His Curvy Surprise (Alpha Colorado Firefighters Book 4) Read online

  His Curvy Surprise

  Alpha Colorado Firefighters Book 4

  Anna Heskin

  Copyright © 2019 by Anna Heskin

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, dead or alive, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Epilogue

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  1

  Alyssa

  All I wanted was some peace and quiet while I binged my favorite Thursday night shows with a giant bowl of popcorn. My phone blew up for the second time in five minutes and I couldn’t take it any longer.

  Who calls instead of texting?

  I picked up my cell to see who violated my weeknight ritual. It was one of my good friends who graduated with me from the photography program at UC Denver.

  Charlotte never called, so I figured it might be important. “Hey, Charlotte, what’s going on?”

  “Alyssa, I’m glad I caught you.” Her voice contained a hint of panic.

  “Charlotte, is everything okay?”

  “I’m having a baby.”

  “Yes, that baby bump is pretty obvious,” I said.

  Charlotte took a few quick, loud breaths. “No, I’m having the baby right now.”

  “Do you need me to send help?” I asked.

  “No, my husband is getting the car ready. I called to see if you’d like to take a job for me.”

  “Sure.” Late November found my schedule in a bit of a lull. I had bookings for all of December for the holiday season, and my summer calendar for the next year already filled up with weddings.

  “It’s for a sexy firefighter calendar,” Charlotte said.

  “Like shirtless and everything?” My mouth watered, and not from the smell of popcorn in the small house I rented.

  “Yep. The props and outfits will all be there. The charity has spelled out who they want for which poses and everything. You just have to show up and make them look good.”

  My heart skipped a beat. “Oh, sounds enticing.”

  “I’m bummed to miss it. Like I tell the hubby—I’m married but I’m not dead.”

  “Yeah, they’re so hot,” I said. “Oh, shit, my dad is a fire chief, you know. Please tell me his station isn’t involved.”

  Charlotte laughed. “I know for a fact your father won’t be in the calendar. These are all younger men, early in their careers.”

  I let out a sigh. “Whew. That could get awkward. When and where is the shoot?”

  “This Saturday, at a resort west of Denver. I’ll email all the info to you,” Charlotte said.

  “Sounds great. Now go, get yourself to the hospital.”

  “Thanks for taking this job, Alyssa. The calendar is for charity, cancellation would’ve sucked.”

  “No problem. Now go have that baby before I come over and deliver it myself,” I said.

  “You’ll have to come see the baby when we get settled back home.”

  “I will—good luck, Space Queen.” Charlotte earned the affectionate nickname in college because she had the attention span of a goldfish.

  After hanging up the phone, I did a little dance in my living room, spilling the popcorn all over the floor. Not only was an unexpected gig a boon to the checking account, but I would get to photograph hot firefighters. A sexy calendar seemed passe—I didn’t know people still bought calendars—but boosting my portfolio couldn’t be a bad thing. Getting my name out there would help fill my bookings beyond the holidays, school pictures, and weddings. Growing my business had been my focus since graduating college two years ago.

  Charlotte got married right after graduation to the man she met our freshman year during orientation. The baby was planned. I was glad it was her and not me.

  Bringing another person into the world and having to take care of it didn’t appeal to me yet. I figured I’d settle down and start a family but it didn’t fit in my plans at 24. After seeing everything my parents went through in their divorce, combined with knowing how tough growing up could be… it all made me reluctant to jump into the mommy pool too soon.

  Besides, I’d yet to find the right guy I wanted to have a family with. The lack of a worthy partner, combined with the fear of getting pregnant, was why I still had my virginity. Despite being on the pill, I practiced the safest sex imaginable—abstinence. In college, it seemed I was the only one keeping guys at arm’s length for non-religious reasons.

  The packet from Charlotte arrived in my email minutes after our call. Sure enough, it contained the entire creative brief. The organizers did all the thinking already, and I only had to show up with my camera. Better yet, the sales of the calendar would benefit families who were displaced by home fires.

  A sense of impending doom hit me when I read the firefighters would all be from Denver. Sure, the city had at least three dozen firehouses and many more in the surrounding communities. What were the odds I’d see one of the guys I’d met at my Dad’s station? Besides, only a few of them knew me well enough that they’d recognize me outside my father’s lair.

  Why did I care if any of the firefighters ended up knowing me anyhow? It’s not like I had a chance with any of the hunks. They were out of my league. I love myself, my curvy body, and who I’ve become. But judging from the guys I’d attracted in the past, the firemen wouldn’t be interested in me. Besides, I was a professional, and the calendar photo shoot wasn’t an excuse to look for my next boyfriend.

  Despite not using the job as a place to hunt for a man, I shopped for clothes on Friday. I wanted to portray a professional, yet sexy look on Saturday.

