by Opal Carew
He climbed down again and picked up the stool, then the two of them disappeared out of the room. Over the next half hour, they checked every one of the devices. When they finally went up to the third floor where her bedroom was, she opened the door for them.
As they glanced around her small bedroom, their big masculine bodies filling her private space, their gazes perusing the feminine decor—floral print curtains and bedding, silk flowers, frills on her throw cushions, et cetera—she felt very exposed.
After Carter finished checking the smoke detector and got down from the stool, his arm bumped against her. She glanced up at him and heat flashed through his eyes, then his gaze wandered to her bed.
She tensed, ignoring the fluttery feeling in her stomach, as she moved toward the door.
“So are you finished?”
“Yes. At least three of them need to be replaced,” Carter said.
“I’d recommend replacing them all, just to be on the safe side,” Simon said.
“Will that be very expensive?” she asked. She didn’t have much left in her savings.
“Don’t worry about it,” Carter said. “We’ll replace them for you.”
“I can’t let you do that. I should just go to the landlord.”
“With this company, that’ll take forever, and they’ll probably put in something substandard. Don’t worry about it,” Simon said. “We get a great discount on smoke detectors. And how would it look if the house where the official photographer for our calendar lived burned down? We have to protect the reputation of the department.”
Simon turned to Carter. “I’ll go turn off the breakers so you can take down the units while I go buy some new ones.”
“Sure thing.” Carter grabbed the stool and the two of them headed down the stairs, Rikki trailing behind them.
Two hours later, Tina walked in to see Carter on the step stool in the living room busily working at replacing the device while Simon was working on the one in the kitchen, standing on a small stepladder he’d grabbed from his house when he’d gone shopping to pick up the new smoke detectors.
“What’s going on?” Tina asked.
Her pointed nails were adorned with a metallic foil that transitioned from red to purple to blue with round silver studs polka-dotting her ring fingers. Her skirt was short and her V-neck plunging. As usual.
“Tina, this is Simon and Carter.”
Carter glanced at her and smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
Simon waved from the kitchen.
“They’re firemen from the station where I’m doing the calendar shoot. They drove me home and noticed a problem with the smoke detectors.”
“Yeah? Nice to meet you.” Tina lowered her voice. “They were also the guys you left with last night.” She nudged Rikki and sent her a wink. “Bravo, by the way.”
Tina’s gaze raked down Carter’s body and settled on his crotch, as if evaluating. Then she pulled Rikki up the stairs with her to the second floor.
“You know, I see these sexy guys doing a lot of screwing. Maybe you should give them a hand, you know what I mean?”
Rikki laughed, then started down the stairs again, but Tina gripped her arm, stopping her.
“Seriously though,” Tina said. “Did anything happen last night? And more importantly, is either of them available?”
“Down, girl. Nothing happened, and I can’t play matchmaker. I have to work with these guys. I don’t want it to get complicated.”
Tina frowned. “Okay. But I think it’s a real waste. Two hot firemen right here in my own house and I can’t touch.” She turned and headed up the next flight of stairs to the third floor where both of their bedrooms were. “See you later.”
When Rikki returned to the main floor, Carter was sitting on the couch. Simon was finishing up in the kitchen.
“That roommate of yours is pretty cute,” Carter said.
“I guess she is.” Rikki pushed aside the jealousy surging through her at his interest.
“I think it’s pretty interesting that you wouldn’t try to set her up with either of us, especially since you say you don’t want to get involved with us.”
Oh, God, he’d actually heard them. She sat on the easy chair, her stomach clenching.
“Are you saying you want to get involved with Tina?” she asked.
“Well, we’re not giving up on you,” Carter said, his lips turning up in a smile. “But we’ve never had a problem sharing.”
Rikki’s cheeks heated at his provocative teasing.
Simon laughed, then winked at her.
“So we’re all done here,” Simon said. “Do you want to go see how effective the smoke detector is in your bedroom?”
Oh, God, with the way Simon was looking at her … the way they were both looking at her … with a blaze of heat in their eyes … she had to beat back the flame of her own arousal.
“Thanks very much for what you’ve done. I’ll see you at the firehouse tomorrow.”
* * *
The next morning, Carter and Simon picked Rikki up on the way to the firehouse. They’d insisted on giving her a ride so she wouldn’t have to lug her equipment on public transit. She’d put it all in a wheeled suitcase, but it would have been awkward getting it on and off the bus.
Simon pulled the suitcase out of the trunk and rolled it toward the building as she walked by his side, her stomach fluttering a little at the idea of meeting the other men.
It was a hot day outside, so she was glad to step into the air-conditioned building. Simon led her to the living area where the men spent downtime and put her stuff by a desk in the corner near a big window.
“You can set up your computer here,” he said. “I need to go do some things. I’ll leave you in Carter’s capable hands.”
She nodded, her thoughts jumping to images of what she’d like his capable hands to be doing.
Carter took her through the station to show her around, introducing her to the men as they went, while Simon disappeared to do whatever he had to do.
