Ablaze (Dallas Fire & Rescue Book 2)

by Paige Tyler

“What’s that about?” Lexi asked her friend.

  Melinda glanced over at the men. “A little kid saved his family in a fire earlier tonight. He smelled smoke, woke up, and got everyone out before the place burnt to the ground. He’s a hero.”

  There seemed to be quite a bit of that going on lately, Lexi thought, remembering the teen who’d pulled the alarm at the apartment fire Station 58 had responded to that evening.

  “I’ve gotta get back to work,” Melinda said. “See you at home after your shift?”

  Lexi nodded and waved, but her friend had already gotten swallowed up in the rush of people coming and going in the emergency room. Lexi stepped aside to make way for a nurse leading a man with an arm injury past, then she slipped into the area where the exam rooms were. Although, “rooms” was probably a misnomer. They were more like alcoves partitioned off from sight by nothing more than thin, opaque curtains. She’d check in on Wayne…and hopefully Dane.

  Trent was talking to Wayne’s doctor when she finally figured out which alcove the older man was in. The doctor was as worried about a concussion as she’d been and decided to keep Wayne overnight. Other than that, he was fine. When Lexi mentioned Wayne’s apartment was almost certainly destroyed, the doctor told them he’d come up with a reason to keep the older man an extra night or two until he had somewhere to go. It wasn’t much, but it was something. At least Wayne was alive. That was the important thing.

  “I’m going to check on Dane,” she told Trent. “See if he’s going to ride back with us.”

  Finding Dane took a little while, but with the help of a nurse, she located him in an alcove at the end of the hall. She cautiously peeked around the curtain to see him pulling on his DF&R-issued T-shirt. She tried not to drool as she took in the muscular pecs and rippling abs.

  He caught sight of her as he was tucking in his shirt, and flashed her a grin. “Doc said I’ll be fine. A couple eight hundred milligram Motrin and I’ll be good as new. Like I said.”

  She smiled as she slipped around the curtain. While the alcoves were tiny to begin with, Dane’s presence made the area seem even smaller. Not that she was complaining. Especially since it meant they had to stand close together.

  “I’m glad,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean I wasn’t right about insisting you get checked out by a doctor.”

  “I agree. You were doing your job. I’m good with that,” he said. “Truth is, every firefighter needs an unbiased third party to step in and take decisions like that out of our hands because we’re rarely going to leave the scene of a fire, not in those situations.”

  Lexi couldn’t argue with that. She loved the firefighters she worked with, but they could be a stubborn lot, male and female alike.

  “Since we’re being truthful here,” he continued, “I want to say that I’m sorry if I embarrassed or offended you with that comment back at the apartment fire.”

  She frowned. “What comment?”

  He gave her a sheepish look “You know—that stupid line about strapping me down to a bed. It sounded a lot better in my head than it did coming out of my mouth.”

  She waved a hand. “Don’t worry about it. I know you were just messing with me.”

  “Actually, I was trying to be charming.” He smiled, and her heart beat faster. “I’ve been trying to figure out how to catch your eye since you got to the five-eight, and when you started patting me down for injuries, I got a little stupid and said the first thing that popped into my head. Which, I admit, is never a good idea.”

  She blinked. He’d been trying to catch her eye?

  “You know,” she said. “You could have simply asked me out for coffee.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, that probably would have been smarter. But I was hoping to get an idea whether there was any mutual interest on your part before I officially asked you out. I didn’t want to be that guy, you know? The one who pesters a coworker for a date and puts her in the bad position of having to worry about how her answer will affect her job.”

  Lexi gaped. No wonder she hadn’t been able to get his attention. He’d been too busy being worried about coming on too strong with a coworker. Could this guy get any better?

  “Well, if it helps, the interest is mutual,” she said softly.

  He flashed her that megawatt smile again. “In that case, what do you think about grabbing that cup of coffee sometime?”

  “I don’t drink coffee,” she said, unable to help messing with him.

