How to Tame a Wild Fireman Read Online Free PDF Page B

refreshments. Janey was the intellectual of the group, and took a scientific approach to sex. She’d once warned Lara not to date a new guy while taking birth control pills because they’d mess with her ability to chemically sense if he was a good genetic match.
    “I’m doing okay. I just never thought Aunt Tam would actually . . . I mean, I figured she’d beat the odds. Find some shaman in Peru or somewhere who’d chant her back to health.”
    “I’d have put money on her outlasting us all,” said Dynah Steel. Six feet tall, her wheat-­gold hair tucked into a ponytail, she wore a ribbed white cotton tank over a skirt decorated with OM symbols. Bright purple cowboy boots completed the look; Dynah had always refused to be a cliché. She’d joined the Haven while Lara was in college.
    “My heart weeps for you, Lara, even though I’ve only heard about you from Miz Tam,” said a delicate-­looking blonde, whose hair was pinned in dozens of little knots, and whose violet eyes were rimmed in tragic-­looking charcoal.
    “You must be Romaine,” said Lara, remembering Aunt Tam’s mention of a fragile new runaway she’d taken in. Lara still didn’t understand why Romaine had named herself after lettuce, but there was a lot she didn’t understand about the sex industry. And the self-­help industry.
    “Your aunt saved my life,” she answered dramatically. “I’ll hold her close forever.”
    Annabella came back into the room carrying a red enamel tray. It held a pitcher of cucumber-­scented water, glasses, and date-­almond cookies. Annabella, who came from Brazil, was a fount of oddball beauty tips. She’d taught Lara not to wash her hair every day to preserve the oils—­and how to shop for hair products at the hardware store. “Diatemaceous earth, querida . I can barely pronounce it, but I swear by it.”
    Lara took a glass and sipped. It was heaven on her throat, which was already feeling the effects of the smoke in the air.
    “I might as well tell you right up front that Tam’s passing has raised some issues for the business,” Janey said. “Not that it matters to you, since you’ve always kept your distance from the Haven.”
    “Actually—­”
    “It’s my fault. I’m no good at the workshops,” interrupted Romaine, who looked to be on the edge of tears. Or maybe her eye makeup always made her look that way.
    “I’m sure that’s not true,” said Lara uncomfortably.
    “It is.” Janey was never one to dance around the truth. “Romaine still hasn’t connected with her inner power. But she’s working on it.”
    “The problem is,” said Dynah, “the wildfire’s been terrible for business. No ­couple wants to deepen their relationship while they’re hacking their lungs out. I say we need to get back to basics. The old in-­and-­out, wham bam thank you ma’am, see you same time next week.”
    Lara winced. So this was her legacy. “I don’t know if that’s—­”
    “Silly us,” said Annabella, nestling into a love seat and curling her legs under her like a cat. “As if you care about our little problems. It will all work out. It always does. We want to hear about you, querida .”
    “Well, as a matter of fact—­”
    “It’s not going to just magically work out,” said Dynah, legs crossed, one purple cowboy boot bouncing restlessly. “I need to make me some money, honey. I have a horse ranch all picked out back in Kentucky, just waiting for my down payment. And right now the money’s disappearing faster’n my virginity on prom night.”
    “That’s not true,” said Janey, perching a pair of wire rims on her eyes and pulling out a ledger. “Business was up ten percent last week.”
    “Yeah, from zero.”
    “Tam always told us that focusing on the negative solves nothing,” said Janey, her brown eyes firing sparks behind her glasses.
    “Negative income solves nothing either. We’re in the sex business. All the other stuff is woo-­woo. The workshops, the