Page 49 of A Spot of Trouble
Aha! So therewassomething he wanted to say. Sheknewit. “Now you have to tell me.”
“Violet.” He was on the verge of walking away. Violet could tell. Why did he have to be so infuriating all the time?
She held up her hands. “Fine. It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. We both know what this is about.”
“We do?”
“Of course. You’re trying to thank me.” Violet shrugged. “Like I said, I get it.”
Sam’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’m trying to thank you? For what, exactly?”
She waved a hand. “For saving your life, silly.”
An incredulous laugh burst from Sam’s mouth. “Unbelievable. Have you forgotten that youset me on fire?”
Violet glanced at Cinder.A little help here?But the Dalmatian’s expression was as neutral as Switzerland.
She cleared her throat. “If you don’t want to thank me, then why are you hesitating to say whatever is on your mind? Has the Dalmatian got your tongue?”
He looked at her like she’d lost her mind. Maybe she had. “That’s not an expression.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do, which in and of itself is cause for concern.” He pressed hard on his temples, as if speaking her language was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him. “For the record, thanking you was the last thing on my mind.”
She didn’t believe him for a second. “Oh, yeah? Then what was it that you wanted to say?”
He pointed to a spot somewhere behind her, in the depths of the cupcake truck. “You’re in violation of the fire code. Again.”
Violet felt her mouth drop open.
Seriously?She’d thought he was brimming with unspoken gratitude when in fact he’d once again been looking for reasons to issue more of those annoying citations.
Violet was mortified to her core. The only thing that would have been more humiliating was if Sam Nash, the world’s most efficient fire marshal, had forgotten about their kiss.
Hadhe forgotten about it? By all appearances he had, while Violet had been reliving it every time she closed her eyes.
Hot…so hot.She’d give anything to get those aching words out of her head for good.
“It’s your extension cords.” Sam motioned toward her power strip and the tangle of cords plugged into it. “They’re not commercial grade, and you’re not supposed to use multiple strings like that. The North Carolina fire code has specific requirements for power cords on food trucks, so technically, you’ve got two violations.”
Of course she did.
Violet wanted nothing more than to offer up a snappy comeback, but she was at a loss. Was Sam’s home wallpapered with the Turtle Beach fire code? How did he come up with all these violations off the top of his head? The mind reeled.
“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Sam lifted an eyebrow. “Dalmatian got your tongue?”
***
Sam was winning—not just the ongoing Dalmatian war with Violet, but also the softball game. The past few nights spent at the batting cages with his colleagues had paid off. Big time. Nearly every chance the TBFD had on deck, a firefighter knocked one out of the park.
The game ended at 6–2, in favor of the fire department. Chief Murray was elated beyond all description. In a rare breach of protocol, he’d accompanied the team to Island Pizza after the game, where the firefighters sat on one side of the restaurant and the police officers sat on the other. Gone was the casual camaraderie of the previous week. The members of the Guns team seemed shell-shocked.What just happened?their stunned expressions seemed to say.
Sam happened. That seemed to be Chief Murray’s takeaway. In the ultimate power move, he stood on a chair at Island Pizza and named Sam the MVP of the entire tournament even though they potentially still had three more games left to play. When one of the police officers called BS, Murray shrugged it off. After all, the Hoses just needed to win one more game to lock up the championship. If next Saturday looked anything like today, the tournament trophy would soon have a new place of honor in the firehouse.
Sam accepted the praise of his boss and numerous pats on the backs from Griff and the rest of the team with a certain degree of discomfort. He wasn’t sure why he felt so uneasy about the hoopla surrounding their victory.
Liar.
