Burnin' Love [Men for Hire: Firemen 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (3 page)

Was that so they could re-use the uniform and hat should anything happen to the fireman? She hated to even think about it, but that was a hazard these men gladly faced to give service to their community. The thought of their heroism choked her up, and for a moment, she had to fight back the emotion. The last thing she wanted was to face Paul Winchester with her eyes filled with tears.

Paul Winchester. Even his name sounds heroic.

Doorways off to her right and left led to other parts of the building. One of the doors on the right was open and she could see a man lifting weights in a gym. Like in a fantasy come true, he was naked from the waist up, wearing only shorts that rode up his tree-trunk-size legs. Perspiration glistened on his body. He was rock solid and grunted as he hefted the barbell several times in a row.

She didn’t know where the other men had gone that she’d noticed from her car, but that was okay. Asking the weight lifter wouldn’t be a hardship. Blowing out a steadying breath, she strode toward the gym and the Herculean hunk.

“Lady, you want to tell me where you’re going?”

She inhaled, got a grip and pivoted to face the deep voice. If he looked as hot as his voice sounded…

Oh, my word. He does. Thank you, Jesus.

She pushed aside her mother’s voice, admonishing her for “using the Lord’s name in vain.” Still, she doubted her mother would’ve restrained herself too much when faced with the gorgeous hunk of male flesh.

She’d seen a lot of handsome men, especially since she’d often visited Second Chance Ranch where the Cowboys for Hire lived and worked, but he was beyond anything she’d ever seen or could’ve imagined. Even as confident as she was, he made her nervous with his steely black eyes, richly tanned skin and short-cropped hair. He didn’t have a shirt on and his chest was like a wall of hard-packed flesh. She had an image of him clad in only a short toga as he fought the lions and vanquished his opponents with ease.

“I asked if you knew where you were going.”

The voice matched his appearance to a
T
.

Lord, have mercy.

“Uh, yes. I mean, no.”

The thick eyebrows dropped as he studied her even harder. “Yes or no. Which is it?”

She fought and won her ability to focus. “Both, actually. I’m looking for Paul Winchester.”

“What do you want with him?”

His rudeness didn’t fit with the hero personality she’d expected. The image of him as a warrior battling to save a captured princess faded. “I’d rather discuss that with him.” She eyed him up and down. “If you don’t mind.”

All at once, he dropped his scrutiny and shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

She was stunned when he started to walk away. Her gaze dropped to his backside. She admired the firm roundness there then lifted her gaze. She was almost too engrossed in admiring his wide shoulders and all the muscles there to remember to say anything. “Hey!”

He heeled around and gave her a withering look. “What now?”

“What’s with you, man? I’m only asking to talk to Paul. It’s not like I’m an ex-girlfriend out for revenge. So can you get him for me or not?”

“Yeah, I can.”

A few moments passed before she realized that he wasn’t going to offer anything more. “Can you do it
now
?”

Those hard dark eyes ran the length of her. If she hadn’t known better, she would’ve sworn he’d torn away her clothes and exposed her naked flesh. She struggled not to squirm.

“You’re talking to him.”

“What? Why the hell didn’t you say so?”

“Because he’s a prick.”

Her attention jerked away from Paul to see two equally amazing men striding toward her. They both had on black, tight, show-me-all-your-muscles T-shirts with Fire Station #201 emblazoned on them. They both had blond hair and blue eyes. Their physiques were perfect, zero-percent body fat types that made the air around her seem much thicker. She dragged in a breath and shoved her hands into her pants’ pockets to keep from wiping her suddenly sweating palms on her clothes.

Yet there was something familiar about them.

She narrowed her eyes at the tallest of the pair. Although most men were taller than she was, she could tell that he had to be a few inches more than six feet. The other man and Paul were tall, probably over six feet as well, but they were an inch or so shorter than he was.

His wavy hair was thick at the top, but shaved on the sides. His face was kind and his eyes radiated humor. He stuck out his hand and grinned. She wiped her palm on the inside of her pants, then took it.

“Daisy Winters, you sure look good.”

She felt like an idiot when her jaw dropped. “Do I know you?”

