by Tasha Blue
THE FIREMAN'S BABY
A BWWM PREGNANCY ROMANCE By..
TASHA BLUE
Copyright Notice
Tasha Blue
The Fireman's Baby © 2015, Tasha Blue
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Summary
Laura Clark just wanted a bit of fun. A no-strings attached hook-up that could help her forget all about the stresses of her non-existent love life.
But nothing in life is ever that simple.
Laura had always been a good girl and she had never had a one night stand. But after a string of failed relationships she was feeling down and lonely.
So when she spotted sexy fireman Daniel showing up to attend to a fire across the street she found it hard to stop biting her lip.
Those muscles, those pecs, those lips.
She knew he was a man who could bring the bad girl out in her and give her the sexual release that she so needed. And she was right.
When Daniel flirted with her the chemistry was electric and soon one thing began to lead to another.
However, Laura had no idea that this one night stand would turn into something much more. Now with a baby on the way she has to try and contact the father to tell him the news.
How will Daniel react to this? And will Laura end up keeping the fireman's baby?
Contents
Chapter1
Chapter2
Chapter3
Chapter4
Chapter5
Chapter6
Chapter7
Chapter8
Chapter9
Chapter1
Laura sat cross-legged on her sofa and stared blankly at the pages of her magazine. It was a hot, dry afternoon, a few weeks before the start of summer and the heat was making her restless. That morning she’d d roamed from room to room, fanning herself with her magazine until she'd finally let herself fall down onto the sofa and mindlessly open the pages. Usually she loved turning the glossy pages and reading all about the latest fashion trends and celebrity gossip, but this afternoon her mind was elsewhere. She used to get excited looking at the pictures of beautiful dresses and shoes, back when she'd had a reason to get dressed up, but it had been so long since she'd had anywhere to go, or, more to the point, anyone to go with, that looking at all the sexy clothes just made her feel depressed.
When the phone began to ring, Laura smiled. Her best friend Sophie always seemed to have a way of reading her mind. Best friends since their school years, Sophie seemed to have an instinct for girl talk, which was like some sort of radar that could sense when a friend needed to lament over being single or complain about another guy who was being a jerk. Sophie's radar never failed and it was spot-on again tonight. When Laura picked up the phone, she was ready for a good, long moan about being single and Sophie was ready to listen.
“I know six months isn’t that long to be on your own,” Laura told her with a heavy sigh, as she stared at the image of a stunning woman advertising lipstick, who undoubtedly had a string of men lining up for her. “But I just get sick of it. It's insane. Every time I'm with a guy, I get fed up with him after five minutes, but whenever I'm on my own, I get lonely.”
“You only get fed up with the men you date because you exclusively date losers,” Sophie told her in that tone of voice she had whenever she was giving wise advice to her wayward friends. “Do you remember Connor? Absolute moron.”
“Connor wasn't that bad,” Laura replied defensively. “He was just finding himself.”
“Pfft,” Sophie scoffed. “He found himself in Rachel Holloway's bed, didn't he?”
“Don't remind me,” Laura moaned. “But that was a long time ago. At least we were together for more than a week. Now I'm stuck in this endless cycle of awful first dates where I either hate them or they hate me and I just end up feeling awful about myself. Is it me, Soph?”
“Hmm, well, let's see,” Sophie analyzed matter-of-factly. “There was that mechanic who showed up to the date still in his overalls and covered in grease. Where did he take you again?”
“The Vermont Arms,” Laura recalled and pulled a face at the memory. The Vermont Arms was the dingiest, most run-down and disgusting bar in the worst part of town. When James had suggested meeting there, Laura had assumed it was just a local spot that was easy to find and that they'd move on for a nice meal or movie somewhere else. She couldn't have been more wrong.
“The Vermont Arms,” Sophie repeated meaningfully. “And when you wouldn't drink a fifth vodka and coke because you wanted to keep control of your senses, he called you frigid and left you there, and then you walked home alone through that sketchy area because the taxi driver looked sleazy. I think we'll call that one a lucky escape.”
“I thought David was pretty nice,” Laura said. “You know, the dentist.”
Laura could hear Sophie shudder over the phone.
“He'd had so much work done on his teeth that he looked like a walking set of dentures,” she stated. “You told me that it felt like kissing a horse.”
“At least he wanted to kiss me,” Laura said dejectedly.
“What, are you thinking about Ray now?” Sophie guessed.
“He was so good looking,” Laura said with a dreamy tone coming into her voice. “His shoulders were so wide and his abs—just wow. You could see them through his shirt. You know how I just die for a six-pack on a man.”
