CHAPTER ONE

Grady

The hard metal pushed into my sweaty palms as I let the weighted bar skim against my pecs before catapulting it back up in fast, machine gun bursts.

“Eight,” I grunted out the number as I re-racked the bar and sat up on the bench.

A loud whistle interrupted the late morning silence of the fire station. “Yo, boys, Princess Peach alert,” Jose, our newest, and so far, most annoying, recruit called.

I tossed a pointed look at him, but he ignored me and continued to smirk like he was imagining the woman walking our way naked. Even the suggestion that he had made my blood boil.

Naomi bounded through the open firehouse door. Her eyes scanned the room quickly, finding mine and locking into them. I didn’t stand. Partly because watching her walk was enough to make any man, myself included, completely captivated. The other reason was entirely selfish and rude, but damn if I didn’t want to delay the time until I’d have to be an asshole to my best friend’s little sister. Could I still call her that when my best friend was dead and she wasn’t so little anymore?

She was all business as she marched through the room in her tight dress and strappy shoes that made a light tapping with every step. Running a towel over my face and arms, I let my gaze fall to the floor. It didn’t matter. I could feel her. I could smell her. The air around me shifted into a living breathing thing that threatened to swallow me up.

“Here.” She shoved a hundred-dollar bill under my nose. “Go on take it.”

“Wha− ”

“Oh, come on. I know it was you last night that paid for a private session and then spent the better part of an hour asking me the most boring and unsexy questions ever.”

Hardest hour of my life. Seriously. If she thought she needed to take her clothes off to drive a man crazy, she was sadly mistaken.

“I like my job. I’m sorry you don’t approve, but you can’t buy me off every night.” She tossed the bill in my lap.

“I promised him I’d take care of you. You’re making it damn near impossible.”

“I don’t need you to take care of me,” she said sternly, but the desperation in her voice made me feel like I momentarily had a leg up. Her voice softened as she continued. “Look, I know Nathan didn’t approve of my career ch—”

“Taking your clothes off for strangers on the internet isn’t a career,” I snapped, instantly regretting the harshness in my tone as her eyes widened and then filled with tears. “Shit, I’m sorry.”

Glancing around the room, I could see all eyes were on us — or rather her. “Come on.”

Standing, I placed a hand on the small of her back, careful to only let my fingertips linger there for a moment as I led her to the empty kitchen at the back of the busy station. Despite the amount of food that was consumed by the six-man crew, we tended to steer clear of the kitchen in favor of sitting and eating in the dining room with the large television mounted on the wall.

She turned to face me before I knew what it was I was going to say. Her dyed blond hair was so light it looked white under the natural sunlight coming through the windows. She had pulled the long strands into an elaborate looking braid that twisted around her head and over her shoulder where it rested on one round, perky— Fuuuck, I could not be thinking of her tits right now.

“Please, Naomi, help me understand why you’re doing this. Nathan had one request of me − one dying wish. He was my best friend for twenty-five years, and he never asked anything of me. Except this.”

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him: it’s not your choice. Besides, I like my job.”

A rough laugh left my chest.

“I do. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“What self-respecting woman wants to have men who couldn’t score a date if their life depended on it jerking off behind a computer screen?”

“It’s not like that.”

“Trust me, sweetheart. No dude that can get an actual date is paying to watch someone take their clothes off without being able to touch her. Not when there is free porn at the click of a button.”

“You really don’t get it. It’s more than that. It’s about connection and fun.”

I laughed again. If she believed that then I really did have my work cut out for me.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a deal.”

“A deal?”

“Mhmmm.” Her voice was laced with honey and mistrust. “Meet me at my house tonight at eight.” She was walking away before I could come up with a reason to say no.

“Don’t be late,” she sing-songed, not looking back.

I ran my hand absentmindedly through my still wet hair, already second-guessing my decision to show up. I could do this. Whatever Naomi had in mind, I could reason with her. I had to. My hand lifted to knock on the front door, but it swung open before my knuckles made contact.

I sucked in a breath, and my cock felt heavy as I got my first glimpse of Princess Peach in the flesh. Fucking hell. A tiny scrap of plaid material made her barely decent on the bottom half with her long legs on full display. A plain, white t-shirt had been tied up below her breasts and a glimpse of her pink areolas told me all I needed to know about what was underneath — nothing.

Every schoolgirl fantasy I’d ever had was obliterated. They didn’t compare.

“You’re late. Come in,” she said in a breathy voice. The door flung open and she disappeared down the hall.

“Holy fuck,” I muttered and took a steadying breath. I had two choices — turn around and go home or follow the lingerie-clad vixen to what was sure to be the end of me.

Against my better judgment, I shut the door behind me and followed the trail of light perfume down the hall.