Chapter One
July in Seattle
“I hate these things,” Reggie Morgan muttered to his partner as they readied to give a presentation to a full crowd of eager firefighting enthusiasts.
“Relax. You’ll do fine.” Mack ran a hand through his always perfect hair, the guy vain enough to constantly wear it styled. Then again, the new fire stationhadused Mack’s chiseled chin, golden tan, and laughing, bright-blue eyes on a lot of the promotional material for Station 44.
“Why aren’tyougiving this ridiculous speech? You’re on all the posters.”
“You could have been.” Mack grinned. “Your sister said you’re no Idris Elba, but I disagree.”
“Shut up.”
“Well, maybe Morris Chestnut but with hair.”
“Mack, come on. You’re good at talking.” He added under his breath, “You never shut up.” When Mack frowned, he hurriedly tacked on, “Youreally represent Station 44.”
“So do you and the rest of C shift. What’s your point?”
Reggie had been stress sweating for the past half hour, thankful his dark-blue service uniform hid any unfortunate pit stains. Hell, put him in the middle of a roaring fire, in a submarine having technical difficulties eight hundred feet below the surface, or at a family dinner with his father and sisters giving him dating advice. All traumatic experiences.
But none of them could beat a Monday afternoon lecture at the local library in front of a ton of people, the majority under the age of ten.
Reggie tried again. “You’re the station’s wonder boy.”
Mack smirked. “That’s true. I am the most talented, best-looking, and—”
“Have the biggest mouth.”
Mack shrugged. “And yet, the lieutenant wantedyouto give the class. Go figure.”
Reggie wished he’d never confessed to the LT how much he hated public speaking. Now the guy made it his mission in life to get Reggie over that nagging fear. “Yes, but he never said you couldn’t help.”
“And take any attention away from the great Reggie Morgan? No thanks. I’ll just stand by, clicking slides and looking pretty while thebrains of the operation—that’s what you’re always calling yourself, isn’t it?—takes center stage.”
Reggie did like to remind the rest of his four-man crew that he was the brains of their unit. And the brawn, come to think of it. Sure, the other two on duty had some muscle, but none of them could out-bench him. Mack might be faster on a distance run, but Reggie could break him in half without much effort. Of course, since his free time nowadays consisted of lifting weights when not hanging with the guys, that did explain—
“Quit stalling. You’re up.” Mack shoved him from behind the stacks where he’d been hiding, exposing him to a bazillion stares.
Reggie caught his balance, glared over his shoulder at Mack, then plastered a smile on his face and walked toward the large screen, which would display the slideshow presentation the station had put together for events such as these.
He looked out over the crowd of close to fifty—hell—children and a few parents, all waiting expectantly for Reggie to regale them with stories about firefighting and life in the station.
He cleared his throat and said, “Hello there,” at the same time the librarian in charge of public events introduced him. Reggie ignored Mack’s chuckle and watched his future ex-friend walk to the other side of the screen, pick up a remote for the slideshow, and wait.
The librarian was saying, “Reggie Morgan, one of our wonderful firefighters from the new station serving the Beacon Hill, New Holly, and South Beacon Hill neighborhoods. Reggie’s here today to tell us what it’s like to be a firefighter. He’s got pictures too.”
Mack waved at the crowd, at ease with being in front of people the way Reggie would never be.
“And I see that Firefighter Morgan’s brought along an assistant,” the librarian, old enough to be Reggie’s grandmother, said with a smile.
“A handsome,singleassistant,” Mack said with a huge grin. “I’m Mack.”
“Mack,” Reggie said under his breath. “Behave.”
Several of the parents with their children gave Mack a second look.
“I’ll give you my number when we’re through,” the librarian teased and continued when the laughter had died down. “Welcome all, and let’s get this show on the road.” She turned to Reggie. “And thank you for agreeing to do this.”
