Chapter 18 #2
Greer turned to the girls. “You’re just in time. It’s Murph’s day for lunch, and he brought pulled pork. He’s in there now, finishing the potato salad and baked beans. Why don’t you two go ahead and get started?”
Isabella nodded, grabbed Sophia by the forearm, and pulled her into the dayroom.
Greer turned his attention to Liam. “So, you’re the new boyfriend?” he said as he studied him.
“Yes. I’m the new boyfriend.” That sentence tasted weird in his mouth. This was all for the safety of Samantha and Isabella. He needed to play the part and get used to saying it.
The man folded his arms over his chest.
Liam remained relaxed in his stance. He knew what was coming, and he was going to let the man have his say.
“You probably think this is going to be one of those ‘hurt her and die’ conversations.”
“I wouldn’t expect less. I know how working closely with a team of people builds a bond and familial relationship.”
Greer nodded. “Our jobs may be different in many ways, but they’re similar in others.
The family thing is one of them. I’m not here to give you that big-brother speech.
No matter how much I want to. I know Sam and her capabilities.
She can take care of herself just fine. Physically, that is.
She has to be strong to do our job. You know she’s the only woman employed by the Renegade Fire Department? ”
Liam shook his head. “I didn’t know that.”
“I’ve only been on the team three years, but I know she has the strength, determination, and grit to do the job. I’ve seen her carry grown men bigger than she is from buildings.”
There was no doubt in Liam’s mind that Samantha was capable of doing her job. She wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t. What he didn’t know was what Greer was going for here.
“What I haven’t seen is her showing any personal emotional connections outside of the station. There’s always some man trying to catch her eye when we’re out on calls and community events. She ignores the attention and moves on. There’s something different with you.” Greer studied him.
He had no idea how right he was—just not in the sense he was implying.
“You should know she’s been through some stuff.”
Liam narrowed his eyes. She’d said she hadn’t told anyone about her past.
“She’s got something locked up inside her that she hasn’t shared with the rest of us.
You can tell by how closed off she is. She tries to cover it but doesn’t always do a good job.
It’s not very often you see a twenty-nine-year-old woman with custody of their younger sister and a past she doesn’t talk about. ”
“Okay, so you’re telling me to be careful?” What was Greer’s angle? Did he harbor some romantic feelings for his coworker?
“Yes. Be careful with her. Who she dates and why is her business. I want nothing more than to see her happy, and if you’re the man to do it, then so be it, even if you’re part of the donut patrol.” He smirked.
Liam huffed at the nickname.
Greer’s face softened. “I’m just saying, tread carefully. When she finally opens her heart up, she’s going to love with all of it.”
“Understood.” Liam crossed his arms. Even though this relationship was fake to the two of them, to those who cared about Sam, this was real. He would do everything in his power to maintain that professionalism and not lead her to any other conclusion.
“If you ever mention we had this conversation, I will deny it and tell her you’ve secretly wanted to be a firefighter your whole life but couldn’t grow the mustache.”
Sam pushed through the door. “There you are.” She eyed Greer suspiciously. “What are you two doing?”
Greer held up his hands in fake surrender. “Deputy Marshal Roberts was just asking me if I’d noticed anything unusual around the station.” He turned to Liam. “And I was telling him I hadn’t.”
“Just trying to investigate a little, that’s all.” Liam shrugged his shoulders and let his arms drop to his side.
She studied the two of them like she wasn’t sure she believed the story. “Well, lunch is served. We better eat before another call comes in.”
She turned around and walked back to the dayroom.
“Guests first.” Greer gestured for Liam to follow Sam.
Everyone was gathered around the kitchen island, making plates. The aroma of tangy barbecue filled the air.
Liam watched as Sophia and Isabella made themselves plates and slumped onto the loveseat in the dayroom.
“Here.” Sam handed him a paper plate. “If you don’t get in there and get some food, it will disappear.” She turned and got in line.
When he’d pulled into the station, he hadn’t been all that hungry, but his mouth had started watering once he’d stepped into the dayroom.
Liam stepped into line behind Sam.
“Murphy.” She pointed to the firefighter with red hair. “Smoked the meat himself and made the barbecue sauce. He never tells us his secret, but it’s amazing.”
It sure smelled that way.
“You’ve already met Greer and Dean.” She looked around the room.
“And Captain Bennett and Lieutenant Fischer.”
“Right.”
She pointed to the man with tattoos crawling up his neck. “That’s Zachary Holt.” Then she pointed to another man, who probably had a locker full of protein powder and pre-workout supplements. “And that’s Logan Tate. They’re both firefighters on the ladder truck with Captain Bennett and Dean.”
“That means Fischer, Greer, and Murph are on the engine with you?” He knew all of this already. One of the first things he’d done after the fire at her house was to look into her coworkers.
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“From what I’ve seen, you appear to be closest to Dean and Greer.” He wanted to learn more about her work dynamic so he could get a bigger picture of the team.
“Dean is like the big brother I never had, and Greer is like the little brother I never wanted.”
“I heard that,” Greer said through a mouthful of food.
“And?” She gave him a sassy face.
“You know you love me.” He batted his eyes at her.
She laughed.
Everyone filled their plates and dispersed into the dayroom. Sam took a seat in a recliner. Liam grabbed a metal folding chair that had been brought out, and pulled it up next to her.
“So, Marshal, what brings you to Renegade?” Tate asked before taking a bite of his pulled-pork sandwich.
“Call me Liam.” He looked to Sophia. “I got custody of my niece and transferred jobs. Renegade had an opening.”
“Oh.” Sam sat up straighter. “I don’t know if everyone has met her, but that’s Sophia.” Sam nodded toward his niece.
The guys all said hello. Sophia’s face reddened. She didn’t like being the center of attention.
“What do you do for the Marshals?” Dean asked.
“Before moving to Renegade, I was on one of the fugitive apprehension teams. Now I do courthouse security and transporting inmates to and from the courthouse, along with some witness protection duties.” He balanced his plate on his knee.
“I’ll do apprehension if I’m needed, but my focus is the courthouse security. ”
“How’d you and Sam meet?”
Liam swallowed his food. They hadn’t had time to discuss the logistics of their relationship. It was best to stick as close to the truth as possible. “The first time I met her was at that motel shooting she responded to. We didn’t say more than a few words to each other though.”
“Oh, wow. That shooting was wild. How’s the marshal that was hit?” Greer asked.
“He’s fine. Off for a few weeks’ healing.”
“What about the fugitive?” Sam asked.
He turned to her. She’d been the one to treat him, so her curiosity was natural. “I can tell you he lived.”
“That’s—” She shook her head.
“A miracle.” Liam finished for her. “The trajectory of the bullet missed all of the man’s major organs.”
She shrugged.
“Sometimes miracles happen. There’s no rhyme or reason to it.”
The alarms started to blare, dispatch calling a structure fire over the intercom.
Everyone jumped up and tossed their trash or set their plates on the counter.
He stood up and took Sam’s plate. “We’ll see ourselves out. Be careful.”
She nodded and disappeared into the bay with her crew.
“Come on, girls. Let’s do some cleanup, then we’ll head out.”
As he cleaned up the plates and trash, his thoughts turned back to Sam. This was her life. Her world. And somehow, just by stepping into it, he’d caught a glimpse of something he wasn’t sure he wanted to give up when this was all over.
But how could he keep it?