Libby's Fireman

by Tracey Steinbach

  LIBBY’S FIREMAN

  Tracey Steinbach

  Erotic Romance

  Secret Cravings Publishing

  www.secretcravingspublishing.com

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2013 © Tracey Steinbach

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  A Secret Cravings Publishing Book

  Erotic Romance

  Libby’s Fireman

  Copyright © 2013 Tracey Steinbach

  E-book ISBN: 978-1-61885-736-1

  First E-book Publication: June 2013

  Cover design by Dawné Dominique

  Edited by Leslie Fish

  Proofread by Ariana Gaynor

  All cover art and logo copyright © 2013 by Secret Cravings Publishing

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  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

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  LIBBY’S FIREMAN

  Tracey Steinbach

  Copyright © 2013

  Prologue

  Jack put the last of the dishes away and hung the towel to dry. In a half hour or so, the kindergarten class from the elementary school would be at the fire station for their tour. He always volunteered to be on shift when they were scheduled; he loved seeing their eyes light up in wonder. And some of them came up with the most inventive questions.

  Jack went to the fridge and got out the gallons of punch he’d picked up for the kids. While he got the cups set out and the drinks poured, Hank walked into the kitchen.

  “Need any help?” he asked Jack.

  “You can get the cookies out if you want. Thanks.” Jack grinned.

  Hank went to the counter and brought the cartons of cookies to the table. He opened them and started setting the cookies out on trays. “How many are we expecting? You have enough cookies here to feed the entire station plus the cops next door.” He laughed.

  “I think there are twenty kids in the class, plus the teacher, plus the parent chaperones. I wanted to make sure we had plenty.” Jack shrugged.

  “Show time, boys. Kids are here.” Mac poked his head around the corner. He always volunteered to be on shift for these visits too. Mac loved kids. He and his wife had been trying for a while to have some of their own, but so far, nothing. Jack felt for the guy.

  Jack and Hank quickly finished setting the snacks out, and went to meet the kids and their teacher. “Hi kids! Welcome! I’m Jack, and this is Hank.” They led the kids through the station, Jack and Hank taking turns explaining things and fielding questions.

  One of the little girls caught Jack’s eye while he was explaining about the fireman’s pole. She had a look of intense concentration on her face, and he wondered what she was thinking. Looking away from the child, he saw one of the chaperones smile at him—and their eyes locked. Pretty lady, he thought. She’s one of the moms, Jack. Dad is probably at work. He broke the eye contact and led the way to the kitchen and snacks.

  A tug at his shirt had Jack looking down. The same little girl that had been staring at the pole with such concentration was trying to get his attention. He crouched down in front of her. “What is it, sweetie?”

  “Where is the bathroom? I have to go.”

  Jack noticed her dancing foot-to-foot, and straightened. “I’ll show you, but we need your mommy or the teacher.”

  The little girl turned to say ‘Mommy’ just loud enough that the woman Jack had been admiring earlier turned in their direction. She hurried over. “What is it?
What’s wrong?”

  Jack grinned. “Nothing bad, I promise. Your little angel here just asked for a bathroom, and I didn’t want to just disappear with her.”

  The mom looked relieved, then smiled. “Thank you. If you just point me in the right direction, I’ll take her.”

  Jack pointed down the hallway. “First door on your left.”

  * * * *

  A half hour later, the kids were all loaded on the school bus and the station was quiet again. In a fire station, quiet is a good thing—unless you have a group of kindergarteners hanging around.

  Chapter One

  Jack was driving home when the call came over the CB. Six year old female child stuck in a tree on the fifteen hundred block of Walnut Street. He flipped the switch on the dash of the pickup truck and did a U-turn in the middle of the street.

  If there was one thing Jack couldn’t resist, it was kids. He didn’t have any of his own, mostly due to the fact that he’d never found a woman that he cared for enough to marry, but he volunteered every year to help with Toys For Tots, took part in every Poker Run for the local children’s hospital, and donated half his income tax check to Make a Wish. He even took his niece and nephew for a week at the end of summer. They went to amusement parks, the zoo and the beach. His sister always gave him hell for spoiling them when he brought the kids home, but she still sent them every summer. They went home with bags of school supplies and new clothes for school. He didn’t mind. It wasn’t as if he had anyone else to spend the money on, and it helped the family.

  Jack sped down the street, turning onto Walnut. He saw a police car already parked out front with his lights flashing. Jack pulled up behind him and jumped out of the truck. “Where is she?” he asked the cop. The cop pointed toward the back yard, and Jack took off at a jog.

  When he rounded the house, Jack stopped dead in his tracks. Sitting there, about ten feet up in the air, was a little girl in a tree. She had a huge grin on her dirty face and what looked to be a Barbie doll in her hand. Jack had been expecting to find a scared little girl, crying for her mommy. He shook his head and grinned when the little girl waved at him. He waved back and started for the tree. “Hi. I’m Jack. What’s your name, honey?” Jack asked, looking up at her.

  “Libby,” she answered. “Are you a fireman?”

  Jack nodded. “I am. You met me the other day, when you came to see the fire station. Whatcha doin’ up there, Libby?” Jack had his hands braced on his hips while his mind raced through possible ways to get the little girl out of the tree.

  “Oh! I remember you! You showed mommy where the bathroom was. I’m playing with my Barbie. She has wings, so I wanted to see if she could fly. Catch!” Libby dropped the Barbie doll from her hands. Her little eyes were watching intently to see if Barbie could fly—and if not, to make sure Jack caught her. He did.

