For a Hero (4 page)

“No, I mean, this asshole was being really mean to these women on the bus. And this guy just didn’t let him get away with it. It was so . . . refreshing.” Jenna’s eyes wondered off into the distance as she enunciated the final word.

Miranda smiled to herself while she coated her graham cracker with melted marshmallow. “It looks like somebody has got a little crush.”

“That is complete and utter nonsense. I am a grown-up, adult woman with a great career, a fat nest egg, and a Dodge Stratus that I don’t drive because I don’t yet know the city I live in. I don’t get crushes. At the most, I was mildly fascinated.”

“By his body!” Miranda raucously added.

“Oh hush.” Jenna’s feigned posh didn’t fool Miranda, for the pull of a smile tugged her dimples out and flushed her cheeks the most pleasant pink.

“It’s ok, Girlfriend. I won’t tell anybody. I know you want to be Miss Serious and Cool all the time. Here, let me help distract you until you see your crush again. I have this ‘friend.’” Miranda held her fingers in quotation mark positions while she said the word. “His name is Blaine Windsor, a total hottie. He and I are kind of seeing each other.” She smiled a naughty smile to herself in memory of an undoubtedly hot fantasy. “Anyway, he kind of owns Austin. He is always throwing parties and charity events. Tomorrow night, he is hosting this Holiday Fantasy Date thing. All of these gorgeous men are going to be up for auction. If you get one, he is supposed to take you on a once-in-a-lifetime kind of date. Blaine invited me to go, as long as I promised not to bid on any of the other men. Nobody said YOU couldn’t shop around a little, however.”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure about plopping down a huge sum for a Fantasy Date. Besides, I can’t even get a real date, the kind where the guy pays. Plus, the only guy I’d want to go on a date with got dropped off at the fire hall today and I didn’t even catch his name.”

“Stop being such a chicken, Jenna. You’re going to loosen up, you’re going to go to this thing with me, and you’re going to have a fantastic time ogling half-naked men, and that is final.” Miranda sloshed her drink at Jenna at each ‘you’re’ for emphasis. “Look, I even have the little brochure. It has a picture of all the men being auctioned. Pick you out one, Girlfriend, and then go home and scoop all the change out of your cushions.”

Jenna begrudgingly took the booklet from Miranda’s hands. It read “Fourteenth Annual Holiday Fantasy Date – meet the man of your dreams, and let him make your dreams come true.” “Oh my god.” Jenna rolled her eyes as she read on. The list of charities benefiting from the auction was huge. “Wow, this must be a really big deal. How do they guarantee that the men are sold for enough money to cover the cost of the evening, much less have any profit for all these charities?”

“Oh Honey, you don’t understand. This is not your average, every day, run-of-the-mill fundraiser. These are major-league players here. Blaine is worth eight figures. All of the people he invited to come are probably going to spend a pretty penny just to show off in front of their other little rich friends, and I expect each of these men to sell for around ten thousand dollars. Plus, look at the caliber of guys being auctioned. Tell me how much YOU think a date with a guy like that is worth?”

Jenna flipped to the back of the book. She wasn’t impressed. They looked like models, actors, sport stars, and a few even looked like her Hallmark card man but none of them really stood out . . . and then her breath suddenly escaped her lungs. Her mouth fell agape.

It was him. Her angel. Her Wonder Boy. Her hero. Leaning against the silver pole of the fire hall, smiling a million-watt scorcher, he tore her heart asunder. He wore yellow fireman’s pants with red suspenders over a navy blue t-shirt that was tight enough for the cords of his chest to shine through. She couldn’t decide what was more beautiful, the line on his triceps or the way his blue eyes sparkled as he smiled. She felt alive in places she forgot she had, her empty, aching pussy and her empty, aching heart.

Miranda noticed the look on Jenna’s face. “I told you they were something! Look at you; you’re having trouble containing yourself. You can keep that brochure, Girl I don’t want to know what you are going to do with it when you get home.”

“You aren’t going to believe this.” Jenna trembled. She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“What is it?”

“This is him.”

“Who?”

“Him.”

“Girl, you better be A LOT more specific.”

“He, him. My man.” She realized that expression left her lips too late. “This is him, the guy from the bus.”

