Up In Flames (Flirting with Fire Book 2)

by Jennifer Blackwood

  No.

  It’d be a death sentence.

  His anger washed away and was replaced with a wave of panic sliding over his skin. What was in this email? There had to be something he could do to fix this. “Sir, you can’t do that.”

  The chief slammed his palms down on the table. “I can. And I will. I don’t want this rubbing off on the rest of your team. I’ve disliked how you’ve performed ever since I transferred to this station, and this is the final straw. Your days are numbered here.”

  Reece’s temper flared. How could this be happening? Things with Sloane were great, which made this the absolute betrayal. She knew how much this job meant to him. There’d be no way she’d jeopardize this for him. He needed details from her. And fast. “This is insane. I’ve done everything by the books.”

  “See if the district cares. They don’t want a scandal. And everything about this is controversial.” The chief smiled. Actually smiled. And Reece lost it.

  “Fuck it. I’m out of here.”

  The chief’s face turned a deeper shade of red. Reece might find it comical if he wasn’t the central focus of his wrath. “You will not. You still have twenty minutes left of your shift.”

  He leveled the chief with as much disdain as he could muster. “According to you, I’m one to break the rules. So watch me.”

  And with that, he shoved up out of the chair and stormed out of the room.

  He strode past the meeting area, past the kitchen, and went to grab his backpack from his locker. Jake came around the corner just as Reece made his way to exit the station. “Hey, what’s going on? We still need to check the engine, prep it for C shift.” He blocked Reece’s way, putting his hand on his shoulder.

  “No. I’m not. Get out of my way.” He shouldered past Jake.

  Jake threw up his palms. “What’s going on?”

  He shrugged off Jake’s second attempt to try to stop him. “Ask Sloane. But I’m finished here. Seems I’m going to be transferring soon. To Mount Halo.” He’d need to contact his union rep to see what could be done, but from where Reece was sitting, it didn’t look good.

  Jake’s face paled. He knew exactly what transferring there would mean. A career ender. “Shit. What did Sloane do?”

  Reece was already out the door, ignoring his friend. He needed answers. He needed this to all be a horrible misunderstanding. “I’m about to find out.” He’d give her a chance to explain. But he doubted anything she could say would make this better.

  Sloane sat huddled under two blankets, bingeing on another episode of The Great British Bake Off when three loud knocks came from the door.

  They were ominous knocks. Ones that meant business. Her stomach bottomed out as she tried to think of who it could possibly be. She bolted off the couch and opened the door to find Reece. His cheeks were red, his lips tilted into a grimace. The sight sent a chill creeping down her spine.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Did you send an email to my chief?” He was breathing hard, regarding her with an intensity that made her want to shrink into herself.

  “I was just typing it up. A glowing recommendation. You’re welcome, by the way.” Sheesh. She’d had nothing but praise for him. Starting with how he’d completed all his tasks, was a perfect gentleman, and a great, upstanding member of society.

  “Did you also mention how I’ve had inappropriate relations with a contest winner?” His tone was venomous.

  Sloane found herself immediately going on the defensive. She didn’t like how he was talking to her, like she was in the wrong. “Excuse me? I haven’t even sent it yet. Why are you so worried?” Sure, the previous draft may have contained some X-rated content, but she’d been smart enough to delete that the night at the beach.

  He let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, but you did.”

  “Reece. I’m sure I didn’t.” But now she was starting to question herself. Had she deleted the email? She was sure she had.

  “Apparently you told my boss something. And now I’m going to be transferred to another station.”

  “I did not.” She pulled out her phone and clicked on the email in her drafts. “Here, take a look for yourself.”

  Reece’s brows furrowed as his eyes scanned her phone. He thumbed down, and then his frown deepened. “What about the one in your sent folder?”

  She took the phone and scanned it. Right there in her sent messages was the original email. The one she’d written while drunk.

  Oh my God. Had she really clicked “Send” instead of “Delete”?

  Especially with his tongue. God, that sucker is amazing. “Oh my God.” Hot tears pricked behind her eyes. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry.”

  He blew out a long sigh and shoved his hand through his hair. After a moment, he nodded to himself. “I’m going to need some time.”

  No. They’d make this right. She’d make this right.

  This was bad. So bad. To the point where even the best intentions might not be able to fix this.

  “You have to know this was an accident.” He had to believe that. After all they’d gone through, she wouldn’t screw him over like this.

  His eyes were cold as he regarded her. “Was it, Sloane? We have been at each other for so long. Are you sure this wasn’t just a ploy to get back at me?”

  What an asshole. Did he really think that little of her that he thought she’d fake this whole thing just to ruin his life? “I wouldn’t do that to you. I mean, yes, at the start, it was fun making your life hell, but I would never ruin your job. I’m not evil.”

  He just shook his head, clearly not buying anything she had to say. Heat washed over her face, and her chest ached at what he’d implied. That he really did think it was possible she’d do this.

  “Well, it’s been done. Nothing I can do about it now. But I was serious about the break. I don’t think I can do this anymore. Not until I figure this out,” he said.

