Chapter Two
Angela
“Heads up. Rescue Four just walked in.”
I looked up from behind the bar just as they entered. Individually, these guys could stop traffic, but together they were enough to give a normally healthy woman a heart attack. The first to enter was Corey with warm brown skin that held gold undertones. He stood at about six-feet, and by the way the black T-shirt he wore clung to his body, you knew he was in the gym at least five days a week. Next to enter was Don, who was about an inch taller, and just as muscular with olive skin and dark hair with a scruffy beard. The first two were enough to make any girl swoon, but I felt the blood rush to my ears when the third and final Rescue Four man came into my line of sight. The one they called Harvard, although his real name was Eric. He stood the tallest of the three with creamy tan skin and dark hair that looked smooth as silk thanks to his Asian heritage. I once overheard one of the guys say that he was Korean. With his chiseled jaw, full lips that were almost pouty, and dark hooded eyes, he screamed sex appeal. He looked like he held the secrets of the world behind those eyes. His mysteriousness was coupled with the fact that out of all the firemen who frequented the bar, he spoke the least. Firefighters were a loud, proud lot. I knew them well. My father had been one for more than thirty years, and my older brother was one of them. I grew up around them. But Eric had a steely calm to him, like he didn’t have to announce who or what he was to the world. He knew who he was.
A trail of goosebumps rose along my arms when those dark eyes circled the room, finally landing on me. I was behind the bar, far from the door, but it almost appeared as if his eyes darkened when they slowly scanned down my body. His facial expression remained neutral and I forced myself to turn away, moving to help another customer.
“What’s up, sugar?” Corey greeted a few minutes later.
I smiled. “How’re you doing tonight, Corey?”
“Much better now that I’ve seen your beautiful face,” he replied smoothly, perfect teeth appearing when he grinned.
Did I mention how much these men flirted? All except one, at least.
“Talking like that is going to get you in trouble.”
“Trouble’s my middle name.”
“The usual?” Laughing, I pulled the rag out of the back pocket of my jeans to clean up a spill on the bar.
“Yup, make it five. We’re meeting two more from Rescue Four.”
“I thought you guys were traveling a little light tonight.”
“Us three just got off. Thanks, sugar.” Corey winked once I handed him the first of the three Coronas with lime he requested. He sauntered over to pass off the beers, and again my eyes collided with Eric’s, almost as if he’d been staring at me.
A shiver ran through me when he took the proferred beer from Corey, his gaze still planted on me. His eyes narrowed and I felt as if I were in the crosshairs of a predator. Instead of fear, I felt my lower belly quiver as thoughts of the intentions behind those dark eyes ran through my mind. I finally managed to blink, and when I glanced back, he’d turned, facing the rest of the men at his table. I sighed. Even his profile was beautiful. I licked my lips as I watched Eric’s Adam’s apple bob up and down after he took a swig of his beer.
“You might want to clean up that drool you left on the bar,” Stephanie whispered in my ear.
I snapped her hip with the towel in my hand. “I’m not above replacing you.”
“You wouldn’t fire me. Who else do you have to run this place while you’re fantasizing about the hot firefighter?” She wiggled her eyebrows, and I tossed my head back, laughing.
“Get back to work,” I ordered.
It was a Friday night, and Charlie’s was hopping as usual. Being conveniently located between two fire stations meant that during evening shift changes, we were inundated with burly firefighters and the many female patrons who swooned after them. Coupled with the regular foot traffic we received at times, having two bartenders behind the bar wasn’t always enough. I was grateful for it all. It’s been eighteen months since I bought Charlie’s from its previous owner. I did some construction work on the place to give patrons more room, added a Bluetooth jukebox, offered a few craft beers that were so loved by us millennials, and business was booming.
“What can I do for you, sir?” I asked the man who walked up to the bar. He ordered a rum and Coke. Once that order was done, I moved on to the next customer. It went on like this probably for close to an hour with Stephanie and I so busy we barely got a good look at who we were serving before we were pouring another drink.
“What can I get for ya?” I asked the patron, barely making eye contact.
“The usual.”
A warm sensation moved through my belly at the sound of that voice. I locked eyes with Eric.
“F-five coronas with lime?” I stumbled over my words, internally kicking myself for sounding so lame.
A half-smile formed on those lips and he nodded, leaning down on the bar. I had to keep myself from watching his biceps bulge and strain again the T-shirt he wore.
“Coming up!” I infused my voice with the cheerfulness I gave all my customers. I felt his gaze on me as if he were touching me, while I uncapped the bottles and inserted the sliced limes.
“Thanks, sugar,” I heard Corey’s voice sound off from behind Eric. I lifted my eyes just as he put an arm around a now frowning Eric. “You know, this guy should drink free tonight.”
Raising my eyebrows, I uncapped the final bottle. “Oh yeah, and why is that?”
