Under My Umbrella: Fated, Book 1 Page 6

  “They’re huge,” she said, her voice laced with awe as she stared up at the engine. “Do you drive it? Or just ride?”

  “I drive one. This one.” He patted the front door panel, the metal slap echoing in the large, quiet garage.

  Jenna looked up at it with big hazel eyes, a wicked gleam in them. “Ever get lucky in the cab of that truck?”

  “No.” He drew the word out slowly, his voice low, his cock throbbing. What the hell, was she suggesting they get wild and crazy in the cab of the engine? When a call could come over at any moment and send the rest of his crew running in here, ready to go?

  The idea aroused him. He couldn’t deny it. Maybe her head in his lap, his fly wide open, cock thrust upward, her lips wrapped around the tip. Her hands would massage his thighs, her tongue lashed at his cock as his head was thrown back in ecstasy.

  “Wanna get lucky in the cab of that truck?” Her sweet voice so alluring, what she offered, so tempting.

  So reckless, so crazy.

  His answer should be hell no.

  Hell no.

  “What do you have in mind…”

  Under My Umbrella: Fated, Book 1

  Chapter Seven

  He had no restraint, absolutely none. It took one simple yet naughty suggestion from the woman he was crazy about and now he had his hands splayed wide across her ass, shoving her up into the cab of the fire engine. She landed on the seat with a squeal, turning to stare down at him with sparkling eyes.

  “I can smell you in here. How can the girls resist you?”

  Brett climbed in after her, shutting the door with a soft click. He hauled her into his lap so she straddled him, her knees on either side of his hips. Jenna rested her hands on his shoulders, her fingers smoothing over them and he felt the burn of her touch even through the two layers of shirts he wore.

  “There’s only one female firefighter,” he explained, breathing deep when she bent over him, her face so close he could feel her warm breath waft across his lips, her silky hair tickling his face. “She thinks we’re all a bunch of jerks.”

  “You’re not a jerk.” She leaned in even closer, pressed the tiniest kiss to the tip of his nose.

  God, he found even that arousing.

  “I can be.” He struggled to breathe, almost undone from her simple touch, and he braced himself for more, knowing she planned to deliver.

  “No, I don’t believe it.” She kissed his cheek, the left corner of his mouth, the right corner, the tip of his chin. “You’re so sweet.”

  “Not all the time.” He didn’t feel sweet. No, more like a wild beast barely restrained, ready to break free and unleash all of the pent up lust and emotion he felt for this woman. Unleash it all over her, lavish her with the attention she deserved. Fuck her until the both of them were exhausted and satisfied.

  Yeah, that sounded just about perfect.

  But it wouldn’t happen, not tonight. He couldn’t let it happen, not here at work. He’d kiss her for a few minutes, but that was it. Nothing more. He didn’t want to put his job at risk. Didn’t want to embarrass her.

  Especially considering he wanted to keep her around, let her get to know the people he worked with. If he had his way, she’d be in his life for a long time coming.

  “Oh, don’t lie. You’re always sweet to me.” Her mouth finally brushed his, her lips damp and parted. He didn’t take the bait, kept his control tightly reined though he rested his hands lightly on her waist.

  Just feeling her body beneath his palms had him itching to tear her clothes off. Explore her creamy skin with his mouth. Touch her in all of those secret places he knew she liked. And she had a lot of them. He’d discovered quite a few since they first started this thing.

  He wanted to learn them all—wanted to learn everything about her.

  “If you knew what was going on inside my head, you wouldn’t think I was so sweet,” he confessed, his voice ragged, his eyes nearly crossing when she ground herself against his erect cock.

  “If what your pants are telling me is true, I think I can guess what’s going on inside that head of yours,” she whispered just before she licked his lower lip, her teeth giving it a little tug and a nip.

