She thought about going back to the first fire scene, but decided that wasn’t what she needed. Besides, the more she thought about it she realized it was a little creepy out there. There were no signs of wildlife or any life.
She didn’t have to be at the office, so she parked out of the way and with her camera walked toward the scene.
She was the press, she could be there taking photos and they had asked her to do a story on the department, so that meant being on scene taking pictures.
The flames were high and hot. She wiped sweat off her brow as she moved closer to where the firefighters were spraying water on the 20 foot high fires.
This must be what fully involved means, she thought. She snapped a few pictures of the men. They were yelling at one another, pointing and then falling back.
Just then the wind picked up and the flames danced overhead blocking out the sky.
An arm grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close. Her body met hard body covered in a rubber like material. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Seth whispered in her ear, tickling her neck with his breath.
“I thought you were leaving? And where’s my Jeep?
‘You mean Amelia?”
He pulled her backward away from the flames.
“I’ve got her.” He said into a radio. “Stupid reporter.”
“Hey,” she protested. “You guys are the ones who wanted me to write a story about you. I was getting info and pictures for that story.”
He pointed to where they had been only seconds ago.
The flames covered the area and reduced the grass to ash.
“You can’t write the story if you’re dead. Fires like this are unpredictable. A gust of wind can change the direction. You were in the path.”
Her heart beat raced strong from the close brush with death, or the man still holding her under her breasts against his rock hard abs.
“Are we safe?” she asked breathless.
“Not until you are away from here. There’s still a lot of work for us to do. I’ll come by for the keys later. You get out of here. I need you safe.”
It shouldn’t have affected her that way, but when he acted protective her heart did a little flip and she felt the butterflies start up in her stomach. He slowly lowered his arm, like in a caress. Lower and lower until he dropped his arm.
“Go home, Erin.”
She scrunched her face in disapproval of being told what to do and then she grudgingly did just what he said and she walked back to the Jeep.
She hated to be ordered around. That’s why she was the editor at the paper.
She peeled out of the parking lot with Amelia, gunning the engine and wanting to flip them off, but she didn’t.
Seth hitched a ride with his buddy Craig to the station for a shower and a change of clothes. He smelled like smoke and sweat. It had taken them 10 hours to put the fire out. He was exhausted. Going to get his Jeep seemed like a good idea or he could sleep at the station.
“Good work today.”
He slapped Craig’s back. “I’m going to pick up my ride.”
“The one you let Erin drive off in?”
With one nod, he smiled at his buddy.
“What are you thinking? Don’t lead her on. I know we said for you to do an interview with her, but if you mess with her or break her heart the whole town will come down on you, hard, man.”
“We’re just getting together so she can interview me about the department.”
Seth started out of the station with what Craig said heavy on his mind. There were times when he got the feeling that Erin looked at him like he was on the menu, but other times she put up a wall. He’ll have to watch himself, he didn’t need to get hurt either. He’d been through that and he wouldn’t hurt Erin if he could help it. They would hang out to do the feature story and then he’d go back to his job that took all of his time anyway.
It didn’t take long before he had covered the distance to Erin’s apartment building. He looked up at her window. There was a faint light. He pushed a button on his watch. 11:30.
He pushed open the door. Of course it wasn’t locked. He glanced back at his Jeep parked out front. Had she locked that?
Probably not, he thought.
He climbed up to her floor and paused at her door. What did it say to show up at a woman’s door at 11:30 at night? Does it come across as a booty call? Would she think he was there for a hookup?
He paused with his hand in midair. He rapped gently. If she was sleeping she wouldn’t hear it and he’d walk back to the station.
“Who is it?” Erin’s voice called from behind the closed door.
“It’s me, Seth.”
She opened the door and stood there in a blue and white stripped nightie that hid her curves, but the sleepy look in her eyes, her mussed brown hair and her bare toes with do-me-red color on the nails, made her sexier than any of the Vicki models who paraded around in the lacy, expensive lingerie. He knew right away he’d made a mistake. At that moment he wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them and kiss her senseless.
He sucked in a breath.
“I came for my car.”
“What time is it?
He glanced at his watch. “It’s late. I didn’t mean to wake you up. Your light was on, so I took a chance.”
“No, no. It’s fine, come on in.” She pushed the door wide open and gestured for him to come inside.
He bit his lip. This was a minefield. He wanted to throttle her about her recklessness at the fire earlier and he wanted to throw her down on the bed and take advantage of the sleepy, glazed look in her eyes.
“I left the keys…right…”
He looked around her apartment again. He didn’t get a good look at it last time because he was so focused on her lack of security. This time he noticed that she had a few dishes in the sink, comfy seating that wasn’t new and piles of papers and books on every available surface. If there was a fire here the place would go up so fast with the extra fuel in the form of shelves and shelves of books.
