Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
NATE
“What are you doing here?”
I grin at my baby sister, hands shoved into the pockets of my Santa Rosé firefighter jacket as I walk towards her. She’s come to a stop in the middle of a hallway in the ER of Santa Rosé General.
I shrug nonchalantly, hoping she doesn’t see right through me. “Can’t a guy come and visit his sister at work?”
Jordan looks at me like I’ve gone mad. “No.” Her arms cross over her chest, and she repeats her initial question. “What are you doing here?”
She has a point. I don’t tend to drop by without reason, and this isn’t any different. Having a sister that works in the ER can be beneficial occasionally, especially as a firefighter who sometimes wants an update on patients that come in after being in my care. Not that I’d ever ask Jordan to violate privacy laws, nor would she consider doing so, but we manage to get around those kinds of things without getting either of us into trouble.
I’m simultaneously hoping she’ll help her brother out while also questioning my own sanity. Breakfast should be the first thing on my mind, followed by a nap before I head to the bar to work on things for the accountant, but I couldn’t get the woman from the fire out of my mind.
Elevator girl.
The one who had deemed men disgusting, filthy pigs.
I hadn’t recognized her to begin with. My blood was pumping, and I was focused, strictly in first responder mode with the intention of getting a civilian to safety. As lieutenant I have to be on my game at all times while I’m on shift, but especially in dangerous situations.
When she slammed into me with fear filled, grateful gray eyes, recognition dawned. I’d met this woman somewhere, but I couldn’t quite place her despite the gnawing feeling in my mind. Unfortunately, the fire didn’t afford me the time to figure it out.
It wasn’t until I was talking to my captain later on that everything clicked into place. I caught sight of the mostly naked woman stalking down the sidewalk, a murderous look on her face. I’d seen that ire before. Hell, I’d been subjected to it before her embarrassment had taken over.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I stood there for longer than I probably should have, gawking as she strode up to a man and started giving him hell. The shouting spurred me into action, pulling her away from the man while she kicked and screamed against me. I’ll give her credit. She calmed down a lot faster than I thought she would, considering how much she fought against me.
“Hailey and Quinn brought in a girl last night from the fire down on Birch,” I explain, forcing myself to keep my hands rooted in my pockets so I don’t fidget. “I wanted to check in and see how she was doing.”
“Nate,” Jordan says, exasperated. “You know I can’t just give you information on a patient.”
“Not technically,” I hedge, glancing from left to right and over my shoulder before I look back at her. “But you wouldn’t be breaching anything if you had permission from said patient.”
“Let me get this straight,” she says, her hands resting on her hips, her long ponytail swinging over her shoulder as she cocks her head to the side. “You want me to go to a patient’s room, if she’s still here, and ask if she—what?—minds if I tell a firefighter from last night that she’s still here because he wants to visit?”
Now she’s busting my balls, and I fight to keep from frowning at her. I was really hoping she would give this to me easily, but it seems Jordan wants to take the hard road this morning. My sister can be such a pain in the ass at times.
“Jor, c’mon. I pulled her out of that building last night, and I kind of know her. I want to make sure she’s okay.”
The sass erodes from her face, her hands falling off her hips as she grabs me by the arm, concern etched in her features. “Jesus, Nate, you know her?”
Things are always harder when you know the person you’re working on, or rescuing from a scene, something that Jordan knows firsthand working in the ER. Santa Rosé is small enough that it’s inevitable we help people that we know sometimes. It’s not easy, but if I had to choose, I’d rather it be me helping than someone else. Feeling helpless is not one of my fortes.
It’s just that I don’t really know the woman from the fire. I’ve met her before, so while I’m not exactly lying, I’m not being entirely forthcoming.
“Sort of.”
Suspicion fills Jordan’s narrowing eyes and I clench my jaw, preparing for what’s about to come.
“How do you know her?” She crosses her arms again. “What’s her name?”
Damn it. Jordan had to go and make this difficult. I really don’t want to spill how I know this woman, especially not when Jordan knows the story. But I know the look in my sister’s eye, and she isn’t going to give me anything until I tell her the truth.
