Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Jameson
I was lying in my bunk at the station, lost in thought as I stared into space. The events from McQuade’s had continued to weigh heavily on my mind, and I needed silence to replay everything.
While I’d done my fair share of bone-headed things in my day, chasing off Arizona’s blind date might be my lowest point to date. There was no denying I’d been in a foul mood since our conversation at work, where I inadvertently learned she was going on a date. Though I knew I had no right to be upset, the behavior that followed was undeniably unhinged—even by my standards.
I was keyed up and desperately needed to take the edge off. My initial plan had been to spend the evening lifting weights in my home gym. However, just as I pulled into my driveway, Jaxon sent me a text telling me to get my sorry ass to McQuade’s to celebrate Lakelyn accepting Boden’s proposal.
I showered, threw on some nice clothes, and left my sour mood at home, or so I thought.
When I saw Arizona walk into the bar, at first, I was surprised, hoping she had canceled her date in favor of celebrating our mutual friends.
Just thinking back to how she looked—fuck—she was beyond gorgeous with her vibrant red hair, reminiscent of autumn leaves, hanging loosely over her shoulders, a sinful little black dress, and black heeled boots that accentuated her long, toned legs. I recalled my feet carrying me in her direction to where she was talking with Boden’s sister, Brooke, then when she turned around too quickly and crashed into me, I knew I was done for.
Her soft, feminine floral perfume surrounded me as her undeniable beauty stole my breath.
Every woman paled in comparison to Arizona.
Normally, I’d consider myself an easygoing guy, but I wasn’t in my right mind. I was blinded by jealousy. However, as I held her in my arms, nothing had ever felt more perfectly aligned.
Desperation then clouded my judgment when Brooke abruptly interrupted my thoughts, telling me to let Ari go because she had a date. The flicker of disappointment I caught in Ari’s eyes before she hurried off to the bathroom had me devising a plan before I could talk myself out of it.
I knew it was wrong, and yet that didn’t stop me from telling the guy she planned to meet that she’d had a change of heart and asked me to deliver the message. It was as simple as that. I mean, what self-respecting guy would believe another man’s word without a second thought? If I were in his position, I would have seen myself as a jealous guy attempting to intimidate him and stuck around to hear directly from the source that she wasn’t interested. Instead, the guy just up and left without a backward glance, and I, for one, was thankful as fuck and welcomed her wrath that I knew would ensue.
Little did I know just how edged my little firecracker would get.
The image of looking up at Ari from my knees wasn’t one I’d ever forget. It was still seared in my brain, making me want to seek her out, but I knew she needed space, and talking while at work wasn’t an option since there were eyes and ears around every corner.
“Can you feel your legs, Malcolm?” His face was pale and contorted in pain.
“Yes.”
“Excellent. Can you wiggle your toes for me?”
“Yes,” he said, wincing as he tried to shift his position, “but my back . . . it’s tingly . . . and my chest?—”
The man’s lower half of his body was pinned underneath the front end of his vintage truck, which he liked tinkering with in his garage.
“That’s to be expected. Just save your energy; the paramedics will be here in a minute, just don’t move your neck. Do you understand?”
“I won’t move . . . I’ll wait for Miss Arizona.”
“Exactly; you know she wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.” Frequent stops at Malcolm’s had become a weekly ritual as of late.
Whether it was related to his diabetes or his work around the property, the man refused to properly monitor his insulin levels and or accept that he wasn’t as agile as he once was.
“She’s so nice; I don’t want to upset her.”
“You won’t. Just stay still while my guys work to stabilize the truck.”
I heard the distinct clang of metal striking metal, a vehicle’s heavy door slamming shut, and a second later, the air around me changed.
“Malcolm, it seems you’ve gotten yourself into quite the predicament.”
Ari used a playful tone upon her arrival, something I’d witnessed her do numerous times. It was her way of making light of a tense situation to help keep the patient calm.
While she didn’t spare me a glance, when she knelt beside me, my body took notice and missed the scent of her perfume, which she never wore to work out of fear that it could trigger allergies or sensitivities in her patients.
“Miss Arizona . . . I knew you’d come for me.”
“Of course. Now let me get this C-collar on you and check your vitals.”
She moved with effortless grace, a true reflection of her professionalism under pressure, while I, a love-struck fool, couldn’t help but be consumed by the urge to be so close to her that I could almost taste the natural scent of her skin.
“Fisher, what’s the plan here?” she asked, pulling me from my errant thoughts as she slipped an oxygen mask over Malcolm’s face.
