Burnin' Love [Men for Hire: Firemen 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read online

  “Y’all take care now.”

  Daisy murmured her good-byes and did her best to avoid Miz Charlotte’s steady gaze as she hurried out of the store.

  “Slow down, baby. You act like there’s a hound from hell snapping at your heels.” Taking the sacks two at a time, he loaded them into the car.

  When Paul’s cell phone rang, Daisy jumped, suddenly unnerved by the interruption. Her throat closed up as she faced Paul and saw his sudden hard expression.

  Paul motioned her into the passenger side and slid behind the wheel.

  “What’s wrong?” Judging from his reaction to the call, whatever was going on was bad. Real bad.

  “The rental house is on fire.”

  Chapter Six

  “My rental house?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But how? Is everyone all right? Were Wade and Troy there? And Melissa?”

  “All I know is that Wade called it in. That was one of the other firemen at our station. He said they’ve dispatched a unit.”

  She pulled out her phone then realized that she’d never gotten Melissa’s number. Staring at the screen, she willed the girl to call her, yet she sensed it wouldn’t ring.

  “Paul?”

  He didn’t want to talk. That much was clear by his steady attention on the road. She could’ve yelled in his ear and she doubted he would’ve flinched. Instead of asking one of the many questions storming her mind, she stayed quiet and let him concentrate on navigating the Rover around traffic.

  He was out of the car as soon as they’d pulled up in front of the house. Smoke billowed from the left side of the home, the side where Melissa’s bedroom was.

  She raced after Paul who whirled around and grabbed her by the arm. The sound of fire engine alarms blasted in the air, growing louder, closer by the second.

  “No. You stay here.”

  “But—”

  “I said no.”

  She fisted her hands even though she knew he was right. She’d only be in the way. He and the others were the trained professionals and she had to let them do their jobs.

  At that moment, Wade burst out of the door with Melissa in his arms. Daisy took off running toward them. When they met, Wade put Melissa on the ground. His blue eyes were calm, but his body tense, ready to spring back into action.

  “Stay with her.”

  Melissa coughed and put her hands on top of her stomach. “I’m…all right.” Yet the round of coughs that followed made Daisy’s chest tighten.

  “The hell you are. Now stay still.” She knelt next to the girl as Wade dashed back inside the house.

  A fire engine, its sirens blaring, pulled up to the house. Several men jumped off the truck and started a flurry of activity. While most of them split off and headed toward the side of the house where the smoke was, one of the men rushed to their side.

  “Don’t worry. We’ve called for medical assistance.” He pushed his yellow helmet back and studied Melissa. “Do you think you can walk?”

  “Yes.”

  He helped her to her feet along with Daisy, then escorted her to the curb just as the EMT unit arrived. Now that Melissa was getting help, Daisy shifted her attention back to the house.

  Her heart pounded in her ears as she watched, feeling helpless. Wade was all right. Or at least he had been before he’d dashed back inside. But what about Troy? And now Paul had entered the burning house.

  She couldn’t tell what the firefighters were doing and she wouldn’t bother them to ask. They knew what they were doing. Instead she stood off to the side, her hands clasped, and tried to breathe. One glance at the EMTs reassured her that Melissa was doing fine. They’d given her oxygen, but she didn’t seem to be in distress. Worried, sure, but not having any trouble breathing. And the fact that she kept nodding at their questions was a good sign.

  At least the smoke had stopped. That had to be another good sign.

  But Paul, Wade and Troy rounding the side of the home was the best thing she could’ve ever seen. In that brief moment, she realized that she couldn’t have lived if anything had happened to either one of them. They had somehow become more important to her than anything or anyone else, including herself.

  Not caring what the others might think, she ran to them. They stopped just as she did, each of them looking at her with a question on their faces.

  “Are you all right? All of you?” They didn’t seem hurt, but she had to hear them tell her that they were.

  Wade’s grin split his face. “Yeah, baby. We’re all good. Why? Were you worried about us? Especially about me?”