  She’d never thought she’d ever have to fight for a guy, especially Reece. But the panic rose in her throat. She’d finally found someone she could count on, and she’d hurt him in the worst way. This job meant everything to him. “Reece, please. You have to believe me.” Her voice cracked. Tears stung her eyes. She’d messed this up for him. It was her fault that he was losing something that he loved so much. “I’m so sorry.”

  A heavy weight pulsed through her chest. If someone had asked Sloane a month ago if she’d care if Reece lost his job, she would have laughed. Told them that karma had probably caught up with him. But at the moment, devastation ripped through her. She’d hurt him. Someone she cared deeply for. And now she’d lost him, and there was nothing she could do about it.

  “I’ll see you around.” He gave a curt nod and then walked down the hallway toward the elevator.

  “Reece,” she called after him. Oh God. She was such an idiot.

  He ignored her and went into the empty elevator. She debated sprinting after him, like some maniac. But what was she going to say? She’d already ruined his career. No need to add insult to injury. She closed the door and slid down the wall. Tears streamed down her face.

  She had to make this right.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Come on. You’ve been moping for days,” Erin said. “Christmas is in forty-two hours. Let’s get out of the house and get you some fresh air.”

  Reece was spread across his couch in his boxers and a shirt he hadn’t bothered changing since he’d last seen Sloane. He’d only moved from this spot for one shift at the station, where he’d managed to avoid the chief.

  Peaches lay against him, and he stroked her fur and closed his eyes. “I don’t need it.” It was just him and Peaches now. He’d called up Kurt from the shelter this morning and finalized the adoption. At least something good had come out of this whole debacle. Peaches may not have been a huge dog, and they definitely needed to work out a happy medium of acceptable outfits, but she made Reece happy, and right now he could use a little bit of that.

>   He hadn’t bothered to return the house decorations yet. It was the last reminder he had of her, and he wasn’t quite ready to let go of it.

  “You did hear the part where she apologized. For the millionth time,” Erin said, repositioning herself on the chair across from him. Sloane’s chair. Yep, he’d have to get rid of that too. The whole apartment would be bare bones by the time he stripped away everything that reminded him of her. He’d go back to the shell of an existence he’d been living before the auction. Before everything went sideways. He’d called his union rep yesterday, who’d said he’d try to work something out, but it wasn’t looking promising.

  “Doesn’t matter. You do realize that I’m losing my place at the station because of it.”

  “And that’s devastating. Trust me. I know what it’s like to lose a job.” She squeezed his hand. “But what good is it going to do you by carrying this around? I’ve never seen either of you so happy before—you’re really going to give that up?”

  “She cost me my job.” Anything else. Sloane could have picked anything else to screw with, and he could have laughed it off. But not this.

  “That asshole chief of yours was looking for anything to put the nail in your coffin.”

  He thought about the chief, whom he could never seem to please. Everything rubbed the chief the wrong way. And Reece had come to terms with the fact that he would never be in his good graces, especially after what had happened. Thank you, Sloane.

  “What does that matter now?”

  His sister sighed. “Tell me. You’re willing to give up a great thing just because of a mistake?”

  “Yes.” Maybe. He wasn’t sure anymore. This was all too confusing. Which was why he didn’t do relationships in the first place, because things just got too complicated. “I get what you’re trying to do, but honestly, nothing you say is going to change my mind.”

  “You can be such a stubborn ass. You really want to go back to the way things were before? Look at your apartment. Look at what you’ve become in the past month. I haven’t seen you this happy since high school. Since—”

  “Don’t bring her up.” He didn’t want to hear about his ex. Another person who did something that he just couldn’t forgive. He’d had enough introspection. He’d done enough dwelling. “If you’re done, I’m going to take a shower and head off to bed. Appreciate the concern, but I’m fine.”

  Erin got up from the chair and made her way to the door. “I love you. You know that, right? And you’re coming to Christmas, yes?”

  “I’ll be there.” His mother would send out special ops to retrieve him if he didn’t come to Christmas. “Love you too.”

  He’d been thinking about that word a lot lately. Love. Now he didn’t know what to think.

  Erin shut the door behind her. Reece was left in his empty apartment, everything around him reminding him of Sloane.

  He sat down on the couch and tossed the throw pillow aside. Damn throw pillow. Peaches hopped up and settled in his lap. The pup let out a sad sigh and laid her head down on his thigh. A paw jabbed into him, and she let out another sigh.

  “Don’t you give me attitude too. What is this? A girl gang-up?”

  Peaches just looked at him with those dark chocolate eyes.

  A heavy weight settled in his chest. He didn’t know if this would ever go away. He ran a thumb across the dog’s cheek. “I know. I miss her too, girl.”

  Sloane didn’t know what the heck had come over her. One minute she was pacing the length of her apartment, and the next, she was standing in front of the chief’s door, palms sweating.

  She knocked. There was no turning back now.

  The chief looked up from his paperwork and frowned. “Ah, Miss Blue Hair. Sloane, is it?”

  She nodded.

  He held up a hand, motioning her to the chair. “Come in.”

  “Sir, I won’t take up a lot of your time, but I wanted to talk to you about something.” She swallowed hard. This grumpy old man just stared at her over the bridge of his glasses, looking like he had zero patience for a second more of her time. She’d make it quick, then.

