Flames of Love E-Book

Erin Wright

• Herausgeber: Erin Wright
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Enjoy this steamy fireman series by USA Today Bestselling small-town romance author Erin Wright…
A Wounded Hero
As a firefighter, Jaxson Anderson is well acquainted with danger. He’s charged into burning buildings to rescue men and women, young and old. He’s scaled ladders that towered over blistering infernos, and defied blazes that terrified lesser men.
Fire? He understands. Women? Not so much. Now there’s some real danger. He should know. He’s been burned before.
He’s not interested in romance, or the perils that come with it. His priority is caring for his two small boys, and making his mark as the new fire chief of Sawyer, but everything changes the day he catches sight of Sugar, the pretty girl who works at the local bakery. Sugar is exactly what he wants: A fun, no-strings distraction. A friends-with-benefits arrangement that won’t break what’s left of his heart.
A Battered Heart
On the heels of an abusive marriage, Sugar Stonemyer is done with men. But when Jaxson Anderson strolls into the bakery with a very wicked offer, she can’t resist. One look at the fireman, and Sugar knows the Sawyer rumor mills haven’t exaggerated. Jaxson’s tall, dark, and smokin’ hot. He wants an arrangement, nothing more, and that’s perfect.
Or so she thought.
With each slow seduction, Sugar falls a little more. She has only herself to blame. She didn’t want either of them to have feelings, but that’s not how the game is played…
Flames of Love is the first novel in the Firefighters of Long Valley Romance series, although all books in the Long Valley world can be read as standalones. A HOT romantic story with a guaranteed happily ever after, it does have some strong language and oh my, sexy times. Enjoy!

Leseprobe

Flames of Love

A Friends-with-Benefits Fireman Romance

Firefighters of Long Valley Romance

Book One

Erin Wright

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Epilogue

Inferno of Love - Ch 5

Inferno of Love - Ch 6

The Other Half of My Life

A FREE Story For You…

Stampede of Love Blurb

Stampede of Love Preview

The story doesn’t end…

Also by Erin Wright

About Erin Wright

Copyright © 2018 by ErinWright

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CoverDesigned by SunsetRoseBooks

Thanks, Charles the Firefighter, for putting up with my endless newbie questions. You rock.

Oh, and thank you for serving your fellow Idahoans. This world is better because of people like you.

Chapter 1

Jaxson

QuickNote: If you enjoy Flames of Love, be sure to check out my offer of a FREELongValley novella at the end.

With that, enjoy!

* * *

January, 2018

JaxsonAnderson pushed the plate-glass door open, the overhead bell tinkling, announcing his entrance. The warmth, the yeast and sugar smell…it rushed over him, surrounding him, and he almost stopped dead in his tracks, wanting to do nothing but breathe it all in. He hadn’t been in an honest-to-God bakery in ages, and had forgotten how damn delicious they smelled.

Before he could make a real ass out of himself by literally drooling just from the smell alone, though, a head popped up from behind the front counter. A cute brunette, her hair in a braid flopped over her shoulder, shot him a smile. “Welcome to the MuffinMan,” she called out, pushing some stray tendrils out of her face with the back of her hand. “You been in here before?”

He’d hardly been in the town of Sawyer more than a couple of hours. “Nope, first time here,” he said as he walked closer to the front display case, and the adorable brunette behind it. She looked a little younger than him, with wide, innocent eyes that made her appear even younger as she peered up at him.

She was this tiny little thing that he was sure he could tuck under his arm and run with down the football field. Between her tiny stature and her wide eyes, she gave off the impression that she was twelve.

Except…he gulped. Those curves. No 12-year-old girl had those curves.

“Well then, an extra welcome!” she said, sending him another dizzying smile. “I’m glad you stopped by. Are you a…tourist?” She looked a little puzzled at that idea, giving him a quick up-and-down glance.

No, he probably didn’t look a damn thing like a tourist. Most fire chiefs didn’t.