“Harvard, you didn’t tell Angela you’re a hero?” Corey teased.
Eric just gave him a shut the hell up glare.
But Corey kept on going. “Harvard here saved a little girl today. Climbed a four-story building and brought her down.”
My eyes ballooned. “Seriously?”
“Ye―”
“No, he’s messing around.” Eric tossed a deadly look in Corey’s direction.
“Fuck no he ain’t,” I heard Don’s booming voice come up behind both men and insert himself at Eric’s left side.
“Corey’s telling the truth. Rescue Four had to save Rescue Two’s asses again today.” Don and Corey both guffawed at that. Eric gave a light chuckle, and I had to avert my gaze. Something like not looking directly into the sun, unless you want your retinas to burn up. That’s what it was like staring at this man for too long, especially when he laughed.
“Well, in that case, this round’s on the house. Just don’t tell Rescue Two about it.”
Don and Corey grabbed all but one of the beers and headed back to their table.
“I’m good at keeping secrets.” Eric’s gaze lingered on me for a heartbeat, then he grabbed the beer I still held in my hand, his fingers grazing mine. My eyelids fluttered at the pulse of energy that ran through me at his touch. I looked up into Eric’s handsome face to see his eyes widen ever so slightly. He felt it, too. He inclined his head toward me before turning to head back to the rest of his squad.
Picking up a stack of napkins, I began fanning myself with them. “Geesh.”
I grabbed a bottle of water from under the bar, hoping to douse my internal flames before I returned to serving my customers.
“Talk about hot!” Stephanie said behind me. I turned to see her biting her finger as she longingly gazed over at the men who just departed from the bar.
“If you like that sort of thing.” I shrugged.
“Oh please. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t leave this bar right now to go home with one of them. Especially Harvard. I’ve seen the way you look at him. And how he looks at you.” She wagged her finger at me, shaking her shoulders seductively, her blonde locks flowing around her shoulders.
“Oh please. The man barely talks.”
“Even better! The strong, silent type.”
“Get outta here. There’s nothing there. Plus, I’m trying to see where things go with Marshall.”
“Boring.” Stephanie rolled her eyes. “You’ve been on what three dates with Marshall? That’s not enough time to see where things are going?”
“Some of us like the slow build. You know, creating a solid foundation. Not everything’s passion and hot sex.”
“If you say so.”
“There’s a customer waiting on you.” I pointed in the direction of a waving patron. Stephanie giggled before heading to the opposite end of the bar to serve customers.
Again, I was lost in the rush of the crowd until I heard a warm, familiar voice.
“Working hard, sis?”
My smile grew tenfold. “Sean! I thought you had a date tonight?” I leaned across the bar to hug my brother.
“I did, but we ended early. She had to work a late shift at the hospital.”
“And you came to say hi to your little sis?”
“That and I needed to speak with the chumps from Rescue Four. I knew they’d be here tonight.”
“Hmph!” I folded my arms over my chest, pouting. “You didn’t think to come see me at all.”
He chuckled. “Take it easy, Angela. Those chumps lost a bet, and I’m going to make them pay up.”
I leaned over to look at the table where the guys from Rescue Four were laughing and talking. “Oh yeah? Well, they were bragging about how they saved your guys’ asses today.”
My brother’s grin immediately dropped to a frown. “The day those cocky assholes have to save us is the day hell freezes over.” My brother was pissed if the vein bulging out of the side of his neck was any indication. I couldn’t help it; I burst out laughing. The rivalries between fire stations were something that mystified me, but I took pleasure in seeing my brother having his chain yanked.
“You want a beer?” I said between laughs.
“Nah, not yet. I need to handle something.” And with that, he turned in the direction of the men of Rescue Four.
****
Eric
My head tilted backward as I took the last pull of my beer. My eyes surveyed the room, watching the women and men mingling around, likely scoping who they’d take home that night. That thought had my eyes floating back to the bar at the woman tending to customers. Angela. I drank her in without making it obvious. I felt a tightening in my groin when her succulent lips parted on a full-on laugh. Her head fell back, showing off her asymmetrical cut. Short dark brown with a few purple highlights was pushed from her forehead. Her skin the color of pecans glowed under the lights of the bar. She stood about five-five, but her presence was so much larger, with her bubbly and demonstrative personality. As the owner of the bar, everyone knew Angela, and it was her outgoing spirit that made this place what it was and kept people coming back.
Making a decision, I rose from my chair to head straight to the bar. Unfortunately, I was cut off when a large figure came between me and the bar.
“Going somewhere?”
I closed my eyes briefly and sighed before placing my empty bottle on the table
“What can we do for you, Sean?” I asked, as the rest of the guys stood.
Sean surveyed the five of us at the table and a smirk I didn’t like appeared.
“It’s not what you can do for me. It’s what I’m going to do for you.”
