Delectable 04 - Gingerbread Palace

by EM Lynley

  “Flint, the bus is ready to take you to the hospital. Get your ass in there!” The captain left no room for discussion, and Kevin followed directions. An EMT helped him up the steps and sat him on a gurney. “Buckle up.” She hopped out and that’s when Kevin noticed he wasn’t alone.

  Sitting on the other gurney, shirt open and a web of wires attached to his bare chest, was Dumbass Bakery Guy. Underneath that damp pastel blue shirt the guy had a smooth, gorgeous chest with large pink nipples, peaked from the December chill. Kevin’s gaze lingered for a few moments before he glanced up at the guy’s face, and into his bright blue eyes, partially covered by long, damp bangs.

  Dumbass Bakery Guy was pretty fucking hot. And he noticed Kevin staring and smiled. “Thank you. And I don’t just mean for saving me and the dog.” The flirty tone left no doubt that he wouldn’t mind showing some appreciation.

  So much for keeping a low profile and not taking any risks. He’d be all over this guy if they’d met at Rangers or another club, but the guy was too much of a dumbass for Kevin to take a stupid risk over him. But it didn’t stop Kevin from wondering what his lips would taste like, or what kind of sound he’d make when Kevin sucked on one of those juicy-looking nipples.

  If, not when. What the hell was he thinking? This idiot had almost gotten himself and Kevin killed. And he had gotten Kevin a reprimand. He suspected the desk assignment was more for punishment than because Kevin wasn’t physically able to do his job.

  “We didn’t get to meet formally. I’m Alex Bancroft. I own Bancroft’s Buns.”

  Kevin glared at him and lay back on the gurney. He closed his eyes and threw an arm over his face to block out the light. Why couldn’t he get the image of Alex Bancroft dripping wet out of his mind? The blue shirt clung to his upper body, the nipples tight, hard buds. Only this time they weren’t in the burned-out shell of his bakery kitchen; they were in Kevin’s shower, and he was peeling the shirt back from Alex’s shoulders.

  Kevin felt his cock swelling at the image. Thank God he was still wearing his turnout pants.

  The siren stopped wailing and Kevin knew they were within a block of the hospital, a quiet zone. A minute later the ambulance stopped and the back door opened. The EMTs took Bancroft out on the gurney, but as they popped the wheels out, he turned around to face Kevin.

  “The captain said you’ll be handling my investigation. So I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Fucking dumbass, Kevin said over and over to himself. And now he couldn’t avoid the guy without pissing off his new captain.

  IN THE hospital Alex Bancroft waited for a doctor to come by and check him out. His throat still burned, but he only coughed a little now and then. He hoped he wouldn’t have to stay overnight. Things really couldn’t get much worse than they were right now. The fire had been the scariest thing he’d been through in his entire life. Maybe not the scariest, but close. Certainly the worst thing that had happened in many years.

  At least no one was hurt. That was the most important thing. But from what he’d seen, the kitchen was completely destroyed and part of the roof had fallen in. He wished he hadn’t seen it, though it would look even worse in the daylight. He’d go back first thing in the morning and get whatever information he could. He had to find out when he could start repairs so he could open again.

  While he waited, Lacey came to sit with him.

  “How’d you get in here, Lace?”

  “I lied and said I was your sister.”

  She was in spirit, if not legally. “You’re blonde. How did anyone believe that?”

  “No one has their natural hair color anymore. The triage nurse just waved me through. I must not have looked like much of a threat.” She grinned. She had colorful tattoos down both arms, but with her chef’s smock on, no one could see. She had a nose and lip piercing and about ten piercings on just one ear. She probably set the hospital metal detector off. He knew of more than one other piercing she couldn’t easily remove in public.

  “Thanks for coming. I hate hospitals.”

  “I know. Besides, what else was I going to do?” She sat on the edge of the bed and planted a kiss on his forehead. She wiped at his face with a thumb.

