her. Jenna backed away. She kept backing away until her back was pressed against the wall.

  “So if I kissed you right now, you’d what? Slap me? Or kiss me back?”

  She hated how much of an effect he had on her. But as her heart raced, and her lust for him reignited, she teased him, “I guess you’ll have to find out.”

  Tanner didn’t hesitate, taking her face into his hands and pulling her into his embrace. His mouth moved over hers as their tongues met and danced with one another. The privacy of the back room let their inhibitions vanish as Jenna found herself grabbing at his shirt and pulling it over his head. Tanner smirked as he took both of her wrists in one of his hands and held them firmly against the wall above her head. His other hand pushed her shirt and bra up, tugging gently, teasing her with his fingertips. Then his mouth replaced his fingers and his soft, supple lips moved from her neck down to her chest. The sweet agony of his teeth grazing her flesh brought shockwaves of pleasure.

  As she writhed under the magic of his tongue, Tanner moved his mouth back up to hers as she felt his feet spread her legs apart. Then his hand moved to where she was begging to be touched. Staring her straight in the eyes, he did what her body was yearning for him to do.

  Jenna felt the softness of her walls clench around the stiffness of his fingers as he moved in and out of her. They never broke eye contact. He simply watched her face as she panted, whimpered, and orgasmed all over his hand. Sucking air through her teeth, she closed her eyes but suddenly felt the warmth of his breath on her earlobe. “Look at me.”

  Opening her eyes, she met Tanner’s seductive glare, and unable to control herself, she climaxed again. She wanted so much more, but the sound of movement in the main bar area forced them to stop. Tanner took his fingers and licked them with a childish grin across his face.

  Jenna fixed her clothes and pressed her hands against her cheeks. She didn’t think it would work to ease the deep red hue she was sure was there, but she had to at least make an attempt to look normal. Just before she stepped out of the room, she turned around to Tanner.

  “What?” he asked.

  Slap!

  “Christ! What was that for?” he yelped, rubbing his face.

  Jerking the door open, Jenna wriggled her shoulders to straighten her posture before eyeing him with a seriousness he’d never seen from her. “You know what that was for! You asked for it!”

  She walked out before he could do anything else. Her father was standing there. As he watched her and Tanner leave the back room with Tanner holding his face, his confused expression changed into anger. “What do you two think you’re doing back there?”

  “Yeah, what’s going on in here?” Hannah chimed in as she popped up from behind the bar with a huge grin on her face.

  “Nothing. We were just settling an old debate,” Jenna said, eyeing Tanner as he made his way out of the bar.

  “Will we see you tonight, Tanner?” Hannah called out to him.

  “Maybe. I don’t know. It’s up to her, honestly,” he said, motioning toward Jenna.

  “It’s a free country,” she told him, licking her lips. He shook his head, rubbed his jaw, and walked out.

  “I don’t like him,” Paul said under his breath.

  “You never liked him, Daddy.”

  “Yeah, but I’m talking about now. I don’t like him. What’d he do? Why’d you slap him?”

  “Yeah, what’s that all about?” Hannah scrunched up her face as she sat her chin in her hands and propped her elbows on the counter.

  “Nothing I want to talk about sober,” she joked.

  “But you don’t drink!” Hannah and Paul stated at the same time.

  Later that night, as Jenna got herself ready for the party, she couldn’t help but gaze at her reflection in the mirror. Her long brown hair was pulled up into a high bun with a bright orange flower wrapped around it. Her white crop-top shirt had a deep V-neck collar showing ample cleavage, and her shorts were just high enough to be a cross between clothes and a bikini bottom. When her dad walked by, he was, needless to say, less than pleased.

  “I don’t like this,” he grumbled.

  Turning around, Jenna saw him in his regular blue jeans and regular polo shirt.

  “You’re not going to put on the shirt I laid out for you? Get it, Daddy?” she giggled.

  He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Leave the dad jokes to me. You’re bad at them, and no. I’m not going to come in until about 10:30. I just want to check things out to make sure everything’s going according to plan. You got security, right?”

  “Yup! Hired four guys. Two to work the door and two to work inside. I also have a few girls I know waiting tables and two guys coming in to cook for the night.”

  “Where did you get the money to do all this?”

  “That envelope Mr. Hannit
y gave you that you gave to me,” she shrugged.

  “Now that was to repay the money you spent on the light bill, plus a little extra. I told you I don’t want you spending your money on something that’s my responsibility!”

  “Dad, I don’t want to argue right now. Besides, just think of me as a silent investment partner. I’m going to make my money back off the bar. I know I am. Just wait until the end of the night. You’ll see.”

  “I don’t think so.” He began second-guessing his decision to let her throw this themed circus. “Maybe we should just call the whole thing off.”

  “Relax, Daddy. I have it all under control. You don’t have anything to worry about. And look at me! With these shorts and this shirt, I’ll make my money back in tips alone. I need you to keep in mind that I don’t drink, and that I can throw a punch. I learned from the best.” She kissed him gently on the cheek. “Don’t be such a worry wart. I’ll see you at 10:30, Dad!”

  She skipped down the stairs and out the door. To say Jenna was excited would have been an understatement. She couldn’t wait to see the look on her father’s face at the end of the night when she emptied out the drawer and tallied it all up.

  By the time she got to The Wheel it was almost seven and there was actually a line of people waiting to get in. As she walked by, she had to restrain herself so she wouldn’t jump for joy in front of everyone. There were a few familiar faces—and a few whistles—as she strutted past the waiting coeds.

  Hannah was already inside the bar, giving the girls she had hired the rundown. Jenna simply sat back and watched as Hannah whipped the young women into shape. “Of course at the end of the night we’ll pool our tips so everyone gets a fair share. And believe me, with the number of guys I saw out there, there will be plenty to go around. Speaking of which, if any of the guys gets too frisky for you, call Joey there in the back.”

  They all turned around to see an enormous bearded man dressed all in black. His red beard was braided into a single braid draped down his chest. His face was mean, but when Hannah pointed him out, he smiled and gave a slight bow to the ladies.