Bad Boy's Lust (Firemen in Love Book 1) (2 page)

“That old biddy in 503? She complains about
everything.
”

“She said...” I hesitated. Why was I so nervous? “She wanted me to have a talk with you. Tell you to keep things quieter at night.”

His eyes widened, then it dawned on him what I meant. He erupted into laughter.

A laugh so sexy, it sent shivers up and down my spine...

Stop it, freak!

But that was impossible. Jayce radiated sex, promised absolute pleasure. When he stretched out like that on the couch, his muscles flexed beneath his tight t-shirt.

He might have been an irresponsible idiot, but there wasn't a woman alive who could resist his charms should he choose to chase her.

Against my better judgment, I kind of wished he'd chase
me...

“Oh, man. You've got to be kidding! She's just jealous, that's all.”

“She said she can hear you through the walls.” I squirmed. “That you have girls coming and going late at night.”

“She's right about one thing.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “I certainly
do
have girls coming all night long.”

I snatched a pillow off the floor and threw it at his head with a frustrated growl. He ducked just in time for it to miss.

“This isn't a joke.”

He inched closer to me. “You know what I think? You're jealous, too.”

The warmth of his body was a terrible tease. So was that whiff of woodsy cologne I inhaled from the pit of his neck.

“Why would I be jealous of you?”

“Don't lie.” His smoldering gaze shifted from my face to my breasts, then back again. “When's the last time you had a good fuck?”

“I... Uh...”

Never.

I wouldn't tell him that, though. He didn't need to know that at age 24, I was still a virgin.

Jayce popped open my beer and put it firmly in my hand. His fingers closed around mine for a moment too long. That was all it took to set my heart racing.

Maybe he was right. I needed to get laid.

Too bad I wasn't into one-night stands and casual sex. When I gave up my innocence, I wanted it to be special. To
mean
something.

Which is why this insane attraction to Jayce was seriously starting to bother me.

“You're too uptight. Always working.”

“Because I own half of an apartment building now, and so do you.”

“Yeah, but you don't see me stressing myself into an early grave about it.”

“
Someone
has to do it, or this whole place will collapse soon enough.”

I was angry. Bitter that we were supposed to be sharing the workload. But no, Jayce didn't have time for that. He was a fireman; that was the only job he cared about. Running Shady Acres came dead last on his priority list.

I slammed the beer down on the table almost hard enough to crack the glass. Jayce didn't even flinch.

“Look, I didn't ask for this. I didn't want Debbie to put me on her will.” He stared out the window, his eyes suddenly cold. “I don't even want her money.”

I knew what he was thinking. What we were
both
thinking.

All we wanted was for her to come back. To be here with us, telling jokes and making her famous oatmeal cookies.

I missed her badly, but Jayce... To him, Debbie was like a mother. He had to be in serious pain, but he wasn't about to show it. That just wasn't his style.

“If you weren't up for this, then why didn't you sell?”

He finally returned my stare. “Because to do that, we'd both have to agree on it. And I know you don't want to get rid of the place. Do you?”

No, I didn't. Being in property management had always been a goal of mine. I spent hours watching the DIY Network and HGTV as they purchased houses, fixed them up, and then found the perfect buyers. I wished that I, too, could help happy families find their dream home.

Owning an apartment building wasn't quite the same, but for now, it was close enough. If only the place would start turning a profit again, I could save up some serious cash. I longed for the day I bought my very first fixer-upper and turned it into something amazing.

But at the rate Shady Acres was losing residents, that wouldn't happen anytime soon.

“I want to keep this place going. Isn't that what Debbie would want?”

“If that's true, then why threaten to sell the property off to my dad? It doesn't make sense.”

“Maybe you should ask him.”

He lifted the beer meant for me and drank it himself. “We don't talk much these days.”

I'd come up here to chastise Jayce for being a pig, but he'd managed to turn the conversation around pretty quick. He always had been good at getting himself out of trouble.

His attention was now elsewhere, so I gently touched his knee to get it back. He snapped out of his trance and smiled in his usual cocky way.

“So you
are
jealous.”

I scooted away before he got any funny ideas. “No way! Jealous of what – screwing a different girl every night? Picking up every STD known to man?”

“Hey.” His brow furrowed. “I'm clean as a whistle, I'll have you know. I'm not stupid. I use protection.”

“I really don't want to think about it.”

“This is what I mean. There's nothing wrong with sex. Bet if you got laid more often, you wouldn't be so tense all the time.”

He licked his lips. I stared, ashamed of how easily he made me want him.

He had no idea that I imagined those lips on my skin sometimes. That just the other night, I touched myself under the covers, fantasizing the whole time how good his tongue would feel...

He was a bad boy. Trouble incarnate.

He was also the sexiest man I'd ever seen.

“How am I going to get laid? I don't exactly have a boyfriend.”

“Who says you need a boyfriend? Just go out to the bar. Flirt your pretty ass off. Pick up a guy, bring him home.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“It
is
easy.”

“For you! You're a fireman. They're just sexy by default. There's not a woman alive who wouldn't dream of sleeping with a firefighter.”

He rested his hand on my thigh. I didn't move it away.

“Including you, Pink?”

Oops. I'd backed myself into a corner real good with that one.

