“Nice to see you’re feeling better,” I replied archly as I unfastened the harness and then moved to a seat. Now that we were safe, the sense of defeat and anger was kicking in. “Now keep quiet. I know about the batteries. You are in no way off the hook over this.”
To Ian’s credit, he did keep quiet. Unfortunately, he watched Ace and I like a nasty little ferret our entire ride down. We couldn’t flirt, we couldn’t even really talk without making Ace look unprofessional, and we certainly couldn’t touch. So I sat there, starved for him after that tiny taste, and tried to sort out the next few hours of damage control.
I messaged the engineering team to fill the time. They were coming back up to repair, upgrade, and test the system. They would be paid time-and-a-half for their emergency availability, with bonuses for a fast turnaround. I made the bonuses dependent on completing a thorough list of improvements. That way, Ian couldn’t blunder in and tell everyone to cut corners again.
I couldn’t make the batteries get there faster, or completely undo the mess Ian had made, but I could get the gondola retrieved and every other system taken care of as quickly as humanly possible.
And when I got home, I was going to ruin Ian’s career. Maybe I shouldn’t have given him the warning, but after his weak attempt at sexual blackmail, I was done playing nice. And the warning hadn’t stopped him either. I could tell.
When we finally got down off the cable system and stood on firm ground again, Ace made sure we were taken care of, then offered each of us a warm handshake before calling in. His grip lingered around my hand, waking that craving in me again, and I thought of his card in my pocket.
Ian wouldn’t even shake his hand. “Yeah, well, you should have gotten there faster,” he snapped, half turning away with his shoulders hunched.
Ace smirked and shook his head, winking at me as he turned to go. “You take care now.”
Ian insisted that he was recovered, so I made him assist me in the operations room as I ran diagnostics on the cable system. “Looks like the system couldn’t power both cable systems at the same time. But why did ours give up the ghost?” I muttered as I sat in their air-conditioned console room.
“I have no idea,” Ian yawned. “Just finish picking at it, I want to go drink.”
That meant he would be taking up our hotel bar. I would have to go elsewhere for my booze.
I sent Ace a quick text: “So where do you drink?”
“Silver Slopes, downtown. Meet?” The answer was almost instantaneous, and I fought a smile.
“What do you look so happy about?” Ian snapped.
“BRB, finding out when I can get away.”
I tucked the phone out of sight and frowned at Ian. “None of your business. We’re out of here in twenty minutes.”
Chapter 4
Ace
“Here’s one for you, Miguel.”
The Silver Slopes was packed, the small table I occupied tucked away in a far corner with people milling all around me. The only empty seat in the place was across from me. One advantage to being a big guy and a regular was, nobody gave me shit about it.
Especially since for the last three months, after previously showing up every Friday night to drink with my partner Miguel, I had come alone.
Rest in peace. I had been the one left behind to tell his mom after that terrible night. I had carried his empty coffin, hauled around for show. The whole family hadn’t needed to know that the meth lab we had uncovered in the middle of the rescue had blown up hot enough that there was nothing left of Miguel to bury.
That night, in shock, I had gone to Miguel’s apartment to collect his dog Benny—my dog now, a pit bull mix who loved me and was an idiot and would have died of a broken heart going to the pound again.
He was settling in. I had dog-sat him before. It gave me an excuse to fix the damn fence. I wondered sometimes if he would ever realize that Miguel wasn’t coming back this time to pick him up.
Miguel was gone, but I still bought him a beer every time, the same brown ale he always drank those Fridays and after a job. That was how he had relaxed. If a job went bad, if someone died, we would have shot glasses and a bottle of tequila at the station instead.
The Slopes, with its polished wood interior, big-screen TVs and cases of ski memorabilia, was for celebrating and relaxing. And hopefully, having a drink with someone else tonight for the first time in months.
Tawny-haired Naomi, with those green-gold eyes, even in a modest suit and business braid, had caught my attention more than any woman had for years. She was petite and curvy, but when I had held her for those few precious seconds, I had felt the strength in her small body.
She had smelled like citrus and roses and her own soft musk, and had left that silky scent in my nostrils, making me crave her curving warmth against me again. No clothes, this time.
I reached under the table and tugged at the crotch of my jeans, struggling to make room for what thoughts of Naomi did to me. I had felt the way she had relaxed against me during our little trip across the gap. She liked it. She liked me.
I craved her.
Even if all it was was casual, even if it went nowhere because she lived in Denver and I was here for now, I wanted her under me before she left again. I wanted to wear her out and leave her craving more.
If I end up moving to Denver, maybe we can date or something. But meanwhile, I want to give her the night of her life.
I was looking for an excuse to leave Aspen anyway…but I hadn’t decided where to go yet. A hot, interesting local woman was enough to tip things in Denver’s favor, maybe…but the biggest thing in any city’s favor right now was that it wouldn’t be Aspen.
Aspen had been ruined for me. I missed my best friend. It just wasn’t the same without him.
