Chapter 2

2

ADAZE

A daze Bank's heart hammered in her chest. Fear threatened to fill her lungs long before the water got the chance. She was doing her best to stay dry, but her pants were still soaked, cold seemed to claw its way deep into the marrow of her bones. She wrapped her arms around her shoulders, pacing the small confines of the bedroom. There was only one door, and it was the only thing standing between her and even more water.

She didn't want to open the door and let it all come rushing in, but she desperately needed to get out of there.

It had been so long since she called for help. Why weren't they here yet?

Her ears rang from the sheer sound of the water.

It was so loud.

Her breathing became rapid and panicked. The water must have been pushing out the air because she couldn't seem to get enough. She could feel her legs getting weak.

God, was this really going to be it?

A sound of despair forced its way from her lips.

Suddenly, the door burst open.

Adaze gasped, water rushing in.

Then her eyes focused on the figure in the doorway.

The woman who stood before her was beautiful even though she was dripping wet. She had long dark hair, pulled back in a thick braid trailing down her back. Large dark eyes landed on Adaze. She was younger than Adaze, maybe in her early thirties.

"I'm Leilani. I'm a firefighter. I'm here to help. Are you okay?" Even in a situation like this she had a reassuring smile on her face.

Adaze couldn't seem to force herself to form the words. Emotion caused them to stick in her throat.

"Hey, don't worry." The woman came over and put a hand on her shoulder. Adaze narrowly resisted the urge to lean into her warm touch. "I know it's a lot but I'm going to get you out of here. Do you think you can walk?"

"I think so." She shoved to her feet, forcing herself to shrug off the hand.

"Good, now let's get out of here. Can you lead me to the deck?"

She nodded, forcing herself forward on shaky legs.

Adaze walked with her into the rapidly filling halls. She tried not to let her eyes spend too long lingering on the destruction around them.

Finally, they made it to the top of the stairway, she expected to burst out into blinding sunlight, but all that met them was clouds and sheets of rain.

The sky had never seemed as dark, even at midnight on a moonless night.

Adaze rapidly blinked her eyes, forcing herself to focus on the situation.

Somehow it was all so much worse than she expected from in the dark insides of the ship. The deck was at a sharp slant, one end below the water, the other jutting into the air. She could see another ship a little distance away.

"What do we do?" she yelled.

The other woman turned to her with a tight smile. "Don't worry. I promise I'm going to get you out of here, but I need you to trust me."

Adaze let out a breath. "Not like I've got any choice."

"Good. Come with me to the edge."

Adaze swallowed before forcing herself to follow the firefighter to the edge.

"Now, put your arms around my neck and hold on tight."

"Why? What're you going to do?"

"I'm going to get you out of here, but I need you to trust me."

She only hesitated for a moment but was surprised to find she did. Adaze took a deep breath, wrapping her arms around the woman's neck.

"On the count of three, hold your breath. Ready?"

"What?!"

"One."

"Hang on?—"

"Two. Three."

Adaze sucked in a breath as their feet left the deck, sending them crashing down to the dark depths below.

Looks like I might drown after all , she thought to herself as they cut deeper into the ice-cold water. She squeezed her eyes shut at the sting of the salt water. The icy chill threatened to make her gasp for air, but she fought against her instincts.

Just when it seemed like they might never surface again, the firefighter's strong kicks pushed them up into the sunlight.

Adaze gasped in a desperately needed gulp of air. "Are you crazy!? We could have died!"

"But we didn't, and if we'd stayed on the ship we definitely would have," she laughed. It was a beautiful sound, bright and clear cutting through the roar of the ocean.

Adaze found herself starting to smile despite it all as she clung on to the firefighter. Maybe it was the adrenalin or something about this woman who was saving her life, but she just couldn't seem to help herself.

They made their way to the waiting rescue boat where a ladder was immediately lowered into the water.

There was a rescue team on the boat.

"Can you climb up on your own?" one of them asked.

"I—yeah, I think so."

"Good work, Leilani," the apparent leader addressed Adaze's savior.

"Good, come on now, up you go." Adaze turned so she could wrap her hands around the rope and start pulling herself up.

She made it up the first rung and felt her body start to falter. She winced at her weakness. She knew it was stupid given the circumstances, but she wanted to impress the firefighter who had saved her. With a deep breath she forced herself to the top.

The second she was within reach, hands were on her, pulling her into the ship.

The firefighter who had saved her followed close behind.

One of the other rescuers was on her in moments, med kit in hand, checking her over for injuries.

Adaze couldn't stop shivering even with the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

The medic smiled at her. "The good news is you don't seem to be hurt, though I'm still going to have someone look you over once we get back. All we need to do is focus on getting you warm."

Adaze nodded, her eyes scanning along the boat to try and find the woman who saved her. She frowned, unable to find her.

"Don't worry," the medic smiled at her. "She's alright. Just drying off and warming herself up as well. Even with a wetsuit, at this time of year, the water is still cold enough that it's better to be safe than sorry."

She nodded, still too cold to even think about talking, not that she was even sure what she wanted to say.

They made their way to the dock where an ambulance was waiting.

Adaze frowned. "Is that really necessary?"

"It's for the best. You're in no state to drive and you need medical attention. Of course you're within your rights to refuse, but I'd strongly caution against it."

She sighed, letting herself be loaded into the ambulance and handed off to the waiting doctors. She found herself glancing around to see if the woman who saved her was being sent with her.

But of course she wasn't.

Why would she be?

She shook her head and focused on the situation. They made it to the Phoenix Ridge hospital and Adaze worked her way through a team of doctors.

