Burning Desire

Sabrina nodded. She realized she was gritting her teeth, and made a deliberate attempt to relax her jaw, shoulders, and the rest of her body. “Obviously, there’s nothing I can do about this. I held this dream for too long.”

“Well, I say forget them.” Nya shoved the letter back into the envelope. “You don’t get to choose your family, but thankfully, you do get to choose your friends.” She beamed, and gestured to herself. “And this friend would love to take you out for dinner and drinks tonight so we can forget this letter ever arrived. What do you say?”

“I don’t know, Nya. I was kind of thinking I would just chill out tonight. Probably watch one of those Chevy Chase movies to remind me that families are overrated.” She smiled, but knew it had come off as forced.

“No. You are not going to stay home and wallow. Who needs Julia Parker when you have Nya Hayes? Better than any blood sister could ever be.”

Sabrina cracked a real smile this time. Nya was right about one thing, you didn’t get to choose your family. At least Sabrina had chosen wisely when she had befriended the scrawny girl with braces her senior year of high school. At the time, Nya had been new to the school, and it was hard to make friends when you were the new kid. Sabrina knew something about feeling as though you didn’t fit in, and she and Nya had become fast friends. Nya had since blossomed into a beautiful woman—with perfect teeth.

Nya was still looking for love, like Sabrina. So Sabrina knew that as much as Nya enjoyed going out for dinner or a drink with a friend, she also hoped that she would spot her Mr. Right. And it was that part of a night out that Sabrina wasn’t looking forward to.

Sabrina loved Nya dearly, but wasn’t in the mood to hear her rate various men, nor watch her flirt. Nya was like a sister to her, but in that way, they were as different as night and day. Nya was prone to looking for love around every corner and as Sabrina sometimes joked, under every rock. But after Sabrina’s failed marriage, she wasn’t looking for any man at all.

Though, if God were to appear before her and tell her that a certain man was the right one, she wouldn’t ignore that type of divine intervention. But for now, she was happy concentrating on her work as a photographer, which kept her very busy. And in this competitive field, she didn’t have much time to think about marriage or family. She was happy to focus solely on her career and expanding her clientele.

Over the past seven years, Sabrina had created a name for herself as a skilled wedding and special events photographer. It was her reputation that had led her to get what she considered a dream assignment. She was contracted to take photos of the local firemen at Station Two in downtown Ocean City for their annual firefighter calendar fund-raiser.

“And we can make it a business meeting, if you want,” Nya said. “I would love to see the shots you’ve taken of the first five firemen.”

Sabrina looked at her friend and grinned. “I’m sure you would.” But Sabrina was funny that way. She didn’t want anyone seeing her work until she was satisfied with it. From taking the shots to determining which ones were best, she was a consummate professional who trusted her eye and her eye alone. “You know I will let you see every single shot—once I have determined which ones are the best.”

Nya frowned. “Come on. I’m a hot-blooded, single female. I think I can help you determine which shots are the best.”

“You know how I work,” Sabrina said. “Besides, if I leave it to you, you’ll have all the raciest photos in the calendar—which is not necessarily what the fire station wants.”

“Racy sells!” Nya objected. “I saw the calendar they put out last year.” She frowned. “It was okay, but it could’ve been a lot better.”

“Which is why they hired me for the job.” Sabrina had taken the initiative to go to the fire station and offer her services as photographer for the next calendar. She’d brought a portfolio of her work, had talked to them about her creative ideas to make the calendar better and assured them she could produce a stunning calendar that would sell. She had obviously impressed the powers that be at the station, because they had given her the job. And along with it, a very attractive fee.

“It’s going to be a great calendar,” Sabrina said. Over the past week and a half a handful of the firefighters had come in as their schedules allowed. Firefighter Mason Foley was scheduled to come in the next afternoon, and she was looking forward to the shoot.

She had taken photos at the fire station already, and other places. But she had something else in mind for Mason. Perhaps along a stretch of beach or someplace with a scenic background. She was glad that he had hours to spend with her because she had a few locations in mind that would highlight the beauty of Ocean City. And most importantly, the brave men who worked to keep not only fire under control, but who also rescued people in car accidents and a number of other situations. The Ocean City Fire Department was all encompassing, and fires were really only a small percentage of the job they did.

“You know you don’t want to wallow in misery on your sofa this evening, especially not before your shoot tomorrow. And what better way to keep me distracted from the eye candy in the restaurant than to show me the pictures you’ve taken so far?”

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “Oh, you’re good.”

Nya tapped a finger against her cheek. “What better way to kill two birds with one stone? Lighten your mood, and keep me from flirting with the available men?”

That remained to be seen, but Sabrina was already sold. Why not? She made the rules, so she could certainly break a few every now and then.

“All right,” Sabrina began, “I’ll bring the laptop and let you see some of the shots I took of the first firefighter, Alex. I want to go over those with a fresh eye, anyway.”

Nya squealed. “Oh, I can’t wait!”

Chapter 3

Sabrina held the receiver to her ear and listened to the phone as it rang. On the third ring, she was pretty certain that Mason Foley wasn’t going to pick up.

Again.

She had already left him two messages to confirm their appointment, but he hadn’t gotten back to her. Now, she had no clue if he was going to show that afternoon.

“How unprofessional can a person be?” she muttered, and pulled the phone away from her ear to hang up. She halted. Had she just heard someone say something on the other end of the line?

Quickly, she brought the phone back to her ear, still uncertain if she had heard anything other than the beginning of Mason’s voicemail greeting.

“Hello?” said the groggy voice.

“Oh, hi,” Sabrina said lamely. She had expected no response and wasn’t actually prepared to speak to the man.

“Yes?” Mason said.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I wake you?”

She heard him yawn before saying, “It’s okay. Who’s calling?”

Sabrina glanced at the clock on her computer screen. It was minutes after ten in the morning—a time when most people were up. But Mason was a firefighter, and she knew that they worked twenty-four hour shifts. It was likely that he had worked the night before and barely had a full night of rest.

Either that or he had spent the night pleasuring a woman. She’d seen his picture, and just looking at his gorgeous face and immaculately toned body, she knew he was the type who had to fight them off.

“Hello?”

“Um, this is Sabrina Crawford,” Sabrina quickly said, wondering why her thoughts had ventured to Mason’s likely night of making love. “I’m the photographer working on the Firefighter’s Calendar. I’m sorry to call so early. But you’re supposed to come in today for your shoot.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

What did that mean? “So you’re going to make it?” Sabrina asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be there.”

“Oh. Oh, good.”

“Why do you sound surprised?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure. I left you a couple of messages to confirm, and I didn’t hear back from you.”

“Sorry about that. I’ve been busy with work. I meant to call you back, but didn’t get around to it.”

“It’s fine,” she told him. At least she’d gotten through, because she had started to worry that he would be a no-show. “So today at three o’clock?”

“Actually, is there a chance we can do it a bit later?”

“How much later?”

“Like four p.m. I had a late night due to a fire. You may have heard about it. The restaurant on Maple Avenue. And I’d like to head into the firehouse before seeing you. I need to follow up on something.”

“Four o’clock will be fine. Again, I’m sorry I woke you up.”