“She’s the woman from the elevator,” I mumble with the hope she won’t catch it.
I’m not sure if she does or not when she enunciates very clearly, “Pardon?”
Scrubbing a hand over my face, knowing it’s heating up despite the fact that I’m trying to remain cool and collected, I look anywhere but at my sister. I wish she could have made this easy on me. But she won’t, and doesn’t, standing there staring at me while I go through numerous levels of discomfort.
Finally I pull in a breath and meet her eyes, speaking quietly but clearly, “She’s the woman from the elevator.”
“The girl you pulled from the fire is the same girl from the elevator? The girl that Liam was telling me about?” she asks, a smirk slowly spreading across her face.
I can see the gears turning in her head as she thinks about this, causing me to groan inwardly. It was the one thing I didn’t want to tell her. Premonitions of conversations between us later are already flashing through my head. She’s going to want to know every detail.
I give her one slow nod of confirmation, shoving my hand back into the pocket of my jacket.
“Nate, why didn’t you just tell me that?” Jordan gives me a light punch on my shoulder, beaming with far too much enthusiasm. “Let me go see if she’s still around, or if she’s been discharged.”
Rolling my eyes, I drop my body weight against the nearest wall as she spins and skips down the hall as though I’ve put a pep in her step. Given how she’s been poking into my love life lately, like everyone else, I imagine I have given her a boost by showing up to ask about a beautiful woman.
She’s going to turn into our aunts one day. One day soon, if she isn’t careful. Maybe that’s why she’s so eager to ignore some of the possible red tape.
Honestly, this is the most interest I’ve shown in a woman in a long time. At least that anyone in my life has seen. When I need to scratch an itch I’m a lot more subtle about it than Liam is, usually finding a woman through a dating app that knows the score. Drinks, maybe dinner, and then heating the sheets. No strings attached, no having to explain that I’m a workaholic. Just a night of fun.
Not that I’ve had one of those nights in a while. Christ. The last time I did that was well before Uncle Pete passed away. I don’t see that changing any time soon, either. Coming to the hospital to check up on a victim is just that. I’m being a good guy to someone who has had a couple of rough days. I’d do it for anyone.
Keep telling yourself that, buddy.
“Nate,” Jordan’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts, causing my head to lift. She wears a triumphant grin and gives a nod behind her. “C’mon.”
Pushing off the wall, I can’t help but chuckle at her enthusiasm, the bounce still in her step as she leads me down the hall, past a multitude of curtained rooms in the ER. I was feeling pretty relaxed while I waited, but the further down the hall we get, the more nervous I become. All I’m doing is a good deed. There’s no reason for my palms to suddenly be sweating or my mouth to go dry, but here I am.
Jordan pulls the curtain back on one of the rooms, stepping inside. “The firefighter I was telling you about,” she says as I step around the curtain to see the blonde haired woman sitting in a bed. “If he gives you any trouble, or you want me to kick him out, just yell. I won’t be far.”
I glance at Jordan as she steps by me, not missing the “good luck” that she murmurs for my ears only before pulling the drape shut again.
“You,” the woman says, and I look back to her, finding her eyes full of curiosity.
I flash her a grin. “Me.”
“What are you doing here?”
Taking a couple of steps further into the small, draped room, I stand toward the end of her bed, shrugging a shoulder as casually as possible. “Well, considering I saved your life, I figured I’d come by and see how you were doing.”
I can already tell how different she is now than the other times I’ve seen her. She’s reserved, almost shy, but full of inquisitiveness, like she wants to know everything, but doesn’t know how to ask. It’s so opposite of the woman in the elevator who laid it all out for me, gave me her story without so much as a word from me.
The only similarity I can see so far is her cheeks turning a beautiful shade of pink, enhancing her already gorgeous features. I didn’t notice in the elevator, or last night, but in the light of the hospital room, and the moment of peace and quiet, I realize she has this pouty bottom lip that looks so kissable I can’t help but lick my own lips.
