“Michelle.”
My hand lunged out to hold onto the counter. Just the sound of my name falling from his lips, and the way he stared at me, watching me, moving closer. He came to stand in front of me. He was tall. Taller than the four other men in the room. A dirty blond lock fell over his forehead, and I wanted so badly to push it out of his face but I held back. I stared at him the same way he was looking down at me. We were memorizing each other. I drank in his chiseled jawline with the short hairs of a cropped beard, the light freckles that lined his upper cheeks and bridge of his nose, and again, those eyes.
“Carter.” I cleared my throat, attempting to rid it of the tremble I was sure everyone in earshot heard. “I wanted to come by and thank you for saving me. All of you,” I added, breaking free of the grip his gaze had on me and looking back to the other men in the room, who’d gone eerily quiet. I would’ve guessed they’d all scattered as silent as they’d gotten. This group didn’t strike me as the quiet bunch. But when I peeled my eyes from Carter’s, I definitely saw that we weren’t alone.
“Michelle brought donuts,” Corey yelled out.
“I hope you all enjoy them,” I stated, unable to turn back to Carter. I still felt his eyes on me. “I didn’t know what else to bring to say thanks.”
“You’ve done enough,” his deep voice sounded.
“Food is always welcome around here.”
“The way these clowns eat, we’re not turning anything down!” Sean called out.
I finally turned back to Carter, who sure enough, continued to stare at me.
“What’re you doing now?” he questioned.
I blinked, contemplating his question. “Uh, nothing. My mother has Diego for the afternoon.”
“Care to take a short break with me?”
I raised my eyebrows, but he was already taking my hand in his. The same warm feeling I remembered from the day of the accident, appeared at the same spot he touched.
“You hungry?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Come with me.” He pulled me by the arm and we began exiting the kitchen, through a swinging door.
“Thanks, Michelle.”
“Leaving so soon?” Don called out in a teasing manner.
Carter shot him a look, but didn’t say anything. He just held the door open for me, and moved behind me, wrapping his arm around my lower back, possessively. He didn’t even bother introducing me to any of the other firefighters as we moved past the main area of the station, passed the television and out the front door.
“It was a little stuffy in there,” he said in my ear, once we were outside. “Take a trip with me.”
“What?” I blurted out, turning to him.
A funny grin spread across his face. “To the park. You said you were hungry.” His head gestured and I turned, seeing the entrance to the biggest open air park in Williamsport.
“Oh, yeah. Sure,” I fumbled, feeling foolish. Of course he wasn’t asking me to go on an actual trip with him.
“How’ve you been since the accident? Any injuries?” he questioned, as we made our way over the cobblestones of the park’s entrance.
I shook my head. “Other than some stitches and a mild concussion I was alright.”
We stopped walking and Carter turned to me. His free hand raising to my forehead, he ran his thumb along the cut that had been on the mend. I leaned into his touch, gathering his strength, and tried to store it for an occasion when I would need it.
“Is that why you signed yourself out of the hospital?”
My eyes sprang open. I hadn’t even been aware that I’d closed them. “How’d you know I signed myself out?”
“I went to the hospital to check on you.” He looked me straight in the eye.
I paused, both shocked and a little taken aback by his stare. He seemed to always be staring at me so attentively. “Do you always do that?”
“Do what?” A blond eyebrow spiked upwards.
“Look people straight in the eye when talking to them.” It was unnerving and fulfilling all at the same time. As if every last word I spoke held his completely enraptured attention. I’d felt it when I was trapped inside my car as well.
“Does it make you uncomfortable?” He inched closer, gaze intent on me.
“Would you stop doing it if it did?”
“Probably not.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Why not?”
“Because I can’t help it around you … nor do I even want to try to.” His free hand―because he still held my left hand in his right―went up to my shoulder, and began stroking the loose end piece of the braid I wore.
“Soft,” he murmured, as if committing my hair’s feel to memory.
Something inside of me shook. Like my body was shaking off the feeling of being in darkness for a long time. I got that wonderful feeling you get when you first stretch after a good night’s rest, but I hadn’t moved. I’d merely been held captive by Carter’s watchful eyes.
“What do you like on your hotdogs?”
I blinked. “Huh?”
He tilted his head behind me and I turned to glance over my shoulders. We were at a hotdog stand.
“Unless you’d prefer a restaurant experience.”
“What? No, this is fine. I bet you’re pretty busy at the station and don’t have time for a sit down restaurant,” I rushed out.
I turned back to see sparkling eyes trained on me. “My shift ended twenty minutes ago.”
“Oh, well, a hot dog’s fine for now. I’ll take a raincheck on the restaurant,” I lied, knowing I could never agree to going on an actual date with this man. “I’ll take just ketchup and mustard on mine.”
“Ketchup and mustard it is.” He stepped forward, and ordered our food along with two cans of cola from the vendor.
“I haven’t had a hotdog from a vendor in ages,” I said, grinning just before taking my first bite. Thankfully, it was one of those warmer spring days and we were able to locate a bench not too far off, to sit down.
“Why’s that?”
