Pin-Up Fireman Read online

  Within minutes, he sauntered toward her wearing untied boots and jeans with the first two buttons undone. He was like someone had set a block of chocolate with very big nuts in front of her. She wanted to bite and lick him all over. The way his grey eyes darkened, he had to know what she was thinking.

  “I…ah….came for my camera equipment.”

  He backed her against the wall in the eating area. His eyes locked on hers. “Don’t we say hello first?” He leaned his face against her neck and inhaled her fragrance, before he nibbled and sucked it.

  “Well…ah…sure, but I figured you’d be busy.”

  “Confucius say woman should never speak for man.” He bit her jaw, working his way toward her mouth.

  She tapped his shoulder. “What does he say about a crowd watching?”

  Boyd gazed over his shoulder and then glanced back with an evil smile. “Confucius say fuck ‘em.” And he kissed her long and hard.

  “What the hell is going on in my fire station? A course in sex ed?” The captain stood next to them with his hands fisted on his waist. “Hell, you two are going to have everyone horned up.” His yelling bounced off the walls.

  Graci-Ella broke away from Boyd. “I came for my camera equipment the two older gentlemen brought back here after my accident. I’d like to start taking some pictures for the calendar. Boyd was just showing me his tripod.” She blinked innocently, trying her best to channel her mother.

  Boyd and the onlookers burst into laughter. The captain scowled at her for a minute before his lips turned up at the corners. “I watched your mother do that with your dad. Don’t think I’m going to fall for it like he’s evidently been doing for years.” He motioned. “Follow me. I locked it up in a closet.” He inserted a key and opened a door. “You let me get it now. Heard you had a rough day yesterday in a lot of ways.” He leaned her camera equipment against the wall. “Any time you want to talk about it. I’m here.”

  “Talk? To another man? With an alpha hot on my trail?” She glanced around for Boyd. “I had no clue a man could be like this.”

  “Hell, neither did my wife.” He started to laugh and the marine rescue alarm went off. A sea-cruiser had hit come coral reefs, tore a couple holes and was sinking. Coordinates were given. Wolf yelled orders and Boyd, Quinn and Barclay were on their way to change into water gear.

  “I’ll finish making supper while they’re all gone. Are you okay with that, captain?”

  He grinned. “Baby doll, you help yourself. My men have had a rough day. Whatever you make will be appreciated, or I’ll damn well know why.”

  She looked over the packs of hamburger Quinn had just opened. She searched through the cabinets and refrigerators for ingredients and started mixing eggs, dry bread crumbs, onions and spices into a large bowl of the hamburger. She rolled her mixture into Italian meatballs and placed onto a baking sheet to slide in the oven. She sent Jace to the store for submarine rolls and sliced provolone. She peeled potatoes and cubed them to cook for potato salad. Eggs boiled too. She mixed two cakes—one chocolate and one strawberry—to put in the oven as soon as the meatballs were baked. Pulling down the three crockpots, she filled them halfway with her mother’s special Italian sauce. Once the meatballs were baked, she drained the grease off and put them in the sauce.

  Jace brought in the rolls and cheese and saw her put the cakes in the oven. “Great guns, if you ain’t a whiz in the kitchen. What all have you made?”

  “Well, you’re having meatball subs with provolone cheese on top, potato salad and two cakes.” She looked at him. “Will that be enough?”

  “Yes. Now, time for you to sit down. I’ve got some new pictures of my son I’d like to show you.”

  When she woke, curled on the sofa alone, Jace’s pictures were on the coffee table and the cakes were cooling on racks. She put icing on them both and decorated the strawberry one with sprinkles into the number 32. On the chocolate cake, she put white icing and “Too Hot to Handle” in chocolate icing. She placed them in the middle of the big dining table, did a quick headcount of the people there and set the table.

  After she carried her photography gear out to her car, she headed for home. She was due for a bath and several hours of sleep. At least she knew her man would have a good meal. Oh God, look at me, the lawyer in the Betty Crocker apron. What is wrong with this picture?

