Chapter 16
At the public safety building, Jordan was reading a book on the sofa in Mason’s office while he gave yet another interview to one of the Providence news stations.
He was far more interesting than the book.
She was so proud of him and how he’d stayed cool even with constant requests for interviews from local and national news while juggling questions from colleagues and calls from Gansett citizens. He’d been going nonstop for hours.
She’d planned to stay at their place for the storm, but he’d arrived around five o’clock in his department SUV and insisted she pack up and come to the station with him, so he’d know she was safe while he focused on work.
Her sister, Nikki, and grandmother, Evelyn, had sided with Mason and were relieved that she wasn’t alone for the storm.
They’d invited her to come to Eastward Look, but she was happy to be with Mason, even if they were “camping” in his office.
Mason had brought an air mattress from home that he blew up with air compressor from the garage where they kept the fire engines.
He’d set it up on the floor for when she wanted to rest. The first trimester of her pregnancy had been rough.
She was tired all the time and nauseated a good portion of every day, but still elated to be expecting her first child.
The baby had come as a surprise to them, but it had been the best surprise of their lives, and they couldn’t wait to meet their little person next spring.
In a few weeks, they’d be leaving the island to head to LA to film the next season of her reality show with her best friend, Gigi Gibson. Mason would take a leave of absence from the department for the time it took to film, and they’d come back long before the summer tourist season kicked in.
Sometimes still she couldn’t believe the way it had worked out for them to be together despite jobs they loved on opposite coasts.
Mason and Gigi’s boyfriend, Cooper, would appear in the new season of the show that would focus on Jordan and Gigi shifting into long-term relationships and, in Jordan’s case, starting a family.
As she watched Mason conduct an interview with CNN, she wondered if he was ready to be famous.
They’d talked some about that, and he said he didn’t care about that if he got to be with her.
It amused her to think of him being stalked next summer by tourists who’d come to the island looking for the hot fire chief.
They couldn’t have him. He was all hers.
When he finished the interview, he stood and stretched.
“My hero,” Jordan said from her perch on the sofa.
“Stop.”
“I won’t stop. You’re a very sexy fire chief all the time, but especially in crisis mode.”
He took a seat next to her and reached for her hand. “You’re making me blush.”
Jordan laughed as she curled her fingers around his hand. “You don’t blush.”
“I do with you. All the time.”
“When?”
“Right now.”
She studied the face that had become as familiar to her as her own in recent months. “I see no sign of a blush.”
“I’m blushing on the inside.”
“Well, that’s no fun.”
Smiling, he leaned in to kiss her. “How’s my baby mama feeling?”
“I’m fine and secretly glad you convinced me to come to work with you.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to think of anything but you alone in that cabin during the storm, so thank you for agreeing to come with me.”
“Like you gave me a choice.”
“The choice is always yours, my love, but I’m glad you made the right one.”
She appreciated he said that, knowing what she’d been through with her ex-husband trying to control her. “You know I’d rather be with you than anywhere else without you.”
“And that, right there, makes me the luckiest guy who ever lived.”
Jordan leaned her head on his shoulder. “We’re both lucky.”
“I’m luckier than you are because you’re way out of my league, but you love me anyway.”
“Don’t say that. It’s not true.”
“Jordan, sweetheart,” he said with a laugh, “it’s absolutely true.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Have you seen you?”
“Have you seen you?”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on this topic,” he said, stroking her hand and arm.
“What else do you have to do tonight?”
“More interviews for the eleven o’clock news, and then I guess we wait to see what happens with the storm.”
“Do you have time to rest for a bit?”
“I suppose I do. Let me just check in with the others first.”
He kissed her cheek and got up to leave the room.
She watched him go, admiring the way his navy uniform pants clung to his muscular legs and backside.
She’d never had a thing for men in uniform until she met him after he saved her life.
Now that uniform and the man who wore it were at the center of her life, and she couldn’t be happier to have found him in this big, crazy world.
While he was checking in with his team, she used the bathroom attached to his office to change into pajama pants and a tank top and brush her teeth.
When he returned to the office, she was waiting for him in the bed he’d made for them on the floor.
If they had to camp out, he’d said, she was going to be comfortable.
He was always thinking of her first and foremost, which was such a welcome change from her ex-husband, who’d always thought of himself first and her a distant second.
She’d put up with that crap far too long, and now that she had someone who had made her the most important part of his life, she would never let him go.
“Can you change into something more comfortable?” she asked him.