  If she hadn’t been so relieved, she would’ve smacked him upside the head. How could he joke now? And yet she gave it right back to him.

  “Naw, that’s not it at all. I just wanted to know if you were okay. If so, could you rush back into the fire and get my suitcase? I’d hate to lose the new undies I just bought from Sandy’s Seduction Parlor.”

  She should’ve expected Wade to run with her joke. He’d spun halfway around to head back inside when she grabbed his arm and held him back. “You lame brain, don’t you dare go back in there.”

  With a cry, she fell into his arms and hugged him as hard as she could. “And don’t you ever scare me like that again.”

  Wade’s strong arms wrapped around her, comforting her more than she could ever say. “Hey, there. I’m fine. So are these two lugs.”

  She squeezed him hard before turning him loose to pull Troy into an embrace. He lifted her off her feet and whirled her around before setting her back down. She laughed, relief swamping her. Then it was Paul’s turn.

  He brought her into his arms and she would’ve sworn she smelled the fragrance of toilet paper. When he turned her loose, she wanted to hug them all again.

  “Promise that you’ll never do that to me ever again.”

  “Baby,”—Wade’s tone was the kind that adults used to calm frightened children—“we can’t promise that. It’s kind of our job, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. But right now, it sucks.”

  She was glad that they didn’t take it the wrong way. “I don’t really mean that. Your work is—” She paused as one of the other firemen who had hurried around the side of the building strode over.

  “Excuse me, miss, for interrupting, but I need to tell these guys what we’ve found.” His face was grim and his tone ominous.

  “Whatever you have to say to them, you can say to me. I’m renting this place.”

  He took off his helmet and cleared his throat. “Well, then, miss, if I were you, I’d start looking for another place. We can’t allow you to stay overnight.”

  “But why? Is there a lot of damage?” Granted, she hadn’t checked out the side of the house, but the rest of it appeared untouched by the fire. Smoky, sure. But not burned.

  He didn’t want to tell her. Yet when neither Paul nor the Chambliss brothers said anything, he took that as a sign that it was okay to go ahead. “It’s not the damage, miss. It’s the fact that we think someone set the fire.”

  “What? Are you sure?”

  “Blane, that’s a quick determination.” Paul planted his feet and crossed his arms.

  “It is and we’ll get the team out here to confirm it. But it’s a pretty damn good bet that I’m right.” He jerked his thumb back to where the fire had been. “You can see for yourself. We’ve found a charred gas can. Looks to me like someone started this fire and didn’t bother trying to cover his tracks.”

  * * * *

  Wade crossed his arms and watched as Daisy loaded her suitcase into the trunk of her car. They’d managed to salvage some of Melissa’s things that had been in the laundry room on the other side of the house, but many of her things were ruined by the firemen’s work to put out the blaze.

  As a rule, he tried to find the lighter side of life, but he didn’t bother now. Someone had tried to hurt Melissa. The idea that Daisy, too, could’ve been in the house at the time further enraged him.

  “Take it
easy, bro.” Troy came to his side.

  Wade kept his gaze on the women as they prepared to leave. “Sure. Like how you’re doing.” Troy and Paul were as upset as he was. The only difference was that he rarely showed when he was angry.

  “It’s better that we’re getting them out of town.”

  “Yeah.” He could sense Troy watching him, studying him, wanting him to talk more and make jokes. But that was the last thing he felt like doing.

  “We haven’t gotten into this, but I’m going to ask you, Wade. Do you think she’s the one?”

  He’d already thought about it long and hard. In fact, he’d thought about her nonstop since she’d shown up at the fire station. “Yeah. She is. She has been since high school.”

  He’d known it as soon as he’d seen her again. Even after all those years, she took his breath away and made his stomach tighten with need. Her beautiful face had taken him back to the days when he’d stand in the hallway and wait for her to appear. But now was different. Now he had the balls to do something about his feelings. He was determined not to let the opportunity pass him by this time.

