Page 26 of Frosting and Flames

Not that I enjoy being called out, but it’s true. And he knew it when he assigned me the job.

“I, um… I’ll have to think about it.”

“Good. To be honest, Henry half-assed this one. There’s not even any meat. If I’d known, I would have picked up some bacon or sausage. Something.” He shakes his head, as if he’s embarrassed at what we served. “I know you’ll come up with something better.”

He pats her shoulder before strolling away, and she turns to me with panic on her face.

“Listen,” I tell her before she can say anything. “You said you’d help in a heat of the moment kind of thing. I won’t hold you to it.”

I obviously want her help and would love to hang out with her more. Even if…

I internally sigh. I didn’t get the sense she really wanted to be here today. And she clearly didn’t expect to be partnered up with me. I don’t want her feeling forced to do it because of something stupid she said.

She studies me, but I have no clue what she sees on my face. “What would you have done today if I hadn’t shown up?”

I rub at the back of my neck, chuckling awkwardly. “We would have had some real shitty pancakes, wouldn’t we?”

Her lips quirk up in a faint smile.

“You saved the day, though. And I’ll be honest—I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do about this next fundraiser. But the fire station needs more money than we get from government funding to do the things we want to do.” I shrug a shoulder. “I guess I’ll figure it out. There isn’t really an alternative.”

She nods, as if she understands. What had she said the other week when finding out she had to make all those cookies? That she always makes it work.

“I could try to help out some,” she says. “It would be good for the community,” she adds, as if she needs a reason.

The knot in my chest loosens.

I could tell her I’ll talk to Chief and explain it was a misunderstanding. But I don’t. When it comes down to it, I’m selfish. Not only because it means we’ll put on a significantly better fundraiser, but so I’ll have an excuse to keep seeing her.

Maybe… It’s a long shot, but maybe I could earn her forgiveness for what happened all those years ago.

“Great, thank you. And the community thanks you. I’m sure what we come up with together will be infinitely better than me winging it on my own.”

“None of the other guys will help?”

I rub my jaw. “Well, Henry’s leaving soon, so he’s already mentally checked out. Jamal’s pretty new and Miguel has too many kids to do a lot of extra stuff. Mark honestly doesn’t care that much and Daniel…” I chuckle, thinking about him. He’s the most accident-prone man I’ve ever met in my life. He somehow manages to trip getting off the fire truck every time, no matter how many calls we’ve been on. “Trust me when I say he’d be no good. And Chief’s got more to do than hours in the day. So that leaves me.”

Her brow furrows. “That doesn’t seem fair.”

I shrug. “I’m Lieutenant, so it makes sense it’d fall to me. I guess I should’ve seen it coming.”

“Lieutenant? That sounds fancy.”

I chuckle. “There are only so many of us. Someone has to be it.”

She makes a noncommittal sound. “Wait. Did the Chief say something earlier about other guys being on duty? Are you not working right now?”

I shake my head. “I’m okay with doing extra stuff like this on my days off.”

She looks like she wants to argue for a moment, then decides against it.

“I think of it like this,” I tell her. “I’m incredibly lucky that I get paid to do my dream job, especially when Aurora has so few full-time positions. So I don’t mind adding on a few hours here and there if it means I get to keep doing it. And even if they cut our funding and I had to work somewhere else, I’d still volunteer here. This place means a lot to me.”

Her head tilts ever so slightly to the side as she listens to me. “I get it. I have to help out at work sometimes on my day off. Case in point, the other week when you had to put out the fire.”

“Aw, that was your day off?”

She nods. “It’s fine. I’m used to it.”

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