Once upon a time, I had loved being a firefighter. It had fulfilled me in ways office work never had. But seeing Miguel die just yards away from me, and dealing with the aftermath…it had put a lot of doubts in my head. And it had turned the beautiful town I loved so much into a place that was…depressing. I didn’t know about spending another winter here.
Money wasn’t really an issue, thanks to a healthy savings account from my last job. I could pick up and go as soon as I finished training my replacement. But I stuck around, mostly because I couldn’t figure out yet what my next move was going to be.
It wasn’t too big of a deal. I could still do my job well, no matter how I felt about it. I could hold out until I found my next calling.
Meanwhile, I had a lovely, highly successful young engineer/CEO contemplating coming to join me tonight, and if she did, I had all kinds of plans for taking her home. That was something a lot less troubling to think about as I sat there. And she was intriguing enough to spark my interest and get me past the grief.
I had to wonder about the guy with her, though. She had referred to him as her COO and treated him like a mild nuisance at best. And yet, I got the impression that he was jealous of me just for touching her. I wondered if he considered their business relationship to be something more.
Something about the guy smelled like trouble. Maybe he hadn’t gotten the message. Or maybe he had, and was so salty about it that he couldn’t let it go.
I hated guys like that. Snippy, cowardly, passively nasty little bastards, always with something to prove, always with the same nervous, misplaced aggression as overbred lap dogs. Miguel used to call it “small dick energy.” I wasn’t sure he was wrong.
I wasn’t about to let him get in my way. And from the way Naomi had treated him, and the way she had looked at me…I doubted she would either.
I was on my second beer when I saw her step in through the door and push through the crowd toward the bar. I would have known that shining honey-brown hair anywhere. It was loose now, running in silky waves down her shoulders, and my fingers suddenly itched to run through it.
She gave her order and then looked around, standing on tiptoe to see better past the crowd. I was about to wave an a
rm at her when her eyes lit on me, and she smiled.
She got through the crowd on sheer determination and slid into the empty seat across from me. “Thanks for saving me a chair. This place is packed.”
“I know, even on weeknights it’s like this. Worth the press, though. I’ve always liked it here.” I glanced at her drink: hefeweizen, a lemon slice riding the foam at the top. “How are you doing after all that craziness?”
“Overworked,” she declared. “And really, really in need of a distraction.”
My eyebrows rose and I smiled broadly. “I think I can provide you with several.”
She blushed slightly, fidgeting with her drink, that slight shyness coming out again now that we were well away from her coworker and the lodge. It was adorable, especially from a woman who was that successful and, probably, rich.
“Can you?” she asked.
“I guarantee it,” I said without hesitation. “Gotta ask, though—what’s with that Ian guy?”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “He wants my job and my body, and because he can’t possibly get the second one, he wants to make life hard for me.”
“Why hasn’t the board done anything about him?” I couldn’t keep the astonishment out of my voice.
She took her time with her answer, grabbing a long swallow of her beer and licking the thin foam off her lips distractedly. “There’s no nice way of saying it.”
“Then don’t be nice.” I shrugged, taking a pull from my longneck. “I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”
“Archimedes Gears was my father’s business. But the thing is, like him, they don’t value women or think we can do the whole job. I spent most of my adult life trying to prove him—and them—wrong, but all Ian has to do is show up with a title and be male, and even though I outrank him, he’s the one they listen to.”
She hastily took another fortifying swallow as I paused to mull this over.
“So, old men with small dicks who don’t want to share, and a guy who knows how to pander to them.” He shook his head, sighing through his nose. “You know, sweetheart, it’s none of my business, but I’m not sure I would stay in a situation like that.”
She sat back a little, letting out a low sigh. Her expression was thoughtful, not outraged. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else,” she said, so quietly that I had to strain to hear it over the crowd. “That’s the problem. That’s my dad’s company. I earned my place as CEO same as anyone else, but it’s also something I wanted to keep in our family.”
I grunted acknowledgment and nodded, rubbing under my left eye. “That’s tougher. I can understand feeling obliged to stick around. I’m just…excuse me if this is too much, but you don’t seem happy.”
She winced and nodded once, then offered me a wry little smirk. “Yeah, well, you did catch me on one of my worst days. That malfunction totally blew the presentation. I ended up defeated by an electrical fault, thanks to Ian fucking up the whole process.”
Her explanation had something to do with a battery backup, shipping delays, and Ian lying through his teeth to set up a demo meeting before the installation was actually ready. I could see her anger and frustration in every line of her body…but then she sighed it out and smirked at me again.
“Point is,” she said, “now I have to fight the board again—to get him removed. I have a whole lot of evidence saved up, fortunately.”
“What a pain in the ass.” I reached across the table and laid my hand over hers and felt that little shiver go through her again. Her eyes dilated at my touch; I saw her struggle to catch her breath. She was interested…and if the strength of her reaction was any indication, she was dying of thirst.
Don’t you worry, baby. I’ve got just what you need.
I kept my hand there, gazing briefly into those green-gold eyes, and let her see for a moment just how interested I was. I didn’t stare at women too often, and always tried to soften my gaze with a smile. For a second there, I aimed dead-serious lust at her—and watched her eyes dilate further as her body responded.
