The Billionaire's Secret Kink Box Set: Knox: Secret Alpha Billionaire Romance Bundle (Rosesson Brothers Book 1) (46 page)

When he parked in front, Emma jumped out and jogged in the open truck bay before he could say anything else. They must have seen her coming from inside because she was already being buzzed in. She walked through the door and turned right towards the radio room. Frankie was inside. "Hi Frankie, thanks, where's the new guy?"

"Check the kitchen, I think he is on lunch duty."

Emma turned around. Her nose led her to the kitchen. Bacon frying.
Yum
.

Entering the room, the first thing she noticed was the muscular back bent over the stove.
Double yum
. That was him for sure. She stopped and studied him, being careful to keep her mouth closed this time. The muscles in his shoulders danced with his movements. His waist tapered nicely into his blue uniform pants. His butt - oh my goodness was it perfect - swayed slightly back and forth as if he were dancing to a tune only he could hear.

Wow, he is handsome even from the back.

Emma swallowed, trying to get her throat to say words. Her mouth opened but nothing came out.
Excuse me? Pardon me? Hey you? Yo handsome? What in the heck should she say?

He must've felt her eyes on him because he whirled around quickly, pointing a piece of toast at her like a gun. When he saw her he relaxed and smiled. Those disarming dimples sunk into his cheeks. His face was all man, but the dimples gave him a little boy look that made Emma think he could do no wrong.

Emma felt her knees weaken a little bit.
What in the hell is going on with you, sister? He's just a man! You've seen handsome men before! Get a hold of yourself!

"
Uh, hi, uh, you, uh," Emma stammered.

Ugh.
She wanted to slap herself in the face. She was never tongue-tied around men. But then she wasn't attracted to very many men either. Spending most days of her life with tons of handsome men, all of whom were just normal people, did that to her. Looks didn't impress her anymore. Besides, her ex-husband was one of the most handsome men she knew and also one of the biggest jerks on the planet.

"Hi, Emma right?" He strode towards her, big legs eating up the distance between them in nanoseconds. She put her hand up, intending to shake his, but he kept coming. He leaned in for a hug and actually picked her up off her feet and squeezed her, twirling her around once and setting her back down where she started. His scent: warm cologne, bacon, and pure, clean man, enveloped her.

Emma gaped up at him.

He chuckled. "Sorry, I know we haven't even met yet but I feel like I know you already. Frankie has told me all about you, and I spent some time praying that you would recover fully, and of course I have already had my lips on yours." Redness crept into his cheeks at that admission but he didn't look away.

Emma's eyes widened and her mouth tried to open wider. But it was already open as far as it could go.

His eyebrows furrowed as he said, "Oh, ah, nobody told you I gave you rescue breaths?"

She managed to shake her head no.

"Yeah, uh, well, once I got you turned over and your airway open, you still weren't breathing. I didn't have an aid bag or a mask so I, uh, I just uh ..."

He trailed off, still gazing in her eyes. Emma almost forgot what he was saying. His dark eyes were so blue and big. They had the innocence of a two year old - seemingly incapable of telling a lie. He put his mouth on hers?! That was unheard of these days! With diseases and lawsuits, you never, ever put your mouth over someone else's mouth. You always used a mask or a barrier.

But he didn't have one. And he didn't want to wait for one. He would have done the same for any of his brothers here in the engine company. That rule didn't necessarily apply to others in the business.

In her mind, his lips closed over hers. She shivered.

Now he looked stricken. "Oh, ah, I'm totally clean you know. I don't have hepatitis or anything." She heard him suck in a nervous breath and hold it.

Oh man, he thinks I'm worried about getting something from him because I haven't said a frickin word yet! Emma, say something!
She screamed inside her own head. Mentally, she slapped herself across the face.

"Um, Craig, right?" She forced a smile and took his hand in both of hers. "Thank you so much. You saved my life. I owe you big time."

His shoulders relaxed and the smile (
and those dimples, dear lord!
) reappeared. "No way, you don't owe me anything, any more than that lady you saved today owes you anything, amiright?" He tipped a wink to her and headed back over to the stove top.

She laughed, "Yeah, you are right, I guess."

He turned back around, two plates in hand, and put them in front of two opposite chairs at the table. "Sit down and have some lunch with me."

She eyed the plates. BLT sandwiches. Yum. She eyed Craig. Bigger yum. "Ok." Emma smiled and pulled out her chair.

The radio squelched and the tones started. Craig stood up and eyeballed the radio speaker. "Damn," she heard him swear under his breath.

"Engine 18, respond to smell of smoke. 402 Westwood Blvd."

He turned around and put a finger on each stove dial, manually checking to be sure they were off. "Sorry, I have to go. I'd love to see you again soon."

He rushed into the hallway and a moment later, she saw the big, red engine pull out onto the road with lights flashing.

"So how did it go yesterday, anyway?

What?
Emma was jerked back to the here and now by Jerry's question. They were headed to a school out of their district for a possible sprained ankle, Code 1 - no lights or sirens.

"You know, with firefighter hot and heavy. How did it go?"

"Oh, it went fine. I said thanks."

"Yeah, and then what?" Jerry looked knowingly at her.

"And then nothing. He had to go out on the call."

"So you were in there for all that time, and all you said was th-"

"Hey Jerry," she interrupted him, "Did you know he gave me mouth to mouth?"

"Um, yeah, he mentioned it. Didn't I tell you that?"

"No, you most certainly did not. I thought I started breathing again after he opened my airway." Emma scowled at him and crossed her arms.

"Yeah, well, you were breathing by the time I got there. Irregular breathing, but breathing. Some oxygen got you all regular and comfortable again."

