Inflame: Midnight Cove #1 Read online

  Inflame

  Midnight Cove #1

  Laramie Briscoe

  Contents

  Also By Laramie Briscoe

  New Release Alerts

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Connect With Laramie

  Also by Laramie

  Copyright © 2019 Laramie Briscoe

  * * *

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, distributed, stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, without express permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, or any events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  Cover Art by: Laramie Briscoe

  Cover Photography: SCPhotography

  Cover Model: David Kash

  Created with Vellum

  Also By Laramie Briscoe

  Heaven Hill Series

  Meant To Be

  Out of Darkness

  Losing Control

  Worth The Battle

  Dirty Little Secret

  Second Chance Love

  Rough Patch

  Beginning of Forever

  Home Free

  Shield My Heart

  A Heaven Hill Christmas

  * * *

  Heaven Hill Next Generation

  Hurricane

  Wild

  * * *

  Rockin’ Country Series

  Only The Beginning

  One Day at A Time

  The Price of Love

  Full Circle

  Hard To Love

  Reaper’s Girl

  * * *

  The Moonshine Task Force Series

  Renegade

  Tank

  Havoc

  Ace

  Menace

  Cruise

  * * *

  The Laurel Springs Emergency Task Force Series

  Ransom

  Suppression

  * * *

  Stand Alones

  Sketch

  Sass

  Trick

  New Release Alerts

  JOIN MY MAILING LIST

  http://sitel.ink/LBList

  * * *

  JOIN MY READERS GROUP

  fbl.ink/LaramiesLounge

  Foreword

  This is a little different than books I’ve written before. “Menace” and “Trick” have been my favorite books to write, because they involved single parents, which is what the Midnight Cove series is completely about. As with my more recent books, there isn’t much drama, and this is a hot, slow-burn story. I hope that you’ll give Ash and Emma a chance, along with Syd!

  In December I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. This book, was the book that came out of me once I was finally able to write again!

  * * *

  Thank you so much for reading!

  Blurb

  Single-Dad

  Firefighter

  * * *

  Since my divorce five years ago, these are the two labels I've identified with. Now, I'm ready for more. Ready to give dating a shot, even with an eight-year-old daughter and twenty-four hour shifts needing my attention.

  * * *

  When Sydney has a snow-day and we have an epic malfunction in the kitchen, we decide to head to the breakfast joint we've frequented for years.

  * * *

  Except today something is different.

  * * *

  Our normal waitress, Emma, isn't all baggy clothes and ducking her head to keep me from seeing her face. Today? Today I feel like I see her for the first time, and damned if our gazes don't ignite a heat I've only felt while on the job.

  One

  Ash

  “Daddy!”

  I hear the excited whisper, but try to ignore it, pulling the blanket tighter around and over my head. Making a seam, I secure it with my thumb and forefinger, holding tightly against the small hands tugging on it. Sometimes the little ball of energy calling my name lays down next to me and goes back to sleep. Those mornings are glorious when she curls up against my back, and we sleep for a few more hours when she doesn’t have school, like this one. All the surrounding school systems are closed for a snow day. If I can just get a little time to snooze, this day will start off perfectly. Then maybe we can go sledding, see my Mom, or curl up with some blankets and watch one of the movies she likes.

  “Daddy!” She jerks at my blanket, trying to unearth my head. No more is she trying to whisper, long past the point of being patient. It’s louder now, more insistent, hoping for a reaction out of me.

  I’m so tired, so very, very tired. I just worked twenty-four on, and now I’m forty-eight off. Typically it’s not bad, I can catch a few hours’ sleep in between calls at the firehouse, but the last twenty-four were craziness. Our first winter storm of the year rolled through Midnight Cove overnight, causing multiple accidents and a house fire that kept us going almost my entire shift. I got thirty minutes, and that was it. Today I’m dragging ass. The last thing I want to do is to be the one responsible for another human being. But that’s me, and that’s my job.

  “I’m hungry!” She announces loudly, bouncing on the mattress. I’m kind of regretting picking her up at my mom’s this morning and bringing her home with me before I got at least a little shut-eye. I remind myself she won’t be this little for long, and before I know it, she’ll be old enough not to have to wake me up for her breakfast. She’ll have her own friends, her own life, and I’ll be the embarrassing dad and not one of her favorite people in the world.