  Dane didn’t bat an eye. “Huh. Not a big fan of it, myself. How about dinner instead?”

  She grinned. “Dinner I do.”

  His smile broadened. “How about I pick you up tomorrow night at your place around seven?”

  “Perfect,” she said.

  “It’s a date, then.”

  Dane grabbed his heavy turnout coat from the back of a nearby chair. Lexi had to resist the urge to ask if he needed help getting dressed. With his wit, she didn’t want to even hazard a guess how he might respond to that question.

  He pushed the curtain aside then stepped back so she could go ahead of him. He glanced at her as they headed for the exit of the triage area. “Think I can get a lift back to the station? If I wait for Jax to finish up at the fire, I could be waiting for hours.”

  “Sure,” she said. “As long as you don’t mind riding in the back on the gurney. No room up front.”

  He shrugged. “Fine with me, though this thing with you wanting to strap me down to a bed is starting to get me curious. Is this going to be a permanent thing with you?”

  Lexi laughed. “How about we get through dinner first before we talk about straps and beds, okay?”

  “Good idea—dinner first then bed.” His mouth twitched. “We probably need to wait at least an hour between eating and using any kind of restraints, though.”

  “I think that’s swimming,” she pointed out.

  He made a show of considering that as the double doors slid open. “Swimming, bondage—I’ve heard it both ways.”

  Lexi was wondering if Dane knew he’d quoted a line from her favorite TV show when Trent, who was leaning against the back of the rescue vehicle waiting for them, interrupted her musings.

  “You riding back with us?” At Dane’s nod, he jerked his thumb at the truck. “Get on the gurney and let’s go.”

  Lexi knew it was coming before Dane even said the words. “Now I get it. This thing with the straps isn’t only you. It’s all paramedics.”

  Trent gave them a confused look. “What?”

  Lexi shoved her partner toward the front of the truck. “Don’t get him started.”

  Chapter Two

  DANE STOPPED THE moment he stepped into the building and took a deep breath. Damn, it smelled good in here! It wasn’t simply the cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pies covering nearly every flat surface in the shop that had his mouth watering. It was also the aroma of the barbecue spices coming from the kitchen in the back. Skye must be making ribs or chicken…or maybe pulled pork. Either way, it made him hungry as hell.

  As he crossed the front room of the building that housed his sister’s catering business, he craned his neck to peek into the kitchen. It seemed even bigger than the last time he’d been here a few weeks ago. It was difficult to believe this place used to be a barn. He wouldn’t be surprised if they needed to put an addition on it soon. Skye’s business was growing crazy fast. When the wedding and event planners, convention centers, and corporate deliveries had started overwhelming her with requests for desserts, his sister had hired another baker and a full-time delivery driver. That had helped for a while, but then her clients had asked if she could also cater hors d’ouevres and meals too. So Skye had hired a chef and another driver as well as purchased another delivery truck, expanding her business even further.

  And Dane had thought this would never work. Boy, did he feel stupid.

  Five months ago, when his sister had bailed on her Wall Street job and moved back here to Dallas to open a cupcake bakery, Dane had
been sure she’d lost her mind. Actually, he’d been sort of an asshole about it. But he couldn’t understand why someone would turn their back on New York, a cushy job, and all that easy money to bake cupcakes of all things.

  As if that wasn’t enough, she’d also gotten involved then moved in with his best friend, Jax. He hadn’t reacted very well to that either. Okay, in reality, he’d sort of been a complete jerk about the whole thing. But, fortunately, that stupidity had been short-lived and was all behind them now. As his sister’s wedding approached, he and Skye were closer than they’d ever been in their lives, and he and Jax were closer, too. Even so, he still felt like an idiot when he remembered all the dumbass things he’d said to Jax and his sister all those months ago. That was one of the reasons he was trying to help out as much as he could with their wedding. He wanted to make up for being such a total dickweed.