“Oh my, which one? Let me see!” Miranda grabbed at the booklet and pulled it from Jenna’s vice-like grip. “Hmmmmm. He IS scrumptious. What does the caption say? Oooooh. David Conlon, Chief of Austin Fire Department.”

“David Conlon.” Jenna spoke the name and then she sat silently in thought. Then she quickly grabbed her purse and plopped it on the table.

“What are you doing?” Miranda asked about her new friend’s curious behavior.

Jenna had grabbed her smart phone and opened an app. “I’m checking my bank account.”   

*****

“Where on Earth did you get this picture of me?” David flipped through the Holiday Fantasy Date booklet until he found that silly image of him in his fire pants. “No girl is going to want to bid for a guy who wears suspenders.”

“I thought you didn’t want anybody to bid on you, Boyscout. Didn’t you think this was silly?” Blaine worked away, shaking hands, directing workers, making plans, building the event all around him in the massive Austin Convention Center. The empty main hall has begun its transformation into a winter wonderland. Tinsel and garland hung everywhere. The tables were bedecked with elegant white tablecloths and in the middle of each sat a centerpiece of bounty and excess, the familiar likeness of a horn of plenty, and a boar’s head with real fruit and vegetables all around it. Mistletoe dangled over the entrance to every door, even over the stairs and down from the stage where the lucky women would be embraced by their perfect purchases later in the evening. And up above everything else, in the back of the stage, stood a twenty-five foot blue spruce Christmas tree. Decorations of red, silver and gold made it sparkle like the night sky.

“I don’t want anyone to bid on me, and it is silly.”

“Of course it is, and that is why you are wearing that super tight muscle shirt underneath your fireman’s uniform, because it’s silly.” Blaine’s facetious smile between his words of dictation to his employees shot out at David, warming his heart.

“You’re really getting into the Christmas spirit, aren’t you? Does it make it hard to meet your daily brooding quota?” David hated to admit it, but he was nervous, very nervous.

“Nah, I get all my brooding done in the morning over coffee. It might make it easier to relax if you have a seat with the other fantasy guys. Maybe they can calm you down a bit.” Blaine teased.

“Ha ha, very funny. For your information, Mr. Important, I do have some things I need to be doing. So you go right on ahead with your little event planning and I will leave you alone.” David tried desperately to hide his shyness and fear from his friend.

“Perfect. Good luck.” And Blaine was gone, disappeared into the bustle of the evening.

“Dammit.”

David glanced over to where the other men being auctioned were sitting. They laughed. They flexed. They were having a great time. ‘This is stupid,’ he thought. ‘This damn thing starts in two hours. Where is Sara?’

*****

The bubbly blonde bounced down the halls in the back of the convention center. David’s friend Blaine had given her a call and told her to meet him here early, that he needed her help with some special plans for David.

She knocked on the door, office 142B. It slid open. “Sara! Enchante!” Blaine grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the room. He lifted her hand to his lips and without breaking eye contact kissed the soft skin of the back of her hand.

“Oh my, David said you were smooth, but I had no idea you would be so charming.” Sara’s grace and poise was unwavering, but she blushed a tad nonetheless.

“What else has your cousin said about me?” Blaine’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh, just that you are tall, dark, handsome and rich and I should stay far, far away from you if I know what’s good for me.”

“Sounds like good advice. Danger is my middle name.” Blaine winks.

“You’re cute, Mister Windsor, but I am immune.” Sara winked back. “Now tell me more about this plan of yours.”

*****

“Oh Lord, Here goes.” David spoke to himself before it was his turn to be paraded out in front of the crowd. “They are probably all hopped up on eggnog and peppermint Schnapps; they won’t even realize I’m up there. Sara can just bid with the money I paid her and I can go home.”

The lights go down. Blaine’s voice can be heard over the intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, our final piece, and most sought after prize to be auctioned off at the 2012 Annual Austin Holiday Fantasy Date is an evening with our own Angel, Fire Chief David Conlon. He stands six feet, four inches, weighs two hundred thirty pounds and his hose is the longest in the city. He has recently garnered quite a bit of fame by saving the Congressman’s daughter at the Waldorf Estate. He loves moonlit walks, Irish cuisine and pulling damsels from distressing and precarious situations. Now, ladies, who needs rescuing tonight?”

A roar of applause and laughter filled the room. Spotlights erupted from the ceiling and formed a circle on the stage. A stage-hand from behind David pushed him out. “You’re up, Conlon.”

