Rescue Me: Park City Firefighter Romance

by Hart, Taylor

  In less than two seconds, Damon yelled out “Turf!” He and the guy went charging for each other and actually chest-bumped in the air.

  People cheered around them.

  She couldn’t believe this was Damon.

  He turned and grinned at her, waving her over.

  “This is Sam,” Damon said, taking her hand. He nodded to the guy. “This is Jim. He was my blocker in high school.”

  She laughed, and Jim put his hand out, which easily dwarfed hers. “Nice to meet you.” He dropped her hand and turned to Damon. “I heard you were kickin’ around here again.”

  Damon smiled. “Yep.”

  Sam noticed his smile was genuine and looked natural, like he was enjoying himself.

  “And I heard you’re going to take on Nick next week in the big fight?”

  Damon scoffed. “Yep, well.” He hit him playfully in the chest. “Tommy thinks he can take me in a pre-fight to see who fights the cops.”

  The guy let out a roaring laugh, pushing his head back dramatically. “Little Tommy.” He sighed. “He’s so full of crap.”

  Damon grinned. Then his face sobered slightly as if he realized he was kind of ignoring her. “Okay, well, good to see ya, Turf.”

  The guy slapped him on the back as they moved back to the dance floor.

  The song shifted into a country song, and Damon took her into a country dance hold, one hand on hers, one on her hips.

  She laughed. “I don’t know how to dance to country music.”

  He stopped dancing and looked down. “Put your feet on mine, and I’ll teach you the two-step.”

  She balked. “Right. I weigh more than a hundred pounds. You forget, you’re dating a tall girl.”

  He scowled and gave her a look. “I don’t care. Are you saying I’m not man enough to carry you on my feet?”

  That’s exactly what she was saying. She felt foolish. “No.” She dropped her hands and started backing away. “I’m not doing that.”

  He spun her back to him, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her close. “Fine, if you don’t want to do that, we’ll just dance this one like junior high kids, swaying back and forth.” He flashed a grin. “We could add some making out too.”

  Every part of her was on fire. She had never dated a man like him, or been with a man who seemed to know how to work her. So she put her hands on his shoulders and grinned back, knowing she was flushed. “Junior high kids, huh?”

  His eyes were on her lips. “Are you going to let me kiss you?”

  She laughed, throwing back her head and then meeting his eyes. “I don’t think you’ve ever asked before.”

  He got all intense. “Well, I’m asking now.” He dropped the swaying and just held her, staring at her. “I wouldn’t want to get slapped or anything.”

  She couldn’t stop herself. It was like stopping a tornado from preventing anything in its path from getting sucked in. “Kiss me.”

  Then their lips were together.

  He pulled back, smiling. “I kind of like you, Samantha Worthington.”

  She laughed. “I kind of noticed.”

  The song changed, and he motioned to the exit. “Should we head out?”

  She nodded. “Please, save me from this night.”

  He stopped, tilting his head and pointing at her. “Ah ah ah, you asked me to save you again.”

  She giggled, feeling like a junior high girl. “Shut up.”

  He grinned and nodded to the group she’d come with. “Do you want to say goodbye to Don while I grab your shoes?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ll say goodbye to the girls.” Determined, she moved toward them and stopped next to Tina. She put on a fake smile. “Okay, ladies, thanks for a fun night. I’ll be going home with Damon.” At this point, she didn’t care if they were going to talk. She wanted to be clear Don was not her type.

  Don gave her a jilted look then turned away without saying goodbye.

  Tina looked guilty. “Okay, thanks for coming.”

  All the other ladies and guys gave her a wave as she walked away.

  Damon walked up to her, taking her hand and pulling her into him as they walked out the door. “Man, I’m glad I ran into you tonight.”

  To be truthful, Sam didn’t remember how they got out of the dance club and up the street to Damon’s Jeep. All she remembered was reaching down to put on her heels when they got out of the restaurant, but Damon shook his head and took her shoes. “Crazy, get on my back.” He bent into a piggyback position.