“Just new in town,” he told her. “What is good he–Sugar?!” he said. He was staring straight at her delectable chest.

Which was probably not his best move. He knew he was being rude, but hey, she was the one who’d pinned her name tag on it. “Your name is Sugar?!”

She rolled her eyes at him, which now that he was close enough, he could see they were a deep brown color. Like the color of the chocolate cake sitting in the display case between them. “Don’t bother making a joke,” she told him pertly. “I’ve heard every one of them that is funny, and a whole lot that aren’t. I promise you, you won’t be original.”

He leaned on the clear glass goodies counter, content for a moment to ignore the copious amounts of sugar underneath his arms, and instead focus on the Sugar in front of him. “So…basically, your parents hated you.”

“Pretty much!” she said cheerfully, shooting him a laughing grin. Right then, a guy came through the swinging doors from the back, and Jaxson nodded towards him.

“Is his name Flour?” he asked dryly.

“No, but I like how you think!” Sugar looked over at her co-worker and laughed. “Gage, he thinks you ought to change your name to Flour!”

Gage looked up from off-loading a batch of muffins into a side display case. “Hey, my parents didn’t hate me,” he drawled in a deep voice, proving that he’d overheard their discussion. “Don’t drag me into this.”

“I think I’m gonna start calling you Muffin,” Sugar mused, shooting her co-worker a grin. “Or maybe BabyCakes.”

Gage rolled his eyes. “That’s just what this town needs to hear,” he grumbled and disappeared into the back, carrying his empty tray with him.

“Woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Sugar said in way of explanation, complete with a shrug, as she turned back to Jaxson. “So, what can I get for you? Coffee? Donuts? A…muffin, perhaps?” Her voice was a little too innocent.

Jaxson’s eyes shot up to hers. Was she teasing?

Her eyes were glinting with mischief. She was.

“I was thinking that I might be in the mood for some baby cakes,” he said, his tone as innocent as hers. She burst out laughing.

“I think I like you,” she said, shooting him a wide grin after she caught her breath.

“You’d like me even more if I had some coffee and a donut in me,” he informed her. “I’m a lot more fun to be around when I’m awake.”

“Evenmore fun?” she echoed, wrinkling her nose as she turned to grab a to-go cup. “Damn. I’m not sure if I can handle that much fun. MaybeI shouldn’t get your coffee after all.”

“Never come between a man and his coffee,” he intoned, only three-quarters joking.

More like half, really.

“Fair enough,” she said, filling the cup from the dispenser. Tendrils of steam encircled her hand and then melted away. “So what brings you to Sawyer, if you’re not a tourist?”

She turned back around, deftly grabbing a lid and pushing it into place even as she was sliding the cup across the counter to him.

Yeah, she had some experience serving up coffee. He wondered for a moment how long she’d worked at the MuffinMan.

“I’m the new fire chief in town,” he said, pulling the already warm cup towards him to sip at the life-giving liquid inside. He was staring down at the display case as he said it, contemplating which donut was the most deserving of being eaten, but even out of the corner of his eye, he could tell she’d stiffened up. His eyes shot up and caught her look. She was staring at him, mouth open. “What’s wrong?” he asked, confused. He looked behind him, thinking maybe someone had snuck up behind him who she didn’t care for, but no one was there.

He looked back at Sugar and she was smiling again, although it didn’t appear nearly as natural as it had before.

“Nothing,” she said. She cleared her throat. “What kind of donut did you want?”

“Maple bar, please.”

She nodded, slipping the long, golden donut into a brown paper bag.

“Hold on,” he said, another sip of coffee helping his brain begin to actually do something useful, “why don’t you make that a dozen donuts? I’m meeting with the guys down at the station for the first time this morning – holding a little get-together, you know? I should probably bring donuts with me. Help break the ice.”

She mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, “You’re gonna need more than donuts,” but when he shot her a questioning look, she just smiled back innocently.

“Do you care which kind?” she asked.

