Hot Nights with the Fireman (6 page)

He watched her for the rest of the ride, until finally, obviously feeling his gaze, she took her eyes off the road to frown at him. “You're staring.”

“You're beautiful,” he said, the words falling easily and sincerely from his lips.

“Don't…”

“Don't what? Tell the truth?”

She pulled her gaze back to the road and murmured, “We shouldn't do this.”

“Do what? Talk? Hang out?”

“None of it.” But she frowned as if she hated the idea as much as he did. Within a minute, she pulled up into the parking lot, next to his car, and the time for good-byes and see-yas had arrived. The moment he'd been both dreading and dying for because he knew he was going to make his move and either get shut down or get the grand prize.

He leaned across the gearshift as she turned to say good-bye. Pulling a move he hadn't used since high school when his big brother taught him it, he dodged right then left as if going to buss her cheek, but planted one smack on her lips instead. He pulled back quickly to check on her reaction to his “accidental” lip lock, and one small taste had him reeling. She tasted as good as he'd expected, and she was looking across at him a little stunned. She touched a finger to her lips.

“Sorry about that,” he said, inwardly smiling at her stupefied expression, though he imagined his own expression was identical. He'd gone for the surprise kiss, but had been the one to end up surprised at how his body reacted strongly to her nearness.

“I—it's all right,” she said, still rubbing her finger over her plump lower lip. If she kept it up, he'd grab the finger and suck it between his lips. The way she kept staring, almost as if she'd never been kissed, made him think he should do it again. He leaned forward and brushed his lips deliberately across hers. She accepted his kiss passively for a few seconds, but when her hands curled in his hair, he knew he was making a point. There was chemistry between them. Too much chemistry to ignore it—no matter what she said, her reaction to the kiss told him she was feeling the tug as much as he was.

He was dying to push back the seats and explore her mouth further, but for now he settled for palming her cheeks and pressing his lips firmly against hers. She released a little throaty moan, which pulled a desirous groan from his own throat as he imagined them doing way more than this simple kiss, though there was nothing simple about it.

Their tongues darted against each other then quickly back, as if a wet, open-mouthed kiss would be too much of a declaration. He kept his lips soft and repeatedly tugged on her lips then released them, planting tiny little nips across her mouth, savoring her taste. Her nails dug into his scalp, pulling him forward into her body, where he went willingly.

They kept up the kiss play for long moments until he'd thought he'd die if they didn't take this to a horizontal position and use their mouths on other needier body parts, but when a light and an alarm went on in the adjacent station, they both came back to their senses.

With great effort, he finally pulled back to collapse against his seat and catch his breath. He glanced at her to see she was gripping the steering wheel and staring out the front window as if the world hadn't tilted with their kiss, so he opened the passenger door, struggling for calmness. “Night, thanks for coming out with me. See you, Valerie.” He exited the car as if the kiss had meant nothing and he wasn't desperate to yank her out and press her back against the hood, or better yet, toss her in the flat bed of his truck with a blanket.

V
alerie smiled down at the twenty expectant six-year-old faces staring back up at her. She knew she wasn't the star of this show. That would be Jason waiting in the hallway outside the kindergarten classroom. She'd wanted him to make a grand entrance in his full firefighter gear, but with insight developed from experience, he'd suggested he show the kids how he went from normal guy to firefighter extraordinaire. As if there were anything “normal” about him.

She hadn't stopped thinking about their kiss last week. Of course, he'd been casual about it, but that hadn't stopped her from replaying the moment in her mind on a loop all week. She should've expected the kiss. A guy like him didn't put much weight in a simple kiss. Not like she did. She kept imagining how she loved latching on to his hair, feeling the short curls slide through her fingers, and keeping his lips locked in place over hers. She could've used her tongue to swipe his lips and delve deeper into his mouth.

They were not a couple, and the kiss had meant nothing, though that knowledge hadn't stopped her from lying awake for hours last night knowing she'd see Jason this morning. Not to mention the two wardrobe changes. The door opened to reveal Jason filling the doorway. The kids went wild and cheered, boosting the steady pounding beat of her heart.

“Hey, kids,” Jason announced. “Who wants to be a firefighter when they grow up?” Every hand shot up but one. He stopped at the dissenting child. “Not you?”

The small boy shook his light brown locks. “I'm going to be a Power Ranger,” he said seriously.

“Good plan,” Jason said and bumped fists with the boy.

Valerie bit her lip to hide her smile and focused on breathing. Seeing Jason chatting easily with the kids, looking way better than any man had a right to, was wreaking havoc on her resolve to remember he was a man who wasn't cut out for a serious relationship and they needed to keep their interactions professional. One glance at the young teacher in the back of the room told her the teacher was having the same problem. Jason was glorious; there were no other words.

