Blazing Hotter (Love Under Fire Book 2) (2 page)

The way that totally made Frankie melt. If only she wasn’t off limits.

If only he wasn’t a shell of the man he’d been two years ago. The old Frankie would take a perky blond like Cassie into his arms with no hesitation, rubbing her back and shoulders and kissing her until she was breathless and moaning for more. He’d have no problem using his nimble fingers to tease her into a frenzy of hot desire until she begged him to make her come, over and over again.

Frankie looked at his hands, thinking about what the doctors had said earlier at his surgical consultation. A rough day didn’t even begin to describe it.

“It’s been pretty shitty,” he admitted. “I’m not up to a party. In fact, I meant to call you to cancel therapy, Cassie, but fell asleep. I just want to go back to bed.”

Cassie frowned, her brow furrowing in a way that somehow made her even hotter. “The nurses tell me you haven’t been out of your room since our last therapy appointment. I know I had to cancel a few sessions to go to my brother’s wedding, but you promised you’d work hard while I was gone.”

He had no answer for that. It was the first time in a year and a half that Cassie had missed a therapy appointment. She worked her ass off trying to help him gain more mobility. However, Frankie knew he had to face facts sooner or later.

“I’m not getting better. Rehab isn’t helping.”

She tilted her head sideways and reached out, smoothing his curly black hair across his head. “You’re all sweaty. You mentioned something about having bad dreams once before. Is that what has you so worked up and grouchy?”

Her touch was magical, the coolness of her skin acting like a soothing balm for his hot flesh. However, if he let her continue touching him, he’d lose control and pop a boner right here. Maybe that would have been okay for the old Frankie, who could convince a girl to take care of it or do it for himself, but his screwed up hands couldn’t even move enough for him to whack himself off these days.

He pushed her hand away. “It’s really none of your business what I dream about.”

If his rudeness upset her, Cassie didn’t show it. She merely shrugged and hopped off the bed. “Nope, it’s not. What is my business is getting your ass down to the therapy room. I’m not going to let what muscle tone you do have atrophy just because you want to feel sorry for yourself and act like a whiny little bitch.”

Thayne’s loud guffaw of laughter filled the room. “I love how you kick his ass. I can’t talk to him that way anymore.”

“Well, you should,” she said. “Coddling him won’t get him moving again. Grab his wheelchair, Thayne. I don’t care if we have to beat him and throw him in the damn thing.”

She looked back at Frankie, piercing him with her fiercest glare. “You are going to therapy and then you’re getting cleaned up and going to that party. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Plenty of people have gone to a lot of trouble to make your birthday special, so get off your damn pity pot.”

***

P
acing the outside hallway while Thayne helped Frankie shower after therapy, Cassie Flick couldn’t calm her nerves. She hoped they were doing the right thing by forcing Frankie into this party. When the nursing staff reported that he wouldn’t get out of bed while she’d been gone, it had been more than a little concerning. She was running out of options to treat the former fireman, and now she needed his brothers at the station to step in and help roust him back to life.

She turned the corner of the hallway furthest from Frankie’s room, readying herself to make another lap of the floor when she still didn’t see Thayne or Frankie waiting for her. How long could it possibly take the man to clean up? From everything she’d seen, Frankie was sexy no matter what he did. Besides, it wasn’t like the guys at the station cared how he looked.

The door to one of the nearby rooms opened and a woman stepped out, putting her hands over her face and stifling tears.

She looked vaguely familiar, and Cassie wondered if something had gone wrong with one of the other residents on the floor. Hurrying her steps to approach the woman, she cleared her throat to let her know she was there. “Are you okay, ma’am?”

The woman looked up, glaring through her tears. “This is all your fault.”

“Excuse me?” Although Cassie felt a sense of familiarity, she was sure the woman wasn’t related to any of the patient’s Cassie had worked with. She must not mean Cassie personally was at fault. “What’s happened, ma’am?”

“He died and it’s your fault.”

Although she was supposed to be getting ready for a party and being in an upbeat mood, Cassie’s heart swelled with sadness. Another person hadn’t made it, and his loved ones had no one to blame except the employees. How horrible must it be to come to this center, day after day, praying your husband would get well only to have him pass away?

