Fireman's Fake Fiancée: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 26) Read online

  The way he just checked out my breasts isn’t real. The way he seems uneasy at the other men looking at me…not real either. And the way he’s holding my gaze right now, as if we’re the only two people in the room…definitely not real.

  It’s just a game after all. A game and nothing more. But we have a proverb where I am from…appetite comes from eating.

  And by the way he’s looking at me in my dress right now, he’s thinks I’m a juicy red delicious apple and he wants to take a bite.

  CHAPTER 3

  Isaac

  “Two shots of Jägermeister,” a voice next to me says. “You in, Captain Irons?”

  I turn and look. It’s Jacobs, the kid we just brought on last month. Either I’m getting older or these new fireman are getting a whole lot younger.

  “No thanks, Jacobs. I’m good with my whiskey.”

  “Whiskey? That looks like a water you’re drinking.”

  “I’m alternating.”

  “Right. Have to stay sober for networking. Well, don’t worry Captain Irons. You’ve got my vote.”

  “Thanks, Jacobs. Appreciate your support.”

  “No problem,” he says, as the bartender places a full shot glass in front of each of us. I shake my head when the bartender looks my way. He slides the second shot glass next to the first, right in front of Jacobs.

  “And speaking of having my vote, I give that one a perfect ten,” Jacobs says.

  I repeat his words in my mind wondering what in the heck he’s talking about. It he judging the shots like drinking is now an Olympic sport? Who knows? Then again I don’t really care. I’ve got my hands full with Julia. Maybe bringing her here wasn’t such a good idea. We should have practiced alone first…gotten her use to the way this should have worked, and not the way it’s currently working.

  She’s come close to blowing the lid off our little charade, and in the process she’s almost rubbed a few too many people the wrong way. I guess I underestimated her directness.

  “Look at that one,” Jacobs says, elbowing me in the ribs.

  I try to ignore him, opting to look to my right hoping to see Julia come out of the bathroom any second now. Nothing.

  I scan the room making sure Abby is in sight. I can only imagine her following Julia into the bathroom and then trying to butter her up for information. I would be ruined. We’d both be ruined.

  I wonder if they let you off with a lighter sentence if you’re not already married. Engagements can be broken, and we’re not planning on going through with this thing anyways. We haven’t signed any papers anyways. An engagement is just an agreement between two people, right? It’s a civil matter, not criminal one.

  I can’t believe I’m having these thoughts. Then again I can’t believe some of the thoughts I’m having about Julia.

  I bought her that bright red dress so everyone would see I’m with someone. I need to appeal to as wide an audience as possible, and having a spouse, or fiancée in this case, does that for me. But as much as I was hoping to appeal to a lot of voters, what I wasn’t expecting was Julia to appeal so much to me.

  I mean, when I pulled her out of that fire I could see she was a really good-looking girl, even though she was covered in soot and had been working all night.

  Come to think about it, she didn’t really seem that scared when I got to her. Then again, nothing seems to worry her too much. I’ve never met a woman that’s so direct and sure of herself like a man, but is so feminine at the same time. Must be something in the water over there in Russia…I mean Ukraine.

  And what are they putting in the water that makes the women look so incredible in red dresses? I want everyone to notice her, but it turns out I’m the one who can’t take my eyes off her. I think she caught me checking out her cleavage earlier. I can’t believe I did that. Then again I am a man and she is a woman…a very, beautiful woman who’s strong and independent.

  I don’t have a type of girl that I usually like. Then again I haven’t had a girl in awhile. It’s not that I couldn’t. The offers are definitely there. I’m in incredible shape, regardless of my age. I’ve been saving some money over the years, and am not afraid to enjoy some it if the right girl comes along. And everybody in town knows I’m a fireman. I can’t go out at night, or even linger in the frozen foods section at the grocery store, without some lady from the bar offering to slide down my pole, or let me unload my hose, or one of the other clichés that fireman always hear.

  As crazy as it sounds I want a girl who wants me for me. I know a lot of guys get in this line of work for the women, but not me. I was the kid who read comic books. I wanted to be a superhero, so I could rescue people. It took a lot of work to get to where I am today. A lot of lifting heavy iron every day for over thirty years in the gym. A lot of vacations missed because I studied fire disbursement patterns in various residential and commercial structures. A lot of late nights memorizing the blueprints of the buildings that hold the most number of workers during the day. I need to be ready in case anything ever happens.

  When most guys were out on dates, I was at home reading books about profiling crazy arsonists. I’m really all in on my commitment to being a complete and professional firefighter, and I know I’d make a great chief.

