Into The Fire: Firemen Do It Better

By Leah Sharelle

Lake Campbell's world came crashing down with just one phone call.

Her parents were dead, and she was catapulted into a full-blown adult whether she was ready or not.

Without support from her boyfriend, Lake found herself a guardian to her siblings and the owner of the family's fledging bakery, not to mention a house that was falling down around their ears.

Life as she knew it was changed forever. Especially when a hunky hose man walked into her bakery asking for catering … and a kiss.

All of a sudden her sexy daydreams of firemen with kittens and puppies became very real.

Carson Hogan had a lot on his plate. His ex-wife was spending money faster than he could earn it, his two daughters were out of control, and to his utter shock, becoming too much like their mother. And he was doing his best to protect his son from the crazy women in his life. Add a stressful but fulfilling job, he wasn't looking for anything else.

At least he thought he wasn't. Until he entered the bakery across the street to find a silver eyed blonde sprite begging for sex … sort of.

Love blossoms quickly between the two but with all the outside interferences promising to ruin their new found love, will they risk everything and walk into the fire and claim their happily ever after? 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leah Sharelle
• Release date: Mar 28, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386935445

Book preview

1

You ever have one of those days? You know the kind—when your alarm goes off at five thirty in the morning, and you hit snooze thinking you will just have a shorter shower? Then, after you hit snooze two more times because you didn’t get to bed until after midnight, you jump out of bed to go grab that shorter shower, and the gas has gone out. So you have to spend twenty precious minutes trying to relight the pilot flame with a cyclone-grade wind, and in the process, you singe one eyebrow. No? Okay, just me then.

The day had barely started, and all I wanted to do was crawl back under my ridiculously expensive duck down doona and go back to sleep.

That was not an option. Not for me.

River John Campbell, if you don’t get your butt down here in the next two minutes, I am feeding Rabbit your breakfast. I yelled the threat in the direction of my youngest sibling’s room just like I had done every morning for the past three years.

I dropped my gaze to Rabbit, which was in fact not a rabbit but a Rottweiler, who was currently waiting for the two minutes to be up so he could finally get his paws on the whole plate of pancakes rather than just a few scraps he scored when River was through.

One of these days, I really am going to give you his darn breakfast, I told Rabbit with a wink.

You say it every morning, but you never do, Lakey, came the voice of my other sibling from behind me.

Brooke at seventeen was younger than me by six years, and River was six years younger than she was. My parents had a thing about the number six. They waited until they had been married for six years before they had their first child—me. Then another six for Brooke, and well, you get the point.

Our parents also had a thing for water. Each of us was conceived in a body of water and then named after the said body of water. They used to love telling us the story of our conception while I, on the other hand, hated hearing it. Who wanted to hear that their parents took off all their clothes and had sex in Lake Wendouree on New Year’s Eve while a crowd of people looked up at the fireworks display?

I didn’t, but that didn’t stop my parents from telling that story or the ones of how my sister and brother came to be to all and sundry.

A familiar pang of longing ached in my chest. I might not have liked those stories, but I would give anything to see my mum and dad at the kitchen table, getting all smooched up with one another and being totally inappropriate in front of their kids. Absolutely anything.

Life was hard, and it dealt out hard lessons sometimes—I knew that better than anyone.

I turned around and smiled at my sister, but it died the minute I saw her.

What in all that is holy have you done to your hair? Oh, never mind. I don’t want to know how or why you did it, I grumbled at Brooke and handed her a bowl of granola.

I got sick of having such boring hair. Anyway, Kat is doing it, too. We made an unbreakable vow to be different from the rest of the kids this year, Brooke explained as if everything she was saying made complete and utter sense. And to her, it very well might, but I had a feeling that shaving one side of your head and dyeing what was left of it black, purple, and orange was not the best vow they could have made.

Just eat your breakfast and be quick about it. I don’t have time to drive you to school if you miss the bus. I have the health department inspecting the new kitchen today, I said as I blew on my cup of tea, willing it to cool so I could down it and get moving.

"But, Lakey, I can’t catch the bus this morning. You have to drive me, please," Brooke wailed, the please at the end sounding like it had ten syllables instead of two.

If Brooke is getting a lift, then so am I, my brother, River, declared. Coming into the kitchen in his usual attire of a white T-shirt with a fake collar and tie printed on it, a pair of beach board shorts, and, of course, his one and only pair of shoes—fluorescent green converse boots.

