The Fire Captain’s Unexpected Baby (Crown Hill Hotshots #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Paige

Of all the places I thought I might end up tonight, this is the last one I pictured. The hotel is nice enough: modern art, clean linens, a TV without a layer of dust on its silver screen. But I don’t relish being anchored to the bed like a prisoner.

Maybe it’s my fault for not being honest enough with my date before we got into a compromising situation.

When he suggested that we do something out of the ordinary, I jumped at the chance. How many opportunities did I have to be treated as a woman rather than just as a mom? Summer was watching Noah for the night, giving me a rare night off.

The cold metal handcuffs latched around my wrists before I had even truly thought it through.

Alexander was nice enough. Attentive during what was supposed to be our first date. Sweet when he walked me to the hotel door, kissing me in a way that lit me up inside without demanding more than I was ready to give. Still, I kept major pieces of myself from him.

Noah included.

I made sure Noah wasn’t home before I went on a date with him. He stayed with Levi, Summer, or my mother. They had long since encouraged me to take the time I needed to be my own person. I no longer felt embarrassed to tell them about a date.

Summer knew I intended to spend the night with Alexander for the first time. And she knew that I wouldn’t do it at home, but that didn’t help me right now.

Because I’m handcuffed to the bed, and my date left me here.

Had taken the key with him, too. Guess he didn’t realize the keys were in his pocket in his mad dash to get away from me—as far away from me as humanly possible.

Of course, my clothes are on the opposite side of the room. My phone is nestled right in the back pocket of my jeans. I try to stretch my legs to the side of the bed, aiming to grip the denim with my toes to pull it closer, but no such luck.

If I can’t call for help and I’m shackled to the bed, what am I supposed to do?

There’s only one thing I can do, but it means I’ll have to let go of whatever shred of pride is still lodged deep in my chest. Someone has to let me out of these handcuffs. My wrists are already bruised from trying to pull free.

A flush creeps up my neck and covers my face at the prospect of what comes next. Still, I think of Noah and how good it will feel to get home to him—something I can’t do if no one helps me.

I tip my head back and let out the loudest howl I can.

I keep begging for help, trying to make it obvious that I’m in distress and not in the throes of passion. I yell out the room number so that they know where to send help.

“Can you hear me in there?”

“Yes, yes!” I call to the friendly voice on the other side of the door.

“You’re causing quite a racket. But I called 911 for you.” They sound a little abashed. “Don’t want to get too involved in whatever you have going on in there.”

“Thank you,” I gush. “Really, thank you.”

Relief rushes through me at the prospect of not having to yell anymore. Someone will be along to set me free from my predicament. I can laugh about this with Summer over several glasses of deep red wine.

One day, it will be a funny story for some unlucky firefighter, just like the stories Levi tells at the dinner table for our amusement.

I practice deep breathing until a knock sounds at the door.

“Ma’am, your neighbor called us. Do you need help?”

I cringe at the sound of the masculine voice. Of course, they couldn’t send a female firefighter to see what was going on. That is just my luck.

“No,” I call back, wondering if I could start over and try for a female firefighter.

“Should we leave?”

I sigh, realizing that this might be my one ticket out of here. “No.”

“Ma’am, I need you to be very clear with me. Do you need some help right now?”

“Fine. I do need help. But please, please, please, only send one person in.”

If I am going to be embarrassed by this, I can at least mitigate the damage and limit my exposure to one person instead of a swarm of men.

“We’re going to get management to open the door.”

I hear the keycard unlatch the heavy door and cringe. It’s only a matter of time before someone sees me indisposed. I close my eyes, simply praying for the best possible outcome.

Please, don’t let it be Levi on call tonight.

I don’t want my brother to see me in my lingerie, handcuffed to a hotel bed. It would scar both of us.

Instead, another firefighter walks into the room as if he owns it. He’s easily the most handsome man I’ve laid eyes on in a while, much more than my so-called date who brought me here. When he sees me sprawled on the white sheets, he runs a hand through his dark brown hair.

His green eyes travel the length of my body, then stop cold. I prayed that Levi wouldn’t answer this particular call, but why couldn’t I have gotten some seen-it-all veteran instead of the one firefighter who looks like he could be on the cover of a steamy romance novel, shirtless and sweaty?

