5. Hallie

5

HALLIE

T he slight chill of the early morning desert air nips at Hallie's exposed skin as she hops out of her truck in the almost empty parking lot of Fire Station 3. She shrugs her jacket tighter around her shoulders, partly to ward off the cold, but mostly to disguise the tremble in her hands. Her pulse has been thrumming with a restless energy ever since she opened her eyes a full hour before her alarm this morning.

She had to begrudgingly admit, these one-to-one training sessions with Montgomery were a decent idea from the captain. The showboating has to stop, and Kaia needs to learn communication and protocol in an environment where she isn't constantly tempted to lash out at her crewmates. Hallie understood better than anyone the urge to reject the rest of the recruits before they had a chance to demonstrate how thoroughly they would reject her. But the division in the squad will get someone hurt sooner or later. Montgomery needs to learn to fall in line, while not also feeling like she's been bullied into submission.

Glaring as they are, however, none of these truths were what had Hallie's skin prickling with anticipation in the time it took her to roll out of bed and make her way here at the crack of dawn. Fact is, Hallie is stupidly looking forward to the chance to be alone with Montgomery. Ever since the captain suggested the private sessions, she's been haunted by images of that powerful frame glistening with sweat, of her dark eyes flaring with determination as she pushes to impress her lieutenant. Hallie had tried to ignore it in regular training, but she couldn't help feeling more and more like Montgomery's performances were intended to impress her more than the other rookies.

Get a grip, Hallie.

This undeniable attraction between them is fast becoming a dangerous distraction. A fresh wave of anxiety mingles with the anticipation writhing in Hallie's gut as she makes her way towards the station building. She wants more than anything to explore this connection she feels, and she's sure that Montgomery feels the same way—at least, if her little demonstration in the showers is anything to go by—but Hallie can't shake the fear that anything happening between them would damage both of their careers. Shaking her head against her warring thoughts, she pushes through the heavy door into the training facility, steeling herself for a totally professional training session.

Of course, Montgomery isn't going to make it easy.

Feet planted at either side of a stretching mat, Kaia is bent at the waist, her sinfully peachy ass thrust straight in the air.

Lord, help me.

Hallie forces herself not to stare as she marches across the garage, sheepishly glancing side to side to check no other colleagues are present to enjoy the show.

"Good morning, Lieutenant." Montgomery's greeting is a low rumble, muffled slightly as she presses her fingertips into the mat. The coy rasp in her tone has Hallie's mouth instantly going dry.

"Montgomery," she grits out, sounding harsher than she had intended. She quickly tears her gaze away from the hypnotic stretch of Montgomery's form-fitting workout attire, hugging every delicious curve. "I trust you're ready for a focused training session this morning?"

"Oh, I'm ready," Kaia practically purrs, before she languidly unfurls to her full height. She twists at the waist, those intense brown eyes immediately seeking Hallie's as she raises one sculpted arm in an overhead stretch. It's only too tempting for Hallie to be enraptured by the rippling contours of her bicep, the tantalizing sliver of revealed midriff as her shirt rides up over those chiseled abs. The lieutenant gives herself a harsh inward shake, heat flooding her cheeks. With an impassive clearing of her throat, she nods toward the staging area.

"Let's get to it then. We'll start with sprints and communication relays. You're falling way behind on grasping those particular skills."

A spark flashes in Montgomery's eyes and Hallie knows her criticism has struck a nerve. The obstinate rookie lifts her chin in blatant challenge, a rakish smirk slowly blooming over her full, tempting lips.

"Whatever you say, Lieutenant," she tosses over her shoulder, already striding away. Her hips sway with that same arrogant swagger that drives Hallie crazy. "Just try to keep up."

The next forty-five minutes is a blistering gauntlet of start-stop sprints while Hallie and Montgomery bellow coded instructions back and forth. The commanding officer keeps her tone as clipped and authoritative as she can muster, attempting to squash any hint of the lingering want simmering in her veins. It proves nearly impossible, what with the rich rasp of Kaia's sexy laughter floating across the mats between repetitions. Hallie finds her mind wandering, clouded with daydreams of Montgomery's breath washing over her face, her lips tantalizingly close. Close enough for Hallie to lean in and capture them with her own…

"Lieutenant! Did you get that?"

Kaia's bemused demand cuts straight through her lieutenant's distracted fantasies like a bucket of ice water. Hallie's heart jackhammers in stunned panic as she realizes she's been too preoccupied to even register the rookie's last slew of code-shouting. Of course, the sniggering Montgomery called her on it, that cocky shit is never one to let an opportunity at showing off go to waste.

"Give it a rest, Montgomery!" Hallie instantly snaps, prowling closer to where Kaia stands, doubled over with her hands braced on her knees. The heave of her breasts is far too alluring this close up. "We're supposed to be improving your team communication, not fueling your idiotic need to one-up your superiors!"

Kaia's laughter rings out again, though this time the teasing cadence is laced with a touch of exertion. Before she can help herself, Hallie's mind runs away from her again, flooded with the desire to lick the sweat from the hollow of Montgomery's throat.

"C'mon, Lieutenant. Am I really such a nuisance?" That wicked mouth stretches into a wolfish grin as she shifts her stance, openly allowing her gaze to roam brazenly over Hallie's sweat-slick tank top. "Guess I'm not trying hard enough to impress you."

There's a deliberate, unabashed invitation in her purring tone. She prowls a little closer as if she's just waiting for Hallie to cave and crush their bodies together, catching those plump lips in a searing kiss. At hearing Montgomery confirm her efforts to impress her, Hallie's breath catches, the electric current sparking between them dialing up a few thousand volts. All she would have to do is close the final scant inches between their heaving chests.