  I feel her yanking at my blanket, again. Loosening my grip, I let her drag it down slightly. This time, fighting against the pull of sleep, I pop one eye open, looking into the same light-colored eyes that stare back at me in the mirror. Clearing my throat, I give her a grin. My voice is toast after the busy night and screaming out orders. It’s barely above a croak when I ask the question of the hour. “What should we do about that, Syd?”

  “Donuts and cereal?” She asks, her voice hopeful.

  “What about oatmeal and banana’s instead?” I try to gently push her towards a healthier option. If she gets all that sugar in her, there won’t be a nap today, and I’m so looking forward to nap-time. The promise of it, is already what’s going to keep me going through the next few hours.

  My little girl considers her options. “Can I put a scoop of peanut butter in it?”

  I purse my lips, pulling a face that makes her giggle. “Like we could eat it any other way?”

  She sits next to me, cross-legged on the bed, staring at me intensely. “No, there’s no other way.”

  Tugging on her curl, I blow out an exaggerated sigh
. “Alright, let me go use the bathroom and wash my face off. Wait for me downstairs?”

  “I can set the table,” she offers, throwing her hands up in the air like she’s just given me the whole world.

  “That would be helpful,” I lift her off the bed, setting her down on the floor. Watching her run off, I wonder where in the fuck she gets all this energy.

  Heaving out a sigh, I flip the covers off my body, doing my best to ignore my morning wood. Sydney’s mom and I divorced five years ago, and I’ve been single since. Except for a couple of one-night stands, it’s been me and my left hand. The tension? It’s starting to get the best of me, beginning to gnaw at my gut. Reminding me of the things I’ve sacrificed to be the best dad I can be for her. To be the present one when it comes to her parents. One of us has to be, God knows Courtney wasn’t happy when she got pregnant and definitely wasn’t cut out to be a full-time mom. Fuck, I wipe my eyes, that’s a story for another day.

  Standing up, I roll my neck around on my shoulders wishing I could take a shower and jerk it before I have to face the stress of the day, but I can’t. There’s someone downstairs who expects me to take care of her. Pushing back my carnal needs, I make a bee-line for the bathroom, do my business, brush my teeth, and wash my face. Grabbing a thick pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, I dress as quickly as possible, taking the stairs down two at a time.

  “About time you made it,” she gives me a little attitude from where she stands next to the kitchen table, our places set.

  “Sorry buttercup,” I lean down, kissing her forehead. “The world doesn’t revolve around you,” I tease. “There are things you have to do in the morning, just like there are things I have to do in the morning.”

  “Like brush your teeth and pee?” She asks, no filter, my girl.

  “Yeah, kinda like that.”

  Reaching into the cabinet, I grab my container of oats, scooping them out, before I do my doctoring to them. Cinnamon, organic brown sugar, milk, and a little natural sweetener is mixed together before I stick the bowl in the microwave.

  “That smells so good, Daddy,” Syd stands in front of the microwave watching it go around and around.

  “I know, I’m hungry too,” my stomach growls loudly. I’m reaching into our fruit basket, looking for a banana she might eat. If it’s too yellow, she hates it, and it has to be cut up in a certain way. But hey, if it gets her to eat it, then I’ll do what I need to.

  “Daaadddd,” she pulls the name out, but I’m busy.

  “One sec,” I tell her, going through our bowl.

  “Dadddd,” she tries again.

  “Give me a minute, Syd,” now I’m getting slightly irritated.

  “Dad!”

  And that’s when I hear it. A loud explosion in the microwave, then the power cuts off. “Son of a bitch, what was that?”

  “That’s a dollar in the swear jar,” she claps her hands, happy to have caught me doing something I’m not supposed to be.

  I hold back every other swear word I want to let fly when I see milk and oats start dripping through the door.

  “What are we going to eat now?” She questions, looking up at me like I have all the answers.

  This is one of those times where I wish I weren’t supposed to have all the damn answers. The last thing I want to do is clean this up, and even if I do, what are we going to eat? I can’t cook this on the stove, I’m a microwave guy all the way. “Go get dressed, Syd. We’re going to Bridget’s,” I mention our favorite restaurant in town.

  “It’s snowing, and we get to go out for breakfast? This is the best day ever!” She screams, running up the stairs.

  “Be sure and grab your snowsuit,” I yell after her.

  Sighing, I come to grips with the fact my day just got a whole lot longer.

  * * *

  Emma

  “I didn’t expect anyone to get out in this weather,” I gossip with Bridget as the two of us stand behind the bar at her restaurant.