  His anger gave way, slowly letting his feelings for her push it out. Staying angry at Charlie, John, and even himself wasn’t going to help Daisy or Melissa.

  “Yeah, I agree, bro. She’s the one for us.”

  “What does that mean, anyway?”

  They turned to find Paul walking up behind them. Wade pivoted back to the girls. “Say it plain out, Paul.”

  “It’s obvious you two want Daisy.” His words hung in the air, letting Wade and Troy gather the meaning behind them.

  “We do.” For once, Wade wouldn’t say it straight out. He’d make Paul work for it.

  “You know what I’m asking. Is there a place for me in the mix?”

  Had they ever talked about sharing a woman with Paul? If they had, it hadn’t taken on a serious tone. After all, they’d never expected to find one woman for them, much less to include a third man.

  “I don’t know,” answered Troy.

  Wade studied the way Daisy’s hair shone under the sunlight. He knew she dyed her hair, but he didn’t care. Red hair fit her fiery and vibrant nature. They thing that didn’t fit her was her name. Sure, a daisy was a soft and sweet flower and she was every bit soft and sweet. But a daisy was an unassuming flower that many people didn’t pay much attention to. Daisy was anything but unassuming and overlooked.

  “Who she gets with is her business. We don’t have a right to tell her otherwise.” It was laughable to even think they could.

  “Wade’s right. But we’re going to tell her what we want. That’s why we’re going with her.” Troy checked his phone then put it back in his hip pocket. “That and to keep them safe.”

  “That’s what we were supposed to do here.”

  The lack of confidence in Paul’s voice surprised Wade. And yet he knew how he felt. They’d failed to keep the women safe, but had gotten lucky that nothing worse had happened.

  “I need her as much as you two do.”

  The admission was a stunning one coming from Paul. One that Wade couldn’t deny struck home. Could he stand it if Daisy chose his brother or Paul over him?

  “As far as I’m concerned, Paul, you’re our brother. We’ll stick together on this, but she’ll have to decide if that’s what she wants. What about you, Troy?”

  Troy’s silence hung in the air between them. “Yeah. I’m good with that.”

  Paul shifted on his feet and Wade doubted he’d ever seen his friend so nervous. He wasn’t sure how to ask what he needed to know. Men didn’t discuss emotional things, but with Daisy’s and their future in the balance, he had to risk it.

  “Paul, are you sure you’re ready for this?”

  He didn’t have to elaborate. Paul would know he was talking about Amber. They’d seen their friend’s heartache, but he’d never spoken of it and they’d respected his decision to keep the details to himself.

  Yet the hesitation Wade half-expected wasn’t there. Paul spoke with unshaking resolve.

  “That’s in the past and I see now that it wasn’t what I thought it was. I’m over her.”

  He exchanged a telling look with his brother. They didn’t have to push Paul for more. What he’d said was enough.

  “Then we agree. We approach her together. If she doesn’t want all of us, then the man, or men, that she doesn’t choose bows out.” Paul cleared his throat, bringing back his assertive tone.

  “Even if it means getting the hell out of town.” He couldn’t imagine living his life without his friend or his brother, but it would be hell on earth to see them with Daisy if she turned him down.

  “That’d be a hard price to pay,” murmured Troy. “Still, there’s no other way to do this.”

  “It is what it is.”

  Wade almost laughed. “Damn straight it is.”

  They’d just agreed to make the threesome into a foursome. He’d have balked at that had the third man been anyone other than Paul. But it seemed right. Paul was as close to him as Troy was.

  “Good. It’s settled. Now let’s take care of business.” He strode away, ready to get Daisy and Melissa to Destiny and, God willing, a safer place.

  * * * *

  “You’re going to love it in Destiny.” Daisy had the top down on her car and the wind was whipping her hair around. Melissa sat next to her, her hair tied back in a ponytail. The wind still danced tendrils of loose hair around her face that she kept trying to tuck back into place.

