Arson & Ache (Surrender to Them 8)

“Just fucking kill me now.” I leaned back in my chair and sighed. “I’ve got a few hours to kill—want to help me look through some stuff?”

“Sure.” He nodded and took the folder that I handed him.

My first major assignment after becoming an arson investigator was a serial arsonist who called himself Fireball. I had been at the scene of multiple fires that he set while I was a firefighter, so I couldn’t wait to tackle the case once I became an investigator. Fireball loved to taunt the media, which intensified the pressure I was under to catch him. A task force had been established and I was supposed to be working with a detective from the police department, but he didn’t seem to be very invested in the case.

Detective Lewis believed the FBI would come in and take over the case at some point, regardless of what we did, so he felt like it was a waste of his time. I didn’t share that sentiment. I wanted to be there when they finally slapped the handcuffs on Fireball, just so I could look him in the eyes—and probably punch him in the face before they took him to jail. That wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t get a lead, because it seemed like every piece of evidence that could possibly point us to him went up in flames before we were able to put out the fire. Donovan and I looked through the files we had for a couple of hours, combing through them for any piece of information that might have been missed, but we didn’t uncover anything new.

“This is just taking me in circles.” Donovan closed the file and sighed.

“Welcome to my world.” I slammed the file I was looking at closed. “Just one false lead after another.”

“I guess we need to go get ready for the charity auction.” He leaned back in his chair. “They can’t start without us.”

“Well, they can—they’ll just have to stop after January.” I ran my hand through my hair and exhaled sharply.

I went home, showered, and put on the uniform that I was supposed to wear to the auction. It was a firefighter uniform that had been created for the auction. The uniform was much tighter than the one I normally wore when I was on duty, and it came with a vest instead of a jacket. Once the auction was done, I would be changing into a tuxedo for my date with whatever woman decided to bid on me. I might not have been looking forward to the auction itself, but since I had to go through with it regardless, I planned to at least try to show my date a good time. The funny thing was, my pretend date with the auction winner was going to the first one I had been on since becoming an arson investigator. Things had been so busy that I didn’t even have time to get laid—that definitely needed to change. It was probably why my asshole side was on full display most of the time. After I finished putting on my uniform, I grabbed my tux and headed to the location of the auction, which was being held in an upscale art gallery downtown.

“I feel like a piece of meat.” Donovan walked up to me in the backstage area as soon as I arrived. “February was apparently a very popular month.”

“You might get the high bid then.” I cut my eyes in his direction and scowled.

“I hope not.” He shuddered, and his lip twisted into a look of disgust. “I do not want to go out on a date with that crazy chick from Livingston Capital.”

“Why not?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

“You didn’t hear about last year?” He tilted his head inquisitively.

“I didn’t hear the full story. I know that Mike is still traumatized.” I shrugged and nodded.

“It was a nightmare. She turned the date into a photo shoot for her company website and he spent the whole night getting yelled at.” Donovan shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know if I could put up with that.”

“Livingston Capital does sponsor the event—and they always spend the most money. I guess one of us has to be the sacrificial lamb.” I exhaled sharply.

Hopefully it won’t be me—I just want to go on a nice date and get back to work.

The main room of the gallery where the auction was going to be held filled up pretty quickly as we waited for the host to start the event. Most of the women in attendance were gawking, pointing, and whispering like a bunch of high school girls. Some of them seemed to have lust practically dripping from their lips as they looked us over. I tried not to make eye contact, because I didn’t want to give any of them the impression that I was going to be their one-night-stand. A few of the guys were looking forward to that opportunity—and willing to do anything that their date wanted. It might have been a long time since I got laid, but I wanted something with a little more substance than being someone’s wet dream for the evening. Although that might not have been a bad thing considering the dry spell I was on. There were definitely a few women in the crowd that I could see myself throwing my inhibitions out the window for.

Especially her—wow, she’s gorgeous.

There was one girl in the crowd that caught my attention from the first moment I noticed her. She didn’t have the same sex-starved look in her beautiful amber-colored eyes that the others did and appeared to be quite nervous. She was wearing a form fitting black dress that accentuated every one of her gorgeous curves. When she nervously started to chew on the top of her pen, I couldn’t help but imagine those pouty lips wrapped around something much bigger than an ink pen. She looked my way—and our eyes locked together for a moment. The edge of her lip twitched into a slight grin and she blushed before looking away. I scanned the crowd a few more times, but my eyes kept drifting back to the beautiful brunette. I watched as she shifted in her seat, uncrossed her legs, and immediately crossed them in the opposite direction. Her legs went on for days—and I wanted to see them pointed at the ceiling.

If she ends up bidding on me, I might have to rethink my position on one-night-stands.

My dry spell was sending my libido into overdrive—and I was definitely going to have to do something to take the edge off soon. The serial arsonist had consumed all of my time, and that was a good thing after my last relationship ended, but I still had needs. Needs that the beautiful brunette could definitely satisfy. I deserved one night of fun, especially considering all of the stress I was under. It wasn’t like I was going to find anything new in the case files. I had been over them a hundred times. A distraction would be nice and perhaps I would have some new clarity if I looked over the files with fresh eyes. I kept sneaking glances at the brunette as I waited for the auction to start. She was definitely the one that I wanted to bid on me, but there were eleven guys in front of me that she could bid on first.

Just wait until December baby, I’ll make it a month you never forget.

Marissa

I felt out of my element at the charity auction. I was surrounded by rich and powerful people. Some of them were even celebrities. Ms. Stone said none of them would outbid me, but they definitely looked like they could. I wondered if I should have picked out a couple of other guys—or chosen someone besides Mr. December as the second one on my list. What if I didn’t win that auction? Would Ms. Stone view it as a failure? She hated failure. At least she would have a date if I won the auction for Mr. February. My nervousness went into overdrive as I stared at the line of guys waiting to be auctioned off. The double date needed to be a success—it was critical for my future at Livingston Capital. I might not get another opportunity to spend time with Ms. Stone outside of work.

I should just bid on the first two guys—but Mr. December—he’s so freaking hot.

Mr. December was the one I was leaning towards for my date if Ms. Stone gave me a choice. I was able to sneak a few glances at him, and seeing his gorgeous physique made me feel a little warm inside. I knew he was attractive from his picture in the Heated Hunks calendar but seeing him in real life—that was something else entirely. He was built like a Greek god and could have easily replaced any of the hulking figures in the paintings that hung in the art gallery. He was a work of art on his own, and his beautiful ink was just as amazing in real life as it was on the page of the calendar. My eyes drifted his way, and our eyes met. I tried to suppress a grin, but my lips betrayed me. I immediately blushed and looked away.

I need to focus on someone else, otherwise he’s going to think I’m a freak that can’t stop staring at him.

Mr. February seemed to be playing to the audience a little bit and smiling when people pointed at him. I wasn’t brave enough to point, or even talk about the guys on the stage—not that I knew anyone at the auction anyway. I had a very well-dressed man on my left who was enthralled by the woman he was with, and a girl a little older than me on my right who was lost in her cell phone. I kept my eyes focused on my lap, and nervously chewed on my pen when I was brave enough to look up. I couldn’t keep from looking back at Mr. December. He was just—captivating. I felt entranced and unable to look away for long. I wondered what it would feel like to have those powerful arms around me—to look into his steel-colored eyes as he prepared to crush my lips beneath his. I probably wasn’t his type, but at least I could pretend a guy like that was interested in me for one night—it wasn’t like anyone else was asking me out.