Feisty Firefighters Bundle

misjudge him again, as she had in the medical center.

Was that a flash of guilt that crossed his face as he glanced at them over his shoulder? “Ah…no. Not today.”

Okay, then. “Gotta go.”

“Wait-”

But she couldn’t, she just couldn’t.

DAX WATCHED Amber escape. His obligation, in the form of four fine legs behind him, burned. Not that Amber would have believed him if he’d told her.

Hell, half of the people he knew wouldn’t believe him.

He glanced over his shoulder at the two women. In response, they both waved and giggled. Skin shimmered. Breasts jiggled.

Dax groaned, but the decision was actually easy. He raced after Amber, catching her just as she unlocked her car.

“Amber.”

She glared at him.

“Come on, baby-”

She went rigid. “I am most definitely not your baby. Check with the two women waiting for you. I’m sure either of them would swoon at the opportunity to be called by such an endearing term.”

He had no idea why he found her stiff unyielding attitude so wildly appealing, or why he suddenly felt like grinning. “Just listen to me, that’s all I’m asking.”

“I’m in a hurry.”

Oh yeah, she was in a hurry. But she’d come to him. And he wanted to know why. “Please?” He risked touching her again, running his fingers up and down her arm. He couldn’t seem to help himself, he had to have that connection.

She went completely still. Nothing gave her away, but he just knew she responded to his touch. He looked into her inscrutable face and wished she’d show him how she really felt, wished he didn’t have to guess. “About the women…”

“Uh-huh.”

“I know what you’re probably thinking.”

“I doubt it.” She sighed. “Dax, really. You don’t have to explain why you’re going on a date, much less why you’re doing it in the morning, with two women. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s not a date.”

The two women, apparently tired of waiting, came down the stairs. The redhead smiled at Amber. “We won him in an auction.” She smiled wickedly. “He’s ours for the rest of the day.”

“It’s true.” The blonde smiled, almost licking her lips in anticipation. “We can do whatever we want with him, we were promised.”

Together, they grinned.

Unbelievably, Dax felt himself blush. “The auction was a long time ago,” he said quickly. “And I’ve been too busy to meet my obligation-” This wasn’t going well, he could tell by the ice in Amber’s gaze. “It was to raise money for the fire stations on the west side,” he added. “All the guys did it.”

“But you brought in the most money,” the redhead added helpfully.

“Did he now?” Amber asked coolly.

“Uh…Ladies, I’ll be with you in just a moment, okay?”

Thank God they took the hint and backed off, giving him and Amber some desperately needed privacy. Only problem, he didn’t have a clue as to what to say.

Amber slid on a pair of mirrored sunglasses and got into her car. “Sounds like you’re in for quite a day, Dax. I’d say be good, but I already know you will be.”

SOMEHOW DAX managed to escape Ginger and Cici’s clutches relatively unscathed. It was mid-day by the time he did it, though. Ignoring his stacked messages and overworked secretary, he drove straight to Amber’s office.

He couldn’t explain his urgency or why, for the first time in the ten years he’d been participating in the bachelor auction fund-raiser, he resented the time he’d spent. All day he’d yearned to be somewhere else.

He’d wanted to be with Taylor. And okay, maybe with Amber, too, but that made no sense. Still, he couldn’t get to her office fast enough, couldn’t wait to try to soothe her ruffled feathers. And her feathers had most definitely been ruffled, whether she admitted it or not.

Suddenly that thought made him grin, and he loped up the stairs to the building where she worked.

Amber’s secretary explained she was in a meeting and couldn’t be disturbed. Dax gave her his most charming smile, but she didn’t budge. Around him, the office buzzed with new listings, new sales and the general excitement of a place on the move.

Dax waited until the secretary picked up a phone before he simply strode past her desk toward Amber’s closed door.

“Hey,” the woman called out, “you can’t just-”

Dax let himself into Amber’s office and carefully shut the door on her secretary’s protests.

Amber was behind her desk, a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose, a pencil in her mouth, a phone to her ear. Her eyes were even, her hands steady, her every hair in place. She’d shed the power jacket, but the white blouse she wore was wrinkle-free, prim and proper.

Somewhere beneath that icy control lay the passion he remembered so well. He’d caught a tiny glimpse of it that morning, behind her cool facade. She’d been mad as hell at him, and mad as hell at herself for feeling that emotion in the first place.

Dax grinned again.

At the sight of him, her carefully painted mouth tightened, but that was the only outward sign he received. She didn’t rush, and when she was done with her phone call, she slowly set down her pencil, removed her glasses and looked at him. “Back so soon?” Her voice was smooth and very polite. “I would have thought Barbie and Sunshine would keep you tied up for hours.”

“Ginger and Cici,” he corrected. “And though they were very…persuasive, I managed to escape.”

“Hmmm.” She bent to her work, but her knuckles went white on the pencil she gripped. “I bet.”

“And how was your day?” he inquired conversationally, sitting uninvited on a chair in front of her desk.

“Busy.” She glanced at him pointedly. “Still is.”

Ah, the cold shoulder. “You probably didn’t miss me one little bit, did you?”

“Not one little bit,” she agreed.

He couldn’t help it, he laughed.

Her eyes chilled several degrees. “If you don’t mind…”

“Amber.” He controlled himself, but the smile remained. “Admit it, you’re jealous as hell.”

Aghast, she stared at him. “You’ve been drinking.”

“I don’t drink.”

“Then you’re delusional.” She leaned forward. “Just so you know, I never get jealous. Certainly not over a nitwit who enjoys dating brainless-”

“Careful,” he said, laughing again. “You might prove my point.”

She was still for a long beat. Then regally she rose and pointed an elegant finger at the door. “I think you should leave.”

“So you can recapture that famous control?” He rose, too, and came around her desk. “I don’t think so. Watching your temper rise is fascinating, Amber. In fact, everything about you is fascinating.”

She shook her head, her composure slipping enough to show her genuine confusion. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

“Lots. But I’ll start with this.” He hauled her into his arms and kissed her. It was a stupid move, uncalculated as it was genuine, but he didn’t stop.

She went still as stone, but didn’t push him away. Taking that for permission, he dove into her sweet mouth,