The fire extinguisher. Where was the goddamn fire extinguisher?
I spun toward the hallway, but smoke had turned the room into a gray wall of nothing. My lungs burned. My eyes couldn’t focus. The smoke alarm’s scream became distant, muffled, like I was underwater.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
Three separate text notifications lit up the screen through the smoke.
Ares:On our way.
Orion:Get out of there. We’re coming.
Leo:Holy shit, you’re on fire. Literally.
They’d seen the photo. They knew about the fire. They were coming to rescue me from a disaster I’d created through sheer, stupid rage.
My knees hit the floor. The room spun. Through the gray haze, I could see flames spreading to the curtains, hungry and relentless, like my career prospects burning in real time.
Distantly, I heard shouting. Pounding. The door exploded inward. Then strong arms lifted me from the floor, and I registered three things simultaneously.
One: I wasn’t wearing a bra under my tank top.
Two: The man carrying me smelled like expensive cologne and controlled fury.
Three: Orion Kolykos was staring down at me with an expression that promised this conversation was far from over.
“Breathe,” he commanded, his voice cutting through my smoke-addled panic. “Just breathe, Tashi.”
Behind him, I glimpsed Ares wielding a fire extinguisher with military precision while Leo herded panicked hotel guests away from my doorway.
I’d managed to make an unforgettable impression on my first day.
Just not the kind that came with a promotion.
“Get the others out!” Orion’s voice cut through the chaos as he carried me toward the door, my face pressed against his chest. The expensive fabric of his suit jacket smelled like smoke now, ruined because of my catastrophic life choices.
“Already handled,” Ares barked from somewhere behind us. “Fire department’s three minutes out. Corridor’s clear.”
Orion carried me into the stairwell as if I weighed nothing and started downward. “Hold on tight,” he said.
I tried, but I must have passed out, because I came to outside the hotel as my lungs spasmed to suck in oxygen tasting of burnt plastic and humiliation. Orion’s arms tightened around me as he set me on the ground, where Leo directed confused guests streaming from the hotel.
“She okay?” Leo’s voice carried genuine concern, his usual playful tone gone.
“She will be.” Orion’s jaw clenched as he looked down at me. “Won’t you, Tashi?”
I managed a weak nod, then immediately coughed so hard my entire body convulsed. Sexy. Really nailing that professional impression.
Fire trucks screamed to the curb. Firemen rushed past us, equipment clanking, radios crackling with urgent chatter. Paramedics lifted me onto a gurney that materialized from nowhere.
“Ma’am, can you tell me your name?” A paramedic with kind eyes and entirely too much composure leaned over me.
“Tashi George.” My voice came out as a rasp.
The paramedic pressed an oxygen mask over my nose and mouth. “We need to transport her for evaluation,” he announced. “Smoke inhalation can cause complications hours after exposure.”
“I’m riding with her.” Orion’s tone left no room for argument.
“Sir, only family?—”
