Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 21255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 21255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 106(@200wpm)___ 85(@250wpm)___ 71(@300wpm)
I can’t help but grin as she eyes my biceps. “You think I look good?”
She nods.
“You know I think you look good, Mr. Sterling.”
I grin again, flexing a little to make her laugh.
“Well, firefighters have to stay in shape at all times, so we work out like maniacs. The physical fitness test each year makes us stay young,” I wink.
She gasps.
“OMG, you guys get tested on your fitness?”
I shrug.
“Yeah, just basic stuff to make sure we’re not way out of shape. Speaking of which, honey, this revelation means that I’m also two decades older than you. Is that alright? Two decades is a lot, I won’t lie.”
Sam bites her lip for a moment.
“Is that why you didn’t call me?” she asks, quirking her head in my direction. “After the first time, I mean. Because you thought I was too young?”
I nod.
“Yeah. Even I have some morals, honey, and because I thought you were in high school, I decided to let things go. Two decades is a lot, baby girl, and now you know just how much more I’ve lived.”
But Sam takes it in a stride.
“No, it’s fine. Age is something that will fix itself because we’re all getting older, every second of every day. Besides, I don’t care about any of that. You aren’t taking advantage of me, Randy, and the fact that you care enough to even think of it that way just proves it. If anything, I find your age and experience to be very attractive. Maybe you’re exactly what I need in my life,” she ends breezily.
I smile as I lean forward, suddenly gaining a new lease on life.
“You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that, sweetheart,” I growl. “Because I feel the exact same way. You’re exactly what I need in my life.”
“Really?” she asks, arching a playful eyebrow.
“Hell yeah,” I drawl.
“Well then prove it, big guy,” she murmurs.
When her eyes flicker down to my lips for a few moments, I know exactly what she wants. I lean in closer and seize Sam’s plush lips with my mouth, and as soon as I do, I’m overwhelmed with a newfound sense of fulfillment. This kiss feels right. It feels as if we’ve done this a million times before, and it’s as if we were meant to be together. The pretty girl sighs blissfully against my mouth, and I know she’s experiencing the same thing. This kiss feels like home, and that’s definitely something I can get used to.
7
Sam
Three months later.
“Right, well, before we start the…oh wait, what comes next?” Isaac mumbles, scratching his head. I share a look with Randy because this doesn’t bode well. Isaac is the photographer for the Cedar Toms Fire Department’s annual calendar this year, but he doesn’t seem to have his act together.
Isaac coughs and gestures around for a few moments as he tries to figure out his next words. “Oh right, the shoot, the shoot,” he murmurs as if he’s trying to remind himself. “Before we start the shoot, we need to get ugh…son, what was your name again?”
“Randy,” my boyfriend says with an exasperated look.
“Randy—yes, right. Before we start the shoot, we need to get Randy here oiled up with well, oil of course,” Isaac states while bending over to pick up a large jug of grease. I can swear that I can hear about two hundred bones cracking as he stands up straight again—or as straight as he can stand with the slight hump in his back. Bless him. I think it’s about time for Isaac to retire, but then he looks up with a sparkle to his eye.
“Here it is!” the old man exclaims as he hands the jug over to me. The thing practically makes me fall over, it’s so heavy. “I take it that you want your girlfriend to oil you up, and not me!” Isaac chortles. Then he turns away. “And while you do that, I’ll be setting up the equipment. Let’s see…I guess I should turn the camera on,” he murmurs to himself as he shuffles over to his desk.
In fact, the camera already looks set up to me, and it’s pointed straight at the white backdrop which is where I assume the photoshoot will take place. But Isaac walks past all this on the way to his desk in the corner, looking befuddled. “Well, it was here just a while ago. Oh! My plants,” He pokes at one of the plants that he has sitting on his desk. “I need to water my plants.”
Despite having a bottle of water sitting right atop his desk, he picks up a mug that I’m pretty sure had previously been filled with coffee and shuffles over to the sink on the other side of the studio to fill it with water. I raise my brows as I look at Randy and swat at my boyfriend as he tries to hold in his laughter.