  “I’m wearing a skirt,” she said incredulously.

  He shook his head and moved back to her, sizing her up, then in one swoop, he picked her up like he was walking across the threshold. “Okay, I’ll carry you this way.”

  She would have been mad if she hadn’t thought it was so funny. All she could do was bust into giggles.

  He rushed up the street, which turned out not to be very far. He peered down at her as he put her down. “Are you drunk?”

  She giggled. “No, I don’t drink.”

  He nodded and opened her door for her. “Good.”

  After she got in, he rushed around and jumped into the car. It roared to life, and they were off.

  The top was off the Jeep, and she felt like she was free. She put her arms up and yelled. “Wahoo!”

  He turned, grinning at her and laughing, shifting to another gear as they got to the highway. Then he let loose on the gas. “Can I take you somewhere?” He yelled out, putting his hand up into the air to match hers.

  She took his hand and laced their fingers. “Anywhere, Damon Freestone!”

  His eyes caught hers, and she knew she was falling in love.

  13

  A short drive later, they pulled up to the Park City Mountain Resort. The place had shops and was all lit up, and the ski lift was still running.

  He ran around the Jeep and opened the door for her, feeling like he was in high school again. He took her hand and pulled her out, pulling her into him and breathing in the lemon scent of her neck.

  She giggled. “You always smell me.”

  She leaned into his neck. He felt her lips on his skin, and his adrenaline spiked. “Whoa,” he said, pulling back, barely able to control himself. “You’ve never kissed me on my neck before.”

  She giggled and tried to pull him back. “Now I want to again.”

  He grabbed her hand and began pulling her with him as they ran up the steps, past the shops, to a ticket booth. He hadn’t done this in a long time. “You’ll have to wait.”

  “What are we doing?”

  He grinned and bought two tickets for the zip line.

  She giggled, and he pulled her with him as they went to the ski lift labeled for the zip line. There was no one else waiting, so they just hopped right on.

  She scooted close to him, and he tucked her into his shoulder. She played with his hand. “I never imagined I’d meet someone when I moved here.”

  He pulled back from her a bit and then leaned down and gently brushed his lips to hers. “Me neither.”

  They sat back and waited while the lift took them up.

  He didn’t know how to explain to her how he felt, how fast it had been for him, and how everything inside of him told him this was right, but there was so much in his life she didn’t know about.

  He pushed those thoughts out of his head, deluding himself with the fact that she’d told him she was leaving Park City. This wasn’t what he was thinking it was. He told himself to focus on this moment and not worry about anything else.

  They got to the top, hopped off the chair, and went to the zip line. Once again, there was nobody in line, and the guy quickly and efficiently put harnesses on them.

  His heart was racing with anticipation and excitement.

  She smiled. “I love this kind of stuff.”

  He knew this was the woman for him. He’d dated girls that were prima donna types, who shied away from doing stuff like this, and he’d dated adrenaline junkies lik
e himself. But Sam was different. She was smart, witty, beautiful, and loved to have fun. And dang, he was attracted to her.

  Once again, his doubt surfaced. What would she do when she found out the reason he had come back to Park City? That he was responsible for Jamie’s death?

  The guy was hooking her up, but she frowned. “What’s wrong?”

  Quickly, he changed the look on his face. “Nothing.” He punched the air dramatically. “Woo-hoooo! Here we go!”

  The guy hooked them together, and a few seconds later, they were soaring down the mountain. The pine air and the lights from the resort whooshed by them. She yelled, and then he yelled, and both of them stared at each other with pure joy on their faces.

  Damon loved this feeling of flying, soaring, freedom. Leaving behind everything that didn’t matter. And taking with him everything that did.

  At the bottom of the line, he asked her if she wanted to do it again, but she shook her head and took his hand. “Take me home, Damon.”

