Amie Denman - The Firefighter's Vow

To love and protect...

...sometimes means letting go

Fire chief Tony Ruggles is stunned that Laura Wheeler wants to become a Cape Pursuit volunteer firefighter. Laura was devastated when her brother died heroically battling a forest fire, but this is her chance to take back control of her life—if Tony can put his feelings aside. How can he train her to risk her life when he wants to protect her at all costs?

AMIE DENMANis the author of twenty contemporary romances full of humor and heart. A devoted traveler whose parents always kept a suitcase packed, she loves reading and writing books you could take on vacation. Amie believes everything is fun, especially wedding cake, show tunes, roller coasters and falling in love.

Also by Amie Denman

Starlight Point Stories

Under the Boardwalk

Carousel Nights

Meet Me on the Midway

Until the Ride Stops

Back to the Lake Breeze Hotel

Cape Pursuit Firefighters

In Love with the Firefighter

Her Lucky Catch

Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk.

The Firefighter’s Vow

Amie Denman

www.millsandboon.co.uk

ISBN: 978-0-008-90612-2

THE FIREFIGHTER’S VOW

© 2020 Amie Denman

Published in Great Britain 2020

by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.

By payment of the required fees, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and licence to download and install this e-book on your personal computer, tablet computer, smart phone or other electronic reading device only (each a “Licensed Device”) and to access, display and read the text of this e-book on-screen on your Licensed Device. Except to the extent any of these acts shall be permitted pursuant to any mandatory provision of applicable law but no further, no part of this e-book or its text or images may be reproduced, transmitted, distributed, translated, converted or adapted for use on another file format, communicated to the public, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.

® and ™ are trademarks owned and used by the trademark owner and/or its licensee. Trademarks marked with ® are registered with the United Kingdom Patent Office and/or the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market and in other countries.

www.millsandboon.co.uk

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

Change of font size and line height

Change of background and font colours

Change of font

Change justification

Text to speech

“I almost don’t want to go back out there,” she said.

Tony put his bottles on the table and crossed his arms. He wanted to pull Laura into his arms and hug her, but that would make a bad situation so much worse.

“It’s not fair,” Laura said.

“No, but you deserve to be out there doing your job. Truth be told, you’re one of the best volunteers we’ve had in a long time. You’re smart, you pay attention, and you’re brave and dedicated.”

She shook her head. “When you say things like that, it makes me feel...”

“What?” he asked gently. He wished he could see inside her thoughts.

“Afraid,” she admitted, looking into his eyes. “Afraid of failing, of not knowing what to do and letting someone down at the worst time. Afraid everyone will find out I’m not as brave as I act.”

Tony felt his heart pounding. How many times had he had the same thoughts?

Dear Reader,

Thank you for joining me for the second book in the Cape Pursuit Firefighters series. If I had to choose a theme for this book, it would be that a person can help himself or herself by helping others. It’s true, isn’t it? If you read In Love with the Firefighter , in which Nicole and Kevin’s love overcame big obstacles, you might recall Nicole’s sister Laura. When she visited Cape Pursuit, she was lost and hurting from her brother’s death fighting fires. When I wrote her character, I wasn’t sure what a happy ending would look like for Laura, but I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I’m happy to say Laura Wheeler discovers a way to feel whole again, and she finds it in the last place she would have imagined.

Captain Tony Ruggles was there for Kevin and Nicole in book one, and now he’s the chief of the Cape Pursuit Fire Department. When Laura walks in the door of the fire station with a surprising request, he has no idea how strong she is and how much she will capture his heart.

I hope you enjoy this book and come back to Cape Pursuit for the third book releasing in the summer of 2020. As always, I love hearing from readers on my website, amiedenman.com, or via email, author@amiedenman.com, if you feel like saying hello.

Thank you for reading romance!

Amie

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Dear Reader

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

Extract

About the Publisher

THE WIDE WHITE beach of Cape Pursuit, Virginia, stretched as far as Laura Wheeler could see as she shaded her eyes with one hand. The first day of June had already lured summer visitors with hot sun and a just right ocean breeze promised a fresh new start to the season. Hundreds of people dotted the beach under umbrellas or on colorful beach towels, alternately dipping into the salt water and drying off in the heat.

Most people came to Cape Pursuit looking for fun and relaxation, but Laura had come for something else.

She took an assessing glance at the tall freshly-painted lifeguard chairs within her view and, satisfied that everything was under control, turned and walked across the soft sand to the Pursuit of Fun beach shack, which served as both the command center of the public beach and also a snack bar and surfboard rental.

“It’s hot,” the girl behind the service window said. “And we’ve already rented out half the surfboards.”

“Those are both excellent problems to have,” Laura said, smiling.

The girl, Rebecca, laughed. “Plus, I have this terrible view of the beach and ocean and I have to spend all summer here and get paid for it.”