  Being only five foot two, I bought a short black jacket that was form-fitting, nipped in at the waist, and flared out at the hips. It was single-breasted, to not add extra bulk that would throw off my curves. I also got a skirt that balanced the contours of my hips and didn’t fight against them.

  Friday night, I packed all my equipment and had everything stacked by the front door before I went to bed. I’d never been so excited about a photo shoot.

  2

  Cody

  The last week of having no obligations passed too fast for my liking. The local station scheduled firefighter training to begin the next Monday. After working odd jobs for my father since college graduation a couple years earlier, being accepted as a fireman was a dream come true. I wanted to use my physical and mental skills to serve and protect the public.

  The Thursday before training would begin, I spent the morning at the hole-in-the-wall gym I called my second home for the past couple of years. I felt like a douchebag as I toughed out slow bicep curls and watched the veins and muscles bulge in the mirror.

  My typical routine involved more functional lifting, preparing for the rigors of being a firefighter. The past few weeks, I added vanity lifts to the workouts so I could look good in the upcoming calendar photo shoot.

  When the charity first approached me abo
ut posing for a sexy firefighter calendar, I turned it down. My primary goal for the upcoming months was to rock the firefighter world as a trainee, and becoming a leader as soon as possible. I couldn’t see any advantages the provocative images would bring me in the professional world.

  After learning the calendar would benefit families who needed help after losing their homes to fire, I relented. An important part of distancing myself from my past was doing charitable things for other people.

  As I wrapped up my last set of tricep extensions, my stomach growled and threatened to eat itself. I’d cut my calories to drop whatever bit of body fat I had remaining, and my cut muscles looked amazing as a result.

  Before I could decide where my next meal was coming from, my cell phone rang. It was my collegiate football coach who I hadn’t heard from in a while.

  “Coach Harrington, how’s it going?”

  “Doing great, Cody. Have you heard the team is in the playoffs?”

  “I did, coach. I keep in touch with several of the guys.”

  “Are you going to the game? I wanted to get a group of former players together, have a reception for you.”

  “That’s gracious of you, coach,” I said.

  “Well, you and that offense became the groundwork for the success we’re seeing now.”

  “It’s great seeing my old school dominate the field,” I said.

  “So are you going to be there, Cody?”

  “I’m afraid not, coach. I’m a new firefighter and I have an optional event this weekend before beginning official training on Monday,” I said.

  “Optional, you said?”

  “Not for me. I’m determined to hit the ground running and make a great first impression. I have leadership aspirations.”

  “You did a damn fine job leading the team here. I have no doubt you’ll reach your goals.”

  “Thank you, coach.”

  “I’m sorry we won’t be seeing you this weekend. Best of luck to you. Keep in touch.”

  A pang of longing hit my stomach as I hung up the phone. I missed Coach Harrington and all the guys but I was at a new point in life, starting the career in which I planned to excel.

  The only people I wanted to know about the calendar were the ones buying it—a lot of women, some single and some not. Maybe some gay guys too, that didn’t bother me. But I wanted to keep it a secret from anybody who didn’t need to know about it, especially leaders at my fire station. I had no aspirations to be a model and would only get flack for the project.

  After eating lunch, I visited a salon that received high ratings on the internet. The small patch of hair on my chest and around my belly button needed to go away before the photo shoot. I knew some women thought chest hair is sexy but mine had grown in asymmetrical. Getting it done a couple days ahead of time would allow any redness or bumps to subside before Saturday afternoon.

  Korean women operated the spa, all of them speaking their native tongue as I sat shirtless in a chair waiting. They seemed to argue over which of them got assigned to me. Two of them pulled at the same tub of wax while eyeballing my chest, spitting nasty-sounding short words back and forth.

  A grandmother figure entered the room through a curtain in the back. She scolded the women, grabbed the wax, and called out to someone in the back. Out walked a gorgeous woman, close to my age. The others walked away in disgust.

  “Hi, I’m Autumn,” she said in a quiet voice as she set the tub on the table next to me. I suspected that wasn’t her real name. Many Koreans adopt an English name because we can’t pronounce their real names.

  “Hello, Autumn. I’m Cody. If you could just remove these two small patches, that would be great.”

  Autumn nodded and gave a quick, nervous smile. The hot wax had an odd, soothing effect on me as she smoothed it over the area. I closed my eyes, leaned back, and enjoyed a moment of zero responsibility.

  The ripping of the hair didn’t hurt as bad as I expected. Getting the tattoos on my arms was much more uncomfortable.

  I tipped Autumn generously and left the shop with at least five pairs of eyes watching me. The image of the older Korean women fighting over my chest made me chuckle as I got in my truck.

  I attracted women everywhere I went. Even back in college, I never took advantage of the fact. I’ve always had other goals in life and didn’t want a girlfriend getting in the way.

