Burn For You

1. Holly

Chapter One

Holly

PSA: Dating sucks.

I was staring down thirty—two years away was too close, as far as I was concerned—and not really looking forward to it. I was additionally annoyed with myself for actually caring about the fact that I was turning thirty. I didn’t like to think of myself as one of those women who obsessed over her age.

Apparently, I was. Or at least, lately. You see, all my friends kept falling in love. I was happy for them. I truly was. Cross my heart and hope to die, I was not exaggerating about that. But, well, I was starting to feel left behind. My friends were even having babies. Babies! And I’d yet to even find a man, or woman, or mythical creature, much less procreate. I refused to let myself become one of those bitter spinsters.

That said, trying to date in a small town in Alaska had its challenges. I loved Willow Brook. It was my hometown, and I’d never been the kind of person who needed to leave to remember how much I loved it. Not that there was anything wrong with that. I had tons of friends and family, and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. But you try meeting someone new when most everybody in town has known you since you were in preschool.

Correction: since you were a baby. But I didn’t remember the baby stuff, so I sure as hell hoped nobody else did either. All of this led to a point. Or rather, a place and an event, and the reason why I was there.

I adjusted my rather tight nurse costume. In real life, nurses like myself wore scrubs and practical shoes. Not so sexy. In fact, comfort and getting bloodstains out was more important than looking good. The whole nurse costume thing was considered sexy, which had always cracked me up. Trust me, when you dealt with bodily fluids and seeing people often at their most vulnerable, there was very little about it that was sexy.

I loved my job, though. I was one of the head Emergency Department nurses at Willow Brook Hospital. I was living in my favorite place, doing work I loved. Even helping random tourists get fishing hooks out of God knows where on their body felt worthy.

Great job, great town, great friends and family … and a whopping zero dating prospects for me. That was what probably landed me in my current situation. Somehow, I’d gotten roped into offering myself up for a date for a hospital fundraiser in Anchorage. The only reason I agreed was because I thought it’d be funny as hell. No one here would know me, and maybe, just maybe, I’d actually meet someone.

With Anchorage close to an hour away from Willow Brook, the possibility of meeting someone new shimmered on the invisible horizon. Plus, Anchorage was an actual city.

Standing backstage, I was a little nervous. Not only was this an auctioned date function, but it was for Halloween. Hence, why I was wearing a costume. For the first time since I’d become a nurse, I was dressed sexy.

Damn, even I had to admit I looked good. My rather annoyingly generous breasts were squished into this nurse costume, practically spilling out the top.

I’m sure you can imagine it. One of those tight little white numbers, with buttons up the middle of the fitted blouse, like no nurse would ever wear. It was snug at my waist and then flared out into a short little skirt, which barely covered my too-big a*s. I was feeling slightly self-conscious.

My old friend from nursing school, Megan, had not informed me just how suggestive these costumes would be. I felt like a stripper.

“Oh my God, you look great,” Megan said, as if she’d managed to read my mind from the other room. She closed the door behind her as she stepped into the small dressing room behind the stage.

The fundraiser was being held in a large auditorium in downtown Anchorage, frequently used for local performances and the like.

“You neglected to mention how small this was,” I said, pinning her with a glare.

Megan shrugged. “You look totally hot. I’m doing it too. See?” she said, gesturing up and down her body.

“How come you got the fisher-girl outfit?” I asked as I scanned her costume.

She was wearing bright red fishing waders and a silky fitted tank top. Don’t get me wrong, it was revealing, but it wasn’t nearly as skimpy as what I was wearing.

Megan grinned. “You’re way sexier than me. I’ve got no a*s to speak of, and you’ve got curves for days. I’m not back here to debate your costume, though. You’re up in about ten minutes. I’m so glad you agreed to do this! I think you’re gonna make the most money for us tonight.”

“You sound like my pimp. I’m honored.”

Megan was unmoved. She simply winked. “I’m happy to be your pimp. If you want me to find you a man, I’m all over that s**t. Come on,” she said, gesturing for me to follow her. “I wish we’d saved you for last because you’re definitely the hottest.”

Seeing as most of my best friends were married, engaged, pregnant, or on the way to being pregnant, Megan was one of the few friends I confided in lately about my man troubles. Like me, she was still single. Unlike me, she wasn’t really looking.

As I walked through the hallway, which was crowded with people prepping for the fundraiser, my belly started to coil with anxiety, and I felt flushed with heat. I suddenly realized this was an absolutely insane thing to do. The idea of it had seemed amusing and cute from a distance. But now, with my boobs nearly bursting out of my nurse costume, my butt just barely covered, and my bright red high heels, I was feeling just a teensy bit self-conscious.

Conveniently, there was alcohol backstage. I stopped by the bar, which was nothing more than a plastic table set up in the back, and smiled at the man behind it. He flashed a grin.

“What can I get you, dear? You look gorgeous, and you’re going to make us a ton of money.”

