Combust: A Single Dad Firefighter Small Town Romance Read online

  COMBUST

  A SMALL TOWN, FIREFIGHTER ROMANCE

  BRADFORD STATION

  BOOK 2

  LARAMIE BRISCOE

  CONTENTS

  Connect With Laramie

  Also By Laramie Briscoe

  New Release Alerts

  Blurb

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue 1

  Epilogue 2

  Report Errors/Reviews

  About the Author

  Renegade

  Chapter 1

  Copyright © 2022 by Laramie Briscoe

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

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  ALSO BY LARAMIE BRISCOE

  The Blizzard Bluff Series

  The Cabin at Candy Cane Lane

  The Haldonia Monarchy

  Royal Rebel

  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

  Fury

  Hollow

  Restraint

  Bishop

  Heaven Hill Shorts

  Caelin

  Christine

  Justice

  Harley

  Jagger

  Charity

  Liam

  Drew

  Dalton

  Mandy

  Rockin’ Country Series

  Only The Beginning

  The Price of Love

  Full Circle

  Hard To Love

  Reaper’s Love

  The Nashvegas Trilogy

  Power Couple

  Breach of Contract

  Platinum

  The Moonshine Task Force Series

  Renegade

  Tank

  Havoc

  Ace

  Menace

  Cruise

  Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team

  Ransom

  Suppression

  Enigma

  Cutter

  Sullivan

  Devante

  Archer

  The MVP Duet

  On the DL

  MVP

  The Midnight Cove Series

  Inflame

  Stand Alones

  My Confession

  Sketch

  Sass

  Trick

  Room 143

  2018 Laramie Briscoe Compilation

  2019 Laramie Briscoe Compilation

  Trick Spin-Offs

  Trick

  Unwrap Me

  Trick: Special Edition

  Declan

  NEW RELEASE ALERTS

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  BLURB

  From USA Today and WSJ Bestselling author Laramie Briscoe comes the next book in the Bradford Station Series!

  The heat is on.

  Situated on the Tennessee and North Carolina border, this town is nothing like you’ve ever experienced. Hot guys, the women they love, and a town worth saving. Bradford, TN is the epicenter of the next great romance dynasty.

  Firefighters, family, and community…

  Cameron Hines

  I take my job very seriously. Both of them. I'm a Lieutenant at Bradford Station Company One, and I'm a single dad to a little girl who completely brightens my world.

  It's not easy, holding it all together, but I do my best. Honestly, I wouldn't be doing as well as I am without my best friend's sister. Natalie treats my daughter like her own, and watches her for me without complaint.

  Things are status quo until one day I see her in a different light. She quits being the babysitter, and becomes a woman. One I'll do anything for.

  When her brother finds out all bets are off, and I have to answer for my indiscretions. He and I are sent out on a mission to find a lost child in the woods. We have to bury the hatchet and do our jobs, but when the worst happens, we have to make a decision that neither of us ever imagined.

  PROLOGUE

  Cameron

  “This isn’t for me.” Rebecca hands me a manilla envelope, sealed, so I have to take a few moments to open it.

  “What’s not for you, and why can’t you tell me what’s going on instead of handing me some piece of paper?” Annoyance travels through my body. We’ve been married for six years, parents for three, and she can’t string a few words together to talk to me about something she deems important?

  “All of this.” Her arms flail around.

  I’m trying to grasp what she’s saying when I finally get the envelope open. Dissolution of marriage of termination of parental rights.

  What. The. Fuck.

  “You’re not taking my daughter away from me.” Fear and anger course through my chest, my fingers gripping the papers as I do my best to speed-read them.

  “No, I’m not.” Her voice is hoarse, yet at the same time matter-of-fact. “I’m giving her to you.”

  That hits me like a ton of bricks. “So what, you think you’re a martyr or something?”

  “I’m not a good mother, and we both know it, Cam. My nerves can’t take her crying, I don’t know what she wants from me half the time, and I don’t feel like she belongs to me. Cameron, I won’t lay down my life for her. She deserves better. You deserve better, we haven’t slept together almost since she was born. I can’t handle the stress of being her caregiver and pleasing you.” She bows her head slightly.

