More Than a Fling [Uniformed and Blazing Hot 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

“I met my neighbors,” Alyssa confessed. “You know, the ones I told you about. I invited them over for dinner.” She shrugged. “It seemed like the neighborly thing to do.”

Kristy slowly nodded, her eyes glinting with knowledge and what might have been a hint of jealousy. “You had sex with them, too.”

Alyssa felt her eyes widen as she straightened and shot a cursory glance around the newspaper office. No one else seemed to have heard Kristy. “How did you know?”

Kristy quietly giggled. “Girl, you’re glowing and it’s not the kind of glow a woman gets after a good night’s sleep.”

Surprisingly enough, Alyssa had gotten a good night’s sleep, even if it hadn’t been for very long. Nick and Tanner had kept her up until the wee hours of the morning. She wasn’t exactly sure what time they had returned to their house next door, but she knew it had been somewhere between three and four in the morning.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Alyssa turned her attention back to her iPad, but couldn’t keep the corner of her lips from twitching.

Though she hadn’t thought about it, she supposed her and Kristy had become friends. She’d had plenty of female acquaintances in her life, but she had never really considered any of them friends. They had been informants or competitors in the business. Not someone she shared her personal life with.

“Yes, you do,” Kristy singsonged. “We’re having lunch today and you’re going to tell me all about it.”

Alyssa let the smile form on her lips as she pushed against the edge of her desk, rolling her seat back to give her room to stand. She had come to Cherish with the intention of building a new life. She decided it would be nice for that new life to include a female friend.

“Okay, but there are only so many details I’m willing to share.”

Kristy waggled her brows. “It was that good, huh?”

Enjoying the girly feeling washing through her, Alyssa got to her feet, her smile widening as she leaned down to whisper in Kristy’s ear. “I had two smokin’ hot men in my bed for the better part of the night. Girl, it was better than good.”

Kristy groaned as Alyssa straightened. “You just have to rub it in, don’t you?”

“Hey, you’re the one wanting to hear all about if over lunch,” Alyssa reminded her.

“You’re damn right I do. I haven’t had sex in forever. The least you can do is let me live vicariously through you.”

Alyssa shot a pointed glance toward Will Jackson’s private office. “Is he in there?”

“Yep.” Kristy gave her feet on the floor a push and sent her chair rolling back to her desk.

“Good. I’ve got something I want to run by him. Wish me luck.”

“With the mood he’s in today, you’re going to need it.”

Alyssa glanced back at Kristy as she headed for Will Jackson’s office. “That’s okay. I’m in a good enough mood today for both of us.” She heard Kristy giggle as she knocked on Will’s door, waited for his curt bellow to enter, and walked inside.

His beady gaze shifted from his computer and locked with hers. “Let me guess. You’re looking for praise on the story.”

Alyssa closed the door behind her and stopped behind the visitor’s chair in front of the man’s desk. “Not especially, but I’ll take it if you’re looking to dish it out.” She could’ve sworn the corner of his thin lips twitched at that.

“Fine. You did good. You stuck to the details of the accident, gave it a little heart, and didn’t make a single comment about how hot the responders looked in their uniforms.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll have a follow-up piece for you within the hour about the condition of the victims that were transported to the hospital as well as the official findings on the cause of the accident.”

Will nodded once. “Very well.”

Alyssa heard the dismissal in his tone, but she wasn’t about to walk out of the office until she got the point she had come in here for. “Does this mean you’re going to let me start handling more important news than the closing of local businesses now?”

Will leaned back in his chair as his beady gaze turned calculating. “There’s a new highfalutin restaurant opening downtown tomorrow night. It’s supposed to offer all sorts of high-dollar gourmet entrees. You can cover that.”

Alyssa’s temper sparked, but she forced herself to turn the frustration into something more useful. If she had to go toe-to-toe with her new boss, then so be it. She could be polite about it, too, in her own sassy little way. “Betty covers the local dining section of the paper. I’m sure she wouldn’t be pleased if I took such a notable story away from her.”

The man finally grinned. “No, I’m sure she wouldn’t. Look, Kinney. You’re overqualified for this paper. I know it. You know it. It was made clear when you were hired. Experience aside, when you come to work for a newspaper like this, you have to pay your dues and take your licks.”

Alyssa curled her fingers over the back of the visitor’s chair. “I accepted and agreed to that when I took the job. I fully understand you have your senior reporters and I’m the low woman on the totem pole right now, so to speak.”

Will’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I get the feeling you’re buttering me up for something, Kinney?”

“I’m just getting started.” Alyssa bit back a smile at his snort as she let her hands fall from the back of the chair, circled it, and perched on the edge of the seat. “The comment you made about not putting anything in the article that related to the responders’ physical appearance peeked my curiosity. I researched the previous articles published by the paper about our local fire service, and came to understand why you were reluctant to let me cover the story.”

“Not just you, Kinney,” he corrected. “Any of my female reporters. If you read the bylines of those articles then you know those reporters are no longer employed by this paper.”

“Yes. I did notice that and I don’t disagree with the decision.” Frankly, she had been surprised those articles had made it to print in the first place.

“News is news. We’re not putting out the next issue of
Cosmopolitan
here.”

“No, we’re not,” Alyssa agreed. “But we are striving to write about things that interest our readers.”

“And I’m guessing you have something in mind that you think might do just that?”

Alyssa scooted further back in her seat, crossed her legs, and laced her fingers over her top knee. “I believe we can both agree that I know a good story when I find one. The people of Cherish want to know what is happening in their city, but they are also interested in reading about the people that live here. That being said, the centennial anniversary of the Cherish Fire Service is next month. We have three firehouses covering the Cherish city limit districts, each operating three separate shifts.”

