by Burton, Jaci
“That would mean he’d have to use his brain,” Kal said. “We already know he doesn’t have one.”
“And what little brains he did have leaked out when he got conked on the head,” Mitchell Hendricks said.
“Very funny. Shouldn’t you be shoveling food in your mouths so you can all shut up?”
Fortunately, the food was more important than talking shit about him, though it was natural to give an injured firefighter a hard time. Rafe knew it meant they cared about him. And as he looked around the table, he realized how much he cared about them, too. These people all had his back, no matter what.
That meant a lot.
“So, what did you do with all that time off, Rafe?” Callie Vassar asked. “Lie in the sun and work on your tan?”
“He probably took a lot of naps,” Rodriguez said. “You know how Rafe is. We always catch him napping around here.”
The reprieve didn’t last long. “Not much, since I was on activity restriction. I’m looking forward to a hard workout today.”
“You’ll get it,” Jackson said. “Truck needs washing, and there’s a knocking sound in Ladder 6’s engine. See if you can figure out what the problem is.”
Everyone knew Rafe was the mechanic of the fire station. If any of the rigs had a problem, they’d call on him first rather than sending it out for service.
“I’ll get right on it. As soon as I eat a second helping of this breakfast casserole.”
“He’s back to normal,” Ginger said, grinning.
“Yeah, normal, all right,” Kal said. “Eating all the food.”
Rafe ignored them and finished breakfast, then moved the Ladder 6 truck into the mechanic’s bay where all the diagnostic and repair equipment was located. It didn’t take him long to figure out the problem in the timing system. He adjusted it and then drove the truck outside to wash it.
It felt good to be doing something again. He liked staying active, and five days of doing nothing had been frustrating. Being able to use his muscles again felt like he’d received a second chance at life.
He knew that the backdraft at the house could have gone much worse. He’d been lucky to end up with only a concussion.
He got up on a ladder to scrub the top of Engine 6.
“You could have yelled for someone to come in and help you.”
He turned around to see his brother Kal staring up at him.
“I’m okay.”
Kal grabbed a long-handled brush and a ladder, then appeared on the other side of the truck. “I know you’re okay. But I’ll still help you.”
Rafe cocked his head to the side. “You’ve gotta wash Ladder 6, don’t you?”
Kal grinned. “Yeah.”
“So now you’ll want me to help you do that.”
“Well, yeah. Brothers help brothers, don’t they?”
Rafe rolled his eyes, but he didn’t mind. He planned on washing the ladder truck anyway. Not that he was going to tell his brother that.
With the two of them working, they had both trucks washed and dried in no time. They cleaned the windows, then rolled the trucks back into their bays.
Rafe and Kal picked up all the towels and tossed them on top of the washing machine. They hosed out the shop and started sweeping out the water to dry it.
“So, I asked Carmen Lewis out to dinner.”
Kal stopped and stared at Rafe. “Did she say yes?”
“She did. She’s reluctant, though. I had to tell her it was a thank-you for bringing that casserole over the other day.”
“Maybe she doesn’t like you.”
Rafe shook his head. “Not possible. All women like me.”
Kal laughed. “In your mind, all women like you.”
“Whatever. Carmen likes me.”
Kal leaned on the broom handle. “And you like her.”
“Yeah, I do. She’s feisty and smart and beautiful. What’s not to like?”
“She’s also our next-door neighbor. If you start dating her and things go south, she’s still going to be our next-door neighbor. Have you given that any thought?”
He had thought about it. Too much. And he didn’t want to think about it again. “I’m not going to get into a relationship with her. We’re just going to dinner.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And anyway, I don’t hurt the women I date. I’m always honest with them, letting them know that we’re just going to have a good time, and I’m not looking for more. I’m pretty sure Carmen isn’t looking for anything more, either. I think we’ll be fine.”
Kal shrugged. “As long as you don’t screw things up with her and make her mad.”
“Have I ever done that with a woman?”
“Not that I know of. But then again, you’ve never dated a woman long enough to have what I would consider a relationship.”
He was about to respond to that with a denial, but he paused.
Was Kal right? He’d gone out with Kaylee for a month. And then there’d been Gina, but that had been only a few weeks. Maria had lasted six weeks, and she’d probably been his longest relationship. And she was a flight attendant, so she’d been gone for half of that time.
“Huh.”
Kal slanted a smug smile at him. “See? You’ve never had a long-term girlfriend.”
“I guess not. I don’t know why not. I like women.”
Kal swept the broom down to the end of the shop and out the door before turning to face Rafe. “Yeah, for short durations. Then you get bored. Or maybe they get bored with you.”
He frowned as he swept. “I am not boring.”
“Are the women you date boring?”
“No.”
Kal shrugged. “Then you must be the problem.”
“Fuck you.”
His brother laughed and grabbed Rafe’s broom, sliding both of their tools back in their spots on the wall in the workshop. “Maybe it’s time for some self-reflection.”
“Oh, this coming from a guy who also doesn’t do relationships?”
“We aren’t talking about me. Plus, I had a long-term girlfriend in high school. So at least I know I can have one. Can you say the same thing?”
