5. Nina
Chapter Five
NINA
I've been staring at the same dispatch report for twenty minutes. The words blur together as my mind keeps replaying last night. The way Axel looked at me, the moment when he leaned forward and I couldn't breathe, the heat that flared between us before the radio interrupted.
My boss almost kissed me. And worse, I wanted him to.
I drop my head into my hands with a groan. This is exactly what I didn't need. Complications. I came to Ember Heart for a fresh start, for simplicity, for distance from everything that went wrong in the city. Not to develop a crush on my grumpy, gorgeous boss.
“Rough morning?”
I jerk upright to find Troy leaning against the doorframe, two coffee cups in hand. He offers one to me with a sympathetic smile.
“Just tired,” I lie, accepting the coffee gratefully. “Thanks for this.”
“No problem. How's the new dispatch system treating you?”
“It's great. Marcus did an amazing job setting it up.”
“He'll be stoked to hear that. Tech is his love language.” Troy settles into the chair across from me. “So, you coming to the Spring Festival tomorrow?”
“The what?”
“Town celebration. First weekend of April, everyone goes all out. Food stands, live music, games… it's actually pretty fun.”
I hesitate. “I don't know. I've still got a ton of unpacking to do.”
“Boxes can wait. This is your official Ember Heart initiation.” He grins. “Plus, Mom's been asking about you.”
“Your mom? Why?”
Troy shrugs, but there's mischief in his eyes. “Mom thinks everyone who works SAR is part of the family. Anyway, the festival starts at noon in the town square.”
Before I can respond, the door to the operations office swings open, and Axel walks in. He pauses for a second when he sees me, then nods curtly.
“Troy. Nina.”
“Morning, sunshine! I was just telling Nina about the Spring Festival.” Troy’s voice is cheery.
Axel's eyes flick to mine briefly before looking away. “You should go. It's... not terrible.”
High praise, coming from him.
“Quite the endorsement. I'll consider it.”
Axel moves to the coffee pot, his back to us. The silence stretches just a beat too long.
“Well, I've got inventory to finish,” Troy says, standing. As soon as Troy leaves, the tension in the room thickens. Axel remains at the coffee station, his shoulders tense beneath his uniform shirt.
“How's the hand?” I ask, desperate to break the silence.
“Fine.” He doesn't turn around.
“Good. That's... good.”
Another silence. This is ridiculous. We're adults. Grown adults who can acknowledge an awkward moment and move past it.
“About last night…” I begin.
“Nothing happened,” he cuts me off, turning abruptly to face me. “And nothing's going to happen. You're?—”
“Your employee. I know. I was just going to say thank you for the stew.”
He has the grace to look slightly abashed. “Right. You're welcome.”
The rest of the day passes in a blur of calls, reports, and carefully maintained distance. By the time my shift ends, I've convinced myself that going to the Spring Festival is a terrible idea. I'll finally unpack everything instead, maybe hang some pictures in my painfully bare apartment.
But when the next day arrives, bright and warm, I find myself walking toward the town square, drawn by music and the smell of donuts.
Ember Heart's town square is transformed. Colorful banners stretch between lamp posts, booths line the perimeter, and a small stage hosts a local band playing folk music. Children dart between booths, faces painted like butterflies. It's chaotic, charming and so different from the city that I find myself smiling.
“Nina! You made it!”
I turn to find Frankie from the diner, her hair twisted into a crown of braids adorned with tiny pink flowers.
I grin at her. “This is pretty impressive.”
“Wait till you try the food. Come on, I'll show you the essentials.”
Frankie becomes my festival guide, leading me through the maze of booths and introducing me to what feels like half the town. Everyone seems to know I'm the new dispatcher, and they all have a story about one of the Blake brothers saving them, their property, or their pet at some point.
“The Blakes are basically local royalty,” Frankie explains as we share a massive caramel donut. “Been here since the town was founded. When Ben Blake died on that rescue mission seven years ago, the whole town shut down for the funeral.”
“Axel's father?”
She nods. “It hit the family hard. The three oldest boys, Logan, Ryder, and Troy, were all serving overseas at the time. Axel stepped up and took over SAR operations even though he was only twenty-three.”
I absorb this information, thinking about the weight of that responsibility. Running an entire search and rescue operation while grieving your father.
“He ran everything until about four years ago,” Frankie continues, lowering her voice. “That's when Logan came home. He was injured in combat, saved his entire squad, including Ryder and Troy. Total hero move. Nearly died doing it.”
“So Logan took over SAR from Axel?” I ask, pieces falling into place.
“Yeah. Their mom said Axel seemed relieved. He prefers being the muscle and flying helicopters than the paperwork…but he still manages the day-to-day stuff at the office. There's Josie, their mom,” Frankie says, nodding toward a tall woman with silver-streaked dark hair directing volunteers at a pie table.
Josie Blake looks up at that moment, catches us watching, and waves. To my surprise, she excuses herself and walks directly toward us.