With patience I didn’t really have, I took in four calming deep breaths, my eyes closed as I turned my head heavenward, and I prayed for the world to stop turning just for a few minutes. Come on. Someone up there, give me a break, would ya?

Holy shit, Brookey. What did you do to your hair? River laughed, his mouth full of pancakes and maple syrup.

River, mouth closed when you eat. You have exactly four minutes to wolf that down and make it to the bus stop. Brooke, if you don’t want anyone to see you, why in the hell did you do that to yourself in the first place?

It was an unbreakable vow, Lakey. I had to do it, Brooke replied

I stifled a giggle, but River had no such intentions, laughing outright at the stupidity of making such an agreement.

Who do you think you are? Professor Snape? This is so much better than last month when you tried to pierce your eyebrow with a nappy pin, River teased Brooke, who just rolled her eyes and poked her tongue out.

I, on the other hand, shivered at the memory of last month’s trip to the ER. Brooke’s friend Kat managed to talk her into yet another disaster, which resulted in another round of antibiotics and another grounding by me. I once believed that Brooke would learn her lesson and steer clear of Kat’s misadventures. It hadn’t happened yet.

I would rather forget that, thank you very much, River. Now, get a move on. The bus will be here any minute, and if you miss it, you’re walking, pal. The familiar threat rolled off my tongue much like the breakfast one, both of which I got from our mother. She would say them just about every morning to all of us. Only thing was she occasionally followed through with feeding the dog our brekkie.

I smiled wistfully, letting myself indulge in that one small memory before putting it back in the deepest part of my brain. There was no time for such indulgences or for anything whimsical like wishing. That part of my life was over.

The list of demands in my hands was longer than River’s Christmas wish list.

The health department inspector had just left, and with him, the last of my piddly profit margin.

Why the hell did I have to update the window furnishings? I never changed out the window, and how that fell under health and safety was beyond me.

I tossed the hated list on my desk with a disgusted huff. The café had been closed for two weeks for the renovations, and I needed it open yesterday. My staff needed their paying jobs back or else they were going to go find work elsewhere because they all had bills to pay just like I did. So far, they understood my situation and even helped with some of the work, which meant paying tradesmen only where I absolutely had to while we did the rest of the work ourselves.

I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes. Twenty-three was too young to deal with this shit. I couldn’t remember the last time I went out for fun or slept past five thirty in the morning. I definitely couldn’t remember the last time I had sex. Hell, a good old-fashioned pash would get me over the line. I gave up on my vibrator long ago—batteries were a luxury I couldn’t afford anyway. The first thing I had to do was get this blasted shop open for business before my parents’ legacy to their kids went down the toilet.

I’m not going to let you down, I whispered to the framed photo that sat on my desk, a constant reminder of the two people I loved the most in the world. I wished like heck I had them back if only for a minute. My brother and sister depended on me, and my staff depended on me. I let out a lusty sigh, then pushed myself out of the office chair, feeling older than my years, my shoulders feeling like the weight of the world was on me.

2

I pulled my Ford Ranger into the driveway of my former home. The new landscaping Denise just had to have done—and I paid for—looked ridiculous.

The twenty-metre-high palm tree was fake, but from the distance of a kilometre away, it could pass for a real one. However, the taxidermy monkey halfway up the trunk didn’t do it any favours.

What the hell was that woman thinking? I asked aloud as I surveyed the horrific scene in front of me. Because she likes to spend your money was the only answer.

Just then, my fifteen-year-old son came hurtling over the back gate, his long, gangly legs tearing up the path as he ran towards my ute. I braced my hands on either side of my seat and waited for the inevitable. Before I could blink, Dominic vaulted the steel bulbar on the front of my car, with hands planted on my five-hundred-dollar spotlights. He hoisted himself over the bonnet, his lanky body landing half on the car and half on the windscreen.

Get off, ya ratbag. You already put two dints in the side from last week’s flying leaps, I said with a chuckle, tossing the door open and getting down from the cab.

Dad, you scratched the duco the first day you brought this. It’s a piece of crap, and you know it. I’m just improving it, Dominic informed me with a grin. He let go of the windscreen and slipped down to the ground, his smile a carbon copy of mine.

