The Fire he Ignited in Me

Chapter 4

8...9...10.

Putting the bar back on the rack above me, I sit up and ignore the burning sensation in my

biceps. Finishing my third rep, I move on to punching bag where I have to wrap my knuckles

before having at it.

It's been two days since the last call. It's Wednesday and I still can't get the woman I saved out of

my mind.

She was nearly dead from the smoke inhalation and hitting her head on the ejected airbag would

have been a b***h.

The ambulance came just in time, where the paramedic said she was alive because of me.

That stuck. Now, even though I have no earthly clue who this woman is, I feel a raging need to

protect her. But I can't, so instead I take my frustration out on the bag before my chief officer

Jared speaks up from behind me.

"What the bag do you, son?"

I pause and catch my breath for a moment before facing the mustached man.

"It called me pretty," I say referring to yesterday when Jared called me 'pretty boy' as an insult.

The old man chuckles and shakes his head before nodding to the door.

"We got a surprise out in the open area."

With a furrowed brow, I until my knuckle tape, not bothering to put on a shirt before following

chief out to the huge garage area where there's three firetrucks and a little hangout we made for

fun.

Coming to the end of the hall, I turn the corner only to freeze in my tracks and nearly jump in

exhilaration.

Her. The woman. My woman.

She's as tiny as I remember and even more beautiful conscience. A flowy black dress adorns her

petite body and I watch her movements carefully as she sets loads of baskets on our big round

table.

Lucas is leaning against the edge of it with his arms crossed, chatting up my girl with a flirty

smile on his face. Asshat. I could punch his teeth I...

Taking a deep breath, I follow the chief further into the room until I'm in view of ginger.

Her eyes widen and she seems shocked before running forward and embracing me in a tight hug,

similar to how I held her two days ago.

"Thank you," she whispers in her bell like voice. It makes me want to squeeze her tighter, but I

don't want to suffocate her.

"You're welcome, angel."

I'm not sure where the term of endearment comes from, but she doesn't seem to mind as she pulls

away and looks up at me with a wide breathtaking smile.

"Ms. Annabelle here brought us some dinner," Jared says plopping down in the chair and pulling

things out of picnic baskets to expose what seems like five star meals.

"Look at that newbie. You're off the hook for cooking tonight," Bryan says to Lukas. It's

tradition for the new recruits to be the chefs until someone new comes along.

"Well than how can I thank you Anabelle?" Lucas says trying to make a smouldering look with

his face. I nearly laugh, but my small falls seeing Anabelle look at him with endearment.

"You could go wash your filthy hands," I cut in blandly.

Lucas send me the look of a c**k blocked man before going to wash up.

"Will you eat with us?" I ask Annabelle. I try to sound casual, but I'll beg if I have to.

"Yeah," Jared and Bryan say. "The other guys have the night off, so there'll be plenty."

Annabelle shyly agrees and her Rosy cheeks bring a smile to my face as we all dig into meat,

potatoes, greens, biscuits, all topped with some kind of fancy sauce that Lucas actually ends up

licking off his cleared plate.

"What do you do," Jared asks our guest in between bites.

Annabelle tucks a wavy piece of hair behind her ear before answering.

"I'm an event planner. Mostly weddings."

"Well I bet you could cater weddings too," I say scouring her meal down. It's like heaven melting

on my tongue.

The guys all agree and we have nice chats to get to know each other.

It turns out that Annabelle lives alone, but has an older brother who drops by to check in on her

alot. She likes cooking obviously, but also likes random s**t too. Climbing trees, working out to

balance the calories of her baking binges, Netflix, and playing with dogs at the animal shelter.

"Oh, and of course I'm a bad driver," she says waving a hand like it's nothing.

The guys laugh, but I frown with mildly concealed worry. Wedding planners are always driving

to and fro. I don't think it's safe.

"Oh that reminds me! Sorry guys. I have to get going. The car shop closes in an hour and a half

and I need to go buy a new one."

She stands quickly putting her purse over her shoulder, but I rise quickly to stop her. She can't go

yet!

"Do you have a ride? Maybe we could pick out a car together," I suggest.

Annabelle looks at the ground and bites her lip unsurely and good God. The things I'd give to be

able to bite that lip.

"I mean... I don't want to trouble you."

I shake my head.

"Nonsense. I'd be happy to. It is in my job description to help people, not just from fires."

The woman smiles and agrees. Leading her out to my car, I ignore the looks from my team.

I help Annabelle Into the high seat of my black truck by lifting her up.

I get a nice look at her creamy thighs as her dress rides up, but compose myself quickly and hop

in my side.

There's one dealer in this town and one in the next, but ours has every brand in the main colors.

It's ten minutes away.

I'm going to enjoy every minute with this woman.