Jessa James - Hot as Hell

Aiden shrugged. “I think one of the guys brought in doughnuts this morning,” Aiden said.

“Yeah, but you know how they get about Lily’s desserts…”

A loud bark rang through the firehouse. Cade braced himself as a massive dalmation barreled towards them. The dog immediately buried its nose in his crotch as it checked him out. Elijah laughed.

“That’s Sparky Number Six,” Aiden said. “Or, you know, just Six.”

Cade held out his hand for the dog to inspect. “You all get Stranger Things questions from civilians now, naming the fire dogs like that?”

“Sometimes,” Elijah said with a shrug.

“So, Five, she …”

“Last year,” Aiden said.

There was a quiver to his voice. They weren’t supposed to get attached to the dogs, but Aiden had always had a particularly rough time with that rule.

“Well, let’s get this over with,” Elijah said with a sigh. “C’mon, let’s go meet up with the Captain.”

As the three of them headed down the hall with its new, crisp white coat of paint, the alarms started to go off. Cade felt the jolt of excitement sizzle through him. Even after all these years in a firehouse, there was something about that alarm that always reminded him of why he did this.

They started to move faster as an unfamiliar voice crackled over the intercom. Captain Crane calmly announced the address, turnout time, and apparatus for the call. Cade could hear the crew as they flew into the firehouse and the truck rumbled to life.

Elijah and Aiden were instantly in rescue mode.

“What a way to start a shift,” Aiden said.

“We’ll pick this up when we get back,” Elijah called to Cade. “Damn, Commercial Street,” he said to Aiden.

Cade smiled as their backs retreated.

Change or no change, coming back here is like coming home, he thought.

He nodded at some of the crew that charged past him. A wave of emotion washed over him, and he felt wet pricks at his eyes. Cade blinked away the tears, grateful that the call meant nobody would pay him much attention.

It was stupid, getting emotional over the station, but he couldn’t help it. Ever since the Montana fires had taken three of his crew right in front of him …

Cade wiped his eyes on his sleeve.

“Can I help you?” The deep voice startled him, and Cade looked up at the grizzly new Captain. The man had blue eyes that pierced straight through him.

“Captain Crane, hello, sir,” he said. “I’m Cade—”

“I know who you are.”

Cade took in the older man, grayed but in peak physical condition. The Captain offered a small but kind smile that wrinkled his eyes and softened his face. “Come on back, we have some paperwork to take care of.”

Cade settled into the straightback metal chair across from the rich wooden desk.

“I’ll need you to affirm a few details about your company in Montana,” Captain Crane said.

“Sure, I—”

“It’s where three crew members died, correct?” the Captain interrupted.

Cade nodded, a lump in his throat.

“I’m real sorry about that. It’s a terrible thing. I’ve lost some good men in my twenty years of service,” the Captain said as he made some marks on a thick stack of papers.

Cade nodded again.

The Captain pursed his lips and glanced up. “Don’t take this personally, but you’ll need to get checked out by the company psychologist.”

“What?”

“Since I’ve taken over here, every man and woman on this crew is my responsibility. To ensure that everyone is capable of doing their best, I’ve brought in Dr. Hersh. Sometimes it’s just good to talk to someone when you’ve seen some of the stuff we see every day.”

“So I’m going to see a shrink instead of fighting fires?” Cade could hear the judgment in his voice, but he couldn’t help it.

“Hey. Take it easy,” the Captain said.

Cade clamped his mouth shut.

Don’t give him a goddamned reason to send you to the psyche ward, he admonished himself.

“It’s my understanding that you haven’t been on active duty since some of your crew died. I just want you to talk to Dr. Hersh tomorrow before you go rushing into a blaze, that’s all.”

Cade glowered, but stayed quiet. His crew had died, with him watching, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

But I’m sure as hell not going to let it happen again.

The Captain handed him a ream of paperwork. “Why don’t you get started with this today?”

“Yes, Captain,” he said, and stood up.

“Close the door on your way out,” the Captain called to Cade’s back.

Cade stalked towards the break room. A dark cloud hung over his head.

3

Lily pushed her cart through the Milk and Honey grocery store and smiled at the staff. She’d gone to high school with some of them, and even though they’d barely spoken as teenagers there was the small town demand to be polite.

As Lily made her way to the produce section, she began to load up on veggies. Jean-Michel was right. She needed to be better with her diet.

But this low carb, high veggie kick she’d been on wasn’t easy. Lily had almost been tempted to forget the whole thing, especially since Jean-Michel had helped her with her croquembouches last night, but her horoscope had kept her in check.

Libra, it’s time to work on things of a personal nature, she’d read on her favorite horoscope app as soon as she parked in the grocery store lot. You’ll have a strange encounter, but the outcome will be great.

She’d sighed.

“October twelfth, smack in the middle of the Libra dates,” she’d said aloud. “Come on, Lily, you can do this. It’s just carbs, you’re not giving up oxygen.”

If she was going to work on something of a personal nature, why not make it her diet? Of course the outcome would be great. This diet would fulfill two horoscope messages in one.

Carbs were one thing. But her caffeine addiction? There’s no way she was giving that up.

Besides, doesn’t that help with weight loss? She made a beeline for the coffee section, and as she turned the corner she nearly ran right into a mountain of a man.

“Whoa,” he said as he held the small hand basket aside.

Shit. Of course I’d run into Cade.

“Uh …” Lily searched for her words as she looked him up and down. Her face was inches from his muscled chest, and she could smell the musky scent of his cologne. It was intoxicating.

God, I hope I’m not drooling. Wait, is this what my horoscope meant when it meant things of a personal nature, strange encounters—and a great outcome?

Just seeing Cade made her stomach do gymnastics. She should know, better than anyone, that messing with Cade meant she’d get burned. How many girls had she watched him hump and dump over the years?

He had a real reputation around Salem before he left for California. Some girls still talked about him as they bemoaned why they couldn’t be the one to make him change.

And with how he looks now, I’m sure he’ll be on a whole new streak by tomorrow.

Lily forced herself to stop staring at him.

“Hi,” Cade said. A corner of his mouth hitched up.

Does he know what I’m thinking? Lily turned bright read.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—”

God, you sound like an idiot. But once she started apologizing, she couldn’t stop. At least it gave her something to say.

Cade laughed.

“I’ll let it slide this time,” he said.

“I was just trying to get to the coffee,” she said awkwardly.

“I’ll walk with you, if that’s okay.”