#BURN: Fever Falls Book 2 Read online

  “You’re enjoying stealing my thunder, aren’t you?”

  “I take pride in watching you suffer from time to time. Nice to delight in those rare moments when you have to be somewhat humble.”

  “Name?” I asked, because as much as he might have liked it, I sure as fuck didn’t.

  “Jace Kruse.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “Ooh, that’s a sexy Hollywood name if I ever heard one. Hope he’s ready to be a star.”

  2

  Jace

  #HottieFirefighter #sharpeilove

  “Jace, right there, right there,” Mads called out as we worked together in that rhythm we always so effortlessly found when we got together.

  She was on her knees, I thrust from behind, sliding my hand up her side and around to her breast, cupping it as I reveled in how good it felt to be inside her. She rolled her head side to side as she reached behind her, pressing her hand against the back of my head as she offered that familiar moan.

  “Oh, there we go,” she said. “Give it to me.”

  She chuckled during her climax before calling out my name.

  With one hand on her breast and the other on her hip, I picked up my pace as my orgasm shot through me like a fucking bullet.

  “God-fucking-dammit!” I cursed as I spilled into the condom within her, pressing up against her back and kissing her auburn hair.

  We panted together, Mads enjoying what I recognized as a satisfied chuckle. “Ooh, damn. It’s not enough that you had to be hung—you had to be good at this too?”

  “Only as good as the company.”

  We enjoyed a few moments, reveling in the afterglow, and then Mads headed into the bathroom to shower off before work. I flipped on the TV and watched some CSI rerun until she came out of the bathroom and started changing into her work clothes.

  “That’s a nice show there,” I acknowledged as she slid into her jeans, her breasts still on full display for me to enjoy.

  “Is it half as good as this show?” she asked, simpering as she looked me over.

  I hadn’t realized I wasn’t even under the covers until she said that…and I had a boner again.

  “Jace Kruse, that thing looks about as girthy as it feels.”

  “Everything about you feels good, Mads.”

  “Now you’re just trying to flatter me, and you know compliments annoy me.”

  I laughed. “Hey, only fair if you’re going to dispense them too.”

  She shook her head as she threw on a bra.

  My cell buzzed on the nightstand, and I checked the number.

  “Next up?” she teased. “I’d better grab my things and jet outta here.”

  “I’d enjoy that joke more if it wasn’t my brother calling.”

  “Go ahead and take it. Say hey to him for me.”

  “I’ll call him back. I have company and don’t want to be rude.”

  She snickered. “Oh, Jace, you are a dangerous man. Some woman is going to fall head over heels for you, but it’s fun to have you for a minute in the meantime.”

  “God, remember when we were really going at it for a while there?” I asked.

  “Oh yes. It’s a fun dick, but I wish it wasn’t attached to the rest of you.”

  “Hey, don’t tease.”

  “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But it was fun to catch up on old times. I can’t believe you were even able to make time, now that you’re a big, famous celebrity.”

  I slapped my hand against my forehead. “Don’t remind me about that stupid crap.”

  “What are you talking about? You’re social-media famous. Everyone in town knows who you are. You have to enjoy that at least a tiny bit.”

  Who could have imagined how far one little pic of me rescuing a Shar-Pei would go? Suddenly I found myself the target of not only the people of Fever Falls, but also national media outlets wanting to do interviews and talk shows.

  “It has its perks, like people around town being friendly. I’m fine with all that, but when I changed my number because the press wouldn’t stop calling, they started calling Mom and Keegan.”

  “If you had more exes, you’d know how to deal with that. Trust me on this.”

  I enjoyed her playfulness about my situation. I could tell she was just trying to lighten me up about it, but I wasn’t used to being the center of attention, not for such a stupid reason, at least, and it was one of the reasons I turned down the talk-show circus that so many wanted me to partake in.

  Not my thing.