“Any notable fires those stations have put out has already been reported and there’s no guarantee anything newsworthy will happen around the centennial anniversary unless you’re planning on going around starting fires so you’ve got something new to report.”

It was all Alyssa could do not to roll her eyes. “Fire and accident reports focus on the incident, not the men and woman that respond and put their lives on the line to save the victims involved. I’m talking about human interest pieces. Take one shift at a time from each of the three firehouses over the course of nine days and run a piece about the firefighters on that shift. Who are they? What makes them tick? Why do they choose to do what they do? What do they do on their time off? How do they deal with the tragedies they see? Let’s show the readers these firefighters are more than just pretty faces or sexy bodies inside their uniforms.”

Will drummed his fingertips on the top of his desk as he studied her for a long moment. “Get me the first piece by the start of next week. If I like what I read, I’ll reserve a spot for it and the other eight pieces you’re wanting to write so they’ll run on the days preceding the centennial anniversary.”

Pleased, Alyssa smiled and got to her feet. “Yes, sir. I’ll have the first piece ready for you on Monday.”

She walked out of Will’s office knowing four days would be cutting it close to give the first story the attention she wanted, but she could pull it off. She needed to interview the firefighters and paramedics pronto. That should be easy enough. She was not only living next door to two of the firefighters she needed to interview, but had found herself in the middle of a very satisfying fling with them.

Except you were just with them last night.

It wasn’t uncommon in new relationships for people to want to spend every moment together in the beginning. But what she had started with Tanner and Nick wasn’t that sort of thing. Was it too soon to invite them over for dinner again tonight even if she had a viable reason that had nothing to do with getting them into bed? Would they think she was looking for more out of their newfound friends with benefits relationship after all?

You have a story to write and you need Tanner and Nick to make it happen.

There had never been much she wouldn’t do for a story and now was no exception. She would just have to take her chances. She would get what she needed out of them for her story and then she would give them all the space they needed.

* * * *

Precious barked once and settled his large rump on the ground at Tanner’s feet as the snow-white older model Mustang pulled into Alyssa’s driveway and Davon Reed got out.

“You’re probably the only handyman I’ve ever seen that drives a sports car instead of a truck,” Tanner said to his fellow firefighter and friend as the man headed toward him.

Davon shrugged. “Why drive a truck when I’ve got it in good with the hardware store and lumber yard. Any materials I need to do a job that don’t fit in the Mustang are delivered for free.”

“I can’t argue with that.” Tanner extended a hand. “Thanks for coming over.”

“Any time.” Davon shook Tanner’s hand as his gaze dropped to Precious. “Is this the dog you and Nick were grumbling about around the firehouse that’s been keeping you up half the night.”

“The one and only. Davon, meet Precious. Precious, say hello to Davon.”

Precious barked.

Davon lifted a brow. “Precious?”

Tanner chuckled. “His previous owners thought so anyway.”

“And his new owner is the one that’s been keeping him tied to a tree out back?”

“He finally talked his way into the house last night.”

“And was gracious enough to bring his two buddies with him.”

“Hey, when have you ever known me to turn down a dinner invitation?”

Davon barked a laugh. “Well, let’s see if we can get you dessert with that dinner tonight.”

Tanner didn’t volunteer that he and Nick had gotten some very scrumptious dessert out of Alyssa after their meal last night. For the second night in a row, Alyssa Kinney had kept him awake until the wee hours of the morning, only this time, it hadn’t been just a fantasy. She had been in his arms in front of him, beneath him, and between him and Nick. They’d had sex so many times last night that his cock should have stayed limp from exhaustion for the next week. Instead, the mere mention of doing it all over again had his cock stirring to an instant state of semi-hard arousal.

He mentally silenced the warning bells that rang in his head that wanting to be with her again so soon wasn’t a good sign as he led Davon to the backyard of Alyssa’s house. A fling with a woman was supposed to be an occasional thing, not a nightly event. Although, when he took into account the fact that he would be spending tomorrow night in his bunk at the firehouse, he supposed indulging in Alyssa’s sweet heat again tonight wouldn’t be any true cause for alarm.

“I didn’t think to ask her, but I’m pretty sure she’s just wanting to fence in the backyard,” Tanner told Davon as they stopped at the edge of the house.

“Did you think to ask her what kind of fence she wants to put up?”

Tanner rocked back on the heels of his tennis shoes. “Nope, can’t say I did, but I’m guessing as long as it looks good and keeps Precious contained when she’s not home, she’s not going to care much.”

“I noticed there isn’t any real conformity to the fences in the neighborhood. Some of the houses have chain link and others have wooden privacy. Chain link is going to be cheaper and quicker, but the wooden privacy is always my pick.”

Tanner nodded. “It looks better and adds more value to the property.”

Davon glanced to Tanner and Nick’s yard next door. “Have you and Nick thought about closing in your backyard, too? You’ll already have one side up once her fence is finished.”

Tanner considered that for a moment. “We haven’t talked about it, but it’s not a bad idea.”

“Unless you want to join the two yards and not put a dividing wall between them,” Davon added slowly.

“Put your fishing pole back up. Nick and I aren’t looking to join anything with our new neighbor.” Not anything more than they had joined already, in any case.

Davon threw his head back and laughed. “With the way people have been hooking up around the firehouse lately, you never know.”

Tanner nodded. “You and Neil included.”

Davon and A-shift paramedic Neil Ingram had found the love of their lives in middle school teacher Sierra Matthews. The three even had a baby on the way.