by Annie O'Neil
“Looks like I’ve got to get going.” She glanced in Jack’s direction but didn’t dare meet his eyes. It would’ve been too easy to call her bluff. “I’m afraid I’ve got to run. Thanks for the presentation.”
She must have looked like a terrified rabbit the way she was hot-footing it out of the gym, but she needed to get out of there. Away from Jack Keller.
Those milliseconds of intimate contact had wiped away the rest of the world for a moment and that wasn’t how things needed to be right now. She was a single mum. She had responsibilities. Responsibilities that included putting forward a positive example for the children here at the Murray Valley School.
Heart thumping, she closed the door to her office. It was the perfect sanctuary. A quiet place to process what had just happened. If anything had happened at all.
Her mouth went dry as she realized the whole incident was down to her lifting up her head when she hadn’t been meant to. It had all been a mistake and from Jack’s perspective she’d just behaved like a first-class lunatic. In the blur of the moment she had just assumed he’d felt the same charge of emotion that had flooded through her as their lips had brushed together. Liesel scrubbed her fingers through her hair. Terrific! Now he knew without a shadow of a doubt the impact his touch had on her.
Oh, this was not good. She collapsed her head onto her crossed arms, fervently wishing her desk could absorb her into the woodwork. This was Class A Embarrassment Central.
“Am I going to have to check for breath again?”
Liesel bolted upright, curls flying everywhere and hands unsure where to come to rest at the sound of the voice that had awakened her senses as if she’d been Sleeping Beauty. Disheveled Sleeping Nutcase was more like it. Could this day get any worse?
Hands firmly planted on her hips, Liesel tried to adopt a casual air, as if she was always almost kissing someone during first-aid demonstrations. “I’m good. Very good. Everything’s good here.”
If erratic heart rate and jangling nerves were a picture of perfection.
She forced herself to make eye contact with Jack, prepared for the derision he no doubt would have for her ridiculous behavior. What she saw instead was an oasis of calm. A gentle smile played on his lips, little crinkles appearing at the edges of those blue-as-the-sky eyes of his. He leaned casually against the door frame of her office as if he’d been born to fill it, and everything about him said, Relax. You’re safe with me.
“Glad to hear it. Sorry it was all a bit of a mess today. Organization is generally a bit more of a strong point. I’d like to make it up you—to the school, I mean.” He shifted his feet slightly, his smile still as warm as the spring sunshine.
“Sure, that’d be great.” Liesel winced. Had she sounded too eager? This wasn’t really playing it cool. Or safe. “I mean...I’m sure the children would absolutely love it.”
“You know,” he continued, seemingly unaware of her internal battle for a bit more personal strength, “it would really be great if you could come down to the station sometime and throw some ideas around. Now that I know you’re not—”
He stopped abruptly, almost looking bashful. It was cute. Supercute.
“Not what?”
“The fellas told me you were a granny on the verge of retirement.”
“That would’ve been my predecessor, Mrs. Heissen.” She could feel his eyes run up and down her body to doubly confirm she was the opposite of an aging grandmother. The examination wasn’t helping her maintain any sort of cool, calm and collected demeanor. His eyes landed on hers. Ping! Crystal-blue perfection.
“I feel I’ve really missed a trick, not introducing myself to you when I got my transfer here.”
“Sorry, I’ve got an appointment to get to.” Liar.
She took another glance at her invisible watch. She’d already made enough of a fool of herself.
“Fair enough, but don’t think I’m going to give up easily.”
She raised her eyebrows at him. Give up on what exactly?
“This is a small town and come fire season we genuinely could do with all the help we can get.”
Aha. He’s still recruiting. Wrong bark, wrong tree, mate.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I just wouldn’t have much to offer in the way of free time.”
He carried on as if she hadn’t said a word. “Not to mention the fact I’ve only been in town a few weeks and haven’t yet found the perfect chocolate milk shake in the area. I’m on a quest. Care to join me?”
Oh. Well, that was quite a different suggestion. Although just as dangerous, given that it meant spending time alone with Jack Keller.
“That sounds like a laudable quest, Captain Keller—”
“Jack.”
“Jack.” She said the name deliberately before continuing, “I’d really like to help, but—”
“Great. That’s settled, then. Things are pretty hectic over at the station for the rest of the week and I’ve got to get down to Adelaide for a weekend’s training session—sometime next week?”
“Sure.”
The word leaped past her lips before she’d had a chance to rein it in. Hadn’t she just told herself that time spent with Jack Keller was a bad idea?
* * *
Jack was still grinning as he lifted the last bits of gear into the station truck. He was feeling remarkably cheery. And a little bit guilty. He was pleased his made-up quest for the perfect chocolate milk shake had worked in convincing Liesel to go out with him. That was a white lie he could live with. The one giving his gut a good kicking was the part about being new in town. Technically, it was true. He was new in town if you discounted the first twenty-five years of his life. If you forgot about those and just focused on the past four he’d been away and the man he’d become during those years...then, yes, technically he was new in town.