She was sorting through the stuff on the counter she must have thrown there when she arrived home. “Your keys,” she said holding them out to him with some pride, like she was impressed that she found them.
He closed the distance between them and wrapped his hand around hers and the keys. Their eyes met and he held her gaze. Her pupils dilated and she licked her lips.
The restraint he’d been working so hard on snapped. He swooped down on her inviting mouth. He felt her hesitate and then relax into the kiss. Moving his lips over hers, he felt the chemistry between then ignite and burn in his blood. He poured all of his frustrations and longing he didn’t even know he felt into the mating of their mouths.
She opened to him and he explored her mouth with his tongue. Her soft whimpers were added fuel to the fire raging through his body.
“Erin,” he murmured in her mouth. His hands explored her curves and he tried to get closer to her. The muted light in the apartment made him think of soft light, candles and the woman with him in erotic positions.
He pulled back. Craig’s words skittered through his head. “Don’t hurt her. Don’t lead her on.” He pulled back to look into her eyes.
They were closed. Her lips were moist, puffy and so willing to be kissed again. He tamped down on his libido. Damn he wanted her. After a minute of him watching her, her eyes flittered open. She smiled shyly at him.
Damn.
She wasn’t really awake. She probably thought this was all a dream and wouldn’t remember this in the morning. He couldn’t stay.
“Thanks for taking care of Amelia,” he said softly, running his hand down her hair and over her shoulder. “I’ll head home now, before –“
“You could crash here if you’re tired.”
He hitched a breath. He was so temped. It would be so easy to pick her up and carry her to her bed, climb in with her, but he couldn’t do that to either of them. They were working on a
project together and getting involved physically would only complicate matters. The kiss already had him thinking thoughts he shouldn’t be.
“I should go. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” He backed toward the door, keeping his eyes on her.
“See you soon?”
“I’ll call you.” He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. His willpower was failing so he shut the door a little too hard and it echoed in the hallway.
Chapter 4
Get up,” Craig said, kicking the cot that Seth had collapsed on after leaving Erin’s house.
“Leave me alone,” he growled.
“We’ve got to go. Alarm on Chestnut Street.”
Seth’s eyes few open and he rolled off the cot and into his boots he’d remembered to leave next to his bed.
Someone threw coffee at him. He took a big swig of the dark jolt of caffeine and grabbing the rest of his gear, he climbed on the engine.
He felt like he had a hangover, an Erin hangover. His grandmother would have been proud that he’d walked away, but he felt like shit.
“How’s the interview going?” One of the firefighters asked.
He whipped his head around, how did they know?
“Fine, why?”
“That reporter is a little spitfire. I figured she might be your type.”
“My type?”
“Sure a girl like that is everyone’s type.”
He stared the man down. “We’re working on the article that you guys asked me to work with her on. We have a professional relationship. Oh, and she’s a woman, not a girl.”
He turned back around and tried to ignore Craig’s raised eyebrows.
“What?”
Craig shook his head.
“What’s the call?”
“Fire.”
“Again? That’s all we’ve had for calls,” Seth said.
“It’s like we’re a fire department or something,” Craig shot back.
Seth readied himself for the scene. He took a few deep breaths and tried not to think about the look on Erin’s face or the way she had responded to him. But, he couldn’t help himself.
Erin woke up feeling like she’d just gone to bed. After Seth had left she had the worst time trying to fall asleep. She replayed the kiss over and over. All of her nerve endings, especially the girly ones were humming with excitement and need.
When her alarm went off, she was able to bolt out of bed. No need for coffee this morning, not that she drank the bitter stuff anyway.
Ten minutes later she had her backpack over her shoulder and left for work. As soon as she stepped out of her building she could smell the smoke in the air. Another fire?
The trucks were out of the fire station and the place looked deserted she noted as she entered her building.
The scanner was following the situation. She hated the thing most days, but the chatter comforted her today.
The fire was outside of town, which was always a concern. One building catches fire and the whole main street could go up in a matter of minutes.
It was on the edge of a field, like the golf course had been. Easy access, but still did some damage. She considered going down there for some more pictures, but after the close call, she’d had enough fires for a while.
“Fall back. Let’s hit this from the ladder,” she heard Seth say. She hadn’t spoken with him a lot, but she recognized his deep baritone.
Maybe the fire was worse than she suspected.
She imagined Seth in his gear battling the blaze. A moment of fear for his safety hit her in the chest.
The door creaking open brought her out of her worrisome thoughts.
“Mr. Wells. How are you, sir?”
“Sir?” he said with a scoff. “I’m just a humble farmer. I wanted to let you know that tomorrow is the running of the sheep.”
“I thought it might be coming up soon. What time are you preparing to have them ashore?”
“I’ve told the police around 10 tomorrow morning,” he said scratching his chin, his white hair matted by his hat, which he had removed when he came in the office.
“I’ll be there. We’re going to do a quick interview once they’re all back on your farm?”
