Now that I have your attention… 😉
FOR SPARROW, Dream Dominant Book 3, is the 2018 Golden Flogger Award WINNER for Best BDSM Book (BDSM Light). I love saying that, LOL!
Judd Farris, the hero of the story is a hot Dominant firefighter paramedic. But do you wonder why I made him a first responder?
A few years ago, Mr. Spocks and I were invited to a quinceañera for the daughter of a friend. We had a great time, and as we were leaving, we stopped just outside the event hall to chat with some friends.
While we were standing there, a little old lady missed the curb and tripped and fell on the concrete driveway. Mere minutes later, a West Palm Beach fire rescue truck pulled up and out jumped the hottest guys you ever saw. All I could think was, Holy cow, do they only hire male models?
Don’t worry, the lady was okay, she was just a little banged up. But that was when I decided that Judd was a paramedic. And that incident became a scene in the story.
Here’s a brand-new teaser from award-winning FOR SPARROW.
Following the dinner service, the music came up and teens crowded the dancefloor. Jessi went to the kitchen to compliment the smooth service and give everyone a short break. The birthday girl wasn’t scheduled to cut the cake for another half hour.
Sarah was organizing the cake area, making sure that plates and flatware were ready. Jessi gave her a nod, and headed out the front door to catch a breath of fresh air.
The night was warm but there was a gentle breeze stirring. A few guests were chatting together on the front sidewalk, and Jessi wandered a few yards further away. She gazed up and wondered at the mostly full moon and the handful of stars overhead. Happy that the night was going well, she sighed contentedly.
Maybe we’ll get a couple of referrals before the night is over.
Jessi watched as a couple returned to the party, holding the door open for a pair of older ladies who appeared to be leaving. She had just decided it was time for her to go back inside when everything suddenly shifted into slow motion. One of the ladies missed the step off the curb and went down hard on the asphalt, her head striking the driveway with a thud.
Without hesitating, Jessi ran toward the fallen woman, leaning over her. “Ma’am, are you alright?”
The woman moaned weakly as her friend stood wringing her hands and whimpering softly. Jessi turned to a man who’d just come out the door. “Call 911! Hurry!” She knelt beside the woman and bent down to look at her face. The woman had definitely hit her head, Jessi had seen it happen. Now a large knot was forming on the woman’s forehead.
“It’s okay, ma’am, it’s going to be alright.” The woman tried to sit up but Jessi stopped her. “Just be still, help is on the way. We don’t want you to hurt yourself further.”
Jessi held the older woman’s hand as the mother of the birthday girl came outside.
“What’s going on? Tia, what happened?”
“Ai, mija, your tia fell off the curb,” the other older woman said.
Jessi smiled reassuringly. “I think she’ll be okay. Help is on the way. Maybe you can both go back inside and relax. I’ll come and let you know what’s happening.”
“Si, tia, you look pale. Come and sit down. I’ll come back out and stay with her,” the mother said. She escorted her aunt inside, and quickly returned. A small crowd started to gather on the front sidewalk.
“Maybe we could get a bag of ice,” Jessi suggested, and a guest raced into the building, soon returning to hand Jessi a small plastic bag of ice. She leaned over and as she gently pressed the ice to the growing knot, the woman moaned again. “It’s alright, hon, help is on the way.”
Even as she said the words, she saw the flashing lights of a bright red fire/rescue truck pulling into the parking lot. “Oh, thank God,” she murmured.
The truck pulled to a stop, and Jessi heard feet scrambling on the pavement and vehicle doors being opened and shut. She kept her eyes on the older lady who seemed to fade in and out of consciousness. “They’re here, it’s going to be okay.”
“What happened here?”
Jessi’s head jerked up at the familiar voice. Judd stood beside the truck dressed in his uniform navy pants and a grey fire/rescue polo that gloved his muscular shoulders. Before she could formulate her thoughts, he spoke.
“Jessi?”
“Hi, Judd,” she said shyly. “I saw the whole thing. She missed the step off the curb and fell pretty hard. I saw her head hit the pavement. I kept her still and we’ve put ice on the lump.”
Judd nodded. “Okay, thanks, we’ll see what we can do. Hello, dear, I’m Judd. It looks like you took quite a spill. Let me just take a look at your head.” Another man came around the truck with a box of equipment.
Jessi backed away from them as they went to work checking the woman’s vitals and speaking into their radios. Sarah came out and stood by Jessi. “I heard we had an accident. How is it going?”
“I don’t know,” Jessi shrugged. “It was pretty scary to watch, I’ll tell you. We’ll wait and see what they say.”
“Tell you what, I’m going to get the cake going and hopefully most of these people will go back inside. You don’t need an audience out here,” Sarah said. She turned to the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, the guest of honor will be cutting the cake in just a minute. Come on inside so we can sing to her.” Thankfully, most of the onlookers followed Sarah inside.
One woman, a relative of the injured woman, stayed. “Tia, let them do their job,” she said as the older woman insisted on sitting up.
“Ai, dios mio,” she exclaimed. “I’m just a silly old woman who didn’t watch where she was going. I’m fine. I want to go back to the party.”
Judd, noticing the worried look on Jessi’s face, gave her a quick wink. “I’d feel more comfortable if you’d let us take you to the hospital and have the doctors take a look at you, dear. That was quite a fall.”
“No,” she said defiantly, “I want to go inside.”
Judd looked at his partner and shook his head. The other paramedic spoke softly to the woman in Spanish, but she remained determined to stay at the party.
“We can’t make you go,” Judd sighed. “If you’re staying here, someone needs to keep an eye on you. If you have a concussion, there could be problems later on.”
“Si, I’ll watch her,” said the woman who’d stayed outside with Jessi. “Come on, tia, let’s get you back to your seat.”
Jessi watched as the younger woman helped her aunt back inside the building. Then she turned to Judd. “I’m so sorry you came out here for nothing.”
He smiled his patently kind Judd smile. “It wasn’t for nothing, that lady really hurt herself. I wish she’d let us take her in, but older folks can be stubborn sometimes.” He looked to the other man. “Jessi, this is my partner Alex Gomez. Gomez, this is Jessi Crenshaw.”
Alex flashed a bright white smile. “Nice to meet you, Jessi.” He was dressed in the same uniform as Judd, but he was a bit shorter, with wavy black hair and sparkling brown eyes.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. You know, since you don’t have to make the run to the hospital, do you have time to come inside? The birthday girl should have just cut the cake.”
“How could we say no to birthday cake?” Alex laughed, slapping Judd on the back. “You’ve been holding out on me, Farris,” he said under his breath as they followed Jessi into the party.
Pandora Spocks 