  Once Mads finished grabbing her belongings for work, we headed downstairs, where Mac sat in the corner of the living room in the charcoal-gray bed I bought for him the day after I rescued him.

  “Aw, there’s the real star of the show,” Mads said as she approached him, then stooped down and gave him a good neck rub. He panted, swiping his tongue across her arm before licking at the cast on his right leg. “Mac, bet you didn’t know this was going to get you in a nice little townhouse with a pretty face like Jace’s, did you?”

  “He didn’t know that truck was going to get him to a lot of places,” I joked.

  “I still don’t get how a Shar-Pei wound up trapped in a truck in Fever Creek.”

  “Eh, wife and husband had stopped for a picnic at the park. The wife had gotten out on the passenger side, and before she could grab their picnic basket, this stray Shar-Pei smelled the food and leaped inside, onto the floorboard. It surprised the husband, a retired vet, who bounded out the other side out of instinct without putting the truck into park. So as the thing went rolling down to the creek, the door shut on the pooch’s paw, which I think scared him about as much as the adventure of the truck sliding downstream until it got stuck on a rock.”

  “Poor baby,” she said.

  “Poor baby? I’ve been treating Mac like a king. He doesn’t want for anything these days. And he’ll only eat pedigreed dog food. He’s gonna be the most spoiled little fella in town.”

  “Somehow I don’t doubt that,” Mads said, enjoying a laugh. “But that doesn’t really explain how you wound up on the scene without a shirt on.” She glared at me, appearing suspicious as hell.

  “There were some ladies at the park, and Beau told me to put on a bit of a show for them,” I admitted.

  “Oh, you guys are the worst.”

  “Hey, we get our kicks where we can.”

  “And a few women’s digits, apparently. So what made you decide to take this guy in?”

  “Let’s just say we kind of hit it off.”

  And we had. I’d saved plenty of animals, and typically, we either returned them to their owners or took them to the shelter, but there was something special about that little Shar-Pei, and I couldn’t stand the idea of taking him to the shelter, so I caved.

  Mads offered Mac a few more pets, and then we headed to the door. In just a pair of jeans I’d thrown on before we came down, I opened the door, and we hugged it out.

  “Take care of that doggie and that ego for me, will you?”

  “All over it.”

  She looked out the door, glancing around. “Oh, no paparazzi? How disappointing. Here I thought I was getting lucky with Mr. Superstar.”

  I laughed as she winked and headed to her Toyota Corolla in the drive next to my Jeep Wrangler.

  Always a fun time with Mads.

  I stepped back into my townhouse. Mac relaxed in the doggie bed, and I collapsed onto the couch, appreciating the fun times Mads and I had shared. We didn’t hook up much, especially recently, so when she messaged me for a little booty call before work, I was totally game.

  Hell, it was nice to mess around with someone I already knew, rather than one of these women who only seemed to take an interest since I’d made headlines over my picture with Mac.

  I chilled out at my place some before my shift later in the afternoon, when I headed to the fire station. Beau needed my help with changing some of the equipment in the pumper, so I lent him a hand in the bay.

  “Quiet day, busy night,”
Beau said.

  “Don’t jinx it, man,” I said as I continued stocking with him.

  He snickered, opening a box on the floor beside him, packed with supplies.

  “How are you and Ash doing, by the way?” I asked. “You guys have been like honeymooners the past few months, so I figure you might as well be putting a ring on it.”

  “I sure hope I don’t have to work on my actual honeymoon,” he joked.

  “Fair point.”

  “We haven’t talked about getting engaged. Probably one day, but we’re both just taking it as it comes. I’m sure it’ll come up eventually, though. Ash has been the best thing to happen to me. You know, there are those people in your life who when you look at them, they make you want to be better…and then encourage you along the way.”

  “Yeah, I know the sort,” I said, thinking about my mom. “Lucky when we find those people.”

  “Hey, will you two lovebirds get back to work?” a deep voice came from nearby, which I recognized as Zed’s. Turning, I saw the little guy coming around the pumper, his hands on his hips, a smile stretched across his face.

