Hot As Hell Read online

“That’s not a ‘not interested.’ That is reason why you should not be interested,” Jean-Michel said. “Difference, there.”

  “Aren’t you French supposed to be all about free love or something?” she demurred.

  “Free love?” Jean-Michel laughed. “Love is never free. Sex, on the other hand. Sometimes free. Sometimes very pricey.”

  Lily rolled her eyes and went to work icing the cupcakes. That didn’t stop her from wondering about Cade, though…

  What had he been up to the past three years?

  And how in the hell was he hotter than he’d ever been?

  2

  Cade

  Cade mindlessly trailed behind the guys as they would their way towards the firehouse. He hadn’t thought seeing Lily would jar him so much.

  Sure, he knew she worked at Wilde’s because of her LinkedIn profile that he stalked. It was the only covert way he knew how to keep track of her without her knowing.

  But Cade thought popping in would be a fun little way to fire up his return to Salem. He didn’t know Elijah would be there, too. Or that seeing Lily like that, her face flushed from the ovens in the back and the way her chest pushed at the buttons of her crisp button up shirt would instantly turn him on.

  Damn, it had been awkward having an erection while Elijah welcomed him back.

  Cade was used to the girls in the Montana college town, the Instagram models who looked like perfect plastic Bratz dolls online but tired and haggard in person. Lily was different.

  He’d always known that, even before what happened between them. However, she’d flourished since he’d been gone.

  Cade couldn’t get over it. In the bakery, without a whit of makeup on, she looked at home.

  And hot as hell.

  The last summer’s freckles scattered across her nose and that dark brown hair that whorled in imperfectly fantastic peaks. Those nearly indigenous cheekbones highlighted her heart-shaped face, and it took all the strength he had to look at her eyes instead of that pout with the sharp cupid’s bow.

  Or those tits, he thought as he pulled into the firehouse.

  Fuck. This is Lily, he reminded himself. A sense of shame washed over him. If either of her brothers had any idea what I was thinking... Hell, if they had any clue that he’d been with her once, they’d beat me within an inch of my life.

  Cade still couldn’t forgive himself for what he’d done the morning after he and Lily were together. He’d gazed at her, trusting in sleep beside him, and just couldn’t believe it. She’d chosen him. She could have had anyone, and it was him.

  Then you went and screwed it all up, he said as he shook his head. In just a few moments he’d destroyed any chance of them ever being together for real.

  That, and the fact that Elijah and Aiden would love pounding him into the pavement was enough to have him running for the hills—literally. When he’d driven to Montana, across the rolling hills of eastern Oregon, he couldn’t move fast enough to outrun the guilt that stuck to him from back home.

  He thought three years would be enough. But he was wrong. Even now, at the bakery, he’d struggled to find the words. Any words, something to tell her that he was sorry, but they got stuck and messy in his throat.

  Cade shook his head at his past self as he pulled his gear together.

  If I’d known back then how precious life is, maybe I could have stopped thinking with my dick for a minute and either not slept with her at all. Or … or maybe I would have made her mine.

  Cade paused, one hand on his duffel bag. Is that really what I want?

  “Stop it,” he said aloud.

  Lily made it impossible to think straight. He’d been in a non-stop tailspin every since he’d left. And it didn’t help that something about what had happened made him wonder. It wasn’t just how tight she was, though he got hard every time he thought about it. There was an innate innocence to it that almost made him stop right there in the moment.

  Was she a virgin? But no, she couldn’t be. She’d just broken up with a boyfriend of three years. Plus, she was at one of the biggest party schools in the state.

  It had to just be how vulnerable she was given the circumstances, right?

  Yeah. And that makes you even more of an asshole.

  “Get it together,” he whispered. He needed a clear head, a head free of Lily, before he walked into his new job.

  “Get lost out there?” Elijah asked as Cade walked in. “I know it’s been a few years, but it took you long enough.”

  Cade shrugged. “Where’s the fire?” he asked.

  “Haha,” Aiden said as he tossed Cade’s new standard issues at him.

  Cade looked around the firehouse. It had been six months since Elijah and Aiden’s dad had died in the unprecedented Eagle Creek fires that raged through the Columbia. He thought the firehouse would have taken down his official Captain’s photo by now, but it still hung on the walls.

  “You get used to it,” Elijah said softly. He approached Cade and put his hand on his shoulder.

  “It’s not just that,” Cade said.

  There was something about the firehouse that he guessed would always be familiar. It was the same scents he grew up with, that certain cleaning solution that had wormed its way into his hippocampus. The same wooden benches worn smooth after decades of use. But it seemed smaller now. The ceilings felt lower.

  Is this just how it works? he wondered.

  When he’d been a kid in the foster care system, he’d lucked out when he befriended Elijah. Cade just didn’t know how lucky he’d been at the time. Elijah’s whole family had accepted him as one of their own.

  One of his few good memories as a child was stopping by the firehouse after school. Elijah’s dad hadn’t been the fire Captain then, but he was clearly one of the most respected men on the crew. It was the closest thing to a father figure Cade had ever known.

  “How’s, uh, how’s Crane as Captain?” he asked.