  He didn’t know if the look in her eye was the look he thought it was, but he remembered her talk about waiting, and he told himself he would be a perfect gentleman. He liked her too much to mess things up with expectations.

  After they got into his Jeep, they flew through town and back to the cabins. So many thoughts and emotions circled his mind.

  How much he liked her. How he could see his life with her.

  She held his hand and let out a little laugh. “I have to say I was a bit relieved when you showed up.”

  He grinned wider. “Right, I would be too if Don were after me.”

  She grinned. Then a guilty look washed over her face. “Don hit on me the other day at lunch, and then Tina set this date up, and I guess Don requested it. The guy seriously creeps me out.”

  Damon nodded. “I know.”

  She looked skeptical. “You know?”

  “I saw you the other day at Pineapple’s, and I saw him try to kind of grab you.”

  She laughed, but shook her head. “I don’t know if I should think you’re the stalker now.”

  He grinned and squeezed her hand. “I’m only stalking you.”

  She laughed, and again, he had the distinct feeling she could be the one.

  As they pulled up to the cabin, he said, “I need to tell you something.”

  She leaned in and kissed his cheek then his neck. “Okay.”

  Fire burned in him. They kissed on the lips, and he pushed his hands into her hair.

  She pulled back. “What do you need to tell me?”

  He laughed, feeling the seriousness of this. “I need to tell you about my past, what brought me back to Park City.”

  “Okay.”

  “Let’s get out.” He ran around the Jeep and opened the door for her.

  Walking up the porch steps, she said, “Come in while we talk. It’s too cold out here.”

  He couldn’t believe how nervous he felt. He realized he wasn’t nervous to tell her though. Instead, he was nervous she wouldn’t like him. It sort of terrified him because he hadn’t liked any woman like this for a long time.

  She flipped on the lights and gestured to the living room couches. “Sit.”

  But before he sat, he saw it.

  The canvas with his face halfway drawn on it.

  “Oh my gosh.” She ran over to the canvas, took a sheet and pulled it over it.

  He couldn’t stop the grin. “You painted me?” What could he say? It was flattering.

  “Shut up.” She grinned and rushed back to the couch.

  He waited for her to sit first and then sat across from her.

  “You’re acting weird now.” She narrowed her eyes.

  Tucking his head down, he rubbed the back of his neck and wondered how to tell her. He took a deep breath and decided to just get it out as fast as he could.

  So he went through it all. Being made captain and the first call they went on, sending Jamie in, trying to save her, and ending up being too late.

  He told her that he should have known better.

  Before he knew it, she was next to him, holding his hand, pulling him into her. “Shh.”

  The words tumbled out, about not being able to get it together. About the psychologists. About Nick coming out to get him and helping him get a job here. “The worst part is I met this girl, and she tells me she doesn’t want me to rescue her, and I kinda feel like she might be rescuing me.”

  Her eyes were locked with his.

  “And I really like her.”

  Then her lips were pressed against his, and he’d never had such a tender kiss. A kiss that made him feel like he was forgiven.

  She pulled back, her hand resting softly on his face. “Damon, I know you ‘save’ people. That’s what you do. That’s who you are. But people make choices.”

  “No, I made that choice for her. I sent her in.”

  “No.” She insisted softly. “She chose the same life you chose. She chose the same risks.”

  Damon couldn’t decide if he believed Sam yet. He looked away.

  She put both hands on his face and made him look into her eyes. “Your gut, your saint, is still there. You know it. You can’t doubt yourself.”

  “I …”

  She studied his eyes. “Even if you can’t believe that it was her choice, you have to forgive yourself. You have to.” Tears bubbled into her eyes.

  He felt matching moisture clouding his own vision.

  She pulled his head toward her, resting her forehead against his. “Damon, you can’t rescue everyone.”