  “Did you hear something, Beau?” I asked as I turned away from Zed.

  “I don’t think I did. I can’t hear baby noobs. Did you hear something?”

  “I thought I did, but I think it was just an annoying gust of wind.”

  Zed sidled up beside us, and I turned to him, offering a playful smile so he’d know I was just kidding around with him.

  An experienced firefighter who’d transferred to our station from Atlanta, he was getting the ceremonial newbie treatment from a lot of us, but I could tell by the way he grinned that he enjoyed the teasing. It was kind of the way I was with my bro. Always in good fun.

  “Well, if you can’t see me or hear me, then I guess the guy looking for Jace the Ace up front is gonna have to deal.”

  “Here at the station?” I asked.

  “Want me to scare him off?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Another pap?”

  “Pap?” Zed asked. “Who the hell do you think you are? Adam Levine?”

  “Let me have my fifteen minutes.”

  “Eh, come on now, man,” Beau said. “You’re taking up way more than fifteen minutes.”

  “Screw you. But I got it. I’ll go give this guy the shake.”

  “What kind of shake are we talking about here?” Zed asked, offering a quick jerk of his hand to simulate a hand job.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter, Zed.”

  “Hard to when your mind is crowding everywhere else.”

  “Ah, you’re a fast learner, kid. We’re gonna get along just fine.” I patted him on the back before heading out the dual doors leading through the hall to the main lobby.

  Pushing through the lobby doors, I rounded the corner to see a man standing behind the front desk, sunglasses on and wearing a black leather biker jacket with vertical zipper pockets on either side. His dark hair was gelled to the side, and a thin layer of scruff speckled his face, uneven enough to be either a five-o’clock shadow or a tailored unkempt look. Whatever it was, it was sexy as hell.

  I knew a hot guy when I saw one, and it never made me uneasy or shut down the way some guys did over a little male-on-male appreciation.

  “Hey, stud,” I said as I approached him, and he shifted about like he was confused before turning to me.

  What the fuck is he doing wearing sunglasses inside?

  I struggled to imagine what his eyes might look like. Blue, I figured. Or maybe green. Both would have complemented that sexy face.

  “You must be Jace Kruse,” he said.

  I’d had every intention of telling him to fuck off, but this guy, for some reason, intrigued me. At the very least, I didn’t want to chase that pretty mug of his away. Not just yet.

  I leaned so the small of my back rested against the desk. Folding my arms, I gave him a once-over, but I couldn’t help myself and immediately after gave him a twice-over.

  “You from some paper or blog? Want an interview, I guess?”

  He snickered as though I’d insulted him, which only made me more curious about what he was doing here. But something else was driving me crazy.

  “You always wear sunglasses inside?” I asked.

  “Oh shit. I hadn’t even thought about it.”

  He removed them, and I immediately blurted out, “Oh, hazel!”

  “What?” His thick eyebrows pulled together.

  What the fuck am I saying?

  “I was thinking maybe you had blue or green eyes, but these suit you even better.”

  He didn’t seem any less puzzled by my remark, but I didn’t fucking care because damn, he was a hot motherfucker.

  What the hell was I thinking? I’d never gotten like this with a guy before.

  But something about him was intriguing as hell, especially as he gazed at me through narrowed eyes, inspecting my expression as though trying to sort something out about me.

  I winked at him, adding, “Sorry, I just say whatever I’m thinking. I’m an open book, the guys always say.”

  “Not as open as you might think,” he remarked, and we stared each other down like we were both trying to figure the other out.

  Was he gay?

  The way he assessed me made me think, perhaps, or at least bi…

  What did it even matter, though? It wasn’t as if we would have done anything.

  “So…I take it you didn’t come all the way down to the station so we could stare at each other all day?”

  “You’re apparently not that easy to get ahold of, so this was my only option. I swung by your place first, but your neighbor Amy told me you were here.”