  Libby’s shoulders sagged a little bit and she blew out a breath. “Thank you for catching her, Jack.” Her disappointment was plain to see.

  Jack opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted. “Elizabeth!" a woman's voice shouted. "What are you doing in that tree again? I told you it’s too high!”

  Jack pivoted to the side, keeping one eye on Libby while he watched the little girl’s mom come running up. A teenage girl that Jack hadn’t noticed came running over with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Miss Fields! I only went inside to get us popsicles, and when I came out, she was up there! I didn’t know what to do!”

  “Tiffany, honey, calm down. I don’t blame you for this. Libby knows better.” Miss Fields turned back to the tree. “I think you’ve scared everybody quite enough today, don’t you?”

  Libby looked contrite for the first time since Jack had arrived. “Yes, Mommy.” Libby started to turn around and shimmy her way back down the tree.

  Jack walked over and plucked her off when she was within reach. He knelt down in front of her. “Climbing trees is fun, right?” Libby nodded, grinning. “I think so, too. But it can be dangerous. You need to be a little bigger before you climb so high, okay?”

  Libby considered for a minute and then nodded. “Okay, but when I get bigger, I’m going to climb the trees again.”

  Jack smiled. “I don’t doubt that for one second.” He stood up and ruffled her hair.

  Libby skipped over to her mom. “I won’t climb no more, mommy. Not until I get big.”

  Jack walked over to Miss Fields. “Everything seems to be back to normal. We’ll get out of your way.”

  Miss Fields stuck her hand out. “I’m so sorry that you had to come over here for no reason.”

  Jack shook her hand and smiled. “No problem, ma’am.” He headed for his truck, got in, smiled and shook his head as he turned the key. That little girl was a handful, but damned if she wasn’t the cutest kid he’d ever seen.

  The mom—Miss Fields—wasn’t too bad, either. Her wavy brown hair had highlights of red when the sun hit it just right and brushed her shoulders. Her eyes were a rich chocolate, which he just knew would sparkle when she smiled.

  * * * *

  The next day, Jack was finishing up the dishes from lunch when the dispatch officer came around the corner. “Jack, you have a call on line two. She says her name is…Libby?” He gave Jack a grin before disappearing back around the corner.

  Jack frowned. He only knew one Libby, and she was six years old. Why would she be calling? He walked to the nearest phone and hit line two. “Hello?”

  “Jack, this is Libby. Do you remember me? You catched my Barbie yesterday.”

  “I do remember you, Libby. And I remember your Barbie. Is something wrong, honey?” he asked, with his brow still furrowed.

  “No. Can you come play with me? You said you liked to climb trees. Could you see if my horse can fly? He has wings like Barbie…” Her soft voice trailed off.

  Jack was grinning. “I would love to come play with you. I have to work for a little while longer, but when I’m done I can come over. Will it be okay with your mom?”

  Libby squealed. “It’s okay with my mom. I already asked her. I’ll see you in a little bit, Jack!” Libby hung up before Jack could say another word.

  * * * *

  Jack climbed into his truck when his shift was over. He’d had some time to think about the phone call from Libby, and he thought he had a plan. He drove the truck toward the hardware store before he went to meet Libby.

  Jack pulled in the Fields’ driveway, and shut off the truck. He started around to the back when Libby came running out. “Jack!”

  Then he had arms full of squealing little girl. He propped her on his hip while he pointed to the bed of his truck. “I brought you something.”

  Libby leaned over and looked. She scrunched up her face and looked at Jack. “What is it?”

  “How would you like a little playhouse out back? We’ll put a window in, so you can check all your people and animals for flying. How does that sound?” Jack grinned at her while he watched her mind work.

  “You’re going to build me a playhouse?” She threw her arms around Jack’s neck and hugged him tight. “You are my bestest friend ever, Jack.”

  Jack laughed and hugged her back. “Now, I won’t be able to finish it tonight, but I have a couple of my friends from the fire station coming tomorrow morning to put it up, okay?”

  Libby nodded. “Okay! Can I help?” Libby squirmed to get down, then took Jack’s hand. “Mommy made us a snack.”

  Jack followed Libby to the front door. He stepped inside, letting her drag him through the house. When they reached the kitchen, Libby’s mom had her back turned while she prepared something on the counter.

  “I hope you like macaroni and…” Her voice trailed off when she turned around and saw Jack with Libby. Jack could see the surprise on her face. Evidently, Libby hadn’t told her mom that Jack was coming.

  Jack’s gaze never left her face. She wasn’t exactly beautiful, but more cute in a high-school-sweetheart kind of way. Her hair was tied back in a pony-tail, lea
ving the whole of her face open to him. He watched as her face flushed in what he assumed was embarrassment. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I don’t want to intrude. I’ll just go.”

  Jack tried to pull his hand from Libby’s, but she was having none of it. He tore his gaze from Libby’s mom to look down. Libby was looking back up at him with big eyes that he was sure were about to fill with tears. “You can’t go! We haven’t played yet!”

  Libby turned to look at her mom. “Mommy, please! You said I could have a friend over. Jack’s my friend!”

  Libby’s mom approached them and stuck out her hand. “I guess you might as well call me Tara. I hope you like macaroni and cheese.” Tara smiled at him.

  Jack flashed her a crooked grin and shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Tara—and mac and cheese is one of my favorites.”

  * * * *

  Jack stayed for dinner, laughing and getting to know Tara and Libby. After dinner, he took Libby outside and played with her until just past dark. Libby held up her jar of lightening bugs to Jack. “Do you want to take them home?”