He was focused. Driven. Making a decision to be a full-timer for the CFS had added the sorely needed rod to his spine. Gone were the days of the noncommitted heir to River’s Bend. His father no longer had to put up with experimental fields of hops for a microbrew, escapee pigs destined for air-dried sausage or a pair of Clydesdale horses clearly not meant for work in the forty-degree heat. All well-intentioned ideas with no real follow-through. Now his life was about tangible results. A new Jack Keller was definitely in town.
He coasted down the school drive and pulled out onto the highway, doing his best to surrender his doubts to the beautiful afternoon.
Nope. It was no good.
Everything was too familiar. The road, the tiny cluster of shops, who ran them, the clumps of gum and eucalyptus trees shading this house or that. If he was going to see Liesel again, he was going to have to come clean—at some point.
Truth be told, it would be nice to date someone who didn’t have a clue about his history. Someone who just liked plain ol’ Jack the fireman.
He gave a little snort. Date! He hadn’t dated anyone properly in years. Girls in Engleton had always had their eye on the River’s Bend prize, while in Adelaide during training there just hadn’t been enough time. Or just not the right women. Or maybe for once he just wanted to see something through and prove to his father he had it in him to talk the walk. Or walk the talk. Or whatever that saying was.
Liesel definitely had something that spoke to him. Too bad the timing was shambolic.
He pulled the truck into the station-house drive, smiling at the sight of a couple of volunteers washing down one of the big rigs. It had just received a whopper of an upgrade thanks to a ten-grand anonymous donation. All of the guys had sworn ignorance and he believed them. They had an angel out there and he, for one, was grateful. The volunteers were great guys. He was just getting to know them, but already they had him knee-deep in barbecue invitations and bursting with ideas for fund-raising drives.
They�
��d make a success of this station. He was sure of it. The big guns over in Adelaide had given him a year to turn around the waning number of volunteers and poor track record on incident attendance. It would mean a lot of hard work, being on call 24/7 and his 100 percent dedication. He pressed his lips together as if to strengthen his resolve and scrubbed a hand through his hair.
He’d been kidding himself back at the school. He barely had time to grab a meal for himself, let alone complicate his life with a milk shake quest and a beautiful woman.
Short, sharp shock it was, then. Who was going to feel the pain the most, though, was up in the air.
CHAPTER THREE
“NO-O-O-O!” LIESEL DID her best to squelch a few choice words as she wrestled with the steering wheel, the thud-thud-thud coming from her swerving car the unmistakable sound of a flat tire.
A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed that Liam, strapped into his car seat, was snoozing away, blissfully unaware of his mother’s battle for control with the vehicle. At least one of them was relaxed! She pulled over as quickly and as safely as she could, a glance at the dashboard clock confirming what she already knew. They’d be late. Getting to Adelaide in an hour with a flat tire to fix was out of the question. Not to mention the fact her adrenaline was running at full pelt. Another reminder she didn’t—couldn’t—do high octane anymore. Just the few seconds it had taken to pull the car over had been more than enough to set her heart racing. Her hands shook as she put the car into Park and rested her head on the steering wheel to collect herself, before getting out to assess the damage.
“That was a well-controlled skid, Miss Adler. I didn’t have you pegged for a rally driver.”
Liesel nearly jumped out of her seat at the sound of the male voice—the exact same male voice attached to the exact same pair of lips that had been doing reruns in her head since yesterday afternoon.
“Hello again.” Liesel managed a feeble wave through her open car window, heart still racing but for a completely different reason now. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“It’s one of the perks of living in a small town.”
Mmm...he wasn’t kidding. Then again, these run-ins were beginning to accrue quite a high count of embarrassment in her camp. Why couldn’t he ever see her when she was doing something normal? Or, even better, laudable? Not that it mattered. Not really.
“I hope you weren’t racing off to find a chocolate shake without me.”
“At nine in the morning?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Even I’m not that keen!”
“Shall we take a look at your car?”
“I’m sure it’s just a flat—I’ll be fine.” Liesel ran her fingers through her tousled hair. This guy sure had a knack for showing up when her hair and a comb were distant strangers.
“Oh, I never had any doubt about that.”
Liesel felt herself being appraised by him and wished for the second time in as many seconds that she’d looked in the mirror that morning and perhaps even bothered to pop on a bit of lip gloss after brushing her hair. She was only going to housesit for her parents so hadn’t bothered with the whole dolling-up routine.
Who was she kidding? Dolling up had been the last thing on her agenda for the past three years. Yet under Jack’s gaze she suddenly felt the need to look her best. No. Not “the need”... No, that wasn’t it. She wanted to look good. For him to like what he saw. And the collateral wake of feelings that went along with that little revelation was throwing her nerves into a right old jumble.
“First things first, Miss Adler.” He squatted down so his head was level with hers, a long index finger reaching out to pull a couple of wayward curls out of her eyes. “Any bumps or bruises?”
Liesel shook her head, praying he hadn’t noticed the lightning bolt shooting down her spine at his touch. It was obvious he hadn’t done it as a flirtatious move—she’d made the same gesture along Liam’s forehead countless times. Although somehow she didn’t think her two-year-old got butterflies in his stomach when she did it.
