Chapter 4
FOUR
HARMONY
It took three days before she bumped into Crois St. Cyr again.
Part of her said it hadn’t been long enough of a break.
The other part of her?
Well, she was blushing when Crois walked up to her and smiled.
“Hello, Harmony.”
“Hello… Crois.”
“That’s my girl.”
Harmony looked around the apparatus floor and found that she was blissfully alone.
She ignored his last words and tried to be as calm and ‘normal’ as possible. “Where’s Pilar?”
He shrugged. “We’re not on shift yet. I just stopped in on the way to see if you were at the fire house.”
She turned around and lifted her chin to look at him. “Caught me.”
The instant the words came out of her mouth, she saw Crois smile.
“Maybe,” she bit into her bottom lip for a moment, “I should have used different words.”
“Oh no, I like your words.” he leaned in, bracing his hand on the back of the ambulance. “I like your smile even more.”
She lifted her hand to her face, lightly touching her palm to her cheek.
“You’re a little red, yes.”
She heard his words, but she was also very aware of the look in his eyes.
He was enjoying this.
Her discomfort.
And… she wouldn’t admit it out loud, but she was enjoying this a little, too.
Her life in Center City was a predictable one.
Normally, that was good.
It was great, usually.
But ever since she’d seen Crois with that little baby, holding the child with an ease she rarely saw, she’d been thinking that a little excitement, a little unpredictability in her life, might just be a good thing.
“Look, I’m not trying to embarrass you, Harmony. Even if it does make your cheeks a little rosey red. I just wanted to come by and see if you’d changed your mind about dinner?”
“Dinner…”
She was trying to get her brain to kick in and find an answer what would get him to leave.
Sure, she liked the excitement of interacting with him, she just needed a little time to get used to the idea. She wanted to be able to talk to him without feeling like her face might catch on fire.
“I don’t know.”
“Hey, Crois!”
Harmony saw the frown wipe away from Crois’ face as they were joined by Vega and a few of the firefighters from House Twenty-Nine.
She saw them come to a stop like a big wall around them.
Most of the men were looking at Crois.
The only one giving her a curious look was Rock.
Martin Ferris was one of the firefighters who she enjoyed talking to the most, but it wasn’t lost on her that he was married to Sergeant Kate Turner who was Crois’ commanding officer.
Apparently, Vega was happy to have the audience around them. He gestured at Crois. “See? This is our social media star!”
Harmony frowned at Vega’s words. “What are you talking about?”
Crois shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothing?” Vega took out his phone and handed it to her. “Your man is famous online.”
Harmony wanted to argue with the ‘your man’ comment, but the instant she saw that image open in the Instagram app, she forgot about arguing.
There was a picture of Crois sitting in the back of the ambulance with a bare arm visible.
His uniform shirt must have slipped while she was treating Allie.
He had his chin down, looking at the baby in his arms and the first thing that popped up in her mind was how sweet the whole scene was.
Sweet.
But Allie was still dealing with the loss of her husband.
Almost as if Crois sensed her thoughts, he stepped closer to her and put his hand on her lower back.
His warm hand on her back was reassuring, and she looked up at him with a grateful smile.
Mats, another one of the firefighters at the station, took the phone and turned it around to look at it. Mats was short for his last name of Matsumoto. “Wow. Has Ronin seen this?”
Harmony frowned at his question. “Ronin?”
Rock answered her question. “Mats’ brother is a detective at Precinct Four.”
She smiled softly. “Boy howdy. When people say that first responders are a big family, it seems like that’s a reality here in Center City.”
Rock nodded. “A trauma doctor, detective, and sergeant in one family.”
Of course he was speaking of his wife and her brothers Roan and Walker.
“Then Jon Lee and his brother. Firefighter and detective.”
She nodded at that. She’d never really had a direct, face to face meeting with Ronin, Mats’ brother, but now she was a curious and she’d be looking for him on scenes from now on. Mats was fun to talk to and always seemed to have a smile for her.
A thought popped up in her head and she snapped her fingers. “And Jon Lee is married to Josephine and she’s an officer at Precinct Four!”
Jon Lee’s smile was ear to ear. “That’s my Joe.”
“Don’t forget my partner, Pilar.” Crois’ hand moved a few inches higher on her back, the heat moving with him. “She’s marrying Kate’s brother, Roan.”
“Sounds like we should have a big family tree on the wall inside of Twenty-nine.”
Rock laughed at that. “Not so much of a tree. It would be a like a big ball of roots… or a tangle of some sort.”
Harmony smiled at the firefighter with the hot mix of black and silver hair. “Tangled. That sounds about right.”