  In fact, that was why he was here. Skye had called and asked him to come over to give them advice about something for the wedding. Dane had no clue what he could provide insight on. When it came to weddings, he was clueless.

  Jax and Skye were at the granite-topped island in the center of the shop, sampling cake. Dane might not know much about weddings, but if it involved eating cake, he was in.

  “What’s up?” he said. “You make too many cakes and need help eating them?”

  Skye laughed, her blue eyes twinkling as she came over to hug him. “Kind of. We need your help picking out a cake for the wedding. Our taste buds are completely shot from tasting so many different ones, and we need an outside opinion.”

  Dane frowned. “Wait a minute. I thought you already had the cake picked out. You do realize you’re getting married in a little over a week, right?”

  “Skye decided she wasn’t feeling the chocolate cake with raspberry mousse filling and chocolate frosting she picked out,” Jax informed him, filling his fork with white cake that had fruit on the inside and peach-colored frosting. “She thinks the cake we have at our wedding needs to be the very best in the world since it will say so much about her business. We’ve spent the morning eating more cake than I even want to think about.”

  Dane wasn’t sure that was possible. Grabbing a fork, he chowed down on one awesome flavor after the other, listening to his sister and best friend talk about their honeymoon plans—glamping on the shores of the Blackfoot River in Montana.

  Dane paused, a forkful of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting halfway to his mouth. “I thought you were going on a cruise.”

  Skye tucked her long dark hair behind her ear. “We thought about it, but Jax wanted to go camping. I told him if we were going to be sleeping in a tent on our honeymoon, it had to come with electricity, running water, and maid service. I thought that would be the end of the camping idea, but Jax found the perfect place that met both out needs. It specializes in glamorous camping—glamping. It has hiking, fishing, and horses for him, and luxurious tents with all the amenities for me, including gourmet dining, maid service twice a day, and private honeymoon tents.”

  Jax leaned over to kiss her. “I told you I’d find you a place you’d like.”

  “That’s why I love you.” She grinned. “Well, one of the reasons, anyway.”

  Dane went back to eating his cake, shaking his head at the idea of putting camping and luxurious together in the same sentence. Clearly, Skye and Jax were looking forward to it, though. A few months ago, seeing his best friend kissing his sister would have led to a fight—now he couldn’t help but smile. They really were made for each other, and he was glad they’d gotten together.

  “You can eat more than one bite of each cake, you know that, right?” Skye laughed as he took a small forkful of the fourth cake and gave it a try.

  He wasn’t going to be any help deciding which cake they should have at their wedding. They all tasted great.

  “I have plans later and don’t want to be bouncing off the walls with a sugar high for the rest of the day,” he said.

  On the other side of the island, Skye rested her forearms on the counter and leaned forward expectantly. “What kind of plans?”

  Dane was wondering how much he could say about his date with Lexi before Skye started in on the whole is-it-serious line of questioning. He flat out did not want his sister involved in his sex life—or at least what he hoped might turn into some sex in his life. He wasn’t going there.

  Before he had a chance to wiggle out from under the question, Jax answered for him. “He’s got a date with Lexi Fletcher, the new paramedic at the station house. They’re going out to dinner tonight.”

  Dane’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t said a word about the date to anyone, so how the hell had Jax found out? Then again, he supposed Lexi could have mentioned it to someone.

  “Dude, you work in a firehouse,” Jax said. “There aren’t any secrets there. People have been taking bets on when the two of you would go on your first date. You guys have been mooning over each other for a month.”

  Dane snorted. “I haven’t been mooning. I’ve simply been…interested.”

  “Okay.” Jax shrugged, taking a bite of the cake with lemon filling. “Whatever you say.”

  Dane would have argued, but Skye interrupted. “Forget about Jax. Tell me about Lexi. What’s she like? Where you going to dinner? Do you think she’ll want to come to the wedding or will that send the wrong signal? You are thinking long-term here, right?”

