Teased by Fire Read online

  However, whenever he thought he’d figured her out, she’d never fail to do something to keep him on his toes.

  Maybe that was one of the reasons he was so infatuated with her?

  The day Olive surprised him by showing up to his firefighter graduation he almost shit himself. He’d never in a million years expected her to be there. But she was, and in all her glory too. Her chestnut hair was curled around the ends of her heart-shaped face. She wore a tight, almost second skin, sea blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly.

  He was positive Miranda had forced her into that dress, and into coming to the graduation. The Olive he knew wouldn’t be caught dead in something that revealing unless she was swindled by his all too persuasive little sister. That dress hugged every curve of her body.

  He wouldn’t have known, though. Olive had made a point to hide herself away under an oversized shawl. Hank only found out about his new found Mecca when she tried to awkwardly hug him in congratulations. The moment his brain fully started to function he took his chance and pulled her body close to his. He remembered sneaking his right arm under her shawl and wrapping it around her. He did his best to mold her every curve to his body.

  What’s the use of hugging someone if you don’t give it all you’ve got?

  His dick hardened at the memory as he suppressed his groan.

  His walk down memory lane was short lived. He felt his fists clench at his side as he recalled she was on the arm of that asshole, Josh.

  He never liked him.

  There was something about Josh that was off. Hank knew his instincts were right when Miranda informed him that douchebag Josh had used Olive and then threw her away all while making her the laughing stock.

  He had to stop his sister as she searched for places to hide a body. He didn’t blame her, and if truth be told he was more than willing to take the matter into his own hands, but he knew Miranda being hauled away to prison would be worse on Olive than some asshole dumping her.

  “Dude, you look like you are gonna fucking kill someone,” Lucas said drawing him from his memories.

  “I’m just tired,” he lied, while he contemplated looking up where Josh lived now and paying him a visit.

  Lucas brow’s shot to the ceiling. “You sure about that?”

  “Yeah,” Hank replied. Wanting to switch the conversation he also added, “Thanks for coming to help today.”

  “You know I’d help you no matter what.”

  “I know, that’s what brothers are for.” Hank pushed at Lucas’ shoulder. Ever since they graduated from the academy, he and Lucas had bonded. They were also lucky enough to end up at the same station house once all was said and done.

  He knew Lucas had his back, whether that be on the job, or in life.

  “How do you think Olive’s getting along with Dog?” Lucas asked.

  A mischievous smile appeared on Hank’s face. “Not sure, but if there was a problem Miranda would have text me by now.”

  “I hope you’re right about that. When you announced we were leaving to get pizza she couldn’t take her eyes off Dog. I honestly think you broke her. She didn’t even acknowledge five guys leaving the apartment.” Lucas’ face broke into a ridiculously wide smile. “Dude, I think she might try and poison you.”

  “Good thing I’ve had medical training then.”

  “I’ll be sure to remind you, you said that when we get the call you’re incapacitated with foam spewing out of your mouth.”

  Hank threw his head back as he barked out a laugh.

  “Ahh, he’s fine. You probably won’t see her anyway. She seems like the person to stay in her room and never come out,” Rick, their chief medic at the station chimed in.

  That was about to change. The first second Hank got, he was going to drag Olive out with him. He could be very persuasive if he needed to be. What could he say? Persuasion runs in his family.

  When Miranda informed him, living with Olive would be more like living on his own, he made her explain. According to her, Olive spent ninety-five percent of her time locked in her room doing god knows what. He didn’t like the thought of that. The alpha male in him jumped at the thought of breaking her free.

  There was adventure behind every door, and he damn well was going to show her.

  He loved a challenge and Olive Quinn was the ultimate challenge.

  Hank’s mouth curved into a wicked smile.

  Now, that he lived with her, he was going to stop at nothing to make her his.

  “That look on your face concerns me,” Lucas remarked.

  “This is just my face,” he shot back as his smile grew even wider.

  “That’s what they all say before they do something stupid.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Hank laughed. Ignoring the commotion at the table as his friends started chatting about work, Hank started searching his pockets.

  Fuck, not again! As his hands went in and out of his pants pockets he came up empty.

  Lucas shook his head. “What have you lost now?”

  Hank’s eyes narrowed at his buddy. “What makes you think I lost something?”

  “You’ve got that look again.”

  “What look?”

  Tim shouted from the other end of the table. “The classic Hank the Tank look that tells all of us you’ve lost something.”

  “I am not that predictable.” Hank’s eyes narrowed.

  “I got twenty on his keys,” Tim said, one of the stations other medics.

  “Twenty-five on his wallet,” came from Rick.

  “Fifty on his cell,” Lucas announced.

  “Fuck you guys!”

  “Nah, you’re too bulky for me,” Tim laughed out.

  Hank shook his head ignoring their jabs as he searched for his phone.

  How could you blame a guy for losing track of his shit when all he could wrap his head around was being able to see his fantasy girl every damn day?

  A man’s got priorities and right now, those involved Olive and figuring out ways to not only rile her up, but make her realize he’s the one for her.

