Chapter 1

* * *

COLTON

Some time ago…

"We are doinga charity auction for a ‘Firemen of the First Street Battalion Calendar' – and our entire team is going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder for a chance to take photos with you, to be included in the community calendar…"

They were all sitting around in worn-out chairs they'd plucked from one of the offices when the new chairs had arrived. No one was getting rid of a perfectly good cushy seat that would be nice to use to soak up some sun during their downtimes. They had a basketball goal affixed to the back of the building, where they parked their cars before their shift began.

"We are?" Lance blurted out, meeting Colton's eyes. "I mean, yeah, I can do it, but ya' know there's a select screening process when it comes to the ladies. I like ‘em about ‘yay-big' and about ‘yay-endowed'…" he chuckled, holding his hands in front of him.

Colton just shook his head and let it hang as the chief spoke. Engineer Cade Pruitt left about four months ago to take a position on the other side of Texas with the promise of being the captain assigned to a truck within six months. It was a small facility, and the man had been the backbone of the team.

Then came Alex.

There was confusion with having an Alex and an Alec, using their last names instead. Their captain, Alex, got really upset about a supposed problem at Mrs. Kendall's house – and quit. The old woman was a hoot, and once you started mentally sparring with her, she usually backed down or at least with Colton, that seemed to be the case.

The team on their engine was a mess and was falling apart. They all knew it but no one wanted to speak up or point fingers. They weren't exactly a cohesive ‘team' – not like the other truck. Those guys ate together, hung out together, talked, and spent time at each other's houses. In fact, he'd even asked for a transfer to the other truck, and it was denied.

"Yep… I'm sorry you won't be able to ‘screen' the people that purchase a chance to get a photo with you – but remember, it's for charity," Chief Carpenter laughed. "Just be glad you aren't on the other team."

"Why is that?"

"Let's just say it involves a date…"

Lance got this know-it-all grin on his face that immediately had Alec on edge. It was written on the other man's face as his head snapped sideways to look at Lance.

Uh oh…

"Lannnnnce… watch it."

"Chief, are you going to prostitute those pretty boys on the other fire engine?"

"And there it is," Alec groaned. "I can't believe the doofus got it out of his mouth before I had a chance to. I mean, how many times in your life do you get to ask your boss if he is a pimp?"

Colton was laughing with embarrassment; his head still hung in defeat. He didn't have to look up to imagine the chief's expression. He was pretty sure there was a vein throbbing in the man's forehead, and his lips were missing – mashed together to keep from ripping the wild firefighter a new hole in which to breathe out of.

"That's right – the other truck is going to be auctioned off for charity to go on a date or help a person for one day with strict rules and guidelines – no prostitution - and do not ever repeat that word in front of me again, Cortes. Beckett – let me say this once – I am not, nor ever going to be a pimp. Y'all get your heads out of the gutter, please! Everyone is donating their time, just like you guys will be doing a photograph. In fact, I've volunteered to do both – in the name of charity.

"Chief, you ol' sly…"

"Pimp daddy…!"

"Lance! Alec!" both Colton and Reese snapped, causing the other man to purse his lips.

"I was going to say that was a good idea, and I'd do both, too," Lance pouted, rolling his eyes. "Y'all need to learn some trust."

"Yeah, well, experience has told me that ‘I trust you to let me fry' if you have to run into a house with a rat again…"

"Hey," Lance said horrified, pointing at Colton and shaking his finger at him. "You didn't see it, but the thing was the size of my freakin' boot. That was the biggest darn rat I've ever seen. Have you seen T.M.N.T. – that was Splinter, yo!"

"Heaven help me," Reese muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"Next time, remember that I'm bigger than a rat…"

"But you ain't magical, bro…" Alec chimed in, bumping his fist with Lance.

"OKAY ENOUGH," the chief snapped hotly. "I cannot believe I'm going to say this to three grown men, but here we go: no more magical rats, you cover each other's butts in a fire, you document what happened at each call, and no more pulling into the Whataburger drive-thru with the firetruck! Park it and go inside – you'll damage the awning… again!"

Alec pointed at Colton in silent question and made a signal with both hands, pretending to drive a vehicle. Colton shook his head, confused, and pointed at Lance, giving him a thumbs up or a thumbs down signal, asking silently if he'd done it.

Lance shrugged.

All three mouths dropped open in shock and awareness.

"Don't look at me like that!" Lance retorted. "Banana pudding shakes are back and with the little sprinkles… mmm…"

"And your new probie will be here in two weeks! Do not run this one off again. Am I clear? Colton, can you hide the keys from the lactose-intolerant twerp."

"Yes, sir."

"Ugh…" Lance groaned. "I forgot how bad the diarrhea and gas was…"

Only to hear the chief make a noise that sounded between a scream and a groan of frustration as he walked off, Alec grinned at Lance.

"Dishes?"

"Heck yeah, baby…"

"Y'all, I've been the butt of that prank and it's not funny."

"It's hysterical, and you know it."

"C'mon Colton…"

"C'mon, nothing… I'm serious. If you want us to do stuff together, you've gotta have my back. I was in deep doo-doo for running into that fire and abandoning my station at the truck. Do you know how badly I got reamed before the chief wrote me up for that stunt – and then you left me because of Fievel from ‘An American Tail'?"

"Rat! It was a big ol ‘Ratatouille'-Rat…"

"Spell ‘ratatouille' and all is forgiven…" Colton mocked.

Lance gave him two middle fingers and walked off as Alec laughed uproariously, only to hear the alarm go off again announcing a motor vehicle accident.

