Feisty Firefighters Bundle

nothing.”

“Are you talking about our attraction?”

“There is no attraction. None. None at all.”

His eyes narrowed. “Who are you trying to convince?”

“I’m already convinced.”

He took a step toward her and she fought against instinct and stood still.

“So you look at me and feel nothing?” he wondered aloud.

When he took another step, she nearly bolted. Sheer willpower held her there. “That’s right.”

“You don’t remember what happened between us? Hell, what exploded between us?”

“This isn’t about us-” she stuttered silent when he touched her. “And it’s sure not about sex.”

“Oh, yes, it is.” His voice had lowered, which for some reason made her tummy tingle, but she could ignore that. What she couldn’t ignore was the look in his eyes, the lingering hurt mixed in with a good amount of pride and scorching intensity.

“It’s not about what I feel,” she insisted. “Besides, you can’t possibly feel something for me, after what I’ve done.” Her voice was a mere whisper as renewed shame crept up her spine. “I kept her from you, remember?”

“I remember.” He touched her face and her eyes nearly closed in pleasure. “You still have to tell me you feel nothing for me,” he reminded her.

“I-” She hesitated and saw his eyes flare with triumph. “I don’t have to tell you anything.” She stood back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Goodbye, Dax.”

He stared at her. After a moment, he shook his head and went to the door. “I’ll come for Taylor in the morning.”

He was leaving. She’d chased him away. Relief, she should feel relief.

She didn’t.

And then she was alone, again. Always alone.

6

THEY SETTLED into a pattern, splitting Taylor between the two of them. Dax would have her on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and every other weekend.

It might have been a perfect arrangement, for any other man.

But as a week passed, and then another, Dax realized it wasn’t enough, it would never be enough. He wanted more, he wanted it all.

How did other single fathers do it, share their children with their exes? He didn’t know.

Even worse, he actually found himself forgiving Amber. Or if not forgiving completely, at least understanding her. He didn’t like it.

Thanks to the luck of his schedule, he’d managed to work only on the days Amber had Taylor. But two weeks after he learned he had a daughter, both work and the baby came on the same day.

It was an experience, to say the least. His family had fallen in love with Taylor, and any of them would have dropped everything to baby-sit, but he wasn’t ready to give her up yet.

So baby in tow, he went to his office, confident he could handle it.

Taylor started out the workday fast asleep in her carrier, and everything seemed great. The guys in his office kept poking their heads in to coo over her and Dax kept shooing them out so they wouldn’t wake her. But when Taylor’s morning nap was over, so was his day.

She cried while he was on the phone to the mayor. She threw up on one of his investigative reports. Then her diaper leaked all over his shirt, causing people to wrinkle their noses when they came too close to him. After a noisy fit over having to drink a bottle with a nipple that infuriated her, Taylor finally, finally, blessedly fell back asleep.

By that time, Dax was so exhausted, he fell asleep, too, face down on his desk.

And awoke to his daughter’s cries. Picking her up, he pressed her close and expected her to stop crying, as she always did.

No go. In fact, she worked herself up to a furious red, screaming, mass of rage. Dax tried everything; singing like an idiot, dancing like a bigger idiot, and finally begging. Nothing worked, though it amused the staff members who gathered in his doorway to watch.

Taylor was having none of it. Finally, when her screams threatened to bring down the house, he called Amber.

“I’ve done something to her,” he said over Taylor’s howl. “I-”

“I’ll be right there.”

Dax paced while he waited, holding a sobbing Taylor. When Amber finally appeared, he could have kissed her. “What have I done to her?”

Amber shook her head and took the baby.

Immediately, the baby hiccuped and stopped crying.

The silence was deafening.

Amber continued to sooth her with a wordless murmur, patting her gently on the back. While Dax stared in amazement, Taylor started making loud, smacking noises with her lips, her little hands fisted in Amber’s blouse.

She sounded like a starving kitten.

“She can’t be hungry,” he said in disbelief. “I gave her a bottle. She refused to even look at it.”

“Well…” Amber looked everywhere but at him. “The bottle isn’t what she wants.”

“She doesn’t want-Oh. Oh,” he said, understanding finally dawning. “She wants breast milk.” He laughed, the relief so overwhelming he could hardly stand. “But she’s taken formula from me before.”

“I told you, she’s a bit fickle.”

He grinned, now that he could breathe again. “Stubborn as hell, you mean. Gee, I guess she got that from both sides, huh? Here…” Leading Amber to a chair, he backed up a few steps and waited for her to satisfy his obviously starving daughter.

Amber just looked at him.

Taylor, frustrated, turned even redder in the face and let loose with her piercing cries.

“Hurry!” Lord, how could such a small, adorable bundle of baby make so much noise? “Damn, she’s got a set of lungs on her.”

Amber undid her blouse, then hesitated.

Dax had been staring at Taylor’s mottled face, but when Amber didn’t make a move, he lifted his gaze.

It caught on the strip of creamy skin she’d revealed from throat to belly. Just like that, his body temperature rose ten degrees.

“I can’t do this while you watch, Dax.”

It didn’t matter if she breast-fed in front of him. Not when he had a good imagination, and it was off and racing now. It didn’t take much to picture her peeling the material away from her flesh, exposing one softly rounded breast. The nipple would pucker and tighten, and when Taylor pulled her mouth away, the tip would be wet and swollen.

At the thought, he went weak in the knees. Disgusted with himself, he turned and left the office, going in search of a glass of very cold water.

A cold shower might have been more effective.

No matter how much he didn’t want to have feelings for this woman who’d ripped him apart, he did, and that confused him. He wasn’t used to being confused where women were concerned.

He could tell himself that this deep attraction was due to Taylor, but that would be a big, fat lie. Already he loved Taylor with all his heart.