Page 42 of The Firefighter's Fate

I watch as children play on a swing. It’s so quiet here. Deafeningly so. I’m used to traffic and car horns and strangers yelling, not this small town silence.

“I’m sure you’ll crack the code eventually, Ember,” Paisley remarks. “That’s what you do. You’re good at breaking down hard interview subjects.”

“Yeah, that’s what I do, but this guy is proving a real challenge.”

“And are there any good men in town? Does anyone catch your eye? Anything to write home about?”

She’s straight to it...

“Not in a million years, Paisley,” I say glumly. “There’s nothing interesting here. Nothing to see... no interesting men at all.”

But that’s a lie, and I know it. As I deny her interrogation, a thought appears in my head. It’s Connor Penmayne. He forms sharply, fully formed, in front of me. Clear as freaking day.

Nope. Nope. Nope.

I don’t want to think of him, especially not as an interesting man, but I can’t help myself.

Oh, no.

“Good luck with your impossible man,” Paisley says, breaking my concentration. “And good luck with the dating field out there. It’s probably tougher than back here.”

“Thanks.”

“Let me know when you’re done and when you get the hell out of there. We’ll go downtown together. We’ll get some drinks, get wildly drunk, and put the world to rights.”

“Oh, I can’t wait for that day, Paisley.”

My friend hangs up and I’m left to watch the kids playing in the park while my head spins. That phone call has only solidified what I’ve been fearing.

I lied to her.

There is most certainly a man here who’s starting to pique my interest. Against all the odds.

It’s not just a professional curiosity that I’m interested in Connor Penmayne, this is something... more. I can’t deny it.

I’m a logical gal – I don’t believe emotions can just get in the way of my work. Surely not.

But that’s what is happening to me. Something totally unexpected and unexplainable.

I’m going crazy over a Penmayne. Boy, oh boy.

Over a man who so clearly hates me with every atom in his lovely, tall, well-framed, perfect, rough body...

I bury my face in my hands.

What is happening to me?

21

CONNOR

I’m walking to my pickup truck when I see my brother.

It is a surprise; I have to say.

I wasn’t expecting to see him here, now.

Professor Spencer Penmayne is running on the sidewalk, making long, gliding strides as he pounds the ground beneath his feet. He’s got the latest designer running gear on. Expensive stuff, surely. I’m not surprised in the slightest by what he’s wearing - my brother is someone who takes his exercise very seriously, like all of us Penmaynes. Sure, we’ve been gifted with great genes, but we also very much take care of our bodies.

---