The Firefighter Meets His Match (Red Hot Reunions Book 4) (3 page)

Speaking of whiskey…

Maddie leaned over to where Naomi was buckling herself into the van’s passenger’s seat. “Are you still good to drive everyone back here and take me home?” She started the van. “If you’re not, that’s fine, I just want to know before I tell the bartender to make me a double Jack and Coke to soothe my frazzled nerves.”

“I’m fine to drive,” Naomi said as Maddie carefully pulled down the alley, rain coating the windshield in sheets. “I won’t be having more than one drink. Jake’s at the station tonight and I’m on solo Noelle duty. She’s been starting to sleep through the night, but it’s not a sure thing and I don’t want to be buzzed getting up to make a bottle at three a.m. Babies and hangovers don’t go well together.”

“Doesn’t sound like a good mix,” Maddie said. “That’s why I’m getting all my partying out of my system before November.”

“You and Jamison still going to start trying around Thanksgiving?” Naomi asked.

Maddie nodded, but kept her squinted gaze firmly on the road as she guided the van through the parking lot and out onto Main Street, where water rushed in twin rivers down either side of the street. “Assuming Jamison still wants to have babies together after the past few days. He’s been such a turd about the bachelorette party. He would barely speak to me tonight when I was getting dressed, and usually he can’t resist this tube top.”

Naomi chuckled. “He’s just protective of Faith. He still considers her a kid, and thinks strippers are going to scar her for life.”

“She won’t be scarred for life,” Maddie said with a frustrated sigh. “He’s being totally ridiculous. And if her fiancé doesn’t have a problem with strippers, I don’t see that Jamison has any right to put his oar in.”

“When has that ever stopped him before?” Naomi asked, laughter in her tone.

But Maddie didn’t feel like laughing. Until now, Jamison had always been a vehement supporter of her wild side. He said he loved that Maddie was a sweet, hard-working, hard-loving woman, who wasn’t afraid to let her hair down and get a little crazy now and then. He’d gone skinny dipping with her in the creek behind their house last week, for goodness sake—who was he to get prudish about men bumping and grinding in a speedo?

“I bet he’s jealous, too,” Naomi added as Maddie did a U-turn at the end of Main and pulled into a parking spot in front of The Horse and Rider. “I’m guessing he doesn’t like the thought of you looking at other guys.”

Maddie rolled her eyes as she shut off the van and reached for her umbrella. “That’s ridiculous. Jake isn’t jealous.”

“No, but Jake has the confidence of at least four men,” Naomi said, affection for her husband obvious in her voice. “He’s positive I’m not going to see anything better than what I’ve got waiting at home. And we’re an old married couple now, too. That helps. I bet Jamison will be more laid back after the wedding.”

Maddie frowned, but before she could tell Naomi she didn’t want to wait until after the wedding for Jamison to lighten up, Faith stuck her head between the van seats.

“Speaking of weddings,” Faith said. “I have a surprise for you, too, Maddie. So don’t run off without telling me.”

“You didn’t have to get me anything,” Maddie said, grinning. “I was happy to do this for you. Every girl should have a big send off with friends.”

“I know, but you’re getting married a week after me and Mick,” Faith said. “I think you deserve some bachelorette fun, too.”

Maddie waved her hand as she unlocked her seat belt. “I had my bachelorette party before my first marriage. I’m all about marriage do-overs, but one bachelorette party was enough for me. I’m too old to wear goofy hats.”

Faith shot her a narrow look. “Goofy hats? No one mentioned goofy hats.”

Maddie grinned. “It all awaits you inside, my sweet baby-sister-to-be.” She turned in her seat, seeing the rest of the ladies in the van grinning, umbrellas already in hand. “We ready to make a dash for the door?”

The women let out an enthusiastic whoop as Kitty reached for the sliding door and the party dashed through the hammering rain toward the bar. They made it into the cool darkness of The Horse and Rider without anyone slipping on the sidewalk and ten minutes later were ensconced in a gigantic circular booth, sipping pink Lady Slippers while Faith opened her party gifts and Ghost Town Double Wide—the Rider’s house band—played a set of girl-power-inspired country songs.