  “You have no idea.” She didn’t have a clue. The dark possessiveness that rolled through him in a continuous wave, the urge to spread her thighs wide and thrust in between them, it consumed him. Made him feel out of control, overwhelmed by her, head over heels in love with her…

  His thoughts jerked him back into reality and his hands pressed hard into her sides, making her yelp. Could it be true? Was he really in love with her? In love with a woman he’d only known for a few weeks?

  He’d never believed in this kind of thing before but there was always a first time.

  “I want to suck your cock,” she whispered in his ear. “Make you come right here.”

  “No way,” he uttered. Couldn’t happen.

  She smiled. He felt the movement of her lips against his earlobe. “Don’t deny me my fun.”

  “I can’t do this here, Jenna. I thought you’d just want to make out for a while, but I’m not about to stick my dick out in my engine. What if we got a call?”

  “I bet you won’t. You feel so hard, so ready.” She thrust against him again, her denim-covered pussy doing a slow glide down the length of him that had his blood boiling. “It won’t take very long. I know just what you like.”

  She sure as hell did but not tonight, not like this. He felt like a hard ass. Hell, he felt like a big pussy but damn it, he wasn’t about to lose the respect of his firefighters just for a piece of ass.

  And Jenna wasn’t just a piece of ass, either. No way would he want her to lose her dignity in the eyes of his fellow employees.

  “Jenna,” he warned when her hand went to the fly of his pants. He rested his hand over hers, giving it a firm squeeze. “Stop.”

  Leaning away from him, she glared, her mouth pursing into a pout. “You’re no fun.”

  “I can’t risk embarrassing you like this.” He cupped her face, his fingers stroking down her soft cheek, but she jerked away from his touch.

  “Embarrassing me, hah. More like you don’t want to embarrass yourself.”

  His hand dropped away from her face. “Well, there is that, yeah, I’ll admit it but come on, Jenna. I don’t want them to see you half naked with my cock stuffed in your mouth if we got a call and everyone came hauling ass out here.” He shook his head, the image arousing him despite the consequences.

  He was sick.

  “There’s not going to be a call.” She released her hold on him and crossed her arms in front of her chest. The classic position of a woman getting pissed.

  “We don’t know that for sure.” It could happen at any moment though the day had been pretty slow.

  Still, he couldn’t—wouldn’t—take that chance.

  “I just wanted to do something a little exciting.” Her gaze skittered away from him, and he got the sense that she might actually be mad at him.

  “Anytime I’m with you, Jenna, I’m excited, trust me.” That was no lie. He got excited just thinking about her.

  “Yeah, well…” She gave a little shrug, her gaze wandering to the door handle of the truck. “Maybe we should get out.”

  Disappointment filled him. Could he really be just a momentary thrill for her to get her jolly’s off before she ditched him forever? Could it really only be about the excitement of fucking a firefighter, of fucking a guy she barely knew until she tired of him and broke it off?

  For him it was so much more. He thought she was on the same page. Maybe he was wrong.

  In silence, they climbed out of the cab, he carefully helping her out, she barely looking at him. Disappointment filled his chest, made his heart ache and he wanted to shake his head in disgust at himself.

  Letting his heart play a factor in this was the single worst mistake he could’ve made. She wasn’t interested in him as a person. She wanted him for a fuck buddy and that wa
s it.

  That. Was. It.

  Now he was the one pissed off.

  Brett was mad. It was written all over him, from the glower on his face to the tense stance of his body.

  Disappointment filled her, and she turned away from him, not wanting to see the angry expression marring his handsome face. She’d only been looking for a little fun, a risky thrill. She got near him, and it was as if she couldn’t control herself. At the first sight of him standing there in his uniform, looking all freshly pressed and sexy, she wanted to jump him. Press her face to the spot where his white T-shirt peeked from beneath his uniform shirt. Breathe in his delicious male scent. Lick his warm, salty skin…

  She’d tried to jump him instead in the fire engine, and he got angry. Defensive. And she didn’t understand why.

  Well she kind of understood why, but she thought all of his excuses were just that—excuses. But maybe she had pushed him too far.