“Variety,” he said, shrugging.

She got to work, sliding some bear claws, a cake donut, some more maple bars, and a couple of sugar donuts into a cardboard box stamped “MuffinMan” on top. She rang him up quickly and after he slid his card into the machine, entering his PIN, she pushed the box across the counter to him.

“Good luck today,” she said, sending him an overly brilliant smile. She followed it up by mumbling something else under her breath, and this time, he only caught the word “need.”

“What?” he asked, irritated.

“Nothing! Enjoy your donuts, sir.”

“Jaxson.”

“What?”

“I figured I knew your name; you should know mine. Jaxson. Plus, I’m too damn young to be called sir.”

“Enjoy your donuts…Jaxson.”

He slid the box onto his arm and, balancing his coffee cup in his other hand, made his way back towards the door. If every damn person in Sawyer was gonna take up mumbling underneath their breath while they were talking to him, he was gonna be stark-raving mad within the week.

Chapter 2

Sugar

“DidI hear him right?”Gage asked as soon as the front door closed behind the newest resident of LongValley. Sugar stared after him, the sight of his ass in his tight Wranglers not something she was gonna be able to forget for a long time.

Maybe never.

“Hear what?” she asked absentmindedly. She hadn’t seen a man that hot since⁠—

“Is he the new fire chief in town?” Gage asked, a note of impatience creeping in.

She jerked her head back towards her boss. “Oh. Sorry. Yeah, he’s the new guy.” She wrinkled her nose.

Gage walked up and stood next to her at the front counter, staring out into the early morning, sparkling frost covering every barren tree branch and frozen metal bench in sight. “Do you think he has any idea what he’s in for?” Gage asked rhetorically, wiping his hands on his apron.

Sugar answered him anyway. “No clue,” she said with a shrug, and then nibbled on her lower lip. “Well, he probably wouldn’t have taken the job if he’d known, so I’m gonna say no, he has no idea.”

“People don’t tend to take on new jobs where they’re the most hated guy in town, before they even start,” Gage said dryly.

“Not usually.”

“Think you should’ve warned him?”

“Nope. He’ll figure it out on his own soon enough. Plus, this way, he might come back here and let me dry his tears with a jam-filled donut or two.” Sugar winked at Gage and he just rolled his eyes and laughed and sighed. All at the same time.

It was a talent, truly.

“If he wanted to ask you out, you’d just turn him down anyway,” he said matter-of-factly. “Poor guy doesn’t have a chance in hell.”

Sugar opened up her mouth to protest, and then closed it again with a snap. Shehated it when her boss was right. Or anyone was right, when she wasn’t also. “Being wrong” was on Sugar’sTopTenList of ShitSheHated, right along with throwing up, discussing politics, or eating oysters.

She shuddered.

“You know why I can’t date,” she said tartly. “Hot, sexy firefighter he may be, but that still doesn’t mean I’m gonna do it.”

“So you have a thing for sexy firefighters now, huh?” Gage drawled, raising one eyebrow as he looked at her.

She sighed. She knew where Gage was going with this, and it broke her heart. Her best friend, Emma, had told her a long time ago that Gage was in love with her. Emma was probably right, considering she was Gage’s younger sister. The chances were pretty damn high that she knew what the hell she was talking about.

But still…Gage?

Objectively, Sugar could tell her boss was cute. Maybe even handsome. You know, when she closed one eye and squinted real hard, she could totally tell that her boss was attractive.

For the 517th time, she wondered why she couldn’t just fall for him. A lot of her problems would be solved if she could dredge up something more than friendship for the guy standing next to her.

Speaking of closing one eye and squinting real hard at her boss…She reached up to wipe the streak of flour off his nose that she’d just noticed, but he dodged out of reach. “Hey!” he protested.

“You had flour on your nose,” she informed him. “You look like a chimney sweep, except in your case, the soot is all white.”

Huh.That was probably it. She’d seen him with flour on his nose one too many times to think he was sexy. Otherwise, she’d probably be all over him.

