Page 74 of The Guy Who Became My Grumpy Boss

Her insistent tone, more than her words, pushed me into action.

At this point, no more than a few seconds had passed since someone had so helpfully yelled fire, and I’d expected at least a few of our employees to care enough about their lives to be at least moving toward an exit.

Instead, almost everyone who had stepped away from the flames was now going toward them.

Idiots.

I hurled the accusation at them as I too ran toward the problem, but I was in charge and therefore responsible for others.

Most of which were staring with slack jaws and wide eyes.

It took less than five seconds for me to run to the other side of the room. My morning workouts had left me strong and agile, and I barely slowed as I leapt over half-finished ramps, walls of cans, and a pyramid of rice boxes.

As I approached, I heard the group who had gathered arguing instead of scattering.

“Here, use the water in my bottle.”

“We don’t know what kind of a fire it is, throw some bakingpowder on it.”

“Do you have baking powder handy?”

“We’ve got some sand.”

“It’s not a grease fire, just stomp on it.”

“You stomp on it.”

I’d never actually faced a possibly out of control fire in a building before, so this was new to me, but everything I’d ever studied about the situation had called for immediate evacuation.

When I arrived, a ring of at least a dozen people had formed around the flames, as if they were about to roast marshmallows instead of receiving third-degree burns.

Marissa had joined the circle. In fact, she was the closest person to the fire.

“Get back!” I ordered everyone as I shooed them away with my hands. “You all need to get out of the building.”

Two men looked at the fire, then around, then back at me. “Why?” one of them asked.

I pointed. “Fire.”

“It’s little.”

By now, the flames were as high as my knees and expanding outward. It looked as if someone had purposely made a structure of cardboard boxes and then lit it up.

“It’s not going anywhere,” another man said.

My brain was wailing that we were all going to die, but before I could open my mouth to tell everyone to evacuate, Jessica arrived.

“Out of the way!” Her assertive voice parted the circle like the portrayal of Moses parting the Red Sea. Jessica had a long, dark object in her hands that flapped behind her. She stopped a foot from the fire then unfurled what looked like a blanket on top of it.

The blanket hit the ground and the fire with a light thump, burying the flames.

Everyone in the now broken circle turned their gazes to Jessica and stared at her as if she’d sprouted a superhero cape and glittery red mask.

Jessica, breathing hard, grinned at me.

At that moment, she looked more beautiful than ever, with slightly flushed skin and bright eyes. The fact that she’d just saved the day made her even more appealing.

“What is that?” someone asked.

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