  What I don’t know is why I keep thinking about her, and what’s taking her so long in the bathroom.

  “They’re swarming on her like bees to honey,” Jacobs continues.

  “What?”

  “The new girl. The one everyone’s talking about.”

  “Who is everyone talking…”

  I turn and see Julia smiling as about ten different men are trying to chat her up at the same time. They’re all standing around her like they’re waiting for her approval…waiting for her to just look their direction or to say one word to them.

  How in the world did she slide out of the bathroom and wind up over there? And how did I miss her when she did? I’ve been eyeing that bathroom entrance for ten minutes. And she’s wearing red for Pete’s sake.

  I feel my stomach tighten, and I want to sock Jacobs in the jaw.

  “Well they better stop talking, because that’s my girl!” I say, slamming my glass down on the bar before marching straight over to her.

  CHAPTER 4

  Julia

  I can see Isaac moving my direction out of the corner of my eye, but I don’t look his way. He’s covering ground quickly and I know he’s going to be irritated again, especially since I’m sure he can tell I’m having too much fun.

  All these guys are asking me questions about Isaac and how we met. I’m retelling the story of him saving me, adding more and more details and making him seem like more of a hero with each word.

  “I see you met Julia,” he says as he arrives.

  I blow him a kiss, and he tries to smile out of the corner of his mouth, but I can see he’s angry. He’s not hiding it well.

  “How come you never introduced us to Julia? She’s so much fun.” one of the men from the station says.

  “I was just waiting on the right moment,” he says between gritted teeth. “Right honey?”

  “Right,” I say, sliding through the crowd to be next to him. I stop just short and place my finger on his chest, before running it down his uniform.

  “Next vacation I’m taking is to Russia!” one of the men says.

  “You got any sisters, Julia?” another asks.

  “Unfortunately I am an only child,” I say. “And ever since this big guy rescued me I only have eyes for him.” I lean in and kiss him on the cheek.

  I can tell Isaac wants to banish these guys to the frozen tundra of Siberia during the coldest days of January, but we’re a long way from there, and the more time I’m spending here at the Fireman’s Ball the more I’m feeling like maybe America could just be my home.

  I remind myself that I was extremely unlucky when I first arrived. And those bad men? They were Russians, so I really haven’t met many true Americans yet.

  Not until now
.

  And even though I’m surrounded by a bunch of guys that any girl would drool over, there’s just something special about Isaac that makes him stand out from the rest. He’s a leader. Now that the other guys know I’m here with him I see their body language change. The men who were feeling so confident with their chests puffed out like proud peacocks now have their shoulders rounded and are doing everything they can not to draw Isaac’s ire. It’s not just because he probably outranks some of them. It’s much more than that. Even when he’s perturbed, he still carries himself so confidently, and if anything the way he’s being so protective of me right now is turning me on even more. Just the way he’s claiming me here is enough to make my heart rate pick up like I am running from a bear.

  But the bear is now him. The way he hunted me from across the room. The way he came at me like he was going to eat me alive. He’s a man who knows what he wants and he goes for it with everything he’s got.

  And where I’m from women look for a strong man. It’s a tough life, and we need a tougher man to help us get through. And not only that, but we have to be tough ourselves. There’s something about Isaac in his uniform, and the way he’s biting his lip right now showing that he can control himself even though I know he would rather let loose some very strong words to these guys, leaving them crystal clear about the fact that I’m off limits to anyone but him. I like a man who can control his emotions…at least when it comes to a public setting that is. Behind closed doors it’s my job to make sure he can’t. To make sure that no matter how hard he tries to resist, he can’t do anything other than lose control with me. It’s one of the many jobs of a woman. We need to be a lady in the streets, and a freak in the sheets.

  But unfortunately I had no chances to prove this back home. Although I had a boyfriend before, there was no man that caught my eye. And now that I’m finally here in the States I find myself in a fake marriage. How ironic is that?

  But it seems Isaac is taking it a little more seriously than before. Is he worried that I’m going to say the wrong thing, or is he actually…jealous?

  “Sorry, guys,” he says, as I see he’s trying to be as professional as possible. “I need to borrow her for a minute.”

  I offer him my arm, which he takes and then leads us away from these men.

  “What did you say to them?”

  “I told them how you rescued me. The truth. That you are a hero.”

  “What else?” he asks.

  “That’s all.”

  “How long were you over there?”

  “Isaac,” I say leaning closer to his ear. “I was only over there for a few minutes. Some guys started talking to me so I told them how great of a guy you are.”