Yeah, that was totally it. She felt better already. She hated not understanding her own mind at times. Mysteries were fun to read, not to live.

“Personal boundaries. They’re a thing!” Gage called out as he headed into the kitchen again, through the swinging doors. Sugar rolled her eyes and looked back out through the front door again, and the large picture windows showing the streets of Sawyer beginning to wake up to another day.

“Good luck, FiremanJaxson,” Sugar said softly to the empty bakery. “You’re gonna need all the help you can get.”

Chapter 3

Jaxson

Jaxson pulled up to the fire station, his stomach a jumble of nerves. The city council had told him that he ought to start off with a sort of staff meeting to meet everyone, even though the term “staff” was taking it a bit far. He was the only firefighter who was on payroll, the rest of them only getting paid when they were called out to a fire.

For a town the size of Sawyer, it was pert near impossible to fund even a full-time fire chief, and anything beyond that was completely out of the question. To be honest, Jaxson had been surprised that the position they’d advertised for was full-time. Maybe they had deeper pockets in the City of Sawyer than he’d realized. A lot of fancy vacation homes with high property taxes to foot the bill? Perhaps.

However they were doing it, it wasn’t really any of his business. He was hired on to do the job, and that’s what he would do. Before this, he’d worked for the BoiseFireDepartment, which had almost two dozen stations around the city and just under 300 firefighters on payroll, so working in a town this size was gonna be…real different.

He looked around at the other vehicles in the parking lot – all of which were trucks – spotting a few hunting rifles in back windows and mud flaps the size of Texas.

Real different.

He swung out of his SUV – a late-model FordExplorer – and grabbed the box of donuts. He’d only intended to get a cup of joe when he’d gone into the bakery, since he had yet to locate his coffee maker in the boxes stacked in his tiny living room, but hell, donuts had become a better idea the more he thought about it. Who wouldn’t appreciate a few sugary carbs to start off their morning?

He walked into the fire station, donuts in one hand, coffee in the other, smile firmly plastered on his face. No reason for nerves. He was the new fire chief of the SawyerFireDepartment, dammit. Every guy in the building was his subordinate. He was going to be just fine.

The quiet chatter among the men died out as soon as he came walking in, every eye on him. “Hi!” he said, a little too loudly, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. He gulped. He sounded way too eager. “I’mJaxsonAnderson,” he said a little quieter, spotting a table and working his way over to it to set down the donuts. He needed to shake hands, and he couldn’t do it while juggling donuts and coffee like a damn circus clown.

Hands free, he turned back to his crew.

Who were all still just staring at him.

Graveyards were louder than this group.

He felt an overwhelming desire to flip a U and head back towards the door, to his SUV, and out of this town. His spidey senses were causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight up. There was something real wrong going on here but damned if he knew what it was.

And if he didn’t know what it was, he was pretty damn sure he didn’t want to have to fix it.

One of the guys, a tall, dark-haired man who looked about Jaxson’s age, cleared his throat and stepped forward. “HiJaxson, I’mDear, but everyone just calls me Moose.”

Jaxson stared at him for a moment, his hand automatically going out to shake Dear’s even as he tried to process what the man had said. “‘Dear’? As in ‘Dear, would you fetch me some coffee?’”

Dear shook his head, laughing a little. “No, Deere as in JohnDeere. My dad owns the JohnDeere dealership in town. Said our family owes everything to the brand, so he ought to name me after it.”

“And then the nickname Moose…” Jaxson felt a smile creep over his face as he put it together, and he laughed. “I just met a girl named Sugar and a guy named Moose. Let me guess, your name is Couch,” he said, jerking his head towards one of the men in the group gathering around him.

The man’s mouth dropped open. “How did you know?” he whispered, his eyes wide. Jaxson’s heart stuttered to a stop – no damn way! – when “Couch” burst out laughing, the men around him laughing too and slapping him on the back. “Just kidding, sir,” he said around gasps. “I’mLevi. No animal or food name for me, not even as a nickname.”

