Page 15 of Inferno

He’d been suspended for what he did, but it had been worth it. Those guys backed off hassling Sam’s little sister, and he and Samantha were inseparable for the next ten years.

She was with Romeo?

Together?

Julio held out his hand, and the firefighter closest to him hauled him up. He swayed, but there was no way he’d do this not on his own two feet.

She turned to him. “You look terrible, but you’ll be the doctor’s problem.”

While chaos swirled around them he signed,Romeo?letter by letter. Then,Really?Samantha’s expression shifted, and he saw exasperation plain as day.

She said, “You have no idea what?—”

He cut her off, dragging her up against him. Julio saw the surprise—but also not—on her face. She knew what he was doing, and why. Because she knew him better than anyone else. The way he knew her…even if it had been two years.

He saw it all there in her eyes.

A second before he touched his lips to hers.

SIX

Samantha squeezed the bridge of her nose. Still able to feel his smoky clothes up against her. She didn’t want to think about the rest of him, especially when the lines between “supposed to” and “off limits” tended to blur when they were around each other.

“Are you gonna tell me what that was?” Romeo asked.

She looked up, perched on the edge of a chair in the waiting area while Romeo went for a cup of coffee. “Thanks.”

He settled beside her and sipped.

She tasted hers—awful, but strong enough to wake her up.

“Nothing? We’re just gonna ignore the fact a fire captain grabbed you and kissed you like that in front of everyone. He can’t even talk because he ate so much smoke, but everyone heard that statement loud and clear.”

Across the other end of the waiting room, two firefighters looked over. They probably heard everything Romeo had just said.

Samantha wanted to crawl under the chair and…never come out. “Finish your coffee and let’s go.”

She didn’t allow hot drinks in the car that didn’t have secure lids after her training officer had drilled into her the importanceof not having injury hazards. A hot drink in a high-speed chase? No, she’d rather drink fast and then go rather than wind up with a burn on her leg after it spilled.

“Wearegoing to talk about this.” He leaned slightly toward her. “And that woman.”

“She’s off limits.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.”

Samantha shoved his shoulder, then got up and went over to the firefighters sitting across from them. “How is your guy?”

The older one with the mustache said, “The kid has a sprained ankle. Coda has inhalation. He should be all right, though.”

His buddy sitting beside him struggled to keep a straight face. “Heard you gave him mouth-to-mouth.”

He was newer and hadn’t been on shift when Julio was during the time they’d been together. The older guy had. He knew they’d had an ugly, public breakup two years ago.

“I’m glad it’s only minor.” She nodded. “Anyone else?”

The older guy said, “Two vics in critical, and the guy Coda got out has a dislocated shoulder. We’ll update the PD if you want? After we make sure our boys get back to the station.”

She held out her hand, and they shook. “I’d appreciate it.”

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