Page 10 of Kane

Wait, he’s speaking to me. I should answer…

‘Sorry, can you say that again?’ Cassie asked, her voice trembling a little. ‘I think I might be in shock.’

Cassie listened as the firefighter began to explain. His name was Kane, and he began by explaining that there had been an electrical fire in one of the apartments. The result of computer equipment overheating and triggering a violent reaction in the mains electrical system.

‘Thing is, a lot of these gorgeous older building have pretty damned terrible electrics,’ Kane said, his voice stern and extremely gruff. ‘Pisses me off. Landlords and building managers should be held accountable.’

Cassie nodded.

Kane was big. His shoulders were broad, muscular. He had the kind of face that Cassie couldn’t help but imagine putting her soft, delicate hands on.

The fact that Kane was looking sensationally hot in his firefighter’s uniform may also have prompted Cassie’s totally overwhelming attraction.

‘You’ll have to excuse my little friend,’ Sydney said, giggling. ‘It’s been a tough day.’

‘Not to worry,’ Kane said, holding his hand in the air as he listened out for a call from his colleague. ‘Okay. I need to go back in. You said you lived here. What number? I’ll check to see if your apartment was close to the action.’

‘He’s talking to you, Cassie,’ Sydney said, rolling her eyes.

‘Oh, um, sorry,’ Cassie replied. ‘16D. Thank you. Thank you so much.’

Kane nodded and turned to walk away.

‘Look at that butt!’ Sydney said, nudging Cassie. ‘He’s so big. Rugged. If he’s not a Daddy, I will gladly run the New York marathon totally nude.’

‘That doesn’t sound so bad,’ Cassie giggled, a little bit giddy from the adrenalin that was coursing over her entire body. ‘Seriously though, I hope my apartment’s okay. None of my recent completed work is backed up online. It’s all on my tablet, laptop, and desktop computer.’

‘Well, we’ll just have to wait,’ Sydney said. ‘Come on, come with me. There’s that cute new gelato place on the corner. Let’s go there and come back in a bit. Everything will be fine.’

‘I hope so, Sydney. I really hope so.’

There was a big queue at the gelato place, so it took Cassie and Sydney a while to get served. This was probably a good thing all things considered.

Sydney did her best to keep Cassie’s spirits up.

She even did something he would never usually do. Sydney told Cassie about a new skateboard stunt she was planning. It was going to be her biggest yet - a stunt that could take her YouTube views onto the next level.

‘That could be your first million views video,’ Cassie said, cheered up by Sydney’s sharing of her secret, and the tasty vegan gelato she was tucking into. ‘It’s amazing how you just go out and do things. The way you don’t care what anyone says. It’s amazing in fact.’

‘Thanks Cassie,’ Sydney said, a big smile on her face. ‘Now before we arrive back, tell me one thing. On a scale of one to a billion, how much did you have a crush on Kane the firefighter?’

Sydney began laughing as Cassie hesitated.

The obvious truth was that Cassie had a huge crush on him.

The more Cassie paused and tried to think of reason why she didn’t find Kane total Daddy-candy, the more obvious it all became.

It was a hopeless task.

‘Okay, probably about a billion out of a billion,’ Cassie conceded, her cheeks blushing. ‘But you know me. It won’t work. The comic is just too much of a time-consuming passion for me. It’s fun to fantasize, but there’sdefinitelynot going to be anything else with this, or any other, firefighter.’

‘If you say so,’ Sydney said, clearly not believing her friend. ‘Speak of the Daddy. Heads up. Here he comes.’

It was at that point that Cassie and Sydney approached Cassie’s building and were met by Kane. His face was covered in soot. The kind of dirt and grime you’d associate with a trip down a coal mine rather than an electrical fire in NYC.

Still, Cassie wasn’t complaining.

It was…hot.