“Folks, no disrespect, but I’m here to work. Not talk about my personal life.”
Good answer, Meadows.
He didn’t slow down but continued toward the back entrance of the PD, forcing the cameraman to speed-walk backwards to stay ahead of him.
“Just a few quick questions,” the reporter said.
Jason tried to slip past them, but the newsmen persisted.
“Excuse me, gentlemen.” His tone was anything but polite. “I need to get inside.”
“What do you say to people who think that photo was staged as a publicity stunt?”
“Doesn’t much matter what I say. People will think whatever they want to think.”
“Was it a publicity stunt?”
Jason didn’t answer, but kept walking. He made it around the cameraman, who turned and followed behind Jason while the reporter jogged alongside.
“Were you hoping to show police officers in a more positive light in a time when the public is against you?”
Jason kept walking, but responded over his shoulder. “We do not view the public we serve as being against us.”
“Be that as it may, there are a lot of negative stories about police and use of force in the media right now. Do you think this picture does anything to combat the poor image the public holds of police officers?”
“I think the work that ninety-five percent of us do on a daily basis speaks for itself. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Jason turned away and opened the back door to the PD.
“Do you think Victoria Russo can handle the stress of her job?”
Jason froze. His sudden stillness made the hairs on Victoria’s arm stand up.
“Excuse me?” he asked, turning to face the reporter.
“Do you think she should be working as a paramedic? Or do you think anyone should work in that field if they can’t maintain a certain distance from what’s happening?”
“You think distance is a positive thing?”
“I think she looked overwhelmed in that photo. Do you think she was too emotional to do her job that day?”
That hit Victoria right in the gut. To have her ability questioned on television like this…she couldn’t imagine anything more humiliating. Or infuriating. She felt like puking and cursing all at the same time.
Jason took a step toward the reporter, his voice frightening in its calmness. “And just how much emotion is too much emotion, do you think?”
“Well, some might say that a woman might be less equipped—”
“Oh, he did not just say that,” Victoria said, pointing the remote accusingly at the TV. Camille made uh-uh noises of disapproval on the other end of the line.
“Are you kidding me?” Jason asked. “Are you seriously making this a gender issue? You want to talk about who’s fit to be a first responder and who’s not? Well, let’s talk about that. Cops, firefighters, paramedics—we see a lot of awful sh—” He glanced at the camera. “Stuff. It’s easy to become jaded. But you know what’s not easy? Allowing yourself to care about people. To be invested and then devastated. And to have the strength to drag yourself out of bed the next morning and do it all over again. Victoria Russo is one of a rare breed of people who can do that. She hasn’t lost her humanity. She’s exactly the type of first responder we need.”
“You tell him, Jason,” Camille said.
“Shh!” Victoria didn’t want a miss a second of this.
“And let me ask you this,” Jason continued, eyeing the reporter with ill-concealed contempt. “Who do you want sitting next to you on your ride to the hospital? The medic who keeps a professional distance or the one who’s going to feel it down to her bones if something happens to you?”
Ignoring the question, the reporter took the mic out of Jason’s face and spoke into it himself. “There are reports that one of the firefighters is in critical condition after Russo botched a procedure at the scene—”
“Stop. Just stop right there. I don’t know jack about how to place a chest tube, but I do know that if Victoria hadn’t acted as she did that firefighter would not be with us today. So, you will not question her competence. You got that? Not ever again.”
The reporter opened his mouth, proving that he was a total friggin’ idiot. Any fool could see Jason was seconds away from blowing his top. And so was Victoria. But even she couldn’t have defended herself as eloquently as Jason had. If she’d been confronted with those questions she would’ve been a mess of incoherent anger. Which was pretty much what she was now—sitting on her couch, fuming at the TV.
“That’s it for today,” Jason said, cutting the reporter off from whatever stupid thing he was about to say. He turned away and opened the door to the PD once more. “No more questions,” he said over his shoulder and disappeared into the building.
The reporter raised his brows at the camera. “Well, there you have it. Jason Meadows. The police officer from the photo that’s gone viral and captured the nation’s imagination—”
Victoria muted the TV.
“Oh, my gosh,” Camille said. “Did you see how he let that jerk imply all sorts of horrible things about him and barely said a word in his own defense? But the second that reporter went after you, he went all shut-your-damn-mouth on the guy. Did you see that?”
“I did. I saw that.”
“That was hot.”
It really kinda was.
“Girl, if you tell me you’re not the slightest bit interested in that man, I just might leave your brother at the altar and go after him myself.”
Victoria smiled. “You’d never leave Tony.”
“I might.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“You going to stop me?”
“I might.”
“You should.”
Victoria chuckled and said her goodnights to Camille, promising to call her back in the morning.
Dragging her blanket back to bed, she thought about what her friend had suggested. In eight years, she’d never contemplated seriously pursuing anyone but Graham. Sure, she’d had a few flirtations, but she’d never let those relationships develop, because she’d always assumed she and Graham would find their way back to one another.
But then no man had ever stood in front of a camera and defended her to the whole world.
