Title: Fate Heats Things Up
Author: Sarah Hadley Brook
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: September 18, 2017
Heat Level: 4 - Lots of Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 15600
Genre: Contemporary, NineStar Press, LGBT, bartenders, firemen, contemporary
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Synopsis
Scott Dwyer meets hot, new fireman
Adrian Campbell in an embarrassing incident one evening and can’t stop thinking
about him. While bartending at the local hangout for Station 39, he sees Adrian
with this colleagues about once a week. He thinks Adrian might be interested in
him, too, but every time they find a chance to talk, something gets in their
way.
When rash of arson fires begins the same
week Adrian starts at the station, the rumors fly about whether or not he is
responsible for them.
Things are heating up in town, but will
they heat up between the two men as well? Will Fate ever allow them to be
together?
Excerpt
Fate Heats Things Up
Sarah Hadley Brook © 2017
All Rights Reserved
Tonight has to be the night, Scott swore
to himself as he wiped down the long wooden bar top and snuck a glance at the
entrance once more. He should have been here by now.
A strong hand clapped him on the
shoulder, startling him out of his thoughts.
“You wouldn’t by any chance be looking
for Adrian, would you?”
Scott narrowed his eyes and tried his
best to glare at his boss, but when Tony only laughed, he knew he had failed
miserably. He shrugged and tried to ignore the blush he knew was spreading
across his face. “Why would you think that?” he asked, attempting to sound
blasé.
“I’ve got eyes, don’t I, kid?” Tony gave
Scott’s shoulder a quick squeeze before letting go. “You’ve been mooning over
that man for the last month.”
Scott swallowed hard and silently
chastised himself. He had been so sure he’d hidden his crush from everyone.
Apparently not.
The bell over the door chimed, and
before he could stop himself, he looked over at the double glass entry doors.
His hope was short-lived, though, because it wasn’t Adrian. The chuckle he
heard irked him, and he spun around to face his boss.
“For your information, Tony, I had
already decided to do something about it tonight,” he huffed, irritation
gnawing at him.
“And what would that something be?”
“I’m going to ask him out,” Scott
admitted, pinning his gaze on Tony, just daring him to tease him again.
“Well, all right then! It’s about time,
kid,” Tony proclaimed and grinned before heading toward the back room.
Scott couldn’t help it. He smiled back,
shaking his head. When he’d first started working at the bar, it had irritated
him that Tony called him a kid. He was twenty-five years old, for Pete’s sake.
By the time he had a few days at Smokey’s under his belt, he’d realized that
Tony referred to pretty much everyone under the age of thirty as a kid, so he’d
stopped taking it personally.
He agreed with his boss—it was
definitely time to do something about Adrian Campbell, and Scott was going to
put it all out on the line this very night, even if the thought scared the shit
out of him. Adrian should be arriving with his group of friends any second,
just as he had been doing for the last few weeks. Scott felt a flutter in his
stomach and tried to shake away the nerves by getting back to work. The bar
would be filled with customers soon, and he still had to get some things done.
The last thing he needed was to give in to his anxiety.
Of course, if the past was any
indicator, he would be smart to worry. From the very first time he’d met
Adrian, something had always seemed to prevent them from getting together.
That night, Scott had left a friend’s
house and was heading home in his piece-of-shit car, as he lovingly referred to
his 1989 Acura. It was late and he was on a dark, narrow, and winding two-lane
road with no streetlights. Even the nearly full moon had been partially hidden
behind some clouds. Dense woods butted up to the road on both sides for miles
and oversized branches bowed out over the cars.
As he turned into another sharp curve,
his tire rolled over something. His car lurched and the sound of dragging metal
on concrete hissed out into the dark.
What the hell is that? He’d pulled his
foot off the gas and turned his music down. He’d checked his rearview mirror
and gasped at what he saw. Three massive shapes were barreling toward his car.
The brake light cast a red glow on the moving figures, and his mind instantly
flashed to all the horror movies he had watched over the years.
“Shit!”
He looked around frantically and
realized there was nothing to do but floor it. He had no idea who they were or
why the maniacs were chasing him in the dark, but he wasn’t about to stick
around and find out. When he stepped on the gas, the screeching sound grew
louder and his car jerked hard, just before a loud crunching noise echoed into
the night. Crap! Was that my tire?
He’d frozen, unsure what to do. Did he
try to keep driving? Should he continue on or pull over? He could hear his
father’s voice in his head lecturing him on how he’d destroyed his car by not
stopping. That did it. Scott had been more terrified of what his father would
say than the chance of being murdered, and he pulled over, even though he knew
it was probably the most idiotic thing he had ever done in his life. In any
horror movie, this would be when the audience screamed at him to get the hell
out of there, but it didn’t change his mind. As he set the brake, he glanced in
the mirror again. The figures had gained ground on him and by this time were
easier to see. All three appeared to be wearing matching long coats and boots,
like a uniform of some kind. There was something familiar about them. One more
glance and his heart dropped to his stomach.
Fuck! They were firemen and they looked
furious. What the hell was going on? Relieved they weren’t three crazy escaped
convicts that were roaming the woods looking for someone to kill, he rolled his
window down. They were obviously pissed, but he was fairly certain he wouldn’t
be murdered.
“Fucking lunatic!”
“Do you have any idea what you just
did?”
Hmm. He reconsidered his escaped
convicts theory. They weren’t making any sense. Scott tried to speak, but two
of them just wouldn’t let him get a word in. They were screaming at him through
the window while the third guy was crouching next to his front tire.