Perfect. I had to adjust the crotch of my jeans again.
“Well, it’s pretty damn clear you’ve got this in hand,” I said breezily. “Let’s just make sure you have a lot of fun before you have to deal with that crap.”
“Whole reason I didn’t fly back this evening,” she sighed. “I still have to be there by midmorning tomorrow, but I know I would get caught up in the same bullshit immediately if I came home tonight.”
“Best not to. You’re not sharing a room with that asshole, I hope?” The idea disgusted me in ways I could barely articulate.
“No, though of course that meant paying for my own room. If someone on the board can come up with an excuse for them to cut corners at my expense, they do it.” She shrugged, seeming used to it. “I can absorb the expense without a blink, though, and it only gives me more ammunition.”
“Damn, you’re as tough as me,” I said admiringly.
She let out an awkward laugh as she looked me over, as if comparing her tiny form to my own. “No, I don’t save people’s lives for a living. Also, you’re like three times my size.”
“Tough isn’t just about physicality or training. It’s really about will. If you can keep going no matter what they throw at you, you win.”
I winked at her and smiled as she shyly busied herself with her drink.
“You’re not used to compliments,” I said gently.
“Not sincere ones. I can smell the bullshit ones a mile away.” She pulled the paper-thin lemon slice off the top and started nibbling on it idly. I could sense her nervousness,
“You’re not used to being flirted with either,” I observed in the same mild tone, like I was commenting about the weather.
I felt her shift her legs under the table, crossing them. “No.”
“Surprising,” I teased her, watching her get squirmier as I paused. “You’re stunning.”
“Yeah, well, usually it’s only the wrong guys who notice. Or when the right guys notice, I…don’t really know what to do about it.” The admission seemed to calm her, as if she was finally letting herself off the hook and admitting she wasn’t always perfect. Not always in control.
Her awkward smile absolutely charmed me. Is she a virgin? Or close to it? The idea intrigued me even more and made me more determined to treat her right.
“Well, I have some ideas. If you feel like coming home with me tonight.”
She swallowed hard but didn’t squirm. Her gaze was suddenly steady on my face. “I…” she started and glanced down at her drink—then drank down most of the rest of her beer in two long swallows.
She licked the foam off her lips again and lifted her chin, looking up at me. Her eyes searched mine…and then she smiled slowly. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter 5
Naomi
Ace kissed me for the first time in the parking lot.
It was almost deserted: everyone inside, no noise aside from the swish of traffic, faint music, and the chirr of summer insects from the trees bordering the lot. No preamble: just the soft, warm summer night, my back against his black pickup as he bent over me, huge hands cupping my face.
The kiss was warm and slow and easy, supple lips caressing mine before retreating a little—and then swooping down on mine again.
It stole my breath.
I managed little sips through my nose as the kiss intensified, his powerful body pressing eagerly against mine, his scent and heat washing over me. But then his arms slipped around me and I moaned into his mouth, lips parting for his invading tongue.
He was so damn sure of himself that part of me wanted to fight for control, with the old scrappy instinct I brought with me to work every day. Kiss back hard, nibble on his lips, change the tone of things—just grab the wheel a little. Instead, I was so overwhelmed by sensation and the thirst for more that I could barely keep my footing.
He held me up as I melted against him, one firm thigh working between
mine and wedging teasingly against my aching crotch. He moved it rhythmically against me, teasing more as he explored my mouth with his tongue. Then he drew his tongue back and kissed the corner of my jaw, down to my neck, where he fastened his lips over my pounding pulse.
He sucked firmly, teeth scraping my skin lightly, tongue working my nerves until I realized I was digging my nails into him. My arms had gone around him on their own, sliding under his open shirt and clutching his back through his tank top. His hair slid teasingly against my skin, soft as a mink brush, as meanwhile he marked me, purring hungrily.
Finally, he pulled himself away, gasping for air. “Shit, I’ve gotta stop or I won’t be able to drive.” He groaned, and I giggled into his chest.
I felt high as a kite as he drove us toward the outskirts, and not from the single beer. That kiss had done it; even after several minutes of riding along, I felt like I couldn’t quite catch my breath. Finally, we meandered up into his neighborhood, on a winding road deep among the trees.
I had expected an apartment, or maybe a loft. Not this small, trim house with its berry bushes and immaculate patch of lawn. The enormous smoker-grill combo on the covered porch was the only thing that immediately matched him. But then I heard delighted barking from what sounded like a very large dog coming from inside, and I smiled. Nah, this place is all him, I just don’t know him that well.
But I wanted to. I wanted to know everything—starting with what he looked like naked. Felt like naked.
Now that the dam had broken, my nervousness was going away, and with it the impatience to rush into things. I knew now where this was all headed. If I wanted, all I had to do was follow his lead—let someone else drive, for once in my life. The whole idea was very appealing…
“You like dogs?” Ace asked cheerfully, brushing one hand across my back on his way to finish locking up the truck. “I sort of inherited one from my old partner.”
Hot To Touch - A Firefighter's Baby Romance Page 3
