Page 2 of Off the Clock
I threaded through three kid birthday parties, a quinceañera, and a fortieth wedding anniversary. Good lord. That couple had been married almost as long as I’d been alive. I shuddered at the thought. My last trip back to Mount Hope had been for Eric’s husband’s funeral, another reminder that long-term relationships weren’t for me. I didn’t object to monogamy as much as the inevitability of heartache.
Finally, I reached Eric’s party, notable by the mix of uniformed first responders, official vehicles parked nearby, swarms of teens, and more than a few same-sex couples with kids. Eric and Montgomery had always had an active social network, and everyone wanted to support Eric through all the firsts after losing his husband. Stopping by the edge of a large green space where people were playing flag football, I stashed my bag on a nearby picnic table as I looked around for Eric or one of my other friends.
A quick scan didn’t reveal any familiar faces, but I did spot the middle-aged quarterback for the flag football game lobbing a pass in my direction. A woefully under-matched receiver sped backward. Young guy, short blond hair, built like a military operator or a first responder, but apparently blessed with two left feet and zero reflexes, judging by how he fumbled the catch.
“Watch where you’re going, kid,” I yelled as I jumped aside. But I’d either miscalculated or the guy had switched directions at the last second because he smacked into me. We tumbled to the muddy grass together. I tried to roll away so I didn’t squash the guy, but somehow, I ended up looming over him. He’d takenthe worst of the dirt which streaked his pale skin and white T-shirt.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” He batted impossibly long eyelashes at me, eyes as blue as a pristine mountain lake. He smelled like spring too—grass and soap and sunshine with a faint hint of lemon. I knew better than to linger, but I let myself have a second inhale as I untangled our limbs.
“Tony!” Eric and our other friend, Sean, came running over and helped me up, one on each side.
“Are you okay?” Sean asked.
“I’m fine.” I laughed, far more concerned for the other guy than my welfare. “Did I squash you, kid?”
“I’m fine.” He had a stubborn tilt to his chin, eyes narrowed as if he wouldn’t tell even if he was injured. The guy wasn’t quite as young as he’d first seemed. Under thirty, but older than the kid on the bus.
I probably should have apologized for thekidremark, but those blue, blue eyes and the memory of his scent had me taking a step back instead.Danger ahead.As always, I locked my reaction to his nearness securely away. It didn’t matter how good he smelled or how blue his eyes. I had decades of practice dodging dangerous situations of all types.
“You sure, Caleb?” Sean asked as he stuck out a hand to pull the other guy up. Caleb made a halfhearted effort to brush himself off, but he ended up merely smearing the mud around.
“Nothing a shower won’t cure.” Caleb stretched, sending more dirt and chunks of mud sprinkling to the ground. “Think I’ll go find one now. Sorry again, Tony.” He nodded in my direction without making eye contact, which was probably for the best. “And happy birthday, Eric.”
“Thanks.” Eric and Sean waved as Caleb beat a hasty retreat. Walking quickly across the park, Caleb almost tripped twice but managed to right himself.
“Is he okay to drive?” I asked. Perhaps he’d dipped into the drink cooler a few too many times.
“He’s sober. Never seen him drunk. Just sometimes slightly clumsy.” Sean gave a friendly big-brother chuckle. “And I wish he’d stuck around.”
“Oh?” I tried to sound neutral, but I was relieved. I didn’t need the temptation to sniff him again.
“He’s a fellow firefighter. Good guy. I’m planning to have him train you.”
Fuck me running.The fire station was down a captain, so Sean was filling in. Badly. “Him? Train me?”
“Well, yeah, rookie.” Sean bopped me on my bum shoulder. I winced at the contact and the reminder I was starting over. I hadn’t been entirely sure what to do after putting in my twenty in the army, but I had so many friends in the first-responder community and a few credits from way back in the day. Then, when I had the opportunity to continue taking fire-science classes a few years back, I figured I might as well. Even if it meant being the oldest damn rookie in the Northwest. “Caleb was a probie not too long ago himself, and he’s volunteered for maintenance work while we’ve been shorthanded. Seemed like a no-brainer.”
“Sounds fine.” I clamped my jaw around the obvious comeback. I’d known coming into this situation that I’d be lowest in the pecking order, doing equipment management and maintenance at the station while working on completing the last of my fire academy requirements. I forced a brighter tone. “Just gotta wrap my head around having younger bosses. Not unlike the green second lieutenants West Point keeps churning out.”
“See?” Sean matched my fake-hopeful tone. “You were a master sergeant in the Rangers. A small-town fire station will be nothing for an operator like you. It’ll all work out.”
I nodded. Vast experience had shown me that attitude was everything. If I acted like this was the right path for me long enough, perhaps I’d start actually believing it.
Chapter Two
Caleb
Come Monday and my first shift of the week, I’d pretty much recovered from that disaster of a football game at Eric’s birthday barbecue. I’d spent the weekend cleaning and getting the place ready for my younger brother’s arrival and letting my pride heal. Yes, I’d bowled over the hottest dude I’d seen in a long time, and yes, he was about to be a coworker, but with any luck, I could avoid Tony as much as possible.
Until, that was, my luck took a flying leap out the break room window at the firehouse when my acting captain Sean found me doctoring my first cup of coffee and made a request that had me groaning.
“You want me to show a freaking Ranger the ropes of cleaning fire engines and taking inventory?” I gave Sean a hard stare. He might be acting captain, but we were also buds enough I could get away with the skepticism. Also, he’d seen me face-plant in the mud in front of said Ranger. He could have at least given me more warning before booking me a ticket on the train to Awkward Town with the dude.
“Why not?” Sean shrugged. I was slightly taller, but he was stockier, older, and oblivious to the coming disaster. “You’re good at those things.”
“Good at doing doesn’t equal good at teaching.” I took a sip of coffee and promptly burned my tongue.
“No time like the present to add more leadership skills to your arsenal.” Sean sounded exactly like every captain I’d met despite his repeated assertions that he’d rather be a crew member. He’d let his father, the fire chief, talk him into being acting captain while the department searched for a permanent solution. “Good for the resume, but it’s also good to challenge yourself.”