  I’ve lived my entire life in Midnight Cove, and I’ve never seen weather like what we had last night. Snow coming down faster than the plow trucks could keep up with it, an arctic freeze when I woke up this morning. If it weren’t for the morning patrol unit needing breakfast, and them coming to pick us up, me and Bridget wouldn’t be here.

  “Can’t say I expected it to be busy or anything. The five people we’ve had so far were more than I thought we’d have, but I sure didn’t expect to see him today,” she points out to the parking lot, where a sleek black truck has just parked.

  Ashford McKinley. Firefighter extraordinaire, hot AF single-father, and my crush since high school. Not that he knows, I’ve always been shy, and while we’ve been friendly acquaintances, we’ve never been what I would call friends. I was the quiet girl in high school while he was the quarterback of the football team dating the head cheerleader. The two of us never ran in the same social circles, and even though I wait on him and Sydney just about every time they come in here, our conversations have never gone past polite. No matter how much I’ve wanted them to.

  “Damn, his beard is longer than it was last time I saw him. What I wouldn’t give to have him run that against my neck or shoulder,” I sigh as I look over at Bridget. She’s one of the only people privy to my crush, and not because I told her flat out, because she suspected and asked.

  “That boy doesn’t even realize how hot he is, which makes him even hotter,” she whispers as the father and daughter make their way through the door.

  “Thank God you’re open today, Bridge,” he greets her with a hug that I would die to a part of. To have his strong arms wrapped around me? Dream come true.

  He’s laughing at something she said, the strong column of his throat moving up and down with the motion of his joy. I watch as he takes off his coat, glimpsing the gray Henley he wears underneath it. Even though we’re months from summer, he still holds a bit of golden color reminiscent of someone who spends a lot of their time outdoors. It’s striking against the well-worn shirt, not bothering to temper my gaze, I take in the darker spots under the shirt on his arms, knowing that’s where his tattoos rest. I scrutinize further down, eyeing the ink on his hands too. There’s something so sexy about watching him do the most mundane things, the way the ink plays peek-a-boo depending on what he’s doing. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I have a fantasy of seeing those inked hands roaming all over my body. As I’m looking my fill, Bridget comes back over, knocking me out of my haze.

  “I know what they want to eat, you got the drinks, Em. Look alive, we’re the only people in here besides those two, and if you’ve ever wanted his attention – honey you’ve got it now.”

  Glancing over my shoulder, I see he’s discreetly checking me out. Something I’ve never noticed him doing before. Already I’m nervous as I notice a flare of interest in those light colored eyes of his.

  Typically I wear comfortable clothes when I know I’m waitressing, but today I figured there’d be no one in, so I have jeans that actually fit tucked into rain boots, a long-sleeve black shirt snugger than I normally wear, covers my upper body, along with a bright pink puffy vest. My hair is up, but I didn’t bother to straighten it, I left it curly, can’t remember the last time I left it down when I knew I was coming into work. Feeling confident, I grab coffee and orange juice, the drinks they’ve ordered every time they’ve come in here, put a little swing in my hips, and march my way over to the hottest single-dad I’ve ever met in my life.

  Two

  Emma

  “Guess what,” Sydney says as I walk over to them, placing their drinks on the table.

  “What?” I ask with a tilt of my head, and what I hope is a twinkle in my eye. Maybe let her think we’re co-conspirators in some secret.

  “School’s out today!”

  I have to laugh at her exuberance, she’s got it in spades. I can remember being that excited for a snow day. I wish I still got excited for the little things like she appears to be. “And let me guess? You�
��re super excited?”

  She nods. “I am! Dad promised me we could go sledding down the hill at my Nana’s, and then maybe we can have hot chocolate with marshmallows and chili later on,” she says it all in an excited rush when she finally stops, she has to take a deep breath.

  “Sounds like you have an action-packed day planned.” I’m a little envious. The only thing I have planned is going home to an empty apartment, curling up on the couch with a book and a blanket, hoping it will take me away to someplace more exciting than this life I’m living right now. Is this where my life is right now? Jealous of a six-year-old?

  “I do,” she turns her eye to her dad. “I have to go to the bathroom, is it okay?”

  Ash looks around, noticing we’re the only ones in here. “Go for it. If you need anything, just press the button,” he holds up his phone. I watch as she reaches into her pocket, pulling out what looks like a cell phone for children.

  “Got it.”