Page 49 of Her Paramedic
It wasn’t long before Talia drifted off to sleep.
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Slate leaned against the wall and watched Ace run through a drill with a few new hires. He had the next two days off since his schedule was switching from nights to days to give his body time to acclimate. He and Ace were having dinner together and discussing the expansion. Slate also wanted to know what the other man needed from him when this happened. He was currently a silent partner, working in the background when needed, but taking on more employees and training them wouldn’t be something Ace could do alone. Since he was closer, Slate didn’t mind stepping up to assist him more and help him train trainers.
The bracelet on his wrist vibrated in two short bursts and he looked at it to find the sun lit green. Talia was thinking about him. He pressed the center of his bracelet once to return the message.
When he’d been thinking of presents to get her for Valentine’s Day, Slate had originally thought about buying lamps that did something similar. They would each get one, and when they missed or were thinking about each other, they could touchtheirs, and the other one would turn on. They could respond to one another by changing the hue.
However, with him working nights at the time, he knew that wouldn’t be the best choice since he either wouldn’t be home or would be asleep if she pressed it. Sure, he could do the same when he woke up, but it wouldn’t have differed greatly from what they had been doing, which was him waiting to text her back when he wasn’t driving or her staying up late to talk to him when she had to work the following day.
Slate had looked for something else, and that was when he came across the bracelets. He researched, read how they worked, and thought they would be perfect. He’d placed the order, and when he saw they wouldn’t arrive before Valentine’s Day, he knew it would make an even better birthday present. It would be easy enough for him to send her a message through it while he worked, since bracelets were one of the approved jewelry items they could wear.
It hadn’t been hard to tell that Talia wasn’t a fan of them going more than a week without seeing one another, and neither was he. With them still being in the early stages of their relationship, it wasn’t ideal, but life happened. The only thing he could do was let her know he understood how she felt because he felt the same way.
Slate checked the time on his watch as Ace called the training to an end. It hadn’t lasted as long as other sessions, but Slate was sure that had to do with it being Sunday. Typically, training was only held three days a week for four to six hours, but the few people there had asked Ace if he would meet them an extra day to review a few things. His friend had taken it as a testament to their work ethic.
Since they hired veterans after a few weeks of training, they could be put on assignments. Their training process incorporated anything from securing their principal in a mob ordiffusing a hostile situation and combat. Today, the focus had been on the proper way to disarm someone.
“You ready?” Ace asked when they were the only ones left in the training facility.
“Yeah, but I traveled. Which means you’re paying,” Slate responded.
“Yeah, yeah,” the other man replied as he locked up the building.
Slate leaned back in his seat, beer bottle in hand, as he considered the best time to kick things off. Killian had devised a training program that should take four to six weeks for the best results.
“I think to train more people to take on longer assignments, choose two or three people you trust, outside of us, to help train others who want the opportunity to be placed on longer assignments. If you start training them now, everyone else interested can start training at the beginning of May, and the service can be rolled out in July. It’ll be right in time for people taking summer vacations and the different festivals and concerts.” Slate took a drink from the bottle as Ace let his suggestion digest momentarily.
“I have two that would make excellent trainers, and the time frame is workable. Launching when those events take place is a good idea. We should start advertising now.”
“I agree. Get a buzz going. That way, there’s traction when things are ready.” Slate took another drink. “What do you need from me to help with some of the added weight?”
“You’re back on days, right?”
“I am,” Slate affirmed.
“If you could run one of the evening training sessions twice a month until the launch, that would be less I had to do.”
There were evening sessions once a week for those who preferred to work overnight and sleep through the day. That wasn’t unusual. Several times, a discharged or retired soldier had trouble sleeping at night for one reason or another, and one of Ace’s biggest things was being able to accommodate them. Far too many veterans had difficulty finding jobs once their contracts ended, and his friend had been determined that the time of day would not be one of them with their company.
“I got you. I’ll send you my schedule for the month, and you can choose two of my off days for training.”
“That works.” Ace took a drink from his bottle. “How are things with you and Talia?”
“They’re good. Better than good, really,” Slate replied, and Ace smirked at him. “What?” he then asked.
“Nothing. It’s amusing how you and your cousin fell for sort of sisters. Not to mention Axel being married to your girlfriend’s sister.”
Slate chuckled. “It’s a delightful coincidence. One that you could get in on. You seemed to be pretty chatty with Alivia when we all met.”
Ace raised a brow at him. “No. That woman is an attitude and a handful I don’t need. Besides, I was being a good wingman for you. She seemed hell-bent on not letting you and Talia speak without her putting her two cents in.”
Didn’t he know it, and he was grateful to his friend for that. “You used to like handfuls and attitudes,” Slate teased.
“Yeah, until attitude turned crazy and set my car on fire.”
They laughed, and while they could do so now, it had not been funny four years ago when it happened. He remembered Maximus telling Ace that she gave off bad vibes. The rest of them had felt it, too, but decided not to say anything once Ace blew Maximus off by telling him they were only having fun and itwasn’t serious. The woman had not gotten the memo, and it led to months of her doing some of the most unhinged shit.