Dominic was my youngest and my happy-go-lucky kid. Nothing ever fazed him. He was a deliriously happy boy and had been since the day he was born. Even his mother’s proclivity to be the centre of attention never got to him. However, judging by the tick in his jaw, the palm tree and monkey were a little past the line of acceptable.

Welcome to the jungle. Mum’s latest phase, Dominic muttered dryly, his eyes narrowed on the hideous addition.

Yeah, I see that. I’m a bit afraid of seeing what she has done to the inside of the house.

Dominic chuckled and gave me a pat on the shoulder. It’s so wrong that I don’t have my mates over anymore. Leopard and zebra print, Dad! Can I come and live with you? my son asked, half hoping that I would say yes.

I would say yes in a heartbeat. Nothing would please me more than having my boy with me, but Denise won the custody battle, and I agreed I wouldn’t fight her on the decision. Our split had been amicable enough, and both of us knew the marriage was over for a long time before we separated. The only things she fought me on were the house and the kids. We had fifty-fifty shared custody of our three children, but my job and the hours expected of me didn’t leave too much in the way of full-time parenting.

Dominic was just five when the divorce happened. He was our band-aid baby, and though the marriage didn’t survive, I was eternally grateful we tried to save things.

Anytime, bud, you know that. Now, let’s get a move on. After your cricket practice, I have a shift at eleven, I said and ruffled his hair. I tried to ignore the knot in my gut that arose every time Dominic asked to live with me. It would be easier now that he was older, but Denise would go crazy if he came to me. And Denise crazy was not a pleasant sight.

Carson, please take your boots off, my ex-wife greeted me when I stepped into the animal print nightmare that used to be my living room.

Is that a dead lion? I asked incredulously, taking in the rug on the floor.

It’s not real, obviously. Carson, your shoes, please. The new carpet cost me the earth, Denise said, telling me something I already knew. She had emailed me the invoice, so I was aware that the carpet did, in fact, cost the earth.

I know, I paid for it, I mumbled.

Pardon?

Nothing. I’m not going to come all the way in, so I will leave my shoes on if that’s all the same to you. I looked down at my ankle-length lace-up boots and taking them off did not appeal.

Fine, fine. Listen, can you take Dom tonight? Derek and I have a thing, and Stephanie can’t babysit, and Janie has to work.

A thing? Of course, she had a thing. When didn’t she and Derek have a thing? It just seemed like her things always happened on her weekends to have Dominic.

Sure, no problem. I’m on a ten-hour shift tonight, so drop him off on your way to your thing. He will be fine until I get home, I told her, my eyes roaming over the room absently. A life-sized stone carving of Tarzan caught my eye. How much did that friggin’ thing cost?

Actually, I was hoping to drop him off to you at the station. Your place is the opposite direction of our route.

Denise, I can’t technically have him at work, I pointed out and got her signature pout. Oh boy, here it comes, I thought and braced myself for the firestorm.

You are the boss, Carson. Honestly, it’s not like I ask you for favours all the time. Just this once—

Well, that’s a lie. You ask me for something every single day.

I held up my hand to cut off the next part of her bullshit tirade. I was on my third day of ten-hour shifts after I picked up an extra one because Denise needed more money. Looking around the lounge room, I could see why.

I thought you said you needed the extra money for Dom’s sports camp? I asked. And I am not the boss, Denise. I’m the station officer—big difference, I retorted.

Can you or can’t you look after our son? Denise said in that huffy, judgemental tone she had perfected over the years. I resented the implication that I wouldn’t or couldn’t take Dom because I bloody well did and more than Denise would ever admit.

In my peripheral vision, I could see Dominic standing in the hall, his face furrowed with worry. All of a sudden, a wave of guilt swept over me. I promised myself during the separation period that I would not let our marriage problems affect our children. That was why I agreed to most of Denise’s demands or—if I listened to my best mate and fellow firefighter, Dylan—pandered to her. And it was probably true, but as far as divorces go, ours was pretty friendly for the most part.

And that made life a lot easier on everyone.

Hey, Dom, grab your homework, bud. After you finish at cricket practice, we will head straight to the station. No point coming back here when I just have to come back and pick you up later, I said with a wink to my son, and I knew it was the right decision when I saw the relief on his face.

Oh, wonderful. That means I can get my nails done after my hair. Denise fanned her already perfectly