The Fireman I Loved to Hate by Jenna Gunn
Chapter 25
A cough breaks the silence of the morning so I know he’s awake. Poor thing. I’ve been puttering around his house, but it didn’t take long at all. His cupboards are bare, but at least he has books. His bookshelves are overloaded with everything from fire sciences to forensics. He only has a little bit of fiction and what he does have is mostly urban fantasy, which I didn’t see coming. I pour him a cup of coffee and start to dress it how he likes, but then I hear an overjoyed, “You’re here.”
I turn around and see Alex. His bruised abs have gone from violent purple to angry red with mottled yellow edges. He still looks damn good, though, wearing only dark blue pajama pants and a smile. I return the expression and tell him, “I am.”
“And you’re wearing my fire department t-shirt.”
“Is that okay?”
He walks up to me and his hands envelope my waist, “It’s sexy as hell.” Then he kisses my forehead. “You made coffee?”
“I didn’t think you’d mind.”
He shakes his head and says, “It’s wonderful.”
“It’s crap.”
“I meant that you made coffee,” he laughs. “What’s wrong with my coffee?”
“You drink garbage coffee, Sir.” I smirk up at him.
“It’s the same stuff we drink at work. It’s fine,” he says with a smile.
“Do you remember how good the coffee is at my house?”
“I like everything at your house.”
His tone almost makes me shiver. I tell him firmly, “Well, if we’re going to make this work, there will be times I stay over here, and I require much better coffee than this.”
His shoulders drop, and the tension smooths from his handsome face. “You mean it, Raina?”
“Oh my god, yes, you cannot expect me to stay overnight here, if this swill is what I’m waking up to.”
He laughs, but then says, “I mean about, making this work. Us.”
I nod and smile up at him. My heart swells when I admit, “I’m not scared anymore, Alex.”
He holds me tightly to him and kisses the top of my head. “I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear that.”
His cock hardens against me, and I giggle. “I can feel how happy you to hear that.”
Alex pulls away and adjusts himself. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be,” I shake my head. “It’s always nice to know he’s happy, too.”
“Happy and sore,” he says. “You wore me out.”
I blush, then smile again. “Same.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Keep looking at me like that, and I’ll have to rally the troops.”
I laugh. “If I am to perform at my best, you’ll have to give me a rest first.”
“I wouldn’t mind seeing you at your worst,” his eyebrows dance up and down.
I laugh and smack his shoulder. “Bad Boy.”
He shrugs, “Probably for the best. I could use the rest, too. Still healing and all that. So, what’s on your agenda for the day?”
“I need to go home and check on the cats. Maybe I can make you a proper breakfast there, since the only groceries you keep are half and half, four kinds of beer and six kinds of mustard. What even do you do with all that?”
“I like sausages.”
I snort a laugh, “Oh, do you?”
But with a straight face, he answers, “Kielbasa, bratwurst, mostly German links. But yeah, probably my favorite food. And German is my favorite cuisine. You?”
“That’s very good to know. I like German, but my favorite is probably Southern American,” I shrug, “I was raised on biscuits and gravy.”
“Then, I should learn how to make biscuits and gravy,” he says and smiles. “And anything else you like.”
“You cook? Because,” I gesture around the kitchen, “your house does not tell the tale.”
“Guess I haven’t done any shopping in a little while. Getting a burning warehouse dropped on you tends to delay shopping.”
I giggle. “Okay, Hero, you get to play that card for another week, before it’s expired.”
“Oooh, I get a whole week?”
I nod. “And if you’d like, I can do your shopping for you.”
He grins at my teasing. “Or,” he takes my hand in his. “We could go together.”
“That would be my preference, too,” I kiss him, and realize that I could get used to spending my days with Alex. And my nights. The wee small hours of the morning. The sparkling twilight…damn I miss my post-its. “So, when would you be taking me home?”
“Since breakfast is on the line, how about we get dressed now?”
“Hungry?” I ask with a smirk.
“Starving. There was this girl in my bed last night and she’s an animal.”
I giggle and head to the bedroom, but he catches up with me and swats my ass before I get there. “Keep that up, and we’re going nowhere fast.”
-
“I’m home,” I call out to the babies as we enter my house. Two loud meows answer me as I walk in.
Alex is soon accosted by Carmen, weaving in and out of his legs. He laughs, “Well, hey there,” then picks her up.
Walking past them, I note their litter boxes are messy. I pour them some kibble into the food dishes, and Carmen abandons Alex for breakfast. Monroe joins her, and I smile at the happy pair.
“Uh, Raina?” Alex says uneasily. His tone instantly worries me.
I look and he’s in the middle of my kitchen, staring at the refrigerator and the wall next to it. Both are covered with my post-its. “That’s how I plan out my books. I have a Kanban board in my office that is similarly wallpapered. Those are all for my next book.”
He points to one of the groupings of notes, where I’ve scribbled a long monologue, and asks, “Is this going in there?”
“Probably, but if not, it will be in another. I’m very fond of it. Can you grab the kitty litter for me? It’s in the pantry behind the food bag.”
He opens my pantry and hauls out the kitty litter, then continues to read the notes. “Eloise. Elizabetta. Penelope.”
“Name ideas for the female main character, the FMC. Help?”
He helps me with the litter boxes and asks, “So, when you started your last book, did your place look like this? With extra wallpaper?”
“Worse, actually,” I tell him, while guiding the opening of the bag, “My whole apartment looked confetti-ed, like the day after a parade.”
“And the cats just leave them alone?”
I nod. “I was concerned at first, but Monroe is only interested in food, and Carmen takes her cues from him.”
We change out Carmen’s litter box, clean up, and then I ask, “For breakfast, I can offer eggs, toast, and bacon. Oh, and upgraded coffee.”
He smiles and says, “Should I clear out so you can write?”
“As long as you are not a distraction…” I look in the fridge for food.
He snuggles up behind me and murmurs, “I cannot make such a promise.”
I giggle and wash my hands while he stows the litter. There is something about having him around to do the heavy lifting. More than that, I like that he’s being helpful. It’s almost like having someone…around. Like a partner.
His tone has shifted when he says, “So, what’s this one about?”
I follow his gaze and feel my face burn instantly. Alex is pointing to the note that says ALEXANDER. I swallow my nerves and avoid his eyes. “Well, it’s the name of the male main character, the MMC.”
He dryly says, “I hope he is a good guy.”
“He is modeled after you,” I admit. “Take that as you will.”
“And he the one the FMC falls for?”
I nod.
“Is she based on you?”
“All my female main characters are based on me to some degree,” I stammer with a shrug, “but that’s the danger of the business when you write what you know.”
“So, a character who is like you falls in love with a character who is like me?”
I try to avoid his eyes, but he steps closer to me. I can’t help but look up at him. “Well…yes.”
“So, do you think that someone like you could fall in love with someone like me?”
My heart thunders. This is too soon, isn’t it? I don’t know. I’m not sure that I’ve ever been in love before, but this feels too soon.
And it feels right. Who makes up these rules, anyway?
“Yes, I do.” I put my hand on his chest, because I cannot not touch him right now. “Because, I already have.”
His handsome face is made prettier by his relief. Alex pulls me against him and kisses me, catching me by surprise. When he breaks the kiss, he looks me in the eye and says, “I love you too, Raina Groves.”
-