"Oh." She lapsed into silence. Boy, she should have seen the long tunnel and the big light. But maybe her heart hadn't stopped beating so she hadn't technically been dead. Maybe you only see the tunnel when you are actually dead for a little bit. Not breathing for thirty or forty seconds doesn't make you dead. Maybe you only get a glimpse of the afterlife if you are dead.

Abruptly she sat straight up in her seat and strained against the belt, gasping a small "oh" of surprise.

"What Em, what's wrong?"

"My vision Jerry, I forgot all about my vision!"

And she had. Yesterday afternoon she had reveled in being back at work, enjoying each adrenaline rush, code 3, and patient interaction. When the day was over and she had relived each call at least once, her thoughts had stolen to her talk with Craig. That one she replayed four or five times, berating herself each time for her horrible conversation skills. This morning, she had even started to think of ways to get them over to Firehouse 18 to see if he was working. There had been no call for Engine 18 yet, or she would have jumped it.

"Your vision? What about it?"

Oh yeah, Jerry didn't know she had been lusting after Craig for 24 hours now, so he also didn't know why the relationship she had been fantasizing about with him would never happen now. Should she tell him?

"Nothing. Nothing. I was ah, just being silly."

Jerry peeked over at her and said, "Come on Em, spill it. What's going on? Does this have anything to do with the sexy new guy?"

She laughed. Jerry knew her too well. "Ok, Ok, I guess I worked myself into a little crush for the new guy because I wasn't thinking of my vision."

"I knew you would like him! Hell, I'd like him if I were a straight woman. He seems like a helluva nice guy and I'm no expert, but I can tell by the way you and those cops were looking at him yesterday that he is easy on the eyes."

Emma felt jealousy flare in her brain and a little pain beat in her chest at the thought of the cops looking at him. Especially the young one. No wait, especially the older one. She was about to demand to hear all about it when logic reasserted itself.

"But it doesn't matter Jerry, he's cute, but he's not the man in my vision."

"Yeah, so?"

"If he's not the man in my vision there's no reason to pursue him - the man in my vision is the love of my life. And that's what I want. Love, family, security."

Jerry's brow creased and he frowned.

"But Em, he's just a cute guy. You don't have to marry him. I haven't seen you have fun with a guy in ..." He trailed off.

Emma knew what he was thinking. She never dated. And Norman, the only man she'd been with since Jerry had known her, certainly hadn't been fun. He had been all hot body, hot passion, and then 100% abuse. They had only been married for eight months, and seven years later he still acted like he owned her. He still put the word out that she was a slut, a whore, and
his
so if anyone ever did show an interest in her, it wouldn't last long.

Jerry gathered his thoughts and went on. "Well, Em, I don't think I've ever seen you have fun. And besides, how do you know this guy isn't the guy from the vision?"

"Because he has light skin and light hair! Weren't you listening when I told you about the vision?"

"Of course I was - I guess I just missed some of the details."

"The man in the vision had dark skin, and dark hair."

"Dark like what - black?"

"I don't think so. His skin was really dark but his facial features didn't look black. Maybe he was Indian or Mexican or half something? Like President Obama," Emma said and smiled.

"Maybe it is President Obama. Emma Hill, yes we
can,"
Jerry finished in his best Obama impersonation, including a leer and an eyebrow waggle.

Emma giggled. "Yeah you goof. Don't call me once I've kicked Michelle to the curb and moved into the White House."

"Oh I'll be over for dinner every night!" Jerry stopped the silliness and asked, "So if it's not this guy - what are you going to do? Be celibate until your vision guy shows up?"

"Yeah like that's hard? I've been celibate for seven years now."

Jerry gave a low whistle of appreciation. "Seven years? That's like a lifetime. Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Ah you know, every time I got involved with a guy after Norman, he always got to them and told them horrible stuff or threatened them. They never stuck around. They never called back. They wouldn't take my calls. One guy wouldn't even talk to me afterwards. That was Sam, you know the cook at Cafe Rio? I don't know what Norman said to him but it must have been awful because I went to his work once and tried to get him to talk to me and he wouldn't look at me or say a word. The owner finally threw me out and told me never to come back. Eventually I just stopped trying to date."

"Did Norman like, spy on you?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Maybe he just has a lot of ears on the ground, being a cop and all."

Jerry lapsed into a serious-sounding silence where he chewed on his bottom lip and furrowed his brow.

"Em, I love you, and I never want to see you go, but one thing I've never understood - Why do you stay here in this nasty city? Why not move somewhere new and start a new life where Norman can't ruin it? I know you have the money, and I know you have the guts."

"Lotsa reasons Jer, but you must know. Westwood Harbor isn't exactly the nicest place to live but you don't move either. And this is my home. I grew up here. And ..." She trailed off, wondering if she should share her biggest secret ever, the one that hit the head injury secret out of the park.

Jerry pulled into the school zone and drove as slow as possible, probably trying to finish this conversation before they had to get out.

"And what?"

Emma sighed. Jerry was her best friend. He knew almost all of her secrets. If anyone should know this secret it was him. For the hundredth time in the last five years she said a little prayer of gratitude to herself that she had never told Norman this.

"And, I have a twin sister and I don't know who she is and I don't know if she lives here, but if she does, and I move, I may never run into her." Emma pushed every word out in one quick, shaky breath.

"Twin sister!" Jerry exclaimed, pounding on the steering wheel once and pulling himself up and out of his seat. Emma watched her feet. She wasn't sure if she was glad or not that she had shared. Jerry had a tendency to overreact to things and be loud when she wished he would be quiet.

"You have a twin sister and you never told me?" Jerry asked incredulously, as he pulled in front of the school and put the ambulance in park. Emma glanced up and saw a woman walking towards them from the front door.