Page 21 of Steamy Dreamy Hearts

“Fucking too late,” he grumbled. He began to walk up the road as I scrambled after him.

There was a muffled shout. “Over here. Help us, please, God,” a man’s voice called, choked and thin.

Looking up, we saw a small chicken coop. The birds screeched, running wild. Beyond that, a shed. It was a miracle we heard the man’s voice. We hurried to the small wooden structure. A man and his son crouched in the corner, stuck behind a caved-in roof. We couldn’t easily get to them. Hot licks of the fire burned way too close to their location.

“I’ll hose the ground, you secure them.” Smack tossed me an emergency backpack, and I doused some blankets with water.

“Come with me.” I waved my arms at the chickens, and they moved in the right direction, away from the fire.

“Oh my God,” the man said, staring at the flames looming over us. Smack took out a foam extinguisher and went to work. Who knew what was burning around us? The hazardous conditions, the materials a wildfire would carry, were serious.This was a hot zone like I’d never seen. I had been too confident about containment, which was uncertain. All of a sudden, there was a bang and falling debris. Shingles flew off the roof, branches crashed around us, and the air was filled with particles and acrid fumes winding around us.

“Daddy!” the son screamed.

I leapt to the boy, working on an extraction where he was lodged underneath the rubble. We didn’t have anything like the Jaws of Life with us, but luckily, the debris wasn’t heavy or sharp. A piece hit my arm, but I kept working. More pieces rained down as I worked to dig the child out. I cleared his foot, and we brought him to his weeping father.

He hugged his son to him. “Our Lord, please.” He looked at the ominous sky.

“Pray, but move,” Smack snapped.

The father and son obeyed his orders, even as the dad continued to sob and pray. Smack lifted the boy into his arms and helped him over the rugged terrain. I watched him gently put the boy down, ruffling his hair.

“Caleb is going to take you two the rest of the way.” He glanced at me. “I want to recheck the area before I follow.”

“Okay.” I bit my lip to not say more. I wanted to warn him to be careful or hurry back—something totally inappropriate to say to my captain.

As if he read my mind, Smack gave me a long stare, his eyes hooded, his stance hard and sexy. Then he stalked away.

I wrapped them in wet blankets and made our way out of the danger. As I brought them to safety, the man openly wept. “It’s going to all be gone, isn’t it?”

“Don’t look at that. Look at your son.” As I spoke, I allowed myself to look at Captain Smack, strong and safe and making his way toward us.

When he reached us, he laid his gloved hand on the man’s shoulder. “All right?”

The man cleared his throat, wiping his eyes with the blanket. “We will be. Thank you.”

Smack turned to me. “Good? I saw the piece of the shed hit you.”

I nodded. “I’m fine. You?”

He gave a single dip of his head and smiled. I didn’t know if he was thinking about how we’d saved the father and son, or if he was glad the two of us got out of this one okay, or if he needed comfort from me. I smiled back, aching to give him whatever he needed.

“Let’s get them to a shelter.”

After we took them to safety, Smack asked, “Are you okay? You’ve been quiet.” His eyes searched mine.

“Sure, I’m fine.” I rubbed the back of my neck, scanning the signs of lingering smoke in the horizon. “I’m just happy we helped out and did some good today.”

“You always do good, Caleb.”

His voice was so sincere, his words so simple. Yet he made me want to cry. My gaze fixed on his.

“You should be happy with your work. With everything,” Smack added softly.

“Is anybody that happy?” I shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe happiness takes more courage than fighting fires.” Smack studied me for a long moment, as if to memorize my features. This normally made me uneasy, but not with him. I looked in return, studying his eyes, mouth, the shape of his head.

“Do you want to go get some rest?” Smack asked, clearing his throat.

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