“You’ve established you are excellent at laundry and housekeeping. Take a little time for yourself,” Kevin said.
She and Kevin took the brooms to the conference room. The second they closed the door, she whacked him with her broom, “’Erin likes it ‘creamy white?’”
“Dating brings out opinions.”
“I don’t want to hear his opinions about my dating choices,” Erin hissed. “He can stick to coffee.”
“Maybe the next time we see the Chief, we should ask him about Williams?”
“What? Why?” Erin hoped she didn’t sound guilty.
“They obviously know each other. Not sure how well they get along, but I doubt the Chief would hire somebody who he hated. Seems too smart for that.”
If Erin ever got the Chief again alone, Williams wouldn’t enter the conversation. “Next time, leave me out of it. I’d rather be not seen and not heard by him.”
“Doesn’t seem like that’s going to be a problem. He spends a lot of time slapping down our officers.”
“True.” Erin lowered her voice and asked, “Is everything okay with Aiden?”
“Of course, it’s fine.” Kevin’s response was too fast.
“He’s acting weird. He say anything?”
“No.” He added in an undertone, “He’s not sleeping great—paces for hours most nights.”
“I tried to talk to him, and he shut me down. Luna’s not the problem. I think it’s something else.”
“Or nothing else,” Kevin cut her off. “Even if there were a problem, the captain isn’t the forgiving type. Right now, Luna is the one who gives him the most problems. If we can keep the pressure off Aiden, I’m sure he’ll come around to his normal self.”
“You sure? Shouldn’t we—”
“No, we shouldn’t. The captain doesn’t give a shit. We gonna report him to our battalion chief who is currently Fire Chief Baker? ‘Aiden isn’t bonding with our new captain, and he isn’t sleeping well?’ The Chief has bigger fish to fry.”
“But –”
“We want to help, but all we can do is hurt him,” Kevin said. “Give him some time.”
The klaxon went off again, “Ladder 15, Engine 15, possible fire on East 16thand Kenilworth Avenue.”
They dropped everything and ran down the catwalk to suit up.
Chapter 19
Noah willed his head of PR and department spokesperson to disappear from his office. No such luck.
“I think it is a brilliant idea. The magazine is all for it,” Hannah Fitzpatrick said. “Imagine the press! The TV spots! The donations!”
He lifted the ‘Best of Cleveland’ magazine off his desk. It seemed gaudy in his spartan office with its bright colors and loud headlines. He read the cover. “’Cleveland’s Sexiest Man of the Year?’”
“It is their best-selling issue. They sell fifty times the number of magazines for their January issue.” She pointed to the main headline. “Though this year, it will be ‘Cuyahoga’s Sexiest Man of the Year.’ We’ve got to keep it on brand.”
“We’re a brand?” Noah asked.
Hannah sat back. The two of them had a cordial relationship. She was left over from Chief Pegg’s tenure and was about fifteen-years older than Noah. For her, Noah had been a gift from above since he was young, energetic, and photogenic. He’d learned her often superficial requests tended to have steel behind them.
“You are the brand. The young, woke fire chief who embraces diversity and women’s advancement. People will eat this up, and the next time a tax for CCFD comes up on the ballot… it will pay off in spades.”
Noah took a sip of his coffee and asked himself why he traded the warm arms of Erin this morning for Fitzpatrick. Not only had he had a weekend of stellar sex, but Erin was flat-out amazing. As an introvert, he fully appreciated how she was loud in all the right spots but not so loud that he couldn’t hear himself think.
