Page 9 of Hearts on Fire

Scotti picked up her phone and googled Naomi’s name and was immediately bombarded by dozens of articles.

Hero firefighter saves celebrity doctor and many other headings like it were accompanied by a video.

Scotti opened it and was surprised to see herself rescuing Naomi from under that beam. It was an infrared camera feed so you couldn’t see loads but you could see enough. She had to admit, it did look impressive, but she was too confused to pay much attention to the content of the video. It then followed up with footage of her carrying Naomi out of the building.

“How does this video even exist? CCTV?”

“The on-site security cameras submit a live feed to another location. Apparently, they were still working when you rescued me. Someone must have sold the footage to the press.”

“You don’t look particularly unhappy about it.”

Naomi shrugged. “They didn’t reveal any of the confidential work that was happening before the fire. I don’t really care if someone sees you pulling me out of a burning building—unless you do? I’m sure we could get a court order to get it taken down…”

“No, that’s alright; I don’t care one way or the other. It’s just a surprise. So that’s why all the reporters are camping out on the hospital doorstep. Do we do anything about them?”

“Well, do you want to give an interview?”

“Um… no?”

“Then you don’t have to,” Naomi assured her. “They’ll try to force you, but you still get to say no. You might want to check with Max—it would be good publicity for the station—but even if he wants you to, it’s still your choice. I’ll probably do an interview with them at some point, but right now, I just want to be at home.”

“You must be used to dealing with the press, with your job and prestige.”

Naomi shrugged. “I’m somewhat used to it, but I have to admit, I’ve never had a crowd quite that large after me.”

Scotti glanced nervously at the door. “Can we even get past them? They look like they might attack if we refuse them.”

Naomi laughed. “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Just stick close by me. I’ll protect you. Where’s your car?”

“On the other end of the lot,” Scotti groaned. “Maybe we should get security to clear them.”

“That won’t look very good for the hospital, to have security clearing out reporters. Honestly, Scotti, you run into burning buildings for a living. You can handle a couple of reporters.”

“That’s more than a couple!”

“You can’t fool me; I already know you’re brave. Now enough procrastinating. Let’s go.”

Scotti allowed Naomi to lead her outside.

The reporters exploded into questions, shoving cameras and microphones into both of their faces.

“No comment at this time,” Naomi said calmly. “I’ll be giving an interview once I feel a bit better. For now, please leave us be.”

Of course, the reporters did no such thing—not that Naomi had expected them to.

Naomi was maybe right, the rush of fighting through reporters wasn’t dissimilar to that of fighting through burning buildings.

Once they got in the car and away, Scotti felt Naomi’s hand touch her thigh. The bolt of desire ran through her again.

Who on earth was this doctor she had saved and what might happen between them?

2

Naomi

They made it to Scotti’s pick up, and Naomi gratefully slammed the door shut. Scotti had to hit the horn a few times to make the reporters move out of their way, but they finally gained the peace of the highway.

Naomi glanced at Scotti out of the corner of her eye as they drove. She hadn’t missed how attractive Scotti was last night, and today, with Scotti freshly showered, it was even harder not to pay attention to.

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