Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Aaron
The phone feels heavy in my hand. I’m aware that the whole station can listen in on my conversation if they want to—and some of them have made no secret of the fact that they want to.
Others have made it clear that they’re trusting me to take care with Paige. Levi is one of them, a surprise even to me.
Somehow, I managed to get her brother’s blessing for this budding relationship.
I’ve been biding my time all afternoon before I could call her. Back at the station, the rest of the guys were waiting to give me their report. We took turns, showering in shifts until the smell of smoke was gone, as much as it ever is in a firehouse.
And now, they’re finishing the dishes in the kitchen. I helped cook, they help clean up the aftermath.
The ringing seems too loud as I press the phone to my ear. I don’t remember the last time I felt this nervous over a phone call. But somehow Paige has managed to tear past all of my defenses.
“Hello?”
I take a deep breath. All of my nerves vanish at the sound of her voice, soft and melodic. The ache in my chest reminds me how much I wish she were here with me.
“Just wanted to call and check on the puppies,” I lie.
“More rambunctious than my toddler,” she laughs. Right on cue, I hear them yip in the background, followed by Noah’s squeal. “I have suddenly remembered why I don’t have a dog at home.”
“Too much commitment?” I tease.
“I’m not afraid of a little commitment,” she says softly. “I just don’t have the energy to care for another person.”
Sadness spears through me. Paige has taken care of everyone around her for who knows how long. She needs someone to take care of her for a change.
“Lucky for you, not everyone needs to be taken care of.”
“Maybe not right now.” She pauses. “Are you still at work?”
“I’m here through tomorrow afternoon. The wildfire was the start of a 36-hour shift for me. But I did get a nice break seeing you today.”
“Bet that really made my brother happy,” she laughs. “He is probably sitting right beside you right now, listening to our conversation.”
I laugh and steer the conversation away from Levi. I don’t know what to make of the shift in his attitude today. He practically pushed me away at the wildfire and into his sister’s arms. He gave me her number. And now, he is somehow keeping the other guys away while I talk to Paige.
“Tell me about your day,” I say, eager for any crumb of her day that she wants to give me.
She launches into a story about her coworkers at the hospital, followed by a cute anecdote about Noah and the puppies. I get carried away in her stories, forgetting that I’m in the bunks at the station.
Until Samson comes in and makes his own call.
“I can tell you’re not alone anymore,” Paige sighs. Do I detect a hint of sadness in her voice? “I’m glad you called.”
“Me too,” I say, letting the words hang there. “I’ll see you on Sunday.”
“Save some more puppies for me,” she laughs before hanging up.
Paige has a way of making my life seem a little brighter. Being a firefighter is the only thing I’ve ever wanted out of life. The desire came at a time when I didn’t think I would ever want anything out of life. And then my father found me in the nick of time and gave me this hope. This purpose.
He’s the only one I can trust to tell me how to handle such a new feeling. I can’t call him here at the station because I can’t admit how I think I feel while surrounded by these men who care deeply for Paige.
I text him instead, telling him I want to talk when I get off my shift. He tells me that he’ll be out where the fish are biting. As usual, he tells me to call anytime now that he’s retired.
I text back and forth with him a bit about work before I head to the weight room. Anything to take my mind off Paige for now. Our date on Sunday is too far for me to start obsessing now.
I pump weights until my muscles give out, her face never far from my mind.
What is this woman doing to me?
* * *
Almost there.
After a 36-hour shift, less than two hours remain on the clock. Big plans surface in my mind: a shower much hotter than our station heater can produce, a short nap in a soft bed, and a trip to see Paige and Noah.
Even with hours separating us, I’m already envisioning what I’ll do to her when I see her again. At the shelter, there were too many people. Not that I care who sees me kiss her, but it’s obvious Paige does.
She has history in this town, and I don’t want to step on toes.
The couch groans as I lean back on the cushions, arm draped over its sturdy back. Nobody else is with me; everyone is prepping for the shift change and eager to leave. All the better for my imagination to run wild.
My mind holds every single curve of Paige’s body, but I zoom in on the slope between her hip and ribcage. She’s softer than many women, the result of her cherished status as a mother. She earned every one of those curves, and they look damn good on her.
How could anyone have left her behind once they saw her?
Stop.
I have to stop this train of thought right now. Someone will come in, and my arousal is obvious. The guys here all know about Paige now. Once Levi had the news, the gossip spread like wildfire.
Obviously, I’m hard for her. Crown Hill’s sweetheart.
I shift and try to hide the evidence of my… musings. My jeans still tent uncomfortably. The only thing I can do is grab a pillow and try to cover the whole mess.
Fortunately, I’m saved by the bell.
The fire station blares into life with the cacophonous bell. My heart stutters in my chest, images of yesterday’s wildfire roaring back. Heat from the flames beats at the back of my neck, the kind that never truly leaves.