“I need you to move and stay by his head.”
“Miss Arizona, please don’t leave me. Everyone leaves me.” He choked back a sob.
“I’m not going anywhere.” I watched as she took his frail hand in her gloved one. “I promise I’ll be right here by your side the whole time.”
Cruz set the jack in place, and I ensured it was stable. With a firm grip, I pumped the handle. Each stroke pushed hydraulic fluid through a narrow channel into a cylinder, generating pressure that raised the piston inside. The ominous creak of metal filled the space, heightening the tension of an already delicate situation where a single misstep could exacerbate Malcolm’s injuries.
“You’re doing great; the guys will have you free in just a minute,” Ari reassured him.
As soon as my team had the vehicle elevated to the necessary height for extrication, I secured the jack and carefully placed blocks beneath the chassis for added safety. Alex appeared across from me, holding the backboard, and assisted in securing Malcolm for transfer.
It wasn’t long before I stood back and watched Ari climb into the back of the ambulance and secure the IV bag to the pole. As if sensing my gaze on her, she turned my way. Her eyes were charged with emotion, while mine felt weary and uncertain.
After Alex shut the doors, I knew we were at a crossroads. What I had done was shitty, I’d admit that, but I was tired of her denying the connection we shared. Not for one second did I believe it was one-sided, and it was past time we had an honest conversation about it.
Darkness had fallen, and the firehouse was quiet, the kind of quiet that lulls you into a comforting illusion of safety. After dropping Malcolm off at the hospital, Ari only returned to the station to pick up her Jeep and immediately took off to help a friend. Naturally, all of this happened right when I was in the shower. When I pressed Alex for the friend’s name, he remained quiet, leaving me to wonder if it was simply her way of avoiding me.
I was physically exhausted, yet my mind refused to quiet down.
To say my thoughts drifted to Ari would mean I had stopped thinking about her at some point. The time we spent, albeit too short, in the back office at McQuade’s replayed repeatedly in my mind. From her uncanny ability to read my thoughts to her surprising bluntness and confidence, it was unexpected and undeniably sexy.
The instant she uncrossed her legs, my mind nearly short-circuited. She was the girl of my dreams, the star in my fantasies, and kneeling before her was definitely a pinch me kind of moment. It was laughable thinking on her part that her vibrator had superior abilities and would discourage me when that was the furthest thing from reality. The thought alone of happily taking a front-row seat and daring her to prove me wrong had me hardening on the spot.
There wasn’t an ounce of doubt that I’d have her eating her words once I unleashed the superior finesse of my tongue, fingers, and cock. I re-adjusted myself, no stranger to this predicament at work, as I felt perpetually hard whenever she was around, but in all the years, I refused to rub one out at work, and I wasn’t about to start now.
The blare of the fire alarm pierced through the silence. My eyes snapped open, and my heart pounded with an adrenaline rush as I swung my legs over the edge of the bunk and jumped down. The station was a flurry of activity as we went through the practiced motions of getting into our turnout gear—something we’d done thousands of times that it was down to a precise science.
“Let’s move!” Cruz shouted as I climbed into the passenger seat of the rig.
A look of concern crossed his face, which I had rarely seen before, and an unsettling feeling began taking hold of my chest. It was unusual for me to be unaware of where we were going, yet I sensed a greater force at play. Whatever it was, I knew I had to keep my head in the game. I dragged my hand down my face, trying to block out the urgency of the blaring sirens—no doubt waking the entire town—while the flashing lights lit up the night sky along Main Street.
When we approached the turnoff to Ari’s family property, a wave of dread washed over me, nearly stealing my breath when I spotted her mother’s beloved greenhouse engulfed in flames with clouds of heavy black smoke billowing into the sky. My mind raced, running through different ways to get the fire under control, all the while bracing for the inevitable heartbreak I knew Dustin would be experiencing.
However, as we came to a stop, he was nowhere to be found. The surrounding noise fell into a deafening silence, and everything outside the greenhouse became a blur. There was no way Dustin would sleep through this; he’d be pouring every ounce of his energy into fighting the flames, pushing himself to the brink and unwilling to accept any other outcome if it meant preserving his wife’s legacy.
My feet were already moving before a plan was in place with the team. Consequences be damned, my objective was indisputable; nothing and no one would have the force to stop me. I would risk my life or certainly die trying if it meant sparing Arizona from further suffering.
The memory of her carefree and vibrant smile was the last image that crossed my mind just before thick, acrid smoke obscured my vision and engulfed me in a wave of intense heat.