  “You’ve got soot on you.” Then she started crying so softly only he could tell. He’d heard it so many times before. “And your hand!” She glanced down at the bandages. He wished she hadn’t reminded him. It hurt. Throbbed. They’d given him a pain pill in the ambulance and it hadn’t stopped the pain. He wondered how much it would hurt if he hadn’t swallowed the pill. He had to stop thinking like that.

  “Hey, I’m the one in the hospital ER. Why are you crying?”

  “Alex, I was so scared. The fire was… awful. I-I-I—”

  “I know.” He reached up to cradle her in his arms the best he could while he was lying down with a bandaged hand. Hot tears dripped onto his face, and he held on tighter.

  “We’ve been through worse. We’ll get through this. We’re safe. Everyone is safe.”

  “I know.” She sobbed.

  “Where’s Quincy?”

  “Robbie has him. He’ll keep him tonight or as long as you want.”

  “That’s good. I wish Marcia had asked him to look after Quincy in the first place. Then I wouldn’t have gone back after him. How could I have forgotten him? I feel so terrible. I’ll make him some special dog treats when…. I don’t know when. When the kitchen’s working again. Whenever that is.”

  “You’re staying with me when you get out of here. Don’t try and refuse.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t. I can’t do much with this.” He held up the bandaged hand. “You might have to help me piss though. Can you do that?”

  She sat up and looked him in the eye, then gave him a soft punch on the shoulder. “We’ll get you a pair of sweat pants so you won’t need any help in that department.”

  “What kind of best friend are you?”

  “I’m more like your sister than a friend. And sisters should not be touching a brother’s junk even for medical reasons.” She wiped the tears away and smiled. “Maybe you could get that hunky fireman who carried you out of the building to help….” She winked.

  Alex frowned. “He’s hot, and not just in a burning building sort of way. But I think I ruined any chance of that.”

  “Like there was a chance of that?” She grinned. “You think he’s gay?”

  “I’m almost positive, based on the way he was checking me out in the ambulance. But he’s pretty annoyed at having to save me and Quincy. I tried to chat with him in the ambulance, and you know that phrase ‘if looks could kill’?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m at least six feet under.”

  “Oh.”

  “I don’t think it would have worked out under the best of circumstances.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged. She wouldn’t be able to understand how a guy in this day and age could be as far into the closet as Alex’s sexy rescuer. The way the guy was watching him in the ambulance made that abundantly clear. Alex didn’t have time for that. He’d never hidden who he was or who he wanted to be with. Even when he should have. Even when it got him in trouble. He’d been through so much because of it, and he’d never even consider a man who wasn’t capable of being himself.

  The doctor came in and shooed Lacey out of the cubicle. She rechecked his vitals, unwrapped and looked at his hand, and ordered a chest X-ray.

  “Doc, do I really need one? I’m not hurt except for my hand.” He dreaded getting X-rays. They usually required painful explanations.

  “You’re coughing enough that I want to check for damage. Make sure you didn’t inhale any dangerous particles.”

  “Okay.” He gave in and she left.

  A nurse rebandaged his hand before an orderly wheeled him down the hall for the films. When that was over, they let Lacey back in to wait with him in the curtained cubicle. Sounds of more patients being wheeled in filled the air around them though they cou
ldn’t see what was going on. He heard shouts from medical staff and the curtain fluttered a few times as someone ran for a more urgent case. It was over an hour before the doc came back in.

  She gave him an appraising look, and he knew she’d spotted the old fractures and injuries. “Your lungs look fine. I’m prescribing you an inhaler to use if you have any residual coughing.” She paused and he silently thanked her for not mentioning anything else she’d seen. “You should have your regular doc see you in a couple of days to follow up on that. Rebandage the hand daily and keep it dry. I’ll give you a prescription for a topical pain gel, and one for pills.” She flipped through his chart again and looked back at him. “No allergies?”

  “No.”

  “Okay.” She grabbed a laptop from the counter and tapped a bunch of keys. “The release papers and prescriptions are printing. A nurse will bring those, have you sign a few things, and send you on your merry way.”