The men were all tall and broad shouldered and she felt a little intimidated by them, even though they were all very friendly. After they’d done the rounds, with Carter stopping along the way to explain various equipment, she couldn’t remember which names belonged to which faces.
“So do you want to get started?” Carter asked as they returned to the living area. “I can help you set up your equipment.”
“Actually, I was thinking maybe I’d take some pictures around the firehouse to get a sense of the lighting and what areas would work best for background. There’s some great natural light in here with the big windows. But I think we probably want some of the pictures with props like an axe or fire hose.”
Three men she hadn’t met walked into the room. The tallest, at about six five, had close-cropped brown hair, electric blue eyes that locked on her like lasers. He wore a T-shirt and his arms were totally covered in tattoos. The man next to him had longer, sandy brown wavy hair with a crooked smile turning up his lips and a twinkle in his eyes. The third man seemed a little younger and gazed at her with curiosity and, she sensed, a little shyness. His thick, black hair had a casual, carelessly spiked look. She wasn’t sure if it was because he’d styled it that way, or it had been mussed by wearing a cap, but she had the urge to stroke her fingers through it to smooth it into place.
“Heard tell that we missed the intros with the photographer,” the sandy-haired man said with a Texas drawl. His gaze locked on her and his smile broadened. “I take it this pretty little lady is her.”
Rikki felt her cheeks flush at his frank attention.
“I’m Rikki.” She held out her hand to shake his.
He took it, but instead of wrapping it in a firm handshake, he brought it to his lips. The light brush of a kiss sent tingles dancing along her spine.
“Rikki, this guy is Tanner,” Carter said, then pointed to the tattooed man. “That’s Dodge, and Kyle’s the short one.”
The short one h
e referred to was at least six feet tall.
Dodge nodded, one side of his mouth turning up in a sexy, almost feral smile. Her insides quivered at the exciting, bad-boy vibe the man put out. She shook hands with him, and his big fingers squeezed firmly.
The strength of his grip made her feel soft and feminine in contrast. She felt a sense of power thrumming through him, and knew that when he was with a woman, he would be in total control. And as his gaze locked with hers, she felt an overwhelming desire to experience his commanding presence as he took charge of her.
When she turned to Kyle, he offered his hand and she shook it. His hold was lighter, as if he wanted to handle her with care, and he sent her a boyish grin. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“Thank you. Me, too,” she said.
“I heard you talkin’ about props for the pictures,” Tanner said. “What about the fire truck?”
“Yes, I’d definitely like some pictures with the truck in the background.”
“If you’re takin’ casual pictures, your timing’s perfect. We’re going out now to wash it.”
Carter frowned. “Wasn’t it just washed yesterday?”
Dodge grinned. “But it’s hot out and we thought it would be a good way to cool off, and at the same time, give the lady an idea of some good actions shots.” Although he was talking to Carter, his blue-eyed gaze remained locked on Rikki.
She drew in a deep, trembling breath as his words made her think of muscled firefighters, shirts off, her hands gliding over their hard, ridged bodies.
“I’ll grab my camera so I can take pictures.”
“No,” Dodge said. “We thought you should help.”
She glanced down at her dress pants and soft pink blouse. “I’m not really dressed for it.”
Tanner laughed. “No problem, darlin’. Here you go.” He tossed her the bag he had tucked under his arm.
She caught it and peered inside. It was a pair of navy shorts with the fire department patch and a white T-shirt.
“We wouldn’t want you to get your pretty work clothes all wet.”
His words melted through her and she could just imagine walking around the bright red truck in a skimpy bathing suit, the men watching her, sudsy water sloshing from a big bucket as she lifted a sponge and glided it over the shiny metal. Except that the truck became Simon, and as she stroked him, feeling every ridged contour of his body, slickness oozed between her legs.
She sucked in a breath, forcing herself back to the here and now.
“Actually, I think I’ll be fine in what I’m wearing.”
Carter leaned in and said, “Go ahead and put on our gear. It’ll be a good way for you to bond with the guys. Become part of the team.”
She pursed her lips as she took the shorts and top and nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“Come on. I’ll show you where you can change,” Carter said.
She followed Carter up the stairs to the second floor. She hadn’t been to the private area of the firehouse yet and was surprised as she walked down a hallway to see bedrooms with two beds in each room. On the other side of the hallway, there were several large, closet-sized indents in the wall with fire poles to the lower floor.
“I thought you’d all sleep in one large room with lots of beds,” she said.
“That’s typical, but they’ve done studies on sleep issues with firefighters working around the clock and found that having a more private space allows better sleep. Our chief decided to give it a try and had the place renovated.”
He led her to the end of the hall and up another stairway. The third floor was smaller than the one below and he led her down a short hallway.
“This is where Simon and I sleep. You can change in here.”
They walked into a larger room than the ones for the other men. It was simple, with two double beds covered with plain navy comforters, a bedside table between them, and two desks, each by a window. There was also a dresser where they probably kept a change of clothes or two while they were on duty.
“Okay. Thanks.”
He left the room, closing the door behind him and she dropped the garments on one of the beds and kicked off her shoes.
