Page 3 of The Fire Captain's Unexpected Baby
“All the same, it wasn’t right for him to leave you like this.”
“It’s a bit unlucky that this was my first date in a while, and it ended like this. But hey, I’ll have a funny story to tell my friends one day. And you will, too.”
“I never share stories from my work,” Aaron says quietly.
I wished the rest of the firefighters had his sense of integrity. The rest would have pounced on a story like this, paraded it around for weeks. They still will if they find out that Paige Reed has been handcuffed to a bed.
“I’m glad to hear it,” I tell him, relieved for now. “That’s lucky for me.”
“Why is that, beyond the obvious?”
“You’re the new fire captain, aren’t you?” I already know the answer in my gut before he nods.
“Aaron Evans,” he confirms, supplying his last name. A smirk appears on his lips. “This is my first week on the job. It’s provinginterestingso far.”
“Nice to meet you, Aaron Evans.” I flash him a smile, hoping that he’s willing to look past this unfortunate introduction. “Let’s just say that the rest of the station already knows me.”
“One more snip,” he says.
If he’s at all curious how I happen to know the rest of the station, he doesn’t ask. Clearly, he’s intent on keeping this story private.
He drops the handcuff from around my wrist. I rub the spot where the skin feels raw, but it feels good to be free. I stand up, throw on a t-shirt, and put on my jeans as quickly as I can. I grab my purse, but Aaron makes no move to leave.
My phone chimes in my pocket. An apology from my date, I hope.
“Do you need a ride?” Aaron asks, looking around the room. “It doesn’t seem like your date is coming back for you.”
“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I’ll walk home.”
The last thing I need to do is show up at my house with a man from the fire station in tow—the firecaptain, I remind myself. Levi would never let me forget this.
If he knew.
But according to Aaron Evans, he doesn’t gossip about even the most salacious calls he gets. Today’s not my lucky day, but I could have done a lot worse than landing assistance in the form of the new captain rather than my brother and his best friends.
“If you’re sure, duty calls,” Aaron says, interrupting my thoughts.
He stands from his spot on the bed, but not without one more glance at me. It makes me glad I’m not still half-naked on the bed. Quickly, he tears his eyes away from my body, almost embarrassed to have been caught looking.
I can’t blame him for committing the image to memory so he can conjure it up again when he needs a laugh. Stressful situations come with the territory when you decide to become a firefighter. A little levity is all you need sometimes.
At least I could provide that.
Aaron quietly packs up his toolbox, setting the bolt cutters on top as if they were the finishing touch. My skin pinkens, but I drag myself from the bed and start to put myself together to protect my fragile ego.
“Nice to meet you,” Aaron says. Then, he disappears through the door, and I’m left alone again with the thoughts and burning memory of the night.
My date might have been a total bust, but was it really a waste? I met the most handsome firefighter at the station tonight, and he practically vowed to keep my secret from the rest of his brothers.
Each one of his movements was slow. Steady. Calm. When he moved over me to free my wrist, he was a man of purpose with an innate confidence. I could picture us in a different setting: a candlelit dinner followed by a night like this one.
Or rather, a night like the one I hadplanned.
A night with his rough hands on the hem of my nightgown rather than my wrists. His tall body hovering over mine, pressing me into this cheap hotel mattress. My hands running through his short, dark brown hair.
I shake my head to clear my thoughts.
Aaron Evans is off-limits, even under better circumstances.