“You must be Nina,” she says, taking my hands in hers. Her eyes are the same striking blue-gray as Axel's. “I've been hoping to meet you properly.”
“It's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Blake.”
“Josie, please. How's my son Axel treating you? He can be a bit rough around the edges. Grumpy.”
“He's been…” I search for the right word. “Professional.”
Josie laughs. “That sounds like Axel. Listen, you have to come to Sunday dinner sometime. We do it every week, and it would do the boys good to have fresh conversation.”
“That's very kind, but I wouldn't want to intrude on family time.”
“Nonsense. Family expands.” Her eyes twinkle with the same mischief I saw in Troy's. “Besides, I want to hear how you're settling in. It's not easy, being new in a small town. Now, I'd better get back to the pie contest before Mrs. Winters tries to bribe the judges again.”
As Josie walks away, Frankie shakes her head. “She's a force of nature, that one.”
“I see where the brothers get their intensity.”
“Speaking of brothers…” Frankie's voice drops as she nods toward the crowd. “Your boss is here.”
I follow her gaze. Axel’s in jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up, revealing muscular forearms. He looks different outside of work. More relaxed, less guarded. And even more gorgeous. He towers over everyone in the crowd, easy to spot with those broad shoulders.
She nudges me. “I’m going to get another donut. You should go say hi.”
After Frankie leaves, I hover indecisively at the edge of the crowd. But before I can retreat, Axel spots me.
“Nina,” he says, walking over. “You came.”
“I couldn’t help it. The smell of those donuts was hypnotic.” I smile and to my surprise, his eyes crinkle at the corners. It's the closest thing to a real smile I've seen from him.
We stand there, an awkward silence stretching between us, filled with the awareness that we're outside the safe boundaries of work.
“Have you tried the cider yet?” he asks finally.
“Not yet.”
He nods toward a booth on the far side of the square. “Best in the county. Come on.”
Before I can overthink it, I'm walking beside him through the festival. It feels comfortable, strolling with Axel while he points out local landmarks and greets townspeople. Away from the office, he's still quiet, still reserved, but there's a subtle ease to him that's magnetic.
At the cider booth, he insists on paying, handing me a steaming cup that smells of apples and cinnamon. Our fingers brush and a jolt of electricity shoots through me. His fingers linger against mine a second longer than necessary, his eyes darkening as they meet mine. I take a sip to distract myself from the heat crawling up my neck. The cider is perfect; sweet, spicy, and warming.
We find a bench at the edge of the square, sitting close enough that our knees occasionally touch. Each accidental contact sends a wave of awareness through my body.
“So,” Axel says after a moment, his deep voice doing ridiculous things to my insides, “how are you finding Ember Heart?”
“It's growing on me. Very different from the city.”
“That why you left? Needed a change of pace?” His question is casual, but it catches me off-guard. I stare into my cider, considering how much to share.
“Partly. Things got... complicated there.”
He doesn't push, just watches me with those steady blue-gray eyes. When he shifts, his thigh presses against mine. Neither of us moves away.
“I was seeing someone,” I find myself saying. “It didn't work out. He got engaged to another dispatcher in the office. I needed a new start.”
“I'm sorry.”
I shrug. “It was for the best. We wanted different things. He was ambitious, gunning for chief of operations.” I take another sip of cider. “The girl he got engaged to was one of my close friends and the boss’s daughter.”
Axel's expression darkens. “What an asshole .”
His straightforward anger on my behalf makes me laugh unexpectedly. “Yeah, he was. But it taught me something important.”
“What's that?”
“That I need to be careful mixing my personal and professional lives.” I meet his eyes. We sit in companionable silence for a moment, the festival humming around us. This is good, this quiet understanding between us.
Too good .
I stand up. “I should probably head back. Still have boxes to unpack.”
Axel nods, something like disappointment flickering across his face. “Right.”
He stands too, close enough that I have to tilt my head right back to look into his eyes.
“Thanks for the cider.”
We stand facing each other, the air between us crackling. His gaze drops to my mouth, and for a breathless moment, all I want is for him to kiss me. I find myself swaying towards him, drawn by some irresistible pull. Axel reaches out, brushing a strand of hair from my face. His fingertips graze my cheek, leaving a trail of heat in their wake. I can't stop my sharp intake of breath.
“Nina,” he says, my name rough in his throat.
I swallow, averting my gaze. My heart is pounding so hard I wonder if he can hear it.
“See you at work tomorrow.”
Walking away from Axel feels like fighting gravity. I force myself not to look back, even though I can sense his gaze until I turn the corner toward my apartment building.
Inside, I lean against the door and press my hands to my blazing cheeks. My whole body is humming with awareness, with want. This attraction to Axel, it's a mistake waiting to happen. I came here for simplicity. Not to repeat the same patterns that blew up my life in the city.
I need boundaries. Tomorrow, I'll be nothing but businesslike. Friendly but distant. Workplace Nina, not festival Nina who drinks cider with her boss and tells him about her ex.
It's the right decision. The smart decision.