“Yeah, it’s totally him! Dax Munro. He came here to talk me into the endorsement deal with Hacksmore.”
“Did he talk you into some other things?” Ash asked with a wink.
“I mean, we kissed, and it was like…wow, but that was it. I didn’t really know what to do after that.”
“I think you could have figured it out.”
“No doubt about that. It felt good, just…he sort of came out of nowhere and surprised me, not only with that, but the stuff about the deal. And now he’s off in Los Angeles.”
“You’re going there to sign this deal, so I imagine you’re gonna see him.”
“Yeah, we’ll see each other for that.”
“Now I definitely know why you want to know what dick tastes like. Hopefully you’ll be enjoying that sooner than later.” We shared a laugh. “I say you just give it a try. It’s not gonna taste bad. I love sucking Beau’s dick.”
“I’m overthinking it, aren’t I?”
“Maybe blue-balling a little bit, man?” he teased, starting like he was going to pat my shoulder. “Oh shit. Don’t want to get this crud all over you. If someone’s gonna get you all messy, it needs to be Dax Munro. I’m glad you asked me about it, even if that was the weirdest possible way you could have asked me about liking a guy.”
I laughed. “Thanks for being cool about it. This might actually be my official first coming-out conversation too. Maybe I should just get a shirt that says: ‘Prolly bi’?”
“Eh, it sounds more like: ‘Definitely bi-curious.’”
“Or, ‘Hi, I’m a need-to-google-this-a-bit-more sexual.’”
He snickered before adding, “Beau thinks it’s gonna suck not having you down at the station while you’re doing this campaign. You know we expect you to hang with us every once in a while.”
“I totally will. The guys are my family.”
“We’re all ready to support you. It’s really cool what you’re doing for the Fever Fight campus.”
“Eh, it’s what I can do. I’m glad this company’s been flexible with letting me work a little bit longer so that we could figure out scheduling and everything. Now back to the pressing issue at hand: is this internal leak in Nance’s car gonna be hard to fix?”
He gritted his teeth. “I’ll just say I think your sexual preferences were a much easier issue to resolve than this leak. It’s gonna be a bit of work. I’ll get Beau to grab some stuff for me and get it done this week, though. How’s that?”
“Perfect!”
“Meanwhile, you keep me posted on how it goes with that dick.”
I laughed. “Will do.”
Like with most things in life, I was just going to have to figure it out. And hell, if I could run into a burning building, I could definitely manage getting a cock in my mouth and figuring out what that was like.
9
Dax
“You’re meeting up with Hottie Firefighter this afternoon?” Carter asked as he lounged in a chair in my suite at the London hotel we were staying at. I’d met with him after breakfast to go over the itinerary for the weekend. Hacksmore wouldn’t be arriving for our meeting until the following day, so we had some time to chat and go over everything. “And I can’t come?”
“It’s just cocktails, and we’ll be discussing details about his contract and his obligations with Hacksmore Designs,” I replied, a little annoyed that Carter was even asking about it.
“As long as I get to come to the first photoshoot with him and his Shar-Pei, I’m fine.”
“Mac, you mean?”
“Oh, that’s right. Mac. That’s such a cute name. Yes, I expect to be on set. I’ll fetch Hottie Firefighter coffee…protein bars…act as a fluffer.”
“His name’s Jace, not Hottie Firefighter.” I’d meant that to come out far less hostile than it had, but there was this defensive part of me that wanted to at least remind Carter that Jace was a person, not just some hot viral image for his enjoyment. That was part of the cruelty of celebrity status, something Jace had a taste of but couldn’t know the full repercussions just yet. They would not see him, the human being, the man who was interested in using this money to do something authentic, from the goodness of his heart. He would just be a set of abs at their disposal. He would be as much of a product as the clothes he’d be wearing for Hacksmore.
“I know his name,” Carter said. “What is he doing with the Shar-Pei while he’s here?”
“He’s at home with his mom.”
“Oh my God. That’s even more precious.”
They’re gonna eat him alive, was all I kept thinking. Hacksmore wasn’t wrong about Jace’s appeal, and what people had seen so far was just the tip of the iceberg. They wanted his realness, his coolness, his friendliness, and the moment they were presented with even more of it, they would want to leech every good quality he exuded, in the worst possible way imaginable.
“Okay, go hop in Grindr or something and find some good London cock. I need to reread a few things and start planning out the details for my pitch of how the rest of this campaign is going to go down. There are events to be scheduled, deadlines to make…”
“Yeah, and surely I don’t need to know about any of these things?”
I rolled my eyes. “Go be butthurt somewhere else.”
He laughed. “Alright, powertop. I’m outta here.”
After he left, I checked my phone and noticed Serena had called.
Three times.
She was on a yoga retreat in India, so I figured I needed to call her while she was available.
Serena answered the phone with, “Does my busy son finally have a moment for his mother?”
“I’ve been swamped. I told you we have Jace Kruse coming in, and are you even supposed to be on your phone? I thought they took those away from you for this?”
“I just brought two and gave them the one that doesn’t work.”
“Doesn’t that defeat the purpose of this little ‘Zen getaway’?”