  Once she’d showered, she’d just settled between the sheets when her cell rang. “Hello.”

  “Which bridge do you want me to push you over, bitch?” Heavy breathing followed.

  Oh my God! She trembled so badly, she could barely swipe her screen to cut the call off. Something inside made her stop. Was this how an All-American reacted? Hadn’t she gone against the best and roughest female basketball players in the States? And no one could be stronger and rougher than a team of women. She put the phone back to her ear, laughed and trash-talked him. “Your shoelace is untied. Your daddy’s a wimp. Is that the best you got?”

  “Huh?”

  “Go away, kid. If you can’t make a basket, ride a bicycle.” She was getting in the swing of things now. She had years of basketball court trash talk and she was only getting started. “If you can’t scratch with the big pussy cats, get out of the sandbox.”

  “You’re crazy.” He hung up.

  Now that Darryl’s surprise call was over, Graci-Ella began trembling. Her basketball game of trash talking ended and the questioning began. How had he gotten her phone number? Was he outside one of her windows now, peeking in along the sides or a little crack in the blinds? She asked herself again how he’d gotten her number. She crawled out of bed and turned on a light in her living room.

  In the side pocket of her briefcase, she kept the papers she’d created for signing up to be part of the firefighters’ calendar. There on the bottom of the sheet was her name and phone number. Well, that solved that little mystery. She’d have to block his number and pay more attention to the caller I.D’s when her phone rang. In fact, it was time she started being more observant of her surroundings and paid more attention to people in her life. She would not be a victim.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Her phone chirped again. This time she glanced at the I.D. on the screen and saw it was Boyd. “Hello.”

  He hesitated for a few seconds. “Are you okay, Graci-Ella?”

  “Yes. Calming down, I guess.” She paced around her room and thought of turning on the heat. The chill of Darryl’s surprise call went clear to her bone.

  “Why? Did you fall again?” Concern was heavy in Boyd’s voice. “Baby, is that why you didn’t stay to eat with us after all the work you did? The guys really appreciated it, by the way. The meal was great.”

  She crawled back in bed, hoping the weight of one blanket would stop her shaking. “I just had a call from Darryl and it scared me.”

  “Son of a bitch! What did the bastard say?”

  “He…He asked ‘Which bridge do you want me to push you over, bitch?’”

  “I will kill him. No one…no one threatens my woman. Hold on.” She could detect footsteps and knocking. “Captain, I’ve got Graci-Ella on the phone. Even with the restraining order against him, that lowlife, miserable, bastard Darryl called her tonight and asked her which bridge she wanted him to push her over.”

  Hearing the captain’s response would have been a little hard over Boyd’s phone if he hadn’t been yelling. “The man’s fucking insane! Has she called the police? I’m calling the Fire Chief now. He needs to know his nephew is facing harassment charges on top of everything else. Hell, he can’t lie his way out of it, not with cell phone records from towers.”

  “Baby, have you called Lieutenant Lithgow?”

  “No, you called right after Darryl. I haven’t had a chance. I’m shivering so badly from nerves, I can’t get warm. I’ll hang up now and call him.”

  “Call me back when you’re through, I’ll sing you to sleep.” He was trying to lighten her mood. “I’ll even go so far as to sing Matt’s favo
rite lullaby.”

  She groaned. “I’m afraid to ask. How do I know you can even sing?”

  “You’ll have to trust me, baby. I noticed you have a security system. You do have it set, right?”

  “Yes, as soon as I get home. It’s a habit.”

  “Oh, I do love a smart woman. Call me and tell me what the officer says, okay Sweetness?”

  After her phone call to the officer, who would soon think she had a thing for him if she didn’t stop contacting him every day, she called Boyd.

  “Baby, I’m pulling into your condo complex now. The captain told me I had more than enough personal time, even with taking time off for Matt, to come spend the night with you as long as I’m back by six. He did make me promise not to sing. Claimed you’d had enough trauma for the day. Look out your front window now and see my rear lights. I’m parked across from your parking space.”