I’m not here to hit on her, though, so I need to keep my focus, and my eyes, away from her lips and curves.
Curves that I damn well noticed last night, especially when I had her pulled against my body, not once, but twice. Curves that caught my eye as she walked across the sidewalk to give that man a piece of her mind. Curves that are now hidden by a hospital gown, though I’m well aware they’re there. I accused her of checking me out the other day, but the truth is I was just as guilty. Much like now.
“Right. I guess I should say thank you. I was starting to think I wasn’t going to get out of that room,” she says, bringing me back to her eyes. The one and only place that I should be looking.
“I wasn’t talking about the fire,” I tell her with a smirk. “I’m talking about interrupting the murder you were ready to commit on that guy.”
For a moment she’s silent, stunned I think, and then she throws her head back and laughs. The sound of it shoots pleasure straight down my spine, and I break into a wide grin. I don’t think I’ve ever heard laughter so intrinsically pure and joyous, and I’m certain I’ve never been the cause of it.
“Well then, forget you saving me from the building—thank you for saving me from myself,” she says, her laughter dying off, though the smile remains.
I’m glad it stays because it’s stunning, and I like that it’s turned on me. Caused by me.
“You’re welcome,” I tell her before glancing briefly over my shoulder to the curtain. “Did they tell you when you might be able to bust out of here?”
“The nurse—”
“Jordan,” I interrupt.
She looks surprised, then nods slowly, her smile fading a touch. “Right. Jordan. She said the doctor should be around within the next half hour and would probably discharge me then.”
“Want some company until then?”
The woman’s gray eyes narrow slightly, and she tilts her head to the side, appraising me. I’m pretty sure I’ve just crossed an invisible line, probably the same one that had her telling me not to hit on her in the elevator. I’m about to apologize when she tries to cut to the chase.
“Not to be rude, but—”
I hold my hands up in resignation. “Say no more. I probably shouldn’t have come to check on you, but I know you had a couple of tough days and wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I should have realized that you wouldn’t want some strange guy coming around, though, especially after the whole elevator incident.”
I run a hand through my hair, the nerves that I was doing a good job at hiding coming out in a rather pronounced, blabbering way. “But you should know that I’m not some strange guy. I mean, I am, to you, but I know lots of people, and most of them don’t think I’m strange. They’d definitely all tell you I’m not a disgusting, filthy pig.”
Fuck. Liam’s right. I have no game.
“I was just going to say that I don’t even know your name.”
“Oh shit.”
The grin on her face gets wider, and I can tell it’s taking a lot for her not to laugh at me right now.
“Wow, I am so sorry,” I apologize, my face heating all the way down to my neck as I move to the side of the bed and hold my hand out for her to shake. “Nate Miller.”
Jesus. It’s like the heat of every California summer night shoots through me when she slides her hand into mine. I feel electricity sizzle around us as our hands are connected, our eyes locked on one another. I’m sure she can feel it too. Surprise flashes in her eyes, and I know mine are a mirror of hers as we stare at each other, lost in the moment together.
Her voice is throaty when she breathes her name out to me, “Savanna Walsh.”
“Savanna,” I repeat, committing the feeling of her smaller, delicate hand in mine to memory. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet you.”
Slowly I let her hand go, and the moment we’re no longer joined I miss the warmth, but I force myself to glance at the chair beside the bed. This woman has made it extremely clear that she doesn’t want anyone hitting on her, and I’m not about to do that. Besides, I just proved to myself, and showed her, that I don’t have game. “Mind if I sit for a while? I promise I won’t hit on you.”
I thought it would get a laugh out of her, referencing the elevator, but instead she looks sad for a fraction of a second before it fades and she nods. “Sure. I’d like that.”
Taking a seat, I cross an ankle over my knee, leaning back in the chair. It’s not the most comfortable, but we’re in a hospital, and I’m pretty sure they don’t make any part of these places comfortable. “So, no permanent damage from the fire?”
