Page 24 of Ink and Ashes
“It’s almost out, so the other half of our team is helping BCWS finish up there while we do the same here.” His eyes move over my body, assessing me.
As I watch him watch me with a curious but frustrated glint in his eye, I find myself wishing I could read his mind. What I wouldn’t give to know exactly what he’s thinking.
“Great,” I mutter sarcastically. “Well, I’m not leaving.”
He rolls his eyes, groaning. “One of my guys is coming with you then.”
I smirk. “You volunteering?”
He doesn’t flinch. “No.”
Shaking my head, I blow out a breath. “I don’t need protecting.”
“And I don’t need a civilian getting caught in a fire on my watch.”
Realizing this is a fight I’m not going to win, I sigh. “Fine.” I glance past him at the other firefighters. “Can I pick?” I tease, and I swear I see smoke come out of his ears.
Colson narrows his eyes, ignoring my request. “Dom!” he calls, and one of the firefighters comes running over. “Rhodes here is doing someinvestigating,” Colson says, putting air quotes around the word, and I roll my eyes. “Do you mind going with her in case she stumbles upon any hotspots?”
The firefighter, Dom I now know, glances between Colson and me, agreeing easily.
“Sure thing, boss.”
After raking his eyes over me once more, Colson turns and storms back to the group.
I watch him leave, admiring the view of him from behind. He may be infuriating as hell, but he’s also the finest man I’ve ever seen.
His khaki cargo pants somehow show off his perfectly sculpted ass and muscular thighs, and his uniform tee is pulled taut around his biceps and broad chest. His left arm is covered in nature-scape tattoos, and there’s a tree with birds flying around it peeking out from beneath his shirt sleeve on his right. I know from when I saw him shirtless that those birds spread up his shoulder and over his right pectoral—doves, I think.
Resilient. Loyal. Two words that I imagine describe the fire lieutenant well.
I’ve never found tattoos that attractive, but Colson makes them look damn good. So good that I almost forget Dom is standing next to me until he clears his throat.
“Sorry,” I say, feeling my cheeks flush.
He huffs a laugh, but thankfully doesn’t say anything.
“Allow me to introduce myself.” I hold my hand out to him. “I’m Holland Rhodes. It’s nice to meet you, Dom.”
He grinds his teeth together, wrapping his hand around mine. “I wish I could say it’s nice to meet you too, but according to Lieutenant Caldwell, you’ve been nothing but trouble so far.”
I smile. “Lieutenant Killjoy has a stick up his ass. Seems to me like he could use some trouble to shake things up a bit.”
“Good luck with that.” Dom laughs, shaking his head. “Colson’s been burned, literallyandmetaphorically. It’s not my story to share, but the press has targeted him in the past. He hasn’t been the same since, and he struggles to let people in because of it. Especially people from the media. There’s a reason for the stick up his ass.”
Dom grimaces, realizing he’s talking about his lieutenant’s ass. I chuckle, but the ominous tone surrounding Colson’s issues with the press makes me all the more curious about him.
“Just cut him some slack,” Dom adds. “If there’s something to find, he’ll come around eventually.”
I’m not so sure about that, but I nod anyway.
“So, what can I help you with?” he asks as we begin to walk deeper into the forest.
“Do you know where the fire started?”
When Dom nods, my shoulders slump in relief. While I have a rough idea of where it started thanks to the BC wildfire map, finding the exact location is tricky as someone who isn’t well-versed in all things wildfire. Colson making Dom come with me might actually turn out to be a big help.
“Perfect. I want to see if there are any clues as to how it started, and your lieutenant insisted that I don’t venture into the woods alone,” I tell him, ignoring the thought that Colson might actuallycare.