  She jumped out of bed and ran for her patio door. “I can’t believe you’re here!” She peeked out through the blinds and saw his lights. They were his, right? “Turn them off and on again.” He did. “Okay, my man, sorry to be so paranoid. It’s gonna take a lot to calm me down.”

  After turning off his lights and engine, he unfolded from his Mustang. Like him, the car was all power and speed. He jogged across the drive toward her and she unlocked the door. No sooner had he stepped across the threshold than she was in his arms and her face was buried in the crook of his neck.

  “I got you baby.” His arms were wrapped tight around her and her toes barely touched the floor. “I got you.”

  “Why? Why has he started this vendetta? It’s not like I damaged his truck or kneed him in the nuts.”

  He carried her into her bedroom, stopping for her to turn out her lights as he went. “He’s a bully. Has been all his life, from what I can gather. He’s used to pushing others around, either verbally or physically.” He laid her down on the bed as he sat and began to undress. He aimed a cocked eyebrow at her when she just sat there in her pajamas. Once she got the hint and took them off and slid beneath the covers, he continued talking as he removed his jeans and boxers.

  “Our unit intimidated him a little. None of us are small, nor do we take being pushed around. Yeah, we tease, but good-naturedly, but we’ve always got each other’s six.” Condoms flopped on her nightstand. “He had to spend a lot of time in the gym, working out to get rid of his excess flab and build up some strength.”

  He lifted the covers and the mattress dipped as he snuggled in next to her. She rolled into his arms and he stroked her back while he talked. “Darryl had this dream of being a fireman. One of our highly trained squads. Trouble was there were certain situations he was scared of and he was lazy about work around the station. He bluffed the newer guys with his know-it-all mouth, but the rest of the team avoided him. So when you rejected him for this calendar deal, he flipped out.”

  “Figures. Me and my big mouth. I guess my trash talking to him tonight didn’t help him any. All I did was make him think I was nuts.”

  He squeezed her bottom and his eyebrows dipped into a V. “What do you mean?”

  She repeated the conversation and his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. “You’re shittin’ me. Right?” He laughed and held her closer, pressing her head against his neck. “God, woman, you are one piece of work. I have never met anyone like you. As the guys say, ‘You are off the chain.’” He nipped her jawbone.

  “Sweetness, the ass was treading the line of unstable behavior long before you came along. He figured you’re a weak target or he did before you gave him a dose of sass tonight. Still, he has no clue who all has your six, your back. Nor does he know the captain has put out the word to every fire station across the country about him. He’ll never get another job as a fireman. And it’s not your fault.”

  She stroked his semi-erect cock that hardened almost instantly. “Is this my fault, too, handsome?” She rose and scooted on her knees to lean over him, took him in her mouth, her curtain of hair falling and blocking the magic she was doing with her lips and tongue. She traced his slit and he groaned from the bottom of his marvelous chest.

  She swirled her tongue around the head of his cock, he fisted his hands in her hair and his hips rose. “Good God woman!”

  Slowly she took him into her mouth, not sure she could handle him all, but knowing she could drive him crazy with what she could. She created an in and out rhythm with two swirls of her tongue around his head every time she pulled his shaft out. With her fingertips, she gently scraped his balls.

  He grabbed her upper arms and pulled her on top of him, his eyes nearly wild with the need of her. “My addiction to you is your fault, baby, because you’re perfect.”

  She straddled him and braced her forearms on either side of his head. Her pelvis moved rhythmically over his hard-on as she stared into his grey eyes. “My man, I am far from perfect, but I’ll gladly be your addiction because you and Matt are mine. Put on a condom and love me. Love me like your heart can’t beat without me.”

  “It can’t. Don’t you know that?” He forked his hands in her long hair and brought her face down to his so their tongues and lips could trace and meld. “Put the rubber on me, love, and we’ll see how many times you can come tonight.”

  She tore the packet open and rolled the latex on his engorged cock.

