Chapter 1 #3
Yeah, he needed to stop checking her out like that.
This would go nowhere and he was wasting his time.
She was a widow with kids—definitely not his type.
And when was the last time he’d gone out with a woman anyway?
Work kept him too busy to pursue a relationship.
The summer had flown by with the extra-busy fire season they’d just experienced, and he hadn’t made much time for socializing.
He’d been too damn tired. Plus, he hadn’t met anyone who’d piqued his interest.
Chris headed toward the engine, issuing a gentle warning to Logan to wait for him.
Pushing his errant thoughts away, he grabbed hold of the little boy around his waist, opened the door, and hauled him up into the cab of the truck.
Logan squealed in excitement, his eyes going wide at the sight of all the buttons and knobs, and his head darted this way and that, drinking it in.
It reminded Chris of his own memory of first climbing into a fire engine. His father had been a firefighter, too, so Chris had been around fire stations and engines much of his early childhood. Once his parents had divorced, well, he’d rarely seen his father much.
But the excitement of a fire engine, of firefighting had never died. All these years later and he still felt that buzz when he first went out on a call. The thrill of the unknown, the adrenaline rush when headed toward battle with an out-of-control wildfire, never faded.
“Can I drive it?” Logan asked, and Chris laughed.
“I’m afraid you’re a bit too young for that, but you can play with the steering wheel.” Chris lifted Logan’s little hands and put them on either side of the wide wheel.
Logan immediately started turning it, making the classic car sounds all young boys knew just how to do. Jane and her two girls approached the side of the truck, the three females staring up at them in curiosity, and Chris flicked his head in invitation.
“Want to join us?”
Jane shook her head slowly, but a flash of interest showed in Lexi’s eyes. He concentrated on that. “How about you, Lexi? Wanna check it out?”
She shuffled her feet, hugging her mother’s leg for the briefest moment before she released it. “This is just boy stuff.”
“Not at all.” Chris shook his head. “There are plenty of women firefighters who work here.”
“Where are they?” Lexi glanced around the garage.
“Well, one of them is off today and the others only work during the summer, when we’re extra busy.”
“Oh.” Lexi paused, her gaze wandering the length of the engine and back. “Isn’t it hard to drive this thing?”
“Not so hard once you learn how.”
“Did you have to go to school?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.” He extended his left hand down toward Lexi, his right arm firmly clasped around Logan’s middle. “Come on, join us.”
She looked at her mother, who gave a gentle nod of approval, and then she grabbed ahold of Chris’s hand.
He hauled her up with ease, tugging her onto his lap as he shifted Logan onto his right thigh.
She was a tiny thing, delicate in his arms in comparison to her sturdy younger brother.
Pretty like her mother, with the same dark hair and deep green eyes.
She clutched at his arm with cool fingers and he adjusted her in his lap. “What do you think?”
“It’s big. And tall.” She glanced out the windshield. “I feel like I can see everything.”
“Yeah, it is pretty high off the ground.” He released his hold on Logan, who scampered across the bench seat to peer out the window of the passenger side.
Jane followed him, walking around the front of the engine to stand on the right side of the cab, where she waved up at Logan, who pounded on the closed window in greeting.
“It’s kind of scary up here,” Lexi admitted in a small whisper.
Chris wasn’t used to kids—he was an only child—so he didn’t know how to offer her comfort. “You’re actually very safe in this engine,” he tried. “It’s built solid, and it’s much bigger than most vehicles out on the road.”
“Does it go fast?”
“Very fast.”
“Fast enough so a fire can’t catch it? I don’t like fires,” she confessed, and he knew where that came from.
He also wondered how he would answer her. “I’ve outraced a fire or two.” And that was the truth.
“Fires are very dangerous,” Lexi said, her tone serious. “They hurt people, sometimes even kill people.”
Okay, the kid had just ventured into very uncomfortable territory. He wasn’t a dad. Hell, he wasn’t even an uncle. He had no clue how to reply to her. Especially since she was referring to her poor deceased father.
“You’re safe here. We’re not going anywhere,” he offered.
Lexi glanced up at him, her wide green eyes drinking him in. “I guess I believe you. You seem nice. And you smell good.”
He laughed. Ah, the blunt honesty of children. “You sure I don’t smell like turnouts and smoke?”
She shook her head and her nose wrinkled. “What are turnouts?”
“The yellow coat and pants firefighters wear over their clothing when they fight fires. Turnouts protect us. But they have a particular smell that some people don’t like.” His mother had never cared for it, always griping at his dad to take a shower when he’d come home from work.
One of the many reasons why his dad had finally left—he couldn’t handle the constant nagging. His parents’ terrible marriage had left an indelible mark on him.
“I don’t think you’re stinky.” She said it with authority, as if her word mattered and nothing else.
And then she did exactly what he’d hoped for: her lips curved into a small yet genuine smile and one little hand reached out to grasp the lower curve of the steering wheel.
“I like it up here. I thought it was dumb boy stuff but it’s not.
Maybe you could take us for a drive someday. ”
“I could probably take you for a short drive around the station grounds right now if your mom doesn’t mind.
” His heart constricted a little at the understated joy he saw on the girl’s face, and he wondered at his instant reaction to her.
He’d never given kids much thought. Yeah, he liked them all right, but he wasn’t one of those guys known as being “good with children.” He never really thought about getting married or starting a family—the idea was just too foreign to him.
His life had been torn up enough by the divorce of his parents when he was eight.
Why inflict that sort of torture on his own innocent children?
The 50 percent divorce rate didn’t instill any positives in his already negative beliefs on marriage.
It didn’t work. No point giving it a try when it was set up to fail.
“That sounds fun.” Lexi scooted off his lap but didn’t move too far from his side. “Let’s go!”
Chris had a feeling this little family could take him for quite the ride. And he wasn’t sure if he was up for the adventure.