Page 17 of Set Me On Fire

Every suspicion I’d been harbouring was instantly confirmed. Millie took in all the ways Noah had changed in a slow and thorough inspection. When I glanced at Knox, his eyebrow rose, making clear he saw shit too.

“Um… yeah.”

Shit, shit, awkward Noah was reasserting himself, and if the way he spoke to women in the past was anything to go by, he was minutes away from shutting down and not saying a thing.

“You can get his personal trainer’s number later,” I said. “C’mon, let's play firemen!”

There was a reason why they always had me doing the school visits. I could gee up any crowd, and right then Millie snorted. I escorted her over to our truck, opening the door with a flourish, then ushering her in. Climbing up into the cab was hard work in the oversized tunic, and as much as I wanted to put a hand on that perfectly formed arse and help her in, I didn’t. She wiggled into the centre seat, then looked at the rest of us.

“OK, what now?”

I thought that’s when Knox would get in the driver’s seat, and I’d ride shotgun, just like we normally did, but instead, he climbed into the seat beside Millie. It was always a tight fit, but you could fit three firefighters in the back. Noah watchedthis happen wide eyed, then scrambled in, and that’s when something interesting happened. The doors were shut and Noah’s girl was wedged tightly between the two men. This was my cue to get in the driver’s seat and continue the game, but instead, I watched Millie tip her helmet back, wide eyed and pink cheeked, then fix her gaze at the front windscreen, looking anywhere but at them.

Well, well, well, I think our Millie was quite liking this experience.

“Are you OK?” Noah’s voice was low and gentle. “It’s not too squishy?”

“Nope.” Her reply came far too quickly. “I can barely feel a thing in this suit.” His eyebrow jerked up. “I mean… You know what I mean.”

One little glance, full of mute pleading not to push the issue, was all it took to get him smiling, so that was my cue. I pulled myself into the driver’s seat and then continued the tour.

“The night we came to put out the Stafford fire, we tore through town to get to you,” I said, almost able to see it. “Sirens blaring?—”

“Can we put the sirens on now?” she asked.

“Brent doesn’t like it,” Knox replied, even as my hand strayed to the button to turn it on. Better not then.

“We pulled up out front of the pub,” I continued. “Knox was barking orders.”

“You’re the lead firefighter,” she said, looking up at him. “You manage the team?”

“Try to,” he replied.

“He’s just being modest,” I added. “Knox makes sure we get the job done right, but on that night, he was a little distracted.” Yep, those pink cheeks just got pinker. “Noah took over, making sure we got the job done.”

“Just focussed on the fire.”

I wanted to hate the guy sometimes. Noah never talked himself up, always put any praise on the team, not himself, because he was too damn nice for that, and that’s why I said this.

“He made sure we got the job done.”

Millie removed her helmet and stared at Noah.

“So what did you do?”

He swallowed hard, his eyes burning into hers, but he shook his head and reached for some chill.

“I was talking to Henry about what we were likely to find,” he said, his voice pitched low for just her to hear. “We may or may not have bitched about your cook.”

“Well, that’s something I can get behind. Bloody Geoff…” She shook her head.

“Bloody Geoff,” he echoed with a grin.

“Once we worked out where the fire had started, we moved fast, unrolling the hoses,” Noah continued.

“So is that what we do now?” she asked.

“Now we get you squirting.” I shouldn’t be dragging her attention back my way. I shouldn’t have been making suggestive remarks to my teammate’s girl. I certainly shouldn’t have started grinning at her flustered response, but I dragged my focus away from her and back to Knox. “Whaddya reckon? Should we head into the training area and give Millie a chance to handle some hose?”

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