Page 9 of Deadly Tiger's Single Dad Crush

A bunch of us hit the hoses and get them going. A few of us gear up to go in where there are most likely people trapped inside. I go over to Garrett. “That building is about to go down. There can’t possibly be anyone still alive in there.”

“Well, a groundskeeper told the dispatcher that he hasn’t seen his employee and is thinking that he went in to use the restroom.”

“That’s a lot of doubt for us to be running in there and risking more lives.”

Garrett nods. “I know, but we can’t ignore it, you know that. I need you and Curtis and Vittorio to head in there and clear it.”

I stare at the fire engulfing the building. “Where the hell are we going in with that?”

“Do your job, Daniel.”

Of course, I will do my job. I’m a little shocked at myself for being so hesitant. Is it because my head was filled with thoughts of Samantha on the way over here? Is being with her making me more cautious about taking risks on the job?

I deal with it, naturally, by snapping at him. “Of course I’m going to do my damned job, Garrett, and your job is to have the damned information that keeps the people in Company 417 safe so why don’t you spare me the fucking bullshit.” I walk away before he says anything. I have to. I’m utterly wrong here. I sure as hell don’t want to have to hear him say it.

I frown and then, I don’t bother to wait for everyone to be ready. I just march over and circle the building until I see one corner that seems fire free. The only entrance is a window. I run over and take my axe in hand. It’s just as I get to the window that Curtis comes up with an extinguisher ready and aimed. “Tell me you weren’t going to go in there and introduce more oxygen to this party.”

“Just fucking get ready.”I knock the window out easily and there’s a whine as air rushes in and the fire tries to jump to a new target. Curtis gets it controlled, and we both climb in.

The smoke is pretty thick. I yell, “Fire department! Hello?”There’s no response. Damn it all, we have to go inside. We move quickly and clear the bottom floor. The fire is rerouting rapidly even as my buddies work on it. New pockets are bursting to life. I hit the stairs and start running. I don’t communicate with Curtis. I just go.

I find the guy in the stairwell near the third-floor exit. He’s passed out and I check for vitals. They’re thready but there. Ihike him up over my shoulder and start heading back down.And that’s when the fire makes a jump through a window on the landing below us. I’m cut off.

Normally stairwells in buildings are meant to be protected from fire. They’ll be the last areas to succumb. The doors are usually firesafe and there are no windows. This place doesn’t seem commercial after all. Maybe it was designed to be some guy’s elaborate mansion or some private retreat. It doesn’t matter now. What matters is that I’m now trapped and need to find another way out.

And I need to find it now because the smoke is getting thicker and the heat is becoming very evident. The fire is moving into the remaining pockets. The building is going to go down.I run back up and through a door into the building. I see a long hallway. There are flames licking along one side and the ceiling. If I could, I’d shift and get us both out of there, but my tiger form would be too big inside where I’m currently trapped.

I’m sweating profusely in my gear and the guy is getting damn heavy. I have my oxygen mask but I switched it to the victim. I take it back briefly, breathe, and return it. My spare doesn’t kick in when I put it on. It’ll definitely be something for the next equipment check.

I get to the stairwell at the other end and barrel through the door. The flames have beat me to it, but I just can’t take the time to look for any other way through. I drop the victim briefly, pull an emergency blanket from my pack, cover him and hike him back onto my shoulder.I enter the stairwell and start running.

I don’t know how it goes after the second floor. I seem to be moving, but everything feels surreal. The guy weighs nothing now because I’m completely unaware of my body in time and space. I just go down and down. I walk through flames with my blanket-covered bundle and then, I’m outside and my radio is squawking.

I register nothing, though, except the last image of Samantha in my mind. She’s laughing and I feel my breath hitching in my throat.

And then, everything is quiet.

Chapter Eight

Samantha

Jeremy is excited because he’s going to do show and tell for the first time today. He’s going to show off a real firefighter badge and some firefighter toys he got for his fifth birthday party a few weeks ago. Jacob is fun to watch. He’s definitely enjoying the role of an older brother. Every now and then, he sends me a knowing look, feeling especially important and significant to be able to think of himself as one of the adults in this little way.

Jeremy’s friend Toby is at the bus stop, and he hurries to stand next to him and show him the show and tell items. Lisa, Toby’s mom, gives me a tired smile. She’s eight months pregnant. Hopefully, it won’t be long before she takes me up on my offer to drop by her house in the morning to walk Toby to the bus stop with Jeremy and Jacob.

Renee, whose daughter Annie is the oldest child at this stop, fourth grade, rushes over to tell us all about a recipe for ginger molasses cookies. She just rattles off the ingredients and then the instructions. I realize with a bit of surprise that I actually commit the recipe to memory just like that. In fact, I committedthe last recipe, a meatloaf, to memory as well. I feel like I’m kind of behaving like a wife, and I can admit that I like that.

It’s a strange thing to admit for me. I never really saw myself as the marrying type. Well, okay, that’s a bit of a lie, but what I mean is that I always saw marriage as a down-the-line kind of thing. I thought the career would come first, and then, maybe the man. Kids? Well, that was way, way, way down the line.

But now I’m standing here with these moms at the school bus stop and sharing recipes and tips and I feel happy. Content, even. It’s kind of scary, actually.

The bus shows up and we wave to the kiddos as they pile on, chattering with excitement about the day, and I’m talking about the moms here. Just kidding. Well, kind of. We are talking a lot, about dinner and snack breaks and what works when a kid gets an earache or won’t do homework or how to get grass stains out of pants.

We also talk about relationships. That is, they talk and I listen because I’m not about to suggest that anything is going on between my employer and me. But I hear them chatter about their husbands and sharing chores and leaving dirty clothes on the floor and laughing about all of it and some part of me feels a bit jealous.

And I realize I need to get moving.

I say goodbye and hop in my car and head for the grocery store first. Yep. I’m that domesticated now. I have a grocery list for a planned dinner. Like I said, scary.

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