He couldn’t, so he let the subject drop and went back into the fire station. They got a call right after that, so Rafe had to clear his head and concentrate on his job.
It felt great to be back in his rig again, to have his gear on, to hear the sirens roar, to know that he was healthy and capable of doing his job. The ride to the scene took about five minutes, and it was the best damn five minutes he’d ever had. The rush of adrenaline made him feel alive.
They pulled up in front of an older one-story. A middle-aged man came running toward them from the side of the house.
“It’s my wife. She was cleaning out the storage shed, and a shelf fell on her.”
Their EMTs had also been called to the scene, but Engine 6 was going into the shed first.
“What’s your wife’s name?” Jackson asked.
“Shelly.” The man was shaking. “I told her I was gonna get to cleaning it out, but she got mad and she went in to do it. I told her not to.”
Jackson grasped the man’s arm. “It’s okay. We’ll get her out.”
Jackson turned to them. “Rafe, you and Mitchell take lead. Ginger, see if you can get up on a ladder and shine some light into that shed.”
“Yes, sir.” Rafe never gave a second thought to taking orders from his older brother. At least, not on the job. Jackson had earned his lieutenant’s bars, and on scene, he was in charge.
The oversize shed was filled to bursting with junk piled so high it wasn’t a surprise that it had tumbled down on Shelly. Rafe had no idea how an actual person was in there. But then he saw a path off to the left, so he made his way in.
“Right behind you,” Mitchell said.
Rafe took careful steps. There were plastic boxes, cardboard, file cabinets and all kinds of things in his way. And the piles weren’t steady, so the last thing he wanted was stuff co
ming down on top of Mitchell and him. Then there’d be two more people to rescue.
“You hear anything?” Mitchell asked.
“No.”
But then Rafe thought he heard a moan. He raised his hand to halt Mitchell, hoping the quiet would let him hear it again.
He did. It was a soft moan, coming from the back of the shed.
“This way,” he said to Mitchell.
As they rounded the corner, Rafe bumped a tower with his shoulder and a couple of boxes came tumbling down on top of them. He braced himself for the impact, wincing at the weight. Fortunately, they were only cardboard boxes, so he was able to lift them up and stacked them to his left.
“You okay?” Mitchell asked, helping him readjust the pile. “Yeah. How about you?”
“Fine.”
Rafe nodded. “Let’s keep moving.”
The moans were getting louder, and then they were blasted by a bright burst of light.
“Does this help?” Ginger asked, holding a flashlight.
“Better, thanks,” Mitchell said.
“More to the left, Ginger,” Rafe said.
The light moved to the left, which guided them to a woman on the floor. A sizable amount of debris had fallen on top of her. She had a cut on the side of her head, and she was in and out of consciousness.
“We found her,” Rafe radioed to his team. “She’s semiconscious. We’re going to free her from the debris.”
“Roger that,” Jackson said.
“Shelly,” Rafe said, “can you hear me?”
She blinked, then frowned. “Yes. My head hurts.”
Okay, at least she was coming around now. “We’re going to fix that, Shelly. You just stay still.”
They had to maneuver in a tight space and pull the debris off of her, including a damn heavy file cabinet. Fortunately, Rafe and Mitchell were able to lift it upright, freeing Shelly.
They checked her for broken bones but didn’t find any. They put a c-collar around her neck to stabilize her spine and strapped her on the portable stretcher, winding out the way they came in.
Since they now had Shelly between them, it was even more slow going. It was hot as fuck in the shed, too, with sweat pouring off them, so the sooner they got out of this hot box, the better.
This time, Rafe followed Mitchell. At least they had light and communication with their team outside.
And when they made it outside, Miguel and Adrienne took over, loading Shelly onto the stretcher and doing their assessment before putting her into the ambulance and taking her to the hospital.
Rafe finally exhaled, then headed to the truck, where cold water was waiting for him. He needed hydration in the worst way, so he guzzled it down.
“A little tight in there?” Jackson asked.
Rafe’s lips curved. “Good thing I’m not claustrophobic.”
Jackson slapped him on the back. “Good job. Go put up your gear and let’s head back.”
It had been crazy tight in there, but it had also felt good to be at work again.
But as he sat in the truck on the way back, he thought about his earlier conversation with Kal. He wondered what it was about him that made him pull back from women just as things were heating up.
Kal might be right. Maybe it was time for some self-reflection. Because he liked Carmen. And the last thing he wanted to do was screw anything up with her.
Even if it was just dinner.
CHAPTER 8
CARMEN HAD SCOURED HER CLOSET AND DECIDED SHE had nothing to wear.
Of course, she hadn’t been on a date in . . . She was pretty sure the last actual date she’d been on had been her first date with her ex-husband. She’d had coffee with a couple of guys that hadn’t amounted to anything, and she couldn’t call those dates.
She grimaced and closed the closet door with a resounding slam.
At least her grandfather wasn’t home tonight. Mario and Javier, a couple of his old friends from his club, had picked him up for a night of cards at Theo’s house. It was good for her grandfather to get out and socialize, and she trusted his close friends to take good care of him, so she wasn’t worried.
Much.
