by Mia Madison
“I won’t be able to pay you, but it will be something to put on your resume,” he says.
I know I should just get over myself. It’s been weeks since the drain incident. I need to do something. Cassie has just started a job in a bank, and working as an unpaid intern will be better than sitting around at home.
I don’t know if Dad starts to regret his offer, but when he’s taking me to work the following week, he says, “Be careful there. Firefighters can be wild when they get together. I’ll have a word with them, but still…”
“Please don’t do that. I’ll never live it down. I can cope with a few firemen having a joke. How bad can it be?” I’m trying to convince myself as well as him.
“Just let me know if they annoy you.”
The only way they are going to affect me is if I let them. But Logan… it might be different with him. I’ve seen quite a few of the crew when they visited our house for one reason or another, but none of them has ever invaded my dreams like him.
Dad has a whole list of things he wants me to do. The fire station website looks like it was made in 1997 and the social media accounts are no better. I’ll enjoy taking them into the twenty-first century. I just wish I was getting paid for it.
I’m mainly stuck in an empty office next to Dad’s, so I don’t see the firemen all that much. At first, Dad hovers around me like a mother hen. I still get all the comments asking me if I’ve fallen down any holes in the road lately, but the teasing is mild, probably because they know who Dad is.
I see Logan now and again, and every freakin’ time my heart skips a beat like I’m a teenager catching a glimpse of her crush in the lunch line at school.
What would I do with Logan, anyway? Another guy, especially one who’s older and probably inclined to tell me what to do and control me like Simon did before he cheated on me, or who tries to protect me like Dad, is the last thing I need.
But when Logan knocks on my door and comes into my office a few days after I start, my mind goes blank of all that.
“All recovered now?” he asks.
“Yes.” Our eyes meet and it feels like there’s a moment of connection while neither of us says anything.
“Frank not around?”
“He has a meeting at the high school.”
“Right then. I’ll see him later. Glad you’re feeling better. Your dad asked me to help you out if you need anything from the guys for the website. So if there’s anything…”
Right.” Why can’t I string more than two words together? My mouth is like the Gobi desert.
CHAPTER 4
Logan
The guys are very respectful of Tia, though I’m sure they’d be all over her if she wasn’t the chief’s daughter, despite the ring on her finger. But then when I make some excuse to see Frank and look more closely, she’s still not wearing it. Is she worried she’ll lose it again?
I have to know, even if curiosity killed the cat, so the next day when she’s making the morning coffee for her dad, I make sure I’m in the kitchen. “You went to all that trouble to get your ring back and now you’re not wearing it.” I nod towards her finger as she spoons coffee into the machine.
“I sent it back. That’s what I was on my way to do.” She blushes as if that was something to be embarrassed about.
“He doesn’t deserve you.”
“Maybe not.” She smiles, and it cheers up my whole day.
“Listen, are you fr—?”
Adam barges in. It’s a busy kitchen, but talk about bad timing. I glare at him.
“Am I interrupting something? Sorry,” he says.
Tia mutters no, and something about coffee.
Never mind the guys wanting to be all over her without the chief breathing down their necks, I want to be all over her, period.
I wanted to ask her out but maybe it was for the best that Adam came in. Why would she want to go out with me on anything more than a single date? Once she knows my situation, she’s not going to stick around. And somehow, I don’t think a one and done with her will be enough for me. Even with other women, one night stands got old fast.
And then I overhear something that makes me glad I didn’t ask Tia on a date.
My sister, Emma, who looks after my daughter most of the time when I’m working, needs to take a couple of days off, so I have to arrange some leave too. I go to see Frank.
Outside his office I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but I can’t help hearing him saying to his daughter, “Tonight? Not again. This is the third time you haven’t been back home this week.”
I don’t wait to hear more. Tia is making the most of her single status. I can’t say I blame her. She’s young. She free to see who she likes. But she’s not for me.
I go back to see Frank when I know she’s not there.
CHAPTER 5
Tia
Sometimes I catch glimpses of Logan as I’m going in and out of my office, and I turn all teenager again, living for a smile or a word. It’s ridiculous. Maybe it’s my safety valve, having someone so unobtainable in mind, because I swore off getting tied down after Simon. Guys are strictly for fun and dates only. But I haven’t even managed that.
Cassie drags me out all the time, and I stay at her place because Dad fusses too much about me getting in late or having a drink. Reminding him that I’m twenty-one, that I almost got married, doesn’t seem to cut it with him. But the whole wine bar, club scene just seems to be full of tedious irritating assholes and couples who remind me of two-timing, sleazy Simon and his new woman.
One night, I spot them together. Cassie notices and grabs my arm, pulling me away. Not that I’d have done or said anything. I only itched to give each of them a resounding slap.
I apply for full-time jobs again and wonder about building up a design portfolio and going it alone, but I want—need—the buzz of a busy office right now. Even at the fire station there are people around, but I’m too holed up in the admin part of the building.