Crois leaned in and spoke nearly into her ear. “Come out to dinner with me and maybe we can add to it.”
Harmony’s face flamed hotter.
“Is the picture that hot?”
Halo, the other firefighter in the group took the phone from her hands and looked at it. “That’s it?” He frowned at the screen, lines furrowing his forehead. “People are going crazy over a little bicep picture?”
Harmony shook her head. “I haven’t seen the comments on social media, but I bet it was focused more on the baby.”
Vega nodded. “Lots of comments on hot flashes and ovaries exploding.”
Rock laughed behind his hand. “I think there were a few proposals and… propositions.”
Harmony felt Crois’ hand move against her back, lower this time, sending shivers down her back.
“Just so you know, I don’t care about those comments.”
Harmony tried to put some space between them, but Crois had long arms and his hand stayed in place.
“I don’t want you to be upset by them.”
She bit the inside of her cheek and barely resisted the urge to elbow him in the side. “Crois.”
His laughter was a soft chuckle and sounded more secretive than a full gut laugh would have been.
She looked away and at the rest of the group, hoping that everyone had missed that exchange.
Shocking, but they hadn’t.
Jon Lee was the first to speak. “Harmony? Is there something we should know?”
“Know?” She laughed out loud, but it sounded tinny to her own ears. “Nothing.”
“Nothing, yet.” Crois announced to the group.
That’s when she tried to elbow him, but Crois had long arms and leaned out of her way.
Rock folded his arms across his chest. “It seems like Harmony doesn’t agree with you.”
Rock’s tone sounded more like a dad than a co-worker.
“I have no problem calling Kate.”
Beside her, Crois stiffened a little.
“I’m not on shift, Rock.”
“But,” the other man countered, “you’re in uniform and that might be construed as intimidation.”
Crois dropped his hand from her back and took a step away.
Harmony hates how… empty the space beside her felt when he stepped away.
She might have been nervous with people looking at her. Especially when she worked with them for hours and hours on shift.
And while she appreciated that Rock was trying to help her out, the last thing she wanted was to get Crois in trouble.
“He’s fine, Rock. Really.”
“See?” Crois lifted his chin and took a step closer to her.
This time she was ready for it and put out her hand, glancing her fingertips off of his side.
She watched Crois flinch and she smiled.
Leaning in closer, she half-whispered to him. “Are you ticklish?”
“No!” His smile wobbled. He’d almost shouted the denial and the sides of his neck tightened. “I’m not ticklish.”
Halo playfully coughed into his hand. “Bullshit.”
Crois wrapped his arms around his chest, trying to shield his sides as much as he could.
Harmony found the moment and his actions utterly endearing.
Crois’ expression was sweet, to her.
He was glaring at Halo with something at almost looked like pout on his face.
She was fighting back a laugh.
Crois’ phone buzzed loudly in his pocket, and he took a step back from the group, dropping a hand to draw it out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and sighed. “I’ve got to get going.” He lifted his gaze again and looked right at her.
Harmony nodded. “Be safe today.”
He moved his hands, place one over his heart. “You do care.”
Vega shook his head, laughing. “She’s an EMT, Crois. She just doesn’t want to get called to a scene for your sorry ass.”
Halo laughed out loud. “From the comments on the internet,” he grinned, “everyone would love for him to strip out of those pants and show them his ass.”
Harmony didn’t know what to say to that.
Any of it.
“I just want you to be careful.”
Crois took a half a step closer. “You want who to be careful?”
She wanted to roll her eyes at his words, but she knew he’d have too much fun with that reaction.
Instead, she looked at him and mouthed his name. ‘Crois.’
Grinning from ear to ear he nodded. “That’s right.” He took a step away. “The invitation to dinner is still open.”
“Sorry,” she gestured at the apparatus floor, “I’m here until tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” Crois walked backwards toward the open end of room, “breakfast then. I’ll be here when you clock out.”
What?
It took Harmony a moment to realize that she’d walked into a trap.
“Wait.”
Crois was gone.
Jon Lee was laughing. “Boy, he beat feet to get away before you could turn him down.”
Harmony was sure that her face was blazing red. “I… I guess.”
Rock walked up to her side. “Harmony?”
She looked up into his concerned expression. “It’s okay, Rock. Really. No need to talk to Kate. I bet if I told him to leave me alone, he would. I… I’m just not sure I want to say that to him.”
Lifting a curious eyebrow, Rock nodded. “Okay then. But, if things get out of hand…”
She nodded and reached out a hand, gently touching his arm. “Thanks, Rock.”