  “That’s bullshit and you know it. You could be the mother she needs, but you don’t want to be.” I’ve seen her in the quiet moments when she
thinks no one is looking. “No one knows what they’re doing to begin with. It’s not like our parents knew just exactly how to take care of us. You’re doing a great job, Bec. As far as the relationship with me goes, I realize you’ve been adjusting. We’re both tired.”

  “I’m not and we both know it. The only reason you’re trying to convince me to stay is because you don’t want to do this on your own. I don’t feel as if I know you any longer. Any semblance I had of a romantic relationship with you seems like it was a long ago dream, that I’ll never get back.”

  That hurts like a son of a bitch. “No, I’m trying to convince you to stay because you’re my wife and I love you. We have a home, and a family. A future to plan for. At least I thought we did.”

  She shakes her head. “This isn’t what I want anymore. Hell I’m not even sure I wanted to family. It’s not like we planned her.”

  We hadn’t. Rebecca had gotten pregnant because of a medicine malfunction, but we’d agreed together, to have Trinity. Are some days harder than others? You bet your ass, but her little face lights up any bad day I have. “I thought you loved her.”

  “I do, but I also know I love her enough to let her go, Cameron. She shouldn’t be stuck with someone who won’t give her the life she deserves. I’ll never be the mom who does all the cool Pinterest stuff, or who stays up late at night to make sure things are perfect for her.”

  “She’s three, she doesn’t care about that stuff. If you’re going to use it as an excuse, say what you feel.”

  My heart is pounding as I wait for her to get up the courage to be truthful. Trinity and I, we both deserve it.

  “Fine.” The tone of the word is one I haven’t heard from Rebecca before. “I’m not happy. Not with her, not with you, or in this little town. When we got married you said we’d be moving to Knoxville, Chattanooga, or Nashville. Yet here we are, still stuck in Bradford. Now that you’re moving up in the fire department, this is where we’ll stay. Everything I said I didn’t want, we now have.”

  “You told me you were happy,” I argue.

  “No, I really didn’t. That’s just what you wanted to hear. I’m finally standing up for myself and telling you what I need.”

  This fucking hurts. “To be by yourself? To forget you have a family, and people who care about you?”

  “Call me selfish, or a horrible person, whatever you want, but yes. It’s what I want. I never wanted to house, the dog, and the white picket fence. You did.”“How is Trinity gonna handle it when she’s grown up? When she finds out you didn’t care enough to stay?”

  She juts her chin down to where I hold the papers in my hand. “I guess that’s for you to deal with. As soon as you sign those papers, I’m out.”

  With a heavy heart, I signed, scared to death about what my future would hold.

  “I did do something for you, though.” She throws the words over her shoulder as she grabs up the last of her stuff.

  “We don’t need any favors.”

  “Yes you do. Natalie Grimes will be here tomorrow morning. I hired her for you. She’ll babysit Trinity until you can get a more permanent situation set up.”

  As I watch her walk out the door, I know my life is never going to be the same again.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Cameron

  Glancing at my watch, a smile spreads across my face. Getting home this early means I’ll be able to take my daughter, Trinity, to school. It’s not very often I get the luxury. Other parents, this is their normal, but as a single dad, firefighter - there are sacrifices I have to make. One of those is making sure the community we live in is safe. Sometimes at the expense of my own family.

  “I’m home,” I yell out, entering into what could be a mass of excitement, or the quietness of a museum. I’ve seen it both ways.

  They could be doing something in the kitchen, or carefully contemplating what Trinity will be wearing to school.

  “Daddy!”

  That little voice is enough to make my day. No matter what kind of shift I just had, being with her and doing things for her is what I live for. She runs to me. I clasp her around the waist and put her on my hip. Soon, I won’t be able to do this anymore. She’ll be too big.

  At six, she’s still little enough. I’ll take it as long as I can. Cherish every moment we have together, and do my best to let her grow up when the time is right.

  On the day when we can’t, I’ll probably break down and cry.

  “Did you sleep good?”

  She hugs me tightly, burying her face in my neck. “Yeah, did you?”

