Page 1 of October

Chapter 1

Ash

“Do I really haveto hold the line like this?” I ask gruffly as I pose for a photo with a fully engorged firehose between my legs and jack o’ lanterns and hay bales around me.

“Don’t you want to sell thousands of calendars to horny humans that will, in turn, help the children?” My closest friend and photographer, Sarah, says. “It’ll put them in the spirit of spooky season.”

I sigh heavily and shake my head when she pulls the camera back up over her face, snapping more pictures.

When I agreed to be a part of the calendar, I figured I’d have to put on half of my uniform, show my abs, and give my best smolder, which has been true so far, but the addition of the phallic-like firehose is a little unexpected.

“Don’t you sigh at me, Ash. You know you love the attention.”

Honestly, it’s less the idea of the pose and props and more of my entire station watching, hooting, hollering, and mocking me.I know, even as captain, I’m going to get massive amounts of shit for this.

“That’s it, Cap, stroke it, love it, own it,” Lucas, one of my engine drivers, shouts from the truck bay right in front of me.

“Watch it, Lucas, or I’ll make sure you’re scrubbing toilets for a month,” I warn and the rest of the squad gives their best “oooohhh” like middle schoolers when someone is called down to the office.

“All right,” Sarah says, letting her camera hang around her neck. “We got the shot.”

“Thank fuck.” I drop the line to the ground and shrug out of the incredibly heavy uniform jacket, before pulling on my navy-blue squad-issued T-shirt.

“I’ll get these edited and sent over tonight. You can pick whichever one you want to submit and I’ll shoot it over where it needs to go. Thanks for being a good sport.” She nudges me. “Tell Casey I said hi and I’ll come by and see her soon. I owe her an ice cream date.”

“You know she’ll only be happy if Hannah comes too,” I tease her.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Your five-year-old prefers my wife over me. You don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“Speaking of my daughter, I should probably head home and relieve Wren.” I’ve been asking too much of my nanny these days. “I’m sure she’d like to enjoy the rest of her weekend.”

When my daughter, Casey, was born, her mom split the minute she was discharged from the hospital. She went as far as to put Casey in one of the newborn safe boxes at a fucking firehouse across town. She didn’t even call me. She didn’t say a thing. I wish there was more to add to it than that, but there’s not.

It’s just been me and my little girl ever since… but I don’t have any family in the area to help me and I have to work to provide. Itried daycare for a couple of years, then opted for a nanny. After a couple didn’t work out for a variety of reasons… I hired Wren when Casey was three. It was a match made in heaven. They get along incredibly well, Casey is comfortable with her, Wren has a routine that works with and for all of us. We couldn’t have gotten luckier.

The fact she isn’t hard on the eyes doesn’t hurt either.

I let myself into my two-bedroom, cottage-style home, expecting to hear the hustle and bustle of a very excited five-year-old, but I’m met with silence.

“I’m home!” I say loud enough for them to hear me if they were in Casey’s bedroom. “Wren? Cas?”

Nothing.

I hang my keys on the hook by the door and pull my baseball cap off and leave it on the entryway table.

It doesn’t take long, maybe a few seconds, before I hear an excited shriek coming from the backyard.

When I make my way into the kitchen and peer through the window behind the sink that overlooks our back deck, I can see Casey bolting down the small, plastic diving board and hopping into the pool. She’s quickly rewarded with cheers and claps from Wren, who is perched on the side with her feet dangling in the water.

Her blond hair is pulled up into a messy yet perfect bun, and she’s wearing a black bikini with dark aviator-style sunglasses on her face.

Fuck, she’s pretty. It’s a fact I’m assaulted with every single time I lay eyes on her.

I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t check her out at every opportunity given. I feel like a creep about it sometimes. She’s my much younger nanny, eleven years younger, for Christ’s sake, but she’s so goddamned beautiful.

And that body. Fuck me, that body.

I stare through the window, watching closely as she leans back and angles her face toward the sun with her palms flat on the wooden deck behind her. Her skin is milky and fair… creamy, like I could leave marks on her. I want to tangle my hands in that long, wavy blond hair and…

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