Doris O'Connor (3 page)

Well, not much she could do it about it now.
She was already running late. She again glanced across at the fire
station’s official car and groaned remembering the very first
conversation she ever had with the horrid man. She’d extended her
hand to be clasped by his clammy one. “Kitty Jenkins, nice to meet
you.”

He had laughed at her. “Kitty as in the
cat?”

She’d adopted her most haughty stare, like she
never heard that one before. Why on earth could her mother not have
named her something more appropriate? So many other names in
Pride and Prejudice
to choose from, after all.

But she’d made herself smile at the odious man
and had chosen to ignore that comment.

Really, weren’t fire fighters supposed to be
hunky? Just her luck, this was.

When Kitty reached the staff room, everyone
seemed in a state of high excitement. Looking around at the mostly
middle aged group of women, she wondered what on earth had gotten
into them.

“
Did the Chippendales make an
appearance when I wasn’t looking?” she asked of no one in
particular.

“
Ah, far better than
that!”

Kitty looked in astonishment at Eva. The
school nurse was nearing retirement, yet she was rubbing her hands
in glee, two high spots of color on her cheeks. “Oh, he could give
me a fireman’s lift any time.”

What the heck? Has everyone lost
their marbles completely this morning?

“
I take it we are not talking of
Harvey Mead here then?” Kitty sincerely hoped she would not have to
book the entire teaching staff into the optician’s for a
checkup.

“
Oh good golly no,” Eva said. “This
one is new and mmmm-mmmm. He could pose for the naked fire fighter
calendar – oh just imagine—”

Eva wasn’t the only one with a faraway
expression in her eyes.

Good grief, what is wrong with
them all?

The first bell called the teachers to their
respective class rooms, and Kitty had to raise her voice to make
herself heard over the din.

“
Okay, come on, ladies. Let’s try
and concentrate on why we are here, which is not to day-dream about
fire fighters, no matter how hunky they may be. The way you lot are
carrying on you’d think he was a Calvin Klein underwear model for
pity’s sake.”

“
Oh those models have nothing on
him, my dear.” A breathless Eva winked at Kitty.

Kitty almost groaned out loud. Great, first a
lecherous man, now clearly some sort of male model type, probably
way too full of himself. Yep, just her damn luck, this
was.

“
So where is this breathtaking
specimen of male fire fighter then?”

Eva chuckled. “Oh, the Head is
monopolising
him, but lucky thing
that you are, you will get your chance later. She’s got that school
improvement meeting to go to.”

Kitty just stared after Eva and shook her head
and headed for the class she was helping out in this
morning.

****

Two hours later, as Kitty made herself a
coffee in the staff room, the door opened.

“
Ah, there you are, Kitty.” Ann
Thomas, head teacher of Clancy Primary smiled at her when Kitty
turned around. “I have to go now. I left Mr. Giovanni in the
kitchen, checking out the smoke alarms. I said you would find him
as soon as you were able to.”

“
Ah okay, yes, sure. I’ll be right
there, can’t leave him on his own for too long, can we?”

Kitty was quite surprised that the Head had
left him on his own at all. Health and Safety required any visitors
to the school to be accompanied at all times.

“
Right, I’ll be off then.” Ann
smiled at her before leaving the staffroom. Kitty sighed, looked
longingly at her coffee, and went in search of this Calvin Klein
advert, model type, super fire fighter that seemed to have
everyone’s knickers in such a twist. He’d even had the Head
forgetting her most basic duties, for pity’s sake.

He wasn’t in the kitchen. Well, not unless he
was a midget. From the way the staff had been gushing, Kitty
thought it was safe to assume that he’d be tall enough to be
noticed above the long kitchen counters.

Feminine laughter in the corridor outside the
kitchens interspersed with a deep male rumble made Kitty
investigate. Whom did he have in his thrall now? The kitchen
manager was deep in conversation with a very tall, impossibly
broad-shouldered dark haired man, dressed in regulation short
sleeved top and trousers that showed his excellent physique off to
perfection. Mrs. Turner, the usually unflappable kitchen manager
looked across at Kitty and smiled, her face noticeably flushed.
Oh God, not her, too!

“
Ah, there is Kitty now, Mr.
Giovanni. I will leave you in her more than capable
hands.”

“
Thank you, Mrs. Turner, I will
indeed take it from here.” Kitty smiled at the elderly lady and
extended her hand towards the man who was slowly turning
around.

Kitty had to look a long way up. Her smile
froze on her lips, when she looked into the eyes of Noah’s
father.

Chapter Three

Alex Giovanni couldn’t believe his eyes. After
all these years his sexy siren stood in front of him. She looked
very different, but his body reacted to her instantly. He
remembered that mass of red curls draped over his naked chest, the
feline green eyes darkened in arousal and those enticing freckles
on her nose. He’d spent ages tracing the freckles on her body that
night, and his cock had risen in a silent salute. The slender body
he had spent many sleepless nights remembering had filled out into
very womanly curves. It should be illegal to hide all that bounty
behind the severe cut of her no-nonsense skirt and buttoned-up
blouse. Since when had his siren become Miss Prim and
Proper?

She looked startled and none too pleased to
see him. The slight flush on her cheeks and her increased breathing
had his smile deepen. He wasn’t the only one remembering that night
then. He enveloped her still outstretched hand in his
own.

“
Why, hello, Sexy.”

“
The name is Kitty, Ms. Jenkins, to
you.” She snatched her hand out of his as though it had been
burned, those emerald eyes flashing fire. His own hand tingled with
the odd jolt of electricity between them

“
But Sexy suits you so much
better.” He noticed the way her breathing speeded up, and he smiled
in satisfaction. “If you are quite finished,
Mr
. Giovanni, I
would like to remind you that you are here to do a job. So far all
you have done is charmed the socks off every female, and I can
assure you that your efforts will be quite wasted on
me!”

