Chapter 8

Noah

I had screwed up. I’d waited too long to find Millie, to make amends, to tell her the truth. When she pulled away, I barely stopped my fingers from closing tightly around her, keeping her right where she was.

Where she belonged.

I could still feel the imprint of her hand on my palm, burning hot while the rest of me went ice cold.

“You gonna be my wingman here, for old times’ sake?”

Her words echoed over and over inside my head, getting louder with each pass, to make clear something I had hoped wasn’t true.

That Millie wasn’t here for me.

Knox had rescued her. Charlie was the one who had the balls to invite her to the party, and I hung around the doorway like a lost dog, whining and hoping for a pat. I shook my head and then forced myself to smile before leading her inside.

The cheesy Christmas carol music, the bright green and red decorations everywhere, were like a physical blow. This was supposed to be the one time of the year when people relaxed, reflected, and reconnected with those they loved, and instead I made a beeline for the cluster of guys standing around at the back of the room, beers in hand, ready to introduce the love of my life to them.

“Fellas.” Every bloke turned around, and I saw their focus brush past me to take Millie in, and why not? She looked amazing. I stared the exact same way when she got out of the car, taking in the way that damn dress flowed across her body, and I knew what to expect. Guys pursed their lips, shifted restlessly as they took her in with hungry eyes. “This is Millie. She?—”

“Made it.” Charlie appeared with a grin, thrusting a beer into my hand. “Damn, that dress looks even better in person. Have you met everyone yet?”

“Um, no, we just arrived,” she replied, taking the glass of wine he offered her.

“Alright, this grumpy prick is Henry.” He nudged our teammate. “Great at putting out fires, but conversation? Not so much.”

Henry smoothed his hand over his stubble, barely smiling.

“Nice to meet you.” Millie didn’t realise it, but that brief nod was about as close to a conversation she was likely to get. “Gotta go. The missus is sending up distress signals.”

Kelly, his wife, was indeed waving him over, especially as his youngest son had decided to taste test Christmas ornaments.

“Don’t worry about him.” Dave stepped forward, a familiar grin on his face, and I shifted slightly, edging into the gap between them. “I’m Dave.”

“Millie,” my girl said, laying a hand on her chest, but she needn’t do that if she wanted his attention. He was already staring at her tits.

“That’s a beautiful name.”

I should’ve been the one complimenting her, and I was kicking my own butt for not having more to say when Millie got out of the car. The words came now, too damn late. The gold in her hair, the way it shifted each time she moved her head. The slender length of her neck, the ends of her hair caressing the back of it. But I hadn’t, didn’t. Instead, words dried in my throat, dragging me right back to school in the worst way.

Every muscle tensed as he offered her his hand and I wanted to snap, “Don’t take it!” Instead, he received the briefest of shakes, right before he turned her hand in his, presenting her knuckles for him to kiss. The guys chuckled at Dave’s bullshit, but Charlie didn’t. Instead, he stepped between them, forcing Dave back.

“Don’t worry about Shania over there,” Charlie said. “Let’s play a little game of ‘Have you met Millie?’”

“Shania?” She snorted and then frowned. “I thought you said your name was Dave.”

“It’s because he doesn’t impress anyone much,” one of the other guys said with a cackle, Millie’s mouth falling open, then closing as she barely suppressed a smile. “At least, that’s what the girls say.”

“Fuck you,” Dave growled.

“They say that too.”

As everyone started to put shit on Dave, Charlie steered her away from the guys, putting his arm around her shoulders like he had a right to. Everyone noted Charlie’s ease with women, but this was the first time I’d felt the weight of that personally.

“Ladies.” Some of the wives and girlfriends were standing with their partners on the other side of the room, and they looked up when he breezed over. “This is Millie, the lovely lady we met at the fire earlier in the week. Millie, this is Sally.” She smiled politely at Millie. “Belinda and Officer Hops.”

“Judy,” the woman herself corrected, her belly making it hard for her to get to her feet, so I stepped in and offered her a hand. “And babies.” She patted her stomach.

“Oh wow.” Millie stepped forward, hands rising, but before I could warn her, she dropped them again. “Congratulations. Are you due soon?”

“Because I look like a beached whale, you mean?” Millie tried to contradict her, but Judy shook her head. “It’s fine. Every time I go to the beach, I have well-meaning people try to roll me back into the sea. I’ve got a couple of months to go.”

“Months…” Millie flushed, seeming to realise too late that this was a bit of a tactless comment.

“Twins.” Judy announced that like some veterans do the military campaigns they came back from.

“Oh god.” Millie stifled a giggle and then shot Judy a look of sympathy. “I have twin brothers, so you have my sympathies.”

“See, she gets it.” Judy started to rub her back and that summoned her partner, Blue, like one might a genie. He was there, a massive, silent, tattooed presence, helping her sit back down, then handing her the drink bottle by her chair.

