The Firefighter and the Virgin Princess by Jemma Harte

with
him, it was over. Short and sweet. Just an experiment, nothing
more.
    What if a condom broke and she ended up like
Pregnant Carrie?
    A drooling baby? No way.
    But Joe Rossini was the type who would want
children and lots of them. He'd make a good father, she thought.
For someone else's brats.
    Even worse than a pregnancy— what if
something happened to him in a fire, she thought with a shudder.
She couldn't handle it. He was so full of life and vitality, but
look at what he did for a living! Like he'd said, you never knew
what might happen. Of course, the way he said it was breezy, trying
to make her agree they should throw themselves into a nonsensical
romantic relationship. But she didn't feel very breezy when she
thought about what he did. It was fine to eye up a hunky fireman
from a distance, but thinking about the danger he put himself
in—the reality of running into a burning building when everyone
else was running out...
    What sort of man would do that? Someone
brave. Someone crazy. Someone who didn't know fear or
uncertainty.
    Lily couldn't risk falling for him and then
standing at his grave one day when he left her. Everyone left her.
She was better off alone.
    Ignoring the sudden twinge of bitter sadness
in her heart, she quickened her steps, passing through the doors of
the NYBT rehearsal studios, almost colliding with a cluster of
young dancers heading out. They barely saw her. She watched them
leap out into the street, laughing and chatting. Anyone seeing them
must know they were dancers. They had that graceful poise in
everything they did and they couldn't walk down a sidewalk without
practicing a jete, or wait at a bus stop without trying a few pique
turns. She was like that once too.
    A fire truck went by as she stood there
watching through the glass doors. Her heartbeat tripped and
faltered.
    Oh, Joe, I'm
sorry . He was a good guy. He deserved
someone who could give him everything she had to give. Lily was
certain she couldn't keep him happy for long. It would be
disastrous, and he'd end up hating her because she couldn't give
him her sole attention.
    But thanks to him she had taken a few steps
that got her out of a rut. Now she was dancing again the way she
knew she could. Her body was refreshed.
    She owed him a thank you, at least. Her
grandmother might not approve of all that rough sex, but she would
approve of a thank you. Thank you notes and showing one's
appreciation when appropriate were very big on the list of
important things her grandmother had taught her.
    The next day she called his number, but it
went to voice mail and she hung up, losing her gumption. Lily hated
recorded messages, never knew what to say and ended up sounding
like a socially awkward idiot. Which she probably was,
actually.
    She'd have to think of some other way to
communicate her appreciation for what he'd done. Something more
imaginative and special than a silly, garbled phone message.
     

Chapter Seven
     
    When he arrived at the firehouse for his
next shift, something was waiting for him.
    "Hey, Joe, this came for you. It ain't
ticking so I guess you can open it."
    He caught the small package as it was
casually tossed over to him. Didn't recognize the writing. No
return address and the front merely had his name and shift written
on it, so it must have been hand-delivered.
    A pair of thick, waterproof gloves fell out
of the wrapping and with it a small card, which he luckily grabbed
before anyone else could and slipped it into his pants pocket.
    The gloves fit perfectly and they were warm.
Just what he needed, since he'd lost his other pair. She must have
remembered that.
    No girl had ever bought
Joe such a thoughtful gift. Donna had bought him fancy cologne and
silk ties that he didn't really wear— but she picked them out
because she liked
them. She'd never given him anything he really needed or wanted.
Nothing practical.
    "What's that dumb look on your face,
Rossini?" one of the men shouted. "You look like you just