Hotter than Fire: The Hotshots Series, #2

By Nessa Page

He's hotter than fire, but it burns so good.

What's better than buying a beautiful new house in a great neighborhood? Finding out you live next door to the hottest firefighter in three counties. Seriously. Selene's new neighbor was voted "most likely to melt your panties off" in the tri-county sexy fireman competition, and she's got the calendar pinup to prove it.

When Grayson turns his attention on her and turns up the heat, it's all Selene can do to keep from combusting. But, dating a firefighter isn't for the faint of heart. Can she handle the heat, or will their relationship go up in flames?

Warning: The Hotshots Series contains smoking hot firefighters and the women who burn for them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nessa Page
• Release date: Jan 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201098490

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Selene

Moving day! I sing-song to my dog, Ruckus, as I enter the front door of my apartment with the keys to my new house proudly dangling from my fingertips. Not that Ruckus has any idea what I’m saying. But he’s the only one here right now, and I’m excited. The great thing about dogs is they don’t even care why you’re excited; they’ll always celebrate with you. Right on cue, Ruckus lets out a single happy bark and begins a two-legged prance around me, gently tapping his front paws against my thighs in an effort to get me to pick him up. Someone doesn’t know he weighs sixty-plus pounds now. He still thinks he’s a lapdog. I give him a gentle pat on his head and a hearty scratch behind the ears, instead, and that placates him enough to send him bounding back to the couch.

As my most loyal of friends settles into his favorite place at the end of my sofa, with his head resting on the arm so he can watch me adoringly, I pull my phone out of my pocket and scroll through my contacts. Time to see where my sister, Jessica, and her husband Ricky are with the moving truck and then get the rest of the friends I drafted into moving-day service over here.

The phone rings three and a half times before Jessica answers, We’re almost there! she says instead of hello. With my sister, though, almost there could mean anything from they’re right around the corner to she just woke up and will be here in two hours.

Where are you? I cut right to the chase.

Five minutes away, Selene. Promise! Which is Jess-code for twenty minutes at least. But I can’t even be mad. This is still one of the best days of my life. I’ve been working two jobs and saving every spare cent for too long to remember, working toward buying my first house in my dream neighborhood, the subdivision Jessica and I used to ride our bikes through as kids. We would cruise every single street, imagining what the families inside were like and picking out the houses we were going to live in when we grew up. I’ve wanted this two-story Tudor revival with it’s pale stone facade and wide stone steps ever since I can remember, and today, it’s mine!

I end the call with my sister on a cheerful note and shoot off texts to let my best human friend, David, know that he and his roommate can head over now to help move. Then I busy myself shuffling boxes from all over my apartment to sit in a tidy stack near the front door. I’ve been packing for this move since the day my offer was accepted. The only thing not in boxes at this point is the furniture and Ruckus.

I’ve just finished setting a small plastic tote filled with my toiletries, makeup, and hair products on top of the stack of neatly taped cardboard boxes when a knock sounds on my front door. Ruckus jumps off the couch with an eager whine and has his nose pressed tight against the crack of the door by the time I get there to open it.

Move, boy, I instruct, and he obeys immediately, stepping back and sitting politely just like I taught him to do. All his training is quickly forgotten, however, when I open the door and he sees David standing there. Ruckus might just love David even more than he loves me. in a heartbeat, he’s on his feet and takes one giant, flying leap across the entryway to land in David’s arms.

David isn’t even a little surprised by the sudden armful of fluff. This has been David and Ruckus’s routine since Ruckus was big enough to jump that high. My two favorite boys adore each other. David carries Ruckus into the apartment and sits down on the couch with him to give him more pets. I hold the door open for David’s roommate, Ryan, to come in. Then I peer around the door frame toward the parking lot, checking to see if my sister and Ricky have arrived.

Just as I’m about to shut the door, I catch sight of Ricky’s bright red truck pulling into a parking spot halfway down the building from my second-story unit. Jessica hops out of the passenger side and waves enthusiastically. I wave back, unable to curb my excited smile. Alright, guys! They’re here; let’s do this! I grab a box and head for the door. The sooner we get going, the sooner I can be settled in my dream home.

An hour later, I pull my little silver SUV into the driveway in front of my home. Despite all my rush to get there, I don’t get out of the car right away. Instead, I stare up at the house, still in awe that it’s mine. I visually trace each brick over the two-car garage door and then move to the steps leading up to the burgundy front door with it’s brass-framed window and matching door handle and lock set. Mine.

A rap on my car window jars me from my stupor, and I turn to find David standing outside my window. You wanna go in or are you going to live in the driveway? The corners of his lips turn up in a teasing smirk.

I roll my eyes at him playfully and open my car door, which he holds open for me and then shuts behind me once Ruckus and I are out of the car. I move to the back of the SUV, lift the trunk hatch, and grab a box. David and Ryan each grab a box, too, and we head inside just as Ricky’s truck pulls to a stop on the street out front.

I’ve been inside the house several times already, first for the showing with my realtor, then for the inspections, and for the final walk through before closing. But my first time entering as the owner is so much better. The house is even more beautiful than I remember, high ceilings, solid hardwood floors, and lots of natural light from the western exposure at the back overlooking the lake. By the time I cross the house to look out the wall of windows at the back, I’m already picturing myself sitting out by the lake watching the sunset.

Or better views, I note as I catch sight of a gorgeous, shirtless demi-god in the backyard next door. The short, white vinyl, picket-style fence between our properties does nothing to hide him from view as he runs through a series of body weight exercises on the pavered patio surrounding his swimming pool. From the sculpted look of him, I think it’s safe to assume that this is a daily habit of his. One I’m certainly not going to complain about.

Mmm, would you look at that. Jessica says as she moves to stand next to me at the window. The house comes with a view.

It is a beautiful lake, Ryan says from somewhere behind us. I wouldn’t mind doing some fishing in it.

Jessica chuckles under her breath. Yeah, the lake is nice too. Then she turns away from the window and gives me a wink.

I laugh and follow her and Ryan back through the house and out the front door to grab more boxes.

We take just over an hour to unload my SUV, David’s car, and Ryan’s truck. Then another hour to caravan back over to the apartment for our next, and final, load. Having lived in an eight-hundred-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment for the last five years kept me from amassing too many worldly possessions, and we’re basically finished unpacking all the heavy furniture and the important boxes—dishes and cookware, bathroom essentials, and so on—by dinner time.

Anyone want some pizza? I call loudly, dropping the last of my boxes of books off in the room that will eventually be my library-slash-study.

Like you even need to ask, David enters the room from the kitchen with two uncapped beer bottles in hand. He offers