“No one calls you ‘Jeans’ for shits and giggles?” Jaxson asked, a smile tugging at his lips.

Levi grinned. “Apparently, all of my friends just aren’t creative enough.”

“Well, aren’t y’all just boring,” Jaxson drawled, grinning and sticking his hand out to shake Levi’s.

“As white bread,” Levi confirmed with a firm shake.

Jaxson felt a little weight lift off his shoulders. He didn’t know what he’d been worried about. Whatever was causing him to panic before was obviously wrong. He would get along just⁠—

“I’mJames,” a man said as he pushed his way out of the small crowd to stand in front of it. The chuckles and cheeriness disappeared from the room and everyone just froze, eyes bouncing between James and Jaxson.

“HiJames, nice to meet you,” Jaxson said with a forced smile, putting his hand out to shake. This was it. Whatever was going on here with James, it wasn’t pretty. Jaxson could feel it from the tension in the air – James was out for blood.

The older man grasped Jaxson’s hand in a vice grip and he began squeezing. Hard.

A dick-measuring contest, eh?Instead of squeezing back and dropping James to his knees like he really, really wanted to, Jaxson just jerked his arm back, forcing James to let go or be pulled up tight against Jaxson’s chest. He was pretty sure James would choose letting go, but he still let out a small sigh of relief when James actually did, ever so reluctantly.

“How long have you worked here, James?” Jaxson asked. A non-confrontational topic was best; a good way to head off…whatever this was.

“I don’t. I’m a volunteer. You’re the only one who works here.” The sneer in his voice was almost palpable as he spat the words out.

Jaxson’s spine stiffened. ThisJames guy needed to take it down a notch, and pronto. Jaxson wasn’t used to having people sneer at him, and he wasn’t about to start letting it happen now.

Outwardly, he concentrated on projecting an aura of calm. He couldn’t let James know he was getting under his skin. James would only needle harder if he got a rise out of him. All bullies operated the same way – they liked the reactions.

Jaxson wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of one.

“You’re right,” he said evenly, keeping his gaze firmly locked on James’. He had a scruffy, longer gray-white beard and a significant potbelly. In the right costume, James would make a perfect Santa. Well, in the right costume and with a personality change. “So how long have you been a volunteer here?”

“Twenty-two years. I was ChiefHorvath’s right-hand man for pert near all of it.”

Oh.

It all snapped into place. ChiefHorvath had retired, which was why the city had an open position for Jaxson to apply for, but instead of hiring the previous chief’s right-hand man, the city had chosen an outsider.

OhLordy. I’m in for it now.

“Then you’ll have plenty of knowledge you can share with me to help me learn the ropes,” Jaxson said calmly, trying not to let his worry show. He’d inadvertently walked into a personnel fight between the City of Sawyer and James the Right-HandMan.

It wasn’t Jaxson’s fault, but it was about to become his problem.

James let out a bitter laugh. “If you think I’m gonna help you learn the job that was rightfully mine and stolen from me after years of hard work and dedication, you’re an even bigger dumbass than I thought you were. Robert, let’s go. We have deliveries to make. Some people have to work for a living.” He spun on his thick work boot heel and headed for the door, a skinny older man following right behind him. The door slammed shut behind them, the sound ricocheting off the rafters.

Well, at least he didn’t mumble his thoughts to me…

Chapter 4

Jaxson

Jaxson sat at his desk, staring at the mountains of paperwork in front of him. Somehow, when he’d been a kid and had daydreamed about fighting fires and wrestling with fire hoses, he’d skipped right past all of the paperwork that he’d have to fill out as a firefighter.

Correction: As a fire chief.As a regular ol’ firefighter in Boise, he’d been pretty paperwork-free. He wasn’t entirely onboard with this new way of life quite yet, honestly. Too bad he really had no choice in the matter.

