Page 3 of The Live-In Temptation (Steele Brothers of Starlight Cove #2)
CHAPTER TWO
CHLOE
Normally, when I’d already been in a place for six weeks, I started to get the itch. That ever-present hum under my skin that encouraged me to move—to flee, if I was being honest. I’d lived a lot of places in my twenty-eight years, and I’d never, without exception, been drawn to actually stay .
Which was why the lack of that buzz under my skin was…odd.
Though, I had to admit, Starlight Cove, Maine, was one of the cutest places I’d lived in recent or even distant memory.
It could have been the picturesque downtown that looked straight out of a Hallmark movie, or the fact that I could step outside my front door and hear the ocean waves crashing against the shore, or that this town was also the home to my longest-lasting friend.
Regardless, I wasn’t dying to leave. Not yet anyway. And that was a hard feat, especially in the winter. This was when I stayed in a place for the longest stretch of time. It was also when I tended to feel that buzz to leave the hardest.
But I was settling in here in my space. Finding short-term housing was always my biggest hurdle when moving to a new town, and this had been no different. Fortunately, said longest-lasting friend had come through for me.
Luna had somehow managed to sweet-talk Brady, her grumpy sheriff of a husband, into allowing me to shack up in their backyard cottage. Well, it was less of a cottage and more of a she-shed.
Okay, it was actually just a shed.
But it was cute, and the rent was a big fat zero, so it couldn’t get much better than that.
And sure, it didn’t have walls per se, but it did have fairy lights. And the tapestry I’d hung above the futon really warmed up the place. Well, that and the space heater.
Yeah, I only had a hot plate to cook on, and yeah, I had to run into the main house anytime I needed to use the bathroom—thank God I had a bladder of steel.
But in a town this small, the number of people clamoring for a massage therapist wasn’t exactly sizable, which meant my rent budget was firmly in ramen-and-vibes territory.
Since Luna had already established herself as the massage therapist/yoga instructor in town, my clients were few and far between. So that big fat zero I paid to rent this place looked pretty damn good.
But even besides rent, this girl had bills. And I needed to figure out how to pay them.
I sat on a floor pillow in front of the shed’s single window. The sheer scarves I used as curtains were pulled back, giving me an unobstructed view of the full moon—aka the perfect time for my tried-and-true abundance spell.
After smoke-cleansing the space, I placed my smoldering mugwort and lavender bundle in a glass dish on the window ledge. Then I grabbed my green aventurine and citrine crystals, placing one in each palm, and rested my upturned hands on my knees.
Sitting up straight, I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, imagining the life I wanted—full of love and laughter and abundance.
Where money was never an issue because it constantly flowed to me.
Opportunities came to me around every corner.
So many, I was able to pick and choose my favorites—only the ones I was most drawn to. The ones that would be the best fit.
And hell…since this was an abundance spell, I could also do with an abundance of orgasms. Preferably given not by my trusty silicone friend but by an actual man who knew what he was doing.
A man who had muscles for days and eyes that could see into your soul and a filthy mouth that could make even Mabel blush.
A man who loved going down, who wasn’t intimidated by a battery-operated enhancement tool and wanted to tag team me with one.
And last but not least, a man with an abundance of coc?—
A burst of heat swept over me, and my lips twitched. Damn right it was getting hot in here. It had been far too long since a man had had the pleasure of my company. Maybe a little too long, if the increasing waves of heat rolling through my body were anything to go by.
Good lord, I didn’t think I was that hard up.
My nose twitched as the scent of something smoky hit my nostrils.
As if someone was having a bonfire. Not unusual, since the shed didn’t have insulation.
Or walls. But jeez, this was really strong.
And since my thoughts had been derailed from the faceless hottie who was going to rock my world, my body shouldn’t be this heated.
I loosened my grip on the crystals and fluttered open my eyes. Only to come face-to-face with a fucking inferno .
“Oh shit!” I jumped up from the floor, spinning in a circle and looking for something—anything—to smother the fire currently licking up the sheer scarf I’d bought in Marrakesh. “Oh god, oh my fuck, oh sweet sparkling Moses!”
The shrill blare of the smoke detector cut through the otherwise quiet night, and I swore under my breath. Brady was definitely not going to be happy if I burned down his shed.
I grabbed a blanket—thankfully not from Marrakesh—and swatted at the flames. In a perfect situation, I would have doused the fabric with water to help smother the fire. But also, in a perfect situation, I wouldn’t have been dwelling in a garden shed that didn’t have running water.
That was when I remembered it did have a fire extinguisher!
Brady hadn’t been happy when Luna had asked if I could move in, but she’d worked some kind of magic—I was putting my money on something having to do with sex—that got him to agree. His two sticking points had been that the shed needed a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher.
Honestly, I could kiss that man! I wouldn’t—because, you know, boundaries—but I was definitely going to do a spell for him so he got everything his heart desired.
Just as soon as I put out this fire.
I fumbled with the fire extinguisher as the alarm blared—which absolutely was not helping my focus. Finally figuring out how to work the damn thing, I directed the nozzle at my once-beautiful sheer scarves, now completely overcome by flames, and sprayed.
While it probably took all of 3.7 seconds for the fire to be extinguished, it felt more like 3.
7 years. My heartbeat thudded wildly in my ears, and a haze of smoke filled the shed, which triggered a coughing fit.
Now that the adrenaline wasn’t thrumming through my veins as aggressively as it had been, my eyes and lungs began to sting.
