Ladder 54: Five Firefighter Romances

by Maren Smith

  He took a step forward, getting most of the light out of his eyes as the bidding soared. She sat quietly, her hair resting on her shoulders like a dark chocolate river. She wasn’t as calm and contained as she pretended, though. Straight white teeth dug into her lower lip and her brow creased with a frown as her ankle bounced in time with the music. It was time to make his goddess sweat, and he sauntered to the edge of the stage. He’d given this show before, and the little minx would learn exactly what she’d be missing out on if she didn’t raise that paddle for him.

  “Go Theo!” shouted a feminine voice from the back of the room. He nodded and grinned easily as the music picked up a beat and several people began to clap.

  His eyes never left her sensuous body, and his cock grew harder when he allowed himself to imagine what secrets she was hiding under the smooth fabric of her dress. With an easy grace, he ran his hands over his pecs and down his abs as he moved his hips back and forth to the music. When he pulled his belt out of its loops and cracked it with a snap, the crowd roared.

  He didn’t hear the bidding calls, or the dollar amount as it rose higher but women shrieked in delight at the unexpected show. Though she smiled and laughed at something her companion said, she didn’t attempt to join the furious bidding.

  As the music continued, Theo put his left hand behind his neck and threw his head back, then motioned to the crowd demanding more shouts. With a grin, he flexed his muscles and winked while sliding his hand down his abs toward his belt line. When he lowered his hand down the front of his pants, the crowd roared in approval.

  To his irritation, his woman refused to move. If she’d just raise that damned paddle and made a large enough bid, he could be done with this entire show. He didn’t see any cameras or phones out, but if his little performance ended up on the internet, he was going to blister her pretty backside but good.

  He burned from a combination of anger and frustration and it took a glance at Walt standing by the bar to keep him going. The bids were coming so fast he couldn’t hear them, so he released a suspender, allowing the heavy fabric to drop over one hip and reveal the crease of his groin and the room exploded with noise as several women shouted in a mini battle for his services.

  At two thousand dollars, the room grew quiet and Sophie finally said, “Going once…”

  God damn it! The goddess hadn’t so much as twitched an eyelash, but her paddle showed the tiniest sign of life.

  “Going twice for two thousand…”

  To his shock and gratitude, she lifted her paddle, but didn’t smile as she met his eyes. In a voice as cold as ice, she said, “Three thousand.”

  The jump in bidding and the resolve on her face shut down the war with an oppressive silence. One more paddle went into the air, held by a sub he’d played with before. His mystery woman gave him a satisfied smirk as she outbid her rival.

  Sophie whooped in delight, making the crowd laugh and applaud. “Sold to Dr. Selene Alexiou for three thousand, two hundred. Congratulations, Doctor, and thank you all for participating in our Date-A-Dom auction.”

  Theo’s heart skipped and stalled before returning to a measured beat. Selene… Alexiou? He’d just been bought for a kinky scene by the buck-toothed, skinny kid with the older brothers who needed a good ass kicking every now and again? Her father was going to fucking kill him.

  Chapter Two

  Trip to the ass end of nowhere: free. Latte and a massive cinnamon roll while she chatted up her new friends: twenty dollars. A donation to a worthy cause and a terrific meal: less than four thousand.

  The look on Theo’s face when Sophie said her name: too fucking priceless. And watching his sexy striptease in front of the crowd was a bargain at twice the price. Hell, she’d spent that much on a pair of Louboutin boots that didn’t give her as much pleasure.

  It wasn’t good for her to feel angst over someone like Theo. She wondered if she should make the effort to date a little more. Rick and his wife Meghan were always telling her she worked too much. Meghan was due to deliver their first child in just a few weeks. Even if she had a dating prospect, she was going to be taking over most of Rick’s projects for the next few months and she didn’t have time. Her collection of vibrators would have to do until he got back from his family leave, and Theo’s sultry dance would feature in her fantasies for months.

