When Sparks Fly (First-Responders Book 1) (4 page)

“Hands to yourself there slutty-Malibu-Barbie. That fire-fighting god is all mine! He’s taking me to dinner on Thursday. Crap. I didn’t even ask where we were going so that I know what to wear. Guess I’ll just have to give him a call. Worse problems to have I suppose.” I crack a huge smile as we drive off the beach.

I don’t know who’s more ready for the school year to end; me or the kids? I’ve decided to take the offer from the Elementary school nearest to my house. I can’t wait to have my own classroom, designed how I want, teaching in my own way in the fall.

Look out Westridge Elementary third graders, Miss Hart is ready to fill your mind!

My last two finals are next week, but more importantly, my first real date with Seth is tomorrow. He’s taking me to a chic little Italian Restaurant on the north side of town.

Currently, I’m waiting for my mom to finish showing the house next door. She’s a realtor and has been trying to sell that property for six months. She sounded excited about this young couple. I see a vehicle pull out of the next door driveway through my dining room window as I pour us some glasses of tea, so I know she’ll be coming through the front door any moment.

“Afternoon, sweetie!” Mom is all smiles.

Right on cue
.

“I take it the showing went well?”

“Yep. They are ready to make an offer that I think the seller will happily accept. They’re a really sweet couple. Just got married three weeks ago. Speaking of which…”

“Geez, Mom. Nice segue.” I shake my head; she’s hopeless.

“Well, I’m not getting any younger and last time I checked, you didn’t even have a boyfriend. Relationships don’t develop overnight and dammit, I want grandbabies while I’m still young enough to enjoy them.”

“About that.” Her eyes begin to sparkle. “Now don’t go jumping the gun, but I have a second date with a guy tomorrow. Well, first solo date. Rachel and I met up with him Saturday at the beach and spent about four hours with him.”

“Really?! Who is he? What does he do for a living? How old is he?”

“Slow down, Mom. His name is Seth, and he’s a firefighter with the SBFD. He did a couple of tours with the Navy in the Middle East. Now he’s some kind of Medical Services chief of something at his department. Tomorrow he’s taking me to that little Italian spot up on Twenty-First street.”

“The one that’s all candlelit with two-person tables?”

“Yep. One in the same.”

“Wow, Macy. You must’ve made a great first impression. That place is not cheap. Good for you baby. Do you have anything going on the rest of the night?”

“Nope; why?”

“Well, how about we go for mani/pedis then? My treat!”

I’m definitely not one for turning down getting my nails done for free. “Sounds great. Let me just grab my purse.” Fortunately, I’m still dressed from teaching today in my capris, so I’m good to go.

Mom and I chit-chat for a couple of hours while we get massaged, painted, and glossed. I even get my brows done, which were in desperate need. I duck walk back to the car with pads in between all my toes; I’m definitely less than graceful, but Mom doesn’t even seem to be fazed. Just another day in the life of a professional realtor I suppose.

After she drops me off at the house, I start going through my closet, trying to figure out what I want to wear tomorrow. I Facetime Rachel as I start trying on dress after dress, getting her opinion, and then tossing it to the side. Everything shows off too much leg, and with the injury still very apparent, I need something longer, yet still fun.

“Where’s that yellow sundress you own. It goes down to nearly mid-calf. That should hide almost all of your sidewalk-rash.”

“Hold on.” I walk back into the closet, shuffle things around, and finally locate it. Throwing it on, I realize it’s been a while since I’ve worn it. When I walk back into view of the camera on my computer, Rachel lets out a cat-call. “I think the dress has either shrunk, or my tits have grown since I last wore this.”

“Damn I’m jealous girl! I’d kill for those tits. You should
definitely
wear that dress.”

“I don’t know.”

“Well I do, so wear it. Grab that little white wrap, and if he can’t keep his eyes off the gals, throw it on. He seemed like a total gentleman, though. I bet you’ll be surprised.”

“Alright.” I head back to the closet and slip the dress off and hang it back up. I walk back out in just my panties, forgetting that Rachel is still on the line with me.

“Well, that right there is almost enough to make me drive across town for the night.”

“Oh shit! Sorry Rachel.” I grab a t-shirt off the bed post and pull it on over my head.

“No prob, girlie. Not like I haven’t seen it all before.” I wipe my chin with a smile, making her laugh. “Anyway, you seem set for tomorrow, so get some sleep. I’ll talk to you Friday and see how the date went. Bye.”

The screen goes back to the Facetime logo as she disconnects.

I think a shower is desperately needed tonight. I grab a fresh pair of panties from my drawer and head to the walk-in shower. Leaving them hanging beside my towel on the glass door, I step inside and turn the water up to make it nice and steamy. After shampooing up my hair, I grab the loofah and body wash and take care of the salty film covering me. Rinsing the California air down the drain, I grab the conditioner and work it in, good and deep.

As I wash the slickness off my hands, my mind wanders to Seth causing my nipples to perk up instantly. Fortunately, my vibrator is on the shelf right above the faucets. Grabbing it and giving it a twist, I slide it down my body and place it at that sweet spot right at the apex of my thighs. Propping my left leg up on the in-shower seat, I grab my breast with my left hand and tug on my nipple. The vibrator buzzes away at my core, sending chills up my spine.

“Oh Seth, yes, touch me,” I moan. My mind goes wild with scenarios as the buzzing crawls all over, causing me to lean my body up against the cool, tiled wall. Sliding my left hand down my body, I slip two fingers inside. It only takes three strokes before I start coming. “Yes, Seth. YES!”