I watched as Carter took a huge bite of his hotdog. His jaw bulged and shifted as he ate, and Lord help me, I found the movement of his mouth erotic. The trimmed hairs of his beard reflected the sunlight. I noticed, not for the first time, the splattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose and tops of his cheeks. The urge to kiss every single one as I counted them arose, and instead of leaning in to do just that, I took a bite of my own hotdog.
“Um …” I hesitated to swallow before answering his question. “I try to cook well-balanced meals for my son. I rarely allow him to eat street food.”
“So you’re a health nut?” he asked, grinning, and balling up the paper that held his hot dog. How the hell had he finished already?
“Pssh, yeah right.” I held out my arms, as if to say look at me. “I hardly look like a health nut.”
His eyes narrowed, all humor leaving his face. His gaze sharpened on me, pinning me before moving over my face, neck, breasts, thighs, and legs. I tried to swallow but all the saliva in my mouth had dried up. He was taking his entire fill of me, drinking me up with just his eyes, and despite the cream jeans and sleeveless blouse I wore, I felt completely raw and exposed under his scrutiny.
“You’re perfect.” His voice was low but laced with a steely firmness that pulled at a need deep within me that I’d done my best to suppress.
I wasn’t about to let myself get sucked under by his magnetic pull. I’d made that mistake once in my life and was still suffering the consequences of my actions. Instead, I made light of the situation.
Smiling, I said, “You’re a firefighter. Everyone knows what notorious flirts you all are.” I tried to laugh it off, and stood, taking the last sip of my can of soda.
Carter stood as well, his stern eyes barreling down on me. “I don’t.”
I swallowed my last sip on a gulp. “Don’t what.”
“Say shit I don’t mean. Use bullshit flattery to get in a woman’s
pants. Don’t have to. Never have. Never will.”
And I believed him. Believed every word he’d just said. Of course he didn’t have to use flattery or trickery. Just look at him. Not only was he drop dead gorgeous but he carried himself like he was born and bred to take on the world.
“I … should go.” It was past the time for me to high-tail it out of there. I needed to get from underneath his penetrating gaze, lest I’d be willing to share all my secrets with this man.
Somehow, he was less than an inch from me. I don’t know if he’d moved closer or I had, but the next thing I knew, I saw his lips barreling toward mine. I should’ve taken a step back, told myself to take a step back, but common sense was beat out by a burning need and I waited for a kiss that never came.
Instead, he lowered his forehead to mine, wrapping a firm arm around my waist. “You should …” he uttered just above a whisper. I nodded, thinking he was affirming what I’d just said―that I should go―but then he finished his statement, “… give me your number.”
I began shaking my head, avoiding his eyes. “I can’t.” I cleared my throat and stepped back to break out of the physical and mental hold he had on me. “I just wanted to thank you for all that you did for me that day. I truly appreciate it,” I quickly stated, backing up. “I hope you and your squad enjoy the donuts. Bye.” I didn’t bother stopping to look at him for his reaction. I turned and moved as swiftly as my two legs would carry me back to the safety of my car. All the while, I felt Carter’s eyes on me, just as firmly as I’d felt his grip when he held my hand.
~ Chapter Three ~
Carter
“Hey, Cap says you’re on lead today.”
I raised an eyebrow in Corey’s direction. I’d just entered the fire station and signed in for my twelve hour shift, before heading up to my locker to drop off my jacket and helmet.
“Why’s that?” I questioned, returning my attention to lacing up my boots.
“Eric’s out and Cap’s gonna be in meetings all day downtown.”
“No sweat. It’s a good day to run drills.”
“Yo, fuck you, Carter.” Corey pointed at me, laughing. “Don’t run us ragged like you usually do without water. We all weren’t special forces and shit.”
I grinned and stood. “Quit acting like a pussy. So I had you in ninety degree weather without water for a few hours. You’ll be thanking me the next time we get a call and we beat Rescue Two up the stairs to the flames.”
“Yeah, whatever. Rescue Two can suck my dick for all I care. After we lost that last bet, they’re never beating us anywhere.”
I let out a belly laugh at the memory of seeing my squad dressed in fucking ballerina tutus on spin bikes. That’d been the last bet they lost to the guys at Rescue Two.
“See,” I pointed at Corey. “That shit wouldn’t have happened if I’d been here.” I hated to even think about that period of time I was away from Rescue Four, or what it was that caused me to have to step away from my squad.
“But you’re back now.” It was as if Corey was reading my mind.
“Yeah, and that means it’s time to get your ass on that course outback. Get Donnie and Sean, and tell ’em let’s fucking get to work.”
“Party time, baby!” Corey clapped his hands and rubbed them together, laughing. He might complain about how tough I was when it came to drills but he loved the shit just as much as I did. All of us at Rescue Four were adrenaline junkies. If we weren’t out rescuing, we were training. And in between those moments of rescue and training, we were filling our stomachs and talking trash to one another. That’s the way it went around here.
I made a move to follow Corey down the wooden stairs that would bring us to the first floor T.V. room in the station house, but my cell phone vibrated in my locker. Doubling back, I picked up my phone and grinned inwardly at seeing whose name came across my phone’s screen.
“You got what I asked for?”
“I can’t even get a fucking hello? Hi, Andy, how are you?”