It’s getting close to Christmas so there’s not much recruiting going on, but finally, I have an interview set for the first week in January. And if I’m successful, that will be the end of my regular Logan fix.
Maybe that’s a good thing. I sometimes think I see him looking at me when I run across him, but he doesn’t ask me out like I thought he was going to that time in the kitchen. I have to give up hoping he will ever get around to it and move on. It seems like that’s the story of my life.
On the other hand, maybe I haven’t totally given up on my hot crush, because when the fire station Christmas party comes around, I get Cassie to help me go all out with my outfit.
I’m not even certain to see him. Logan might be on duty. And if he is, he might be called out to an incident. He might not go at all. I don’t know, but I’m hoping I’ll get to see him and talk to him.
I’m like a kid waiting for Santa and wondering if he’ll show up and leave all the toys on her list. I don’t want to be on my best behavior, though. Not with Logan.
CHAPTER 6
Logan
The station seems to have a Christmas party every year. I was planning to give it a pass, pleading lack of babysitters, but then it seems ungrateful not to go when others have to be on duty. No one will hear of me swapping shifts. They deliberately don’t put the new members of the crew on the roster so we get to enjoy it.
The truth is, Emma has offered to babysit again so I can get the night off. And I don’t want to look like the Grinch, so I’m here, whether I want to be or not, a little late. The party has maybe been going on an hour or so. It’s really not so bad. It won’t hurt to show my face and drink a few beers with the guys. They’re a good crowd.
The fire station is decked out like Santa’s workshop with fairy lights strung everywhere, a whole snowman family that glows in the dark, and a Christmas tree. There are plenty of off-duty firefighters and their families around, so I’m not the only one able to enjoy the party.
It’s a pity Alice is too young for al
l this, though I’m sure she’ll be ready for it in a couple of years, racing around with the other kids instead of tucked up in bed at home.
The guys are in high spirits, laughing and joking. I meet a few wives and girlfriends. Lucky guys, happy at home.
When I first see Tia, I do a double take. She looks stunning. Why did I decide she wasn’t for me, again? She looks gorgeous in her normal office gear, but tonight she’s taken sexy to a whole new level.
“Yes.” Adam laughs. “Caught you. I thought you were immune. She gets the hottest woman at the party prize tonight, for sure.”
“Nice dress.”
“I didn’t think it was the dress you were looking at.”
I’m surprised she’s not flirting with the single firemen. Was I wrong about her? She could have any of them in that red dress, low cut at the front, long skirt, but with a slit up the side, and heels. I notice the sexy wiggle the heels give her when she finally moves from her dad’s side to the kitchen.
Time for another beer. I put the bottle down that one of the guys thrust into my hand as soon as I stepped through the door of the fire station.
Lady Luck is on my side. I find there’s no one else with Tia in the kitchen right now.
She looks up at me and smiles when she sees me. “Your first Christmas here?”
“Yes. I didn’t know what to expect from a fire station party in Bexford.”
“Me neither. It’s my first too.”
“I thought you might have been to a few with your dad.”
“It’s not very cool for a teenager to go to parties with her dad.”
“You’re a teenager? You look all grown up to me.”
She catches my eye, and smiles again. Neither us looks away. “Not a teenager anymore. Not going back there. That sucked.”
“And everything in the garden is rosy now? Despite the ring thing.”
“No, that sucks a bit, too. I keep seeing him with his new girlfriend when I go out with Cassie.”
Ah. Does that mean she’s been going out with her friend rather than staying out all night with a whole string of guys? My heart perks up at that idea.
“Is Cassie your friend I met when we got you out of the drain?”
“Yes.” She colors at the memory.
“Don’t worry. It’s the highlight of my time so far at the Bexford district station.”
She laughs. “Pleased to have been of service. Anytime you need another highlight, I’m available for getting stuck in trees, rescuing from the river. That kind of thing. Just say the word.”
“I might have another kind of highlight in mind. If you’re offering.”
I’m not sure, but I think she sucks in a breath at my words before recovering her composure. “What kind would that be?”
“A kind your dad might not approve of.”
She raises her eyebrows. “That could be anything. He still thinks I need protecting from breaking a nail to all out nuclear war and everything in between.”
“And do you need protection?”
“That depends on whether you’re a serial killer sort of guy or not.”
“That’s not in my job description.”
“Good, then.”
I want to kiss her right there in the kitchen, but it’s not going to happen when I know people are going to come crashing through the doors looking for a drink any moment now. People like her dad, who shows up right on cue, like a bad penny.
“Oh, there you are. I wondered where you got to,” he says, protecting her. From me.
CHAPTER 7
Tia
Honestly, Dad! With him around, going to a Bexford fire station Christmas party is like being cloistered in a nunnery.
I shrug my shoulders at Logan. I thought we had something going there, and I hope he understands that’s what I was talking about. It’s just my dad’s way. I sense rather than see Logan behind me as I follow Dad back to the main part of the station where they are holding the party. When one of the crew stops to talk to Dad, I carry right on, going through the big double doors.