  Chapter Three

  Olive stared at the cat, which now blocked her path from her bedroom to the kitchen. All she wanted was a glass of water, but no. She never thought she’d have to have a showdown in her own home.

  She was already seething from Hank moving in, then finding out about this human child sized cat, but then the bastard announced he was going out for pizza.

  Did he offer to bring her pizza back? No. See, Bas-tard! And, then he left his cat just sitting here in the living room.

  One more check mark in the Hank living here will be hell on earth column. Where is the zombie apocalypse when you needed it?

  To top off her frustrations, Miranda, the sleuthing jerk of a best friend, hightailed it out of the apartment with her last box leaving Olive alone… with the cat.

  The cat that was the size of a small child.

  The cat that was staring her down, and she could swear it just licked its lips.

  Olive quickly surveyed the room around her. She was trapped. And by the looks of it, the cat was hungry, and Olive was on the menu.

  “Nice kitty, you’re so nice.” Olive took a step closer to the cat, causing the creature to open her mouth and let out a hiss. “Oh, shit.” Olive jumped back.

  Let’s try this again. “Hello, kitty. I only want to pass you to get into the kitchen. Is that okay? You’re a very pretty kitty. You’ve got big dark eyes that are looking directly into my soul. And, you must take such good care of your teeth. They are so big and sharp. I know because you keep showing them to me. “

  The cat meowed at her.

  “Oh, right!” Olive hit the palm of her hand against her forehead. “You probably don’t understand me. Should I meow at you? Would that be offensive?” Olive debated with herself.

  Shaking her head, she did her best to come up with a game plan. Okay, if you move fast, you can jump over the coffee table and then leap
over the back of the couch. The cat won’t know what hit her. Making sure not to lose eye contact with the creature in fear of it figuring out her plan. Olive took a step to the left.

  That’s when Dog stood, eyeing her.

  It was a standoff.

  Both parties held their ground for about thirty seconds. The moment Dog made a step in her direction Olive took off running into the nearby joint bathroom.

  She held her hand to her chest. “It’s fine. Everything is fine. I can live off water from the sink.” Quickly, Olive locked the bathroom door, just in case the creature knew how to work a handle.

  She placed her hand back on her chest as she did her best to get her heart rate under control. Moving to the sink, she cupped her hands together and brought some water to her mouth. “Not ideal, but I can live with it.”

  Once her thirst was quenched, she looked towards the bathroom door. As she decided to take a chance and run for it, she saw the shadow of an ominous figure pass in front of the bottom of the door.

  “Oh god, it’s waiting for me!” she shrieked. She watched as the shadow continued to move back and forth. Dog was the predator and Olive was the prey.

  Well, that settled it. Placing her index finger on her chin she thought of ways she could rearrange the bathroom to make her new living arrangements more suitable. The towels would be perfect blankets and pillows… As she looked around and tried to decide what else she could do, she suddenly heard the front door open.

  “Hank, is that you?”

  She heard shuffling and then footsteps that stopped right in front of the bathroom door. “Miranda? Hank?” she called through the door again.

  “It’s me, Olive,” Hank announced. “Are you okay?” The concern she heard in his voice made her brows knit.

  No, she was not okay.

  Her best friend abandoned her and dropped off her brother in her place. And, there was a supposed cat- the jury was still out on the actual species of the thing- that was trying to kill her. No, she was certainly not okay.

  “Olive, are you in there?”

  “Yes, I’m in here,” she spat. “I’m trapped. Your stupid child cat bullied me.”

  She heard him laugh. “Dog, is not a bully. Sure, she’s a little intimidating, but not a bully.”

  “The hell she isn’t!”

  “She’s tough. What do you expect a cat to be when she grows up at the station? She’s got her wits about her and takes charge.”

  “She ran me into the bathroom!”

  Olive heard Hank jiggle the handle. “Why is the door locked?”

  “Because your monster cat probably knows how to open doors.”

  “Olive unlock the door.”

  “Not until it’s safe.”

  “It is safe.”

  “Not while that thing is still out there lurking.”

  Olive heard more shuffling and a quiet ‘for fuck sakes.’ “There. I’ve got Dog in my arms. You can come out now.”

  Not sure if she believed him or not, Olive carefully unlocked the door. Opening it only a hair she saw the creature in Hank’s arm along with a box of pizza on the coffee table.

  New game plan. Run as fast as you can to grab the box of pizza and then to the bedroom. As she flung open the door, she realized her mistake. Pizza should not have come first. Abort! Abort!

  Ignoring the tantalizing smell, she ran towards her room.

  “No, you don’t.” Hank was on her faster than she could comprehend. Before she knew it, her legs were flying through the air, then she was placed upright on the couch. Hank standing directly in front of her.

  “How in the hell did you do that?” She did her best to straighten herself.

  “Practice,” he smirked, which made her eyes narrow. “Didn’t your mother teach you it’s not nice to pick up people and throw them around?”

  “I didn’t throw you. I placed you gently.” The joy in his eyes made her want to punch him.

  “You probably pulled out your back.”

  “Are you saying I’m weak?” He had the gall to look hurt.

  Olive could feel the gray hairs already forming on her head. “No, I’m saying you’re an idiot.” At her words, she heard the creature hiss from somewhere in the room. “Ahhh.” Olive pulled her legs up.

