11. Patrick

Dane wedged me into the fire truck, strapping me into a fold-out seat beside Sam. He sat opposite me, while Burton rode shotgun beside our driver, Alex.

I wasn't sure what I expected: the sound of wind? The unbearable screaming of the siren? An engine roar that drowned out everything?

Whatever I'd envisioned, the reality was far more … quiet.

Each of the crew wore headphones and mics like pilots on a jumbo jet, though I only heard Sami speak to some unseen party—probably her dispatcher—as information about the injured party who'd called nine-one-one was relayed in advance of our arrival.

"We've got another fall. Woman, eighty-three," Sami said into her mouthpiece.

Burton nodded curtly.

Alex groaned from the driver's seat, reached across, and punched Burton 's shoulder. "Can't you old folks learn to walk down stairs?"

Burton shook his head.

Dane leaned toward me. "This is our first call of the day but our tenth fall of the week. We get more of these than any other call. Most are bruises, maybe a broken bone, rarely more."

"And they call for a fire truck?" I was stunned.

Dane shrugged. "They call for help. If we're the closest and available, dispatch sends us until a box can arrive."

"Box?"

"Ambulance," Sami answered, then looked toward Dane. "He's pretty but not that smart."

Dane gave her a pointed glare I couldn't begin to interpret, earning a snicker in return.

By the time we arrived, less than ten minutes from the time of the initial call, our fall victim was on her feet and pacing in her chain link fenced yard with a tiny white dog tottering along behind. The dog's fur looked like it hadn't seen shampoo in years, and the woman's hair wasn't much better. Her faded and worn muumuu nearly dragged along the ground.

Sami and Dane hopped out, leaving me with Burton and Alex in the truck.

"You looking for anything in particular?" Alex asked, half-turned to face me.

"Huh?" I glanced from the old woman to him.

"In your reporting thing. You working an angle or something?"

"Alex, you're supposed to play nice," Burton chided, then gave me a weak smile.

I nodded my thanks to the elder statesman, then shook my head. "Nope. No angle. Just trying to let the public see what your lives are like. Everybody loves firemen."

Alex settled back in his seat. Something about how he seemed relieved tickled my curiosity.

"Should I be?" I asked a moment later.

"What?" Alex asked.

"Looking for something? Is there anything I should know?"

Burton turned to watch the exchange.

Alex spun, again assuming his half-turned position to glare over his shoulder. "What you see right now is pretty much what you get. Old ladies, falls, strokes, an occasional heart attack, car wrecks, that sort of thing."

Something in his tone was odd. He wanted to redirect me. I could feel it.

"Fires?" I asked.

He snorted. "I wish. Those are fun, what we train for, but they're rare."

"What about down time? What's that like?"

He shrugged. "Guess you'll find out when we get back to the station. Some days, there's no down time. It's run after run. Other days, we clean until our hands smell like Lysol and I try to beat Sami at Wii bowling."

Burton grunted. "Never gonna happen."

"Oh, Chef Burton could be a good story. He really should be in a white coat and puffy hat instead of a fire jacket. He's awesome."

The embarrassed look on Burton 's face told me he was about to deflect the compliment when Dane hopped back onto the truck, nearly startling me out of my seat.

"Easy there. I left the axe on the side of the truck." His beefy hand pressed against my shoulder, as if to hold me down. A wave of heat flushed through my body, and I caught a hint of a smile quirk his lips when I looked up. "Sam's finishing up. Lady's fine. We don't need a box."

Burton gave him a thumbs-up and turned back toward the windshield. Alex spoke into his radio, informing the dispatcher. Before Dane could finish strapping in and resettling his headset, Sami stepped aboard.

"Back to the casa," she said, whirling her finger in the air as though she'd just hit a home run.

As the truck pulled away, the old lady snatched up her dog and waved, her toothy grin revealing more gaps than teeth.

"Fun, right?" Dane asked, the half smirk still teasing his lips.

I tried to appear interested. "It's, um, cool to see what really happens."

"Cool?" Sami barked a laugh. "You did not just use a cold temperature word to describe a firefighter activity?"

"Oh shit. Newsie stepped in it," Alex chirped from the front.

"We gonna ice bucket him when we get back?" Burton surprised me by piling on.

My gaze shot to Dane whose smirk had now doubled to fully cover his face. Even his eyes were curled in a grin.

"You break the rules, you pay the price," he said, as though I was supposed to know there were rules.

"But … I didn't bring a change of clothes or anything," I protested, assuming there was no squirming out of this but committed to trying.

Sami chuckled again. "Guess you'll be reporting in the nude while your things dry."

"Playboy should love that," Alex taunted.

Dane stiffened, his smirk flattening to a thin line.

Sami didn't miss a beat. "Guess Dane didn't warn you. There's no safe subject inside a team. Dane's our resident boy lover, and you're, well, pretty cute … for a reporter. We'll do our best to make him behave."

I leaned back and stared at Dane, who now looked about as uncomfortable as a schoolboy sitting outside the principal's office. The smirk he'd worn a heartbeat earlier found its way onto my lips.

"Really, now?" I said to Sam, not taking my eyes off Dane. "Big, healthy man like Dane? I would've never guessed."

I could feel Sam's gaze shift from me to Dane, then back. She sucked in a breath and leaned forward. "You two didn't? You haven't?" she whispered, so low I could barely hear her words.

Dane's eyes snapped to hers like a raptor in a dinosaur movie.

Her mouth formed an O, as her eyes widened.

Dane's finger shot out, and he mouthed, "Not one word." He waited a moment, then added, "Please."

She glanced back toward me then eyed Dane again, a cat-that-ate-the-canary grin reddening her cheeks. "For now. But you owe me."

"What are you three talking about back there? I hear whispering," Alex called back.

Dane froze. My eyes darted between them.

"Patrick was just asking if firefighters ever hooked up." Sami crossed her arms, her one brow still cocked. "I was resisting slapping him."

"Aw shit," Alex laughed. "You really stepped in it now, Newsie."

My eyes met Dane's, and I wondered if Alex knew how much truth his words held.

The rest of the ride back to the station was even more eerily silent than before, with Sami casting her judgmentally amused gaze between us, and Dane studiously avoiding me, which was hard, considering I sat directly opposite him with our knees nearly banging together.

The moment the truck pulled into the station, Burton and Alex hopped out. This hadn't been a fire run, so, without gear to strip off, they vanished quickly into the bowels of the firehouse.

Sami climbed out, then turned back toward us. "I'll run interference if you two need a minute to strategize or talk or … whatever."

The cheerful way she flicked her ponytail as she strode away made me wonder just how long the rest of this day would be.

Then Dane's hand rested on my leg, and I nearly piddled right there in the truck.

"You okay?" he asked. Gone was the gruff, up-against-the-wall fireman. Before me sat a man whose eyes showed only concern and … interest? Was Dane actually interested in me for more than a romp?

I nodded nervously. "Yeah. Guess Sami surprised me a little."

He grunted. "She's like that. Freakin' psychic. You should see how she picks Alex apart—not that he's a hard one to read, but still …"

"Do you think the others know?"

He shook his head. "Alex is thick as a tree, and Burton 's too focused on what meal he's going to cook next to care. I doubt they've given you two thoughts."

"Glad I'm so impressive," slipped out.

Dane's hand squeezed. "You were pretty impressive the other night."

That familiar warmth that tickled my insides blazed into an inferno, and I suddenly wished we had the station to ourselves.

Then Dane surprised me yet again. "Want to go bowling?"