He looked at the ticking, utilitarian clock on the wall. 7:17 a.m. He’d had the dumbass idea of showing up to work early so he could wrestle the stacks of paperwork that littered every available spot in the cramped office to the ground and win a round, dammit. He’d forced himself to start in on the dusty stacks of papers yesterday afternoon, until Moose had stopped by and casually mentioned that ChiefHorvath had quit filing paperwork months before his retirement party, because he’d thought that the new chief would “need the practice.”

Pissed, Jaxson had lost all desire to continue the paper-sorting project after that announcement.

Now, Jaxson groaned in frustration as he looked around the dirty, small office. ChiefHorvath was like every other red-blooded male out there – he hated paperwork, and so he’d chosen to use his upcoming retirement as an excuse to ditch his duties off onto someone else. Full stop. Jaxson was just the lucky soul who happened to be that “someone.”

Jaxson pulled a file folder off the top of a precarious stack that had “Grant” scrawled across the tab in what Jaxson was starting to recognize as Horvath’s distinctive handwriting. He flipped it open and began scanning through it. Apparently, the firetruck in the bay was a fairly new addition for the fire department. He scanned down the specs, his mouth twisting in disappointment as he read. The size of the tank seemed awfully small, as did the length of the hose. It didn’t even have a ladder on it. The department had bought brand-spanking-new – which was unusual for a small fire department to do, to say the least – and it looked like a whole lot of the money was spent on flash rather than substance.

He’d been told that the department owned another fire truck, but that it was down at the JohnDeere dealership, getting some repairs done to help limp it along. He was curious what kind of shape it was in. From what he could gather, it was quite old, but if the water tank was large, it might actually be more helpful in the case of a fire than the shiny new toy currently parked in the bay.

Hopefully, Moose would be able to bring it back to the bay soon so he could do a full inspec⁠—

His black, handheld radio sitting on the counter squawked, startling Jaxson half out of his chair. “Fire down at the old Horvath mill,” said an older man, urgency clear in his voice. “Calling all EMTs and fire personnel to respond. Repeat, fire down at the old Horvath mill.”

Jaxson froze, half-in, half-out of his chair, staring at the radio. HorvathMill? As in ChiefHorvath?He shook his head, trying to clear it. Today was his third day on the job, and he’d only had the one get-together with the other firefighters that first morning. He barely even knew where the damn keys were at for the damn firetruck. This was not going to go well.

He’d been called out on countless runs as a firefighter in Boise. He knew just what to do there. There was structure and rules and a process in place. Here, he was the only full-time employee. Was he supposed to wait for the other firefighters to show up before he answered the call? Was he supposed to drive over right away and they’d meet him over there?

His mind raced through the possibilities. All of the other firefighters had full-time jobs. For all he knew, it could be an hour before they were able to get away and come to the station. If he sat there and waited and twiddled his thumbs…

He jumped to his feet, the chair shooting out behind him and crashing into a decrepit filing cabinet, sending a cloud of dust into the air. Apparently, ChiefHorvath didn’t just ignore filing. Jaxson choked and coughed as he grabbed the phone off his desk and quickly dialed the city dispatch phone number that someone had conveniently taped to the wall above the phone. He heard a weird beeping noise, and then…nothing.

Oh. Dammit.He was probably supposed to dial 9 first. He slammed the phone into the receiver and picked it up again, this time dialing 9 and then the number.

“SawyerCityDispatch,” an older male barked. It sounded like the same guy on the radio. Good. Jaxson could ask questions without broadcasting them to the whole city.

“This is ChiefAnderson. Where is the HorvathMill?”

“MainStreet,” the man snorted, his disdain clear. He obviously thought he was dealing with an idiot. “Down by the high school. Big brick building. You can’t miss it. Especially with flames shooting out of it.”

Click.

The dispatcher had hung up.

Jaxson bit down hard on his cheek until he tasted blood. He wanted to call dispatch back and inform the man that just because he hadn’t lived in the same tiny, one-horse town all his life didn’t mean that he deserved to be treated like an idiot, and street addresses were a thing, and…

But he stopped himself.

