Page 23 of The Fire Captain's Unexpected Baby
What is this woman doing to me?
* * *
Almost there.
After a 36-hour shift, less than two hours remain on the clock. Big plans surface in my mind: a shower much hotter than our station heater can produce, a short nap in a soft bed, and a trip to see Paige and Noah.
Even with hours separating us, I’m already envisioning what I’ll do to her when I see her again. At the shelter, there were too many people. Not that I care who sees me kiss her, but it’s obvious Paige does.
She has history in this town, and I don’t want to step on toes.
The couch groans as I lean back on the cushions, arm draped over its sturdy back. Nobody else is with me; everyone is prepping for the shift change and eager to leave. All the better for my imagination to run wild.
My mind holds every single curve of Paige’s body, but I zoom in on the slope between her hip and ribcage. She’s softer than many women, the result of her cherished status as a mother. She earned every one of those curves, and they look damn good on her.
How could anyone have left her behind once they saw her?
Stop.
I have to stop this train of thought right now. Someone will come in, and my arousal is obvious. The guys here all knowabout Paige now. Once Levi had the news, the gossip spread like wildfire.
Obviously, I’m hard for her. Crown Hill’s sweetheart.
I shift and try to hide the evidence of my… musings. My jeans still tent uncomfortably. The only thing I can do is grab a pillow and try to cover the whole mess.
Fortunately, I’m saved by the bell.
The fire station blares into life with the cacophonous bell. My heart stutters in my chest, images of yesterday’s wildfire roaring back. Heat from the flames beats at the back of my neck, the kind that never truly leaves.
Once you’ve experienced a wildfire or two, you surrender any notion that you have control over what happens on this earth. Firefighters do their best to control the uncontrollable, but wildfires…
Wildfires are a special kind of hell.
Pulse pounding, I leap from the couch in the span of a single breath without thinking about my erection. The only thought left in my mind is to get to the gear room as quickly as possible.
“House fire,” Zachary tells me, an amused smile on his face.
I still race to the engine. Time is of the essence. Who knows what sort of damage could be done while we’re sitting here yapping?
Levi strolls into the room, casual as can be. He grabs a small fire extinguisher with a sigh and loads it into the back of the SUV. Most of the guys go back to what they were doing, uninterested in the call.
“We need to get on the road,” I say firmly.
“We will,” Zachary assures me. He disappears into his seat in the back of the engine, then his voice calls out to Levi, “Paige trying to make breakfast again?”
“Apparently,” Levi says with an eye roll. “Let’s head out.”
I don’t understand why everyone is so damn nonchalant on a call like this, especially now that they’ve told me we’re headed to Paige and Noah. I grip the edge of my seat until my knuckles turn white.
We can’t get there fast enough.
“Nothing to worry about,” Zachary assures me when the engine hits the asphalt of the main road. “She’d tell us if it were an emergency. She has a bit of a… reputation here.”
I narrow my eyes at him. I don’t like the idea of my girl having a reputation.
“You’ll see when we get there.” He chuckles to himself and watches out the window as the town comes into focus.
We’re going slower than I’d like to. At this rate, Levi will beat us there in the SUV. Despite my impatience, we eventually make it to her house. No flames are evident from the outside. Only a few tendrils of smoke curl through the open kitchen window.