And kiss my shot at captain goodbye.

"Enough of that," the lieutenant bites out, teeth gritted more against her own burning desire than Montgomery's blatant flirting. "You're here to save lives, not to earn a gold star from teacher. Go and grab some water before I have you sprinting until your legs give out."

Montgomery's only response is a dark, knowing chuckle as she obediently turns towards the break room. Hallie clenches her jaw, trying not to watch the delicious roll of her hips in those skintight yoga pants. As soon as the door from the training area swings shut, she bolts for the locker room to splash cold water over her scorching skin. Silently berating herself in the mirror, Hallie quickly realizes these private training sessions are going to be a twisted kind of torture. She's not sure what she did to deserve such bittersweet suffering. And she knows it's not going to get any easier.

When the lieutenant returns to the training area, suitably cooled off, she finds Kaia back on her stretching mat. There's a feisty challenge glinting in her dark eyes. She arches a brow, silently daring Hallie to try and break that cocky spirit.

Instead of bristling against the rookie's blatant arrogance, Hallie finds herself softening in the face of such raw determination. That intense desire to constantly prove herself, to never show weakness or fatigue, the lieutenant recognizes that desperate drive all too well. A sad, nostalgic smile tugs at her own lips as she takes a seat on the mat across from Kaia's relaxed form.

"Not going to lie, Montgomery," she begins, rolling her tight shoulders to release some of the lingering tension coiled there. "Watching you show up every day prepared to put on a one-man circus reminds me of my own rookie days with the brigade."

Kaia's brows quirk, no doubt surprised by the conversational shift in Hallie's demeanor. She wraps her arms around her knees, curiosity kindling behind her calmer expression.

"Shocking as it may seem, I wasn't always so effortlessly superior to my crewmates," Hallie continues, the playful barb drawing a low, rasping chuckle from between Kaia's glistening lips.

For a long moment Hallie only watches her chest rise and fall, mesmerized by the tantalizing slide of perspiration over her sculpted collarbones. She has to force herself to meet Kaia's molten gaze. "Truth is, I come from a long line of fire chiefs and strong leaders. Busting my ass to prove I was tough enough to fill their damn boots was the only thing that mattered back then."

The warmth in Kaia's expression shifts into something deeper, more pensive. A shared understanding of their endless battle to be respected as equals in an oppressively masculine world.

"My old man thought thirty years on the police force made him an expert on what women are and aren't capable of." The rigidity of Kaia's jawline makes Hallie think her upbringing wasn't quite so supportive as the home of the Hunters.

"If he'd had his way, I'd probably be teaching finger painting classes instead of fighting to prove my strength alongside the men every day. He was so pissed when I turned down a free ride to nursing school that we didn't talk for over a year."

A sad smile twists Hallie's lips in response.

"I can't imagine what that must have been like. Pop was thrilled when I said I wanted to follow in his footsteps. My fear of never living up to his name formed in my own head, long before any rookie asshole taunted me with it out loud."

"But you still took that risk," Kaia rasps, the barest hint of awe lacing her tone. It warms Hallie in a way no amount of desert sun ever could. "You proved you were worthy of the legacy over and over until they couldn't ignore or dismiss you anymore."

The naked admiration in her soft utterance is nothing short of electrifying. They hold each other's stare for a suspended moment, the pulsing silence seeming to shrink the world down to this tiny sanctuary between them.

"You'll get there too, Montgomery. The rest of those sorry recruits might hate you for wiping the floor with them every day, but they'll learn to respect you for it."

She huffs a small laugh. "Would it be wildly against protocol if you called me Kaia?"

Hallie's heart thunders with a wild yearning to reach out and brush her knuckles over the sharp angle of Kaia's cheekbone, let her palm cup the strength pulsing in the hollow of her throat.

Ever the bolder of the two of them, Kaia leans forward, their tense breath mingling as their eyes remain locked on each other. All concerns about her position fly from Hallie's mind as she inches closer to the glistening temptation of Kaia's lips.

"Only as inappropriate as it would be for you to start calling me Hallie," she murmurs, brushing the tip of Kaia's sweat-slicked nose with her own.

Then the metallic clang of the main doors being thrown open slams through the fragile stillness like a bucket of ice water. Kaia and Hallie spring apart, whipping their heads around as shuffling footsteps and raucous chatter echoes from the corridor. The rest of the rookie class is marching in for morning formation.

Hallie's gaze flies back to Kaia just as she jolts upright to her full height, self-consciously raking her fingers through her wild, mussed dark curls. The look of confusion and frustration mirrored on her face is nearly enough to obliterate every ounce of professional distance Hallie has been clinging to.

She wants to grab Kaia by those bulging biceps and crush their bodies together. Finally give in to the gnawing ache that's been building between them all morning and lose herself completely in her intoxicating heat.

But it's already too late. The first wave of rowdy recruits comes tumbling into the training area, jostling between themselves like a pack of overgrown, overconfident pups. Mercifully, none of them seem to register the yearning tension still thrumming between the lieutenant and her favorite student. Even so, the intimate moment is well and truly shattered.

Rising to her feet, Hallie composes her features into an impassive mask and ushers Kaia toward the crowd with a subtle dip of her chin.

She can't bring herself to meet her eyes, unsure whether she'll find relief or devastation reflected there.

This maddening attraction is quickly spiraling out of her control.

As much as she tries to douse the flames with all the self-control she can muster, Hallie has a sinking feeling she's in grave danger of getting burned.