“Antianxiety meds give me all the Zen I need. I’m only here because Melanie asked.”
I already knew that.
Like my mother, Melanie Harley had been a TV icon in the ’90s. After falling into obscurity in the early 2000s, Melanie spent her free time working on a self-discovery quest that took her across the globe, my mother in tow all too frequently. Their adventures suited me just fine, since Melanie had never been into the drug scene, and she kept my mom clean. We were going on a five-year anniversary on that front, but there was always a lingering fear in the back of my mind because I knew how Serena could get, and one slipup required years of recovery. Although, truly, my mom was always in recovery. It was a lifelong journey. And as much as we’ve had our differences in the past, that was something I empathized with.
“You should come and do one of these retreats sometime,” she went on. “I think it’d be good for you. You’d have a chance to relax. You’re always sounding so stressed out these days. Even now, you sound like your nerves are wracked.”
“That’s because I’m talking to you.”
She enjoyed a laugh before saying, “Don’t be so snippy, Dax. Something must be working on your nerves right now.”
“This is a major endorsement deal I’m working on at the moment.”
“Yes, even Melanie was talking about it. Evidently, you’re a big deal in a behind-the-scenes way.”
“Where I prefer to be.” She was always discussing my career as though, because I didn’t live my life in front of the camera, I was somehow missing out on what life was really about.
“You say that, but Melanie was talking to her agent, and they’re casting for this new action series. Looking for a sexy, studly guy—”
“Serena, what have I told you about doing this?”
“You would be so perfect for the role, though! You’ve always been such a fabulous combination of my charm and your father’s eyes.”
I never understood why she mentioned the bastard who’d wanted nothing to do wi
th either of us, and certainly never anything to do with me. She must’ve been able to tell by how I quieted down that I was annoyed, because she quickly followed with, “What did I say? Oh, I’m sorry that I want my son to be successful.”
“I am successful. In my own industry, thank you very much. I don’t need to have your dream.”
“Okay, okay. I won’t push, especially while you’re on edge over this deal.”
“Right now, I’m on edge because of you, but that’s fine.”
I heard someone talking near Serena, and she added, “It’s one of the yoga instructors. I’m not sure what he’s saying, but looks like he wants me to get off the phone.”
“Have fun in Zen hell,” I told her.
“Send good vibes and a cake with a file. Love you.”
“Okay, bye,” I said, snickering as I hung up.
I’d heard my phone buzz while we were chatting, so I checked my messages.
JACE: Ooh, this is a nice room. Better than the one you had in Fever Falls, that’s for sure.
It was just what I needed after chatting with my mother.
Oh, he was going to be living a very different life now that he’d signed on to the project.
ME: Enjoy it. I’m working, and then I was going to meet you in the bar.
JACE: Cool. I was going to see what sightseeing stuff I needed to do. It’s my first time in London.
I froze. I didn’t know what possessed me, but in trying to pull all this together, I hadn’t even considered the possibility that Jace might have never been to London.
I glanced at my laptop, but then my gaze shifted back to the message.
ME: Take a quick shower and text me when you’re ready to go out.
Work was going to have to wait.
He texted me when he was ready, and I headed down to the lobby. When the elevator doors opened, I stepped out and walked around a corner, seeing him near the reception desk, searching around.
A polo fit snug around his bulky form, and his jeans showed off that curve in his rear. I figured I’d be eager to see him, and the chemistry he’d stirred that night in my hotel room awakened once again as I felt a shift in the crotch of my pants.
When I caught his gaze, he gave me a once-over, a grin spreading across his face.
“Hey, there, sharp stuff,” he said.
“How’s my Hottie Firefighter?” I asked, offering a hug.
I was surprised I’d just called him the very thing I’d been so frustrated with Carter for saying, but he was one hell of a hottie firefighter.
As I pulled away, he said, “I’m assuming you’ve been to London before.”
“Yes, I’ve been to London.”
“You’ve been to a lot of places, I guess.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I’m gonna be real. I’m starving right now, so do you mind if I grab a bite first?”
“There’s an amazing restaurant around the corner. We can head over there, and then we’ll go see Big Ben, maybe the Tower of London. You just let me know what you want to see, and I’ll take you there.”
“Really?” he asked, glancing me up and down the way he had before.
I burst into laughter. Of course I wanted to mess around with Jace. Anything with a pulse would have wanted to mess around with the guy.
I knew we couldn’t do more than that, knew we had to draw the line, because fuck if I was getting involved with some guy who was about to skyrocket into fame, but after that kiss, there wasn’t a thing in the goddamn world that was going to keep me from finding a way to have that again…and so much more.
One time in college. That kept playing again and again in my mind.
However, as much as I may have wanted to just take him back to my room and scratch this itch, I wasn’t going to let him miss out on an impressive city because I was a greedy motherfucker.
“Trust me,” I told him, “you save the sights that are easiest to see for last.”
I set my hand on his shoulder, guided him to the main entrance of the hotel, and we took to the streets.
Jace glanced around, clearly trying to take it all in. I told him a little about where things were located, possible ways that we could make our way around town, and then we reached the restaurant, and the host ushered us to a table.
