How to Seduce a Fireman: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance (16 page)

Cassie and Dr. Paxwell were just beginning their session when a nurse’s aide carried in a huge arrangement of red roses and calla lilies. Wolf stood from his sentinel position on a padded chair by the window, took the flowers from the young woman and, if Cassie didn’t know better, she’d have sworn he removed the gift card envelope from the plastic holder. Yet a card remained when he set the bouquet on the stand by her bed.

Her gaze bounced from the card to her brother and he winked. She reached for the printed “sent with love” card that merely had the initial “Q” scrawled on it. A smile spread and her heart rate kicked up. The roses and calla lilies were from Quinn.

Dr. Paxwell’s cell chimed and, while she walked toward the window to talk, Wolf slipped the envelope he’d purloined from the arrangement, under Cassie’s pillow. He leaned over and kissed her forehead before he whispered in her ear, “Something for you to read later. I’m going to the cafeteria for a soda and something to eat. Want me to bring you back anything?”

“No, I’m good. Well, maybe a candy bar. After what the good doctor will put me through, I’m sure I’ll need some chocolate.” She’d also be better once she was alone so she could read the mystery note.

Wolf winked and sauntered out of her private room. Now what was he up to? How did he know there would be an extra card with her flowers? She reached to run a fingertip over the velvety softness of the rose petals. She might not be able to see Quinn, but she would certainly enjoy the blooms he’d sent her.

Dr. Paxwell, in her typical low-key fashion, was able to get Cassie to talk about all the things that preyed on her mind. Even Cassie was surprised when she listed them: the fire at her recently opened hair boutique and the stress of scheduling all the work to reopen her business as soon as possible, living with two older friends who, at times, acted more immature than she did, listening to both April and Becca plan their weddings and wondering if she’d ever have one herself, and the thought of Quinn’s leaving Clearwater. No wonder she teetered on the edge of stress, or so Dr. Paxwell insisted.

Their long discussion drained Cassie’s emotions so badly she nearly fell asleep as soon as the door to her room whispered shut after the doctor left for her next appointment. Then her hand slipped under her pillow and paper crinkled.

Quinn’s note.

She slid the envelope from beneath the pillow and tugged out the card. Quinn wrote with a slanted hand.
Angel…Dr. Dragon never said I couldn’t write you notes or send you little gifts. I miss you already. Please work hard at getting your feet stable under you again. I promise to put twice as much effort into dealing with my issues so I can make you a happier woman. I love you more than I love the next sunset over the Gulf. I need you more than my next breath. You are as soft and sweet as these roses and as strong as the tiger lilies. Q.

She glanced at the bouquet and chuckled. Poor man didn’t know the difference between calla lilies and tiger lilies. She pressed a kiss to the card. He was perfect. Keeping the card curled within her grasp, she cuddled under the blanket as the medicine Dr. Paxwell had prescribed pulled her under.

Someone stirring around Cassie’s room woke her. “Jenna? Why aren’t you at work?” She struggled to sit up while Jenna played with the buttons on the bed. First her feet were raised higher than her head. Then her shoulders nearly touched her stomach. “You’re doing this on purpose!”

After Jenna quit laughing and positioned the bed in a more comfortable situation, she pressed a kiss to Cassie’s forehead. “I’m on lunch break. Where’s Wolf?”

“He went to the cafeteria.” Her gaze went to the gaily wrapped box Jenna waved back and forth in her hand. “Is that a present? For me?” She wagged her eyebrows.

“A handsome man showed up at my office this morning and told me what he wanted. He was very specific. I’m not so sure it’s your style, but his face lit up when he saw it. He claimed it was perfect. There’s a card inside you’re to read first.” She plopped the box on Cassie’s lap, pulled over the chair and unwrapped a tuna sandwich.

“You’re going to watch while I read the card?”

Jenna grinned. “Yup. Looks like I have to get my romantic fix vicariously through everyone else. Ain’t nothing happenin’ in mine.”