  14

  Monday, Sam kept checking the time on her laptop. It was almost seven-thirty. It’d been a crazy day, and she’d been dragged into meeting after meeting, but Damon had texted and asked if she could come over at eight-thirty for a late dinner.

  After that, the day seemed to drag on.

  Yesterday, they had gone on a late afternoon picnic, and then he’d done something he told her he hadn’t done in a forever.

  He’d gone to church with his brother Nick.

  It was strange to her how she’d become so close to Damon so fast.

  After he’d admitted what happened to him, it’d made her like him even more. There was a complexity to him, a darkness, a pain, and a determination.

  She’d even promised she would go see him fight Tommy and Nick in a couple of weeks.

  Then her phone rang. She saw it was Janet, and her stomach knotted. “Hello?”

  “Sam, it’s Zoey …”

  She tried to use her magical power to tap into where Zoey was. Frantically, she searched, and there was nothing. “What? Where is she?” She jerked to a standing position.

  “She’s in the hospital. I’m going there now.”

  Guilt assaulted Sam. She’d been so busy with Damon, she hadn’t even thought about Zoey in the past two days.

  All thoughts of that night when her parents had died and Zoey had been separated from them flashed through her mind. She rushed to get her purse, dumping a bunch of files off of her desk.

  “Ah!” She sank to the floor, her mind on overdrive.

  “Sam, I’ll be there. It’s okay.” Janet insisted.

  Sam left the files and got up, taking her keys from her purse and rushing out of the office, running into Luke on the way out.

  “Are you okay?” Luke asked, eyeing her up and down.

  Sam didn’t even answer, just rushed out and ran to her car.

  She spoke into her phone. “I’m getting on a plane. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  15

  Damon was at the property in Midway. He’d spent the whole day with Nick. They’d worked with Luke’s crew and continued working after the crew left at five.

  Damon pounded a nail into a stud and looked over their work. They were getting a lot done, and Damon suspected the crew had worked a lot harder today than most days from the way they were grumbling about not being able to take all the breaks they wanted.

  Nick walked over to him and
put a hand on his shoulder. “You ready to knock off?”

  Damon checked his phone. It was almost eight. “Yeah, I told Sam I’d meet her at my house for a late dinner. I’d better pick up something and get a shower before she gets there.”

  Nick made a smelly gesture. “Yeah, man, you stink.”

  Damon shrugged.

  Luke walked in. “I think you both stink if you ask me.”

  To Damon’s complete surprise, Luke was actually dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and work boots.

  “Good timing, brother.” Damon scoffed. “Show up when the work’s done. Things never change.”

  Luke cocked an eyebrow and lifted a hammer. “Hey, any time I have the chance to get a hammer close to your head, I’m gonna take it.”

  Damon and Nick laughed, and Luke joined in.

  Dang, it felt good to laugh with them. Too good. What was it, a week ago that he thought he’d never feel like this again?

  Luke gestured to the walls. “You guys have been busy.”

  Damon and Nick went into a detailed explanation about the work that had been done that day and about the plan for tomorrow. He and Nick had two days off together this week, so they’d agree to make them construction days.

  Five minutes later, Damon took off his tool belt. “I have to go.”

  Nick grinned. “He’s got a date with Sam.” He said it like a junior high kid.

  Luke frowned. “Is she okay?”

  Damon paused. “What do you mean?”

  Luke shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw her when I was leaving the office, and she seemed distressed. I asked her what was wrong, and she just ran out.”

  Worry hit him in the center of his chest. He pulled out his phone and tried to call her, but it went straight to voicemail. His anxiety kicked up a notch. He texted her, but got nothing.

  Frustrated, he took off. “Gotta go.” He ran out of the building and down the steps to his Jeep.

  He got in and sped off, getting onto the freeway headed back to Park City. He tried to call her again. But no answer.

  Instantly, his mind went to Zoey. He wondered if something was wrong with her. That was the only thing he could think of that would make her not get off the phone to talk to answer Luke.