Burnin' Love [Men for Hire: Firemen 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

“Okay, now, let’s start from the top. And remember to breathe.” She rubbed the girl’s arms, trying to soothe her. “My name’s Daisy Winters. What’s yours?”

As Daisy had half-expected, the girl clammed up. She trembled and kept glancing toward the front of the store.

Daisy gave her a comforting smile. “It’s okay. I’m here to help and if I can’t help you, I know people who can.” It seemed that introductions would have to wait until later. “Is someone after you?”

The girl bit her lower lip and nodded.

She was going to have to pry the information out of her. “Are you afraid that this someone is going to do physical harm to you?” It was a stilted way of asking the question, but she’d learned that sometimes the best way to get to the nitty-gritty of a situation was to come at it sideways.

She tried not to groan when the girl shook her head. Although she doubted the girl was mute, she had to go about questioning her in a delicate way. Or at least as delicately as she knew how.

“Okay. So this person’s not going to hurt you physically.” Sometimes it helped not to refer to the attacker as a man. Calling him “this person” put distance between the frightened woman and the man just long enough for the girl to calm down. Once she was calm, she’d give better, clearer answers.

The deep breaths she took encouraged Daisy, telling her that she was on the right path. “How about mentally? Is this person trying to control you?” She’d purposefully asked two different questions so the girl couldn’t simply nod or shake her head.

“Charlie doesn’t want to let me go. I can’t do anything by myself. I can’t leave when I want to.”

Aw, shit. It’s about a controlling boyfriend for sure.

She’d seen enough of those kinds of guys in her lifetime. Thankfully, none that had anything to do with her. She’d had a relatively uneventful life before taking over the B&B. Although she dressed a bit wilder than the rest of the citizens of Destiny, she liked the laid-back, non-dramatic life. A drama queen she wasn’t.

“Was Charlie chasing you?”

“Y–yes. To make me come back.”

“Do you live with Charlie?” It was like playing Twenty Questions, except not as fun.

“Uh-uh.”

“But Charlie’s bothering you, pressuring you, showing up at your home?” Now that she’d calmed down, she could use the attacker’s name. Little steps helped a lot when dealing with young girls stuck in a horrible situation.

Still, she needed to be careful. As much as she didn’t want to put answers into her mouth, Daisy couldn’t think of another way to get the information she needed. Since the girl had been harassed by Charlie, Daisy didn’t want to come across as too insistent. It might frighten her off. Or worse, send her straight back into Charlie’s arms.

She started crying again, the rush of words chopped up between her sniffs. “Charlie’s too possessive. I wanted…break up with…but…wouldn’t stop coming around…found out John and I are…a baby and…crazy.”

It was enough info for Daisy to piece together a good scenario of what had happened. The girl’s boyfriend found out that she’d cheated on him. To make matters worse, she was pregnant, and if Daisy had to hazard a guess, she’d say it was the lover’s and not Charlie’s baby. All the girl needed now was to have human traffickers snatch her, sell her baby and then send her to some third-world country to become a sex slave. Then, to make matters worse, she’d end up on the Jerry Springer show.

“All right. Now we’re getting somewhere. Let’s try again, okay?” She turned the girl loose and stuck out her hand. “I’m Daisy Winters and you’re…”

“Melissa Myers.”

They were definitely making progress. “Nice to meet you, Melissa.”

She caught the store lady peeking around the edge of a nearby display case. “How about we go into that diner across the street? We can talk there and figure out what you’re going to do next.” She shot the lady a stern look that told her to butt out. “Away from prying eyes and ears. Sound good?”

Melissa nodded and let Daisy lead her out of the store. She had to tug her across the street because Melissa wanted to hug the walls of the storefronts, trying to hide herself in the corners and shadows. But Daisy didn’t think Charlie was going to show up. He would’ve done so by now. And even if he did, she’d do whatever she had to do to keep Melissa safe.

Inside the café, Daisy ushered Melissa to a table, then ordered two teas for them at the counter. She only wished she could’ve added a shot of whiskey to hers, but the place didn’t have any liquor. The calming effects of the booze might’ve helped Melissa, but since she was preggers, that ruled out that method of relaxation.