Well, okay, not the whole world.
Just the couple of million people watching WGN.
What Jason had said…it was no small thing.
And not something she would ever forget.
*
Three times. That’s how many times Victoria got out of her car, walked up to Jason’s door, chickened out, and walked back to her car. Three times. What the hell was her problem?
Sitting in her car, parked on the street in front of his townhome, Victoria grabbed the periwinkle silk tie she’d brought over for him. It had taken her and Camille three phone conversations and seventeen text messages to finally come up with a decent excuse for Victoria to come back to his house today.
All she really wanted was an opportunity to say thank you. To tell him how much it meant that he’d stood up for her even when she knew he had zero desire to talk to the press. But showing up on his doorstep two days in a row smacked of a neediness Victoria was loath to experience.
Having recently realized that she’d wasted years pining for a man who was never going to be interested in anything more than friendship, the last thing Victoria wanted to do was throw herself into another obsession.
And Jason was quickly becoming someone she could see herself obsessing over.
After the news segment last night, she’d fallen asleep thinking about him and all the things he’d said to that awful reporter. She’d dreamed about his uniquely blue eyes and woken up with a smile, remembering the way he called her Toria whenever he was teasing her.
Which brought her to today’s mission. Yes, she wanted an excuse to tell him she appreciated his words last night, but also, she needed to set a few things straight.
Smoothing her th
umb over the soft silk of the tie, she took a deep breath and got out of her car for the last time.
Jason answered the door after just one ring, making her hope to St. Francis he hadn’t been watching her first three chicken-shit attempts.
“Two visits in one week, Toria?” He stood in the doorway, wearing basketball shorts and a gray t-shirt with the sleeves cut out, looking like he’d just returned from a workout. “Did another picture surface? Should I be worried?” With an easy grin, he held the door wide, and she stepped inside.
“I brought you this.” She handed him the periwinkle silk tie.
He took the tie, raising his eyebrows.
“It matches my bridesmaid’s dress.”
“Ah, I see. I thought maybe you were worried I didn’t own a tie.”
“Well, there was that,” she said, teasing. “Actually, the tie I really wanted to get you had an under-the-sea motif with a giant red lobster at the bottom.”
He chuckled.
“But Camille’s a classy broad, and I couldn’t bring you to her wedding wearing that. Funny as I thought it was.”
He nodded. “Well, thanks. I’ll be sure to learn how to tie a tie in the next four weeks.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
Still standing near the door, they trailed into an awkward silence.
“So, ah, you want to come in and sit down?” Jason finally asked.
“No, I only have a minute. I’m on my way to Camille’s place to help with some wedding stuff.” She cleared her throat. “Listen, um, I just wanted to say thank you.”
He glanced up at her curiously.
“I saw you on the news last night,” she said.
“Did you now?” He shook his head. “Seems I’m everywhere these days.”
“I really appreciated what you said. That you stood up for me with that reporter.”
“Eh, it was nothing.” He waved the tie in dismissal. “The guy was a real prick. Putting him in his place was my pleasure.”
“All the same, it meant a lot. You take on a lot of risks when you do something like that in the field. It’s not as sterile an environment. You don’t have the same equipment that’s available at the hospital. It was a tough call to decide to place the chest tube before transporting. And not everyone thinks I did the right thing.”
His expression hardening, Jason crossed his arms over his chest, which emphasized his rather large biceps. “Like who?”
“Flaherty, for one.”
“What’s that guy’s problem? Every time I see him, he looks like he’s got a giant pole stuck up his ass.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. He was in Afghanistan around the same time that I was. His unit took some really horrible losses.”
“Still, that’s no excuse for him to give you a hard time.”
“Well, be that as it may, he disagreed with me about placing the chest tube in front of everyone. Made a real scene. I imagine someone shared that with the WGN reporter.”
“Someone from your fire house?” he asked, his tone appalled.
She shrugged. Odds were good it was someone from her firehouse. The other bystanders were unlikely to have heard her conversation with Flaherty as they’d been inside the ambulance.
Jason rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Listen, Victoria. Maybe it’s not a great idea for you to be poking around the firehouse. Maybe we should just scratch that idea. It was a long shot anyway.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t want you asking questions of the wrong people and getting yourself in trouble. It’s not worth it.”
“I didn’t plan on being obvious. I’m not going to play detective and ask people to account for their whereabouts before these incidents. But if I hear anything I think is suspicious, I’m going to tell you. I want to help.”
“If you’re worried I’m going to back out on the wedding, I won’t. I’ll still go with you, but you don’t have to—”
“Jason, stop. It’s fine. I’m smart. I’m not going to piss anyone off.” He opened his mouth, but she cut him off. “Flaherty doesn’t count. He’s always pissed off.”
He nodded, but his brows remained drawn over those striking blue eyes.
