Chapter 2

2

ZANE

I ’d spent the better part of a week trying to track down the curvy blonde reporter I’d met twice already. I knew where she lived. I just couldn’t think of a reason to go knock on her door, so I was counting on running into her in public.

My wish came true sooner than I could’ve imagined. I was working the fire drill at the town’s only elementary school when I spotted her standing near the kids.

I jumped off the fire truck and headed straight toward her. It didn’t matter that my fellow firefighter was probably watching and I’d catch hell for it later. This was my chance.

“Hey, there,” I said as I approached.

She looked up from her screen as if she hadn’t even noticed the gigantic red fire truck that was clearly in her line of sight. “Hello.” She lifted the phone closer to her chest. “My boss sent me here to cover this.”

I assumed by the way she rolled her eyes that she wasn’t a fan of the assignment. School fire drills weren’t exactly front-page news, so I got it.

“Hey, you never know when a story could break out at an elementary school fire drill,” I joked. “My name’s Zane, by the way.”

I thrust out my hand for a handshake. She shifted the phone to her left hand and slid her right hand into mine.

“Ella,” she said.

Ella. Beautiful name. I’d spent the past week wondering what her name could be. Even before that, actually. I’d first met her at the town Mexican restaurant when my buddy Clay sent me in to get his now-girlfriend. Even though I’d only seen her for a few minutes, she’d stayed on my mind until I happened upon her again last week.

As we released the handshake, I was alarmed to find I missed her touch. I wanted to do more than shake hands. I wanted to hold her hand. It just felt…right in mine.

“How’s your friend?” I asked.

“Mrs. Bracegirdle?” She rolled her eyes again. “She’s diabetic. Apparently, her morning doughnut habit finally caught up with her.”

I smiled. That woman had called us to her house multiple times. We all had figured out she enjoyed having firefighters in her house. But there was something charming about her, and I was actually growing to care about her.

“Would your boss have a problem with you doing a ride-along?” I asked.

Ella’s eyes widened, and suddenly she was looking at me in an all-new light. She was looking at me like I could be the answer to all her problems. I didn’t know what those problems were, but I’d be happy to give it a try.

“How long will it take?” she asked. “You know what? Never mind. I’m in.”

Those words brought a smile to my face. But then I remembered I wasn’t the only one on the truck. Today, I had Frank with me. And while we worked well together, he was a long-timer, both in this town and on the volunteer fire crew. He could very well tell me “no ride-alongs allowed” and I couldn’t do a thing about it.

It’s better to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission. That quote popped into my head. It was something my mom had said often. She’d raised me to go after what I wanted in life and not let fear hold me back.

And what I wanted right now was this beautiful woman who was standing in front of me. In fact, I’d never wanted anything more.

“Follow me,” I said, turning on one foot.

My gaze scanned past the lines of kids now streaming back into the school. The fire drill was over. Our assignment to show up and do a quick run-through of the school was complete.

Frank was already in the driver’s seat. As I climbed up, I paused to ask him a question.

“Mind if we bring company back to the station?”

He was staring right at me, which told me he’d seen this coming. He’d probably been watching the two of us talk and groaned when he saw her following me.

But if he minded, he didn’t show it. He gave a shrug and said, “We’re just heading back to the station. There’s nothing going on that I know of.”

“You never know when a call could come in, though,” I said.

He nodded. “Tell her to come on up.”

I stepped up into the cab, then turned and lowered my hand to give her a lift. Mostly, I just wanted to feel her hand in mine again. She slid it inside and stepped up. I gave her the passenger seat while I took the jump seat behind Frank.

“I’d rather ride back there,” Ella said. “You know, really be an observer. Like a fly on the wall. Just forget I’m here.”

And that was how we ended up rearranging, which briefly put me in close proximity to her. Her body passed within inches of mine.

It was then that I knew this was not just lust. No, this attraction to her was fierce. And the feeling was something that wouldn’t go away with a quick roll in the hay.

This was the real deal.

“Get back to the station,” my boss’s voice blasted over the radio.

We were halfway there, laughing over a story Frank had just told from his younger years. At the request, the lighthearted mood in the cab immediately changed. Emergencies were rare in this town, but when they happened, it hit the volunteers hard. We all loved this town.

“Looks like you’re stuck with us now,” I said to Ella.

“I’m along for the ride.”

I looked back over my shoulder at her, and my breath caught. I’d never seen anything more beautiful than that face. Her long, dark lashes that framed soulful brown eyes. Her prominent cheekbones and slightly upturned nose. And when she smiled, there was a faint hint of a dimple on one side that made it tough to look away.

And that was just her face.

I remembered her body as she stood on the sidewalk outside the school, staring down at her phone. She wore black dress pants that hugged her curves and an orange blouse that signaled autumn was coming. That image could fuel my fantasies for the rest of my life.

But hopefully, I could make her more than just a fantasy.

“They’re waiting outside for us,” Frank announced as we neared the fire station.

Sure enough, four uniformed volunteer firefighters stood in the parking lot, helmets in hand, ready to hop on this truck as soon as it pulled up. Four. That meant at least one of us would have to go, and I was betting it would be our ride-along, which would leave her stranded at the station.

“She’s a reporter,” I told the chief, Tyler, as soon as I hopped off the fire truck. I wanted to get ahead of any comments he might make about us having a woman in the truck with us.

“You stay here,” the chief said. “We need our top guys for this one.”

That comment was a punch in the gut. Normally, I’d just hop in my truck and head to the construction site. The boss had given me the morning off to help out with the fire drill. He wasn’t a volunteer firefighter, but he believed in the work we were doing, so he gave us time off whenever something came up at the fire station.

The biggest punch in the gut had been Tyler’s comment, which came around the same time that a woman I was trying to impress was coming off that fire truck. Had she heard? Maybe, but I took the chance that she’d been out of earshot when he said those words.

I gestured for her to follow me. “Come on. I’ll show you around the fire hall.”

Without waiting to see if she followed, I headed inside, feeling like the last kid to be picked for teams in high school gym class. That had never been me, but since joining this fire department, I’d come to relate to how those kids felt.

The sound of shoes on the floor behind me told me Ella was following. That meant I’d gotten the best prize of all. I had the whole fire hall to myself with the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

As the siren fired up and the truck pulled away, my spirits lifted. Yes, this could definitely be the best morning of my life.