  My long-time therapist said I had a fear of being vulnerable, along with trust issues in my relationships. While I had made miles of progress in the past several years, those hangups kept me from caring too much about pairing off with anyone.

  In college, I focused on my studies and being a strong leader and quarterback of the football team. I wasn’t a virgin, but I only indulged once in a while with girls who had no chance of wanting a relationship or taking my time.

  With firefighter training approaching, I doubted any of my aversion to relationships would go away soon. I was determined to be the best recruit they had ever seen and nobody would get in the way of my aspirations. Women could drool at whatever month I was on the calendar next year but they wouldn’t get a chance to touch.

  3

  Alyssa

  I didn’t sleep well on Friday night. The anticipation of the photo shoot prevented my mind from shutting off long enough to rest.

  My typical Saturday morning involved making French toast and reading romance novels. The queasiness in my stomach prevented both from happening. With no desire to eat much or lounge around, I put on my sexy new outfit and headed out early for the resort.

  No matter how long I’d lived in Colorado, the beauty of the drive into the mountains west of Denver floored me. Snow covered the mountain tops, but the roads were fine. My father kept telling me I needed to trade in my two-wheel drive vehicle for something better in snow.

  The resort appeared busy when I pulled into the lot. The area had received an unusual amount of snow in mid-November and crawled with skiers taking advantage of the early pack. Since I had two hours until I needed to meet the photo shoot coordinator, I left my equipment in the car and walked around the property.

  A firetruck sat in a roped-off parking lot behind the lodge. Various props were scattered next to the engine. A hot tub and what appeared to be a fog machine stood out. I giggled at the mental image of the pictures I’d take that afternoon.

  The lodge had a big coffee house. I parked myself in the store’s front with a delicious cup of chai tea and watched the benches where the coordinator said to meet him.

  I had done enough photo shoots in my young life that I rarely got nervous beforehand. The sexy firefighter shoot was a different story. Despite the chill in the air, my palms were a sweaty mess. I tried to get my mind off everything by taking in the excellent people watching. As I watched the myriad of folks walking past, I made up stories in my mind for them—the snowboarding stoners, the families who had never skied, and the hardcore risk-takers.

  After two more cups of chai and three trips to the restroom, the time arrived to find the photo shoot coordinator. All I knew about him was his name—George. There were at least six grown-ass men milling about the area who looked like a George. One of them had the name of the charity on his t-shirt peeking out from underneath his half-zipped jacket. His shiny bald head poking up from the long, straggly hairs on his sides and back reminded me of a starving artist from the 1970s.

  I took a deep breath and walked up to the man, who was even shorter than me. “Excuse me, are you George?”

  A smile curled the edges of his thick mustache. “Why, yes, I am. Is this the lovely Alyssa?”

  I resisted a blush. “That’s me.”

  “Thank you for coming out here at the last minute. The other photographer didn’t think she’d pop so soon.”

  “It’s my pleasure,” I said.

  “Really, though, who could say ‘no’ to a hot group of firefighters?” George winked. “We have ten hot young men and two striking young women for the calendar. Something for every
one.”

  I let out a polite laugh. “I’d be okay if that’s all I shot the rest of my career.”

  “Well, I expect you to be the first to buy a calendar,” George said.

  “I’ll get one for my portfolio but it would be awkward hanging it up.”

  George laughed. “Why’s that? Everyone needs some skin to look at first thing in the morning.”

  “My father is a fire chief. He’d poke fun at me.”

  “It’s a good thing none of the folks here today are a chief… so I know your father isn’t taking his shirt off for you.”

  “Thank God,” I said.

  “So, about the shoot,” George said. “We’ve set up a truck and props outside for two-thirds of the shots, and another staged setting in a conference room indoors.”

  “I’ve never taken photos with the intent of stimulation,” I said. “I mean, I’ll do my best to be sure it looks sexy.”

  George chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’ll be around the entire duration. I have an eye for these things. I’ll also handle your subjects. I have assigned each firefighter a time frame with us. It’s all organized, we only need you to take the photos and get them back to us as fast as you can do the post-processing. We got a late start on the calendar this year and need them printed in time for the Christmas holiday.”

  “Okay, then. Sounds like this will be the easiest shoot I’ve ever done.”

  “We’ll start with the outdoor scenes. Our first eight firefighters will be photographed out there,” George said as he waved his hand forward.

  “Hold up,” I said. “I need to grab my equipment from my car.”

  “Sure thing, meet me around back in a few minutes.”

  After setting up my camera and taking numerous photos to adjust for the light, we were ready. George acted as the best assistant I’d ever had on a set. His astounding professionalism made me wish he could attend all of my shoots. I wished I could have him at all my jobs, especially at weddings. He’d be a lot easier to work with than some wedding planners and bridezillas.