But Grace, Theo’s wife, promised she’d call Carmen if there was any problem.
She trusted Grace even more than Grandpa’s buddies.
Her doorbell rang, so she went to answer it. Tess stood there with several dresses slung over her arm.
“I have nothing to wear,” Carmen said, turning and walking away.
Tess followed. “I knew you’d say that, so I brought a few items.”
“That’s because your amazing husband takes you out all the time.”
“You bet your sweet ass he does.”
She’d known Tess’s husband, George, for as long as Tess had known him. He was kind and sweet and funny and treated Tess like a treasure. Tess was a lucky woman.
Carmen led Tess into her bedroom, where Tess laid four dresses on the bed.
She looked down at the selection Tess had put on display. “You didn’t have to bring me dresses.”
“I know. But I also know you haven’t been on a date in ages and you probably haven’t bought a new dress since you last went out with Tod.”
“This is true.”
“So, you can borrow one of mine until you get your feet wet and decide to go splurge on something new for yourself. Or maybe a few new pretty things.”
She shrugged. “I don’t need a few new pretty things.”
“Actually, you do. Do you know how amazing it is to dress up, to feel good about yourself? No one deserves that more than you. Even if it’s new lingerie.”
Carmen just looked at her, and Tess’s eyes widened.
“You did buy new lingerie, didn’t you?”
“Of course I didn’t. When would I have had time to do that?”
“I don’t know. On your lunch? There’s a mall two miles from the hospital.”
Carmen shrugged. “It never occurred to me. Besides, it’s not like he’s going to see my underwear anyway.”
“You sure about that?” Tess raised a brow. “Do you really want to get yourself all tricked out in some hot dress with your makeup on and your hair looking amazing, and then underneath you’ll have ten-year-old underwear?”
“They’re not that old.” They were seven years old, but she wasn’t going to admit that to Tess. “Besides, it’s too late to do anything about it, anyway. And if by some chance I get undressed in front of Rafe—which isn’t going to happen—he’s just going to have to deal with my raggedy underwear.”
Tess shrugged. “If you say so.”
Carmen didn’t plan to have sex with Rafe tonight. Just dinner.
She tried on the dresses. She and Tess were roughly the same size, though Carmen had bigger breasts, which meant that her cleavage spilled out of all of them.
“You look amazing in that red one,” Tess said.
Carmen stared down at the dress. “It is super cute and fits me well, but I don’t know.” She smoothed her hands over her breasts. “It’s cut a little low.”
“I know,” Tess said, waggling her brows. “It makes you look hot as hell.”
She lifted her gaze to Tess. “I don’t know that I want to look hot as hell.”
“Really. What do you want to look like?”
“I—” She didn’t have an answer off the top of her head. “I don’t know, Tess. Just, normal me, I guess.”
“You are normal you. Just in a dress. What do you want, Carmen? To wear scrubs to dinner?”
“No. Maybe, you know, capris or a sundress or something.”
She pointed. “Then try on the sundress that I brought.”
“Okay.”
She grabbed the brightly colored sundress and slipped that on next. It was just as low-cut but not as fancy as the red dress. She could wear her beige sandals with the turquoise beads and a bracelet and grab a wrap and the look would be more casual. She already felt much more at ease, more herself.
/> “Dynamite!”
She lifted her gaze to Tess. “It’s so pretty. How come you’ve never worn this?”
Tess shrugged. “It doesn’t look as flattering on me as it does on you. It doesn’t fit me the same. I think it’s your rack. You fill it out better than I do.”
Carmen looked at herself in her closet door mirror. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t quite as low-cut as the red dress. The sundress hit just above her knees, and it had a nice silky flow to it. She could already imagine herself walking, or even dancing in it. Or strolling along the beach. Whatever they did, she’d feel good. Not self-conscious. And that was what was important.
She smiled, then turned to Tess. “Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
“You can have it. I bought it at an end-of-season sale for practically nothing, and I’ll likely never wear it.”
“Then I’ll pay you for it.”
Tess sighed. “It was twelve bucks, Carmen.”
“Then I’ll pay you twelve bucks for it.”
“Fine. As long as you’re happy wearing it.”
“I am happy. Thanks for letting me play dress-up.”
“You’re welcome. Now I need to get back home, because George tossed ribs in the smoker this morning, and they should be falling off the bone by now.”
Talking about the ribs made her stomach grumble. All she’d had for lunch today was a package of cheese and crackers and a chocolate milk. “That sounds delicious.”
“Doesn’t it?” Tess gave her a hug. “I want all the details tomorrow.”
They walked to the front door. “I don’t know if there will be any details other than dinner details, but whatever they are, you’ll get them.”
“My guess is you might be surprised just how much dirt you’ll have to spill to me tomorrow.”
Tess was so off base about her dinner with Rafe.
“We’ll see. Thanks again.”
Tess gave her a quick wave and headed out to her car.
Carmen noticed lightning off in the distance and smelled rain in the air.
Great. She should have just opted for her capris and maybe a baseball cap. But if she did that, Tess would never forgive her. Not that her friend would ever know.
But she was committed to the sundress, so she decided to go for it.