Chapter 10
KINCAID
DrunkenPoet: Ever have one of those moments where you’re absolutely sure you’ve met someone before, but they act like they’ve never seen you in their life?
IndexEcho: Story of my life overseas. Everyone thinks all Americans look the same. Why?
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After kissing the fuck out of Alex Marian, I quickly realized it was a mistake. Not because there wasn’t a spark there—that spark could have lit up the entire state of Montana—but because this man had already proven fickle once before.
He’d bailed on me in Amsterdam when someone better came along, and I had no intention of putting myself in that situation again. Despite how much I wanted him.
Not only that, but he was also currently under active permit suspension, which meant cavorting with him could be seen as inappropriate in my job. I had no intention of letting a one-night stand fuck with my career.
And it was clear Alex Marian wasn’t interested in more than a quick conquest anyway. He was playing with me, and I didn’t appreciate it.
The reasons to avoid him vastly outweighed the reasons to fuck him. And I needed to remember that.
I lasted one week, and then I decided two could play at his game.
“Please tell Mr. Marian I’m here for an inspection,” I told the hostess.
When Alex came out of the kitchen, his cheeks were already flushed dark pink. I wasn’t sure whether it was due to recalling the kiss or anger at yet another inspection.
In my defense, he was due for a random inspection, but to be fair, it didn’t have to be done by me. That was just a bonus to needle the guy.
“What do you want?” he asked. “Because we’re expecting a very large party for a special lunch event.”
“I’m here to follow up on the vent hood as well as check a few issues that will remain unnamed until after my inspection.” I raised an eyebrow in challenge. You didn’t get to have a list of what I was inspecting before a random inspection. That was the whole point.
He flapped a hand at the kitchen. “Fine. Then just get on with it, will you? We have work to do.”
I wasn’t proud that I took three times longer than necessary, but I couldn’t help my curiosity about the kid I’d met the last time I’d been at Timber.
So I asked a few seemingly casual questions of Alex’s staff as I took my time inspecting clear exits, seasonal decor, and the pesky vent hood nozzle.
Alex must have trained them well on the art of stonewalling, though. Because they were all friendly, and no one was willing to say anything about Tavo other than “he’s a great guy.”
“I didn’t catch his last name,” I tried with a sous chef and server at different times. Both times, they shrugged and pursed their lips. “Can’t remember. It’s hyphenated, I think,” said the sous chef. And, “No clue,” said the server.
The visit was a bust. Maybe if Alex hadn’t gotten a large delivery of beer while I was there, he would’ve spent more time challenging me or, at the very least, glowering at me. But as it was, he passed the inspection, and I had to get on with my workday.
“See you next time,” I said on my way out the door.
“Asshole,” Alex muttered under his breath.
I turned back to him with as charming a smile as possible and reminded him he’d volunteered for these inspections. “Also, I forgot to ask how the Slingshot Showdown went? Was it any good for business?”
The answer had already been obvious. Everyone in town talked about how great the Timber food truck had been and how they’d run out of burgers because the turnout had broken event records.
“In fact, it was. Thanks for asking. I earned just enough to pay for the new sprinkler system you recommended in my residence upstairs.”
I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “I never recommended a sprinkler system for your residence. Hell, I didn’t even know where you lived.”
Alex pursed his lips in a mock thinking expression. “Really? I could have sworn I heard you say this whole pile needs built-in sprinklers to keep it from murdering half the town.”
Now it was my turn to flush beet red. “It was my personal commentary. Not a professional recommendation. Although you can’t go wrong with additional fire suppression in an old timber building like this.”
Honestly, I was happy to hear he’d have such a system. If he wasn’t being sarcastic. There was one way to find out.
“Who’s doing the work?”
He frowned. “Vic Norman, why?”
I thought of the no-nonsense woman I’d met at a local training event in May. “Good. I like her.”
He rolled his eyes. “Oh, good. I wouldn’t want to use someone who wasn’t Kincaid-approved.”
“Glad to know you’re falling in line,” I said before walking away.
I could feel the heat of his glare on my back as I went.
The rest of August was pretty much the same. When we saw each other, there was both an undercurrent of annoyance and undeniable attraction. But when Labor Day weekend rolled around, there was also flirtation and an unexpected confession.
