Up in Flames

by Elle James

  “Oh, we aren’t going anywhere. At least for another month or so.” She smiled at him. “Here’s to hoping for a boring shift.”

  Chance’s mouth twisted. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “You know what I mean. If there aren’t any fires, no one is getting hurt or losing everything they own.”

  “I know, Mom. I wish for the same. But sometimes, it’s nice to be able to save someone in need.”

  “You adrenaline junkies. You’d probably be better off working for the fire department in a bigger city like Dallas or Austin.” She sighed. “But I’m glad you came home to Hellfire.”

  “Me, too.” He hugged her again. “Gotta go.” Then he ran out the door, jumped on his bike and headed into Hellfire, not slowing until he reached the edge of town.

  As he cruised down Main Street, he shifted into a lower gear, passing by Lola’s garage apartment. If he crept past even slower at that point, he could say he’d seen a cat and didn’t want to hit it. He didn’t see any sign of the new deputy. It was well before the time she was due to start her shift at the sheriff’s department. She probably wasn’t even awake yet.

  He wondered if she’d slept better than he had. Had she lain in bed until the early hours of the morning thinking about the kiss? Or had she been angry with him for stepping over the line she’d drawn in the sand when she’d said she wasn’t interested in a relationship?

  Chance pulled into the station, parked his motorcycle and entered through the open bay where the two guys on the previous shift, Big Mike Sandoval and Jace Kelly, were cleaning a stretcher and restocking the medical bag.

  “Figures you’d get here about now,” Mike said as he tucked the hose in position and locked it down. “Bones just said breakfast would be ready in five minutes.”

  “Perfect timing, if you ask me,” Chance said and shoved his helmet into the cubby next to the door leading into the station. “Need a hand?”

  “Nah,” Jace said. “We just got back from a lift assist.”

  “Any action last night?”

  “Just the lift assist and a kitchen grease fire,” Big Mike said.

  Chance chuckled. “Sounds like you caught up on your sleep.”

  “Which is more than we can say for you, based on the dark circles beneath your eyes.” Big Mike joined him at the door and clapped a meaty hand on his shoulder. “Pull an all-nighter at the Ugly Stick Saloon?”

  Chance snorted. “I wish. No. Just couldn’t get to sleep.” He pushed through the door and entered the fire station.

  “Thinking about the new chick in town?” Jace asked, bringing up the rear. “I hear you met the sheriff’s new hire.”

  “She’s not a chick,” Chance muttered.

  “No? I thought I heard the sheriff hired the county’s first female deputy.”

  “She’s female, all right. But have a little respect.”

  “Yeah, Kelly.” Big Mike backhanded Jace in the belly. “I hear she’s tough. Prior service, Army. I imagine she could kick your ass all over town.”

  Jace frowned. “Doubt it.”

  Big Mike laughed. “If not her, her dog could take you down.”

  Chance ignored their banter, not wanting to talk about the latest female addition to Hellfire’s population. He’d thought about her far too much through the night. As he passed by a window looking out over Main Street, a streak of feminine curves passed, accompanied by a dog.

  His paused, his pulse quickening.

  “Speak of the devil, and she appears, as if by magic,” said Big Mike.

  Jace whistled. “That’s her? I’m feeling like I need to break at least a half-dozen laws if she’s on duty today.”

  Chance glared at the younger firefighter. “Back off, Kelly. She just got out of a bad relationship. She’s not interested in starting a new one.”

  Big Mike’s eyebrows rose. “You seem to know a lot about her already. Sounds like you made a pass at her and got shot down.”

  Heat burned a path up into Chance’s cheeks. He couldn’t deny the statement. He hadn’t asked her if he could kiss her. But then, she hadn’t struggled to get away. In fact, she’d leaned in to deepen the pressure. Heat spread lower into his groin. “None of your business.”

  Mike and Jace were laughing as they entered the station’s kitchen.

  “What’s the joke?” Braden ‘Bones’ McCrae stood at the gas stove, stirring fluffy yellow eggs in a skillet.

  “Our man Grayson’s staked his claim on the new deputy in town.”

