Page 5 of Firefighter Billionaire
I could get used to this.
“And what about all the money?” she asks. “Was it some kind of insurance payout?”
“No,” I say. “My full name is Kaiden Maxwell.” Her eyes pop wide open. She covers her mouth with her hand. Most people don’t recognize me. I’ve grown a beard. A different hairstyle. You’d have to look hard to see the man I was five years ago. I’m surprised she didn’t notice when she saw the picture. But I guess she had other things on her mind. “Yeah,” I say. “ThatKaiden Maxwell. In 2013 I sold my software company, InterPix, for 8.3 billion dollars.”
“Billion?” Her voice is a choked whisper. She looks like she’s about to collapse.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling, “with a B.”
She stands up and fans her face with her hand. She paces up and down in front of me for a moment. Her mind must be going a million miles an hour.
“That’s a lot of money, Kaiden,” she says. “That's a lot of fucking money! I thought you were just some normal guy. A firefighter.”
“Does it matter?” I say. “I’m still the same guy who saved you from that burning cabin.”
“I don’t know!” she says, practically shouting at me now. “It’s better than you turning out to be some mobbed-up criminal like my ex. But can’t the guys I meet just be who they say they are when I Goddamn meet them? Is that too much to frigging ask?”
I stand up and pull her to me. She doesn't fight it. In fact, I think she likes it. Her arms link together behind my back and she melts against me like a nice chunk of butter on freshly made bread.
“I am the same guy you met,” I say. “I’m just rich, too.”
“Insanely rich,” she says.
“And,” I take her chin in my finger and pull it up so we’re looking each other right the face, “I was working as a firefighter, trying to find meaning in my life. Ever since the accident, I’ve kind of been drifting. Not sure what to do with myself. But the moment I set eyes on you, Willa. That all changed.”
“Don’t.” She pushes away from me, but I don’t let her escape. I need her to hear me. I need her to understand what I’m trying to say. “Please,” she says. “Don’t say that.”
“But it’s the truth.”
I hold her face between my hands and kiss her. Our mouths open and close and our tongues slide against each other. Willa’s hand sneaks up under my t-shirt and strokes my back.
It’s the best damn kiss I’ve ever had.
When we separate, we’re both breathing hard. There’s a bulge pocking out the front of my jeans big enough to kill a donkey.
I’m about to pull her back for more, when…
BOOM!
A giant fucking explosion goes off in the other room. The sound of wood splintering and glass shattering fills the air. I dive to the ground, pulling Willa down with me. I lay on top of her, protecting her with my body.
“My boyfriend,” she says. “He’s here. He’s found us.”
4
Willa
“Willa!”The sound of his voice sends a shiver down my spine. “I know you’re here, you slut! Come out now and I won’t kill your friend.”
I look at Kaiden, and for some reason he’s smiling.
Even in the face of death, he’s brave. But I should have known that already. He saved me from a burning building like it was nothing more than taking a calm, casual stroll through the park in the morning with his dog and a coffee and the birds chirping and flying around in the trees eating bugs and feeding worms to their chicks and trying not to get eaten by all the cats.
“Go,” he says, “lock yourself in the bathroom. Don’t come out until I say so.”
He pulls a gun from his go-bag. I can’t help but feel turned on watching him. He’s so in command. So powerful.
My ex doesn’t know who he’s messing with.