  Melissa hadn’t said much after the paramedics had released her. They’d tried to get her to go to the hospital, but she’d refused. Once Paul and the others had sworn that they’d keep an eye on her, they’d relented and gone. After that, she and Melissa had been escorted into the rental home to gather their things.

  She’d never been inside a place that had been torched. That was the word she’d kept hearing the firefighters use.

  Torched. As in deliberately set on fire.

  Fortunately, Troy had smelled smoke almost as soon as the fire had started. He’d sounded the alert, and while Wade called the station and then rushed to get Melissa outside, he’d grabbed the fire extinguisher in the kitchen and gone to battle the blaze. Wade’s phone call to the station had gotten a quick response.

  It could’ve been much worse. In fact, Daisy had no doubt that it would’ve been had she and Melissa been in the house alone. Thanks to the men, however, the damage was contained to a small portion of the living room. If it had grown, it would’ve leapt flames upward to the bedrooms above it and where Melissa had been resting. Smoke and water had damaged most of Melissa’s things, but things could be replaced.

  The men had insisted that they leave town, but they really didn’t need to. Daisy was more than ready to agree. Melissa, still showing signs of bewilderment at what had occurred, had said yes to going back to Daisy’s B&B.

  Troy and Wade had stayed with her and Melissa while Paul handled the remaining details with the firefighters. The police had arrived, too, and she was more than happy to have the men dealing with them.

  Daisy glanced in the rear mirror and was happy to see Paul’s Range Rover behind them. She hadn’t resisted when they’d insisted on coming back with her. She had, in fact, been overjoyed.

  “It was John.”

  Daisy jerked her head to Melissa. “What?”

  The poor girl looked more exhausted than ever. “John set the fire.”

  Although they hadn’t mentioned it to Melissa, they’d already come to the conclusion that either John or Charlie was the culprit. Unless, of course, the owner of the home had suddenly decided to collect on insurance money. That was, however, unlikely since he was living three states away and had a booming business of rental homes. He didn’t need what little money the insurance would pay him had the house gone up in flames.

  “How do you know?” Sensing Melissa was at a breaking point, she had to go easy on the questions.

  “Because he’s done
it before.”

  “What?” She jerked on the wheel as she turned to her again. The car swerved, hitting the gravel on the side of the road before she brought it back under control. Paul honked at her and she lifted her hand to signal that she was all right. “When?”

  “Charlie told me that he used to set fires just to watch them burn.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us? Or the firefighters and the police?”

  Melissa struggled to contain her emotions as she gripped the door and her seat. She’d been through a lot in a short time. “I didn’t think of it since it was a long time ago when he was a teenager. The thing is, he’d know how to set one.”

  “Then he hasn’t done it in a while?” Nonetheless, he was still the prime suspect.

  “No. Except that every once in a while, he’d light matches and play with the little flame.”

  If he hadn’t freaked her out before, he did now. “We still need to tell the authorities. They’re going to want that information when they question him.”

  Melissa shook her head, making the strands of loose hair dance even more. “They won’t find him.”

  The tone of her voice made Daisy’s skin crawl. It was like she’d given up. “Why won’t they find him?”

  “Both he and Charlie are really good at disappearing. They’ve had to do that in the past when they got into trouble with the law.”

  Daisy was ready to pull the car over and shake the girl for not telling her about John’s and Charlie’s pasts. Instead, she remained calm. Getting upset at Melissa, and in turn, making Melissa upset wouldn’t help matters.

  “What have they done to get into trouble before this?” She lumped Charlie in with John regarding the fire. If Charlie hadn’t had a hand in it, she was willing to bet that she’d known he was going to do it. Assumptions weren’t good things to make, but sometimes that was all there was to go on. Her instincts told her that her assumptions were dead-on this time.

  “Different things. John used to set fires, like I said, but no one ever got hurt. And when Charlie paid people off, the charges went away. And Charlie? Well, she’s done a little of everything from selling stolen merchandise and drugs to beating up people for money.”