  “No, I haven’t,” Chance corrected. “I only said she’s not interested in dating right now.”

  “But you want to be the first in line when she’s ready, right?” Big Mike laughed. “Glad to see you rejoining the human race, Grayson.”

  “Me, too.” Bones turned to scoop scrambled eggs into a large bowl.

  “What do you mean, rejoin the human race? I’ve been here all along.” Chance grabbed plates from the cabinet and set them out on the table.

  Daniel Flannigan entered the kitchen. “Who’s been here all along?”

  “I have.” Chance jerked his head toward the others in the room. “These guys don’t know what they’re talking about.”

  “Flannigan will agree with us.” Jace crossed his arms over his chest. “Ain’t that right?”

  Daniel grabbed a mug and poured it full of steaming coffee. “What am I agreeing to?”

  “That Chance has been checked out of the human race.” Big Mike tossed several forks on the table and pulled up a chair. “Up until today.”

  Chance cringed.

  Daniel’s eyebrows rose up his forehead. “I’m off a couple days, and my buddy rejoined the human race? Do tell. What’s happening? Is this about the new deputy in town?”

  Chance sank into a chair and braced himself for the good-natured ribbing he had to endure until the previous shift left. “It must have been a boring night, if all you have to entertain yourselves is harassing me.”

  “We aren’t harassing,” Jace said. “We were discussing your love life.”

  “Damn, Grayson, when did you get a love life? And you didn’t tell me about it?” Daniel shook his head and reached for the bowl of scrambled eggs Bones was setting in the middle of the table.

  “There’s nothing to tell,” Chance insisted. “I don’t have a love life. I’m not interested in the new deputy and these guys must have been smoking dope on shift. Isn’t it about time to do a drug test?” Daniel passed him the bowl of scrambled eggs.

  “You get the feeling he’s protesting too much?” Big Mike slipped several slices of bacon onto his plate.

  Chance helped himself to the eggs and then the bacon and poured juice into his glass. “Don’t you have something more interesting to talk about than me? Flannigan how’s Lola?”

  “She’s due back from Dallas tomorrow.”

  “What’s she doing there?” Chance asked, trying his best to keep the conversation steered away from him and Kate.

  “Some shoe convention,” Daniel said between bites of his food. “Has to do with stocking her shoe store for the next season’s sales.”

  “Have you two decided on a plan for the house you’re going to build?” Chance asked.

  “We’re getting close. I told her I’m not moving in until we put a ring on it.”

  “On the house?” Chance asked, acting dumb, knowing exactly what his friend was talking about.

  “On her finger, dumbass.” Daniel frowned at him.

  Jace’s eyebrows lifted. “Is that how you asked her to marry you?” He lowered his voice to what Daniel’s sounded like. “Hey, babe, I’m not moving in until I put a ring on it.” Jace laughed. “I’m sure she said yes with a proposal like that.”

  “No, I did it right.”

  Big Mike pinned him with a glance. “On one knee?”

  Daniel nodded.

  “With a big fat diamond?” Kelly asked.

  Daniel’s face suffused a ruddy red. “As big as I could afford.”

  Big Mik
e frowned. “So, it was small.”

  “No, but it wasn’t a huge rock.”

  Chance stopped eating long enough to study his friend. “And she said no?”

  “She said yes, but…”

  “But?” Big Mike shook his head. “That doesn’t bode well.”

  “But she wants to wait to get married until the house is done.”

  “Why?”

  “She wants to start our life together in the new house, not living in my dumpy trailer or the back of her shoe shop like she is now.”

  “Damn, who would have thought Lola Engel would turn out to be a woman who made sense?” Jace grinned.

  Daniel glared at the younger man. “Watch it, Kelly.”

  “After all the times she cried wolf to get Chance out to rescue her, you’d think she was an airhead.”

  “Kelly…” Daniel growled low in his throat.

  Jace shrugged. “Well, she did. She was after Chance.”

  Chance grinned. “But she fell for Flannigan instead.”

  “It’s a great story, if you ask me.” Big Mike smiled.