Melody March, the lead singer for the band, was amazing on stage and by the time Ghost Town neared the end of their set, the entire party was dancing in the middle of the floor, shimmying and shaking while couples wheeled around them, grinning at the women cutting loose. Even Faith—in a bright orange construction cone hat that warned “caution, bachelorette on the loose”—was up and moving to the music with a big grin on her face, a fact Maddie considered a major triumph after hearing Faith talk about how much she hated dancing for the past three weeks.

And then the band took a break, the curtain on the stage closed, and the bar backs hustled out to set up platforms that extended from the center of the stage and would serve as the makeshift catwalk.

“Oh my God,” Faith said, already blushing as the girls crowded around her, ushering her to the end of the catwalk, where a chair had been set up in her honor. “I have to sit up on stage?”

“You’re the woman of honor,” Maddie said, shooing her up onto the catwalk.

“I’m going to die of embarrassment!” Faith cast a panicked glance over her shoulder, but before Maddie could respond, Willy John, owner of The Horse and Rider, spoke out over the sound system—

“Ladies and gentleman, you were told when you entered the bar tonight that there would be some very special, adult-only entertainment on display this evening,” he said, the humor in his voice leaving no doubt how amused he was to be hosting male strippers for the first time in The Rider’s history. “So get ready to put your hands together for The Johnsons, here to help Faith Miller celebrate her bachelorette party! Congratulations, Faith!”

CHAPTER THREE

Maddie

The room burst into applause, feminine shouts, and a few enthusiastic whoops from the more intoxicated patrons.

As the lights went down and the ruckus grew increasingly loud, Willy John’s voice—offering the male patrons a safe haven in the back room where the game was on—was almost too faint to be heard.

Club music thumped through the room, a stark contrast to the country western that had echoed through the space before. Moments later, the curtain parted with a whoosh and a cowboy clad in nothing but a speedo, chaps, and a cowboy hat came strutting across the stage and down the catwalk. Women crowded around both sides of the platforms as the cowboy wiggled and writhed, stopping to do a few pushups halfway down the catwalk and let one of the bolder members of the audience feel his flexed bicep.

By the time he reached Faith, she was laughing so hard her chair was shaking. And when the cowboy ripped off his chaps with an enthusiastic thrust of his pelvis, Faith covered her mouth and giggled even harder, making the cowboy grin as he did a dance just for her.

He kept to his word, however, and made no bodily contact with the bachelorette, and a good thing, too. Judging from how red Faith’s face was getting, she would have spontaneously combusted if the man had actually touched her.

The cowboy was followed by a construction worker, a cop—who was a gymnast as well as a truly amazing dancer—an Egyptian Pharaoh, and a firefighter who did some very interesting things with the hose he carried as a prop. Faith giggled the entire time and all the other party-attendees seemed to be having an equally entertaining experience. Everyone was smiling and laughing, Melody got up the nerve to stick a dollar in the construction worker’s hat, and Kitty took things a step further—slipping a crisp five into the side of the cop’s briefs and laughing hysterically as the man paused to do a few extra thrusts in her direction.

By the time the firefighter—the last act—strutted back down the catwalk to join the other men in a finale dance, Maddie was certain the strippers had been a huge hit and wished Jamison could have seen how much fun everyone had. He hadn’t believed her when she’d said she was hiring strippers primarily for laughs, but the tears streaming down Faith’s smiling face as she stepped off the catwalk at the end of the show were a testimony to Maddie’s belief that nothing gave a girl a good giggle like a bunch of semi-naked men dancing in tight underwear.

“Damn, that was fun,” Faith said, sucking in a breath that emerged as another laugh. “I haven’t laughed that hard since my cousin dressed up in drag for Mardi Gras.”

“Yay!” Maddie clapped her hands as she and the girls headed back to their booth for another round. “I’m so glad you enjoyed it.”

“I loved it,” Faith said, looping her arm through Maddie’s. “I will never, ever forget it. Thank you so much, Maddie.”

