Page 19 of Rescued Dreams
Amelia turned and stomped away. Ridge caught Della and Izan looking at them and saw flashes of smiles shared when they glanced at each other.
Great.
His first day as truck lieutenant was going just great.
SEVEN
Amelia stepped out of her turnout pants, feeling the ache of spending a couple hours working at that house. Making sure the fire was put out. Cleaning up enough that the family could get in and out when they came back. And boarding up the doors and windows that had been destroyed. No one wanted some enterprising thief going through the house and taking what they wanted.
“That’s twice now, right?”
She glanced over at Ridge. Trying to make small talk—about work—when he’d practically asked her out before. Amelia didn’t know what to say to that. Or what to do about him and the fact he was her boss now.
She managed to say, “Twice now, what?”
It was more than triggering having him in a position of authority over her. The awareness of him was in her bones. She’d made peace with that and had come to terms with working together.
She didn’t even care that he might be the other firefighters’ choice.
The simple fact was that her feelings would cloud her judgment. And with him as her lieutenant, he could use that sway over her. He could use it against her the way her ex, Nicholas, had.
“That we’ve seen someone run off from a scene.” He stepped out of his pants and waited for her to gather up her coat and pants.
She walked to the coat room with Ridge right behind her. “I didn’t see the guy’s face, did you?”
“I only saw a flash of dark clothing,” he said from down the aisle where rescue squad kept their things in cubbies. She stood in the Truck 14 section. A nice arrangement, their things separate from each other, which meant she’d occasionally worked a whole shift without thinking about him. Doing her job, sticking to her office.
Now she would see him every time she got in the truck. Taking the lieutenant’s test again would put things back to rights, but would she get her position back, or would Chief James conveniently find her a spot somewhere else—like Westside Firehouse?
She shoved her boots onto the shelf. “You know, when I get my bars back, I want my seat back as well.”
Ridge glanced over. “I filled a gap in the lineup in a pinch, that’s all. Rescue squad has had two lieutenants before.”
“That doesn’t mean I get my seat back. That’s a justification for me staying in this seat while you have mine. Long-term.”
“I don’t want your job, Amelia.” He took a step toward her, rested his palm on the wall and braced himself like that. Taking up the whole aisle with the breadth of his shoulders—or it seemed like that, at least.
“Good, because you can’t have it.”
“If I’d turned Macon down, he’d have brought in a lieutenant from another house or found a float to fill the position. I didn’t want that to happen.”
Amelia said, “Well, thanks. I guess.”
“No one is trying to take anything away from you.”
She sniffed. “Good, because I don’t have anything to give.”
Ridge let go of the wall and came closer. “Why do you think that’s true?”
“Because I’m not a liar.”
“Amelia—”
She knew that look. “Can we not do this? I’m not a challenge you need to best. I’m not a problem to solve. I just want to do my job and then go home—” Her voice broke. She cleared her throat. “Home.”
Home was the firehouse.
She had to shut this down before he said something else. “I don’t need any help from anyone. I can deal with this. I don’t need to talk, and I definitely don’t need coffee.”