  “Anyway, this conversation didn’t start around me and Lola.” Daniel turned to Chance. “We were discussing the new deputy. What’s this about you having a thing for Kate Bradley?”

  Chance groaned, stuffed the rest of his food into his mouth and leaped to his feet. “Breakfast’s over. I’ll do the dishes.”

  “You can run, but you can’t hide. If there’s anything going on between you and the deputy, it’ll be all over town by lunch.”

  “There isn’t,” Chance said. “Drop it.”

  Daniel nodded, his calculating gaze on his Chance. “Uh huh. Yeah. We’ll see.”

  Great. By noon, the whole town would think he and Kate were having a torrid love affair. God, he hoped she didn’t slug him the next time they met. He finished the dishes and hurried out to the bay where they kept the weight equipment. Pumping iron burned off energy, and suddenly he had more energy than he could deal with. Thoughts of Kate and her soft lips beneath his kept flashing through his mind. He had to do something to get a grip on reality.

  She wasn’t interested, and he wasn’t going to pursue her.

  * * *

  Kate hadn’t slept well. By five o’clock in the morning, she’d given up on sleep and had risen to perform her morning yoga, sit-ups and pushups. Then she had breakfast, watched the news and still had energy to burn.

  Bacchus had been a good sport about living in the confines of the tiny apartment, but he needed exercise, too.

  Kate had pulled on her gym shorts and a tank top, tied on her running shoes and snapped the lead on Bacchus’s collar. The best way to get to know a town was to get out and walk or jog the streets. A few minutes later, she’d been out the door and jogging down Main Street, passing in front of the fire station. The bay door had been open and she’d seen the trucks lined up inside, but no one standing around.

  For a moment, she’d felt something akin to disappointment. So, Chance hadn’t been hanging around where she could catch a glimpse of him. She attributed her disappointment to the fact he was one of only a few familiar faces she knew in town. Wanting to see a familiar face was her reason for hoping to see his. Not the fact that he’d kissed her the night before.

  No. She wasn’t interested in seeing where another kiss might lead. She’d sworn off men for the next few months. After being cooped up for most of the previous day’s move, Bacchus seemed to enjoy getting out and running alongside Kate.

  They made their way past the northern edge of town and out into the countryside for a couple miles before Kate turned around. On the way back through Hellfire, Kate swung into side streets, weaving her way into little neighborhoods of quaint houses and back out onto Main Street. She’d been jogging for nearly half an hour when she neared the fire station again. She slowed to a walk, giving Bacchus a chance to cool down before they arrived back at her apartment.

  As she passed the station, she glanced into the bay and her pulse sped up.

  Chance stood with a barbell laden with what appeared to be some heavy weights at each end. He was shirtless, his upper body bathed in a sheen of perspiration, his muscles straining under the weight as he curled the bar up to his chest and back down.

  Kate stumbled to a stop, her heart pounding, heat rushing through her body.

  Holy hell, the man’s bulging muscles made her want to reach out and lick the sweat off his skin.

  Bacchus let out a woof, startling Kate back to her senses.

  “Shush, Bacchus,” she said and tried to drag him away from the front of the fire station.

  He refused to budge, his attention on Chance as much as Kate’s had been a second before.

  She glanced toward Chance, praying he hadn’t heard Bacchus or noticed the two of them standing there, staring at him.

  Her gaze met his.

  Damn. Too late. He’d seen them.

  Once again, Kate tried to get Bacchus to come with her, by yanking on his lead, forgetting all the commands she’d learned that Bacchus knew.

  “Good morning, Kate.” Chance left the shadows of the bay and stepped out into the sunshine. His body glowed like a Greek god’s, a god come down to grace mere mortals on Earth.

  When she realized her mouth was hanging open, Kate snapped it shut and forced a cool smile to her lips. “Good morning.”

  Chance’s brow dipped as he neared her. “I thought you started work today.”

  She nodded. “I do. At eight o’clock. That’s another hour from now.”

  “That’s right. I hope you slept well in the apartment last night.”

  “Like a baby,” she lied. “And you?”

  “Never better,” he said.