  Dane stifled a groan. This is exactly why he hadn’t wanted to get into this with his sister. She might only ask one question, but it would be in ninety-six parts.

  He held up his hands. “Slow down, Skye. Did you miss the part where this is a first date? I don’t even know anything about Lexi yet.” Other than the fact that she was beautiful and he was attracted as hell to her. “That’s why we’re going to dinner, so I can learn more about her. I haven’t decided where I’m taking her to dinner yet, but it will be someplace nice. As far as everything else, let’s not make it out to be anything more than it is yet, okay?”

  “But—” Skye started, before he cut her off.

  “It’s just a date, Skye. If it goes well, maybe we’ll go on a second one. That’s about as far ahead as I’m thinking.”

  Skye looked dejected, probably because she’d already been planning what kind of cake she’d make for Dane and Lexi’s wedding. Which was hilarious since she couldn’t seem to come up with one for her own big day.

  Of course, he wasn’t being exactly honest with his sister. In reality, he was hoping his date with Lexi went really well. But there was no way he was ever going to tell his sister that.

  Dane had known how special Lexi was the second she’d walked into the station that first day at work. Besides being the most attractive woman he’d ever seen, there was something about the confident way she carried herself along with the calm way she did her job that impressed the hell out of him. What could he say? He was a sucker for a strong, confident woman.

  If there was ever a woman out there in the world who was perfect for him, it was Lexi.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t date—he wasn’t a monk—but there weren’t many women who were interested in getting serious with a firefighter. Some thought they were into it, but the first time their new boyfriend walked in smelling like a charcoal briquette, things got too real too fast. They usually bailed after that.

  But that obviously wouldn’t be a problem with Lexi. She was a paramedic, which was like having a PhD in firefighters. She knew exactly what the job entailed and what she was getting into when she dated one.

  He was putting the cart before the horse, though. First, they had to spend time with each other outside of work and see if they were even compatible. If they were, maybe then he’d allow himself to think about something more a little further down the road. But, hey, a man could dream.

  “So, have you decided which cake you like best?” Skye asked.

  Dane glanced down and realized he’d been eating the entire time he’d been daydreaming about Lexi.
He couldn’t remember a single thing he’d tasted.

  “They’re all great,” he told his sister. “Why don’t you make all of them? That way you wouldn’t have to spend so much time worrying about which one is right.”

  Jax actually looked hopeful at that suggestion, but Skye frowned.

  “You’ve spent the last hour eating cake and the best you can come up with is to make them all?” she demanded. “If you think you’re getting out of here after a lame suggestion like that, you can forget it. I don’t care if we have to make a hundred cakes, you’re not leaving until we have the perfect one for our wedding.”

  Dane was about to tease her about writing down the cakes’ flavors on pieces of paper and picking one out of a hat, but then he saw the look of near panic on his sister’s face. Crap, she was really freaking out about this. He took a deep breath and got serious. Skye was his sister, and she needed help.

  “Let’s take a step back and see if we can trim the list of possibilities down to a more manageable number, okay?” he said gently.

  Skye regarded him suspiciously. “How are we going to do that?”

  “Simple.” He set his fork down and put all the cakes they’d tasted in a row. “Instead of trying of figure which one you like the most, pick the cake you like the least. Jax and I will do the same until we narrow it down to the one that stands out from all the others.”

  She considered that for a minute then nodded. “Okay, I can do that.”

  As Skye focused on the cakes, Dane saw Jax mouth a silent thank you.

  That’s what brothers were for, right?

  Chapter Three

  LEXI WAS PUTTING on her shoes when the doorbell rang. Ignoring her suddenly racing pulse, she finished buckling the straps on her platform heels then forced herself to check her reflection in the mirror before walking out of her bedroom and slowly making her way to the door when all she wanted to do was run.

  “Play it cool,” she murmured. “Don’t let him see how geeked you are. He’ll think you’ve never gone on a date.”