Page 3 of Courageous Yearnings

One greased-up, tanned, muscled, hunky firefighter coming right up, Miss Monroe, he thought numbly, hoping his hands weren’t shaking visibly as badly as they felt like they were. He was trying to play it cool, to be standoffish, and failing miserably as he slathered baby oil across his shoulders, arms, and chest.

Nope.

I want this woman like Adam wanted Eve. Heck, I’ll even supply the apples if she wants a taste of me.

Lance saw the yearning in Blythe’s eyes nearly matched his own as he stepped toward her again, pulling her aggressively to him. She let out this soft little gasp that ran shivers of awareness up his spine as he heard Delilah clicking her tongue nearby before picking up the firehose and wrapping it around them like a serpent.

“Welcome to the jungle, little temptress,” he murmured intimately while his eyes raked across Blythe’s face down to that pink breastbone that was exposed above the collar of her V-neck blouse – and was sincerely happy she couldn’t read his mind right now. “A little fun…”

“You’re toying with me,” she whispered in stilted hushed breaths.

“No, never…” he breathed and heard Mrs. Kendall barking again in the distance.

“This is for charity, remember? Put some ‘Oomph’ into it! Hug her to you, Cortes! Woman, make that blouse gape or splash some water on you. We need to know you can see down to her belly button, young man!”

Mrs. Kendall was yelling loudly, distracting and detracting from the moment. He was trying to put the moves on the woman he was going to have in his bed tonight and she was ruining it. He looked up and glared at the old woman while memorizing the way Blythe’s body felt against his, within the circle of his arms.

“C’mon, Cortes, I want this photo to look like the front of a romance book from the seventies. Let’s see some skin, young man. Woman, where’s your cleavage? Get right on in there, ya’ hot little Romeo. Pretend like you’ve just been roofied, and now she’s holding out on you. Young woman – pretend to faint, would ya – and let that hot piece of meat hold onto you, lady!”

Lance felt a knowing smile touch his lips, causing one side to lift in sheer masculine awareness as Blythe’s lips parted.

“Oh my…” she breathed faintly.

“You like that idea?” he murmured. “Want me to hold you close like we’re about to kiss?”

“Oh heavens…”

He nearly groaned aloud at the desire in the woman’s voice and couldn’t wait to do more behind closed doors. Yup. They weren’t crawling out of bed for three days straight if he had his way.

“That’s perfect, Cortes!” Delilah yelled from somewhere nearby, but Lance didn’t dare look away.

“I’ll do it, you know,” Lance whispered.

“Do what?”

No, his woman was in his arms, practically melting like hot molten lava. Her breathing was quick, her pupils were wide, and he could feel her bosom pressed against his chest, imagining that was her heart hammering and not his.

“Kiss you, touch you, heck woman… I’ll make you scream over and over again…”

“Excuse me?”

“You know you want me – and I sure as heck want you.”

“You want to go out with me?” she whispered hopefully, her eyes shining… and he chuckled intimately.

“Yeah, whatever. If you want to get a soda or something on the way to my place, we can – but I’d rather eat dinner right off your body and…”

“Wait a second,” she frowned, hesitating. “What?”

“Okay. We’re good,” Delilah exclaimed, waving her arm in his peripheral vision as he had the weirdest feeling that something was very wrong.

“Fischer!” Chief Carpenter called out. “You’re up.”

Blythe yanked herself out of Lance’s arms and looked at him in disbelief – and confusion? Why? Why on earth was she acting hurt and playing the shy maiden now when they both were acting like a couple of dogs in heat not two seconds ago.

“I’ve got to check in at the station when this is over with, but I can be at my place in a few hours if you want to get cleaned up, shave, or do whatever girls do before we get at it? I probably need to stretch because I really don’t want to get a cramp in my leg when I… Why are you lookin’ at me like that?”

Blythe’s mouth dropped open. She made a faint little squeak of alarm and was staring at him in horror.

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