Page 5 of Set Me On Fire

He was also not normally one to get up close and personal with the public.

Usually, I had to smooth people’s ruffled feathers. I was definitely the personality hire of the team, but as I stepped closer, I heard Knox trying to talk the girl down from a ledge.

“You’re safe, and you did everything you could.”

Her whole body seemed to go limp then, as if she’d put down a burden she didn’t realise she was carrying, and that had me moving closer. She nodded, beautiful eyes shining as she looked up at him with not a little hero worship.

Interesting…

“Knox!” When her eyes swung my way, I barely suppressed a surge of satisfaction. “Fire’s out. Noah’s checking the gas bottles, but I reckon we’re good.”

Seeing Knox pissed was no new thing for me. We butted heads more times than I could count, but that was usually because I’d done something dumb. Never due to a girl. We definitely had women buzz around us when they found out what we did. The Australian firefighter’s calendar had single handedly changed my love life, but each time I tried to help the grumpy prick enjoy the same thing, he shut it all down.

Not now, though. Pretty sure what he was doing would’ve gotten him a spanking from the team HR sent out, educating us on how to appropriately deal with the public. Of course, I could’ve left the big man to it, let him forge a connection, get her number, or… I grinned and stepped forward, offering my hand.

“I’m Charlie, and you are…?”

“Millie…” she replied. Nope, that couldn’t be right. Someone as pretty as her needed a queenly name like Anastasia or something. “Amelia McDonald.” I rolled that name aroundover and over inside my head, making sure I remembered it. “I manage The Stafford.”

When I smiled, she smiled, and I liked that. Her hand was small, warm, and perfect in mine, making me glad I’d pulled my glove off. My eyes followed the plane of her cheek down to that full little cupid bow of a mouth, catching the moment her lips fell open, but whatever else she had to say, it was cut off by Noah.

“Knox, we…” I heard his boots clumping on the asphalt, felt him approach, but right now, I was too caught up in the beautiful Amelia’s response. Women didn’t often look past me to Noah, but she did right now. Her hand was pulled free and she moved closer.

“Noah…?”

Oh, I wanted her to say my name just as reverently, but I didn’t even rate a second look as she took one hesitant step then another towards him. Maybe because his face lit up in ways I’d never seen before. If Knox had little game, Noah had none.

“Millie…? What the f—?” He stopped himself with a shake of his head. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Holy crap, was Amelia that Millie?TheMillie. The woman forever enshrined in his heart, Millie. Goddess among women, I wondered how he hadn’t thrown himself at her feet and kissed those cute little toes, because I had heard a lot about this girl over the years. Whenever Noah got drunk or tired or whatever, we heard alll about the girl that got away.

And now here she was.

Chapter 4

Noah

Fuck, she was here. I’d spent way too many nights thinking about the moment when I saw Millie McDonald again, and this was about as good as it got. I was the big, tall firefighter that had rushed to the rescue, and she…

Was just as fucking beautiful as she always was.

That little smile, that wary step forward followed by more confident ones as she shook her head and then rushed closer. I moved with her, to close that gap, to stare at her wide eyed.

Because Millie was the only girl I’d ever loved.

“Holy shit, it really is you,” she said. I loved the way she raked her eyes across my body, my face, her hands rising, and I couldn’t have wanted anything more than for her to reach out and touch me. Of course, once the surprise wore off, something else rose. A flash of pain, then a cool mask replaced her spontaneous response, her eyes flicking up to meet mine. “Didn’t realise you’d become a firefighter.”

“This a friend of yours?” an older woman said, nudging her in the ribs. “Introduce us to the hot firefighter, Millie.”

She thought I was hot? I was still coming to grips with the idea women might find me attractive. Pretty sure it was just the uniform, but whatever. Millie straightened up, a flash of something in her eyes the only warning I got.

“Friend?” There was so much in that one word, pain, betrayal, anger, and I deserved every bit of it. “Noah and I went to school together. We were in the same science class in year 11.”

Nothing else. No details of what happened, what was supposed to happen, was added to her story, and I guess that made sense.

“Mrs. Simon’s class,” I replied, smiling at the other woman. “I’m Noah.”

“Annie,” the woman said with a sly smile. “So, did he look like this when he was at school? I’d have locked him down tight.”

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