Page 5 of The Fire Captain's Unexpected Baby
“I’ve solved your problem,” she announces as I slide behind the wheel. “You need to wear your best dress to the wedding.”
I don’t know whether I should hug my best friend or kill her.
Chapter Two
Aaron
It’s harder than I think it will be to return to work for the rest of the night. Like most evenings in Crown Hill so far, there aren’t many calls that require my attention. The lull was the reason I ended up at the hotel in the first place.
Now, I need to sit back and let my men have a turn doing the thing they love more than anything in the world.
Even if there are calls, I don’t think tonight is the night I’ll get to play the hero. Since the minute I sat down in the station living room, all I could do was think about that hotel call.
Damsel in distress. Handcuffed to a bed, half-naked.
I’ve seen my fair share of naked women in this line of work. For some reason, it seems that women arealwaysnaked or trying to get naked in front of the firefighters. I never had to shake the images from my memory out of respect for the women in distress.
Until now.
Paige was beautiful on that bed, her ginger hair fanned out on the headboard. Her cheeks flushed when I walked in to offer her the help her neighbors heard her screaming for. Her delicate wrists were small enough for me to wrap a thumb and forefinger around.
I might try to think about those things, but what I really noted was her body. The slope of her collarbone into the deep V-neck of her nightgown. The shape of her thighs. The dip of her waist, gentle and smooth from childbirth.
Her date left her for her mom bod, but me? I could hardly keep my hands to myself.
I can’t keep sitting here thinking about this.
I head straight to the weight room, hoping to blow off some steam. The clank of metal welcomes me as soon as I push through the door. Levi is already working up a sweat, head bobbing to the music pulsing from a speaker at his feet.
“Mind some company?” I ask before I jump on the treadmill.
“You’re the captain,” he says smoothly. He says it like I own the place. Like I can do whatever I want simply by virtue of my title. None of the men has fully accepted me here yet.
“You don’t have to do that.” I push the treadmill into a gentle walk to warm up.
“Do what?” Levi stops lifting weights to look me in the eye, maybe the first time since I got here a week ago.
“You know what I mean. The guys have made it clear that I haven’t earned my place here yet.”
“It isn’t about earning anything. Just let us get to know you. We can’t have your back if we don’t know anything about you,” Levi sighs. “Crown Hill is tight-knit. Everyone knows everyone.”
The last thing Paige said to me echoes in my mind.The rest of the station already knows me.
That would include Levi, wouldn’t it?
I could open up to him, share what happened tonight. Maybe we would have a good laugh. Maybe he would tell me where I could find the mysterious woman who’s taken over my thoughts.
Too bad I promised her that I wouldn’t tell my work stories, not even to the rest of the station.
“Think about letting us in,” Levi says, interrupting my inner loop before I could change my mind. Then, he disappears to take a shower.
I finish my run, thinking of what Levi said. I have a hard time accepting that these guys would take me just as I am—not if they know who I really am and what I survived to get here. I push myself harder, determined to prove to them that I earned the captain title.
This kind of motivation could really help me improve my fitness. Then, I shower and collapse into the small twin bed where I sleep.
When I wake up, Zachary is taking his place for the shift. Out of all the guys, he seems the most willing to let me in. True to form, he gives me a friendly smile and slaps me on the back as I sit up.
“Guess you had a slow night,” he says. “No kittens in trees to rescue?”