Inhaling a gulp of air, I let it out with a sigh. This man wasn’t looking at me like he was going to eat me up, so I felt okay. “I’ll take two shots of tequila,” I replied.

The man’s smile softened. “I would reconsider and stick with one. I’m Ethan, by the way.”

“I’m Holly,” I returned. “I still think I need two shots. How did you get roped into being a backstage bartender?”

Ethan chuckled as he poured me a single shot—generous, but just one. “My partner, Jack, and I own the Midnight Sun Arts galleries here in Anchorage and a few other locations. We help run a number of fundraisers. This is a good one. Absolutely all of the money raised goes into a funding pool to cover uninsured patients at hospitals all over Alaska. That’s why we do so much on this one. Everybody you see here is volunteering.”

He handed me my first shot. “Let’s start with one.”

“Oh no,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’ve got ten minutes. I need two.”

I gulped down the first shot, the burn of it quick and satisfying. Ethan eyed me and poured another shot. After my second one, I felt like I might have enough liquid courage to get me through this madness.

Ethan chatted with me while I waited, his easygoing manner calming me. Within a few minutes, Megan was ushering me out onto the stage.

As soon as I stepped out, I relaxed. It helped that I was just tipsy enough not to give much of a damn. I did my thing as instructed, walking across the stage and spinning in a circle, almost losing my balance in the process. Thank God I couldn’t really see the crowd with the bright lights, seeing as my wobble got a laugh.

The auctioneer handled the bidding. Before I knew it, someone had “bought” a date with me for five thousand dollars. You heard me right—five thousand dollars.

Dizzy and more than a little buzzed by the time I got off the stage, I walked backstage. Megan flashed me a wink and a giant thumbs-up. Ethan, who I decided was my new best friend, shepherded me to a room where I was allegedly going to meet whoever the hell purchased a charity date with me. He paused outside the door, offering a warm smile.

“Well, dear, this man definitely wanted you. You just beat the last highest bid we’ve ever had by two grand.”

All I could manage was a nod. With the tequila hitting me harder, I didn’t care anymore. Crazy as this had been, at least I raised five thousand dollars for the hospital program. Ethan ushered me into a small room in the back where there was a table with a few bottles of alcohol and two chairs. They seemed to think if they scattered alcohol everywhere, people would be stupid enough to do this. I supposed I was the example of why they were right. I didn’t really know how this thing worked. Apparently, my date could either have the date with me tonight, or later. I was thinking tonight was not the best plan, considering my tipsy state.

Within a minute, the door opened again. The moment my eyes landed on the man in question, my mouth fell open. Instead of my date, Nate Fox stepped into the room—all six-feet-four-inches of him with shaggy brown curls, flashing brown eyes, and a body made for sin.

Nate Fox was also my twin brother’s best friend and the younger brother of my best friend’s husband.

Even worse, I totally had a thing for Nate. In fact, one drunken night, about a year ago, we’d come dangerously close to f*****g each other in the coat closet at a friend’s party.

My twin brother had conveniently interrupted us. Alex was so oblivious, he didn’t even pick up on the cues. Or perhaps he did and preferred to ignore my hastily yanked together blouse, which I later discovered had been buttoned lopsided.

Despite crossing paths almost weekly, Nate and I managed to keep every interaction entirely superficial since then. Let me tell you, that was no easy feat in our small social circles. Nate had it all but written on his forehead he wanted nothing more to do with me, so I figured too much alcohol had gotten to him. I needed to get my head out of my a*s and stop wishing he wanted more.

The moment the door clicked shut behind him, I was just drunk enough to be pissed off. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded.

He crossed the room, stopping maybe a foot away from me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he countered in return, his eyes narrowing and his words coming out sharp.

“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m doing this fundraiser for the hospital. Get the hell out of here.” I waved my hand. “Someone just paid five thousand bucks for a date with me, and I’m not gonna screw it up by having you here when they show up,” I muttered, my speech slurring a little.

Nate stared at me for a beat, his eyes taking on a wicked gleam before his mouth kicked up at the corner. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I’m the one who bought a date with you.”

My body was on fire, heat flashing through it in a rush and my belly spinning in flips at the raw desire in his eyes. Nate drove me crazy. He’d been Alex’s best friend for as long as I could remember. If you’d told me I’d have thought he would be sexy when I was about ten, I’d have laughed until I peed my pants.

Everything had felt normal until sometime over a year ago. As if tectonic plates shifted in the earth, I looked at Nate one day and suddenly noticed he was obscenely handsome. Making out with him that night was the biggest mistake I’d ever made. Desire had shifted from a loose idea into something concrete, very real, and very intense.

Nate annoyed me. He always told me what to do, just like my brother. The last thing I needed to do was to be attracted to him. Unfortunately, my body wasn’t getting the memo. Just now, my panties were already giving up the fight.

“Oh, I don’t think so. I’ll do it all over again if I have to. I’m sure you can get a refund.”

Meanwhile, my n*****s stood at attention and my channel clenched, vividly remembering the feel of his fingers buried inside me.