Page 10 of Playing With Fire

Grazing her own short nails across her chest, she caught her hardened, sensitive nipples, gasping as a spike of desire shot through her core. Tighter this time, she pinched, leaning back against the wall, her legs splayed. With a will of its own, her other hand wandered further south. Down and down until itreached the waistband of her pants. Was she really about to do this? She couldn’t stop herself, even if she wanted to.

Fuck, she was already so wet by the time her rough, calloused fingers slipped between her folds. She had to stifle a moan that tried to rip through her. She couldn’t make a sound. If anyone came into her office right now, she would be utterly screwed.

She was too far gone for the risk to stop her. Drawing tight circles around her clit, she replayed recent clashes with Evelyn inside her mind. Fuck, what had the woman done to her; it was like she was bewitched. She tugged harder on her nipples, pinching, squeezing, twisting, almost as though she was punishing herself for her desire. Her fingers slowly sped up until she was gasping for air, round and round they flicked across her clit, driving her wild with need. She couldn’t hold it back anymore. Waves of pleasure crashed through her as she climaxed, tremors wracking her body.

Fuck.

Cass lay motionless on the pullout bed in her office, the ceiling above her dimly illuminated by the faint glow of the streetlights outside. Her breathing was still uneven, her heart pounding in her chest as the reality of what she’d just done hit her like a freight train. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to sink into the mattress, to disappear entirely, as shame and self-reproach flooded her body in a tidal wave.

What the hell was wrong with her?

She rolled onto her side, burying her face in her pillow as if doing so might erase the last few minutes. But there was no escaping it. No matter how much she tried to deny it, the evidence was all there—on her skin, in the way her body still tingled with the aftershocks of release, in the name she’d bitten back in her moment of surrender.Evelyn.

Cass groaned into the pillow, half in anger, half in mortification. She couldn’t believe she’d allowed herself to gothere, to let Evelyn Ford—Evelyn Ford—invade her thoughts like that, consume her like a fire she couldn’t put out. It wasn’t just unprofessional. It was dangerous. Reckless. Everything she stood against.

The firehouse was supposed to be her sanctuary, the one place where she could focus on her responsibilities and leave everything else at the door. This office, this pullout bed—was her refuge during long nights and grueling shifts, the place where she regrouped and recharged to face whatever challenges lay ahead. And now she’d tainted it, let something slip through the cracks that never should have been there in the first place.

If anyone knew…

The thought alone made her stomach churn. Cass prided herself on being a leader her team could respect, someone they could rely on to put the job above all else. How could she look them in the eye if they knew how far she’d fallen tonight? If they even suspected that their captain, the woman who was supposed to be fighting for their future, had let herself be so thoroughly distracted by the enemy?

She sat up abruptly, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, her hands raking through her hair as if she could scrub the thoughts from her mind. But it didn’t work. Evelyn was still there, vivid and unrelenting, her sharp blue eyes and infuriatingly calm demeanor etched into Cass’s brain like a brand.

It wasn’t just the attraction that horrified her; it was the power Evelyn seemed to have over her, the way she got under Cass’s skin without even trying. Every argument, every glare, every pointed word Evelyn threw her way seemed to burrow deeper, stoking a fire that Cass had no idea how to extinguish.

And after this? She was compromised.

Cass stood, pacing the small office like a caged animal, her bare feet padding softly against the worn carpet. She needed toget a grip. She needed to shove whatever this was deep down and lock it away where it couldn’t interfere with her job. Because that’s what this was: interference. A distraction. A weakness that Evelyn would exploit the moment she caught wind of it.

The thought made Cass’s hands clench into fists at her sides.This can’t happen again.She couldn’t afford to let it. Not with the department hanging in the balance, not with Evelyn poised to make the kind of cuts that would gut everything they’d worked so hard to build.

Her team deserved better than this. Becky Thompson had trusted her to take over, to protect this firehouse and the people who gave everything to it day after day. And here she was, betraying that trust by letting herself be consumed by someone who didn’t care about their legacy, who saw the firehouse as nothing more than a line item to slash.

Cass stopped pacing, leaning heavily against her desk as she tried to catch her breath. The wood felt cool and solid beneath her hands, a stark contrast to the heat still simmering under her skin. She pressed her palms against it harder, as if grounding herself in the physical world might steady the chaos in her mind.

But even as she stood there, staring at the cluttered surface of her desk, her thoughts kept circling back to Evelyn. Not just the way she looked, the way her lips curved when she smiled, or the sharpness of her wit—but the way she challenged Cass and pushed her in ways no one else ever had. It was infuriating. It was exhilarating.

It was unacceptable.

Cass straightened, forcing her shoulders back, forcing the fire in her chest into something colder, sharper. This couldn’t happen again, she told herself firmly. Tonight had been a mistake, a moment of weakness that she would bury and never revisit.

Tomorrow, she would refocus. She would throw herself into fighting for her team, and she would treat Evelyn Ford exactly as she deserved to be treated: as an obstacle to be overcome, not a temptation to be indulged.

And if Evelyn ever looked at her again the way she had earlier that day, her eyes flickering with something unspoken, something that made Cass’s pulse race against her will? Evelyn wasn’t just some consultant; she was a threat. A threat to the department, to the family Cass had spent years building. If Cass so much as blinked, Evelyn could swoop in with her polished shoes and budget cuts and dismantle everything that mattered. The team wasn’t just her crew; they were her people, her responsibility. Her jaw clenched as she thought of Evelyn’s cold, unflinching demeanor in every meeting. The woman didn’t care about what these budget cuts would do to the people behind the numbers. To Evelyn, it was all a calculation, a bottom line. Cass had seen her type before: corporate climbers who wore tailored suits and wielded spreadsheets like weapons, completely detached from the lives their decisions would destroy.

And yet…

Cass slammed her fist against the desk, frustration boiling over. How could shefeelthis way about someone so ruthless, so devoid of compassion? What did it say about her that, despite Evelyn’s apparent lack of morals, Cass couldn’t stop noticing the fire behind her icy exterior?

She hated herself for it—hated the pull, the magnetic draw that kept her thoughts circling back to Evelyn. It made her feel weak, like she was failing her team by even entertaining these feelings. This wasn’t her. She wasn’t someone who got distracted by smooth words or sharp cheekbones.

She was Captain Cass Harris, damn it. And no one—not even Evelyn Ford—was going to tear her family apart.

Cass straightened, brushing off the tension crawling up her spine. She wouldn’t let this distraction derail her. Whatever was stirring inside her, she’d bury it. Evelyn might have a spark, but Cass was a wildfire, and she’d burn this feeling to ashes before she let it consume her.

Well, Cass would just have to ignore it. Because there was no room for this. No room forher.

Not in Cass’s firehouse. Not in her life.