Controlled Burn Read online

  Controlled Burn

  By Shannon Stacey

  Rick Gullotti lives the good life. He fights fires alongside men he considers brothers and dates beautiful women—though none for very long. And thanks to helping out the elderly couple who own his building, his rent is low. But when his concerns about their health lead to a long-legged southern California girl appearing on his doorstep, life as he knows it starts getting away from him.

  Jessica Broussard has no interest in leaving sunny San Diego or her cushy corner office for the rougher side of Boston, but her father dispatches her to deal with the grandparents she’s never met. She’s unprepared for the frigid winter, loving relatives who aren’t the monsters she’s been led to believe, and the scruffy-but-hot danger-junkie firefighter who lives upstairs.

  At first, Jessica is determined to get out of Boston Fire country and back to her comfortable life as quickly as possible. All she has to do is talk her grandparents into selling their monstrosity of a house. But she underestimates Rick’s dedication—and his considerable charm. Nobody’s taking advantage of his friends on his watch, even if that makes the very tempting Jessica his adversary. Unfortunately for them both, the only thing more urgent than the matter at hand—and more powerful than their differences—is their sizzling chemistry, and it’s quickly becoming too strong to resist.

  73,400 words

  Dear Reader,

  You know what goes great with holiday cookies, long checkout lines (or queues, for those of you not in North America) and a stressful holiday season that makes you want to sneak off and steal a few seconds for yourself? Carina Press books! Buy them from your phone or iPad and read them while hiding in the closet with a batch of cookies, or while leaning against your shopping cart in line while you try to block out the incessant holiday tunes being piped in over bad speakers in the store.

  Right in time for those days off over American Thanksgiving is the release of Controlled Burn, the second in Shannon Stacey’s Boston Fire series. The firefighters in this book are so hot, you’ll be tempted to light your turkey on fire in order to get a visit from your local firemen, but please don’t do that. And for those of you not in the US, you might not have Thanksgiving days off, but that’s okay—you’re not going to want to wait to read it anyway, so go ahead and call in sick to work! Not to worry, if you haven’t read Heat Exchange, the first in this trilogy, these romances stand alone so you can read Controlled Burn now and have another steamy hero to look forward to later.

  Geek extraordinaire Lexi Carmichael is back in this newest mystery romance, and she’s a fish out of water without her beloved technology in the deadly jungle of Papua New Guinea with Chinese thugs on her tail. She’ll need to survive on wits alone...how hard could that be? Pick up No Room for Error by Julie Moffett this December, or go back to the beginning of this zany, romantic series in No One Lives Twice.

  If you love Lauren Dane’s books as much as I do, you’ve been waiting not-so-patiently for a year to see Rowan kick some butt in the newest Goddess with a Blade urban fantasy, At Blade’s Edge. Rowan Summerwaite is no ordinary woman. Raised at the knee of The First and honed into a weapon by the Hunter Corporation, she wields ancient knowledge from the Goddess Brigid...and is newly married to a powerful Vampire scion. But instead of being on a much-anticipated honeymoon, Rowan is in London gathering her allies and the evidence necessary to drive out the rot within Hunter Corp. and expose whoever is at the top. She’ll let no one get in her way.

  Kate Willoughby has another sexy, fun stand-alone contemporary romance for us in Under the Spotlight. Veteran NHL hockey player Joe Rutherford is accustomed to being in the spotlight, but when he falls for an actress whose career is just starting to take off, he must face the fact that his own might be ending sooner than later. And don’t miss On the Surface, Across the Line and Out of the Game.

  We welcome Annabeth Albert to the Carina Press lineup with her new #gaymers series. In Status Update, a quirky video game designer is stranded, and a charming but reclusive archeologist comes to his rescue. Their sizzling attraction blooms in the middle of a snowstorm, but forging a future together means thawing out frozen hearts and unlocking closet doors.

  Last this month is the trilogy end we’ve all been waiting for—book three of Caitlyn McFarland’s Dragonsworn trilogy. We fell in love with dragonlord Rhys and his dragonmate Kai in Soul of Smoke, we cheered and cried for them in Shadow of Flame, and now we finally get to experience the end of their journey, the thrilling conclusion to the battle...and the beginning of their HEA in Truth of Embers.

  That’s our new-release lineup for this December, because we’re taking a few weeks off from new releases over the peak of the holiday season, but never fear, we have a backlist of nearly one thousand titles for you to browse, including an incredible selection of holiday-themed novellas you may have missed the first time around!

  Paranormal romance fans should definitely read A Galactic Holiday, or Winter Wishes with novellas by Vivian Arend, Moira Rogers and Vivi Andrews. For those who love male/male romance, take a look at His for the Holidays, or Men Under the Mistletoe, which features Josh Lanyon, K.A. Mitchell, Harper Fox and Ava March. If a little extra heat in your holiday is what gets you moving, check out erotic holiday romance anthology Season of Seduction, or Red Hot Holiday with Anne Calhoun, Leah Braemel and K.A. Mitchell.

