Chapter One
Blayze peeled her fire coat off and let it fall to the floor. A whiff of smoke wafted through her nostrils and she brought her forearm up to her nose to shield pungent odor. Ugh. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the smell.
She’d been with the Gorman Valley FD going on ten years now.
She wasn’t sure she’d like living there at first—moving away from home right out of high school was a little scary—but she couldn’t have asked for a better place to begin her career.
Since day one, everyone had welcomed her with open arms and had accepted her as one of their own during some of the most challenging times of her life.
Just last year, she was promoted to Captain, a position she wasn’t sure she was ready for.
The support and encouragement from everyone had never swayed.
Blayze pushed her hair out of her face, securing a few of the lose strands behind her left ear. Her French braid was near perfect prior to going out on the call. Now that she was back, it looked as though she hadn’t tended to it in days.
The same could be said for her feet. The blisters she got from wearing her boots were no fun. She’d tried different socks, but nothing seemed to help. She treated herself to pedicures on a regular basis, but sadly, her poor feet would never grace a pair of high heels again.
She chugged a bottle of water then headed back outside.
Lieutenant Gavin MacDonald was standing alongside the truck with the hoses stretched out on the pavement.
Just because they were back at the station didn’t mean their work was finished.
They still needed to clean and prepare the truck for the next call.
She passed a water to him. “Here ya go, Lt.”
“Thanks, BJ.” MacDonald quickly removed the cap and took a couple of gulps.
Around the station, it was how everyone referred to her. Not Jenson. Not Blayze. Just BJ. Yeah, everyone was well aware that BJ stood for something else, but the guys kept it respectful. Especially with her being the only female at their station.
They had less than an hour left in their shift and she was anxious to get the truck ready for service again.
Working 24-hours on then having the next 48 off had its advantages, but it was certainly a schedule that had taken some getting used to.
And because they’d just gotten back from a fire call, she couldn’t wait to get home so she could take a nap.
“Got big plans for the weekend, Mac?” Blayze asked since it wasn’t often their two days off fell on the weekend. “You and the family going anywhere special?”
“Nah, nothing that I know of. Probably got a honey-do list a mile long, though.” Lt.
MacDonald laughed at his own comment. He and his wife Sara had two young boys with another one due in just a few short weeks.
They were a lovely couple, and she admired their growing family. Single life was just…blah.
“Don’t forget about the game Sunday night.” She reminded him. “You and Taylor have to clean the trucks on Monday if the Razors lose.” The guys were literally her second family—her brothers—since her own family still lived in Keebler Hills.
MacDonald laughed as he swept off the hoses. “Yeah, with the season they’re having, I’ll be cleaning trucks for a while. You’d think by now I’d have learned not to place bets with you guys.”
Instead of watching the game at home, she planned to stop by the station and watch it with Taylor and Knight. That is if they didn’t get a fire call. She was as much a sports fan as they were, and since her social life pretty much non-existent, it sure beat staying home alone.
She’d tried the dating thing, even going as far as living with a guy for almost a year, but she was pretty much convinced that finding someone long-term just wasn’t in the cards for her.
Hearing the “it’s not you, it’s me” excuse over and over again pretty much convinced her that “no, it wasn’t me, but my job” that kept them from getting serious.
That the career she’d chosen did indeed intimidate them more than any of them cared to admit.
She gave a hundred and ten percent to her job every single day. From working out and staying in the best physical condition possible, to signing up for every training and safety course she could get her hands on, she lived and breathed everything that had to do with being a firefighter.
Her brothers would back her up wholeheartedly and would never look down on her because she was a woman doing the same job as them. They respected her, as she did them, and together they ran the best damn fire department the city of Gorman Valley had ever had.
Did they give her hell? You betcha, but she dished it right back at them.
Perhaps her prince charming just hadn’t come along yet and she was reading more into the trials and tribulations of her dating life than need be, but it sure sucked being home alone sometimes.
She and Mac finished getting the truck prepped and the hoses rolled back up.
While he backed the truck inside the proper stall, she headed to her office to work on the details and paperwork of the call while it was fresh on her mind.
More than anything she wanted a shower to get the dirt and smell washed off.
It was so close to quitting time, though, she considered waiting until she got home.
A nice hot bubble bath sounded so much better than the stand-up shower she used at the station.
When she was done with the paperwork, she dropped it off on the chief’s desk then headed to change clothes. She said goodbye to the guys and greeted the new crew coming on for duty. Finally, it was time to get out of there.