  She let out a soft sigh as she waited behind a lovely young woman with a British accent to finish her transaction. Handing her credit card to the man with the card reader, she smiled and said, “Thanks for inviting me. I appreciate the opportunity to participate, and I hope this helps Walt and Sophie.”

  “No,” he said, handing her card back. “You deserve our thanks. It will mean a lot to them.”

  “It was the least I could do. Please give them my regards, but I need to take off. You can donate Mr. Papadakis’s services to someone else, or just forget about it.” She handed him a business card. “Call the number on the back if I won the silent auction on the Camaro.”

  The man scowled and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, about that. We weren’t going to announce it until tomorrow, but it’s yours.”

  It was all she could do to stop herself from doing a victory dance while squealing like a five-year-old on a sugar high. This was the best day ever—even better than the day she’d gotten the scholarship offer from Texas A&M that allowed her to escape Chicago.

  “I can get a certified check when the banks open. I’ll be driving my pretty baby out of here.”

  A heavy hand fell on her shoulder and she spun around, her heart pounding. To her relief, it wasn’t Theo. Walt Lassiter stood in front of her, his jaw tight as he thrust a piece of paper at her. Looking down, she gasped at the sight of cream paper embedded with the legalese of a car title.

  “Sophie says you’re good for a personal check, but you’re going to give her a good home, right? No driving her through snow and salt.”

  She stood on her toes to reach and kissed his bristly cheek as the gentleman with the card reader notarized the title for them. “Yes, sir. She’ll be treated better than I treat my brothers, and she’ll live in a garage. Did you give her a name?”

  Heaving out a breath, Walt’s shoulders slumped and he gave her a sad smile. “Lolita. She’s my Lolita. But Sophie doesn’t drive a standard transmission, and it’s time to say goodbye to her.”

  “That’s a beautiful name,” she whispered. Her heart ached with sadness for the older couple. “And when you’re better, I’ll sell her back to you for what I paid, but for now, I’ll treat her like my baby.”

  Walt pulled her into his arms, lifting her off the floor and hugging her so tight her ribs creaked. “Just keep her happy. She needs a sweet young thing to fill her with music and life.”

  “Yes, sir. I hope she likes Metallica.”

  Barking out a laugh, Walt said, “She’ll like that just fine, little girl. Enjoy your new car.”

  Within a few minutes, she was the owner of one very sweet ride. Tossing the keys in the air, she grinned as she caught them.

  She walked outside and stared at Lolita, parked in her position of honor next to the patio. Resting her hand on the smooth metal of the driver side fender, she said, “Hey, pretty girl. I’m afraid I don’t have Elwood or Jake riding shotgun, and it’s a little more than a hundred and six miles to Chicago. We’ll get you a full tank of gas, but I’ll pass on the cigarettes and the sunglasses.”

  * * *

  Theo cornered Sophie when the auction ended, tugging her away from well-wishers as she tried to get to Walt.

  “You set me up,” he said, his finger stabbing accusingly toward her tiny face. If he wasn’t afraid Walt would clean his clock for it, he’d turn Sophie over his knee right now.

  “No, I’d say you did that yourself. What possessed you to leave such a gorgeous, brilliant woman behind?”

  “I…” He rubbed a hand over his face. “It’s a Greek thing. You wouldn’t understand. Where is she? I need to send her back home t
o her family before her father kills me. Selene is just a kid and has no business in a place like this.”

  “A place like this?” Sophie’s lips turned down into a scowl. “Is there a hidden implication there?”

  “No!” He raised his hands and backed away. “Of course not! I just meant that she’s probably very sheltered, and the things that happen here would shock her. She needs to get her ass back to her father before he and an army of her male relatives come looking for her.”

  Glaring at him, Sophie said, “I spent the afternoon with her, Theo. I don’t claim to know all her secrets, but the business owner Emma and I talked to is not the woman you’re describing. All she wanted was for you to see what you walked away from. She’s paid her bill and passed on the actual weekend with you. Walt’s probably giving her the title to the Camaro right now.”