  “Thanks, Doc.”

  “Hey, Bancroft.” The doctor looked up from the chart again. “Are you related to Bancroft’s Buns?”

  “Yeah, it’s my shop. Was. We had a fire tonight and….”

  “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. I guess no one else was hurt, or I would have heard by now.”

  “Just me, and a firefighter who came in with me for a checkup.”

  “I love your cupcakes. All of them. I purposely avoid Third Street so I won’t be tempted, which is why I didn’t recognize you. But friends and colleagues bring them to me, and I just can’t say no.” She patted her thighs. “I should be saying no much more. But I always get a gingerbread man every Christmas. Any chance of those this year?”

  Alex shook his head. “We were going to start selling them tomorrow, but they were lost in the fire. And with this”—he held up his bandaged hand—“I won’t be baking anytime soon.”

  “I wish I could give you a pill for that—or to repair the bakery.” She gave a sad smile. “I’d say Happy Holidays, but that might be a little tricky this year.”

  “Everyone’s okay, and that’s what counts.” He smiled back, but by now the meds were wearing off and the weight of what had happened started to sink in. He wanted to hurry up and get going so he could fill the prescription, but hiding behind pain meds wouldn’t do anyone any real good. He knew that from experience. “Happy Holidays to you.”

  “Thanks.” The doctor got up, grabbed her laptop, and gave them a small wave as she left. The curtain fluttered behind her.

  “We’ve got to figure out a way to do the gingerbread men this year. And the house. What about the house?” Lacey’s eyes widened. “We practiced it twice already! The auction’s five days away and we don’t have anything.”

  Alex shook his head. “Don’t think about that now. We’ll find another way to help Home Sweet Home and the kids out. I’ll just make a cash donation to cover the amount the gingerbread cookies and house would bring.”

  “How can you afford that when you don’t even know how much the repairs will cost?”

  He hadn’t thought about the repairs. “Won’t the insurance cover it? Isn’t that why I pay for insurance?”

  “You’re right. I forgot about that.” Her smile returned, though at a lower power than before. “The insurance should take care of everything.”

  THE next morning things looked even worse than Alex thought. Lacey drove him to the bakery after breakfast. There was a police car and another with a fire department logo on the door, but no one was in the parking lot.

  The air smelled like burned wood and plastic and overbaked cookies. Even the slight winter crispness to the air didn’t cool down Alex’s anxiety as he raced toward the employee entrance. What was left of the door had been propped open with a chunk of wood.

  Alex stepped inside. “Hello?”

  “Who’s there?” A uniformed police officer wearing a hard hat moved swiftly toward the door, followed by the hunky firefighter and another man, both in uniforms. Alex tried not to notice how good his rescuer looked in the dark blue. He was wearing his helmet, so Alex couldn’t see his hair. The dark uniform would make the pale-brown hair look almost blond. He recalled that detail from the short trip in the ambulance, when the guy had his helmet off.

  “Sir? Are you listening?” The cop was talking to him.

  “What?”

  “You are not allowed in here.”

  “It’s my property. I’m the owner.”

  “That doesn’t matter. The fire department is here to investigate and secure the site. You can’t come in here without protective headgear.”

  “Give me a hat.”

  “I can’t do that. I can detain you if you won’t leave voluntarily.”

  “Wait outside, please,” Alex’s firefighter said. At least they were still on speaking terms. “We’re almost done.”

  “Okay.” Alex turned toward the door. He could wait. He had nothing else to do. He wondered if he could open the shop. Outside he spoke to Lacey. “Let’s go around front and make sure the retail space is secured.”

  The front of the shop looked almost untouched. There were a few dark smudges where smoke had come through the vents, but otherwise the place appeared fine. They could open, if they had anything to sell. Alex unlocked the front door and went behind the counter to flip on the lights.

  Nothing happened.

  “What’s wrong?” Lacey asked.

  “They must have turned the power off. But if we can get it turned back on, we could open the shop.”