“You’re welcome, little sis.” She turned to pull the taller Faith in for a hug. “Now, should we have another Lady Slipper, or would you prefer a cold beer after all that hot stripper action?”

“Actually,” Faith said, swiping the last of the tears from her face. “I think you should go get your present before it’s too late. It’s waiting in the manager’s office down the hall from the bathrooms.”

Maddie’s brows pulled together. “Why in the manager’s office?”

“It was too big to bring out to the table,” Faith said, a naughty twinkle in her eye that made Maddie laugh.

“It’s not a blow up man doll, is it?” Maddie asked. “Jamison will freak out if I bring home anything more raunchy than a penis lollipop.”

Faith’s smile widened. “Just go and see. We’ll be here when you get back.”

Maddie narrowed her eyes one last time, but finally started toward the bathrooms. “You guys be good while I’m gone,” she said as she backed away. “Or at least good enough.”

The other women lifted their glasses and Naomi called out. “We won’t cut the cake until you get back.”

With a thumbs up, Maddie hurried past the stage, where the bar backs were disassembling the catwalk. Top-Forty country music was playing over the sound system until Ghost Town Double Wide took the stage for their second set, and a few enthusiastic couples were already spinning around the edge of the dance floor.

Maddie quickened her step, wanting to be back with the other women before the band took the stage so she could get some more dancing in—it had been way too long since she’d cut loose on the dance floor. A minute later, she was pushing open the door to the manager’s office, ready to grab her gift and head back to the party.

As soon as she got a look at what awaited her inside, however, her jaw dropped and all thoughts of rushing back to the party evaporated faster than spit on a hot Georgia sidewalk in July.

CHAPTER FOUR

Maddie

There, on the left side of the office, dressed in a Roman gladiator stripper’s outfit with nothing but a leather loincloth and some strategically placed armor, was her husband-to-be, a shit-eating grin on his face and his bronzed skin oiled so that every delicious muscle popped, accentuating his already drool-worthy body.

“What have you done?” Maddie asked, grinning so hard she could barely form the words.

“I’m your surprise.” Jamison flexed his bicep and shot her his most wicked smolder. “Faith and I have been planning it for a week.”

“I thought you were angry about the strippers!”

“All part of my plan, hot stuff.” He prowled across the room to lock the door behind her before taking her by the hand and drawing her over to the chair he’d placed to the left of the desk, near a boom box. “I had to act cranky to throw you off the scent. The scent of…manliness.”

“Oh my god,” Maddie said, snorting as he hit play on the boom box and a sultry bump-and-grind, much sexier than the club music the strippers had used, filled the room. “You are so bad! You are the worst! I was so mad at you, and it was all a dirty trick.”

“Hush, woman, you know you love me.” He pressed her gently into the chair and braced his hands on the back, leaning down until his face lingered inches from hers and his Jamison scent filled her head, making her tingle all over. “Now, are you ready for the lap dance of your life?”

Maddie’s breath rushed out as Jamison kneed her legs apart and her black skirt rose higher on her thighs. “I think so,” she said, voice shaking as things low in her body began to twist with longing. “But I have one question first.”

“What’s that?” Jamison asked, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, sending her tingles sizzling into sparkler territory.

“Do I get to touch the merchandise?” she asked, reaching out to trail her fingertips down Jamison’s oiled abs to the top of his loincloth, dragging her nails back and forth along the top.

“I’m counting on it.” He shifted his hips, bringing her hand into intimate contact with where he was already hard. “Because this show isn’t stopping until I’ve made you come in this chair.” He kissed her neck. “And on the floor.” He raked his teeth over the sensitive skin at her shoulder. “And up against the wall, with this sexy little skirt shoved up around your hips and your panties—”

Maddie cut him off with a kiss, a kiss so deep and hungry that within moments Jamison was moaning into her mouth, hooking his hands behind her knees, and spreading her thighs even wider. He dropped to his knees and brought his face between her legs, pressing kisses up one thigh and down the other, teasing closer and closer to where she was dying for him to touch her.