  “The cat isn’t a shark, Olive Oil. Your legs hanging off the side of the furniture is not an open invitation.”

  “It tried to eat me.”

  “No, she didn’t.”

  “Yes, it did!” She saw enjoyment in Hank’s eyes which made her annoyance rise to an all-time high.

  Hank must have realized her frustration because he held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, I give. The cat was trying to kill you.”

  “It was!”

  “I believe you.”

  “And who in the hell names a cat, Dog?”

  Hank sat on the couch next to her. “I do.” He laughed, before opening the box of pizza and pushing it towards her.

  Olive observed him carefully. What was he playing at?

  “I found Dog when she was only a few weeks old,” he said picking up a piece of cheese pizza before handing it to Olive. “We were called to an abandoned warehouse that had gone up in flames. When the fire was finally out, I found her on top of her siblings and mother.” A sorrow look ran across his face. “She was the only survivor.”

  He reached down between his legs and plucked Dog into his arms. “The whole way to the station I kept an oxygen mask on her. She pulled through like a trooper. And for the next few weeks, me and the guys took shifts feeding her and making sure she would survive.”

  He scratched under her chin causing the monster to plop onto her back and submit to his ways. Which only annoyed Olive more, even cats were putty in his hands.

  “She became our station’s mascot.” He looked at her, with joy in his eyes. “Most fire stations have dogs. We had a cat.”

  “So, you named it Dog?”

  “I named her Dog.”

  “Why is she here and not at the station?” Olive asked while she shoved pizza in her mouth, eyeing the creature cautiously.

  “About a year ago, we had a recruit join the house. One of our daily chores was to brush and take care of this gal.” He scratched Dog under the chin. “It turned out the recruit was severely allergic, and with Dogs long hair the recruit had allergy attacks all the time. We realized it wasn’t fair to Dog, or the guy to keep her there, so I took her home.”

  “And now she lives here. In my apartment. With you.”

  Hank smirked. “Yep.”

  Chapter Four

  Olive took a deep breath as she opened her bedroom door and peeked around the corner. She wasn’t sure what form of hell she was about to walk into, but she knew something was coming, it always was.

  Two weeks.

  It’d been a total of two weeks since Hank moved in and every day had been worse than the day before.

  “Don’t worry, Olive. Hank will never be here.” Olive’s eyes narrowed at Miranda’s lies.

  The bastard was there all the damn time. Olive was also seventy-five percent sure Hank didn’t know what a shirt was.

  He never seemed to be clothed. Never.

  She wasn’t one to complain about the view, but it was a distraction. Especially after his workouts. She could count the sweat droplets as they fell down his body.

  His presence always surrounded her apartment. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t escape him.

  Scanning the room again, she saw no sign of him. Thank god. Sure, Olive wouldn’t deny he was good material for her books, largely since he refused to wear clothes.

  But, that’s all it was.

  A half-naked fireman walking around her apartment.

  Hank hadn’t brought anyone home. Which part of her was thankful for. Seriously, who wanted to listen to two people going at it in the next room?

  Especially Hank. Eww! She cringed.

  However, the research part of her, the part that sought out any and all m
aterial she could use for her books, was pissed. Why wasn’t this so-called Casanova laying on the moves to unsuspecting bar bunnies? Didn’t he understand she had books to write? Characters to create? Her eyes narrowed. It was the only good thing about him moving in, and he was denying her his prowess.

  Wait a minute? Her mind quickly changed gears. Wouldn’t bar bunnies be there just for that? Olive bit her lip thinking as she pondered a potential research spot. I could go to the bar down the street and observe the behavior of the chase.

  Quickly she banished that thought as she shook her head. “Nahh.” No need to go out and interact with people, that’s what the internet was for.

  She wiped her brow. Human interaction averted.

  Doing another scan of the apartment from her doorway, everything seemed to be in order.

  Seemed was the keyword. Hank’s constant need to get a rise out of her was taking its toll.

  On day two of their new living arrangement adventure, Hank thought it would be knee-slapping funny to relabel all her ingredients in the kitchen. It only took one sip and the roar of laughter from Hank for her to realize she’d poured an unhealthy amount of salt into her coffee instead of sugar.

  A smile grew across her lips. She’d won that battle, though. After realizing what he’d done, she promptly walked over to him dumping the liquid on his head.

  Luckily for him, it had cooled enough.

  The bastard only laughed harder as he walked into the bathroom to shower.

  Then, there was the time she found her hidden stash of Oreo cookies tampered with. No one wants to bite into their favorite cookie only to be assaulted with mint freaking toothpaste.

  Nothing was safe anymore. And it was all Hank’s fault.

  Olive was over going into the living room to see the furniture rearranged, or the human-sized cat eyeing her like she was its next meal.

  Going outside of her room was a war zone.

  She was all for the zombie apocalypse, but not like this.

  Taking a step into the living room, she glanced around. Everything looked normal. The furniture was in its rightful place and the creature was nowhere to be found.

  Taking a quick peek towards Hank’s room she noticed the door open, but there was no movement inside.