Rescue Me

by M. C. Cerny

  Rescue Me

  M.C. Cerny

  Spark - Edited by Jen Matera

  Copyright © 2016 by M.C. Cerny

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  Heart - Edited by Rachel Everly

  Copyright © 2017 by M.C. Cerny

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  Rookie - Edited by Emily Lawrence

  Copyright © 2016 by M.C. Cerny

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  10-4 - Edited by Rebecca Cartee

  Copyright © 2018 by M.C. Cerny

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  Cover Design by M.C. Cerny

  Stock Photos from Depositphotos

  Formatting by M.C. Cerny

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  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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  https://www.facebook.com/MartaWritesBooks

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  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the above copyright owner of this book.

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  ISBN-13: 978-1725950733

  ISBN-10: 1725950731

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  First Edition:

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

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  Cerny, M.C.

  Rescue Me/M.C. Cerny – 1st ed.

  Stay connected with new releases and news by visiting me at:

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  For those who run into danger.

  Your courage and sacrifices are appreciated.

  Contents

  Spark

  1. Ryland

  2. Summer

  3. Ryland

  Heart

  1. Dana

  2. Brandon

  3. Dana

  4. Brandon

  Rookie

  1. Joey

  2. Tempest

  3. Joey

  10-4

  1. Theo

  2. Colbie

  3. Theo

  4. Colbie

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Fresh * Sexy * Books

  Other Titles By M.C. Cerny

  Spark

  A FIREFIGHTER SHORT STORY

  1

  Ryland

  “Who brought the pussy salad?”

  Oz, one of the rookies, sniffed around the spread of food on the covered picnic table. He picked up the chief’s dish, his grubby paws peeling back the plastic wrap, and my stomach growled territorially.

  My house. My food. Oz should know that by now, but he wasn’t one for respecting boundaries.

  “Oh that’s Ryland’s!” My battalion chief, Benjamin Flynn, leaned back from flipping the burgers and hot dogs on the grill and pointed at me with the tongs. He smiled like he had got some secret I didn’t know about while wearing a snazzy hot pink “kiss the cook” apron. The big bow tied over his ass kept me from taking him too seriously. Usually I ribbed him about it, but I knew Big Ben was desperate to knock up his pretty wife, Lily. For all I knew, the apron was some kind of role-playing thing I didn’t need to know about.

  “Bro–for real?” Oz snickered, picking up a frozen bean burger and smelling it.

  “Don’t knock it ’til you try it.” It’s a good thing I sent Benjamin and Lily out with my credit card earlier to pick up the burgers and hot dogs. Otherwise, it would be kind of hard to feed the guys and girls at a BBQ when I’m a vegan.

  “Those are for Ryland.” Benjamin smacked Oz in the back of the head.

  “I hope there’s more than just Bs and Ds and some frou-frou salads.”

  “There’s a drive-thru on your way to the firehouse, numbnuts.” I shifted my crutches to one hand and maneuvered around the picnic table to snatch the plastic bowl he’d been holding onto. There was no way I was going to let Oz eat more than one bite of the chief’s corn and tomato salad.

  “I still don’t understand how you got injured running a marathon, but you’re invincible on the job.”

  Shrugging, I placed the salad closer to where I planned to park my ass on the patio with a beer later. “Shit happens. I’m lucky I’m on crutches and don’t need surgery.” There was nothing worse for a runner than a debilitating leg cramp in the home stretch at mile twenty to take you down.

  “Thank God for that, Ryland.” My chief clapped me on the back and discreetly moved the salad bowl back to the middle of the table. Damn, I’d have to watch out for that later. The chief refused to give up the recipe, so I had to hold summer BBQ’s like this to get some.

  “I’ll be off the crutches in a week and doing rehab. Doc said I’ll be fine—full recovery.” No one was happier about that than me. Being a fireman was my career; I hadn’t sufficiently planned a good backup if this didn’t work out. I was second generation and proud of it. Dad had recently retired and taken my mom on her long-awaited second honeymoon to Hawaii. Someday I hoped to do the same with a pretty girl at my side.

  “Hi, y’all.”

  Speaking of pretty… I turned my head toward the voice, and my throat nearly closed at the sight of Summer Rose Feeny sneaking her way out onto the patio. She made my heart pound like a teenage track sprinter who didn’t know how to pace himself for the distance. A chorus of welcomes followed with her brother—my best friend—Ford joining us outside. Oz tossed him a beer and walked over to take a tray of something that looked suspiciously like cookies from Summer.

  I couldn’t speak, but I could certainly stop Oz from moving in on my girl… and my food. I pushed one of my crutches out, catching Oz on the ankle as he brushed passed me.

  “Shit!” Oz stumbled forward, and luckily Ford grabbed him before the cookies were sacrificed.

  Elbowing my way through, I stood in front of Summer, resting my arms casually over my crutches. My knee didn’t hurt all that bad. The crutches were mostly for precaution, but I didn’t need everyone else knowing that, especially with Summer looking concerned and nibbling her bottom lip. My work clearance would come next week. Today I was being an opportunist.