My legs begin to shake as the sudden orgasm overtakes me. I lean further into the wall while I ride it out. Removing my fingers from my core, I blink my eyes slowly and shake my head to bring me back to the here and now. After rinsing the conditioner out, I grab the towel and dry my body. Once dry, I slip into the clean panties and climb into bed.

I know I’ll definitely sleep well tonight.

“So, I take it the lasagna is pretty fantastic?”

I look down at my all but empty plate, while Seth’s is still half full. “Oh my goodness. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything quite this wonderful in my mouth before. That could, however, be due to the fact that I had absolutely no time to eat today. There was a surprise sit-in by the district and my stomach was so tied up knots that I couldn’t even get a single bite of lunch down.”

“You sure?” He has a bit of a mischievous smirk on his face.

“Sure about what?”

“That it’s the most wonderful thing you’ve ever had in your mouth.”

I feel my cheeks flush red and cast my eyes down at the polka dot tablecloth.
Wow, just full of surprises tonight aren’t we there Mr. No-Holds-Barred.
Wiping the sauce from my lips, I look back up and decide two can play this game. “Well, I haven’t tried everything yet tonight.” I lick my lips at him.

“Well then, let’s not deny you any longer.” He motions for the maître d to come over, and I’m certain he’s going to ask for the check. “This lovely young lady thinks that the chef’s lasagna is the most amazing and authentic Italian she’s ever had pass through her lips. Please give him our regards. Oh and,” he pauses, and I’m starting to feel the tingle just thinking about what I hope he’ll do to me later, “could you please bring us the dessert menu? Thank you.”

My shoulders slump noticeably, and Seth cocks his head at me. “Something not please you?” His face is impassive, and I can’t tell if he’s goading me or not.

“No. Not really. Just not sure I can fit anything else in me.” He smirks again. I’m really stepping in it tonight.

“Well, we can share then. Something a little sweet
and
salty perhaps?”

Okay, now I’m sure he’s fucking with me.

Taking the menu from the waiter, he looks over it for less than five seconds. “Yes, perfect. The sea salt and caramel biscotti with vanilla gelato. Thank you, again.”

The busboy removes our plates and my wine glass. Seth is driving so he passed on the wine. A shame. It was a wonderful vintage. “A couple of small cappuccino’s as well?” he asks me before the busboy walks away.

“Sure.” A little caffeine will help if the evening goes the way I’m really hoping for.

Seth nods, and the busboy makes his way to the maître d to add it to our order.

“If I remember correctly, you said you graduate next week.”

“Well, finals are next week and then graduation is the week after. I’m so ready for it too. It feels like I’ve made a career out of school. I haven’t taken so much as a semester off. I even took some mini-mesters over the holidays to speed things up. Summer break is going to be well earned and completely carefree.”

“Glad to hear it. I know this is our first official date, but the conversation is so natural with you and everything just feels so right. I have some time-off coming, and I was thinking about a long weekend down in Cabo. Any chance I could interest you in tagging along? It would all be on me of course.”

My god. Those dimples when he smiles. Poof! My panties just went up in smoke. Well, they would’ve if I was wearing any. “Wow. Um, yeah that is a bit much of an offer on a first date,” I say even though I have a million ideas of what I can do to him in that period of time.

“Don’t dismiss it entirely. Just, think about it for a few days. I was thinking about the first weekend after Memorial Day.”

“Okay.” I agree. “I’ll give it some thought. Maybe we can fill in a few more dates between now and when I decide?”

Seth nods his head with a half-crooked, dimple-wielding smile.

Dessert arrives, and we don’t do much talking as he feeds me biscotti’s dipped in the smoothest gelato I’ve ever had. I don’t know if it’s the ambiance of the restaurant or the fact that I haven’t been laid in nearly three months, but I feel like I need to try and move things along. When his finger dips into the gelato while dipping the last of the yummy cookie stick, I grab his hand with mine as he places the cookie bit on my tongue. I take his finger all the way into my mouth, wrapping my tongue around it and sucking every molecule of vanilla off of it.

His eyes widen, and I smirk with the right side of my mouth when I see him shift in his chair. His bottom jaw sags slightly as I release his finger with a pop and flourish. “Mmm, delizioso!”

“Waiter, check please!” His eyes never leave my face.

Now we’re getting somewhere!

As he digs into his wallet, I giggle when I see he’s realized he hasn’t brought any cash and will have to wait for the credit card to be run. His jaw flexes as he grinds his teeth and I know that I’ve finally gotten to him. He damn sure better make good on his earlier innuendos.

After an eternity, his Amex is returned. He hastily signs off on the slip. We are up from our seats and make our way quickly through the front door and to the valet stand.

“Your card, sir?”

Seth hands his little mini credit card style number to the valet who quickly disappears. Facing him, I slide my hand into the back pocket of his slacks and can feel how tense he is. Suddenly and without warning, I feel myself being hoisted by two strong hands.

“Fuck it,” he hisses.

Seth lifts me up, one arm under my ass and the other cradling behind my back as he presses us against the brick wall. His lips crush against mine as our heads tilt opposite of each another. I grab his short, styled dark-brown hair between my fingers and give it a tug as I bite his bottom lip, pulling away until it pops loose.

He’s on me again, our mouths locked together as his tongue explores. I run both my hands up through the hair on the back of his head and over the top. Grabbing two handfuls, I pull his face back until I am looking directly into those deep pools of chocolate eyes. Lust and desire shimmer in them, making me anxious for the rest of our evening.