“For the first time on our stage tonight, Folks, wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, the original Fire Man, DAVID CONLON!”

Music came over the speakers. The song Blaine chose said it all. “Lay where you’re laying, don’t make a sound.” David didn’t know what to do. So he just walked out on stage. “I know they’re watching, they’re watching.” He smiled a little bit. Ladies like it when a guy smiles, right? “All the commotion, the kiddie-like play.” Then he looked out into the crowd. Women everywhere were screaming, gasping, waving, jumping giddily. A grin spread across his face. “Has people talking, talking.” No, he’s got this. He pops his suspenders off. “You. Your sex is on FIRE!” He rips his shirt off with his bare hands. The crowd goes wild.

Blaine laughs and put a hand over Sara’s. “Did you have any idea he had it in him?”

“Nope.” Sara pulls out her iPhone and starts recording video. “But he will tomorrow.”

“Get ready to bid, I’m about to open the floor and start auctioning. Do you remember the plan?”

Sara laughed. “I sure do.”

“Great, get into position. I’ll go grab the microphone.”

*****

Jenna gasped. “Oh Lord, there he is.” She held her placard tightly, not wanting to miss her chance. Miranda was thoroughly enjoying how excited her new friend had become.

*****

David shook his ass around. ‘This isn’t too bad,’ he thought. ‘I can do this.’ A silver pole stood erect on the stage. ‘That Blaine has got one terrible sense of humor. Oh well, if that’s what the ladies want.’

David strutted over to the pole. He put one hand on it, gripped it and flexed his arm. The crowd went wild. He turned. His other arm wrapped the pole. He tightened the muscles in his back and pulled himself up. He climbed up a few feet and took his feet off of the pole. He pushed himself up horizontal on the pole, hanging on and supporting himself with just his hands. ‘I could get used to this.’ He sealed his grip on the pole and walked himself down. The building was about to explode with applause.

His friend’s voice boomed over the room. “What a grade-A, prime cut of American beef, Ladies and Gentlemen. How much will it cost you to go on a fantasy date with this stud?” Blaine walked out on the stage. The music stopped. What a contrast stood up there in front of all those people. David, shirtless in flame-retardant pants and a fireman’s hat, and Blaine, elegantly clad in a tailored Italian suit.

“Flex for us, Chief.” Blaine knew that David hated to do that. “Show us those cannons.” On the inside, David groaned; on the outside, he put on a rugged face and did as he was told. His bicep exploded out of his shoulder. Blaine walked over and tried to put his palm around it. He couldn’t even come close. “How safe would you feel in these arms, Ladies?” The noise was deafening.

Blaine signaled to David. David thought ‘This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me.’ He ripped his pants off, showcasing the little thong he bought with Blaine. It was bright red with a little fireman’s hat shape right on the crotch. The ladies seemed to like that; one woman groaned and another one swooned.

“We usually start the bidding at one thousand dollars. But this is our main course, our plat de résistance. It would be downright criminal to let you steal this prize for such a price. I think five thousand dollars sounds fair. Who will give me five thousand dollars?”

Sara raised her placard. ‘That’s my girl,’ David thought.

“We have five, now six? Anybody give six thousand dollars?”

An elderly lady in the front signaled.

‘Oh God be with me.’ David muttered to himself.

“Six thousand dollars, Folks. Who will give seven?”

‘Sara, please Sara.’ David hoped and prayed and wished.

“I have seven thousand dollars from the gentleman in the back.” Blaine stated with a snicker.

‘Oh Jesus Christ, Sara.’

“Eight thousand from Miss DuPont. Thank you, Ma’am” Blaine worked the crowd a little bit.

David tried to focus his eyes; he tried to look out into the crowd to see Sara. ‘This has got to be a joke. Blaine put her up to this, but she will swoop in and buy me. I know it.’ He strains. There she is. She caught his eyes. He looked distraught. She shrugged her shoulders.

‘Dammit.’

“Nine thousand dollars from the gentleman in the back again, thank you for your tenacity, Sir.” Blaine gives David a conciliatory pat on the shoulder. “I have nine thousand, which one of you lucky ladies, err, I mean benefactors,” to bother David, “will be tripping the light fantastic with our David. He is a hero, remember? Can I get ten thousand dollars?”