Once you’ve experienced a wildfire or two, you surrender any notion that you have control over what happens on this earth. Firefighters do their best to control the uncontrollable, but wildfires…
Wildfires are a special kind of hell.
Pulse pounding, I leap from the couch in the span of a single breath without thinking about my erection. The only thought left in my mind is to get to the gear room as quickly as possible.
“House fire,” Zachary tells me, an amused smile on his face.
I still race to the engine. Time is of the essence. Who knows what sort of damage could be done while we’re sitting here yapping?
Levi strolls into the room, casual as can be. He grabs a small fire extinguisher with a sigh and loads it into the back of the SUV. Most of the guys go back to what they were doing, uninterested in the call.
“We need to get on the road,” I say firmly.
“We will,” Zachary assures me. He disappears into his seat in the back of the engine, then his voice calls out to Levi, “Paige trying to make breakfast again?”
“Apparently,” Levi says with an eye roll. “Let’s head out.”
I don’t understand why everyone is so damn nonchalant on a call like this, especially now that they’ve told me we’re headed to Paige and Noah. I grip the edge of my seat until my knuckles turn white.
We can’t get there fast enough.
“Nothing to worry about,” Zachary assures me when the engine hits the asphalt of the main road. “She’d tell us if it were an emergency. She has a bit of a… reputation here.”
I narrow my eyes at him. I don’t like the idea of my girl having a reputation.
“You’ll see when we get there.” He chuckles to himself and watches out the window as the town comes into focus.
We’re going slower than I’d like to. At this rate, Levi will beat us there in the SUV. Despite my impatience, we eventually make it to her house. No flames are evident from the outside. Only a few tendrils of smoke curl through the open kitchen window.
My attention shifts from the smoke to Paige, now that I’ve assessed that everything is most likely fine. It’s impossible not to look at her, as if the world revolves around her presence.
She is gravity.
She is air.
She is my kind of fire.
She looks like a domestic goddess standing on her lawn. She has her long ginger hair tied up in a loose bun, secured on top of her head. There’s nothing refined about her appearance. Her style is casual, easy. Like she has never put more than two minutes of thought into it.
The contrast between her appearance now and every time I’ve seen her to date is stark. It takes me a minute to put my finger on it, but there it is: she has no makeup on.
And still her eyes shine. Her cheeks flush with natural color. She looks perfect—every inch of her flawless skin stands out on this bright, early morning.
This is the version of her that’s going to haunt my mind from now on. Paige in her natural element, without feeling like she has to try hard for me or anyone else.
Of course, my eyes eventually travel lower to see those curves I had pictured before we left the station. In these pants, it’ll be less obvious how turned on I am by the sight of her body.
Until my eyes pull up short, recognizing what I see—her pajamas, lavender cotton covered with tiny unicorns from head to toe.
Paige lifts her chin, challenging me to say something about her choice of dress, but I can only smother the laugh on my lips.
I shake my head a little, trying to knock my professionalism back into place. A throat clearing beside me rattles me enough to snap me into action.
Zachary ambles out of the engine, all easy smiles and relaxed posture. He reaches out, and Paige hands Noah over to him. Noah smiles, a coo on his lips at the sight of Zachary in his hat. Jealousy surfaces.
I want to be the one Noah reaches for, a sudden feeling that I’m not prepared for.
I want to be part of whatever Paige has going on here.
But a look of sudden irritation crosses her face. Her thick eyebrows draw together, and her eyes narrow in my direction. Color rises in her cheeks, more than usual, and not the delicate pink of embarrassment.
This is what anger looks like on a soft woman.
“Why did you have to come?”
One thing I love about Paige is that she doesn’t mince her words. If she has something to say, she’s quick to say it. Still, it hurts to be on the receiving end of her cutting words.
When I open my mouth to respond, nothing comes out. I want to tell her why I’m here: that it’s my duty, my job. That it’s my honor to protect her just as I do the rest of the people in Crown Hill.
However, a voice answers her from behind me before I tell her how much I care.
I spin back toward the sound, only to find Levi stalking up the street toward the front door.
“Wanted to make sure you were alright,” he says with a shrug. He passes me the fire extinguisher he thoughtfully packed, something small and more manageable for an indoor fire of this caliber.
“You’re the superintendent,” she chastises him. “You know when it’s my address on the scanner. Just skip it—for both of our sakes.”
“The superintendent too good to come on a house fire call? I don’t think so.” Levi crosses his arms, then adds, “If this call is beneath a superintendent, surely it’s too much for a captain?”
At the mention of my position, I spring into action. I’m here to do a job, and nobody has tended to the smoke curling out of the kitchen.
“You know what I mean,” Paige tells her brother. But I see the way her eyes follow me into the house. She flushes as I pass her, brushing against her arm as I do. Just enough to remind her that I’m here for her.
“No, I’m not sure I do,” Levi drawls, his voice carrying through the open kitchen window.
“You’re my brother. You can’t always save me.”
He might not be able to save her, but I’d like the chance to try.