Daisy settled into the seat opposite Melissa and placed one of the cups in front of her. “Here’s the deal. If you’re being harassed by Charlie, then we need to either get you to the police to make a report or—”

Melissa’s terrific gasp had Daisy taking her suggestions in the opposite direction. “Okay, no cops. For now, at least. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. I–I can’t. If I did, then Charlie would go ballistic. I’m not sure what would happen then. No, please. I just need to get away so I can think.”

“I can understand that.” Daisy took a sip and glanced at Melissa’s cup to encourage her to take a drink. After she did, Daisy tried again. “Do you have any family you can call? If they’re around here, I can drive you over to their place.”

Tears began to well up in Melissa’s eyes again. Talking about her family had struck a nerve.

“My family disowned me when I got involved with Charlie. They didn’t approve of our relationship.”

Daisy bit back the urge to remind her that her family had probably been right. Right about their assessment of Charlie, but wrong in the way that they’d let their feelings known. No doubt their disapproval had sent Melissa straight into Charlie’s arms—and into his bed.

She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to ask. Just something about the situation seemed off.

“Melissa, is Charlie older than you?”

The girl blinked her big blue eyes. “Uh-huh. How’d you know?”

“Just a hunch.” She’d seen enough older guys take advantage of young girls. Not that it was always the case, but it seemed to be that way a lot more than Daisy liked to think.

“I just want to get away and think without Charlie bothering me.”

“Then let’s figure out a safe place for you to go.”

The girl had a sweet, oval-shaped face that could’ve adorned the cover of any teen magazine. But the look she gave Daisy held the suspicion that no young girl’s face ever should. “Why do you want to help me? You don’t even know me.”

“I don’t have to know you to help you. A blind man can see that you’re in trouble. And if I can help, I will.”

“It’s just that simple?”

“Yeah. It’s just that simple.”

Daisy took another sip then pulled her phone out of her hip pocket. Unlike most women, she hated carrying purses. With a debit card or cash in one pocket and her phone in the other, she had everything she needed. Her keys hung on a springy plastic bracelet key ring around her wrist. She never carried makeup, a hair brush, or any of the various items most women did.

“Excuse me for a sec. I’m going to give a friend a call and see if he can help us.”

She rose and strode over to the front of the diner. There weren’t many people on the sidewalk. Just an older couple who held hands as they strolled down the sidewalk and a couple of teens testing out their skateboards—illegally—by zipping around a parking lot. The only other person was a woman Daisy guessed to be in her late twenties or early thirties. The woman had short brown hair and was dressed casually in dark jeans, an oversized shirt, and work boots. She stood on the street corner and slid her gaze around as though hunting for someone.

Probably waiting for her boyfriend.

Daisy punched in the number for Gabriel Cortez, unofficial leader of the Cowboys for Hire organization. Gabriel picked up after the second ring.

“Gabriel here.”

The gravely baritone of his voice soothed Daisy. Strange, she hadn’t even noticed that she’d gotten tense. More than likely she’d picked up on Melissa’s stress. God knew her life was perfect.

Aside from the fact that she hadn’t fallen in love yet. She thrust the idea away, determined to believe that one day she would. And when she found the right man, she’d know it. Until then, she’d “keep on keepin’ on” just like her mother had always told her to do.

“Hi, Gabriel. It’s Daisy.”

His tone lightened at the mention of her name. “Hey, sweet lady, what can I do for you? Aren’t you in Tulsa right now?”

“Yeah, I am.” It seemed nothing got past Gabriel and this team, including her whereabouts. Instead of making her feel spied on or hovered over, it made her feel safe and protected. There was nothing Gabriel and the other men in the organization wouldn’t do for her. “I need your help. Or, actually, I’ve found a girl who needs your help.”

“I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy.”

“Yeah, well. You know how it is.”

“Yeah, I do. Okay, that’s enough chatter. What’s up?”

Straight to the point just like he always was. “She’s got boyfriend trouble. He’s an older guy who’s getting possessive. And if that wasn’t enough, she’s also pregnant.”