Logan is right behind me. “Hey, Tia. Want to go for a walk?” he whispers in my ear.
I smile at him and nod, my heart beating a mile a minute at his closeness.
“You got a coat?”
“A wrap thing.”
“There’s snow on the ground.”
“I know.” Can I say I don’t care? Can I ask him to keep me warm? No. I can’t do that. But the truth is, I don’t care, and I want him to put his arms around me.
“We won’t go far then. Just say if you’re cold, and we’ll come right back to the party.”
I grab my wrap and follow him out before Dad can spot me. Logan takes my hand, and we head quickly for the little park about fifty yards from the station. I slide a bit on the ice in my strappy heels, but his hand steadies me. By the time we make it, I’m shivering with cold and anticipation.
“Hey, you’re freezing. We should go back. Bad idea,” he says.
“No. Good idea.”
“Right then.” He only has a cotton shirt and a thin suit jacket himself, but he doesn’t seem to feel the cold at all. He takes the suit jacket off, drapes it around my shoulders and then pulls the lapels toward him so I’m right up against him.
And suddenly his lips are on mine, and I’m not feeling the cold of the bleak winter night one bit. All I’m aware of is his mouth, the spicy scent of his cologne, his skin against mine, and his hard, hot body through the thin layers of our clothes.
Our lips and then our mouths take over and find their own rhythm, plundering, retreating, opening, exploring in the kind of all-consuming, take-your-breath-away kiss I never experienced before. I didn’t even know kisses like that existed outside books and movies.
When we break apart to catch our breath, I feel like I’m gawking at him like a schoolgirl who’s never been kissed before.
Before either of us says anything, we’re back kissing again, as if trying to work out if the first time was for real and whether this time can possibly live up to that.
It can. It’s just as good.
We’re outside much longer than I think either of us planned, and something changes inside me with those kisses. Being tied down by a guy, at least by this guy in particular, starts to seem like not such a bad idea after all.
But I can’t let myself get carried away. It’s a Christmas party. These things happen when people get in the festive spirit. It’s pretty well accepted that the unlikeliest pairs get together at times like this. Don’t they call that beer goggles or something? It’s just an alternative to photocopying their butts and having to explain themselves to the HR department on the Monday following the company party.
The only thing is, I don’t think either of us is experiencing the effects of too much drink. Call me a stalker, but I’ve been watching Logan, and I haven’t seen him drink more a couple of small bottles of beer all night, and I’ve only had two glasses of wine.
“We’d better go back. Your dad will be looking for you,” Logan says, giving me another hug that makes me feel all warm inside, his hands holding me at the waist under his jacket. “But I want to take you out properly. Just the two of us and without freezing you half to death.”
“I’d like that.”
He smiles and kisses my nose. “I’ll have to check when I can get out. I’m assuming you know about my situation at home already…”
My heart drops. “You’re married.” I hold my breath. Suddenly I feel the biting cold again. I pull away from him and hand him back his jacket. My worst nightmare. I know how it feels to be betrayed. Not another sleazy Simon.
“I was. Not anymore.”
“But why…?” Did they break up because he cheated on his wife? I don’t like that idea either.
“Long story. I don’t want you to get pneumonia by keeping you out here. Meet me tomorrow?”
I nod. “Okay then, I’ll meet you.” I hope it’s not what I think. But the spell is broken, anyway.
And even more broken when we see Dad coming over, just as Logan takes my hand and starts to speak again.
CHAPTER 8
Logan
What a way to endear myself to Frank! I bring his daughter out in the freezing cold, and he finds me alone with her away from the station. Did he even see me kissing her?
“Tia, it’s freezing out here. What are you thinking?” Frank says.
“It’s fine, Dad. We just needed a breath of fresh air.”
“I’m sure.” He glares at me, and then turns to Tia, ignoring me completely. “A few people are starting to go home. I said I’d take Margo and the kids, seeing as Peter is still on shift, but I’ll have space for you.”
“Don’t worry. I can find my own way home.”
“I’d rather take you.”
She starts to protest and then thinks better of it. “Okay, give me a few minutes.”
“Right.” Frank hesitates then turns away.
Tia gives me her number and I tap it into my phone. “I want to hear what you have to say, but I can’t promise to like it.”
“I don’t like it much myself. At least you know I have a daughter, right? Two years old. Too small for this party, but growing up fast.”
“What?”
“You didn’t know? I thought you would have heard. The guys are all aware of it. Your dad, too.”
“It never came up in conversation.” She seems stunned.
Maybe that will be the end of this. Even if she’s not as footloose as I thought she was, I can’t imagine a surprise toddler is going down well with her. She’s at the age when she’ll want to spread her wings, not have them clipped by a guy with a kid.
Are the kisses we just shared destined to be nothing more than that? A passionate moment at a Christmas party, soon forgotten by her. But not by me. I know I’ll remember those kisses for a long time.
“Is there more you haven’t told me?” she asks.