"Let's go fellas…"

* * *

Before Colton knew it,it was Friday night, and the auction had already been held ‘bartering' him off. Yeah, from what he heard about the auction, it was a real mess. They had been covering for the other truck while they were paraded onto the auction block, and Olivera spilled the beans the moment they got back.

Apparently, the wily Mrs. Kendall had indeed brought her wallet, bidding on several of them. She'd tried to purchase a date with ‘her sweet Kyle,' which made him chuckle… and turned Chase's face white as a ghost before he muttered something and walked off.

Mrs. Kendall bought Chase as her date – and Colton.

"What?"

"Yup!" Austin was grinning, bumping knuckles with Alec and Lance, laughing uproariously. "Mrs. Kendall said she wanted a photo with her ‘main squeeze' and was extremely verbal about it… to the point that the chief went down into the crowd and pulled the old woman aside, saying something to her. Not sure what he said, but boy, was he upset!"

"Really?"

"Yup – and the second the chief turned his back to walk off, ol' Mrs. Kendall stuck out her tongue at him… and dropped one ‘G' on you, Colton."

"You're kidding me," Colton sagged in shock. "The woman spent a thousand dollars to do a picture with me? Why?"

"I'm betting it's because she wants to get all grabby with you…"

"She's never like that with me."

Several faces turned to look at him in shock – including the chief, who leaned out of his office doorway, stunned.

"What?" Colton asked, shrugging. "She's actually pretty decent, which is why I don't mind going in when we get the call."

"Alex told me before he quit that the woman grabbed him…"

"She tried to kiss me once…"

"I think she's getting worse as she gets older…"

"Dementia?"

"Nope. I don't think she cares or is doing it for shock value."

"Well, I'm sure shocked."

"Sheesh, me too."

"Y'all, she's really sweet," Colton said quietly. "And I think she's lonely."

"It's a trap, bro…"

"Absolutely."

"Don't fall for it…" Justin muttered. The engineer for the other truck was walking past them where they were all standing in the open garage where the two trucks were parked. "Seriously. Watch your ‘Ps' and ‘Qs' when you get the call because that woman is quick on the fly."

"My mom said Mrs. Kendall is really sweet," Alec volunteered, nodding at Lance – who rolled his eyes. "And my ‘P' is on point, bro – all the ladies want it… including the old ones."

"What's the ‘Q' stand for then, Smarty-pants?"

"Umm… well… ah…"

"Never mind, Q-Bert…"

"Q-Bert!" Alec retorted. "Q stands for Q-Bert… wait, that doesn't make sense. Why do I mind where my Q-Bert goes? Is that code for something? Hey Justin… Justin?"

"Because your mother and Mrs. Kendall gossip about everyone in town and feed off each other," Justin retorted before walking off laughing and shaking his head.

"Truth," Colton chuckled. "Your mom is a huge gossip, Alec. If those darn donuts weren't so amazing, she'd probably be starved for her daily dose of town fodder."

"I'm gonna tell her you said that," Alec warned.

"Please don't. Those lemon donuts are my favorite, and she'd stop making them just to spite me…"

"Ohhhh, the lemon donuts…"

A chorus of groans went up around Colton as they all stood there, looking up at the ceiling at that moment, as everyone spoke in unison – before laughing easily and sharing a knowing smile. It didn't matter what truck you were on when those lemon donuts arrived at the station – it was every man for himself.

Colton had come in early a few times only to snag the last three or four from the box before the other guys made it downstairs from sleeping. There was no anger, no hatred that the team member from the other truck had snuck their breakfast. Instead, it was almost like respect – and they gave it back. He'd lost his breakfast treat once or twice to Chase, and split his haul with Justin, who caught him sneaking in early one morning.

Yep. The donuts were about the only thing that brought them all together. That – and the new nickname for the station.

Flirt's battalion.

Yeah, that tidbit had also been shared by Austin – especially the moment that shy and quiet Kyle started sputtering and blubbering about the mayor's typo.

"I already got a few text messages from some old girlfriends," Austin grinned as he walked off, talking with Alec and Lance, pulling out his phone and showing them. The man was a horrible flirt all right, and Colton would be shocked if he ever decided to settle down, which only made him think of Eris once more.

Gosh, he missed her.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Chase asked.

"Sure," Colton shrugged, trying to distract his thoughts from the past. "It's seriously no biggie except that it will be in print. I mean, I'm like fifty years younger than her – so it's no skin off my teeth. She's like a grandma to me in a weird, distant way."

"She's not that old," the chief retorted, walking past them and moving to refill his coffee.

"Her – not you," Colton joked, grinning. "She's practically ancient like that little mummy on that cartoon show. What was it called? Thundercats?"

Reese choked, spraying coffee all over the front of his shirt and onto the floor, looking at them both in horror before walking off, rasping painfully.

"You're only as old as you feel…"

Chase looked at him quizzically before throwing a thumb in his direction.

"What's with him?"

"No clue."

"She is old, and that red lipstick? Ugh, that stuff doesn't come off easily. She got me one time on the cheek, and I pried her off like a suckerfish…"

Colton started, shocked… for Chase to turn and look at him in surprise.

"She really doesn't go after you?"

"I'm starting to feel a little insulted…" Colton muttered.

"You're lucky."

"Okay – maybe ‘really insulted'?" he chuckled, shaking his head. "So what's the deal? Are we tagging off again, and you guys are finishing your shift? Because if so, I'm out of here."

"Yep. We've got the rest of the day and tomorrow. You guys are back on duty Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday."

"Sounds good. See ya, Chase, and good luck."