“Got it. And she needs our protection, is that it?”

“I’m not sure how violent this guy is. In fact, she says it’s more of a badgering thing rather than his physically threatening her. But you know how those kinds of situations can turn even worse in a flash.”

“Is she there in Tulsa with you?”

“She is. I just met her and I’m trying to figure out what I can do for her. That’s why I called you.”

The silence coming from the other side caught her by surprise. “Gabriel? Are you still there?”

“Yep, I’m here.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, I’d send a team up there to help her, but I’m thinking it’d be better if you got more immediate help. Plus, most of my guys are already tied up with other clients.”

“Business is booming” didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to say.

Destiny was a few hours away from Tulsa, but it wasn’t as though the men who worked with Gabriel hadn’t made the trip before.

“Are you saying you don’t want to help her?” She couldn’t believe that. He’d never failed to help. Surely he wasn’t going to do so now.

“‘Course not. I’m saying that there’s another team of men that are closer than we are. They can get to you faster. Or better yet, you can get to them.”

She held the phone against her ear and watched the brown-haired lady pace up and down the sidewalk, then turn around abruptly and head down an alley.

I guess her boyfriend stood her up. Shit. Lousy men are coming out all over the place.

“I didn’t know that. So you have teams here now?”

“Not exactly. It’s kind of an off-shoot of Cowboys for Hire. Same concept, same kind of help. But the men aren’t cowboys.”

He’d thrown her for another loop. “Then what are they?” She chuckled. “Plumbers?”

“Nope. They’re firefighters.”

“You’re kidding. As in men who run into burning buildings? That kind of firefighters?”

“I don’t know of any other kind. Except maybe the kind who fight forest fires. Trust me, Daisy, they’re as good as my men are. Even if they are new to the job.”

She had to admit it. The idea of firemen coming to the rescue not only during a fire, but in other times of need made her a little hot. She could picture topless men wearing yellow fire helmets and those cute khaki pants with suspenders. Or better yet, wearing nothing but their big black boots.

“Daisy? You there?”

“Yeah. I, um, got distracted for a minute. So how do I get in contact with these guys?”

“Hang on. Let me get you their info.”

She waited, hearing noises as Gabriel moved around his office. He was back in a couple of minutes.

“I’ll send you a text with the address.”

She frowned. “Why can’t I give them a call? Unless you can call them for me?”

“Naw, it’s better that you go to them. I don’t like to phone them. I wouldn’t want to catch them while they’re out on a call.”

Her imagination took hold again. Walking into a fire station wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, it might be downright fantastic. She might be able to catch more than one or two hot fire hunks to look at. A little eye candy never hurt anyone, even during troubled times. Hell, especially during troubled times.

She glanced down as her phone beeped, telling her that his text had come through. “Got it. Thanks as always, Gabriel.”

“No thanks necessary. Just tell her to—”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll tell her to pass it along when the time comes.”

“Daisy, I don’t think I can go inside.” Melissa leaned against the passenger side of the door as though that would keep her farther from the fire station.

Daisy wasn’t surprised. If anything had surprised her, it was that she’d gotten Melissa to come with her in the first place. The girl was skittish about everything and everyone. She’d finally told her that she could either come along or she’d leave her behind. Not that she would have, but the threat had done the trick.

“You don’t have to. I’ll find the men we’re looking for.” She took another look at the station. One of the huge garage doors was open. Two red engines waited for the moment they’d be needed.

She could make out a few of the men walking around, their forms shadowed by the setting sun. Walking up and asking for a man named Paul Winchester was gutsy, but then again, she prided herself on being a gutsy kind of woman.

She slid out of her new Mini Cooper Sportster—one of the biggest splurges she’d ever made—gave Melissa a comforting smile once again, then headed for the open garage. The closer she got, the more details she could see.

She paused just inside the garage and swept her gaze around the large enclosure. Boots were tucked under a metal bench that was topped with a rack with separate compartments for each man’s clothes. Khaki and yellow firemen jackets hung on hooks to her left with hard hats each boasting the word “Fireman” and a number on it. No names, just numbers.