She unbuttoned her blouse and laid it over the back of the desk chair, then unfastened her pants. She was glad she wore one of her good bra and panty sets today. Light pink, so her bra didn’t show through the white T-shirt too obviously.
Looking down at her bra, she imagined Carter walking into the room, then stepping behind her and cupping her breasts. She could almost feel his lips nuzzling the side of her neck as his fingers glided over her hardening nipples and squeezed them.
She sucked in a breath and shooed the images away.
Good lord, what’s wrong with me lately?
She quickly pulled on the shorts, then the white T-shirt over top and tucked it in. She glanced at her shoes, but it didn’t make sense to put on dress shoes while washing a truck, so she decided to go barefoot.
When she went down the stairs, the firehouse seemed empty. The big garage door was open and she saw sunlight glinting off the shiny red finish of the truck. She walked outside and saw all the men wearing navy shorts like the ones she had on and navy T-shirts, also with the fire department patch.
A few of the men whistled as she walked toward the truck.
“Over here, Rikki,” Carter called. He and Simon were standing at the side of the truck with a couple of buckets of water. Rikki walked toward the men. Trying to play it cool even though being surrounded by so many gorgeous men made her knees weak.
As she glanced around at their grinning faces, she knew they were planning something, but she had no idea what.
Then in the blink of an eye, they all tugged down their shorts, exposing brief bathing suits beneath. Shorts flew through the air as they tossed them away. They all placed their hands on their hips, their chests puffed forward, looking like a team of Greek gods posing for her.
The bathing suits were compact and hugged their hips and groins. The shapes beneath those shorts were very distinctive. Not much was left to the imagination. She turned to Simon and Carter and realized they were also in fitted bathing suits. The thought of reaching out and stroking the packages hidden beneath the fabric became overwhelming.
Not that she’d do it here.
Oh, God, not that I’d do it at all.
“I think we’ve embarrassed the pretty little lady,” Tanner observed, a hint of concern in his eyes.
Dodge chuckled, a deep rumble from his chest. “Lady, if you can’t handle this, how are you going to handle taking sexy shots of us for the calendar? I was ready to strip all the way down if you wanted me to. It’s for a good cause, right?” He smiled devilishly.
Dodge’s arms were sleeved in tattoos and most of his torso was inked. He would make one sexy cover model. That was for sure. All she could think about when she looked at him was tracing the lines of his tattoos up his bulging biceps, over his shoulder, then down his chest … then his torso … and … Oh, God, she was staring at his crotch. And the fabric was being stretched tighter beneath her gaze as she watched.
Chapter Six
Knowing she had to hold her own with these men, Rikki dragged her gaze to his with bravado and pushed back her shoulders.
“I’m not embarrassed. Except for you guys, ’cause you’re slacking off. This truck won’t wash itself.”
“Oh, burn!” Carter said.
She laughed and grabbed a sponge from the soapy bucket. “How about I race you to finish washing this thing?”
“But, baby,” Dodge said. “It’s not about speed. The best work is the kind that’s done slow and with a lot of attention.”
His suggestive tone sent heat skittering through her.
“You are so bad,” she said, pushing back her embarrassment.
He winked at her. “And when I’m bad, I’m very good.”
She dipped her sponge in the water, soaking it good, then flung it at Dodge. True to his name, he saw it coming a
nd jerked to the side, so the sponge slammed against Tanner with a splat, suds flying.
Tanner laughed and grabbed the hose from his friend, then soaked her with a cold spray of water. She gasped, then turned her back. The water stopped and she pushed her drenched hair from her face, finding herself giggling. Until she realized her pink bra was clearly visible through her T-shirt, and her nipples were so hard from the cold that they were nearly tearing through the fabric.
And Carter and Simon had definitely noticed. She could see their bathing suits stretching over their swelling shafts.
“You know, guys,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest as nonchalantly as she could. “I think you need to get to work. I’m going to go dry off and then get some candid shots. They’ll be great for some of the promos Cassie wants to do for the calendar.”
With that, she escaped to the firehouse with as much dignity as she could muster.
* * *
Rikki grabbed a towel from a pile someone had set on the couch and dried her skin as she walked up the stairs. She’d love a shower, and knew there would be one in the place, but she did not want to chance any of the men walking in on her, so she went straight back to the bedroom and closed the door, then stripped off the wet T-shirt and shorts.
She dried herself off and wrapped her hair in the towel, then peered out the window to see the men continuing to wash the truck below.
When she realized Carter was staring at her through the window, she dodged back. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to see that she was just wearing her bra and panties from down there … not at that angle …
She hoped.
Her cheeks heated as she pulled on the rest of her clothes. She was already on the verge of being highly unprofessional. Putting on a peep show for her models would be over the line.
She went down the stairs and grabbed her camera. She told them she’d take photos of them washing the truck, so that’s what she intended to do.
Rikki spent about twenty minutes snapping shots of the mostly naked men washing the big truck. She took a lot of candid shots, but also got them to do some casual poses. Finally, they trickled into the firehouse and got dressed, then went back to their tasks. A few of the men left. Carter told her they were doing fire inspections at some of the local businesses.