“You haven’t met the right man yet.” Cassie lifted the wrapped lid to find a pale yellow envelope. The card inside was covered with a field of yellow daisies with one white one standing out in its purity and beauty. Inside, scrawled on the blank card, was more of Quinn’s slanted writing.
Angel…You have always been the sunshine in my world of emotional darkness. What happened in Chile scarred my heart and soul. Losing my team made me feel inept as a leader. Having our mission explode in front of us affirmed that someone within our government as well as one of the local team members were cronies with the drug cartel. The fact that I was literally in bed with one of our enemies has been a guilt almost too heavy to bear. Then there was you. The sunshine in the obsidian of my soul. You were like a daisy, bringing purity and incandescence to my black soul where the bitter winds of culpability continually blow. Is it any wonder I adore you? Q.

She swiped away tears and snatched a tissue from the bedside box.
Oh, Quinn. I adore you too.
Jenna reached for the card and Cassie snatched it back. “Sorry, sis, this is much too private.” Cassie shoved the card under her pillow. Quinn had poured out his heart to her. It wasn’t her place to share his words with anyone. Even her beloved sister.

The tissue paper crinkled when Cassie folded it back. Inside was a soft cotton negligee. The yellow robe had white daisies embroidered at the neckline, down the buttoned front and at the sleeve edges, while the yellow gown was covered with white daisies and edged at the neckline and hem with embroidered white lace. Beneath them were yellow bedroom slippers with a white daisy centered across the top.

“Quinn picked these out?”

“In a way. He told me what he wanted. ‘A peignoir set with white daisies on it and slippers to match.’ I showed him some sexy things and he turned up his nose. Claimed you didn’t need clothes to make you sexy, that you just
were
.” Jenna’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t even ask what he meant by
that
. I thought you were saving yourself for the right man.”

“He is the right man.” Cassie sat on the edge of the bed. “Help me into this before Wolf gets back. I can’t wait to get it on. Then I want you to do a bit of shopping for me.” A smile spread as an ornery thought grew. “I want you to deliver it to the fire station and make sure he opens it in front of all the guys.”

Jenna laughed. “Oh, little one, I
know
that look.”

****

To Quinn’s great relief, Noah was content to ignore what he referred to as Quinn’s moment of madness a few days earlier when he’d turned in his resignation. While he was talking to his superior, he told him about the failed operation in Chile, his emails to those he still knew within the State Department and the DEA and, finally, the threatening text regarding Cassie.

Except for the twitch in Noah’s eye and his continual straightening and re-twisting of a large paperclip, he stared silently during Quinn’s recanting of the whole goddamned mess. He didn’t mention Cassie’s cutting, simply that she’d gotten ill. He told Noah how he’d emailed everyone back, telling them he’d decided to stay in the fire and rescue business, hoping that would help ensure Cassie’s safety.

Noah stood and rounded his desk. Once he had the door opened, he barked for Jace and Barclay Gray, one of the marine rescue divers, and known to the unit as Ice Man. “I want you two to follow Quinn to his place and help him unpack his U-Haul trailer. Quinn, return that damn trailer to wherever you rented it from. You guys have two hours to complete that job and get back here.”

Quinn stood and, as he passed his captain, he stopped. “Thanks, sir.”

“We need to reinforce all appearances that you’re staying. Wait a couple days and then contact all the places you applied. Tell them you were offered a promotion to stay. I’ll put in the necessary paperwork here on my end today in case someone does some deep investigating. I doubt it’ll be approved, but it’ll be in your file for any snooping son of a bitch to see. Keep me in the loop. I take care of my men. Simple as that.”

By the time Quinn, Jace and Barclay reached his apartment, Ryder and his “assistant” had already swept the entire apartment, except for the kitchen. His right-hand man, aka Milt from downstairs, couldn’t wait to give a full report. Ryder, his jaw tensed and eyes narrowed, appeared ready to snap the man’s scrawny neck.

“We found two bugs in every room. That’s listening devices for you uneducated folks.” Milt extended a handful of tiny wired objects.

Ryder rolled his eyes and, behind Milt’s back, mimicked someone jabbing the old coot with a knife.

Milt, apparently thrilled with his self-important role, kept on with his report. “Man must be a pervert is all I can say. A total, frenzied pervert. Had a camera mounted next to your showerhead, over your bed’s headboard, at your desk so he could watch whatever you did on your laptop
and
…get this…beside the cat’s litter box. He’s been watching your cat take a crap.” Milt scratched his balls and tweaked a fart. “What kinda demented fool wants to see that?”

Quinn, Jace and Barclay just stood there, dumbfounded. Furball climbed Quinn’s jean-clad leg until he bent to scoop the cat into his arms and scratch his chin.

