Page 18 of The Night Belongs To Fireman

Since Stan was already enthusiastically butting his head against Rachel’s hand, the answer seemed clear. She looked surprised as Stan welcomed her caress. Fred took note of the small size of her hand, and the sure way she handled Stan. “He seems pretty happy to me. What sort of behavior is he exhibiting? And what’s his name again?”

“Stan.”

“Interesting name for a dog.”

“Long story, but Stan is short for Constancia. We couldn’t let him have a girl’s name, so we call him Stan.”

“That’s thoughtful, but dogs don’t have our ideas of gender-based nomenclature,” she said absently.

Gender-based nomenclature. Huh. Fred found himself even more fascinated by her than he’d been at the accident scene. She was such an odd mixture of things, courageous and clearly intelligent on the one hand, but a little … flaky on the other.

“So what behaviors have you worried?”

On the spot, Fred searched for something plausible. Clearly he hadn’t thought this through. Showing up with Stan was one thing; lying about him was another. “Well, he sleeps a lot. I’m worried that he might be depressed.”

“How’s his appetite?”

“Voracious.” For some reason, the word, hanging between them, took on a sexual undertone. Fred hurried past it. “I thought maybe it’s a psychological thing. You know, childhood issues. I mean, puppyhood.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she offered Stan a treat, which he gulped down with his usual eagerness. “Have you noticed any limpness in his tail?”

“Limpness?” Somehow, that sounded sexual too. “Um, no,” he answered in a slightly choked voice. “His tail is …” don’t say stiff … “not limp. He wags it a lot.”

“Is he still interested in playing, chasing balls, that sort of thing?”

Fred couldn’t answer. He needed to give his dirty mind a damn timeout.

She rose to her feet and planted her hands on her slim hips. She had to be one of the most petite girls he’d ever met. “Are you making fun of me?”

“No.”

“Stan doesn’t have any issues, does he? What’s going on here? Is there a reporter outside? Is this some kind of camera crew ambush, the fireman hero reunited with the girl he rescued?”

“What? No!”

“I’ve seen all the stories on TV. They’re calling you the Bachelor Hero.”

He groaned and rubbed the back of his neck. “Ella Joy’s playing some sort of game, trying to make me into a superhero. Believe me, I’m doing everything I can to avoid her and her cameras.” An idea came to him. “Maybe that’s what has Stan so upset.”

“Oh please.” She took a step toward him, looking so furious he feared for his nose. “Leave poor Stan out of this.”

“You aren’t going to punch me again, are you?” he asked, standing his ground.

She stopped dead, looking completely taken aback, then crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t mean to punch you. It was an accident. And I apologized. Is that why you’re here, for another apology?”

Stan pawed at her pants leg, clearly hoping for more petting. Fred watched in amazement, since Stan usually kept his distance from strangers. Rachel must really have a way with dogs.

“No. I wanted to apologize. I shouldn’t have tried to put you in the ambulance right away. I knew you were having trouble with your claustrophobia. I owe you an apology for that.”

She examined him closely. The thoroughness of her inspection gave him a disembodied sensation, as if the two of them were floating together a few feet off the ground. He stood still and let the moment play out.

“You don’t owe me any apology,” she finally said, a wide smile breaking across her face. That grin gave her an entirely different look, sort of mischievous and pixie-faced. “I assume you got my note?”

“I did. And I’m afraid department regulations prohibit me from accepting personal gifts.”

Her smile vanished. “Really? But I looked online and read that many firefighters drink coffee, so that seemed like a good choice, and then I read that the Lazy Daisy is popular with the …”

Fred could have kicked himself. Rachel clearly wasn’t used to being teased. She wouldn’t last two minutes at the firehouse. “I’m kidding,” he interrupted her. “It was going to be a clumsy attempt to ask if you’d like to take a drive to the Lazy Daisy with me and cash in one of those coffees.”

Her mouth dropped open, then a slow flush drifted across her cheeks. “Oh.”

“Very clumsy,” he added. “If you laugh me out of your office, I wouldn’t blame you.”

A notch appeared between her eyebrows. “So your dog is fine.”

“As fine as a dog surrounded by firefighters can be. Sorry for dragging him in here.”

She knelt next to Stan and ruffled his ears again. “That’s okay. It’s nice to see Stan.”

He noticed that she didn’t say anything about it being nice to see him. Maybe she was still worried about the Bachelor Hero crap.

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