“Great! Except you said he spoke on his phone the whole time, and then said that you weren't his type after you sat there for an hour waiting for him to pay attention to you,” Sophie reasoned. “Seriously Laura, you need to raise your standards a bit and stop mooning over guys who just aren't worth your time. Everyone you've been on a date with in the last six months has been a loser. They've either been unemployed, already in a relationship or they are arrogant, rude, or boring. You are a sexy, fun, and interesting woman, Laura. Why should you waste your time on that type of guy?”
“I know, I know,” Laura sighed, flopping back onto the couch and staring at the ceiling. “I just miss having someone there, you know? Ever since Connor moved out, that bed has just been this huge empty space that mocks me and I hate it. What I wouldn't give to have some nice, handsome guy to curl up with at the end of the day, rather than just sitting here on my own, staring out the window.”
“Trust me, Laura, there's nothing wrong with having some time on your own,” Sophie advised her. “What about your business? I thought you wanted to concentrate on that for a while.”
Laura owned a gift card shop in town and it was her pride and joy. Nobody ever seemed
particularly enthusiastic when she told them about her dream business, but Laura loved her work. She loved spending hours picking out which cards she would feature on her boutique shelves.
She loved chatting with the local girls who made beautiful greeting cards with tiny little bows and crystals, and carefully selecting the most beautiful for her store.
She loved talking with the customers and engaging in conversation. She had been dealing with some of her customers for so many years now, that she even knew whose birthday it was as soon as Mrs. Thompson walked into the store to buy a card for her grandson, or Mr. Davis came to buy another anniversary card for his wife. Laura liked the little insights she had into the lives and loves of the local community and she loved being her own boss.
“I know,” Laura repeated, “and I do want to concentrate on it, but after a long day of seeing everyone else buying anniversary cards, or engagement cards, or birthday cards for their wives, it just feels so depressing to come home to an empty house. Do you know how bad it was in February? It felt like I was the only single person in this whole town.”
Sophie laughed lightly on the other end of the phone. “I don't know why you worry so much,” she said. “I like being single.”
“Yes, but you're good at it,” Laura complained. “You've got that blonde-haired blue-eyed tall model look going on. You've got your pick of men.”
“You could have your pick too, if you realized how hot you are,” Sophie told her. “But you stopped being fun after college.”
“I was working on my business,” Laura said defensively.
“Yes, I get that,” Sophie replied, “but you stopped getting out and about. You lost the knack for it.”
“You think I don't know that?” Laura laughed. “Every time a handsome man talks to me, I get all flustered. I can never really believe that they're interested in me.”
“Then that's your problem,” Sophie told her wisely. “You don't take control of your body. How is a guy meant to know how sexy you are if you don't know it?”
“Well, what do you suggest?” Laura asked her. “Should I just start jumping into bed with people?”
“In my experience, it doesn't hurt now and then,” Sophie chuckled. “I'm not saying that a string of wild encounters is the answer, Laura, but you need to find some way to let loose a little bit and stop looking for this clean cut, sensible man who isn't going to make any waves in ‘the plan.’”
Laura could hear the sarcasm in Sophie's voice as she said the last two words. “The plan” was Laura's life plan, which she'd had in place since she was sixteen. She would graduate college, start a business, and then find a man to settle down with and marry, all in good time. They would date for two to three years, be engaged for another two, and then marry when she was twenty-seven. Of course, she'd just turned thirty now, so was a little behind schedule, but that just made her even more obsessed with getting “the plan” back on track.
“Hey, I like having a plan,” she said defensively. “It's nice to know what's coming.”
“Except you don't know,” Sophie told her meaningfully. “You keep waiting for this guy who is going to fit into this mold you've already made and it means that the perfect guy is going to pass you by because you're too scared to shake things up a little.”
“You don't know that,” Laura replied uneasily. “Besides, if he doesn't fit into the plan, then he wouldn't be perfect anyway.”
“Do you remember Jan and Harry?” Sophie asked her.
“Of course I do.”
“Well, you know they're getting married this year, don't you?”
“Yes,” Laura said. “I was annoyed that I wasn't invited.”
“Forget that,” Sophie said. “The point is, Jan was top of our class. The high-flying know-it-all with impossible ambition. We all thought she was going to end up with Edward, because he was at the top of his class and they used to speak to each other in that weird, formal way that made everyone else uncomfortable, but at the same time it was kind of cute, because they just seemed to fit together. Do you remember?”
“You know I do.”
“Well, who did Jan end up with?” Sophie prompted, before emphatically answering the question herself. “Harry. And you know why? Because he got her out of the library and out of her comfort zones and then she lost the ponytail and finally became bearable.”
“I think I know now why neither of us got an invite.” Laura chuckled.