Jace was the first to speak. “I need a beer to wash that image from my mind.”

Barclay glanced at Quinn. “Got any bleach we can use as eyewash? Damn, what the hell did he expect to see coming out of a cat’s ass?”

Milt expelled a long string of gas and hiked up his khakis with the insides of his arms. “I’ll lay you odds he probably made videos of everything and sold ʼem on the Internet. Lot of sick perverts out there.”

The memory of Cassie’s first time having sex being shown online nearly drove Quinn out of his mind. An act that private, that special, was not to be shared. He’d kill the bastard once he found out who he was.

“Hey, I just found another camera attached to the top of the freezer’s handle.” Ryder carried it in from the kitchen. “While I’ve got you, Quinn, there’s somethin’ I need to tell you.”

Quinn took the bug and examined it, trying his best to keep it away from the nosy cat’s paw. Something in the tone of Ryder’s voice alerted him. “What?”

“A couple days ago, when baby doll was in the café, she mentioned some guy on a black crotch bike nearly runnin’ her down in the parkin’ lot of the mall. Claimed at one point, he stared at her through the dark glass of his helmet.”

“Son of a bitch! Why didn’t she mention him to me?”
Because I was too busy being jealous and then caught up in a flashback.
Could the guy have been the same one who sent the warning text? If he was, she was in more danger than any of them suspected. Quinn looked at Ryder and instinctively knew there was more. “What else?”

“She said he followed her to my place and parked across the street at Gulfside Treasures Gift Shop. I walked out front to see if he was still there and he drove off. Black Kawasaki Ninja. Florida plates. First two numbers were three-seven. That’s all I caught before he zoomed into traffic. Fella even did a wheelie to show off, like he wanted me to know he wasn’t scared. I’m sorry I didn’t pay more attention. I just figured it was some guy interested in her, you know?”

Quinn patted Ryder’s back. “How were you to know? All this has happened so fast.”

Jace tugged his cell from the scabbard on his belt. “I’m calling Wolf.” He turned and leaned his elbows on the snack bar.

Ryder asked Milt for all the bugs so he could check them out to see if they were manufactured or homemade. “I’m goin’ to make one more sweep through the apartment, check in the weirdest places I can think of. Milt, why don’t you take a break? Go downstairs and spend some quality time with Killer. Bet he’s been missin’ you something fierce.”

“You sure you don’t need me? All this excitement, I am getting kind of tired.”

“Maybe on my next job. Now that you’re experienced and all…”

Milt’s eyes lit up. “Hey, anytime, Roger.”

“Ryder.” The irritated man repeated for probably the umpteenth time.

“Whatever.” Milt reached for a slip of paper and jotted some information. “Here’s my landline and cell phone numbers. You need me, just call.”

Ryder took the paper Milt extended. “Thanks. Gettin’ good help is hard these days.”

Quinn glanced at Milt. “I’d appreciate it if you kept an eye out for a black crotch bike. Kawasaki with Florida plates. Call me as soon as you see anything. I’ve got a new phone, but the number’s the same.”

“You got it, buddy. Me and Killer will keep an eye out. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

Milt pinched a smidgen of gas and bustled out the door.

Jace ended his call and slipped his cell into its holder. “Wolf wants to hold a meeting at the station in the meeting room. He’s calling Noah now to arrange it. He’ll also contact his friend at the police department. Ryder, can you come too?”

“For an ex-SEAL? You bet. Look, there was no camera near the litter box. I just told the old guy that to watch him go off. It got him out of my way for a while as he pranced back and forth, rantin’ and ravin’. I found it in the light above this snack bar. The other cameras were where he told you.”

“Even so, the son of a bitch saw some intimate shit.” All the special private moments between Cassie and him came to Quinn’s mind.

Jace held up an open hand. “As Cassie’s brother, I don’t even want to know. Let’s get your U-Haul unloaded while Ryder does his thing in peace. By then, Wolf will have the meeting set up. He was one pissed off person.”

“Yea, well, I’m not so jolly myself right about now. Someone’s been watching and following my woman. This shit is damned serious. Look, Ryder, when I left a set of keys with Milt to give to you, it never occurred to me he’d stick to you like glue. I’m sorry if he got on your nerves.” Quinn carried Furball into the kitchen and hand-fed him two treats.