“Would you like me to take a look at your car?” Jack pressed, standing up with a nod toward the back of her car.
Not really. Basking in that crooked beam of a grin of yours is working pretty well for me.
Rescuing damsels in distress had to be his true calling.
Seriously.
He had already proved he was good with schoolboys in distress, and from the spray of goose pimples shivering up her arms in the morning sun he wasn’t going far wrong with the damsel part, either.
“That’d be great.” Liesel made her decision, clicking the door open and hoping it would signal to Jack that she needed a bit of space. Close proximity to this guy was unnerving. In a good way. Far too good.
She got out of the car and joined him at the offending rear tire.
“Looks like I won’t be getting to Adelaide anytime soon.”
“I’m afraid you won’t be getting to Adelaide at all with that. It looks like a cracked tire wall—not just a flat.”
Liesel stood in silence, her mind working through all the possibilities. She’d promised to look after her parents’ “replacement child,” Moxy, the toy poodle, while they spent a weekend with her sister in Melbourne. Their neighbors were a bit too elderly for the walks and if anything went wrong—well, she was hoping nothing would go wrong. Their train left in just a couple of hours and after all their amazing support she couldn’t let them down.
“I’m headed to Adelaide.”
“Are you staying long?”
“Overnight.” Liesel looked up at the sky in frustration. She had to sort this out. “I’m meant to be house-sitting for my parents.”
“Why don’t you catch a ride with me? I’m doing a weekend course with the Metropolitan Fire Service. I’m not heading back until late Sunday afternoon. Would that work for you?”
* * *
Jack let the words hang between them in the fresh morning air. They were out there before he’d had a chance to really think about what would happen if she said yes. But seeing the stricken look on Liesel’s face had instinctively made him offer his help.
“Oh, I couldn’t let you do that.”
“Why not? I’ve got a perfectly good truck with a spare seat.”
“That’s really kind of you, but...” Her mind raced, knowing there was a lot he didn’t know about her, a lot she wasn’t ready to share. “I don’t even know your full name.”
“Officially it’s Brigade Captain John G. Keller, but given that we’re both technically state employees—meaning we’re colleagues—I’d say you should still just call me Jack. And I’m warning you now—” he waggled a finger at her “—you’ll never get to know what the G stands for!”
There was that laugh again. A smiling Liesel was definitely better than the one who’d looked utterly panicked when he’d arrived. He wasn’t sure what it was about this woman, but being around her brought out a deep need to protect her. Not to mention a whole slew of other things he’d already decided were not options for him. Like finding out what it would be like to really kiss those ruby-red lips of hers.
Lust aside, he reasoned with himself as he held open her car door, as one of the few salaried members of the CFS he was a civil servant. It was his job to help.
Shaking away the idea his protective impulses were anything more than a fireman’s gut reaction to any human in distress, he gestured toward the truck. “Grab your stuff and hop in, Miss Adler.”
“Oh, no, really. I couldn’t accept.” Her eyes darted to the backseat of her car. “It’s not just me.”
Jack’s eyebrows shot up at his oversight. “Right, well, who have we got back here? You have a dog?” He tipped his head so he could get a glimpse of the backseat passenger.
Liesel moved in between him and the car as if by instinct. “He’s my
son.”
“And what a good-looking little fellow he is.” Jack peeped over her shoulder, trying his best to give her a relaxed smile.
He sure hadn’t seen that one coming.
He felt sucker punched. Liesel was taken. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and certainly didn’t have a mumsy aura about her—but a son was a pretty good indicator she wasn’t available. True, he hadn’t considered dating someone with children before, but—honestly? He hadn’t even considered dating in a long time. It might take a little while to shake off the effect she had on him but—big picture—it was probably just as well she was off the market.
“Should we give his dad a ring and have him come collect you two?”
Ice flooded Liesel’s veins. She still hadn’t found a way to tell people about Liam’s dad. Not without wanting to cry or subjecting the other person to huge waves of embarrassment.
“No, it’s just us, I’m afraid.”
She felt Jack’s hand rest lightly on her shoulder. It was all she could do not to press into the warm comfort of it. Lean into the strength he offered.
“Not to worry,” Jack said gently. “Guess it’s a good thing I showed up. Let’s get you two packed up and hit the road.”
As if in a daze, Liesel followed Jack’s lead. She was so grateful to him for not prying. Not asking more. Just a few short years ago she’d been a girl who loved to hash out emotional affairs in minute detail, but keeping things neutral was her survival mode now. In fact, accepting a ride from a virtual stranger was a leap out of her current comfort zone, but it wasn’t as if she had a lot of choice. Her parents were expecting her and what harm could come of it? They were both state employees. Colleagues. Right?
Jack gave her the number of a local towing company, who, after a quick chat, agreed to pick up the car and drop it at the school on Monday morning when they had finished. Everything fell into place like a well-laid plan. Living in a small town definitely had its advantages.