“You betcha. Thanks. Your articles help sell them and fetch a better price. Famous sheep are worth more, ya know.”
Erin grinned. “You say the same thing every year.”
“It’s true every year. Can I take one of these here pens?”
Erin gave him two pens and a copy of the last issue of the Gazette. The running of the sheep was a hoot here in town. It was Serenity Harbor’s own running of the bulls. Men on horses drove the sheep from their island summer home onto a barge and through the main part of town on the way to the Wells farm.
Locals and tourists lined the street to watch the unique scene. It was a good picture opportunity for the week. As long as nothing caught fire, the day would be fun for everyone.
Of course, her thoughts went to Seth.
“Engine three is clearing the scene. Watch for hot spots and flair ups,” she heard Seth say over the scanner.
After an hour of trying to write an article she glanced over at her notes on the firefighters and the fire scene. Maybe she should head next door to see what it’s like when the men come back from a scene.
She picked up her camera bag, notepad and pen. As soon as her mind was made up she was out of the office.
“I’ll be back,” she told Sandy, the woman she’d hired to man the desk. Sandy didn’t mind staying late most days.
When the fire truck came into view, Erin had been sitting in a white, plastic chair in front of the station waiting for half an hour. She could have gone back to the office, but when she glanced up at her window, she was depressed about giving up her idea of catching them arriving back at the station.
The large door opened automatically. Did they have a garage door opener for the fire trucks?
She picked Seth out, his blond hair rumpled and black streaks crossed his face.
She aimed her camera and fired off a few shots before any of them noticed her.
“There will be no interviews today, missy. You can go back to whatever wormhole you crawled out of.” Erin, shocked at the words, turned around and came face to face with fire Chief Mark Morris.
“Excuse me?” she asked, indignant.
“You heard me. We don’t have time to answer your questions.”
“Um. You’ve known me my whole life. Where do you get off speaking to me like that?” She stood up and went toe to toe with him.
“You guys came to me and asked me to do a PR piece on you. I’m here at your request,” she threw back at him.
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” he blustered.
“I sure do. You –“
“Hold on there, sweetheart,” Seth said behind her wrapping his arms around her waist and pulled her back away from the chief who was turning purple with agitation.
“This one yours Greenway?”
“No sir. Just protecting the public,” he said, dragging her out of the chief’s range.
Seth turned on her. “What the hell were you thinking baiting the chief like that?”
Erin narrowed her eyes. “Did you hear what he said to me? I have done nothing but help this town since I took over the paper from the dinosaur who ran it before. I don’t know what he’s thinking, but calling me names and telling me to go away. Who they hell does he think I am? You guys asked me to do a fluff piece about you, so here I am.”
“What were you going to do? Hit him?”
“Of course not.” She shrugged him off. “I wanted to talk to you guys and see what it’s like after you come back from a call. You would have thought I’d asked him for state secrets.”
“Maybe you should come back another time?”
She shook her head. “Or I’ll just talk to some of the other men. You can go comfort the chief from the big bad reporter.” She evaded him as he tried to grab her arm to keep her there and
sought out the first guy she saw.
She was getting the info she came for. Screw him for thinking that he had to rescue her and keep her out of harm’s way.
Chapter 5
“Will you guys be there tomorrow at the running of the sheep?” she asked Craig, a long time firefighter.
“We will as long as nothing else catches on fire. It’s been a dry one this year. These fires keep popping up every day or two. It’s exhausting.” He wiped sweat off his forehead.
“How’s the story going with Seth?”
She cocked her head. “Fine. Why? What has he said?”
“Nothing. He pulled your ass out of that fire yesterday and then today he wrapped his arms around you and stopped you from going all Jackie Chan on the chief.”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. He’s been answering my questions. That’s it. If he feels protective of me, that’s his issue.”
“I’m not worried about you,” Seth said coming up behind her. “I just …never mind.”
Inside she cringed. He’d heard her say that she didn’t care he’d saved her bacon or that there was anything going on say…like a kiss that could light up the south end of Serenity Harbor?
“Interesting,” Craig said. “Any more questions?”
“Yeah, why are guys such jerks?”
He chuckled. “We’re not all bad. Some of us have bigger egos than others.”
“Check. Thanks for the interview,” she said.
After speaking to a few more dirty, sweaty firemen, she headed back across the street. Drama didn’t tend to follow her, but today seemed to be an exception.
Seth joined her at the edge of the street. “It took me half an hour to convince the chief not to call the police on you,” Seth said as a conversation starter.
“Not my problem. I did nothing wrong and was on town property.”
“I didn’t say you were wrong, only that the chief was pissed at you. Hey,” he clutched her upper arm, turning her so she was looking at him.
All she saw was his yummy brown eyes, his lips that knew how to kiss a woman and the dimple in his right cheek. How had she not noticed that before?
“I’m not the enemy here.”
“Then should we talk about last night?”
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