He couldn’t do it.

Well, he could. But he wouldn’t. Antagonizing the grumpy dispatcher further would only exacerbate the problem.

He looked through his interior office window out into the bay, the small red gleaming truck sitting there, waiting for him to drive it to the rescue.

He felt that familiar adrenaline rush through him at the thought. This was why he’d become a firefighter. Not to fill out grant applications or file paperwork, for God’s sake, but to put out fires. To help people. Maybe it meant he had a hero complex. He didn’t know, and didn’t care.

All he knew was that it made him feel damn good. It was time to get to work.

As he was shrugging on his turnout gear, the bulk and weight of it as comforting as it was oppressive, the side door to the bay opened and in walked a younger kid – maybe 18 or 19? – who hadn’t said much at the meet-and-greet the other morning. Dixon? David? No, it was Dylan. Jaxson raised his hand in greeting, and the kid waved back, a grin breaking out over his face.

“I was on my way out to Luke’s place when my radio went off,” the kid said as he hurried over to where the turnout gear was stored. “I’ve never been called out to a real fire before! Oh, and my boss says he’ll be here shortly.”

“Who’s your boss again?” Jaxson asked as he slid his feet into his boots.

“LukeNash. He’s a volunteer, too. He couldn’t come the other morning. I don’t know if you’ve met him yet or not. His foreman is Ol’ Willie. Ol’ Willie is my uncle. Luke hired me ‘cause Ol’ Willie is getting old and needed help on the farm. Ol’ Willie used to be a volunteer here too, but isn’t anymore. His back is getting bad. His hip is gonna need surgery soon, too.”

Jaxson’s head spun. The kid talked a million miles a minute. Keeping up with his story and who was related to what was probably going to require a flow chart.

And no adrenaline rushing through his veins.

Jaxson settled for nodding his head abruptly. “Do you guys normally meet up here and then head over to the fire? Or do you drive separately to a fire and just meet up over there?”

Dylan shrugged. “This is my first fire,” he reminded Jaxson. Right.He’d just said that. IfJaxson’s heart wasn’t racing so much, he would’ve caught that.

“Well, you’re here and I’m here. I say we get over there and put this fire out. Do you know where the mill is?”

“Of course,” Dylan said, shooting him a confused glance. “Down on MainStreet. You can’t miss it.”

Jaxson nodded again, ignoring that last comment. If people in this tiny-ass town were going to continue to insist on treating him like an idiot because he didn’t know every nook and cranny of a town he’d just barely moved to, he was gonna have to spend his off-hours driving around town, trying to memorize every block of it.

The sooner the better.

He was an outsider, and it seemed like every soul in town was not about to let him forget that.

“Ready?” he asked Dylan, who nodded, helmet and mask tucked under his arm. “Then let’s go.”

Jaxson grimaced as he glanced up at the utilitarian clock ticking away on the wall as he headed for the gleaming row of keys. He’d have to focus damn hard on decreasing response times. Even if there were no full-time firefighters on staff other than him, and certainly no firefighters living at the firehouse 24 hours at a time, they still needed to be able to get out the door at a reasonable speed. This messing around shit wasn’t gonna work.

He snagged the keyring with the creative label of “New truck” and heaved himself up into the cab of the fire engine to start it. The diesel engine came to life, settling down into a dull roar after a few seconds. He hit the garage door opener, and the overhead bay door slowly began to rise, revealing a white, frozen wonderland outside. Dylan jumped up into the passenger seat, yanking the door shut behind him.

With a nod to Dylan, Jaxson shifted into first gear and pulled forward. At least the crew here was in the habit of backing into the bay when parking the truck, so he wasn’t forced to back out of the bay when rushing to get to a fire.

Some good habits were in place. That was a start.

He hit the siren switch, the lights and siren flaring to life. This.This was what he lived for.

