Page 10 of Playing with Fire

I said a silent prayer as the information came through the radios and turned on the lights and siren before pulling the rig out of the bay. Jay rode next to me with Zack and Seth in the back. Since Adam had picked up an EMT shift today, he followed in the ambulance along with our resident paramedic, Kyle Williams.

Not surprisingly, Zack volunteered to rappel down the cliff face to the hiker who’d slipped and tumbled off a rock scramble. I had no problem letting the young guys do the crazy shit now. I was getting too old to rappel down fucking cliffs.

At least this call had a decent outcome, and the hiker walked away with what looked like a sprained ankle. Lucky guy.

Once back at the station, we all ended up back in the common area. Well, everyone except Seth. I eyed him as he walked past us toward the bunk room. He’d been here over a week now and had barely said more than a few words, and only when it was necessary. He wasn't only quiet, he actively avoided integrating himself into the house.

Firefighter teams were close-knit. We had to be to depend on each other like we did. You had to trust the guy behind you, or outside the structure you were working in, to have your back. I worried that Seth wasn't going to be the right fit. That his line of separation between him and us would end up causing problems.

“Just because you're married doesn't mean you're dead,” Zack said.

I blinked and tuned back into the conversation. Was Zack still going on about the blonde bystander at the call?

Jay opened one eye from where he was stretched out on the sofa and peered over at Zack. “Maybe you should have gotten her number if you think she was that hot.”

“Who said I didn't?”

We all groaned. Zach was the one who got baked goods delivered to the house as a thank you. The one who would smile and charm a crowd, or offer a hug to a distraught person on a call, or in a coffee shop. He was our very own golden retriever. We made jokes that we didn't need a dog, we had Zack.

I only had an hour left on my shift when the alarms rang again. Dammit. Fully involved fire meant I was likely going to be very late tonight.

Not only would it take longer to get under control, it was in a neighboring town, which meant longer travel times there and back.

“Jesus,” Jay muttered as the large building, almost completely engulfed in flames, came into view.

“Yep, gonna be a long one.” I voiced what I knew he was also thinking.

Taking cues from the company that arrived first, we took over handling the water supply for the large warehouse fire that required three different companies, and waited for additional orders. The next shift showed up in the tanker truck less than an hour later, but the fire was stubborn, keeping both of our shifts on site well past sunset. Chief Thompson and one of the other chiefs even called in the volunteer firefighters for our houses, and we still could have used more manpower. Fires like these were hell.

“Here.” Seth held a bottle of water out toward me.

I cocked a brow as I took it from him.

“Don’t want to be picking your heavy ass up off the ground, old man,” he clipped.

“Don’t worry about me.” I smirked. “Pretty sure I’m in better shape than you.”

With a chuckle, he opened his own bottle and chugged half the contents. I did the same. Staying hydrated was essential, and I appreciated his attempt at watching out for me. Hell, I think he said more words to me in that fifteen-second exchange than he had all week. Maybe he would eventually integrate into the team, he just needed time to get there.

* * *

I was utterly exhaustedwhen I finally parked my truck in the driveway and trudged to the side door. The house was quiet. I wasn't surprised the girls were asleep already with how late it was.

I set my bag down and looked around the kitchen. It was spotless. Did she make dinner? Because it didn't look like anyone was even in it today. I continued into the dimly lit great room, and my gaze landed on Izzy curled up on the couch.

I stepped closer until I was able to make out her features. Asleep on her stomach, her blonde hair framed her face, falling over her shoulder, and her long eyelashes lay flush against her cheeks. I groaned as I zeroed in on her bare lower back, clad in a short, tight crop top. The jeans she wore outlined the curve of her ass.

My dick throbbed uncomfortably in my pants and I closed my eyes, thinking about five different mundane things that only had a semi useful effect. I had to figure out how to do this. I had to make this work for my girls. I chuckled darkly to myself. Maybe today went horribly and they'd tell me she was awful.

Well now I was being an asshole. Izzy needed this job, I knew that. So for everyone's sake, I needed my dick to not like her so much.

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch, avoiding looking at the beauty asleep in front of me. Quickly covering her up, I walked out of the room before my rebellious lower appendage took my gesture as a sign of encouragement.

Tomorrow we'd need to talk about the sleeping arrangements. I was so frustrated on Tuesday morning I forgot that was one of the things we needed to discuss. I had night shifts coming up in the next few weeks, and even shifts like today could run hours over. It made sense for her to have a setup in the guest room that she could use instead of sleeping on the couch.

Plus, I wasn’t sure how many more of these late-night encounters I could take.

I glanced back over my shoulder, warring over if I should wake her or not. I decided against it. I doubted my ability to successfully hide my attraction to her after the day I had. Hard days like today made the nights of climbing into bed alone so much harder, and imagining her in my bed was too easy. That wasn't a road I was ready to go down.

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