  He slipped a finger inside her. “You’re plenty wet for me already, Sweetness.” He pushed within her and moaned. “So tight. So sweet. No one touches you, but me. To hurt you, they have to go through me. Dammit, Graci-Ella, from the moment I looked in your blue-eyed gaze, I was one fucking goner.” He hooked his heels around her calves and together they rode their own sweet ride to nirvana.

  They made love two more times between rounds of talking and then finally snuggled together to sleep the rest of the night.

  When his cell phone’s alarm went off at five-thirty, Boyd quickly turned it off. She brushed her hair out of her eyes and moaned. It was Saturday, a day for sleeping in. He dressed quickly and quietly the way some men are able to do. Then he leaned over and brushed his lips against hers. “I love you.”

  “See you later when I come to take pictures.”

  He smacked her bottom. “Get up and lock the door behind me. I want to hear the deadbolt click too.”

  She stuck her tongue out and crawled from their warm nest of covers. “Text me when you get to the station, so I know you made it safely.” She ran her palm up and down his chest in a caress.

  He kissed her again so sweetly, it made her heart ache. “It’s been years since anyone’s cared if I’ve gotten anywhere safely.” He wrapped his hands around her head and pulled her to his neck. “You are…” And, as if he couldn’t finish what he wanted to say, he buried his face in her mussed hair for a minute before striding out the door into the early morning mist.

  When the car dealership opened, Graci-Ella was there ready to shop. She’d worn red capris, a white tank top over a red one and her lucky red sequined ballet shopping shoes. When a salivating car salesman approached her, she waved him off just like her daddy had taught her. She even used his exact words. “I’ll let you know when I’m ready and pull your nuts up now, ’cause we’re going bare-assed deep on the negotiations.” She breezed by while the slack jawed salesman stood frozen to the spot with the strangest expression on his face.

  She knew the options she wanted on her new car. Nothing more. If this dealership didn’t have it or want to deal with her on the price, she’d get in her rental and drive a few streets over to another dealership. Her white baby all but winked its headlights at her. Sunroof, check. Right engine size, check. Front and side airbags, check. Tan leather seats, check. USB ports, check. The door was unlocked and she sat in it. Felt solid, safe and exactly what she was looking for.

  She motioned the salesman over and jotted the pricelist on her notepad. “Let’s go inside and diddle on this car. See that puny luggage rack up there?” She pointed. “I don’t want it and I’m telling you right
now, I’m not paying the three-hundred your company is trying to stiff me for it. Now, follow me.” She led him into the showroom as if she owned the place, mentally figuring the highest she would go.

  Two hours later, she walked out papers and keys in hand. She’d called her insurance company and told them they could come by the dealership to pick up the Murano. While waiting, she transferred her camera equipment and other personal items into her paid for, creamy white RAV-4, with its free luggage rack. Did my daddy teach me well, or what?

  Of course it hadn’t hurt that the police called while she was in the middle of negotiations to tell her they had Darryl behind bars. “Thank you, officer. So, that man who thought I was an idiot he could push around is in jail without possibility of bond?”

  He laughed. “Yes, ma’am.”

  For some reason, negotiations went easier after that.

  She slipped in her Bluetooth and called her dad, taking joy in his laughter when she told him she used his line about negotiations on the dumbfounded salesman. She couldn’t tell him about the trouble she’d been having with Darryl. Why worry them when the whack job was in jail again? No doubt her parents were just calming down from their visit here after her surgery. They still carried too many painful memories of losing Eli.

  Then she called Boyd. “Guess what!”

  She was positive she heard a snort before he asked, “What?”

  “Darryl is behind bars. No way is he getting paroled this time.”

  “Thank God, baby.”

  “There’s more. I bought a new car and I got the luggage rack for free. Listen, I’m coming over to the station to start taking pictures for the calendar. Could I go by your place and get Matt? I thought he might get a charge out of being my helper. He could spend the night at my place if he has a sleeping bag.”

  “Well, I’m sure he’d love both of those things. You’ll have to borrow the car seat from Aunt Jinny. Let me make sure they’re home. I’ll call you back in a sec.”