She patted the woman’s arm reassuringly. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Is there anything I can do?”

“All you damn doctors and nurses have done enough,” the woman practically spat. “I hate you. Get away from me!”

Knowing everyone grieved in their own manner, Cassie mumbled another apology for the woman’s loss and rushed the remaining distance to Frankie’s room. It didn’t matter if her patient wasn’t completely ready yet. She needed to get out of this hallway.

Whoever was in charge of caring for the woman’s loved one must know he had passed on. They would help her. For now, Cassie had her hands full in trying to help Frankie. There was only so much she could do in a day.

Unfortunately, death was an inevitable part of life, no matter how hard medical personnel worked to stave it off as long as possible.

C
assie stood in the main room of the firehouse, rocking back and forth in her tennis shoes while watching Frankie interact with his old coworkers. She hoped she’d made the right decision.

She understood Frankie being discouraged, considering there was a high likelihood he wouldn’t get more mobility back than what he had right now. That didn’t mean he could just check out of life. She’d done what she could for his body, now she needed to help him integrate back into life again with the abilities he did have.

Sure, he’d never return to fighting fires, but that didn’t mean these men weren’t still his friends and brothers.

“I’m glad you called me about planning this party.” Thayne leaned against the wall next to her, also watching Frankie. “I had no clue he was that bad off. Laura’s been busy making wedding plans, and I’ve been wrapped up in that with her. She’s trying to figure out where we can have it so Frankie’s wheelchair won’t be a problem. Originally, she wanted to have it on a tropical island down on the water, but that will be impossible.”

Cassie sighed but nodded. “Unless the resort you go to would put out a special boardwalk for his chair. He’s not going to walk again, Thayne. The sooner we help him adjust to that, the better.”

“But what about his hands?” Thayne took his eyes off Frankie, quirking an eyebrow when he looked at her. “Didn’t you say a new neurosurgeon was meeting with the orthopedist to talk about what they could do?”

Cassie blinked rapidly, thinking about what she’d read in Frankie’s chart when she arrived at Sayle Regional Hospital this morning. “Let’s just say the birthday gift we worked so hard to get him will come in handy.”

He blew out a puff of air. “Damn.”

Just then, Thayne’s fiancée stepped out from behind the partition separating the small kitchen area from the rest of the main room, hands full of a large plate of food. A smile crossed her pretty face as she walked toward Frankie. Her slightly plump hips swayed as she walked. Next to Cassie, Thayne let out a soft sound of appreciation.

Cassie smiled. “You guys have been together for nearly two years now. She still makes your heart pound harder when she walks into the room?”

“Oh, yes. She takes my breath away.” The dreamy look on Thayne’s face proved how much the handsome fireman loved Laura more than his words could explain. “I can’t wait to make her my wife.”

“If you’re still intent on Frankie being the best man, I’ll do everything I can to help him accept his new reality and get back to living.”

If only she had a man who looked at her the way Thayne looked at Laura. Cassie had dated a lot over the years, and one by one, she watched her friends and family find the person they couldn’t live without. First, her best friend married a doctor at the hospital, opening a free clinic for the town of Sayle, Washington, and having a baby. She was deliriously happy but had very little time for her old friend.

Last week, her stepbrother married the receptionist at the law office he worked for as an accountant. Cassie knew from experience that Blake and Lucy would have less time to hang out with her now that they were in the process of adopting a new baby. Cassie’s nephew was over the moon happy to get a little brother or sister. Once they received a baby, Lucy planned to take time off from work to help the bonding process. That meant they’d no longer need Cassie to babysit Aaron, at least until Lucy went back to work, and Cassie would end up spending less time with the family.

Now, Laura and Thayne would marry. Not too long after that, Cassie suspected they’d have a kid too. She’d become close to Laura in the first months of Thayne’s recovery and the two of them hung out quite a bit now when Thayne was on duty, but soon Laura wouldn’t have time for that.