  Ah, she was hopeless at this type of thing. Hot sex and all the trimmings that came with it, it just confused her. She was a typical chick mistaking lust for love and hot sex for making love. He didn’t want anything except a quick fling but she’d pushed too far and now she’d probably never see him again.

  “I’m sorry. I overstepped my boundaries.” She swallowed hard against the tears that suddenly threatened. She hadn’t cried over a guy since she couldn’t remember when. “I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

  “I’m not mad.” But he sounded mad. She didn’t need to look at him to tell by his voice that he was angry.

  All because of her, of what she’d done.

  She’d sabotaged this relationship before it even got to start.

  “Hey.” His voice softened, and he wrapped his fingers about her upper arm, turning her so she faced him. “I’m frustrated that’s all. I get near you and all I want to do is…touch you.”

  She wanted to do a lot more than touch him but she kept herself in check, biting her lower lip to keep her mouth shut.

  “And I don’t want to get caught with my pants down—literally—while you’re uh, going down on me in the engine. With my luck, a call would come in and everyone would catch us. I wouldn’t want you to be embarrassed like that. I don’t want them to see you like that, you deserve respect.” His gaze gentled and he stroked her arm. “It wouldn’t look good. I’m supposed to be semi in charge around here. I’d lose all of their respect if I was caught in that sort of position.”

  Her chin trembled and she nodded, desperate to keep a stiff upper lip. “I understand.”

  “Trust me, I wanted you to do it.” He hauled her close as if he couldn’t stop himself, his arm slipping around her waist, fingers pressing into her flesh. “I’d love nothing more than you giving me a blow job but it’s going to have to wait.”

  Another nod and her body trembled but not from sadness. She hated the look don’t touch aspect of this. It frustrated her.

  “I’m off in two days.” Brett dipped his head, his mouth brushing against hers. “Just two more days and then we can…”

  A voice blared over the loudspeaker that sat close to the ceiling, startling her, and she jumped away from him.

  “Engine twenty-five medical aid…” The voice droned on, and Brett glanced about, his expression determined.

  “That’s us, babe,” he said, already distracted. “You’d better go.”

  “But—”

  Her protest was cut off by a rush of bodies into the garage, their movements controlled but quick. A routine they’d gone through countless times before. She stepped back and watched in amazement as Brett jumped behind the wheel of the truck and fired it up. The engine roared to life, the sound so loud she could hardly hear anything and she backed into a corner. Afraid she’d just get in the way.

  “We’ll talk later okay?” Brett yelled over the idling engine, his gaze directed upon her for only a moment before he glanced away. “I’ll call you.”

  Jenna nodded, unable to say anything. She knew it would be useless anyway because he wouldn’t hear her.

  Not that she wanted to air their personal problems in front of his crew anyway. Curious eyes studied her as Brett drove forward, and she shrank back, embarrassed. They probably wondered what the two of them were doing alone in the garage.

  No wonder Brett hadn’t wanted to pursue it, now she couldn’t blame him.

  She watched the fire engine drive away, winced when he flicked on the flashing lights and siren the moment the engine pulled out of the drive. He’d looked excited. They all seemed pumped up, and she could hardly wrap her mind around it.

  It was scary, what he did. Scary and intense and dangerous.

  Fear clutched at her heart. She tried to shake it, but it was futile. Even if it did work out between them, could she deal being with a man who worked such a risky job every day of his life? Could her heart take it?

  Jenna didn’t know.

  Under My Umbrella: Fated, Book 1

  Chapter Eight

  “You’re so miserable you’re bringing me down. Tell me the truth. Did you break up with your firefighter?”

  Jenna shook her head. She didn’t want to talk about it, not even with Morgan. “We didn’t break up.”

  No, more like he hadn’t called her since that night when she watched him drive away in the fire engine. She hadn’t heard from him since. Well, he’d sent her a couple of “I miss you. Sorry I’m so busy. It’s been swamped at the station” text messages but she hadn’t replied.

  Why? He couldn’t take the time to actually call her so why should she bother?