She grinned and snapped a photo as he showed the kids how he stepped into his turnouts straight into his big boots. Soon he was completely suited up and unrecognizable as the handsome man who'd sauntered into the room a few minutes ago. A few of the children scooted back and had worried looks on their faces. She was thankful Jason had dealt with this before and knew the sight of him suited up could be intimidating to small children. If she'd had her way, the kids would now be sobbing and hiding under the tables.

Plus he had to be hot under all those layers of protective clothes. She stepped back up to the front and gestured he should strip while she handled a little of the speech. With an ease that said he'd done it a zillion times, and he had, Jason was quickly back in his regular outfit of navy slacks and a navy collared shirt with a small white firefighter cross over the left breast. The muscles of his biceps bulged under the elastic armband of the shirt. She could see the hint of a small tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve. She was instantly riveted and dying to know what it was. His Internet photos hadn't displayed them clearly. With effort, she turned her attention back to the classroom.

“I'm going to go over a few fire safety rules, and Firefighter Moore will write them on the board to help you remember.” She smiled at the kids and turned her smile on Jason, who wasn't smiling back. In fact, he looked more panicked at her instructions than if facing a horde of sorority girls with cameras.

She stepped over to him with a puzzled look. “What?” she whispered.

He shook his head. “Uh, nothing. Go ahead.” He picked up a dry erase marker and turned to the board, but the masterful, fun Jason who'd greeted the class was gone.

Valerie turned back to the assembled group of children. “Silly me. You're in kindergarten, aren't you?” She realized that most were early readers, and writing on the board wouldn't be helpful, but also something about writing on the board made Jason very tense.

The children nodded seriously. “Let's do it this way instead. I will read the safety rules, and Firefighter Moore will
act
them out. He may need a volunteer or two, so we'll be looking for good listeners.”

Every child adjusted their posture and zipped their lips. Jason turned from the board with his relaxed grin back on his face.

“‘Never play with matches or lighters,'” Valerie read from the colorful kid-friendly paper Jason had brought with him along with a stack of other goodies for the kids.

Jason turned to the board and drew a stick with a little flame on top. He feigned touching the flame, and fell to the floor as if mortally wounded. The children shrieked with laughter. He bounded back to his feet and drew a big X over the match illustration.

Valerie smiled and continued. “‘Install smoke detectors on every floor of your house.'”

She turned to see how Jason would act out this one, but he turned to the class. “Who can find the smoke detector in this room?”

Necks craned and heads spun as the children raced to be the first to find it. Finally, the future Power Ranger leapt up and pointed to the detector mounted near the door on the ceiling. Jason applauded.

“‘Leave your house immediately in the event of a fire. Don't hide. Crawl,'” she read.

Immediately, Jason dropped to the carpet and commando-crawled in front of the class. “Form a line behind me,” he barked. “We're heading out.”

As if the children were army-trained soldiers, they fell into line behind Jason and crawled around the tables and out the room in orderly fashion. When the last child was out the door, Valerie peeked into the hallway, where Jason had them lined up against the wall outside the classroom door and was high-fiving each one. Impressive.

Together they waited for the teacher to join them in the hallway, then the three adults accompanied by the children marched outside to the school's entrance, where Jason's team had parked the fire truck. Some of his squadron were already out there with the other kindergartners and first graders, and it looked as if more classes were pouring through the door. This was strictly an event for the younger classrooms.

When it seemed all the children were lined up by classroom, Dan, the cocky firefighter, as Val had come to think of him, stood on the step of the truck. “We are on call,” he said loudly. “If we get a call, we will ask teachers to get their students off the truck as quickly as possible and we will get out of here fast.” He grinned and surveyed the kids. “And we'll put the alarm on if that happens.” His right hand shot into the truck to flip a switch and roughly seventy-five pairs of little hands covered ears and squealed in delight as the deafening siren on the truck rang shrilly. Val snapped another photo and hoped the local reporter she'd cajoled out here caught the moment also.

When the alarm was turned off, Jason quickly took his place at a door to the truck and started lifting kids up the steps so they could walk through the truck and out the other side, where José waited to lift them down. It was a routine they'd obviously done before and had down to a science.

Valerie snapped photos.
This
was a great example of giving back to the community and rebuilding their image. She was careful not to include the faces of any children so she wouldn't have to bother with permissions later in the day.

Luckily for the firefighters and students, no alarm came in and every student had a chance to climb in and around the truck. The teachers herded the children back into the school and Val was left alone outside with the firefighters, whom she was getting to know quite well.

“Want a tour?” Jason asked with a grin from his post at the passenger rear door.

Yes, she did, but it could wait for later. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something about the blackboard thing.”

He immediately went on guard, standing straighter and losing the grin. “What do you want to know? But you should make it fast, since we need to get back to the station.”