“Ah hell. Cut the shit and tell us what we owe you,” Don interjected. He wasn’t a guy who liked beating around the bush, especially when it came to losing.
Sean chuckled. “All right, gentlemen. Since you lost our little wager, we of Rescue Two propose that you attend a spinning class at the gym on Oakland this Tuesday morning.”
My eyebrow spiked up. “Spinning?” I turned to look at Corey, Don, and the two other guys with us. They all wore the same skeptical expression I was.
“I’m not attending any goddamn spinning class,” one guy muttered under his breath.
“Right? Not having my ass in the air like some pansy,” Don added.
“Aww, the poor boys from Rescue Four afraid of a little spin class?” Sean taunted.
“We’re not afraid of a damn thing. We also know you’ve got more up your sleeve.” That was Corey.
Sean chuckled, indicating he indeed had more in store for us. “Now that you mention it...”
“Here we fucking go,” Don mumbled.
“You will attend the ten o’clock class… in tutus.”
“Get the fuck outta here!”
“Fuck off!”
“Are you shitting me?”
The chorus of curse words sounded off around the table. I shook my head. I knew it would be some dramatic bullshit. I was just as pissed as the rest of the fellas. Part of me was angry at myself since I was driving the rig this morning. The rig that got us to the scene just a couple seconds behind Rescue Two.
“A deal is a deal. Time to pay the piper.”
“I got your piper right here!” Don grabbed his crotch, thrusting his hips aggressively.
That made Sean nearly double over in laughter. Here’s the thing about firefighters―we’re two things: assholes and competitive. The combination of which can sometimes be dangerous or get us into fucked up situations such as our current dilemma.
“Tuesday, ten o’clock at Oakland Gym. Wear tutus. And don’t be late.” He pointed his finger in our direction.
“Where the fuck are we supposed to find tutus?” Corey asked.
“Right? I’m not going to the damn tutu store to buy one,” Riley, one of the other Rescue Four guys with us, yelled out.
“Don’t worry. We’ll drop some off at the station for you,” Sean assured, still laughing.
“Yeah, I bet you pussies have spare tutus laying around,” Don grumbled.
Sean laughed even harder at the targeted insult. “Tuesday,” he added before sauntering off, still laughing.
“This is some bullshit. You know they’re going to be in class, snapping pictures and shit. They’ll blow those photos up and post ’em up at the Annual Ball or some shit,” Corey fussed as we sat down.
I looked between all the men I considered my brothers. I grew up an only child, but these guys had become my family. I trusted them with my life, daily.
“We lost a bet. We pay up,” I said. As soon as the words were out, the grumbling ceased. Don and Corey still looked like they were suffering from trapped gas, but they didn’t dare refute my statement. We were Rescue Four men, and when we said we were going to do something, we did it, even if it meant we’d look like a bunch of suckers in tutus in a spin class. We’d own up to our loss, and then make sure to pay the favor back on the next bet, because I assure you we would not be losing another bet. Not on my damn watch.
“Who wants another beer?” Don asked.
Three hands went up, one of which was mine. Thankfully, I was off the next day and didn’t have to worry about getting up early to fight fires.
“Let me,” I told Don. Before he responded, I was halfway to the bar.
“Another round?” Angela smiled up at me and something funny in my chest happened. We’ve been coming to this bar more and more over the last few months. I’ve watched her since the first time I entered, telling myself to steer clear of her. I didn’t do messy entanglements, and in case things didn’t work out, I didn’t want to find another bar for Rescue Four to hang out at after-shift. I knew all too well how clingy some women could get. But the more I showed up to Charlie’s, the more senseless it became to try to deny this woman’s appeal.
I leaned on the bar, drawing me closer to Angela. I watched her nostrils flare and her chest rise when she inhaled from my nearness.
“For starters, Angel...” I responded.
She hesitated. “Angela.”
“What?”
“My name’s Angela. I think you mistook―”
“No mistake. With a face like yours, you should be called Angel.”
She dipped her head, but I caught the smile that parted her lips. “Firefighters are such flirts.”
“Not all of us,” I retorted.
“Yes, all of you.” Her gaze drifted over my shoulder.
I turned to look back at the table where the rest of my squad was. They were now accompanied by three women, all of them sitting on one of the guy’s laps. I grinned before turning back.
“Putting out fires is hard work. We need some type of outlet after hours.”
“That’s all women are to you? An outlet?” she challenged.
I raised my eyebrows, before letting my eyes scan down her face, the small amount of cleavage offered by her low cut sleeveless top she wore, those hips that flared out a little in the dark skinny jeans. She was about five-five and petite, but I knew we’d match perfectly.
“Not all women,” I responded, taking the beers she placed on the bar and going back to the table. I did my best to adjust myself in my jeans without being obvious. It was only a matter of time before Angela and I ignited, and I couldn’t wait.