So, yes indeed, there is a hot fireman in Beneath the Stars. However, I think it’s important to note, this is not your typical hot fireman romance. Eddie Garner, while the excerpt at the end of this post might make you question, is a man who has spent his life thinking about other people before himself. His foundation was shaky as a child, and through circumstance after circumstance, he learned that when he saved people, the ground wasn’t so shaky.
And as we look to the end of this week when the United States turns its control over to someone who doesn’t seem to have a selfless bone in his body (among other heinous issues), it’s good to remember the selflessness of others, and to check our own capacity for it. Like this fireman says, “Get in the game; save the shoes.”
Please enjoy this short video. I have no problem seeing Eddie giving us the same message.
For a little more “real” Eddie visual, please enjoy:
Sid squatted and shoved an open bottle of water into Chief’s line of vision. “Drink.”
… Chief poured the water over his face and head.
“You need to ingest—”
Chief opened one eye, took the second bottle, and drank with long intentional pulls. He emptied the bottle. A lazy smile crinkled the corners of his eyes as his head tilted in question. “Are you some sort of angel?”
Sid laughed and sat down. Cold dampness seeped through his track pants. “Hardly.” Chief ’s color remained peaked; his movements were lethargic, as if he was dragging his limbs through molasses. Sid took his pulse: slow, as expected. “Let’s get you to the truck for some air conditioning, huh?”
“Nah, I’m fine.”
“You’re not. Where are your medics?”
“I’m going to need more than air conditioning to have this conversation.” Sid helped Chief to stand and braced him more tightly when he wobbled. “Fuck. They are never going to let me live this down, are they?”
“Nearly passing out on your second day on the job? No. No, they are not.”
…
Sid rearranged the cold cloth on Eddie’s neck. When he sat, Eddie stared at him, chin in hand and a dopey grin on his face.
Regardless of the circumstances, Eddie was classically handsome: sandy blond wavy hair, blue eyes. He had a ruggedness about him that softened whenever he smiled. He would easily fulfill anyone’s latent fireman fantasies, Sid’s included—provided Sid had such fantasies, which he didn’t. He hadn’t the time.
“I didn’t get your name,” Eddie said with more clarity.
“That’s because I didn’t give it. Phone number?”
“9-1-1.”
“For fu—” Sid grabbed his phone, found the phone number of the fire station and put it on the form. “And it’s Sid, Sid Marneaux.”
“Sid Marneaux, county disaster rescue worker and a hottie to boot. It’s my lucky day.”
The fireman fantasy faded into a pile of machismo idiocy. “Are you
still out of it, or are you naturally a jackass?”
Beneath the Stars, releases on Feb. 16, 2017, and is available for pre-order. Enter now to win a free e-book bundle and a $25 gift certificate to my publisher, Interlude Press.
You can win a free print copy by entering the giveaway at goodreads.