  “Okay,” he says.

  “You were the one who bought this dress for me. You were the one who set this whole thing up. Remember?”

  “I know,” he says. “I just don’t want some guy trying to…to mess things up.”

  “To mess things up?”

  “Right.”

  “There’s nothing to mess up, is there?”

  “You know…the vote. My image.”

  “You don’t have anything to worry about…honey. Those guys are going to vote for you and I’m sure your image has improved.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “They said something about you being too serious. I told them it’s just that you take your job very seriously and you are the ultimate professional.”

  “That’s good,” he says.

  “And I told them you aren’t always so serious.”

  “You what?”

  “You want to change people’s perception of you, right? I’m helping.”

  “Going off script is not the same as helping.”

  He doesn’t even see the irony in his comments, because he can’t see that it’s clear that he’s the one going off script. This may be a fake engagement, but what isn’t fake is the way I can see how much he truly cares about me, much more than he’s letting on.

  “So if I bit your ear right now…that wouldn’t be helping?”

  “Definitely not,” he says, as I breathe out hard against his neck. His hair is cut close but I can still see goose bumps forming…on his head!

  “Or if I ran my hand along your chest right now, like this,” I say, doing exactly that with my hand, “that it wouldn’t help.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m showing the world that you’re not as cold and calculating as everyone seems to think.”

  “I don’t need your help right now,” he says.

  “Isn’t it ironic that your cinema portrays Russian, and Ukrainian, women as cold and calculating, but here I am trying to show you how to live a little more spontaneously? How to enjoy life. I thought you Americans were so bubbly and full of life…at least that’s what your movies and TV shows led me to believe. So isn’t that true, or did I just manage to find someone who’s just as cold as the Eastern European winters?”

  “We all express our emotions differently,” he says.

  He’s right. And I don’t know what’s gotten into me. Maybe it’s the dress or maybe it’s the fact that such a big strong man seems so nervous of what I might do next. I would never do anything to jeopardize his future, and that includes the election. But I’m feeling a certain power over how much he’s worried about me. I never thought a small girl from the middle of nowhere on a globe could do such a thing to a mighty fireman. But I have no intention of making him uncomfortable. If anything he’s the one who’s making me uncomfortable.

  I feel alive and a bit aggressive, which surprises me. I feel like grabbing him and showing him what passion and lust for life really looks like. I want to show him how to be spontaneous. The only thing that’s stopping me is our agreement. At least that’s what I tell myself.

  But I know the truth. If I start, I’m not so sure I could stop.

  CHAPTER 5

  Isaac

  What have I gotten myself into?

  Part of me can’t believe how Julia is talking to me, and the other part of me is so turned on I want to take her right here and now. Just grab her hand and pull her into the bathroom and do all kinds of things to her that I’ve never dreamed of before.

  I imagine the stall door slamming open and us ducking inside, but not shutting it behind us. I lift up her dress just as quickly as I pull my pants down to my mid-thigh. I’m so turned on I don’t even have the time to get them all the way down. I’m just overcome with the need to fuck her so bad that I just bury my cock in her dripping wet pussy right there in the bathroom.

  It would never work though. I wouldn’t put her, or us, out there like that. I wouldn’t want people talking about her after something like that. It would make me so mad to hear anyone say anything bad about her that I wouldn’t be able to hold back my fists.

  My mind shifts to the alley. Are there cameras around this part of town? Surely some of the businesses have them.

  Her face is still inches from the side of mine. I adjust my feet so there’s more space between my legs, trying to conceal my erection. It’s not working.

  “If you get out of control again,” I begin, “I’m going to have to spank you.”

  “You’ll have to will you?”

  “You’ll leave me no other choice. That’s what bad girls get. Spanked.”

  “I didn’t know I was being a bad girl?”

  “A very, very bad girl is exactly what you are being.”

  “I am?” Abby Lawson says.

  I turn my head slightly and my eyes even more. I can see she’s standing right behind us. She snuck up on us like the predator that she is, hungry for the kill in the form of some juicy gossip.

  “Julia, right? I don’t think we’ve met.”

  Julia introduces herself and at the same moment the city mayor approaches from the front. I’m stuck. He hasn’t backed either of the candidates yet, and I need his support. If he backs one of us before the election it’s likely all over for
the other guy. The mayor is admired in this town, and nothing would mean more than a simple statement in the paper from him.

  “Congratulations on your engagement,” he begins.

  “Thank you, mayor,” I say keeping my eyes focused on him and my ears focused on Abby and Julia.