They ran countless tests, checked for injuries and so much more. There was so much going on it was easy to push from her mind how she ended up there.

It must have been almost an hour before she was finally alone in a hospital room.

Only then did the situation fully sink in. She could have died.

Relief tinged with terror coursed through her.

The only reason she was standing there was because of that woman.

And she couldn't remember her name—she said it was L-something…

Adaze sighed. Maybe it was just because of how they met, but there was something magnetic about her. She hadn't felt this drawn to someone in a long time.

But she could remember how that ended.

The pain of her betrayal still stung like it was yesterday.

She shook her head. It's not like it mattered. Odds are she wouldn't ever see the woman again.

With that in mind, she waited for the all-clear from the doctors and headed to the lobby on her way out the door. To her shock, her rescuer was standing there.

When she saw her, she felt herself light up, but her heart was racing.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Her voice was calming and gentle. Her eyes were warm and brown.

"I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

She smiled. "After everything that happened, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

Adaze ignored the warmth that bubbled in her chest. "And now you did."

She expected her to leave after that. The woman had seen whatever she needed to, and Adaze couldn't think of any other reason for her to stay.

"I'm glad. Can I drive you home?"

"What?"

"Well your car is presumably still at whatever dock you drove it to, so I thought you might want someone who could give you a lift home."

"I can just order a car," Adaze heard herself snap. She liked this woman. This woman had just saved her life. Why was she being her usual bitchy self?

The woman looked disappointed by her answer. Adaze winced. She hated being the reason for that expression.

"But a ride could be nice."

It was like the clouds parted from the sun. Adaze had never seen a smile so bright. "Great! I'm Leilani, in case you forgot."

"Adaze."

With a strange feeling in her chest, she followed Leilani to her waiting car.

"Here we are." She motioned to the simple silver compact car. "I'm sure it's smaller than you're used to, but it'll get you home just fine."

"It's perfect. Let's go!" She climbed into the car before she could get caught up in over thinking what she'd just said.

"Perfect," Leilani echoed with an intoxicating smile on her face. The sheer warmth of it seemed to seep into Adaze's bones like a hot cup of mulled wine on a cold fall evening. She found herself hoping to see it directed at her like this again. "Give me the address and we can hit the road!"

Adaze shook the ridiculous thoughts from her head, quickly telling her the address of her new penthouse.

Leilani was a firefighter.

Saving her was just part of her job.

Checking on her was part of her job.

And yeah, maybe driving her home was going above and beyond, but it was still completely professional in nature.

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you on a boat that big all by yourself?"

"Because it's my boat," Adaze said as she crossed her arms. "I didn't know there was going to be such rough water or I wouldn't have gone."

"I wasn't trying to lecture you," Leilani said quickly. "It's just unusual to see someone out on something like that on their own so I was curious what made you go out."

Adaze hesitated then sighed. What the hell, it wasn't like she was ever going to see her again. She might as well tell her the truth.

"It's the third anniversary of my divorce. I wanted to be alone, to think."

"I see. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

"It's…" she hesitated. It wasn't fine. In some ways it still felt like a freshly cut wound, but she didn't want this warm, wonderful woman to feel bad. Finally, she settled on, "It doesn't matter. It's in the past."

It still wasn't quite true, but it seemed to smooth things over.

There were a few moments of silence before Leilani started to speak again. Adaze narrowly held in a sigh of relief at the sound.

"I haven't lived in Phenix Ridge long, but the water is still my favorite place. Reminds me of home."

"Where is home?"

"Hawaii," she said with a wistful sigh.

"If you miss it so much why did you leave?" Adaze winced. That sounded so rude.

"Fair question. A lot of reasons. Mostly work."

"They don't need firefighters in Hawaii?"

Leilani let out a bright laugh, and it was easily one of the most beautiful sounds Adaze had ever heard. "They've got plenty. That's the thing, I might have been the first of my siblings to go into it, but two of my cousins beat me to it. Then one of my brothers followed me. When I got an offer from another department looking for someone to help with water and coastal rescues, I thought it might do me some good to leave the nest."

"One of your brothers. Makes it sound like you've got dozens."

"Just two brothers, both younger, two older sisters, and one younger sister."

Adaze choked, "But that would mean there were six of you!"

"Yep! Six siblings, then there were also about seven of my cousins who lived right on the same street."

"That never felt…crowded?"

"No, I loved it, but I could see how it wouldn't be for everyone. I always thought someday—" she cut herself off shaking her head.

"What?"

"It's nothing. Anyways, here we are." She pulled to a stop outside the newly constructed high rise. It's sleek exterior already lost its luster for Adaze. "Nice place. Swanky."

"Right." She shook her head, reminding herself what they were doing here. She was just going to drop her off then they would go their separate ways. "Well, thanks for the ride." She turned to go.

"Wait!"

She paused, hand on the door handle. "Yeah?"

"Could I get your number?"

Adaze's heart hammered. She couldn't be asking what she thought she was. Adaze wasn't someone who gave her number out to random women. Even if they did just save her life. Even if her strong arms did look particularly sexy and enticing under that navy blue fire department shirt. "You mean in case you have any questions about the accident for me?"

For a moment her smile faltered. "No, for personal reasons. Like maybe asking you out to dinner. If you want."

"Yeah," she found herself saying before she could think better of it. "I think I'd like that."

"Great! Here!" Leilani thrust her phone at her. "Go ahead and put your number in. I'll text you sometime later today."

"Yeah, sounds great."

Adaze handed the phone back after adding her number then got out of the car.

What just happened?