  And if you love a good, sigh-worthy, make-your-heart-happy contemporary romance, we have quite a selection for you to choose from, including anthologies like Romancing the Holiday, All I’m Asking For, Holiday Kisses, and novellas by Jaci Burton, Shannon Stacey, Brighton Walsh, Kat Latham and more. And don’t miss one of my personal favorites—Starting from Scratch by Stacy Gail.

  Whatever you read and wherever you are, the team at Carina Press thanks you for making 2015 an incredible year of publishing and wishes you the very happiest of holiday seasons, with only wonderful books to help you make it through!

  And, as always, until next month here’s wishing you a wonderful month of books you love, remember and recommend.

  Happy reading!

  Angela James

  Editorial Director, Carina Press

  ~ MOBILISM ~

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Excerpt from Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey

  Author Note

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Shannon Stacey

  About the Author

  About The Kowalskis series

  About The Boston Fire Series

  About A Fighting Chance

  Writing for Carina

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  “Five bucks says she requested Ladder 37 when she called 911.”

  Rick Gullotti glared a
t Gavin Boudreau, then shook his head. “That’s bullshit.”

  They were back at the station after a run and, as the lieutenant of Boston Fire’s Ladder 37, he had to stay in the bay with the guys and take care of the gear. Even if they were being idiots. In the bay next to him, the guys from Engine 59 were doing the same. Stowing the gear, checking tanks and supplies. The ladder truck and the pumper engine that shared the three-story brick firehouse always rolled together, and the guys of L-37 and E-59 operated well as a team.

  A team whose members loved to give each other shit, Rick thought as Scotty Kincaid yelled from the other side of the bay. “That’s the fourth time that woman’s needed the fire department in six months, Gullotti. Must be rough when all your emergencies happen while you’re still in your lace nightgown.”

  “Maybe it’s you she’s after,” Gullotti called back.

  “It wasn’t me she hugged with so much...gratitude.”

  Yeah, that had been awkward. He didn’t mind being offered cookies or invited to stay for lunch, but the hugging he usually managed to avoid. Thankfully he hadn’t taken his bunker coat off, so the feel of a curvy woman in satin and lace hadn’t gotten through, but he was going to have to be more careful in the future.

  “She was definitely grateful.” Chris Eriksson—who was one of the older guys in the house, but avoided promotions due to an extreme aversion to paperwork—paused in the act of wiping down L-37’s bumper to smirk at him.

  Rick’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out, anticipating a summons from upstairs. It wasn’t going to take long for the story to circulate, and he knew they’d have to come up with a way to gently discourage the woman’s attempt to date via frivolous emergency calls. Not only was it a waste of time and money but, if it escalated, she could accidentally burn down her house.

  But the text was from Karen Shea. She was a nurse he’d dated for a while before she met a guy who had the potential to be the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

  They just brought Joe into the ER. Stable, but he took a fall and Marie got upset.

  Shit. He’d rented the third floor of Joe and Marie Broussard’s house for years, and the elderly couple had become more than just landlords. They were like family, and worry settled in the pit of his stomach.

  We’re wrapping up after a run. I can sneak over for a few mins.

  I’ll tell them. Marie’s having tea and Joe’s griping about having to wait for scans.

  They were okay, then. And he knew Karen would keep an eye on them until he got there.

  “Tell me you didn’t give her your number,” Eriksson said, nodding at the phone in Rick’s hand.

  “Who?”

  “The grateful lady in the lace nightgown.”

  “Hell, no. It’s Joe and Marie. They’re in the ER with Karen.”

  “Damn. Is it serious?”

  “Joe fell and she got upset, I guess. Nothing critical, but I need to tell Cobb I’m heading out and get over there. If a call comes in, bring my gear and I’ll meet you there.”

  “Will do.” Chris snorted. “And we’ll leave you some of this grunt work to do, too. Trust me.”

  The emergency room wasn’t busy, so he asked if Karen was free instead of asking for the Broussards. He wanted more information before he saw the older couple. About five minutes later, Karen came into the waiting room and smiled at him.

  He gave her a quick hug because they’d stayed friends, but a flash of light caught his eye. There was a diamond ring on her left hand, and he took hold of her fingers to give it a look.

  “That was fast,” he said.

  She was practically beaming. “Yeah, but when it’s right, it’s right. And we have a little incentive to make it legal.”

  It took a few seconds for her words to sink in, and he realized she was pregnant. Genuine happiness for her came first, but on the heels of that was a pang of regret. He really liked Karen and he wished they’d had whatever chemistry it was she shared with the lucky guy she was going to marry.

  But how many times had he heard himself referred to as not the marrying kind? More times than he could count, even if he wasn’t totally sure what that meant.