“All right, I’ve got it.” The guy by the
tire stood up with something in his hand. “Here, Hernandez, take this back to
the fire and see what you can do with it.”
Scott looked at the two men at his
window and swallowed hard. “Um, did he say fire?”
“Yeah, you idiot! You ran over a
coupling and dragged the damn fire hose down the road and out of our hands!
Tore it off the fucking hose!”
“A what? I don’t understand,” Scott
said, bewildered. He raked his fingers through his hair and shifted
uncomfortably in his seat as he darted his eyes between the two angry men.
“What did I do again?”
Apparently, they were done screaming
because they just glared at him.
“Guys, go on. I’ll catch up with you in
a minute. I need to get some information for our report.”
Scott slid his gaze over to the third
man again. Even in the dark, it was easy to see he was good-looking. Tall.
Scott liked tall men.
The other two turned to leave.
“Fucking idiot. Could have killed
someone,” Hernandez muttered.
Scott was mortified and started to
shake. “I’m…I’m so sorry,” he said as he climbed out of his car and moved to
talk with the only man still there. “How did I…I mean…fuck, I don’t know what I
mean.” He ran his hands through his shaggy blond hair. “I don’t even know what
a…what did he call it?”
“A coupling,” the fireman explained, his
deep voice calm and reassuring. “It connects two hoses together when we need to
lengthen the line. The house we’re working on is really far off the road.”
“Oh my God, is there anyone in it? Shit,
what if someone dies because of me?” Scott felt sick and doubled over, fighting
the urge to vomit. A full-blown panic attack was brewing up inside him.
“Hey, it’s fine.” The fireman moved
closer and put his hand on the small of Scott’s back. “It’s an abandoned house.
A really old, ramshackle house. Nobody lives there, so don’t worry. Just
breathe through it. You didn’t hurt anyone. Hell, to be honest, this was as
much our fault as yours.”
The fireman began to rub his large hand
in small circles on his back, calming him down and at the same time sending
warmth spreading through him. “What do you mean?” he whispered.
“I mean that Sanders shouldn’t have
hooked up the lines in the street. We pulled the firetruck pretty far off the
road and we hadn’t set out cones or lights around the area yet. But I’m new
here, so I can’t really tell him he was wrong. For some reason, he left it
there and went to check on the hydrant and then you hit it and dragged it down
the damn road!” He chuckled a little as he drew his hand away from Scott’s
back. “Shit. Never seen that happen before.”
Scott cleared his throat and pulled
himself to a standing position, leaning his hip against his car.
“You feeling better?”
Scott nodded and started to reply, but
as soon as their gazes met, his breath hitched in his throat. Shit. The man was
gorgeous. Deep chocolate-brown eyes stared back at him and Scott couldn’t tear
himself away.
“I’m Adrian. Adrian Campbell,” he said
as he offered a hand to Scott.
He swallowed hard and shook Adrian’s
hand. “Scott Dwyer.” Electricity jolted through his body as if he had touched a
live wire, and Scott yanked his hand back.
Adrian quirked an eyebrow at him but
kept silent.
“Um, yeah. I should be going. Thanks
for…well, thanks. Sorry about the…the hose thing,” Scott stammered as he opened
his door. “Wait…should I drive my car?”
“Yeah, the tire’s fine. The coupling and
hose were dragged but then it looks like the coupling banged around in the
wheel well for a bit.”
“Okay. Thanks. I don’t know a lot about
mechanical things,” Scott admitted as he turned back to his car.
“Hey, Scott?”
“Yeah?” Scott looked at Adrian.
“Do you live or work around town?”
Scott smiled tentatively. Why was he asking?
Could Adrian be attracted to him? “Yeah, actually both. I have an apartment in
the center of town—over Gina’s Pizza Oven. And I bartend at Smokey’s Bar &
Grill.”
“Smokey’s? The guys were telling me
about that place. Said they all hang out there pretty often.”
“Yeah, they do. It’s sort of Station
39’s hangout. The owner, Tony, used to be a fireman.”
“Campbell! Get your ass over here!”
Adrian grinned. “Guess they need me. The
fire was almost completely out by the time you dragged the hose, but I better
get going. See you around, Scott.”
Damn. Scott tried to hide his
disappointment as he nodded and slid into his seat. He checked his rearview
mirror and was frustrated that he couldn’t see Adrian. Either it was too dark
or he had moved too far out of vision. He shook his head and tried to ignore
his intense longing to have Adrian touch him again. It had struck him that
maybe fate had brought them together. As he drove off that night, he wondered
how soon he would see Adrian again. He’d never really believed in fate before,
but something told Scott it wouldn’t be long before they connected again.
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Meet the Author
Sarah Hadley Brook lives smack-dab in the middle of the Heartland and is the mother of two wonderful young men, as well as two cats. During the day, she works in the non-profit world, but reserves evenings for her hobby-turned-passion of writing, letting the characters she conjures up in her mind take the lead and show her where the story will go. When not working or writing, she can be found reading, working on dollhouses, trying her hand at new recipes, or watching old movies and musicals. In her ideal world, Christmas would come at least twice a year, Rock Hudson and Doris Day would have co-starred in more than three movies, and chocolate would be a daily necessity to live. She dreams of traveling to Scotland some day and visiting the places her ancestors lived. Sarah believes in “Happily Ever After” and strives to ensure her characters find their own happiness in love and life.
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