I threw open the door and stumbled outside into the snow, breathing in deep lungfuls of clean air. Jesus fuck , that was a close call.
Thank god Brady had insisted on the extinguisher. And thank god I’d been able to figure out how to use the thing. More than that, thank god nobody had called the fire depart?—
The wail of a siren pierced the cold January night, and I groaned toward the sky. Apparently, I could escape the fire but not the fallout. I was just grateful Luna had taken the grumpy sheriff to a full moon sound bath, so at least they weren’t here to witness this.
Flashing lights from the fire truck swept over me, illuminating the smoke pouring out the shed’s door. The engine rolled to a stop, the siren cutting off mid-wail before both doors flew open and out stepped firefighters coming to my rescue.
And honest to god, if I’d had a gun held to my head, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you a single thing about who had stepped down from the passenger side. Not when all of my attention was focused on Gruff Mr. Hottie Pants, who came stalking toward me like I’d parked in a fire lane.
Damn, the Universe was working fast on this one.
When I asked for more abundance in the dick department, I figured that was all I’d get.
Instead, saucy Ms. Universe delivered this guy to me, who appeared to be abundant in every department—from his dark, shampoo-commercial hair that was tousled and yet somehow perfectly coiffed, to his piercing green eyes, those full lips, and that beard that was just enough to tickle me in all the right places.
And then there was his body.
Good god . Even beneath all his gear, I could see he was built. I didn’t know what sort of fitness regimen firefighters were engaging in, but apparently they’d started lifting cars in their downtime.
“You did real good this time, Universe,” I murmured. “I forgive you for ruining my Marrakesh scarves.”
“Miss, I’m going to need you to step away from the shed,” he said, his tone low and gruff and commanding .
So fucking commanding.
And, hell yeah, I’d let him boss me around in the bedroom if he did so in that voice. Put me on my knees and tell me to open up, Daddy.
“Don’t worry, I already put out the fire,” I said, swatting a hand through the smoke still pouring out of the shed.
“It was really more of just a sparky misunderstanding anyway. I’m afraid my scarves from Marrakesh couldn’t be saved, though.
Which is a real shame because it definitely livened up the space. Made it a little more homey, you know?”
My Favorite Mistake in Uniform narrowed his gaze on me, eyeing me from head to toe. And it was only then that I realized I was out here in my fox slippers, indecently tiny pajama shorts, and a sweatshirt two sizes too big that read, Manifest this, bitch .
“What do you mean ‘more homey’?” he asked. Or barked, really. “Are you living here?”
“Define ‘living’… I prefer to call it thriving.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw, and it sent a shiver straight down my spine. “Are you sleeping here?”
“Definitely. Well, I’m trying to anyway. Luna and the sheriff can get a little loud, if you know what I mean. And these walls aren’t exactly soundproof. Or insulated.”
His expression hardened even more, and I’d never been more grateful for my thick sweatshirt than I was right now. He didn’t seem like he was in the mood to be assaulted by my nipples that were currently trying to cut their way through the fabric just to get closer to him.
Stepping around me, he poked his head into the shed, his scowl somehow deepening when he looked back at me. And just why in the ever-loving fuck did that make my pussy tingle? “You don’t even have walls. You have studs covered in plywood.”
I waved a hand through the air. “Semantics.”
He stood to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest, providing a very delectable image. Good god , this was how all quality porn should start. And I volunteered as tribute for the Starlight Cove rendition of Stop, Drop, and Rail Me .
“I’m not sure who told you this was suitable for a living space, but a garden shed is not zoned for a dwelling.” He glanced toward the main house, his eyes narrowed. “I’m surprised the sheriff let you do it.”
“‘Let’ is a bit misleading. He may have been persuaded by his wife.” I held up my hands and shook my head. “I didn’t ask for details, but I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the sudden lack of honey in the house.”
His lips didn’t so much as twitch as he glowered down at me, and hooooo boy , I wanted that mean mug focused on me while he ordered me to come again. “Fortunately, one of us who’s in charge doesn’t have a wife.”
A fact I was definitely noting for future reference.
“And as the fire chief, I say you living here is illegal. If you don’t find another place to reside by the end of the week, I’ll evict you myself.”
Well, that was a bucket of ice water on my libido.
“Wow. Okay. So, we’re not doing the whole small-town welcome wagon thing.” I crossed my arms over my chest and tipped my head to the side as I studied him. “Are you always this charming, or do I have my abundance spell to thank for it oozing out of you?”
He pressed his mouth into a firm line, his nostrils flaring as he gave me a slow once-over. And, yes, that look absolutely made me shiver, but I was no longer entertaining any kind of funny business with this man. Not when he was fully committed to being the villain of my cottagecore origin story.
“By the end of the week, chaos.” He stepped close until he towered over me, his voice pitching low and scattering a rush of goose bumps across my skin. “I mean it.”
And then he walked away, all dominance and disapproval, and it was a sight to behold. Even with all the layers covering him, I knew I’d love what he had underneath it all. Too bad the stick up his ass wouldn’t allow any fun to happen between us.
“Cool, cool, cool,” I called after him. “Love this journey for me.”
With one last scowl in my direction, he climbed back into the truck, his gaze locked on me through the windshield. He might’ve been an ass, but being on the receiving end of that glower and his I’m going to ruin you and you’re going to like it vibe? Ten out of ten, would recommend.