“Nope. All thanks to you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t come along,” she tells me, picking at her fingernails. I wonder if it’s a nervous habit.
I shrug like it’s no big deal, because to me, it isn’t. It’s my job to pull people out of burning buildings, wrecked cars, or a multitude of other scenarios that I come across in my daily life as a firefighter.
“Liam or Brody would have found you if I hadn’t,” I say, referencing my two best friends, both of whom are under my command at the firehouse.
“I guess I’m extra lucky then,” she tells me with a smile, and damn if that doesn’t warm me from the inside out.
“You are,” I nod affirmatively. “Liam would have tried hitting on you before you were out of the room, and Brody, well, he would have acted like me, but he’s not as good looking.”
Jesus Nate, take a bite of some humble pie.
I find myself grinning when she gives a small giggle, despite my thoughts. “Seriously, though, you are really lucky. How’d you end up in there, anyway?”
Groaning, she brings her hands up to her face to give it a good rub, almost like she can’t believe what she’s about to tell me. As I hear the story, I find myself growing increasingly angry with her landlord. It’s no wonder she looked like she wanted to murder the guy.
“I’m almost regretting pulling you away from him now,” I tell her honestly.
Savanna is quick to shake her head. “No, you were right to do it. I shouldn’t have made a scene, but I wasn’t thinking. I was just reacting. I was coming down from all the adrenaline, but seeing him had it rushing back, and I just…”
“Reacted,” I finish with understanding, nodding. “Believe me, I get it. I’m trained in using those adrenaline dumps to my advantage, so I can only imagine how it was for you, someone who isn’t used to them.”
I don’t understand the frown that pulls her lips down and makes her eyebrows furrow, as if she disagrees with me, while her words contradict the look. “Exactly. I’m not used to them, so it was a lot to handle.”
“I do have one question,” I say to her, my foot dropping to the ground as I lean forward and place my elbows on my knees. My voice is low as I ask, “Why were you taking the trash out in your underwear?”
This is further proof I don’t have game. The second the words are out of my mouth I wish I could take them back, but they’re out there, and they’ve caused Savanna’s mouth to pop open, her eyes bugging out in horror. Based on her reaction I’d say she forgot that I saw her practically naked, along with everyone else at the scene.
When her cheeks flame, I almost take back wishing the words away. I can’t help but think how becoming the blush looks on her, causing her gray eyes to stand out from the rest of her.
“I’m sorry,” I say, cringing at her embarrassment, and that I’m the cause of it. “I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not my business to be asking that anyway. Forget I said anything.”
“I had clothes on,” she grits out, and I’m pretty sure she’s warring with herself on whether or not she wants to tell me to get out. “But there was smoke coming up under the door, so I took them off and used them to stop it.”
It’s my turn to look shocked. Sitting up straight, I stare at her, totally enraptured by this woman who isn’t just beautiful, but is also smart as a whip. For her to have the insight, even in a dire situation, to keep the smoke out the way she did, impresses the hell out of me.
“You’re a firefighter’s goddamn wet dream,” I tell her without any thought to how that sounds.
Once again, her mouth is dropping open, and that beautiful color is returning to her cheeks as she looks away from me and down at her lap. Christ, I promised I wouldn’t hit on her, but I’m not doing a very good job.
I’m saved before I stick my foot any farther into my mouth when the curtain is pulled open and Jordan steps in the room, closing the drape behind her again.
I can feel her eyes dart back and forth between Savanna and me before she says, “Do I need to kick him out?”
I’d be offended if I hadn’t just spoken about wet dreams.
“No,” Savanna says hurriedly, shaking her head. “No, it’s been nice to talk with someone. Helps pass the time until I can get out of here.”
“Which won’t be much longer,” Jordan tells her. “Dr. Verdeem is two patients away from coming to see you.” Her eyes flicker to me for a moment before looking back to Savanna. “Do you have someone you can call to come pick you up?”