“Uh...” I wriggled in my seat. God, how could my underwear be so damn
wet?
“You know what I mean. Firemen are hot. There's nothing hot about the manager of an apartment building.”

“Sure there is.” His voice turned husky. Gave me goosebumps. “There's lots to like about you.”

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hmm.”

His gaze roved slowly over my body. It was more attention than any man had paid me in my life.

I should have told him to knock it off. Jayce was an experienced pickup artist who'd practiced his moves on me before. I always laughed and told him to take a hike.

So why, now, did I almost melt when he touched me? Why did I so eagerly soak up his sweet words?

It was just my biological clock ticking. Had to be. Right? Better start putting more effort into that dating profile of mine before it was too late.

Before Jayce convinced me to get naked for him. If he asked right now, would I resist – or would I let him tear off my clothes and have his way with me?

“Come to the club with me. You could use a few drinks in you.” He pulled me up off the couch. “You could use a man inside of you, too. And I'm gonna help you find one.”

“Christ, Jayce.” My face flushed with heat. “Don't be ridiculous.”

“How am I being ridiculous? We've been friends for years. Nothing wrong with friends helping each other score.”

“There's not?”

“Not at all. And hey, having you around's a good thing for me, too. Ladies always trust a guy more when he's got a woman with him already.”

“I don't think you need another notch on your bedpost.”

Except the idea of being one of his “notches” had an undeniable appeal...

“I'll teach you all my tricks. That's a valuable offer.”

“You're starting to sound like an infomercial. I don't need any tricks. And I'm not into the club scene.”

“Where else are you going to find a guy to screw? I never see you leave your apartment except to go grocery shopping.”

“How do
you
know? Are you spying on me?”

“Answer the question.”

Jayce could be very demanding sometimes. He wasn't gonna let this one go.

“I'm trying online dating. That way, I can get to know a man before going out with him.”

As expected, he burst into laughter. I kicked his shin. He laughed harder.

“Get to know? Jeez, Elle. You don't need to know a guy to take off your clothes for him.”

Once again, proof we had nothing in common. His life philosophy was to bang anybody who'd have him – which was everybody, as far as I could tell. I doubted there was ever a girl who turned him down.

“It just freaks me out. The thought of baring everything for some stranger...”

He shook his head. “You act like sex is a really big deal. It's not. Sex is for fun. Physical pleasure. That's all.”

“I don't see it that way.”

“I know you don't. You're a good girl. You wanna settle down with one guy, get married, and sleep with only him for the rest of your life.” He shuddered. “That is my worst nightmare. Why lock yourself in a cage like that? It's prison.”

“So you just plan to keep doing this – screwing strangers until you're too old to get it up anymore?”

He glanced at his crotch. Yikes. Why did I have to mention him getting it up? Wait a minute... Did he have an erection? Holy hell, that thing was
huge!

“I appreciate your concern with the quality of my boners, but I can assure you there's nothing to worry about.”

“You don't need to assure
me
of anything.” My voice came out as a squeak.

Why did he have a hard-on? Maybe because we were talking about sex, his favorite subject. Or maybe there was something more to it than that...

The phone buzzing in my pocket was a welcome distraction from all this awkwardness. Jayce sighed as I checked the caller ID, as if he resented the interruption.

Heather? Why was she calling me now? Not a good time. I had these mental images of her near-brother seared into my head, images of him doing very naughty things to me.

“Hey, Heather. What's up?”

“This isn't good.” Her breathing was hard. Panicked. “Jayce's dad is in the lobby. He's threatening to have the building torn down
this month.”

Chapter 2 - Jayce

Dad, that son of a bitch.

What the hell was he doing here? The last time I'd seen that smug prick was at the reading of Debbie's will.

He had no right to be here. Not now. The will said we had one calendar year to raise occupancy to 80 percent. Sure, we weren't doing so great on that, but we still had five months left to go.

I boarded the elevator with Elle then slammed my fist into the first-floor button so hard, I cut open my knuckle.

Blood dripped on my shoe. I ignored the pain. Used to it by now.

“You have to calm down,” Elle begged me.

“Why?”

“Because.” She shifted from foot to foot. “You can't act like a caveman in front of everyone. You're going to scare people off.”

“So what? This is my turf. My home.”

Elle touched my shoulder. I hardened even more than I already was. Not a good time for it – but telling my cock to stay down was like ordering a cat to play dead. Just wasn't gonna happen.

“I'm serious. You've already got a colorful reputation around here.”

“I'll take that as a compliment.”

She groaned. “It's not. The very day I moved in here, you kicked a hole through the lobby vending machine.”

“I paid almost two dollars and it didn't give me my damn chips.”

“And then last week, you punched Jacob from 111 in the nose.”

“He called his girlfriend a bitch right in front of me. What else was I supposed to do?”

“You're lucky he didn't call the cops!”

The elevator bounced as it reached the first floor, and the door rolled open with a cheerful ding. I strode around the bend toward the lobby, my hands curled into fists, little droplets of blood spattering on the linoleum in a trail behind me.

I thought for sure Elle would yell at me to clean the mess up. Surprisingly, she didn't.

She grabbed my arm and took my injured hand in her own. Christ, if I didn't have to deal with my asshole father, I would have been enjoying her touch a lot more.