Page 24 of Her Silver Fox Firefighters
She’s gorgeous, skinny, and I can’t help but feel a little self-conscious all of a sudden.
“I just spoke to the sheriff,” she says. “They didn’t make any arrests!”
“Just hold on, Jocelyn,” Dax replies. “There weren’t any suspects on-site, only the factory workers.”
“It’s common knowledge that arsonists like to watch their fires burn,” Jocelyn says. “He should’ve rounded everybody up, including the onlookers. I saw plenty of those.”
“It doesn’t work like that. People have rights, you know. It’s in the Constitution,” Leo shoots back. “This is the second suspected arson, but you’re well aware of how difficult arson is to prove. Unless we find remnants of a flammable device or accelerant, there’s nothing that a good defense lawyer won’t be able to shoot down in court.”
“You need to let me worry about court,” Jocelyn snaps, then pauses upon noticing me. “And who are you?”
Suddenly, I feel like an ant under a magnifying glass and Jocelyn’s eyes are the sun that’s about to burn a hole right through me. What’s worse is that I sense a hint of familiarity between Jocelyn and the guys, the kind of familiarity that goes beyond whatever professional relationship they might have.
Maybe I’m imagining it, but my intuition rarely fail me.
“This is Olivia,” Dax says, standing tall and firm right next to me.
“I work here,” I add.
But Jocelyn can see right through me, and I’m convinced that I wasn’t wrong about the familiarity between them. Shescoffs and crosses her arms over her chest. “New flavor of the month, guys?”
“What are you implying?” Leo asks, his brow furrowed.
“I’m Jocelyn Lopes, assistant district attorney, among other things,” she tells me. She pauses and gives Dax a wry smirk. “Trying bigger girls now, I see.”
“Excuse me?” I feel my blood boiling.
“You’re not their type,” she says matter-of-factly as she points down at her own figure, “obviously.”
“Jocelyn, that is beyond inappropriate,” Dax warns her.
“Oh, really?” she laughs. “Pardon me for being honest.”
“No, you’re being mean and childish,” Beck retorts.
It’s enough to silence her and turn her cheeks red. Jocelyn wasn’t expecting this reaction from the guys, apparently.
“I thought we agreed to leave the past in the past,” she says.
“Would if we could, darling,” Beck says. “But you’re the one who walked in here with the wrong attitude.”
“Jocelyn is mean,” Luke tells his father in a low voice.
“I’m just being honest, honey,” she says to Luke, then shrugs, looking back at me. “Don’t get me wrong, Olivia. Big girls are beautiful, too.”
“Gee, thanks,” I shoot back. “You don’t even know me.”
Before she can say anything else, Dax levels her with a look. “Just stick to your job and leave our private lives out of it.”
Jocelyn stops and thinks about it for a moment. She’s a smart woman with sharp eyes, that much is obvious. There’s ahistory between the four of them, and it makes my stomach tighten. But I have a history, too, one that I’m adamant about keeping to myself, for everyone’s sake.
It’s not my place to judge, but I really don’t like Jocelyn.
“Fair enough. I’ll liaise with the PD and start bringing people in,” she says. “I’m sure the arsonist was there, watching his masterpiece unfold.”
“You do that, Jocelyn,” Leo replies curtly. “We’ll testify in court when the time comes.”
“You’re going back there tonight, aren’t you?” she asks.