The other man—no doubt his brother judging from their similar facial features—had a tattoo covering most of his right arm. The devil tattoo had flames licking outward from its body with the devil’s pitch-fork tail crawling over his shoulder blade to the side of his neck. His blond hair wasn’t shaved on the sides like his brother’s, but was still close-cut.

“You don’t recognize us, do you?” The grinning brother wrapped his arm over the other two men’s shoulders. “It’s me, Daisy. Wade Chambliss.”

She’d finally managed to close her mouth, but what he’d said made her open it again like a ventriloquist’s dummy. “Wade Chambliss? Is that really you?” She turned her attention to the tattooed man. “Then this has got to be Troy, right?”

The Chambliss brothers she’d known in high school hadn’t looked anything like these amazing hunks. Instead, they’d been the epitome of the ninety-pound weakling in stereo. She hadn’t run in the same crowd as they had—she’d hung out more with art students than the nerd herd—but she remembered how much they’d gotten bullied by the jocks. She’d felt sorry for them, had on one occasion even stuck up for them, but that was the extent of their interaction.

“How’ve you been, Daisy? We lost track of you senior year.” Troy’s voice wasn’t as deep and rich as Paul’s but it held a quality to it that made her think of silk sheets.

“I moved to Destiny.”

Wade pointed at her in an “ah-ha” kind of way. “Yeah. I remember that now. I heard a couple years later that you’d taken over the bed and breakfast. Are you still doing that?”

She had to string more than two sentences together before she started sounding like even more of an idiot than she felt. “I did. And yeah, I’m still there. I love Destiny and running the B&B.”

Both Troy and Wade gave her appreciative once-overs. If they’d checked her out like that while in high school, with the smoke and heat they had in their eyes, she might’ve given them more than a cursory glance. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you at first. Wow. You’ve changed a lot.”

Wade laughed when she cringed at what she’d said. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

“Don’t worry about it. We have changed. We’re not the weak little nerds you used to know.”

“You can say that again.” She didn’t usually have a problem saying the right thing, but around them, she was losing it. “You’re freakin’ amazing.” She groaned. “Oh, crap. I did it again.”

“Same old straight-talking Daisy.” This time Troy joined Wade and laughed. “And thanks.”

“If you three are finished reliving your high school days, maybe she can tell us why she’s here.”

The wide smile she’d had died. She’d almost forgotten about Melissa and why she’d come to the station. “A friend of mine told me to ask for Paul.” She glanced around, then leveled her attention on the Chambliss brothers. “Uh, it’s kind of a sensitive matter. If you don’t mind, maybe you could give us a little privacy?”

“Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of them.” Paul crossed his arms. The gesture made him appear even more formidable.

“He’s right, Daisy.” Troy hooked his thumbs in his pockets, making the muscles in his arms flex in a very enticing way. “He’s like a brother to us. All the guys at the station are, but especially Paul.”

She was reticent about saying anything about the Firemen for Hire. If Troy and Wade didn’t know everything about their buddy Paul, then she’d be spilling the beans on a very big secret. But since Paul wasn’t stopping her, he could take the blame for it, too.

“Okay, then, here it is. Gabriel Cortez told me to contact you. I have a friend who needs the help of”—she leaned closer so that the other two men coming out of one of the doors to the left wouldn’t overhear—“the Firemen for Hire.”

Paul had her by the arm and was pulling her out of the station before she had time to react. At least to react outwardly. Explosions burst free inside her at his touch and her pussy heated up faster than a match sparking on dry grass. Troy and Wade followed them outside.

Once they were clear of any of the others, Paul turned her loose. “What kind of help are you talking about? And why not get Gabriel to do it?”

It was hard not to look at the hand that had touched her. Instead, her gaze lingered over his stone-like abdomen. She wondered what he’d do if she skimmed her fingertips down the crease between his hard pecs to the patch of curly black hair peeking above his jeans.

“My friend has boyfriend trouble.”

“Doesn’t every woman at one time or another?”

She tore her gaze away from Paul and over to the equally-mesmerizing Troy. Who knew a nerd could turn out so hot? “Yeah, but he’s the possessive, demanding type that won’t give up. If you get what I mean.”

“Is that her?”