  Oh, she was being a big old bitch and was probably hormonal, but she couldn’t help herself. Men pissed her off, hot stud firefighters especially.

  “Then what’s your problem? You mope around the office like someone ran over your cat.”

  “I don’t own a cat.” Just saying that reminded her of her first conversation with Brett. When she denied being a cat person and he said she looked like one.

  Remembering that made her want to cry, made her want to scream and pound her fists against the table.

  She sat there quietly instead, staring at her half of the five-dollar foot long she split with Morgan for lunch. Her appetite was long gone. Giddy lust was a good diet, emotional despair an even better one.

  “Well whatever, all I know is you’re sad and you won’t tell me why.” Morgan reached out, rested her hand over Jenna’s. “If you want to talk about it, I’m here. No judgment, no arguing, just listening. Take my offer whenever you need it.”

  “Thanks, Morgan.” That meant the world to her and she sniffed, thankful for her friend. “I appreciate that.”

  “Anytime.” Morgan glanced up, a welcoming smile on her face as someone approached the table. “Hey, Mia. Come join us.”

  Mia sat across from them, fresh and pretty in a pale pink cardigan set and black pencil skirt, her honey blonde hair swept back into a neat ponytail. She always appeared polished, never a hair out of place and what with Morgan and her clean efficiency, Jenna always felt as if she didn’t have a chance between the two of them.

  Ah, she couldn’t judge. Mia was sweet. She was the one full of bitterness. She needed to ignore herself.

  They talked casually, gossiped a little bit though Jenna stayed mostly silent. Her sandwich long ignored, she sipped her drink, tried to concentrate on what the girls said, tried not to think about Brett.

  Didn’t work. He was imprinted on her brain, and she couldn’t get rid of him if she tried. It was frustrating.

  He was frustrating.

  She was being stubborn though too. All it would take was one phone call and she’d hear his sexy voice murmuring in her ear. Holding out was doing no one any favors, including herself.

  “Want to go out tonight?” Morgan jabbed Jenna in the ribs as if they’d been talking to her for hours and she hadn’t answered.

  Probably close to the truth, she’d been in a dream state practically the entire lunch hour.

  “Yeah
sure, what’s the plan?”

  Mia looked at her oddly, which totally meant they’d been talking over the plan for a while. She really needed to get back in the swing of things and stop spending so much time in her head.

  “Drinks and dinner, maybe a club to go dancing?” Morgan smiled, her eyes kind. “Something to take your mind off whatever’s making you so miserable.”

  “That sounds good.” And she meant it. Really she did. Drinks and dinner was always good and she loved going to clubs. Listening to the music, scoping out the cute guys, oh yeah, she loved that. Loved it, loved it, loved it.

  Jenna burst into tears. Right there in the middle of the company lunchroom as she sat in between Morgan and Mia. Big fat tears rolled right off her cheeks and landed with loud plops on the wax wrapping paper of her sandwich. She swiped at her cheeks furiously, angry at herself for crying. Feeling silly for falling apart in the middle of the day at work.

  Everyone was going to talk about this. She should care. She should try and compose herself.

  She didn’t. She couldn’t.

  “Oh my God, Jenna, are you okay?” Morgan immediately enveloped her in her arms, giving her a consoling squeeze. “Come on, hon, let’s go to the bathroom.”

  Morgan hustled her out while Mia stayed behind to clean up the lunch mess, shooting Jenna an apologetic smile as they exited the lunchroom. Jenna sniffed, tried desperately to regain her composure. Mia was nice to help her out. She didn’t have to do that.

  More tears flowed down her cheeks, and she brushed them away, swallowed hard to push down the sob that wanted to escape. Morgan barely got her into the bathroom before she broke down in great, heaving sobs that wracked her body, hurt her ribs.

  She felt as if her heart had been wrenched out of her chest. Her reaction was way over the top. She’d never ever cried over a guy like this before. Not in high school, not in college, not in the last few years. She’d shed a few tears over guys. What poor woman in the modern world hadn’t? But never, ever like this.