“Hey, hey,” I said, dropping down to my knees. He was a fighter, and while I did my best not to hold him too tightly, not to injure him, I had to apply pressure to keep him from running inside that fiery hell. “My team is the best. They’re going to get your mother out of there.”
I swallowed the guilt because those were words I shouldn’t have said.
My teamwasthe best, but there were never any guarantees. I knew more than anyone how fire could rip away the ones you loved without a second thought. Yet, as I struggled with that little boy who was determined to be his mother’s protector, I wanted more than anything to keep him from knowing pain I knew like I knew my own face.
“Your sister needs you to be strong for her,” I said, turning him to face his sister, who clutched my left arm.
“It’s okay, Bella,” he consoled, hugging her to him as she cried.
Seconds later, he yelled, “Mommy,” over my shoulder.
Peering over my shoulder, I saw Carter coming in our direction with a woman strewn over his. Emanuel was right behind him.
I breathed a little deeper and continued to hold onto the children as Carter carefully laid their mother down on the gurney provided by the medics. We stepped back to give them room to work.
“Anthony. Bella,” the woman on the gurney mumbled, looking around.
A weight lifted off my shoulders to know she was still alive. Who knew how much smoke inhalation she had and the damage it could cause? But...she had a chance.
I handed the boy off to the medic that had his sister and watched them roll the family of three away.
“Let’s go,” Captain called into the headset. “We still have a fire to put out.”
I moved to the rig and climbed up the ladder to work the top hose with Emanuel.
The fire took nearly an hour to put out. The entire time, I couldn’t stop thinking about the family we’d pulled out, mostly the little boy’s screams. It burned me to my core that the arsonist was behind this. Worse still was knowing that if I’d done my job more efficiently, maybe I could’ve prevented this shit from happening.
Hours later,I wound up at the very place I’d determined I wasn’t going to go. I’d kept away from Jocelyn for nearly two weeks. My need to keep her safe had allowed me to keep my distance even when everything inside had told me to go to her. I couldn’t,wouldn’tput her in harm’s way.
The screams of that young boy calling out for his mother did me in, and I went to the one place that I knew would bring me peace.
The time on my watch read something after one in the morning. It wasn’t fair to wake her up at this hour, not after my unexplained absence, but I needed to see her.
“This better be the millionaire sweepstakes telling me I’ve won the lottery or something,” I heard from the other side of the door after my incessant pounding.
Seconds later, her door flew open, and there she was. She was pissed. The way her eyes narrowed on me, proved this point, but even she couldn’t hide the way her lips quirked slightly, or the vein in her neck that beat a little quicker upon seeing me.
The glare in her eyes couldn’t stop the thawing of the coldness inside my body. Her coconut scent permeated the air around us, drawing me closer.
“I don’t think those things exist anymore,” I finally said. When her forehead wrinkled, I added, “The millionaire sweepstakes. Pretty sure they’re not around anymore, but I could be wrong.”
“You showing up at well after midnight after barely any contact in weeks could be considered a booty call by some.”
I leaned against the doorframe and smiled. “Are you giving up the booty?”
Her lips twitched, the beginnings of a smirk, before she smothered it and spun on her heels. The door would’ve smacked me in the face if I hadn’t caught it.
I shut and locked it before wrapping my arms around her waist, all in one movement. I didn’t let her get too far before I wrapped my arms her, hugging her from behind and dipped my face in the crook of her neck. Inhaling deeply, I allowed her scent to overtake my senses.
I’d needed this.
“Get off me,” she said, trying to shake me free, but there wasn’t much of a bite in her tone.
“You don’t want me to,” I murmured against her neck. With measured steps, I walked us both toward her bedroom. I didn’t miss the way she leaned back against my body and didn’t try too hard to shake me off. “I missed you.”
I pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.
She shuddered. “I’ve been right here,” she said, the accusation in her voice apparent.