She'd probably already blown this conversation, but she forged ahead anyway. “You were great with the kids today,” she said. “You could be a teacher.”

He laughed, but didn't seem that amused. “Yeah, that'll be the day,” he muttered.

“Why not? Did it have something to do with writing on the board?”

He stiffened and turned his back on her. “Guys, let's put this show on the road. Move it,” he called loudly to his colleagues.

She grabbed him by the shoulder before he could run away in his truck. She'd driven her own car.

“Don't push this. I have to go, Valerie. I'm working.” But he didn't brush her hand off his shoulder and turned to face her.

“You have a second. José is still rolling up the hose, and I want to know. Why did you look petrified when I asked you to write on the board?” She knew she was pushing where she had no business, but after their dinner and kiss last week, she was feeling a little possessive and curious about Jason.

“I wasn't scared,” he said.

“Okay,” she said agreeably, but she looked intently at him, trying to show by her expression she was his friend and would listen to anything he had to say.

Shit, he was going to have to tell her, wasn't he? She'd saved his ass in the classroom, and the least he could do was tell her the truth. He could handle the embarrassment. Lots of people had learning disabilities. Probably a few of the kids they'd just met with did. He took a deep inhale, and it felt like breathing through his mask as he prepared to unman himself in front of a pretty girl.

“I don't like writing on the board, because in fifth grade, I had a teacher who made us do it a lot. Until all the work was perfect,” he confessed.

“Mmm.” Her head tilted a little as she made a noncommittal noise.

“And…and I have trouble with writing on the board.”

She still waited.

“Because I have a learning disability—dys…” He frowned as if trying to decide to tell her or not.

“Dyslexia?”

“Yes, and dysgraphia.” He paused as the whole dirty truth spilled out. “And that's why I've never tried out for the USAR Team 1. I'd have to write a few essays, which is nearly impossible with what I've got.”

“Difference,” she said.

“Huh?”

“You have a learning difference. It's not a disability. It simply means your brain learns differently than the mainstream student.”

“How the hell do you know that?” He chanced a quick glance at her face, and she didn't look upset or disgusted. She looked as sexy as ever.

“Remember, I've been doing volunteer work with the after-school reading program. One of the kids I worked with last year has dyslexia. I wanted to help her, so I did a little reading up.”

He blinked at her. “She was lucky.”

“Who was lucky? Sharylle? Oh, I guess. It was a minor difference, and she was able to keep up with her class.”

“No, I meant she was lucky to have you tutor her. I didn't get diagnosed until middle school, and by then I'd already decided I sucked as a student and it wasn't like my parents could afford private tutoring.” For reasons he did not understand, his throat tightened up as did his chest, and all he could do was smile down at her as she started talking.

But then his ears started tuning into her actual words, and his stomach started churning.

“There are a variety of literacy agencies that offer assistance to adults. Or maybe you could call a local elementary school and get the name of a teacher who could tutor you.” She brightened and gestured behind her with her hand. “Hey, maybe you could even ask here.”

“Yeah, that's an idea, but I'd feel like an idiot.” He took a slight step back.

She lost the smile and her happy demeanor. “I'm sorry, I just thought…” she said.

“I'm fine,” he said. He turned away to assist with packing up the truck and getting back to the station. He didn't turn around to see Valerie stalk off to her car without saying good-bye. No kisses today. “Damn it.” He punched a panel of the truck.

He could feel the scowl on his face as he circled the truck, slamming down the metal compartment doors with unnecessary force. “Let's move out,” he barked and jumped in the rear cabin with his back to the driver. Banter and chatter flowed freely from the other passengers, but he didn't join in. They all liked doing these easy events, and the looks on the kids' faces made it worthwhile. He'd heard these sessions called early recruiting, and it was true. You could count on at least one kindergartener from today becoming a firefighter or a police officer.

“How come you got the special treatment from Ms. Wainwright?” Dan called from the opposite bench. “Getting to be a teacher's pet?” It was a typical harmless Dan comment, but he wasn't in the mood to hear it.

He sank lower in his seat and gave Dan the finger without speaking.

“Touchy,” Dan said. “What's eating you?”

“Nothing.”

Everyone glanced at the others in the truck and chose to ignore his rude behavior. They continued chatting and ignoring him the entire ride back to the station while he stared out the window and regretted his curtness with Valerie. She'd only been trying to help. She hadn't deserved his ire.

There was nothing he could do about it now. She'd driven off and he was in the truck with several more hours on his shift until six tonight when he was heading to the information session on applying for the International Search and Rescue Team.

At five thirty, Jason stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and pulled on his navy pants and collared shirt.

“No civilian clothes?” Dan asked. “Where are you headed?”

Jason noticed Dan was wearing an identical outfit. A sinking feeling entered his body.