  Trying to hide his surprise, he asked, “Where the hell did she get that kind of money?”

  Sophie’s mouth fell open and she barked out a laugh. “You have no idea who she is, do you? You might want to type her name into an internet search before you say anything else.”

  He ignored Sophie’s comment. Selene was too young to have earned enough to buy Walt’s Camaro, and he knew her family didn’t have that kind of money. Her father had his hands full with her. No wonder he was so desperate to marry her off.

  “Never mind.” He dismissed the thoughts with a wave of his hand. “I’m going to find her and send her back home to her family. My mother will never let me hear the end of it if I don’t look after her.”

  Sophie laughed so hard she had to wipe her eyes. “Good luck with that. She mentioned something about heading for Mexico, but her plans might have changed now that she has the Camaro.”

  “That’s impossible. Her father would never have given her permission for that. Does she have any idea how dangerous that is?”

  He ignored Sophie’s snorting laughter and stormed outside toward his vehicle. It was late and there were only a few places in town where she could be spending the night. He’d find her. She knew better than to play these stupid games. No Greek woman he knew would be so quick to get herself in the kind of trouble Selene was courting, and he wondered what had happened to her in the years since he’d last seen her.

  Maybe this was all some twisted trick to drag his ass back to Chicago and make lots of Greek grandchildren for his mother. The thought was far from comforting and his temper grew as he rounded the corner by the parking lot.

  Pulling up short, his focus rested on his brunette petting her new car. Her slim calves flexed as she bent over to hug the hood. Damn, he’d give anything for a pinup of that, but it wasn’t going to happen. She was taking that plump Greek ass back home first thing in the morning.

  She straightened as he approached, but didn’t turn around. “Hello, Theo.”

  Stepping forward, he pinned her against the Camaro with his muscled frame. Forgetting all his carefully ingrained manners, he growled, “Did your father send you here to tempt me back to Chicago? You can tell him it won’t work when you get your butt home where it belongs.”

  Her brown eyes flashed, turning almost black against the parking lot lights as she spun around to face him. Poking a finger in his bare chest, she took a step forward.

  “So many things are wrong with your assumptions, I don’t know where to start. You don’t know me, so I’ll give you a pass this once, but stay the fuck out of my way.”

  Her next step backed him up a little further, and he raised his hands. “Honey, you need to calm down. Your father will be furious if he doesn’t know you came all the way to Montana to look for me—”

  Selene tossed her hair over her shoulder, revealing the ink peeking from behind the strap of her dress. Where else was she tattooed? His imagination ran away with the idea, and he nearly missed what she said next.

  “My father has no idea where I am because I’m a grown woman and I don’t have time to ask his permission to leave town. The other thing you don’t know is that I didn’t come here looking for you, so get that idea right out of your swelled head. I had a client visit and happened to meet up with Sophie and Emma in the coffee shop.”

  “I—”

  “Not done yet.” She jingled the keys in her hand. “This whole evening was a wonderful event. It was cool to help out such a great couple, and I enjoyed my time here. I got to show you what you lost when you ran like a pussy instead of taking me to lunch. I also got Lolita here.” She petted her car, stroking the metal with gentle fingers.

  Opening the door, she climbed into the driver’s seat. “So yeah, my work here is done. I’ve got vacation coming, and the only one I’m taking home is Lolita.”

  Once she was seated and the door shut behind her, she rolled down the window. “And great dance, by the way. If being a firefighter doesn’t work out for you, I’m sure you’ll have a lucrative future as a stripper.”

  Resting her arm on the door frame, she smirked. “See you on the flip side, honey. Don’t forget to work that pole.”

  Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, he watched a twenty-dollar bill flutter to his feet as she started the Camaro. He gave her just enough time to coo lovingly at the four on the tree gear shift before opening the door to yank her disobedient ass out of the car.

  Ignoring her angry screams, he tossed her over his shoulder while she turned into a wildcat of furious Greek temper.

