Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

put out fires, there was a similarity in their strengths and in the way they viewed things. Perhaps even how they wanted then-lives to be.

Where he was physically strong, she could be emotionally strong at the times when she had to be—her latest encounter with her surgery had really tested her. Where she had the memories of raising a child, he wanted to create the same for himself. She saw self-assurance in everything he did, yet all the while he sought a relationship he had never had before. She knew that about him from how he'd talked about his ex-wife that day she'd brought him wine. He hadn't come out and said it, but she'd read between the lines.

He wanted to make himself a better person so that he could be ready to find real love. She understood this, too. He wanted more than what he'd had in his marriage.

It amazed her how she began to see this clearly when she wasn't fighting against the two of them being any more than friends. There were more commonalities between them than dissimilarities. Accept for one big issue. A baby.

For now, she just took in everything he showed her and she let her imagination picture him in the weight room working up a sweat. Or just walking the hall wearing his fireman uniform.

They came upon the captain's room. "I work with Captain Palladino when I'm on A Shift. Just like the firefighters, he swaps out his room with the other captains who come on and off duty. The captains have their own bathrooms."

"What do you do if you're in the shower and a call comes?" The question slipped out before she could stop it.

He grinned, that irresistible grin she had come to recognize wasn't always accidental, but well timed to make her blush. "If we come back from a bloody call or mostly a fire, we shower." It suddenly felt as if he stood too close to her; heat fanned across her collarbone, up her neck. "I can take as many cold showers as I want. We also shower after our workouts. So I could be wet and naked two or three times a day."

"Oh." Her response didn't sound all that coherent to her. She would have taken a step back, but she realized the wall was blocking her on one side and Tony was right in front of her.

In a lowered voice, he went on, "I have gotten caught by a call. You just rinse off fast and get dressed wet and run out."

"Oh," she repeated, swallowing.

The corners of his mouth curved higher. "Come on." He laid his arm over her shoulder and steered her in the direction he wanted to go. "I'll show you the engine."

The garage was a large and tall expanse of space that housed an old red Hummer used for brush fires in the foothills, a workbench area with tools, and of course, the fire truck—rather, the engine.

It was a monstrous thing. She'd never looked inside one before and Tony took her to the driver's door that was ajar.

"You're going to run down the battery," she commented, thinking an open vehicle door would do that.

"Nope. Shoreline." He pointed to a thick cable plugged into the cab of the engine. "Get in."

She reached for the chrome handles and lifted herself onto the seat. A smile found its way on her mouth, her pulse kicking into a faster beat.

"I've been driving lately," he said, pulling himself up next to her and standing on the diamond-plate platform.

Sitting in the big engine gave her an awesome feeling. No wonder he liked it so much. So did she.

A small hula girl was propped on the dash. She reached out with her fingertip and swung its grass skirt. "Yours?"

"I don't know who put that there. It's been on this engine for as long as I can remember."

"What are all the buttons for on that panel?"

"Lights." Leaning over her to switch them on, his muscular upper arm connected slightly with the side of her breast. She sat still, hardly daring to breathe. "Warning lights—master, light bar, wigwag—makes the headlights wobble—intersection lights and rear beacon."

She tried not to let the smell of him affect her senses, but he smelled so good. He was too close. Pushing herself back into the seat to give them a wedge of space between, she tried to stop her heart from hammering against her ribs.

"Uh, when you're not driving, do you sit in the passenger seat?" she asked.

"Nope. That's for the captain. I sit in back."

He got down, held out his hand to help her down from the high seat. She noticed how smooth his fingers were around hers. How warm, strong. It was all she could do not to slip her arms around him.

He looked into her face with brown eyes, his smiling catching her unaware. "What are you thinking?"

"Um, just thinking how exciting it must be to go on a call."

"Yeah, every time that buzzer goes off, it's an adrenaline rush."

"I can only imagine."

Tony showed her the rest of the engine, the corners of the garage and the duty list. She found everything fascinating.

She found him fascinating.

They returned inside and he took her into the kitchen were a group of firemen sat around a Formica table. Some were on duty and some were not. They'd played on the hockey team.

The room was large and bright with a patio that led into the dark night. She could see the edge of a gas barbecue through the glass. The sinks were spacious and a dishwasher was located along the wall next to a refrigerator.

It looked like a normal kitchen with a full-size stove, but there were many more cupboards. Some had locks on them. She noticed an ant trap on the floor, but thankfully didn't see any ants. A large plastic container of a weight-lifting supplement drink was on top of the fridge.

Off duty, Wally Walcroft sat next to his wife and Natalie was introduced to the men on shift.

"That's