“I suppose so.” Mason disappeared into the bathroom and came out wearing a T-shirt and sweats. He tossed his uniform over a chair, so it’d be handy if he needed it, and got into bed with her. “Fancy meeting you on an air mattress in my office,” he said when she snuggled up to him.
“Have you ever slept with someone in your office before?”
“Not ever.”
She ran her hand over his chest and down to cup his cock. “Oh, I get to take your office virginity.”
“You’re not taking anything in my office.”
“Why not? You locked the door, right?”
“Yes, but—”
She pounced. Before he could finish his sentence, she was on top of him, kissing him and moving in a way she knew he couldn’t resist. The moan that came from deep inside his chest had her struggling not to laugh as she used her body to let him know how this was going to go.
When he raised his hands to cup her breasts, she knew she had him, but she didn’t let up. Rather, she doubled down, grinding against his rock-hard cock as she kissed him with unrelenting fervor.
And then he took over, wrapping his arms around her and rolling them so he was on top. He broke the kiss, his expression conveying a sort of stunned amusement that gave her great pleasure. “You little vixen.”
“What did I do?” she asked, blinking innocently.
His low growl made her laugh when he bent his head to bite her neck.
“Don’t leave marks, Chief. We wouldn’t want anyone to know what you were doing in your office.”
“I’m going to spank your ass and leave some marks.”
“Oh,” she said breathlessly, “when?”
Like someone had flipped a switch in him, he was all hands as he quickly removed her pajama pants and his sweats. He was inside her so quickly, she barely had a second to prepare before he was stretching her to the absolute limit the way he always did.
Jordan clawed at his back and wrapped her legs around him to keep him buried to the hilt.
“Fucking hell, Jord,” he said on a gasp. “Let me move.”
“Not yet,” she said. “I just need a minute to catch up.”
He raised himself up to look at her. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“Not at all.”
“Are you going to let me move?”
“In a minute.” She tightened her internal muscles around him. “Or two.”
“I’m not going to last that long if you keep that up.”
“What? This?”
He gasped. “Yes, that,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Okay, you can move now,” she said, dropping her legs.
He was like a man possessed as he hammered into her with unrestrained passion.
But he was always careful not to put too much weight on her abdomen or to hurt her in any way.
And he knew just where and how to touch her to give her the kind of pleasure she’d thought only happened in fairy tales before he showed her otherwise.
With him, she never had a problem having an orgasm.
In fact, he often got two or three out of her when one had been a miracle in the past. She’d learned that being with the right man made all the difference, and this man…
This man was absolutely perfect for her, which he proved again as he brought them both to silent, straining climaxes that had them shaking from the effort to stay quiet.
“Did you hear that popping sound?” she whispered when she’d caught her breath.
“What popping sound?”
“Your office cherry.”
He shook with laughter. “Vixen. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.”
“I can live with that as long as I get to live with you.”
“You’ve got me, baby. Forever and ever.”
She tightened her arms around him. “That might not be long enough.”
In Los Angeles, Gigi Gibson anxiously watched the news about the storm bearing down on the island where the only other people she loved lived. Jordan, Nikki and Evelyn had been her family until Cooper James came storming into her life and changed everything. But oh, how she loved those ladies.
“They’ll be fine,” Coop said when he joined her on the sofa after a shower.
“How can you be so certain?”
“Gansett Islanders are tough. They know how to work together to get through anything that comes their way. Jared and Quinn were out all day helping wherever they could. They said everyone was doing what needed to be done. That’s how they are there. Everyone pitches in.”
“I saw that myself when I was there, but a storm like this… I can’t bear to think of that beautiful place in shambles.”
Cooper put his arm around her. “If that happens, they’ll rebuild.”
She rested her head on his chest, unable to look away from the storm coverage.
“Maybe we should watch something else,” he said.
“I need to watch this, so I know what’s happening.”
“Have you talked to Jordan?”
“About an hour ago. She’s camped out with Mason at the public safety building. He didn’t want her to be alone at his place during the storm.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t go to Nikki’s.”
“She said she wanted to be home in case Mason got to take a break.”
“I’m glad she’s with him at the station and not alone.”
“Me, too. Do you think Eastward Look will be okay?”
“I’m sure it will be fine. That place has withstood all kinds of storms for decades, and remember, Riley and Nikki met when he replaced the roof, so you know that’s solid.”
“I guess so. I just want it to be over and to hear that everyone is okay.”
“It’ll be over soon.”
“Can’t happen fast enough for me.”