“Listen to me, Laura,” Sophie insisted. “Jan thought she knew what she wanted, but it wasn't the guy who fit into her plan. It was the guy who came out of nowhere and showed her what she was missing, and we all liked her so much better after that because she just learned to take life as it comes. They're going to India for the honeymoon to see some guru or something.”
“Maybe I should go to India,” Laura mused. “Perhaps there are more men out there.”
Sophie laughed. “Just think about it, Laura,” she encouraged. “Stop going for men who look good on paper, or the safe bets, or just settling for losers because you're too frightened to act on a real attraction. Trust me. The best sex I've ever had has been with strangers.”
“You're a bit wilder than I am, Soph,” Laura replied fondly. “I'm a traditionalist.”
“Everyone uses the word ‘traditionalist’ when they mean boring or just plain chicken,” Sophie told her matter-of-factly.
“So I'm chicken,” Laura confessed. “I just don't have whatever it is that makes men go crazy. I don't know how to pout or anything.”
“Pout?” Sophie laughed. “Like a fish? Men don't want a girl who pouts.”
“What do they want then?”
“They want a woman who’s sexy and knows it,” she told her. “They want a woman who knows how to play the game. The chase is part of the fun, so she's got to know how to strike the balance between making him know she's open for business without giving it all away too soon; you know what I mean? That kind of control is sexy.”
“I'm almost one hundred percent positive that you're quoting Cosmo now,” Laura told her.
Sophie burst out laughing. “Of course I am. What do I know about women's power play? We both know that I don't hold back.”
Laura smiled fondly. She and Sophie’d had such fun in college when they were both young and single, although Sophie had always had more luck than her. They would go out together to clubs and bars and while Sophie would be having guys buying her drinks in minutes, Laura would loiter by the doors and wonder how anyone could hit on someone else in a club without feeling the cringe of putting everything out there.
It's because Sophie had it. Laura didn't know what it was exactly, but it seemed to her to be some kind of magical connection that made everything else fade into the background and two people be oblivious to the world around them, because they were so attracted to the other person, that the rest of the world disappeared.
It had seemed to her that Sophie was good at seeking out this connection and entrancing men with her body and eyes. Laura was much more demure in her mannerisms. Maybe it was because whenever she had gone partying in the past, she had gone with Sophie, and how could she compare to her best friend who was slim, blonde, and beautiful in every way?
Not that Laura was unattractive. She, too, was slim, with a fair-sized chest and beautiful dark hair that spilled over her shoulders. She also had gorgeous, deep mahogany skin and these incredible dark eyes with a depth to them and an allure that many men found intimidating, although Laura didn't know this about herself.
It was the length of her naturally thick, dark lashes which did it. It gave her the ability to stop a man in his tracks with a glance, but underneath that gaze was a shy, slightly awkward woman who didn't understand that there was a certain power in that gaze, or if her body was only able to do what her glances could, she would have the ability to devastate men.
“I wish I had your confidence, Soph,” Laura said honestly. “It's not that I'm against the idea of that one wild night wit
h a man, but when I think of myself acting that way—all seductive—I just laugh at myself. I have the sex appeal of a mango.”
Sophie laughed at her. “I've never understood you,” she sighed. “You have no idea how hot you are. Guys in our business classes used to eye you up and down all the time and you were just oblivious. You could have any guy you want and you end up with the James and Rays of this world because you don't know it.”
“I just wish I could meet one good guy,” Laura said longingly. “I wish I could meet just one handsome man with a steady job who didn't bore me to death.”
“You've got to get out there, girl,” Sophie advised. “You're not going to meet him at a card shop or at your mother's house.”
“I don't know,” Laura said playfully. “My mom has got some pretty attractive friends.”
They both laughed. Laura's mother was in her mid-sixties and she'd met most of her current friends at the bingo hall. If Laura was looking for a sugar daddy, she'd probably want to look elsewhere.
Still, Laura felt better speaking to Sophie. Sophie had a way of always knowing what to say to cheer her up and today was no exception. Even after she'd put the phone down, Sophie's advice rang in her ears. The truth was, Laura was sick of the dullness of her love life. She didn't believe that being single should be able to drive a girl insane with boredom, but the cycle of first dates was mundane and predictable, to say the least. Even the guys who weren't complete nightmares still failed to excite or enthrall her. Laura had become bored with men.
The young woman sighed at the thought and lazily flicked her eyes to the window of her house as she carried on talking with her friend. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright when she noticed the smoke rising from the building across the street and the tall, dancing flames crackling just opposite her own home.
“Oh my God, Sophie, the house across the street is on fire!” she gasped. “I'll call you back.”