  “Eldon?” Elijah gave a short laugh. “You’ll see. He’s an old fucker, that’s for sure. Like in his sixties! But doesn’t look or act it. Come on, I’ll show you your locker.”

  Cade followed Elijah to the back and tried to hold it together. Being back in that firehouse made him feel like a kid again. He didn’t know why. After all, he’d been a recruit here with Elijah right after high school. But those weren’t the memories that were seared into his head.

  It was the countless hours hanging out here as kids that he remembered. He could still recall all the stories the old crew told. The valiant rescues and the brave measures they took to keep people safe.

  There were certainly remnants of those long-ago years, but there were also some major changes.

  “Look weird?” Aiden asked from behind him.

  Cade nearly jumped.

  “Yeah,” he agreed.

  “Dad had remodeled the whole place six months before … well, you know.”

  “Remodeled it?” Cade asked. He slung his bag onto one of the benches as Elijah opened a locker with a flourish. “How’d he get that kind of funding?”

  “Dad had been badgering the state for years for a facelift,” Elijah said. “Then, of course, when some idiot kid goes and lights the whole Columbia on fire, even more emergency funds came rolling in.”

  “Damn,” Cade said. “Looks good. But it’s just, you know, different. Where’s the rest of the crew?”

  “Special training in back,” Aiden said.

  “Yeah? Then why aren’t you guys there?”

  “We had it last week, jackass. We were just picking up sustenance for these guys. Before you randomly popped up at the bakery, that is” Elijah said. “Oh, shit, the pastries! You think they’ll care if they don’t get dessert?”

  Aiden shrugged. “I think one of the guys brought in doughnuts this morning,” Aiden said.

  “Yeah, but you know how they get about Lily’s desserts…”

  A loud bark rang through the firehouse. Cade braced himself as a massive dalmation barreled
towards them. The dog immediately buried its nose in his crotch as it checked him out. Elijah laughed.

  “That’s Sparky Number Six,” Aiden said. “Or, you know, just Six.”

  Cade held out his hand for the dog to inspect. “You all get Stranger Things questions from civilians now, naming the fire dogs like that?”

  “Sometimes,” Elijah said with a shrug.

  “So, Five, she …”

  “Last year,” Aiden said.

  There was a quiver to his voice. They weren’t supposed to get attached to the dogs, but Aiden had always had a particularly rough time with that rule.

  “Well, let’s get this over with,” Elijah said with a sigh. “C’mon, let’s go meet up with the Captain.”

  As the three of them headed down the hall with its new, crisp white coat of paint, the alarms started to go off. Cade felt the jolt of excitement sizzle through him. Even after all these years in a firehouse, there was something about that alarm that always reminded him of why he did this.

  They started to move faster as an unfamiliar voice crackled over the intercom. Captain Crane calmly announced the address, turnout time, and apparatus for the call. Cade could hear the crew as they flew into the firehouse and the truck rumbled to life.

  Elijah and Aiden were instantly in rescue mode.

  “What a way to start a shift,” Aiden said.

  “We’ll pick this up when we get back,” Elijah called to Cade. “Damn, Commercial Street,” he said to Aiden.

  Cade smiled as their backs retreated.

  Change or no change, coming back here is like coming home, he thought.

  He nodded at some of the crew that charged past him. A wave of emotion washed over him, and he felt wet pricks at his eyes. Cade blinked away the tears, grateful that the call meant nobody would pay him much attention.

  It was stupid, getting emotional over the station, but he couldn’t help it. Ever since the Montana fires had taken three of his crew right in front of him …

  Cade wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

  “Can I help you?” The deep voice startled him, and Cade looked up at the grizzly new Captain. The man had blue eyes that pierced straight through him.

  “Captain Crane, hello, sir,” he said. “I’m Cade—”

  “I know who you are.”

  Cade took in the older man, grayed but in peak physical condition. The Captain offered a small but kind smile that wrinkled his eyes and softened his face. “Come on back, we have some paperwork to take care of.”

  Cade settled into the straightback metal chair across from the rich wooden desk.

  “I’ll need you to affirm a few details about your company in Montana,” Captain Crane said.

  “Sure, I—”

  “It’s where three crew members died, correct?” the Captain interrupted.

  Cade nodded, a lump in his throat.

  “I’m real sorry about that. It’s a terrible thing. I’ve lost some good men in my twenty years of service,” the Captain said as he made some marks on a thick stack of papers.

  Cade nodded again.

  The Captain pursed his lips and glanced up. “Don’t take this personally, but you’ll need to get checked out by the company psychologist.”

  “What?”

  “Since I’ve taken over here, every man and woman on this crew is my responsibility. To ensure that everyone is capable of doing their best, I’ve brought in Dr. Hersh. Sometimes it’s just good to talk to someone when you’ve seen some of the stuff we see every day.”

  “So I’m going to see a shrink instead of fighting fires?” Cade could hear the judgment in his voice, but he couldn’t help it.

  “Hey. Take it easy,” the Captain said.

  Cade clamped his mouth shut.

  Don’t give him a goddamned reason to send you to the psyche ward, he admonished himself.