“This is kind of nice,” I said as I looked around the familiar restaurant.
“What’s that?”
“When we met, I was the one out of my element in your hometown, in your fire station, which God knows that was the first time I’d ever been in one of those. But now the tables have turned.”
“I’ve never minded being out of my element.” Jace had this determined expression on his face, like he knew exactly what he wanted, and it reminded me of his comment in the hotel lobby.
“Yeah, doesn’t seem like much of an issue for you. Which is good, because all this looks like it’s going to be slightly outside your norm. How was the station about you heading out, by the way?”
“The guys are all happy for me. They even had a celebration for me leaving for a bit. It was over-the-top, considering I’ll be back, but it was nice that they thought of me. And they are all really cool knowing the money will be going to Fever Fight.”
“I bet. So you already took care of all that?”
“I didn’t make any promises or anything, but once everything’s signed, I have my uncle set up to help me get the ball rolling. He’s a lawyer, and he’s gonna help me orchestrate getting it all taken care of. I do my own taxes and stuff, but this seemed a lot more than that. I mean, when you said six figures, I was thinking more in the ballpark of a hundred grand, not six hundred.”
“You underestimated how popular you are. Celebrity goes a long way in this business, Jace. Hell, it’s everything.”
The way his forehead scrunched up, it was apparent he was curious about that remark.
“Enough shoptalk, though,” I said. “We can get to that later. How are Nance and Keegan doing? Keegan still giving you hell about being Internet famous?”
He caught me up on the family, and then we ordered drinks and food. When they arrived, he eyed the platter he’d ordered and then my chicken salad. “You think I need to be on a diet or something for these shoots?”
“Are you eating the same as you normally eat, or have the past few meals I’ve seen you consume been larger than normal?”
He pondered that for a moment, then shrugged. “I feel like I’m eating a little less, actually.”
“Then I wouldn’t stress about it,” I said, pouring my lite vinaigrette dressing over my salad, something Jace obviously noticed.
“You hit the gym…what? Three or four times a week?” I asked.
“Gym?” His brows pulled together.
My jaw dropped when Jace threw his head back and enjoyed a laugh. “Oh, come on. I’m fucking with you. Of course I hit the gym. We have a fitness center at the station that I go to during breaks, and between being on the job and going to the gym is how I hang with my buddies. I’d love to say that I could get my body looking like this without working out at all, but no.”
As soon as he finished saying that, he started shoveling spoonfuls of loaded mashed potatoes into his mouth. I mixed my dressing into my chicken salad, but couldn’t help looking over at his potatoes.
“You want some?” he asked. “Come on. You can have some of my delicious loaded mashed potatoes. Just a spoonful won’t kill you.”
“No, I shouldn’t. I’m very good at sticking to my diet.”
He shrugged. “Your loss.” Then he took a bite. “It’s a shame to have so many delicious things in the world if you can’t enjoy them. All I’m saying.”
“I confine my tastetesting to other areas of my life,” I quipped.
“I bet you do.”
* * *
“That was awesome!” Jace exclaimed as we headed into my hotel room.
We’d chatted some more over lunch—Jace about his buddies and family as though I knew each and every
one of them intimately—before we hit the sights: Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and the National History Museum.
Even on our return to the hotel, Jace couldn’t stop talking about the information we learned on the audio tours and posted plaques at our various destinations.
“You learn about these things in history class, but it’s so different when you’re over here. Like that was crazy at the Westminster Abbey, finding out Mary and Elizabeth are stacked right on top of each other. I get that they were sisters, but they hated each other’s religious beliefs, and then that comment about ‘sisters sleeping in hope of the Resurrection.’ That’s kind of messed up.”
“Someone paid way more attention to the tours than I did,” I acknowledged.
“It’s all so fascinating. I remember learning about British history and things like the War of the Roses in high school, but putting it in context is pretty awesome. Thank you for this. You didn’t have to do that, since you’ve seen all these things already, but it was nice getting to see them with someone.”
“My pleasure. I’ve been here a few times, and even to some of these places, and I haven’t enjoyed them as much as I did this go-around.”
I poured him a cocktail, and we headed out onto my balcony, overlooking the London dusk.
“Wow,” he said. “I’m thoroughly impressed so far, Dax Munro.”
“So am I,” I said, not taking my eyes off him, and suddenly, we were just staring at one another.
“And you get to do this kind of stuff all the time?”
“The job demands it.”
“Meanwhile, mine sort of keeps me in Fever Falls. Don’t get me wrong. I love being a firefighter, and I take pride in being the best I can at my job. I wouldn’t be doing anything else, but I haven’t traveled a lot.”
“Any big bucket-list places?” I asked.
“Yeah, always wanted to go to Peru. Machu Picchu.”
“That’s very specific.”
He shrugged. “Always thought it sounded cool, the idea of this tucked-away secret place. All these people living their lives and no one knowing about them. A little mystery is kind of nice.”
“Yeah, it is. And you’re quite the mystery to me, Jace Kruse.”
#BURN (Fever Falls Book 2) Page 6