  “I’m surprised. Amy’s been good about not telling anyone shit.”

  “Well, I initially tried to bribe her, but she told me I could go fuck myself and my goddamned money and that it was a waste of my time coming down here because you were just going to tell me to go to hell anyway.”

  “Oh, I see you made a good impression on Amy,” I said with a laugh, imagining her telling him off. “She gets kind of protective.”

  “She’s quite something.”

  “Yeah, eighty-three has definitely made her speak her mind. But I can’t say she’s wrong. So, you’re not here from the media? You’re not looking for an interview or anything?”

  “More a business proposition. If we could go somewhere a little more private?”

  “Well, now you’re just flirting.”

  “What? No…”

  He seemed totally thrown, like he couldn’t take a fucking joke. “I’m kidding. But I need to get back to work, and I’d like to chat with you some more, so why don’t we meet up to discuss this…proposition of yours.”

  “That’d be perfect,” he said, this sexy and almost too charming smile overtaking his expression.

  “There’s a place called Fever Pitch, over on Fever Street. Friend of mine manages the place.”

  “That sounds like it’ll be easy enough to find.”

  “Well, not that easy, though. Don’t mistake it for Fever, the bar. It happens a lot. But say we’ll meet there…tomorrow at seven?”

  “I was hoping I’d get to see you sooner than that, but I take it with your job, you’re a busy guy, so I’ll take what I can get.”

  Even that comment sounded like innuendo…and I liked it. I felt this impulse to growl at him like a fucking animal, but I held it back.

  Keep it together, Jace. Act cool.

  “Sounds like a date, then,” I said with a wink, hopeful more than teasing.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Do I get a name to put with those hazel eyes?”

  “Oh, of course. Dax Munro.”

  We shook hands, and he headed off, leaving me with a massive hard-on in my pants.

  3

  Dax

  “Not much about this guy online,” Carter’s voice came through my cell, on speaker, set on the desk in my hotel room.

  I slid my jean
s on in front of the floor-length mirror by the bathroom, my hair still damp from the shower I’d just taken. The shadows cast under my abs and chest made me appreciate all that time I’d spent with my personal trainer over the past few months…as well as the hotel lighting, which was rarely so flattering.

  “From some of the articles posted online before he made all his accounts private,” Carter continued, “apparently, the guy’s adopted and has a brother. His adoptive father passed a few years back.”

  “Yeah, I did the same Google searches as you, Carter.”

  When I saw he was adopted, it made me feel as though I’d peered into a part of his life I shouldn’t have been privy to. Certainly, if it was publicly available, that wasn’t an issue, but nevertheless, it didn’t feel right and had stopped me from snooping around much more.

  “Look who’s getting snippy,” Carter said. “Is that because you’re nervous this guy is going to tell you where you can go shove your dream deal with Hacksmore?”

  “Seems like a pretty laid-back, down-to-earth guy.”

  “Did you just call someone down-to-earth?”

  “I said he seems down-to-earth. But you know how this business goes. How many small-town guys have we seen reveal their true selves when confronted with opportunities, fame, and most of all—”

  “—big paydays.”

  “Damn straight.”

  “I wasn’t saying that because you’re right. I was repeating it because you say that all the time.”

  I chuckled as I realized the truth of it. “It doesn’t change that it’s true.”

  “Well, if you ever wonder why you’re nearing your thirties and still single, look no further than that logic.”

  “I’m best on my own.” Not something I felt bad about either. I’d been on my own since I was a kid, and I could take care of myself just fine. “But I digress. Bottom line is, a few drinks and a little smooth talking, and this Jace Kruse guy will be on the first flight to LAX to seal this deal. Trust me, I’ve only had to be in this city for a night to know he’ll be glad to have an opportunity to get out of here.”

  “Come on. It can’t be that bad. I was looking at their site. It says it’s an up-and-coming city.”