“
That’s not what you
said—”

“
Yes, well, that was an act of
temporary insanity, and if you were any kind of a gentleman you
would not be bringing that up at all. In fact I’m surprised you
even remember me. I’m sure there must have been more women than you
can count since then.”

Ah, if only you knew.
Alex continued to
smile at the agitated woman in front of him.
Methinks the lady
doth protest too much.

His day was definitely starting to look up. In
fact, looking at the prickly woman now – a quick glance at her
ring-free hands made that smile of his deepen – he was going to do
everything in his power to help her remember that she was anything
but prim and proper! And if he could kill two birds with one stone
then so much the better.

“
So, where exactly do you want to
start?”

Kitty glared at him, that endearing flush
still on her cheeks. Oh yes, she was so feeling this,
too.

“
Start with what exactly, Sexy?” He
chuckled to himself at her exasperated sigh.

“
Kitty, if you must, but do
not
call me ‘Sexy’. I work here for goodness’ sake, and you
know darn well I was talking about the fire inspection.” Kitty
hissed the words. She turned around and smiled at one of the
teaching assistants, trying to get past them in the narrow
corridor. “Hi, Mary, something I can do for you?”

“
It’s ok, Kitty. I’m just trying to
find the milk. There isn’t any in our class, and it’s break time in
a minute. It must still be in the kitchen.” Sure enough the bell
announcing mid-morning break rang out, and they all grimaced at the
deafening noise.

“
I’m sure that bell alone must
break several health and safety regulations.” Alex winced. “Our
alarm at the station isn’t that loud.”

He sighed to himself. As much as he wanted to
pursue things with his fiery red-head, he was here to do a job. If
that bell was anything to go by, he would have his work cut out.
Not for the first time he wondered what on earth his predecessor
had done on these inspections.

Four hours later Alex had a list as long as
his arm of things that needed improving at the school, and he was
not in the best of moods. It was just as well that Harvey Mead had
retired, or Alex would not be held responsible for his actions.
Still, he should not have been surprised. The station itself had
left a lot to be desired when he had taken over a month
ago.

Of course it had given him the perfect excuse
to plead a heavy work load to avoid his Mamma’s attempts at
throwing him and his ex-fiancée back together.

Both his mother and Irene seemed to think that
his return would mean that he would take up where he left off. He
glanced across at Kitty, who was reading the several pages of the
report he had just handed her with a frown of concentration on her
face. Then again, there was always a plus. The amount of work that
needed doing around here gave him the perfect excuse to convince
the siren over there that being prim and proper was no fun at
all.

****

Kitty reached the end of that very long list
and swore under her breath. This couldn’t be right. It just
couldn’t! This would mean at least two weeks of having Alex under
her feet. Not that he had made any more moves towards her. He had
been completely focused on his work. The amount of muttered
swearing that she had caught, whenever he thought she couldn’t hear
him and there were no kids near, made it very clear to her that he
took his job seriously.

If only she wasn’t so physically aware of him.
When he smiled at her with Noah’s lopsided grin – like he was doing
now – well, she knew what a rabbit in the headlights felt
like.

“
Is all of this really necessary?”
Kitty asked, knowing the answer only too well.

Alex’s intense gaze hit her full force, and
she was struck by the sincerity in his eyes when he ruefully
shrugged his impressive shoulders. “I can only apologize for my
predecessor. You are entitled to lodge a complaint, of course. It
was unforgivable that these mistakes were allowed to happen. But I
can assure you that my team and I will do everything in our power
to have these rectified as soon as possible.”

“
And the school is safe to stay
open?” Kitty asked.

“
Yes, none of these make the school
unsafe, just not as protected as it ought to be. I do wonder what
he did here on his frequent inspections.”

Kitty smiled grimly. “Made a nuisance of
himself, that’s what he did.”

Alex’s smile didn’t reach his eyes when he
took a step towards her. Kitty’s heart beat a bit faster as she
craned her neck to look up at him. Oh, but he smelled so
good!

“
Would that be why you have been so
prickly around me perchance?”

Kitty swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. She
was very much alone with him in the Head’s office. Ann had not
returned from her round of meetings with the powers that be, and he
was far too close. How could she have forgotten the completely
unreasonable effect he had on her? She couldn’t put it down to
drink this time.
Oh hell!

She took a step back from his tall, hard
frame, all too aware of her feminine senses and long forgotten
libido sitting up and taking notice. Moisture pooled between her
thighs, and her chest seemed to have been taken over by an
overexcited rabbit.’

“
Well, he didn’t exactly give your
profession a good name.”

His soft curse uttered in Italian made her
look up at him. He studied her, the frown on his face making him
look mean and incredibly sexy. She swallowed when his hand reached
out and wound a strand of her red hair around his finger. He took
another step towards her, one that brought him so close his thighs
were touching hers.

“
Hmm.” His voice was the low
seductive murmur she remembered so well. “I’ll have to try extra
hard to convince you otherwise.

****

Kitty’s heart beat faster even now, just
remembering that earlier exchange. Thankfully, before she could
make a complete fool of herself by drooling all over his polished
boots, there had been a discreet knock on the door. The school
secretary had reminded her that she had a meeting with little
Ethan’s parents.

Never had Kitty been so grateful for a
teacher-parent meeting to discuss a child’s specific educational
needs. She excused herself, leaving Alex with the grinning school
secretary. Her exit had been so hasty that she collided with the
doorframe on her way through. She hurt her shin in the process, and
she limped away, Alex’s sexy chuckle ringing in her
ears.