  “Congratulations,” he said, making sure she could see his sincerity on his face. “He’s a good guy.”

  “He is.” It looked as if she was going to get all misty-eyed, but then she put her nurse face back on. “Okay. I probably shouldn’t have texted you. Marie’s calmed down and it’s looking like Joe’s going to be punted out as soon as the scans are done. But her blood pressure was up and she looked a little dizzy when they brought them in.”

  “Always text me,” he said. “Where did he fall?”

  “At the bottom of the stairs. He was trying to measure to see about putting in a stair lift so Marie can get upstairs to her craft room and he says his sock slid on the hardwood tread because she didn’t get all the Murphy Oil Soap wiped up.”

  Rick sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “The house is too much for them. And Marie won’t let me hire a cleaning service for them no matter how hard I push.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but Joe’s doctor was here making rounds, so the ER doc pulled him in. They want to talk about elder care options.”

  “It’s probably time to start having those discussions, I guess. If he sets up a time, I can be with them and keep them honest. They’re still in denial when it comes to their limitations.”

  Karen hesitated, then exhaled. “The other nurses and I call you because we know you, but Joe and Marie haven’t updated their legal information. Dr. Bartlett already left a message at the last known contact for their son.”

  “They called Davey?” Rick shook his head. “That douche bag probably won’t even return the call.”

  “I just thought you should know before you see them.”

  “Do they know? About the call, I mean?”

  “I don’t think the doctor’s been in to follow up with them yet, so probably not.”

  He should tell them himself, before the doctor did, so Joe and Marie wouldn’t be taken off guard. Their son was a painful subject and they were already having a shitty day. “We should probably make sure Joe isn’t making a break for it.”

  Recognizing the change of subject for what it was, Karen led him through the security doors and down the hall to a curtained-off room.

  Marie stood when she saw him and held out her arms. Rick hugged her, some of his worry eased by the steadiness in her slim, tall figure. Even at seventy-eight, Marie was strong. Neither of them was as strong as they used to be, though, and it was becoming a problem.

  “They shouldn’t have called you,” Joe grumbled from the bed. Rick let go of Marie to put his hand on the man’s shoulder. Taller and four years older than his wife, but not quite as thin, Joe had once been rugged as hell. Age and a stroke had taken a toll, though, and Joe was having trouble reconciling with the fact he wasn’t fifty anymore.

  “If a call comes in, I’ll have to go, but we’d just finished a run. Pretty lady in a lace negligee thought she smelled smoke.”

  “Same one as last time?” Joe asked, leaning back against the stack of pillows.

  “Yup.”

  “You said she was pretty,” Marie said. “Maybe you should ask her on a date. She obviously likes you.”

  “Jesus, Marie.” Joe scowled at his wife. “You can’t encourage that or half the women in the city will be setting their tablecloths on fire.”

  Rick laughed and sat on the exam stool, leaving the visitor’s chair for Marie. Hoping it would be a few more minutes before the doctor came back, he listened to the familiar banter between the two people who’d come into his life as landlords and become like family. And he tried to figure out how to tell them the hospital had reached out to their son because Joe and Marie knew as
well as Rick did that Davey probably wouldn’t reach back.

  * * *

  Jessica Broussard parked her rental car at the curb and flexed her fingers because they practically ached from her death grip on the steering wheel. Driving in Boston was certainly no joke.

  Having learned through previous experience that navigation systems weren’t infallible, she squinted to make out the brass numbers tacked to the front of the tall blue house. Then she looked at the address she’d punched into the GPS and took a deep breath.

  This was it. Her grandparents’ home.

  The flight from San Diego to Boston had given her plenty of time to obsess about all the ways this trip made no sense. Whenever her father was unavailable, Jessica checked his voice mail in order to keep Broussard Financial Services running, but she hadn’t known what to do about the call from the Boston doctor. Reaching out to her father had resulted in a brusque demand for her to deal with the problem before she even got a chance to tell him it was personal.

  But she couldn’t deal with it. The doctor wouldn’t speak to her about Joe and Marie Broussard, the grandparents she’d never met, because she wasn’t on the form. And, when she was tossing and turning at two in the morning, she wondered if it was because they didn’t know she even existed. The plan formed—seemingly brilliant as many insomnia-born plans were—to deal with her father’s problem and to meet the people David Broussard had barely spoken of, and never kindly.

  A curtain in the house twitched, and Jessica realized she’d been staring. It was time to get out of the car, or drive back to the airport and force her father to call the doctor.

  She climbed out of the car, bracing herself for the blast of cold air, and walked toward the front door as a pickup drove past and then turned into the driveway. Jessica paused with one foot on the bottom step, but the man who got out of the truck definitely wasn’t one of her grandparents.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, walking toward her.

  “I’m looking for Joe and Marie Broussard.”

  He nodded. “I’m Rick Gullotti. I rent the apartment upstairs. They expecting you?”