  She kicked and fought his control, and he enjoyed spanking her backside more than he should. Her sweet, curvy bottom bounced perfectly under his palm. His hand rested on her thighs, and he bit back a groan when he felt a swath of smooth skin under the clingy fabric of her dress. He had to stop himself from lifting that skirt to bare her pretty ass to his discipline.

  Hands off… this little wildcat was meant for a good Mediterranean boy who would care for her while she stayed at home and tended to family, and he needed to teach her the importance of obedience. Given her snarky attitude, old man Alexiou had indulged her for too long.

  With her struggling body firmly placed over his shoulder, he ignored her screeches and walked away from the Camaro. His friends would tell him later that he’d growled like a grizzly bear claiming his mate.

  * * *

  Theo’s feral growl shot shudders down her body, and she fought a futile battle to get away from his ironclad grasp. “Dammit, Theo! Put me down already!”

  Ignoring her, he shut off the Camaro and pocketed her keys before dropping his second hard connection to her upturned backside. The stinging slap reverberated loudly in the evening air, earning him an angry snarl as she continued to pound on his back.

  “Theo, God dammit! That hurt!”

  “It’s supposed to hurt, Selene,” he said dryly. “Stop being a brat and mind what I say, and we won’t have to go through this.”

  She flushed in humiliation that matched the stinging on her ass when he approached a cluster of firefighters who were clearly getting an eyeful.

  He held out the keys to her car. “Can someone drive the Camaro to my place?”

  “No! Nobody touches her!” she screamed from her precarious position on his shoulder. “You’ll mess up her gears and get the seats all gross!”

  Walt chuckled and plucked the keys from Theo’s hand. “I’ll drive it to your place unless Dr. Alexiou pulls her safeword. It’s about consensual fun, Theo… not caveman discipline.”

  She lifted her head and tried to peer around his broad back. “Fuck a safeword. I’ll call the cops and report it stolen if anybody touches that car.”

  Theo swatted her backside again, and she bit her tongue to hold back a cry of pain. “Ladies don’t swear,” he scolded firmly. “Especially good little Greek girls.”

  “Are you kidding me? Have you met my brothers? How do you think I survived that childhood?”

  When she tried to wiggle away from him, he rested his hand on her ass, the soothing touch sending heat into her core, and she was unable to claw back a whimper of pleasure.

  “I�
��ll give you that,” he agreed, “but lose the f-bombs or you’re going to have a sore bottom for your flight home. I’ll bare it right here if you give me any more attitude.”

  Given her current predicament, the threat was more than believable. “Are you done? Just put me down. I want to take my car and go home.”

  Finally setting her on the ground, he kept a good grasp on her arm. “You aren’t listening, Selene. You’re going to stay with me tonight so I can assure your father that I kept an eye on you during this half-assed trip of yours. Assuming your father allows you to keep the car, I’ll find someone to ship it to Chicago after I put you on a plane.” His hand tightened on her arm. “And if your father doesn’t give his permission, you’re going to owe Walt and Sophie an apology.”

  His paternalistic assumptions stole the vituperative reply right from her mouth. Granted, she’d dropped a good sum of money on that car, but his insulting and hurtful demands made angry tears well in her eyes.

  “Do you even hear yourself, Theo?” Her voice was quiet and resigned, and she hated how weak she sounded. “You sound just like my father, but at least my father has enough sense to know I’m way too close to thirty to be called a child. I own a home and a successful business, go to work every day to a job I love, and pay my own bills.”

  He responded by tightening his hand around her elbow as he walked toward the edge of the parking lot, so she continued to rant.

  “Maybe you’re comparing me to your sisters. I don’t know. But I do know that I’m not them. I’m not going to waste my life waiting for a man to push me under his thumb and treat me like an infant. I left the old neighborhood to save myself from all of that.”

  A car door opened, and he lifted her into the passenger seat of a black pickup. Without a word, he shut the door and walked to the driver’s side and climbed behind the wheel. The engine gave a rumble and coughed once as it started. Looking straight forward, he pulled out of the parking lot to the long driveway that headed back to town.