Page 7 of Ink and Ashes
“Excuse me,” the voice says.
“Yeah?” I ask as I turn around, finding a woman with hair as red as the fire I’ve been staring at for days standing a few feet away from me.
Before I have a chance to say anything more, her eyes trail over my chest. “Huh, shirtless firefighter,” she says admirably. “Feels like I just walked into a calendar photoshoot.”
I grit my teeth together, unable to find the energy to laugh at her lame attempt at a joke, as I grab a clean uniform tee from the basket beside me and pull it over my head.
“Damn, tough crowd,” she teases.
“Can I help you with something? Visitors aren’t supposed to be up here.” My voice sounds as impatient and exhausted as I feel.
She opens her mouth to respond when the words, “Hey, Col—” interrupt her. Beau stops mid-thought as his gaze shifts to the woman standing before me. “Sorry. I’ll come back.”
I jerk my head in a nod as he turns to leave, but not before shooting me a wink over his shoulder. I ignore him and glance back down at the woman, finding a light smirk dusting her lips.
“What?” I grunt, crossing my arms over my chest.
She smirks. “Your name is Cole and you’re a firefighter?”
I roll my eyes. I’ve heard that one too many times before. “Colson.” I grunt. “But it’s Lieutenant Caldwell to you.”
She clears her throat. “My bad, Lieutenant,” she says innocently, but that doesn’t stop all the blood from rushing to mycock.
It’s been so damn long since I got laid. Normally, that wouldn’t bother me, except a woman who looks likehercalling methatis reminding me of exactly how long it’s been.
But the last thing I need to be thinking about right now is sex. So I grit my teeth, forcing myself to focus on the fire we’ve spent the past few days fighting instead of the one standing in front of me.
She rolls her lips together. “I couldn’t find anyone in the lobby.”
“So you decided to let yourself wander the station?” I cock a brow. “You know there’s a county-wide evacuation alert, right?” I ask, because it’s clear this woman is not from around here. Aside from the fact that I’d never forget a face like hers, she’s dressed like she just came from a corporate office in the city—a dead giveaway that she’s not where she belongs.
With a light chuckle, she says, “I do.” The woman shifts her weight from one high-heeled foot to the other. “My name is Holland Rhodes. I’m an investigative journalist, and I’m here to?—”
“Nope,” I say, cutting her off. Those words worked wonders on killing any feelings of attraction I had a moment ago. She’s not the first reporter to show up digging for information, and she won’t be the last. I don’t know what it is they’re looking for; all I know is that it can’t be good.
It never is.
I storm past her toward my quarters, sensing her hot on my heels as I walk away.
“You didn’t even?—”
“Don’t need to. I said no.”
I swing open the door to my office, but before I have a chance to close it, she’s there.
“Okay,Lieutenant,” she snarls. “You wanna shut me down? Fine. But at least let me finish a fucking thought before you do it.” She takes a step further into my quarters. “My name is Holland Rhodes and I’m an investigative journalist. I saw on the news thatthis town has had over half its average number of fires per year in less than two months since the season began. I want to help.”
I shake my head. “Respectfully, a big city reporter showing up in our town isn’t help. It’s a distraction, and it’s not what we need. You should go. You never should’ve come here to begin with.”
“Not a reporter.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “And I think there might be more to the fires than meets the eye?—”
“There isn’t.”
“You know that for certain?”
My jaw flexes.
“I can help get to the bottom of the fires, if you’ll let me.”