  “That’s a great idea. But you gave everyone time off until after Christmas, remember? We don’t have any help even if we found another commercial kitchen.”

  “We can figure something out, Lacey.” Alex got up and went to the refrigerator case containing soft drinks and grabbed a couple of bottles of peach tea. He handed one to Lacey. They sipped for a few minutes. Then Alex’s cell phone buzzed. It was the firemen. Alex and Lacey got up and walked to the back parking lot and waited to hear the worst.

  “I’m Kevin Flint,” the hunky fireman introduced himself, but he didn’t shake hands or crack even a remote smile. Joe Friday on Dragnet looked like a party animal compared to this grim fellow.

  “There’s severe structural damage. The place is unsafe for any occupants. You’ll need to secure the premises and have a contractor cover up the holes in the walls and roof to prevent any additional damage. The arson team will need a key and any combinations or security codes.”

  “How long will that take?” Alex asked.

  “A week or two. An investigator is in there now making a preliminary report, but until he does more tests, gets statements, et cetera, there won’t be a final determination of the cause.”

  “I thought a cake must have caught fire in one of the ovens,” Lacey said.

  “Save it for the report.”

  “You’re not being very helpful,” Alex replied.

  “We have processes and procedures. It requires following directions, though I can see you have trouble with that.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “We told you not to come in here last night….”

  “I had to get the dog.”

  “You should have thought of the dog sooner, or told one of the emergency workers. You don’t run into a burning building yourself.”

  “It wasn’t burning at the time.”

  “Look, Mr. Buns, uh, Bancroft, I don’t bake cakes and you don’t decide when a building is safe. Can we agree on that?”

  “You really are a dick, aren’t you?” Lacey said. She got in Flint’s face and put her hand on his chest as if about to push him.

  “Lacey…,” Alex said.

  The cop came over. “Is there a problem here? Kev?”

  Up close Alex noticed the cop’s nametag: FLINT. They looked like brothers. The cop was pretty hot too, but he’d already threatened to arrest Alex. Clearly the Flint family had it out for him.

  “No problem, Tommy.”

  “Can I get some files, records, some
clothes? There’s a safe in the office and one in my apartment. Did they burn too?”

  “No,” Fireman Flint said. “I’ll get you a hat and escort you while you take a few essentials out, but we’ll need to make sure none of it is evidence.”

  “Fair enough.” Alex nodded, pleased hard-assed Flint had softened his tone however miniscule the improvement.

  “Want to bring your dog in too?” Flint asked.

  That ruined it. Alex officially hated the guy. What a damn shame.

  Chapter 2

  ALEX and Lacey came back to the station in order to give full statements. Several of Alex’s employees had been in while he was at the fire scene, and the captain had taken their statements and left them on the duty-office desk.

  Now Kevin took both statements, starting with Lacey’s, then Alex’s. Afterward, the on-duty crew, C Shift, insisted they stay for lunch, which surprised Kevin. Apparently, Bancroft’s Buns were pretty popular with the guys from Station 7. He barely noticed the cookies and cupcakes some of the guys brought in to share, but remembered the distinctive Bancroft Buns logo now he’d seen it again over the past two days. Kevin rarely ate sweets. He used his PT time to stay in peak condition, not to burn off overindulgence. The other guys ribbed him about his eating habits and how he kept track of protein and carbs. Taylor once said Kevin was worse than his wife on a diet.

  “What’s the verdict on when you can open the shop?” Peterson asked Alex in the dining hall.

  “As soon as we get the go-ahead from the arson investigator—Bronski—and the city building inspector. But without a kitchen, we don’t have anything to sell. We lost all the holiday cakes in the shop because they—you guys—turned off the power to the whole building.”

  “Sorry, that’s procedure,” Kevin said and took another bite of grilled fish. He got a few dirty looks, probably for not being sympathetic, but it was true. They all knew it.

  “I’ll try to rent a commercial kitchen, but that won’t happen till after Christmas.” Alex held up his bandaged hand. “Not that I can do much anyway with this.”