Page 28 of Forged By Fire

Clint had chosen a cake donut with chocolate frosting. “Did you sleep okay last night?”

Since her mouth was still full, she simply shook herhead. Once she swallowed her bite, she washed it down with some juice. “Not particularly. I had nightmares.”

“About the warehouse?”

She nodded, relieved when he didn’t ask for details. Living through the dream last night was bad enough; she didn’t really want to talk about it.

A change of topic, or at least a deviation from it, was necessary.

“You know, I’ve fought a lot of fires, but I think this will be the first time I’ve ever gone back into a burned building afterward.”

“What’s one of the strangest call-outs you’ve ever had?”

They spent the next twenty minutes talking about the odd cases they’d seen. The conversation helped Leslie slowly relax as she pushed thoughts of the warehouse and the nightmares into the back of her mind. Once they finished eating, she gathered their plates and glasses and set them in the sink to wash later.

Clint’s chair groaned as he pushed it away from the table and stood. When she turned, he was standing nearby, his eyes filled with compassion and concern.

“You don’t have to go back to the warehouse.” He reached out and gently took her hands in his. “Trust me. No one will think any less of you.”

She knew he was right. Her colleagues would understand. Strangely enough, and for reasons she couldn’t quite pinpoint, she was more worried about what Clint would think of her. “I appreciate that. I’m not going to lie—it’s tempting to take you up on that and stay as far away from that place as possible.” She looked down at their joined hands. A spark of awareness flared between them and pulsed straight to her heart. “If I don’t do this, though, I’m afraid the nightmares are never going to end. Besides, I oweit to Danny. If going in there helps lead us to the man who shot him, then it’ll be worth it.”

Clint gently tugged her hands to bring her gaze back to his face. “Hey. I’m going to be right there with you the whole time.”

“I’m glad, because I’m not sure I could do it without you.”

He lifted one hand and softly brushed her chin with his thumb. “I like you, Leslie Granger. A lot.” There was no missing the way admiration and heat tangled in his gaze.

His focus dropped to her lips, and it sent her heart racing.

“I like you, too, Clint Baker.”

In one motion, he took a small step forward, leaned in, and gently covered her mouth with his in a kiss that was somehow the perfect combination of sweetness and intensity. When she reached out to press her palm against his chest to steady herself, his arm went around her waist, and he pulled her closer to deepen the kiss.

Leslie had no idea how long they stood there until a chime in the background slowly forced its way into her conscious thought. Clint must have heard it, too, because he broke the kiss, even though he didn’t drop his arm.

“It’s a notification on my phone. To remind me that it’s time to leave for the warehouse.”

She sounded breathless—a detail Clint must’ve liked because the corners of his mouth lifted in a smile.

“Then we’d better get going.” He took his time pressing a kiss to the corner of her mouth before releasing her.

That amazing kiss she’d shared with Clint thoroughly occupied her mind until they drove through the gate and into the warehouse parking lot. As they approached the large building, her stomach cramped up, and she tried to ignore the wave of nausea that made her regret eating breakfast at all.

Her nightmare from last night pushed its way into her thoughts, and she had to remind herself that it wasn’t real. They’d gotten Danny out of there in time, and he was at the hospital healing.

Even though they were ten minutes early, they certainly weren’t the first to arrive. Detective Paris was speaking with four other officers near the grouping of police cars.

Another vehicle approached and parked beside Clint’s, and Chief Menendez got out. Clint and Leslie joined him.

The chief took a minute to look over the warehouse. One end of the building had collapsed on itself, with pieces of debris littering the ground around it. The metal supports and sheeting were bent and twisted at odd angles and covered with soot. They wouldn’t be able to go near that area once they got inside.

The rest of the building looked sound, though. They wouldn’t have been given the green light to go back inside if that weren’t the case. But she doubted the damage was repairable.

“They’re going to need to tear the warehouse down and put up a new one,” Chief Menendez observed. “I wonder how much of the stored paper was salvageable.”

“Probably not much.”

Even if the fire didn’t touch the whole building, smoke would’ve done significant damage, not to mention water from the sprinklers overhead.

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