“Hi, Andy. Suck my dick, Andy. Do you have what I asked you for?”
His chuckle moved across the phone line and I cracked my neck, feeling anxious and irritated. “Yeah, I got it. You got a pen and paper?”
“Did you forget who you’re talking to?”
“Nope. Was testing you to see if you’ve lost it or not. Her number is 712-555 …” He finished reciting Michelle’s telephone number, and by the time he was done, I’d committed the number to memory. I thanked Andy for the intel before hanging up. He was halfway around the world on some job, still working for the Army, but he was able to get me information under the radar. I would’ve asked Don, but he’d already been making comments since Michelle’s visit this past weekend and I didn’t want him in my business any more than he needed to be.
I tossed my cell phone back into my locker after storing Michelle’s phone number in my contact’s list, and then headed out back to where we had our training equipment set up.
“The hell took you so long? I’m growing old over here!” Don’s voice rang out, causing the five guys out with him to laugh.
“Easy, Donnie. Your mother wouldn’t let me leave until I showed her a few of my tricks. Sorry about that.” I winked at him.
“Oh shit!” Corey sing-songed. “Not the man’s mother.”
A round of laughter from the guys except Don who gave a litany of “fuck yous” before we were able to settle down and get some drills going. We were about three quarters of the way through when the station’s alarm went off and we dropped everything to head inside for our gear.
“Carter, you’re up front with me,” Sean, one of our squad lieutenants, called out. I nodded, pulled up my suspenders of my fireproof gear, and ran around to the passenger side of the rig, climbing in. We were on the move, to a house fire. The biggest problem was that it was a row home, which had the potential to light an entire block on fire if the flames weren’t quickly contained.
“You can’t make this thing move any faster?” I growled at Sean, as I listened to the details that came in from headquarters.
“Moving as fast as I can.”
I pulled the cord that sounded the fire truck’s horn, prompting cars to pull over to get out of our way. Within seven minutes we were the first truck pulling up to the scene. There were three police cars already present, trying to set up a perimeter so we could do our thing.
“Anyone inside?” Sean asked one of the officers. Meanwhile, Don, Corey, myself, and another guy were pulling out hatchets and prepping to hook the hose up to the hydrant that sat directly across from the house that was on fire.
“Cop says there may be as many as three people inside, but they’re not sure. Owner is over there.” He pointed at a man who looked to be at his wit’s end. “He said his wife called him and said their house was on fire. He called 911 but hasn’t been able to reach his wife since she got disconnected.”
“Shit!” I stared at the house. It looked to be three stories and there were flames already shooting out of the third floor window. I hoped to God there weren’t any children on that floor.
“What’re you thinking?” Sean questioned.
“Looks like it started on the third floor. We should be able to breach the first floor, secure that floor, and get up to the second to check for anyone. Third floor’s gonna be hot, but we just might be able to do it.” I stopped, recalling to memory the layout of the row home’s on this particular block. Most of them were just about the same.
“Don and Corey can make their way around back, to secure the entry points and make sure we don’t miss anything.” I explained more of my strategy to Sean, who quickly agreed and began giving out orders based off what I’d told him. Logistics had been one of the skills I’d trained on and used a great deal in the Army, and it came in especially handy as a firefighter. We couldn’t just load up the hose and spray down every fire we encountered. Our first priority was always to make sure the sight or scene was free of any victims. To do tha
t often meant we had to make entry, and that took careful planning on all our parts. While I didn’t have the title of lieutenant, my colleagues all valued my expertise enough to consult me when necessary.
As I’d planned, I took lead to make entry into the front of the house with Sean and another member of our squad at my back, while Corey and Don went around back to make entry there. If all went well, we would meet at the center staircase and move upstairs together.
Busting through the front door with my hatchet, I grabbed the front end of the hose and pulled it in with me as I entered the home. The entire first floor was blanketed in thick, black smoke. Not a good sign. I slowed my breathing, to consume as little air as possible from the oxygen mask covering my face.
“I’m checking the bathroom,” Sean tapped me on the shoulder to inform me.
I nodded at him and went the opposite direction to one of the downstairs bedrooms. Again, I had to move around by my knowledge of the layout of the home because of the smoke. Feeling around, I felt nothing on the bed or underneath it. I reached for the knob of the closet and pulled it open. The door flew open and something fell against my leg. A body. I knew the limpness of a body even if I couldn’t see it.
“I got someone,” I called into my walkie-talkie. I bent down to feel for the person. They were small, likely a child. I let my hand glide over the arm, up the shoulder, and to the neck, removing the glove from my hand to feel for a pulse. It was weak, but it was there.
“I’m coming out with one!” I yelled, scooping down to pick the child up, doing my best to keep low as I moved through the cloud of smoke. I retraced my steps back down the hall and out the front door, stumbling a little but making my way down the concrete steps.
“Timmy!” a male voice laced with agony and fear called out.
I looked over to see the distraught man from earlier running toward me. I rushed past the man to place the boy onto the gurney so that paramedics could tend to him. The man followed the gurney and I doubled back to the house to see if there was anyone else I could help, and eventually to beat back the flames.
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