Sizzling Seduction Read Free

favorite nephew this morning?” Her voice was way too pleasant for the time of morning and for her demeanor in general.
    Something was up. She was that pleasant only when she was trying to hook him up with some woman she thought would be perfect for him.
    Been there, done that and got the divorce papers to prove it.
    There was no way he was going to al ow her to reel him in and hook him up. Plus, if he weren’t at work it would be too early for his aunt to be cal ing him anyway. She must be trying to catch him when he was sleepy and groggy and liable to agree to anything.
    “I’m fine, Aunt Sophie. But I’m at work and I can’t talk now. I need to run the guys through a dril and we have to handle chores at the station before a group of kids come through for a tour in a few.” He almost felt guilty rushing her off the phone. Almost. “So how about I give you a cal later this week? In fact, I’l try and make time to take my favorite aunt out to lunch. Okay? I real y have to go now.”
    “Wel …okay…I guess I can run some things by you over lunch. I just think you’ve been single too long and it’s time for you to just—”
    “Yeah, this is definitely a lunchtime conversation.” Not.
    “I’l give you a cal later this week and we can set up a time.
    Love you, Aunt Sophie. I’l talk with you later. Bye-bye.”
    “Wel …fine…bye, Patrick. We wil talk later—I have

    “Wel …fine…bye, Patrick. We wil talk later—I have some ideas. I’m concerned about your happiness. I don’t think you’ve ever gotten over Courtney. And—”
    “Sorry, gotta run, Aunt Sophie. I’l cal you. Bye.”
    Yeah, he had to cut her off before she went there.
    Bringing up the ex-wife was a good enough reason for the dial tone. Sophie was lucky he had respect for his elders.
    He hung up the phone. The last thing he needed this early in the morning was a reminder of the biggest mistake of his life.
    Shaking his head, he got up and started the dril exercise for the morning. They had just enough time to run through it before the kiddies came through.
    People had these outrageous images of firemen just sitting around the firehouse playing cards and dominoes and waiting for the alarm to ring. Those images went out with Ward and Beaver. Today’s firemen were constantly learning and growing on the job, with multiple dril s performed daily, as wel as video training and lectures.
    They also had to clean the firehouse, cook and perform community outreach by going to schools and offering tours to students. The job was multifaceted and he loved that part of it, almost as much as he loved running into a blaze and saving lives.
    He put the team through a dril of working the hose while on the ladder. And soon the little ones were coming through the door. He ful y intended to greet them and then get the heck out of Dodge.
    “Welcome to Fire Station No. 5, girls and boys. My name is Fire Captain Patrick Hightower.” He paused and name is Fire Captain Patrick Hightower.” He paused and gave them a chance to settle down a little. They were clearly hyped from the walk over, and some of them seemed literal y ready to bounce off the wal s. He scanned the crowd of munchkins, then sought out their teacher.
    Good, he thought; there are two of them. They should be able to keep the kids corral ed. His eyes skimmed right over the young woman with the weird boots, even though she did look familiar. Did she go to his church? She seemed to be striking a pose as if she was waiting to be noticed or something.
    The other teacher was bent over, consoling a little girl who had apparently tripped coming into the building. He zeroed in on her behind and chastised himself even as he checked her out. A backside like that deserved more than a passing glance, but he knew it wasn’t the time or the place.
    She was good with the little kid, though. She seemed to have the right amount of patience and kindness needed to deal with kids at such a tender age. The little