“And about the wedding,” she said. “I just…I wanted to clarify something from yesterday. I’m not expecting you to put on a show.” This was the other reason she’d come here today. She needed boundaries. She needed Jason to know she wasn’t throwing herself in his path. Not like she’d done with Graham at every opportunity. “I’ll tell people the truth. That you’re a friend I met through work. You don’t need to feel like you’re there to make Graham jealous. I don’t care about that.” She smiled. “Although if you kept my mom off my back, I wouldn’t be upset.”
He nodded, a half smile curving his lips. “Got it. Run interference with meddling mother. Done.”
“Okay, well…I better get going.” She started toward the door. “Those pew bows aren’t going to tie themselves.”
“Yeah, have fun with that.” He moved to open the door for her at the same time she reached for the knob. His hand covered hers for a quick second as she struggled with the handle. Unable to pull it open, she released the doorknob. Slowly, he reached past her to unlock the bolt and his hard chest pressed up against her back. She closed her eyes.
“Sorry. Forgot I locked the bolt. It’s a bit of a habit with me.” She could hear the smile in his voice and feel his warm breath on her neck. “Not trying to lock you in or anything.”
Not sure she would mind if he did, she scooted out the door. “Thanks.”
He stood in the doorway as she headed out to her car. “Thanks for the tie.”
“You bet,” she said over her shoulder.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, she glanced at his townhouse and watched as he disappeared back inside. She sighed, recognizing the signs all too easily. Fluttering pulse? Check. Lightheadedness? Check. Feelings of exhilaration? Check.
Yeah. She was in trouble. And maybe more trouble than she’d ever been in with Graham.
Chapter 10
“Would you fucking hold still?” Preston stood in front of Jason with his arms crossed and a frown of disapproval.
“I’m trying,” Jason said through clenched teeth while Preston’s house-call-making tailor got up close and personal with Jason’s package. Clearing his throat to get Preston’s attention, Jason glanced pointedly at the tailor kneeling in front of him and measuring his inseam.
Preston showed no sympathy. “Well, what do you expect when you wait until the last possible minute? Paulo doesn’t have time for finesse. Now quit being a pussy.”
Paulo looked up, visibly annoyed with Jason. “You too short and too big at the same time,” he said in a thick Italian accent. “This not gonna be easy.” To alter one of Preston’s many expensive suits for Jason, Paulo would need to hem the pants and let out the shoulders quite a bit.
Jason grimaced apologetically at the old man. “Sorry, Paulo.” He couldn’t believe he’d waited until the day of the wedding to work this out. It’s not like he hadn’t been thinking about it. For four weeks he’d found himself bumping into Victoria every couple of days. He’d brought multiple items from the daycare bombing to the firehouse for chemical testing. And each time, by some cosmic twist of fate, she’d been working.
Well, if you could call asking Chief Bines which twenty-four on/forty-eight off schedule she worked and then showing up when he knew she’d be there a cosmic twist of fate.
It wasn’t that he wanted to pursue her romantically. He’d never been that guy. The women he sought out were women who knew exactly what they wanted out of life. Primarily, women who put their careers first like he did. That kept everyone’s expectations low. And when it came to its inevitable conclusion and fizzled, there was no muss, no fuss. Just the way he liked it.
Victoria was not the kind of woman he’d be involved with. Sure, he was attract
ed to her. What warm-blooded man wouldn’t be? But she was too likeable. She was everyone’s friend. And probably not a woman who was interested in a primarily physical fling.
But he liked her. She made him laugh. Like the other day when he’d stopped by the station for some test results and found them in his mailbox, right underneath a small stuffed lobster.
Or the time they responded to the same call—a college kid off his anti-psychotic meds who refused to cooperate by going to the hospital for evaluation. When Jason and Nick had tried to help him into the ambulance, he’d twisted and danced and jumped up and down until he’d worked his baggy pants down around his ankles. Evidently fond of going commando, he shook his dong for all to see and shouted, “You are but a puny blip in my universe.”
He’d almost lost his grip on the guy when he heard Victoria mumble behind him, “That’s what she said.”
So, of course he was looking forward to the wedding. She was becoming a friend. They were going to have a good time. And that’s all there was to it. End of story.
“With all the suits you have for court appearances, how is it that none of them would work for this wedding?” Preston narrowed his eyes at Jason a little too knowingly.
“None of my suits went with this tie.”
“And you had to wear this tie because…”
“Because she gave it to me.”
“I see,” Preston said, grinning.
At Paulo’s nudging, Jason raised his arms so the tailor could measure his wingspan. “It’s not what you think. It matches her bridesmaid’s dress.”
Preston laughed. “Be sure to send me a copy of your prom pictures.”
“Shut up, man.”
“I’ll hang it on the fridge—”
Jason risked the wrath of Paulo and moved just enough to punch Preston’s arm. Still laughing, Preston struck back and knocked Jason into the tailor.
“Boys, enough!”
At twenty-eight, they were far from boys, but Jason supposed it was all relative to Paulo, who looked to be about seventy-five at least.
“Sorry, Paulo,” both boys said at the same time.
Grumbling in Italian, Paulo gathered up the dark gray suit he would be spending the next few hours altering and left Preston’s bedroom.
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