Cassie would once again be on her own as her friend moved on without her. She couldn’t begrudge any of them their happiness, but she wished she could find the same thing they had. Why was it so hard to find a nice, respectable guy who could love her the way Thayne loved Laura? Then again, most marriages didn’t last, so Cassie wasn’t sure she really missed out on anything except heartache.

Laura approached Frankie, handing him the plate of food. “Here’s the first batch of enchiladas for the birthday boy.”

While Frankie had been a bit surly to the guys in the firehouse, he favored Laura with a smile. “Thayne said you made these special because you know I like them.”

“Yep.”

“Thanks, Laura. It means a lot.”

She grinned, bending down to kiss his cheek. “Happy birthday.”

Beneath his dusky skin, Frankie’s cheeks turned pink, embarrassed by Laura’s attention, it seemed. The bashfulness, as opposed to his normal anger and bluster, made him endearing. It was moments like this that kept Cassie working hard, wanting to help the former firefighter.

“Hey, Cassie?” Laura called, waving her over. “Why don’t you dish up before I turn the guys loose on the kitchen? You can sit on the end of the couch here, right next to Frankie’s chair.”

Following orders, she crossed the room to accompany Laura to the kitchen. She didn’t miss the way all the men watched her as she walked, including Frankie. Maybe Laura had the right idea going out with one of the guys from the station. They were strong, loyal, and made Cassie feel good just with their open appreciation of her body.

“Can you do me a favor?” Laura asked softly when they stepped into the relative seclusion of the kitchen.

Cassie hesitated, not sure she liked Laura’s hesitant tone. “What’s that?”

“I know the single guys out there are eyeing you like a prime piece of booty and it feels good.”

Cassie smiled. “There are a lot of handsome men in this station.”

Laura chewed on her lower lip and then shrugged. “Not as sexy as my man, but yeah, handsome. That’s where the favor comes in. Could you only have eyes for Frankie tonight?”

“That’s your favor?” Cassie tucked short blond hair behind her ears on either side, confused. “I don’t understand.”

“A big problem Thayne had before you got him walking again and able to do things for himself was feeling like less of a man. He admitted that after getting out of the hospital. Since he’s been dealing with it for a year and a half now, I can only imagine how much worse that is for Frankie.”

Cassie nodded to show she understood. “He’s a great guy, and he deserves the undivided attention of a woman. But he’s my patient...”

“Not tonight,” Laura argued. “Tonight, we’re just a bunch of friends celebrating his birthday.”

A fluttering in her stomach warned that this wasn’t a good idea. Cassie already had some occasional hot and heavy dreams featuring the former fireman. She could only imagine what might happen if she let herself spend an evening flirting with him and making him feel more like the man he used to be.

Sure, it would make Frankie feel good and that had to help her plan of getting him back to some semblance of a normal life. However, if she let herself think of him as anything other than a patient Cassie wondered if she’d ever be able to put him back in the patient category again.

It was getting frustrating to have dreams of the sort she was having. Her trusty vibrator might help her get through it, but it wasn’t as good as having a man would be.

“Laura, I’m not sure I should do that. I’ll sit with him and I won’t flirt with any of the guys here, but I can’t flirt with him either. It’s just not right.”

Laura sighed. “Maybe I should have hired a stripper.”

Cassie’s eyes widened, shock coursing through her. “I had no idea you knew anything about strippers.”

The other woman laughed. “I’ve learned a lot of things, being with Thayne. I even took some classes on erotic dancing so I can please my man.”

“You never told me that!” Cassie shook her head in disbelief. “I wish you had invited me along. If I ever find a man, I’d sure like to be able to dance for him.”

A knock sounded on the partition and Thayne popped his head around the side. “Hey, ladies? Are you letting us eat anytime soon? The guys are getting restless, and you never know when a call could come in and break this party up.”

“Oh, of course!” Laura leaned toward the wall, giving Thayne a quick kiss. “Cassie is dishing up now and then everyone can come in.”

“Should we eat and then give him his gift?” Thayne asked. “Or do you want to wait until after the cake?”

Cassie put a small helping of chili into a disposable bowl and shook her head. “I didn’t think about you all getting called away. We’d better eat and then do it. I just hope he likes it and doesn’t feel like we’re pushing him.”