Chapter 5

Sugar

Sugar listened to the excited chatter of the customers, all comparing notes on the Event of the Year. Someone had set the old Horvath mill on fire, and that “somebody” appeared to be the mayor’s son. Sugar rolled her eyes as she listened to the gossip swirling around the little bakery.

“Angus was probably out smokin’ with his buddies,” Mr. Stultz said firmly, with a nod of his head, as if agreeing with himself.

Sugar wiped down the counter and then the coffee dispenser as she listened. All of the customers seemed to be highly caffeinated and sugared up, and weren’t in need of her services, at least for the moment. They were all too busy trying to one-up each other with “insider knowledge.”

“What’s the mayor gonna say about that?” Mrs. Hoffmeister asked, taking a swig of her coffee. “Do you think he’s actually gonna rein in his son for once?”

“Not damn likely,” Mr. Stultz grumbled. “I think it’s more likely that a unicorn appears in town square tomorrow, or the Shop ’NGo starts charging decent prices for their groceries, than it is that the mayor actually puts a check on his son.”

Murmurs of agreement drifted up at that one. Sugar had to say he was right. It was well-known that the mayor let his son get away with murder, turning a blind eye to it all. Angus wasn’t above taking advantage of that fact, not one little bit.

“Well,I think the new chief set the building on fire,” said Spittin’ Fred. A few of the customers within range covered the tops of their cups with their hands to protect them from the spray. “He wanted to prove to everyone that we actually need to pay more in taxes for his worthless ass to sit down at the station. Probably realized that if he don’t put out a fire real soon, we might realize that we can fire him. I betcha⁠—”

“The building is starting to go!” PeterCowell yelled, busting in through the front door of the bakery. “Shit’s flyin’ everywhere!”

The stampede of customers for the front door almost caused a natural disaster of its own, but Sugar found herself right in there with them. It wasn’t often that a building caught on fire, especially not an old historical building like the HorvathMill.

She stood on the sidewalk with the rest of the gawkers, shivering in the cold wintry air. The sky was a leaden gray – dark and oppressive – and the wind whipped along MainStreet, biting and needling her bare skin.

And also whipping the flames higher. They were shooting out of the windows of the mill, reaching into the sky, brilliant red and orange against the grays. DespitePeter’s warning, it didn’t look like the building was in any danger of collapsing, although at this rate, it might get there soon.

She looked around for the new fire chief. Why wasn’t he spraying the building? She didn’t know much about firefighting, but it seemed like spraying the fire with water was a pretty good place to start.

The murmurs around her grew louder as people began to ask each other the same thing. Sugar finally spotted him. He was just standing there, watching the fire burn, as the new fire truck idled beside him. A few firefighters milled around, talking to each other, but no one seemed to be much focused on actually fighting the fire.

Sugar spun around and headed back inside. Her thin t-shirt and jeans were fine for standing behind the counter in the bakery; not so fine for standing out in the street in the first week of January. The angry shouts of the crowd swelled up behind her.

ChiefAnderson’s head was gonna be on a platter by the end of the day, and with that, he’d head back to wherever he came from.

Sugar allowed herself only a small sigh of regret. He was never going to be anything more than eye-candy for her anyway; although she had to admit, if only to herself, that he was damn fine eye-candy.

Chapter 6

Jaxson

Jaxson could feel his back teeth grinding together. He was pretty sure he’d have nothing but powder in his mouth if he kept this up.

But it was either that or really lose his shit.

He watched the building in front of him closely, since there wasn’t much else he could do. The flames were starting to die down, now that all of the easily flammable guts had been burnt out, so there wasn’t much for him to do except watch it burn and keep embers floating on the wind from starting fire to neighboring buildings.

Of course, he wouldn’t have to conserve every drop of water in the tank on the truck if the damn fire hydrants worked. He felt the anger begin to rise in him again. Who’d heard of letting fire hydrants fall into disrepair for years on end? It was enough to make him wanna⁠—