Fortunately for me, the way his eyes linger makes me think he actually likes what he sees. And I think that I like being seen—and not in the way my date left me here.

But no matter how much this situation intrigues both of us, I think we’re both embarrassed as hell.

“A little help?”

He holds up the box of tools he brought with him. “I’ll need a good bolt cutter for this.”

Instead of looking at me again, he sets the box of tools down to rummage through the loose screwdrivers and hammers. Finally, he stands up with a pair of bolt cutters and slowly approaches the side of the bed. I try to scoot as far from the edge as possible to give him room to work.

“I promise this isn’t going to hurt,” he says reassuringly as he assesses the strength of the metal handcuff. “Name’s Aaron, by the way. I’ll be here with you for a little while.”

“Paige,” I tell him, blushing.

I don’t want him to know a thing about me, no incriminating evidence to tell his friends later. But I feel a new flutter in my stomach that gets me talking before I can think it through.

“Now, I’m going to twist your wrist to give me space to work. I need you to bend. Just like that.”

I can’t help but blush as he walks me through every step he’s taking to free me. Every touch is gentle, a caress rather than strictly business. My skin burns as he jiggles the metal.

“This is locked on here good,” he assesses drily. I blush more.

He keeps working, but now he looks me in the eyes.

“This is nothing to be embarrassed about,” he says finally. “I bet you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve had to free someone from a situation very similar to this one. All in a day’s work.”

“But I’ll bet this is the first time your damsel in distress has been abandoned because moms do, in fact, have mom bods.” I laugh, but even I can tell that there’s no humor in it.

Aaron lets his gaze travel from my eyes to my throat, stopping short of looking down at my negligee. He shows no hint of discomfort in this situation. Everything about him reads as intense, from the way his green eyes bore into mine to the way he focuses on that damned bolt cutter.

He mutters something under his breath that sounds an awful lot like, “His loss.”

My head snaps back up to look at him, unable to believe that a man this attractive could see something in a mom like me. I was clearly a woman destined for a lifetime of celibacy now.

Aaron’s face never wavers, a serious expression commanding every feature and line.

“You could press charges,” he offers helpfully. “But that’s not my department. You’d have to go down to the police department.”

The idea of pressing charges causes a giggle to burble out of my throat.

“I’m hardly the first person to have a hideous date,” I protest.

“All the same, it wasn’t right for him to leave you like this.”

“It’s a bit unlucky that this was my first date in a while, and it ended like this. But hey, I’ll have a funny story to tell my friends one day. And you will, too.”

“I never share stories from my work,” Aaron says quietly.

I wished the rest of the firefighters had his sense of integrity. The rest would have pounced on a story like this, paraded it around for weeks. They still will if they find out that Paige Reed has been handcuffed to a bed.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I tell him, relieved for now. “That’s lucky for me.”

“Why is that, beyond the obvious?”

“You’re the new fire captain, aren’t you?” I already know the answer in my gut before he nods.

“Aaron Evans,” he confirms, supplying his last name. A smirk appears on his lips. “This is my first week on the job. It’s proving interesting so far.”

“Nice to meet you, Aaron Evans.” I flash him a smile, hoping that he’s willing to look past this unfortunate introduction. “Let’s just say that the rest of the station already knows me.”

“One more snip,” he says.

If he’s at all curious how I happen to know the rest of the station, he doesn’t ask. Clearly, he’s intent on keeping this story private.

He drops the handcuff from around my wrist. I rub the spot where the skin feels raw, but it feels good to be free. I stand up, throw on a t-shirt, and put on my jeans as quickly as I can. I grab my purse, but Aaron makes no move to leave.

My phone chimes in my pocket. An apology from my date, I hope.

“Do you need a ride?” Aaron asks, looking around the room. “It doesn’t seem like your date is coming back for you.”

“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I’ll walk home.”

The last thing I need to do is show up at my house with a man from the fire station in tow—the fire captain, I remind myself. Levi would never let me forget this.

If he knew.

But according to Aaron Evans, he doesn’t gossip about even the most salacious calls he gets. Today’s not my lucky day, but I could have done a lot worse than landing assistance in the form of the new captain rather than my brother and his best friends.

“If you’re sure, duty calls,” Aaron says, interrupting my thoughts.