“Oh. I, uhm, don’t have my phone with me. Everything is still back in my apartment,” she says with a frown, and I notice that she’s back to picking her fingernails.
“Here,” I say, pulling my phone out of my pocket. “You can use mine.”
“There’s also a phone at the nurse’s station that I can bring you,” Jordan says quickly, giving me a reproving look. “In case you’re not comfortable using Nate’s.”
There’s a long silence from Savanna as she looks back and forth between Jordan and me, and I can see her trying to decide if she’s comfortable using my phone. I can’t blame her if she’s not, and I finally mumble, “Sorry. I was just trying to be helpful. I didn’t think how that might make you feel.”
“It’s okay,” Savanna says after another beat of hesitation just as I’m about to shove my phone back into my pocket. “I don’t mind using yours. If you don’t mind.”
It’s not like I’m about to get her phone number, so I’m not sure why I suddenly feel like puffing out my chest like a damn caveman. Maybe it’s because my sister is standing there watching the exchange, and she was on Liam’s side the other night. Maybe this will be the proof to convince them both I’m not totally useless when it comes to the opposite sex.
“Not at all,” I say, handing Savanna the phone after unlocking it for her and she smiles her thanks at me.
“Nate, why don’t you give her some privacy to make her call?” Jordan suggests, but I know it isn’t really a suggestion. “And Savanna, feel free to delete whatever number you call afterwards.”
I watch as Savanna’s face falls completely, and she nods like she understands something I’m completely missing. “I will.”
“I’ll be right back,” I assure her as I get to my feet, hoping that the smile comes back to her face. It doesn’t, and for some reason that irritates me.
Or maybe it irritates me that she’s going to delete whoever she’s going to call from my phone, and I won’t have any way of contacting her after this is all said and done. Because I’m not going to ask for her phone number; I promised I wouldn’t hit on her, and I’m going to keep that promise—despite the wet dream comment.
Jordan crooks her finger to follow her when we step outside the room. She leads me to the nurse’s station and stops in front of a small pile of clothes sitting there. I look from it to her and raise an eyebrow as she picks it up and shoves it in my direction.
“I could easily go back in there and give these to her, but I feel like they might mean more coming from you,” she tells me, and when I stare at her in confusion, she rolls her eyes. “Nate, she’s about to be discharged and the only thing she had to wear when she came in was underwear. I’m certain she isn’t going to want to walk around in a hospital gown, so I ran down to my locker and got these. I think we’re close to the same size, except I’ve got more boob going on than she does.”
I wrinkle my nose at the last comment, not wanting to think about my sister’s tits, but take the pile of clothes that she hands me, now recognizing them as scrubs, as well as a pair of flip-flops. “You do this for all your patients?”
“My bonehead brother doesn’t have a crush on all my patients, so no, I don’t,” she tells me before whacking me in the arm. “You had to go and offer her your phone, didn’t you?”
I stare at her dumbfounded. “I was being helpful!”
“And I was trying to set you up so you could take her out for a coffee, but you had to jump in there like the hero you always are,” Jordan says, shaking her head at me like I’m the biggest imbecile out there. “We tried to get her to call someone she knew earlier, but she said there was no one she wanted to bother.”
Well shit. Who knew that my need to help would come back to bite me in the ass like that? Now Savanna is in there calling someone to pick her up when I could have been the one to… what? What exactly would I have done with her? She didn’t want to be hit on, and if I offered her a ride somewhere, would she have thought I was hitting on her? Taking her for coffee would seem a lot like a date, and wouldn’t that be a step above hitting on her?
Suddenly I’m irritated with my sister for trying to pry, not only in my life, but in Savanna’s. “She doesn’t want someone picking her up, Jor. She doesn’t want to be taken out for coffee. She’s just had a couple of really horrible days, so while I’m sure you mean well in your meddling, leave Savanna alone, and stay out of my damn love life.”
Turning around, I head back for Savanna’s room. Despite my warning to Jordan, I keep the scrubs, because the hell if I’m letting that beautiful woman walk out of here in her underwear, or a hospital gown.