  “It’s my understanding that you haven’t been on active duty since some of your crew died. I just want you to talk to Dr. Hersh tomorrow before you go rushing into a blaze, that’s all.”

  Cade glowered, but stayed quiet. His crew had died, with him watching, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

  But I’m sure as hell not going to let it happen again.

  The Captain handed him a ream of paperwork. “Why don’t you get started with this today?”

  “Yes, Captain,” he said, and stood up.

  “Close the door on your way out,” the Captain called to Cade’s back.

  Cade stalked towards the break room. A dark cloud hung over his head.

  3

  Lily

  Lily pushed her cart through the Milk and Honey grocery store and smiled at the staff. She’d gone to high school with some of them, and even though they’d barely spoken as teenagers there was the small town demand to be polite.

  As Lily made her way to the produce section, she began to load up on veggies. Jean-Michel was right. She needed to be better with her diet.

  But this low carb, high veggie kick she’d been on wasn’t easy. Lily had almost been tempted to forget the whole thing, especially since Jean-Michel had helped her with her croquembouches last night, but her horoscope had kept her in check.

  Libra, it’s time to work on things of a personal nature, she’d read on her favorite horoscope app as soon as she parked in the grocery store lot. You’ll have a strange encounter, but the outcome will be great.

  She’d sighed.

  “October twelfth, smack in the middle of the Libra dates,” she’d said aloud. “Come on, Lily, you can do this. It’s just carbs, you’re not giving up oxygen.”

  If she was going to work on something of a personal nature, why not make it her diet? Of course the outcome would be great. This diet would fulfill two horoscope messages in one.

  Carbs were one thing. But her caffeine addiction? There’s no way she was giving that up.

  Besides, doesn’t that help with weight loss? She made a beeline for the coffee section, and as she turned the corner she nearly ran right into a mountain of a man.

  “Whoa,” he said as he held the small hand basket aside.

  Shit. Of course I’d run into Cade.

  “Uh …” Lily searched for her words as she looked him up and down. Her face was inches from his muscled chest, and she could smell the musky scent of his cologne. It was intoxicating.

  God, I hope I’m not drooling. Wait, is this what my horoscope meant when it meant things of a personal nature, strange encounters—and a great outcome?

  Just seeing Cade made her stomach do gymnastics. She should know, better than anyone, that messing with Cade meant she’d get burned. How many girls had she watched him hump and dump over the years?

  He had a real reputation around Salem before he left for California. Some girls still talked about him as they bemoaned why they couldn’t be the one to make him change.

  And with how he looks now, I’m sure he’ll be on a whole new streak by tomorrow.

  Lily forced herself to stop staring at him.

  “Hi,” Cade said. A corner of his mouth hitched up.

  Does he know what I’m thinking? Lily turned bright read.

  “Sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

  God, you sound like an idiot. But once she started apologizing, she couldn’t stop. At least it gave her something to say.

  Cade laughed.

  “I’ll let it slide this time,” he said.

  “I was just trying to get to the coffee,” she said awkwardly.

  “I’ll walk with you, if that’s okay.”

  “Uh, sure?” she said. She was so nervous, she had started to sweat.

  Real attractive, Lily.

  As they walked down the narrow aisle side by side, she couldn’t stop the images of when they’d been together from replaying through her head. It was like she could feel his lips on her again, nipping at her ears.

  And how he’d felt when he’d eased her onto his cock. Just the memory instantly made her wet
—and even more embarrassed.

  Lily couldn’t be completely certain why she was so nervous.

  Except maybe that he’s freaking gorgeous. The very definition of a bad boy. Not to mention my brother’s best friend, she reminded herself.

  Okay, so there were plenty of reasons to be nervous. And plenty of reasons to not talk to him, to let this crush go once and for all.

  And yet here you are in the grocery store with him, she thought.

  As they made their way towards the coffee aisle, she noticed every woman in the store checked him out. It didn’t matter if they were teenaged girls or middle-aged women in yoga pants.

  They think I’m with him, she thought. She nearly gloated. Did it matter that it wasn’t true?

  Lily searched for something to say, anything to talk about, but her mind was blank. All she could think about was how good he’d made her feel.

  “You look really good,” Cade said.

  “Sorry?” she squeaked.

  She wished she could just disappear. That the floor would open up and swallow her whole. For a second, she willed it to happen.

  How would that be for a strange encounter?

  “So, what have you been up to since the last time I saw you?” she asked, a desperate attempt to change the subject.

  Of course, when “the last time” came out of her mouth, she blushed even deeper. It had been three years since she’d seen Cade, five years since he had up and vanished.

  One minute she’d been falling asleep next to him after he took her v-card, the next she had woken up to a cold, empty bed.

  She bit her lip and tried to focus on his answer.

  “Just been in Montana. Fighting fires and taking care of my Aunt Mary.”

  “How is your aunt?” she asked, eager to be on safe territory.

  Cade’s face fell. “She passed away almost a year ago.”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry…”

  Lily instinctively reached and touched his arm. She nearly yanked it back as an electric current flowed between them. When his eyes met hers, her mind went blank.

  Even in the bright lights of the supermarket, it felt like it was just the two of them. And the connection between them was palpable.