3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
SETH
It was fucking ridiculous. In the days following me carrying Violet out of the farmhouse, half a dozen women had shown up at the station. All bringing me stuff and asking if I'm single. Some lunatic even gave me her panties.
Apparently, some lady posted a video of me getting Violet out of the window and climbing down the ladder with her wrapped around my front. And of course it went viral. The caption read Save a ladder, climb a firefighter for fuck’s sake .
Comments were ridiculous. Some even crude. Not that it offended me. But I just wanted to be left the fuck alone.
I’d moved here from Charlotte because I hated the limelight.
Now I had to deal with it here too? In a big city, and with our house having the first female battalion chief, we were under a microscope.
Anything we did, people either wanted to criticize or idolize.
The final straw for me was when we saved the life of a famous actor after he’d acted like an idiot and drove his car into a tree.
At first, the attention was all positive.
Then he started bad-mouthing us. He was pissed we’d told the cops his breath reeked of alcohol.
Eventually the full story came out and people stopped attacking us.
But those months of dealing with the drama had been frustrating to say the least.
I crossed my arms over my chest and spun to head back upstairs. I swear, if one more woman showed up, I was going to lose my damn mind.
“Another one?” Jay snickered, stopping me before I could climb to the safety of the second level. He was standing with Owen and Logan while they were doing an equipment check.
“Yeah.” At least I was able to turn away her tray of brownies with a made-up nut allergy. I tilted my head. I'd been here four months and never saw any of these guys dealing with this kind of shit. “How come they don't bother you guys?”
“What?” Logan's brows pulled together. “You mean the women?”
“Yeah. Do you guys not do heroic shit? Are you that useless or something?”
Jay scoffed. “No, we're just that taken.”
“Taken?”
“Yeah.” Jay held up his left hand and Owen followed suit, both showing their wedding bands. “We're married. And everyone in town knows it.”
“And I don't have a wedding band yet, but everyone knows I'm dating his sister.” Logan hitched his thumb toward Jay.
Jay rolled his eyes. “Don't remind me.”
“So if I was taken, they would leave me alone?”
It couldn't possibly be that easy. Maybe I could show everyone a picture of Lucy and me and tell them she was my girlfriend from back home. It was close enough to the truth. They didn’t have to know she was my ex- girlfriend.
But all of that would require me to talk to these women. I didn't want to talk to anyone.
Maybe I could hire someone.
“I don't want her to look like a prostitute,” I pondered, bringing my hand up and running it down my jaw.
“What?” Owen asked with one brow raised. “Why are we talking about hookers now?”
“We aren't. That's the point. No hookers. That wouldn't work.”
Jay shook his head with a scoff. “I think we're missing part of this conversation you're having with yourself.”
I shook my head. “Don't worry about it.”
“Oh, look. Here comes the damsel herself.” Logan chuckled as he tipped his chin over my shoulder.
I spun to find Violet approaching. What the fuck was she wearing now? Fishnets, a pink and black plaid skirt, and some type of tank top that laced up in the front and made her tits look like they were going to spill out at any minute.
My feet were moving toward her before I even realized what I was doing.
As I stopped in front of her, she held up a Tupperware container. “I made you cookies.”
“Jesus, not you too.” I groaned. “I don't need cookies.” Or anything else for that matter. I was just doing my fucking job.
She shrugged, a smile still plastered on her face. “I wanted to do something to thank you.”
“Thank me?”
“Yeah, you know, for saving my life and everything.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but glared over her shoulder as another woman began walking up from the street toward us. Grabbing Violet's hand, I pulled her further into the station and then glanced back. The strange woman had stopped, and she looked pissed.
Good. So was I.
I looked over at the guys who were once again focused on checking the equipment. Maybe they were on to something.
Only one way to find out. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Violet, bringing her in for a hug.
For someone who looked like Wednesday from the Addams Family, I was surprised that she smelled like a field of sunflowers on a summer day. A mix of honey, grass, and a light floral scent.
That same feeling I had when she wrapped around me on the ladder was back. Soft, surprisingly pleasant.
She wrapped her arms around my back. “Would have never guessed you were a hugger. But you're in luck, ‘cause I give the best hugs. Or so I've been told.”
The strange woman turned and walked away. Interesting.
I untangled myself and stepped back. “You said you wanted to thank me?”
“Yeah.” She squeaked before clearing her throat and lifting the container again. “Cookies.”
“I need a girlfriend.”
She tilted her head. “A girlfriend?”
“Yeah. I need it to stop.”
“Need what to stop?” Her brows pulled together. Had she not seen the video that blew up?
“The women. They won't leave me alone after that video was posted.”
“Oh. That. Yeah, those comments are hilarious.”
“You want to thank me? Pretend you're my girlfriend so everyone will leave me alone.”
“But, I baked you cookies.” She thrust the container out toward me. “Remember?”
I shook my head. “I don't eat sugar.”
Her lips formed a pout and I could see her mind working. Good, that meant she was at least considering it.
“How would that even work?” I sensed more curiosity than hesitance in her voice. Another good sign. “You can't just tell people that. They'd expect to see us around town together and stuff.”
“I'll take you out.” What the hell did I just say? And why? I didn't want to have to talk to anyone. But I guess if I had to choose, Violet didn't seem like she'd be horrible company.
She smiled brightly. “Like on a date?”
Christ. I narrowed my eyes. Last thing I needed was her getting the wrong idea. “Fake date,” I clarified.
“Right.” She glanced up, thinking it over before finally shrugging. “Okay. Fine. When?”
Perfect. One date. That should be enough to solve my problem. “Tomorrow night.”
“Will you bring me flowers?”
I glowered at her. “No.”
She huffed. “Will you at least try my cookies?”
Shit, if she was going to help me keep these women away, I'd eat the entire container.
“Fine. I'll try the damn cookies.”
She popped open the container and I took one out, shoving the entire thing in my mouth. “Not bad,” I mumbled around the chewy combination of sugar coma ingredients. They were actually pretty good.
“You have a phone, Mountain Man?”
She had called me that in the house when I stepped into the room. “Don't call me that.” I pulled out my phone and handed it to her.
“Well, if we're fake dating, we have to have pet names for each other. It's either Mountain Man or Pookie. Your choice,” she said with a pep I didn't share and then began entering her phone number into my phone.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Because I was sure this chick was going to drive me insane.