I blamed the alcohol.
Well, that and the fact that Alex’s cousin Tommy and his new boyfriend, Foster Blake, were inadvertently providing a hot peep show with lots of touches and kisses that made my fingers itch and my mouth water.
The SERA crew had invited me out to one of their big bonfire nights, and Timber was there supplying tasting flights of their new autumn beer selection along with tables full of pizzas, sandwiches, and large trays of pasta.
Everyone was happily buzzed, and there was quite a lot of flirting going on.
Just as I’d promised Max there would be, when he’d interrogated me on my personal life over Zoom earlier in the day.
“Promise me you’ll at least find someone to fuck tonight,” he’d said with a laugh. “Jesus, Judd. You sound uptight as hell. You used to be fun. What the fuck happened?”
I’d wanted to tell him the explosion had happened. And that it had happened because of lax standards on the air base. And that being in charge of the safety of this town was a responsibility I took seriously.
But I couldn’t deny he was right. There was more to life than my job, and I needed to blow off steam.
“You’re the fire chief, right?” a tall, attractive man asked as he transferred his beer cup from one hand to the other in order to shake my hand. “Name’s Monroe Travers. I’m one of the instructors here.”
“Nice to meet you. Judd Kincaid.” I returned his friendly smile. “What do you teach?”
As he began to tell me about rescue aviation and helicopter evacuation, I paid close attention. Not only was I interested in aviation, since I was specialty trained in ARFF, but I also couldn’t deny the man was sexy.
“If you have your Airport Master Firefighter designation, what are you doing here? Wouldn’t you rather be working in aviation?”
I shook my head just as my ears picked out the sound of Alex’s laughter nearby. “I wanted to get away from big cities. And the best aviation jobs are at the big airports.” It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was true enough.
We talked about ARFF for a little while longer. It turned out, his brother was a commercial airline pilot. Eventually, the subject changed.
“You an outdoorsman?” he asked, smiling enough to pop a dimple at me. “I’d be happy to show you some of the great trails around here, if you’re into hiking.”
Before I could answer him, I caught sight of Alex Marian escorting a much older woman to a seat by the fire. Her arm was in his, and his hand covered hers. He leaned in and grinned at her, saying something that made her cackle.
“Sorry, I… yeah. I’d like that,” I said. “Thanks.”
“That’s Alex Marian,” Monroe said, catching me staring. “And his great-great-aunt Tilly. She’s a wildcat with a barbed tongue, that one. Approach with caution.” His chuckle was warm and easy.
“There seem to be a million Marians around here,” I commented.
“No shit. They’re everywhere. Seem to have bought up the whole town, not that I’m complaining.”
“How do you mean?”
He shrugged. The golden light from the fire caught a few strands of hair that had come loose from his casual ponytail. “They helped Trace start SERA. Donated the land and invested seed money. They’re rich as fuck. You know Jude Marian, who was a country singer like a million years ago?”
“Shit,” I said, as I put two and two together. “That’s his family?”
Monroe nodded. “Yeah, and I think they were rich before that. Jude’s parents bought the old lodge and all this land.
Gave parcels to each of the kids and grandkids.
Alex’s dad married some rich guy who owned a vineyard.
Another one of them started a software company here.
She’s cool, though. Hazel Marian. She and her wife, Avery, do a lot of charity shit in town.
It’s been good for Legacy, you know? ’Cause they’re all dripping in money. ”
It was the reminder I needed that Alex Marian wasn’t struggling financially the way he implied. He didn’t need to stand out in the summer sun and sell burgers to pay for fire safety upgrades on his historic building.
His attempt to get sympathy by pretending to be a regular guy was disappointing. And, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t trust the gossip of a random guy at a party, but then again, what twenty-something could afford to buy his own restaurant?
None of it mattered, but the fact that I couldn’t get it out of my head did.
“Tell me more about you, Monroe,” I said, deciding to forget Alex Marian and have a good time, as Max had encouraged me to. Monroe seemed closer to my own age. “Where are you from, originally?”
It turned out, he’d been a Marine aviator who’d spent time flying casualty evacuations at Al Asad, so we had plenty to talk about. As the night wore on, I began to relax and enjoy myself. I was even contemplating inviting Monroe back to my place for the night when Alex walked up.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”