“Still think Charles and Charlesina would be the best name for the twins,” Charlie grumbled.

“Over my dead body,” Bluey growled, before turning to Judy. “Love, did you want some of those coconut ball things?”

“Oh, yes please,” she groaned, settling back into her chair.

“Millie…” Sally looked at me, then my girl, making clear she’d put two and two together. It felt like everyone in the station knew how I felt about the woman in front of me. Everyone but her. “That’s a pretty name. So are you a friend of Charlie’s?”

Friend was a euphemism that covered anything from being his sister, his girlfriend, or baby mama until further clarification.

“More like someone he took pity on,” Millie replied. “His crew put the fire out at my workplace.”

“Was that—?” Belinda asked.

“The Stafford Arms.” Everyone turned to see Knox standing there, and that was the reason why he’d been promoted to lead firefighter. He could command a room just like he could a team. “Millie.”

What was that? Millie seemed to suck in a breath and then hold it as he took in all the details of the dress with the same thoroughness of a fire, but it seemed like he was the one burning, not her. He nodded and then took the half-finished glass of wine from her limp fingers, pressing a fresh one between them.

“Knox was forced to pick me up and carry me away from the fire.” Millie was being completely self-deprecating. “I got it in my head that I needed to remove the gas bottles from the pub before they blew up.”

“Oh, you didn’t.”

Judy slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide.

“I did. Stuffed up a perfectly good pair of heels in the process, but it could’ve been worse.” Millie looked Knox up and down. “Much worse. I expected Knox to tear strips off me when he got us away from the fire.”

“I would never do that.” Everyone turned to stare at Knox. “What? I wouldn’t have.”

“Well, did you know that Noah rescued a couple of children from a house fire?” Sally was trying to turn the tide my way and I wanted to shake my head, tell her not to bother, but she forged on. “They were clinging onto his shoulders like spider monkeys the way my husband tells it.”

“He and his team won their division in the Australasian Firefighting Championships,” Belinda added, catching Sally’s drift.

“And he rescued those dogs trapped on that property.” Judy accepted a plate of food from her partner, then balanced it on her stomach. “It was a puppy mill and the ‘owners’ deserted it when the fire hit.”

“You saved a bunch of puppies?”

It felt like I caught every movement as Millie turned towards me, one eyebrow rising in question.

“They pissed all over my uniform,” I replied dismissively. “Never got that stink out.”

She just smiled.

“Then there was that little yapper that went back to the kennel.”

I knew what Charlie was doing. That look, the way he was prompting me to tell the story, it was a familiar one. Usually, he tried to hold my hand when talking to girls he was interested in, using me to entertain the rest of the group, but this was different. I actually wanted Millie to know what happened that day.

“Her puppies were in one of the kennels.” Millie’s sucked-in breath was echoed by the other women, even though they already knew this story. “She wasn’t going to leave without them, so I’m trying to kick down the door of the kennel and she’s yapping and nipping at my ankles, thinking I was going to hurt her babies. Meanwhile the others are trying to put out the house fire.” I shook my head. “Then I managed to break the lock and throw open the gates?—”

“And there were puppies everywhere.” Judy sniffed, wiping at her eyes, so Bluey sighed and fished out a handkerchief. “They’re running around like idiots, and then the mummy dog starts rounding them up, getting them away from the fire. The boys collected up every one before the mob from the RSPCA came to collect them.” Her hand clasped Blue’s tight. “We ended up with one.”

“Chilli.” Blue was always a man of few words. “After the dog in the cartoon.”

“She’s the best dog.” We all watched in alarm as a tear rolled down Judy’s cheek, but she smiled through it, dabbing it away before continuing. “Sorry, I’m a complete mess since the pregnancy. I cry at the drop of a hat.”

“Hormones.” We all turned around to see our station commander, Brent, standing there, gazing fondly at Judy. “My missus was the same. They’re softening you up, preparing you for becoming a mother.”

“I’ll be wailing through childbirth at this rate,” Judy grumbled.

“You’ll be amazing.”

Bluey was viewed with suspicion when he first started going out with Judy. She’d worked in admin for the station since she left high school, so every firefighter made clear what would happen if the burly trucker broke her heart. He never did. Instead, he pulled her close now, pressing her face into his shoulder as he rubbed her back, and it was then I felt something I’d never expected to experience.

Jealousy.

No, that wasn’t right. It was envy. I was never one to hover around Judy, trying to get her to look my way, and I’d never want her to break up with Blue, but… It wasn’t hard to put myself in his shoes and see myself soothing a whole other woman.

“Brent, this is Millie,” I said, making introductions belatedly.

“Millie?” He met my eyes, his slight smile making clear he knew exactly who this was. “Well, it's lovely to meet you. I’m Brent, the station commander. So, what do you do?”