  “Hey, Summer.” I looked up into her clear grey eyes and watched pink infuse her cheeks.

  “Hi, Ryland. I, um, I brought cookies. Chocolate chip.” She held the plate out cautiously in her capable hands, but my smile must have faltered because she frowned. I didn’t eat regular cookies, hadn’t had one in years.

  “Cookies!” Oz had recovered and was now interrupting my moment with Summer.

  “They’re vegan—carob chips. I found a great recipe online.” Summer shrugged her shoulders shyly, and I would have kissed her senseless if most of the department wasn’t there watching us.

  “Ah, fuck it. Eat your pussy cookies.”

  Damn right I would if given half the chance with Summer. “Ha! All mine, Oz!” It was too easy to taunt him with his quick temper.

  I took the tray in one hand, leaned on my stronger leg, and held them up victoriously. Summer was the most thoughtful person I’d ever met.

  She looked so worried when the ambulance crew wheeled me in on that ridiculous gurney. The medical staff at the marathon pulled me from the race and had insisted I take the ambulance to the emergency room where she happened to
be a nurse. It was a blow to my ego I was still recovering from. It didn’t help that my buddy Dana, a paramedic, had insisted on belting me down on the bed as a joke. I still didn’t think it was funny when she howled with laughter about it when I saw her last. Dana should know by now that paybacks were a bitch among our prankster group of friends.

  Ford narrowed his eyes in my direction, and I felt the guilt for lusting after his sister squeeze my heart. Ford didn’t like guys mooning over Summer and would pull an Indiana Jones witch-doctor move on anyone who was inappropriate with her. Unfortunately, every guy in the department had probably had inappropriate thoughts about Summer at least once after meeting her. He was my best friend and I liked my organs intact, so I kept all those thoughts to myself. Over the years, it grew harder to keep quiet, and I struggled with how it would affect our friendship.

  “Man!” Throwing his hands up, Oz made a big deal of not getting any real cookies and walked down to the hot tub.

  “Never met a rookie nearly as focused on food as you, man.” Ford shook his head, squeezing my shoulder meaningfully. He took a long drag of his beer and followed after Oz, leaving me with Summer. I’d been pretty sure Ford knew nothing of my whole spank bank of thoughts about his sister right up until he dug his fingers into my skin. Yeah, I wasn’t good at hiding my feelings from Ford, but since I was on crutches, he probably thought I was harmless… for now.

  Tucking a curl behind her ear, Summer watched her brother walk away before she leaned in close, her smile timid. “I also brought ribs from Pappy’s Smokehouse, but we should probably keep that a secret for a bit longer. You know… until the rest of the crew gets here.”

  I tugged on that teasing curl of hair, whispering back, “Your secret is safe with me, mostly because I don’t eat meat.” Adorable giggles pursed her lips I wanted to kiss.

  “And me! We can’t have Oz eating it all,” Benjamin interrupted from the grill, where he was clearly listening in. I was once again reminded that our group was worse than a bunch of church ladies gossiping in a sewing circle.

  “I think I need to get off this leg for a bit,” I said loudly enough for Benjamin to hear as I hobbled back, making a little show of how unsteady I was.

  Benjamin snorted, flipping more burgers onto the grill. I was pretty sure he saw right through my bullshit, but he said nothing.

  “Oh no! Is it not healing properly?” Summer’s face paled as she covered her mouth with her shaking fingers.

  Unable to stop my staring, I pulled her hand away from her beautiful face wishing she would stop hiding and tugged her along with me. I was starting to think that maybe she was just as nervous as I was, and maybe more than a little interested. Summer didn’t make everyone cookies, not with her busy nursing schedule, and certainly not a special recipe she had to look up either. I hoped I wasn’t reading too much into this, but my gut was telling me to go for it.

  “The doctor said I should stay off my leg whenever possible.” I moved to the covered double swing in the corner and sat down, resting my crutches on the floor and bringing Summer with me.

  “But Beau said you wouldn’t need surgery, right?” Summer sat down next to me, resting her hand delicately over my bad knee. I swore the temperature outside rose about ten degrees as her slim fingers got dangerously close to my fire pole. I didn’t feel bad at all having her undivided attention for a change and let my arm stretch out behind her pulling her in closer.

  “Dr. Lassiter?” I bristled, thinking about her ex-boyfriend giving me discharge instructions when I landed in the ER. “No, I went to an orthopedist and got checked out. It’s a bad sprain, and sometimes the knee doesn’t fully support me yet. I’ll wear a brace and go to regular rehab to strengthen it.”

  Dr. Beau Lassiter was a douche canoe. I knew Summer had dated Doctor Dick and I feared I missed my chance with her. The asshole had scooped her up on her first round in the ER and cheated on her the entire time. I wouldn’t trust my neighbor’s feral cat to that guy. Dana kept me up to date with whatever hospital gossip there was in exchange for my vegan chocolate banana shake recipe. Ford had been strangely cryptic about their breakup, and if he seriously thought I was interested in his baby sister, I could predict a five-alarm emergency quicker than a tornado touch down.

