Page 7 of Memories with Fire

While I had silently hoped for an encounter with her, this isn’t what I had in mind. I envisioned running into her, having an awkward moment. Maybe I would have gotten her to laugh and blush. Then we’d catch up over coffee to see what life looked like for each of us. It wouldn’t be a date, just two people who knew each other years ago, who had an incredible summer together.

And if she were single, well, thinking about that would be getting ahead of myself.

Dang. I am not romantic by nature. I’ve always had ladies throwing themselves at me. Being an athlete in high school and college, and then a firefighter, it naturally happened, and I’ve always been more than happy with that. I love everything about the ladies, and they love me. The more, the merrier.

Hailey would have been my one exception. I would have married that girl at eighteen years old.

Speaking of Hailey, the pretty little redhead walks out of the bathroom down the hall ahead of me. She doesn’t turn in my direction, instead heading the other way towards the kitchen and rec area of the firehall. For a moment, I just stare at that ass. They don’t make the uniforms so you look sexy in them, at least in my opinion, but her ass looks dang fine in it. Rounder and fuller than when we were younger, but I’ll never complain about that.

Focus Luke.

“Hailey!” I call, picking up my pace to catch up with her. She doesn’t stop, or turn around. There’s not a chance she didn’t hear me, but I try again anyway. “Hailey!”

This time she stops abruptly. A little too abruptly. With my quick pace, I’m damn near on top of her and I have to pull up suddenly, causing my coffee to slosh. Not on me. On her. Just as she’s spinning around on me.

“Oh shit,” I mutter.

The good news is her top is dark blue, and the coffee stain won’t show up horribly. The bad news is I’m now staring at where it landed on her left boob. Again, the uniform isn’t sexy, but I’ve been under that uniform, even if it was ten years ago. I’m not going to lie and say I’m not thinking about those perky, more-than-a-handful, tits.

Until a growl forces my eyes up.

“That wasn’t how I wanted to start this conversation,” I tell her with a wince.

The ire in her green eyes would make most men shrink. Hailey never intimidated me though. I saw through the toughness and sass she projected, zeroing in on a girl that wanted so much more for herself, but was too scared to go after it. She had a plan for her life, and coloring outside those lines was unacceptable to her. Until I came along.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, enunciating every word.

I really wish I could help myself, but I can’t. I know I’m antagonizing her when I hold the manual up. “Trying to get through this thing.”

There’s a tic in her jaw. “I don’t mean right this second. What the hell are you doing here? In Santa Rosé. In my firehouse.”

Despite being a smart guy, I don’t always make the smartest decisions. There’s something about the hard road I’ve always enjoyed—not counting the last few months of torment. This, however, is one of those situations where I should choose the easy road, give Hailey the answers she’s looking for without a fight. The problem is, teasing her was one of my favorite past times, and it doesn’t seem like what happened between us, or ten years, has changed that.

“I got a job offer,” I say casually with a shrug of my shoulder.

In my peripheral vision, I see her chest rise as she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. The spark in her eyes tells me how frustrated she’s becoming, and I have to hold back my smile. I shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I am.

“So someone just called you up and said, ‘Hey Luke, we have a firefighter position available in Santa Rosé. You interested?’” Hailey rolls her eyes, her hands planting themselves on her hips, and it might be the sexiest thing I’ve seen in recent memory. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

“Not at all,” I tell her with conviction, my expression sober. Ten years ago, she was the smartest person I’d ever known.

For the briefest of seconds, something besides anger flickers in her eyes. A softening. It’s only there for a moment before the hardness returns and she snarls at me. “So what the hell are you doing here then, trying to be a firefighter?”

Immune to her fury, I give her my most charming smile, knowing my dimples will pop. She used to find those irresistible. “I’m not trying. I’ve been a firefighter for the last six years. I’m simply transferring.”

The sound of annoyance that comes from her is part growl, part scream. Her hands drop to her sides, closed in fists. Briefly, I wonder if she thinks about hitting me. If she does, she thinks better of it, instead choosing to turn on her heel.

“Hailey, wait,” I call out, taking a step in her direction.

I don’t get any further than that when she whips around, jabbing a finger in my face. “The last I checked, being a firefighter in Santa Rosé is a far cry from being a fucking cop in Texas.”

“And being a paramedic isn’t a doctor,” I retort with a hint of my own frustration.

Immediately, I regret it. Her eyes tell me I’ve crossed a line I didn’t know about. The anger drains from her and is replaced by something far worse. Dull, lifeless green eyes stare at me, and my gut churns. I saw a lot of sides to Hailey in that short span we were together, but I never saw this. The spark in her eye has completely extinguished.

I’m relieved to hear barely contained rage when she speaks next, her chin lifting, though the light doesn’t return. “Do not talk to me. Do not look at me. And don’t you even dare think about me. If you need something from a paramedic, you ask Quinn. I will have nothing to do with you.”

When she turns this time, I let her go without a word.

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