  If she wasn’t mistaken, the dark circles under his eyes told a very different story. Her lips quirked upward at the corners. Had he had as lousy a night’s sleep as she had? That would be just desserts, since he’d been the one to initiate that kiss.

  How dare he start something when she’d specifically said she wasn’t interested in a relationship? She should be angry with him. But she couldn’t muster the ire when he stood there, naked from the waist up, making her insides tremble and warm.

  “Bacchus appears to be adjusting well to his new environment,” Chance said.

  Kate glanced down at the dog, lying at her feet and panting. “He enjoyed the exercise and only tried to drag me off a couple of times when he saw a squirrel or another dog. I’ve been remiss keeping up on his discipline.”

  “I’m sure you’ll have him squared away soon. In the meantime, he looks happy.” Chance bent to scratch behind Bacchus’s ears.

  The dog leaned into his hand and licked his fingers. Then he rolled onto his back.

  Chance chuckled and rubbed Bacchus’s belly.

  All the while Chance gave Bacchus his attention, Kate’s was on Chance’s shoulders, back and torso. The man was built like a weightlifter. Every time he moved, his muscles rippled and flexed.

  Kate swallowed hard to keep from moaning and clenched her fists to refrain from reaching out to touch his tempting body. He was a beautiful specimen of a man. And she’d be smart to steer clear of him. Getting involved with the motorcycle-riding firefighter could only lead her to heartache. If she did decide to go after such a man, he would be her rebound man. She needed time between relationships. One weekend was not enough.

  Although, if she looked at the reality of her association with Randy, it had ended the day she’d deployed. That had been over nine months ago. She’d been over him long before she’d returned to end it.

  Still…she hadn’t come to Hellfire to jump back into something she wasn’t ready for. And she doubted seriously she’d ever be ready for a man like Chance Grayson. Her pulse pounded hard in her veins at the thought of being with the man.

  He straightened, his bare chest rising up in front of her face.

  Her tongue stuck to the roof of her suddenly dry mouth. “I’d better get going.” Before I drool. �
��I have to get a shower and get dressed before I report for duty.”

  “I hope your first day goes well,” he said.

  “Bacchus, fuss.”

  The dog jumped to his feet and stood beside Kate.

  “Again, if you need a place to train Bacchus, you can always do it here. We have plenty of room. The guys might get a kick out of it, too. It can be pretty boring around here, if all is well in the county.”

  She smiled. “Thanks.” Then she beat a hasty retreat before her knees gave out and she dissolved into a puddle of goo.

  As she hurried away, she cursed herself beneath her breath. Why did she have such a reaction to the man? She’d stood there like the village idiot, her tongue practically lolling from her head, like Pavlov’s dog salivating for his treat.

  Back at her apartment, she stripped naked and stepped into the tiny bathroom. A cool shower helped set her mind straight and bring her body temperature back into the normal range. By the time she was dressed in her jeans and the sheriff’s department T-shirt, she felt more in control and ready to face the day ahead.

  Chapter 7

  Anxious to start out on the right foot, Kate hefted her backpack over one shoulder and left her apartment twenty minutes before she had to be at work. The walk to the sheriff’s office took less than five, so she arrived in plenty of time.

  Sheriff Olson was inside talking with Nash Grayson when she entered the front reception area.

  The sheriff turned to her and smiled. “Good morning, Deputy Bradley. Are you ready to start work for the department?”

  She stood tall, her shoulders back and her chin held high. “Yes, sir.” Excited to start this new chapter of her life, she eagerly awaited her orders.

  “I’m pairing you with Deputy Grayson today. He’ll train you on the vehicles, computers and equipment we use here. Then you’ll do a ride along for the rest of the day to familiarize yourself with our area of responsibility. I’ve scheduled you to go to the basic law enforcement academy in two months. In the meantime, you can ride shotgun with Grayson and start training online to get a leg up on laws, crimes, crisis intervention and more. You can also get a start on training Bacchus for drug detection.” He nodded toward Nash Grayson. “You’ll be learning from one of the best men on my team. Now, I have a meeting to attend at Town Hall.”