  “You know I’m not seeing him anymore, right?” She avoided eye contact and moved her hand from my knee to pick at a loose string on the hem of her white cotton halter dress. I glanced over at her watching her blush spread over her golden tan from her shoulders to her hairline. Yeah, I made her nervous, and that made me strangely happy.

  “I’d heard that.” Seeing Ford engaged in conversation with another lieutenant several yards away, I took a chance and tapped my finger on the end of her nose, playfully letting it linger there.

  She peeked up at me from under thick lashes, her eyes a darker gray now and her breath a mere puff of sweet air from between her lips. There was something special about Summer that made me poetic. She was unlike any woman I had dated in the past or was remotely interested in. She made me notice things like the moment the butterflies in my backyard slowed their wings and hovered over wildflowers. All the background noises faded to a hum of beer bottles hitting a can and friendly voices bantering back and forth. Summer was the kind of girl that made me want to hand over my man card, singing her praises no questions asked.

  I swallowed back something stupid to say; all I could seem to do around my best friend’s little sister was turn into a dumb monkey when her eyes focused on me. This time it was me who was nervous. I wondered what her pink lips tasted like and eased into her personal space on the two seat swing. She didn’t move a muscle, didn’t exhale, and despite the other people crowding my house, I decided this was it. My lips touched hers, a brief press. She parted her lips and my tongue darted out for the smallest of tastes. She was a combination of fresh strawberries, dewy watermelon, and crisp apple slices, all things summer as fitting as her name. She made me hungry for things years down the road and I saw myself having a future with her. I knew I was a dead man hobbling once Ford confirmed what I figured he had suspicions over.

  “Hey, lovebirds, where should I put the ambrosia?” Summer jumped back and I wished like hell everyone would go home already.

  Growling, I looked up to see Ian, The Hammer, standing on the patio, holding a container of marshmallow and fruit salad. Disappointment flared—the moment was gone—and I’d have bet those white fluffs of sugar in the salad weren’t even vegan.

  “I’ll take that.” Summer flew off the lounger and grabbed the food from Ian’s hands, and with that, her light scent of sunshine perfume left me. “It should probably be refrigerated for now,” she mumbled before taking it inside to the kitchen.

  I looked up to see Lily, who was staring at me from the kitchen window, one eyebrow raised. She held up one of the pairing knives and pointed to a blissfully unaware Ford in the backyard while making a slicing motion under her chin before pointing the knife at me. She winked ducking behind the kitchen curtain and I bristled with annoyance. Yup, a real sewing circle this group had become. If Ford didn’t know, he soon would—whether anything more came of today’s kiss or not.

  “Too bad about the knee.” Ian handed me a new beer, ignoring my grunt. Taking Summer’s spot, he began to yammer on about strengthening techniques I should consider, but all I could focus on was my little bit of sunshine that had skittered away.

  2

  Summer

  If Ryland O’Hara didn’t stop looking at me like I was his last meal, I was going to burst into flames and go to hell. I had already taken off my grandmother’s cross, which I’d worn since I was sixteen. It didn’t go with my halter dress, or so I told myself. Mainly, I didn’t want Jesus looking down my cleavage while I tried to jump the hottest fireman in St. Louis.

  If my overprotective older brother had any idea I’d been lusting after his best friend for years, he’d take me to the station and hose me down in a flurry of public embarrassment. I swore he
was worse than our dad ever was.

  But that kiss… that sweet kiss that was far too short and teasing. I didn’t think Ryland would do it even though my entire body was chanting, go for it. My only escape from self-humiliation was when Ian arrived. The burly fireman saved me with a salad that belonged inside rather than outside on the table in the sun. I was lucky I didn’t drop Ian’s bowl of food from the sweat that covered my palms.

  “You plan on mooning over that boy or helping me in here?” Lily snickered and pointed her sharp little knife at me rolling an onion down the counter I had to catch.

  “Maybe, is watching a crime?” The smile that split my face couldn’t be hidden under my loose hair and Lilly laughed.

  “Only when your brother kills him.” We chuckled and continued to prepare fresh bruschetta. I wondered if she given me all the onions to chop on purpose. By the time we finished, my light makeup had been cried off from the tears, and I smelled faintly of onions. Lily didn’t keep me long when I became more of a liability watching Ryland through the window than how I was chopping the vegetables.

  “Go on get out of here before you give yourself a good bleeder.” Lily took my knife away and shooed me back outside where I escaped to play volleyball in the backyard, teamed up against my brother and Oz. I was too chicken to join him up on the patio in the presence of our family and friends. Besides, the object of my affections was in deep conversation and it didn’t feel right to interrupt him while everything was… well… whatever this was, it was still a secret.