  “I think you’ve more than said your piece,” he said. “And I did get the fourteen emails you sent, by the way.”

  “Yes, well, my parents always taught me persistence pays off.” She smoothed her clammy hands on her pants. Normally she didn’t have a problem telling people how she felt. But she needed to tread carefully because she’d already screwed this up enough for Reece.

  She stared at the grooves in his face, the way his cheeks had sunk into jowls. He looked like one of those mean, old junkyard dogs. “Go on. Tell me what brings you in that fourteen emails couldn’t convey.”

  “The original email”—she took a deep breath—“I sent that when I was in a . . . not-so-excellent state of mind. That email should have never been sent.”

  “Okay.” He didn’t look convinced. She couldn’t imagine working for this guy. She’d been lucky and had warm, supportive supervisors who listened to her concerns. Ones who would always give her the benefit of the doubt.

  “So I wanted to tell you exactly why Reece Jenkins should stay at your station. The station that is one of the best in the district.”

  He didn’t stop her, so she took that as the green light to open the floodgates. She told him everything. “I know he can come off like an ass sometimes. Believe me. I know. But I don’t think you’re giving him a fair chance. Everyone who deals with him loves him. I’ve seen the patients brought in to the hospital.”

  He had a way with people. He may have had that grumpy outer coating, but inside, Reece was as soft as they came. He was loving and generous and kind. And holy unicorns surfing on a rainbow, Sloane was falling for him, so hard that she might not recover from the impact. And she’d screwed this up beyond repair. So she did the only thing she could think of doing, and kept talking, telling the chief about all the sweet things Sloane had witnessed. From his volunteering at the homeless shelter on Twenty-Seventh Street to taking in a rescue dog to being professional on every level when he was on the job.

  “So, as you see, he’s never done anything to compromise his job while he’s on shift. What we do outside of that is, quite frankly, none of your business, and I’m sorry that email was sent in the first place.”

  He nodded. “I see.”

  His expression hadn’t changed. He was like a statue sitting there judging her. And she realized in that moment, she didn’t think she could fix this. And she didn’t know if she was more devastated by the thought that Reece wouldn’t be here after the New Year or the fact that he wouldn’t want to be with her at all.

  “Does that mean you’ll give him another chance?”

  He drummed his fingers along the barren desk. “I’ll take it into consideration.”

  That last shred of hope deflated. She didn’t think it possible, but she felt worse than when she’d first knocked on his door.

  She nodded. She knew when to raise the white flag, and right now was one of those times. “Thank you for your time.”

  She stood and gave him one last hopeful glance and then made her way out of his office.

  Holiday music blared over the speaker system at the station on Christmas Eve as Reece cooked chicken for the guys. Everyone was in a festive mood, especially Jake and Hollywood, who were stoked to have the holiday off for the first time in three years. Reece, on the other hand, was debating taking on another shift. Anything to take his mind off the past few days.

  “Jenkins, get in my office,” Chief said as soon as he rounded the corner to the kitchen.

  Jake took over with the cooking while Reece wiped off his hands and walked toward the chief’s office. He was not in the mood to talk to the chief. Not that he ever was, but he definitely wasn’t now that he had a target on his back and he’d be transferred by the end of the month. Mere months before the chief was set to retire.

  He stood in the doorway and looked at the chief sitting at his chair. It was like
Groundhog Day all over again. What else could he take away this time? Put him back to rookie status? Make him stay in from calls?

  “Sit.” He motioned to the chair across from him.

  Reece shut the office door and took a seat.

  “Your girlfriend stopped by while you were out on a call today.”

  Reece cocked his head. If this was just another tactic to get under his skin, it was working. He pressed his teeth together, fighting for calm. After three nights of nonexistent sleep, he wasn’t in the mood to screw around. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “The one with the blue hair.” He waved his hand, seeming to conjure her name in the air. “Sloane or whatever. Unless you have more than one girlfriend.”

  “I don’t have any girlfriend, sir. We broke up.” They were never officially together, but that technicality didn’t make it any less painful.

  The hurt on her face still flashed across his lids whenever he closed his eyes. Didn’t matter, though. He’d had fun while it lasted, but this was exactly why he didn’t have attachments—it messed with his life.

  “That’s not how I saw it.” He shook his head. “Anyway, she’s a scary little thing. But she did make some good points.”

  Reece swore on all things holy that if she screwed this up any more, he’d do everyone a favor and take an extended vacation down to the Florida Keys before a brain aneurysm hit.

  “What kind of points?”

  “That you’re better off here than at another station. Your men look up to you. It’d be bad morale to switch that up. Plus, they all put in a request to transfer to wherever you went.”

  “Bennett and Gibson did that?”

  Chief nodded.

  He loved his friends.

  “I don’t need that many lateral transfers in the district. Looks bad on our station. Especially with the arson investigations.” He waved his hand dismissively.

  His mind reeled. Seemed like he had a lot of people on his side.

  He allowed himself a moment of hope. To really understand what the chief was trying to say. “Does this mean I’m staying here?”