Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 24135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 24135 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 121(@200wpm)___ 97(@250wpm)___ 80(@300wpm)
“There are only six of you, so I used each of you twice,” I say when Ethan spots his second picture in November.
Doug flips to his second picture in May. He grins when he sees it. It’s the one of him spraying the fire extinguisher. He went a little crazy with it at the firehouse and made a huge mess, but the photo looks good.
“Mr. May,” he says with a satisfied grin.
Mason leans over to look and probably make a joke, but he slaps Doug on the back instead while nodding. “Looking good, Mr. May.”
Doug’s smile widens.
“Another hot white wine?” the gruff waitress asks as she comes over.
“No, thank you,” I say politely. “I’m leaving shortly.”
“What’s that?” she asks when she spots the calendar.
I grab it from Doug and show her the sexy cover. “Fireman’s calendar. Engine Company 38. Only twenty-five bucks.”
She digs a wad of cash from her apron and peels off a bunch of twenties. “I’ll take four. My sister will love it.”
“Yes!” I say with a fist pump as I take the money. “I have more in the car.”
I race out and run to my trunk. This is going to work. I know it will. I already set up a website and reached out to a few sites for promotion. I already got seven hundred and six pre-orders which I have to mail out this weekend.
I’m going to fix that library even if it kills me.
“Am I only on the cover because we’re sleeping together?”
I turn around and chuckle when I see James walking toward me. “You’re on the cover because that’s the sexiest photo in the history of photography.”
He walks right up to me and puts his strong possessive hand on my waist. I get a little shiver. He’s always giving me shivers.
“You should have chosen the one where I’m holding my hose,” he says with a sly grin.
“That one is only for me.”
“How about you come to my place and I’ll reenact it for you?”
I grin as I quickly grab the three calendars and slam my trunk closed. “Let me drop these off and I’m there.”
He watches me with those dark protective eyes as I race back into the bar to give the waitress her copies.
I still can’t believe I’m with James. It’s been three months and we’ve spent almost every night together. I’ve practically abandoned my small apartment in town and moved into his big lakefront house.
We get along so well. He treats me like a princess during the day and like his naughty little whore at night.
My book boyfriends are all jealous. I haven’t thought of them once.
There’s no need to with James and his giant hose in my life.
My sexy firefighting cover man is all I need.
EPILOGUE
Victoria
One year later…
“This is adorable,” Lauren says as we watch story hour with hearts in our eyes. Lauren’s daughter Cynthia is sitting with all of the other children in front of James. He’s reading a book about firemen while wearing his firefighting coat and helmet. The kids are staring up at him in awe.
The moms are too. They’re watching from the sidelines and I don’t think one of them has looked away from my man since he opened the book. Bud The Fireman is a good book, but it’s not that good.
I’m just so happy. To have my man, to have the children’s library restored, to have all of these wonderful people in my life. I feel so blessed.
“You did amazing,” Gabby whispers as she comes over to stand beside me.
“I don’t know about amazing,” I say with a chuckle. “I did cause this mess in the first place.”
“It was an accident,” she says like she’s said to me a thousand times over the past year. “And you came through. Look at this place. It’s gorgeous.”
It does look amazing. I found the best restoration guys in the business and they were able to reclaim much of the original materials. All of the soot was power washed off of the bricks and they were restacked for the exterior and a lot of the old wood we were able to save was sanded down, stained, and reused for the interior. It was mostly old oak and mahogany which are pretty fire-resistant I was very relieved to learn.
They rebuilt it to look the same down to the iconic entrance and the cute little reading nooks. Gabby and I picked out all of the books to repurchase. The stacks took a long time to set up, but it’s a better system now. Gabby has more of a creative artsy brain, and I have more of a systemized analytical brain. We make a good pair.
The calendar was a huge hit and we made a ton of money. It was enough to pay for the rest of the repairs. We’re going to do another one this year and donate the proceeds to charity. I already know who’s going to be on the cover.