She followed Wade’s tilt of the head toward her car. “Yeah.”

“Damn. She’s just a kid. How old is she anyway?”

The pity in Troy’s voice was all too evident. “I haven’t asked her yet, but I’m thinking she can’t be much older than her early twenties, if that. She did say that her boyfriend was older. And you know how that can go.”

“Where’s she staying?” As if he couldn’t get much sterner, Paul was all business now.

“Right now? Nowhere that I know of. I kind of ran into her on the street.”

“Do you usually go around picking up strays?”

The way Paul asked the question made it seem like a bad thing. But she didn’t think of it that way. “Yeah. Maybe. What can I say? I like helping people.”

“Where are you staying?”

She always stayed at the same rental home whenever she came to Tulsa. It was close to the highway yet with easy access to all the fabulous shops she loved. “I’m in a rental home.”

“And you had no connection to her before today?”

Paul was getting at something, but she wasn’t sure what that was. “I never saw her before today.”

“Then take her back to the rental home and wait for us to call you. We’re about to get off our shift. Once we are, we’ll come over and take it from there.”

She hadn’t counted on getting more involved. She had, in fact, hoped that they’d take over and leave her to enjoy the rest of her time away. Yet she could hardly leave Melissa in the lurch now. “Fine. If you think that’s best. It’s 2502 Hardwood Lane. Do you know where that is?”

“No problem.” Paul whirled on his heel and ate up the distance back to the firehouse.

“Is he always so pleasant?”

Wade chuckled. “Actually, you caught him on a good day.”

“Wow. That’s a scary thought.”

Troy took her hand, and much like had happened with Paul, she felt a rush of emotions. Or was it lust? Either way, she liked it a lot. She wanted to take Wade’s hand and see if she got the same kind of sensation from him, too.

“Don’t let him bother you. Paul’s the best of the best.”

She glanced down at her hand. It was a few moments before she could make herself tug her hand from his. Even then, she didn’t really want to. “I’ll take your word for that. Then I’ll see you later?”

Her answer was a grin from Wade and a quick nod from Troy.

“Great. Guess I’ll let you guys get back to work.” She didn’t want to leave. Hell, she never wanted to leave their sides. But to linger would’ve added embarrassment to her already high number of embarrassing moments. Instead, she lifted a hand in a small, awkward wave, pivoted on her heel and walked as gracefully as she could back to her car.

* * * *

“Should we tell the others?” Troy plopped down on the oversized, overstuffed couch that was in the dayroom of the fire station. Most of the other men were busy either in the kitchen or catching a nap in the dorm room. Even if his shift wasn’t over in another hour, he wouldn’t have been able to take his mind off Daisy Winters.

Paul tossed a dart at the board, and as always, managed to hit one of the inner circles. He glanced around, confirming what Troy already knew, that they were alone and free to talk. Wade watched the television hanging on the opposite wall, acting as though he was oblivious to their conversation. But Troy knew better. Wade was a jokester and outgoing, but when the talk grew serious, he did more listening than talking.

Although there were other firemen who were part of the Firemen for Hire organization, not everyone at the station had been recruited yet. Their boss, Captain Burt Wheeler, nicknamed Cap, was one of the others. The group was still fairly new, an offshoot of the Cowboys for Hire organization. Paul had never talked about it, but Troy and Wade had heard rumors that Paul’s older sister had found help from “a bunch of cowboys.” It didn’t take a genius to figure out who those cowboys were. Not long after that rumor had circulated, Paul had met with Gabriel and had hashed out the details to forming teams of firemen. The others that Troy had asked about were the other three teams that had formed so far.

“No. Let’s keep this under wraps for now. Consider it on a need-to-know basis.”

Paul wouldn’t admit it, but next to Captain Wheeler, he was considered the primary leader of all the Firemen for Hire teams. He was the perfect operations leader, even if he didn’t like the responsibility. The rest of it he left for Cap to handle.

“Then what’s the plan, Stan?”

Troy didn’t have to look at Paul to know that he’d frowned at Wade’s joke. His brother liked to say corny things. Troy was used to it and no longer minded.

“The plan is to do whatever we need to do to keep the girl safe.”