  “Sure did,” I answer, breathing in deeply, loving how the smell of her shampoo welcomes me home. It’s always calmed me, from the time when she was a baby and we walked the floor at all hours. When I would get frustrated, being the only parent taking care of her, and tired from working, I’d press my nose into her hair and take calming breaths until I wasn’t on edge anymore. “Not many emergencies at the firehouse last night. Is it okay if I take you to school?”

  Exuberantly, she nods. “Yeah, are you gonna be able to pick me up?”

  “Of course.”

  “Can we go for ice cream?”

  I’m a goddamn sucker when it comes to her green eyes. “Yes, yes we can. Where’s Natalie?” I look around for Gauge’s sister. She’s been babysitting Trinity since she was three-years-old. Typically, Nat is right here with my daughter.

  “She had an accident with the pancake batter.”

  “Oh yeah?” I laugh, tickling Trin’s stomach. “Did you have anything to do with it?” There’s a good chance she did, and Natalie was too nice to give her a talking to for it.

  Trinity screws up her mouth, pensive in the way only a child can be. “I was helping to stir and I flicked the spoon. She got it in her hair so she went to take a shower.”

  “Okay, Lady Bug.” I set her down, with a small kiss on h er forehead. “Lemme go check on Nat and you finish eating your breakfast.”

  She has a seat in her chair and starts eating. Once I know she’s got it together, I head down the hallway wanting to check on Natalie. There’s no telling how bad it actually was. I should probably apologize. The water isn’t running anymore, so I figure she can hear as I come in.

  “Trinity? I’ll be out in just a sec.”

  Nat’s voice is breathless, like I would imagine it’d be if I’d pleasured her. It hadn’t occurred to me, she’d think it was Trinity. I walk much harder than my daughter.

  “I’m home.” I announce my presence, but it’s too late.

  The door to the bathroom is open, probably because she thought she was home alone with my daughter. As I get to the entrance, I’m greeted with my best friend’s little sister, who isn’t so little any more.

  The towel wrapped around her chest is holding on for dear life where it’s knotted between her breasts. Wet curls hang down around her shoulders, begging for me to reach out and wrap one around my index finger.

  “Cam.” She clamps hold of the towel, her fingers tightening roughly against the fabric. “You’re early.”

  “Easy shift. I wasn’t gonna look a gift horse in the mouth when I was told to go home early. Shoulda called.”

  “No, no.” She shakes her head, her pink tongue coming out to lick already wet lips. “If you give me a few minutes, I’ll get dressed and take Trinity to school.”

  My voice is full of gravel. “Nah, I’ll take her. Was kinda looking forward to it since I got off early.”

  Natalie puts one leg in front of the other, crossing them in a way that brings my attention to her toned thighs. A slight smile shows the small dimple on the left side of her cheek. “Okay, well let me get dressed real quick. I’ll leave with the two of you.”

  “Just make sure you lock up when you get done. No hurry.” I put my hand out to her, stopping her from having to rush. “Think I trust you to be here by yourself.” I give her a smile.

  Her cheeks flush pink and the side of her mouth lifts up in a slight grin. “I should hope
so. I’m here more than you are.”

  Turning from her, I bite my cheek to keep from saying what’s bubbling up inside me. I don’t want her to leave. Instead, I’d rather her be here when I get home. Prefer for my bed not to be empty when I slide between the cool sheets. Now that I’ve seen this side of her, I’m not sure I can fold it up and put it away in a box. Forget this is what she looks like all fresh from the shower.

  Innocent and sexy all folded together in one unforgettable combination.

  It’s something I’ll never be able to forget. Now that this is out in the open, there’s no going back.

  “Daddy, I’m done.” Trinity grabs hold of my shirt, tugging on it. Her sticky hands out in front of her.

  Just like that, I’m back in dad mode. The one thing that’s been a constant since she and I became a family of two. It’s what I’ve been able to count on. “Okay, let’s wash up and get on our way to school.” Herding her back into the kitchen, I help her out of the chair and over to the step stool that allows her to wash her own hands.

  Movement in the corner of my eye causes me to look back down the hallway. There’s Nat, making a dash for my bedroom.