Firefighter's Risk (Bakers Beach: First Responders Book 2) Read online

  “It’s okay. It’s been a while.”

  Carlos touched her arm. “Hey, I’d be willing to bet they’d be proud of what you’ve accomplished.”

  Ashton lifted her gaze to his as a lump formed in her throat. “I hope so.” It had been a while since she’d been this emotional about her parents, especially in front of someone she didn’t know.

  A pair of boys arguing over a basketball in the middle of the court got her attention. “Hey, Chris, Henry, knock it off,” she called out.

  Either they were ignoring her or didn’t care, and just as she decided to go break it up, Carlos strode over to them, placing one hand on each of their shoulders. “That’s enough.”

  After that, he spoke low enough that she couldn’t hear what he was saying, but she could see the effects of his words on their faces and body language. Soon, they were laughing, and they shook hands, seeming to make up.

  In that moment, a man had never been more attractive to her. He knew his way around kids, which was the quickest way to her heart. If he could mop and do dishes, she’d be a goner.

  Carlos snagged the ball and sank a three-pointer, earning him a round of cheers from the entire gym, including her.

  “Bravo,” she said as he strolled back to her.

  Shrugging, he spread his arms. “What can I say? When you’ve got it, you’ve got it.” He laughed.

  Talk about true. He had it and then some. Ashton pinched her lips together and smiled to keep herself from saying something that would make her want to crawl in a hole. “Thank you for your help. I think the boys respond better to a man sometimes.”

  His eyes narrowed just a fraction. “I can’t see anyone not responding to you.”

  Carlos may as well have touched her with the way her pulse jumped at the compliment. Maybe she did need a boyfriend. Not necessarily him, but based on how she was reacting to him, it was obvious she needed to get out more.

  Checking the wall clock, he frowned. “Oh, I guess I need to get moving. My captain will have my hide if I show up much later.”

  “Well, if he wants to give anyone a hard time, tell him to talk to me.” She chuckled. Oh, she needed to stop flirting with this man.

  “Right,” he said, casting his gaze to the floor. He stuck his hand in his shirt pocket and pulled out a card. Lifting his gaze, he flashed the sexiest smile she’d ever seen. “Uh, here’s my card. If you need anything, call me. I’ll be happy to help out.”

  “Uh-huh.” She cleared her throat. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”

  With a wink and a nod, he walked out the front door, leaving her reevaluating her stance on complications. That man definitely fit the definition of complication. Whew.

  She looked down at the card. Carlos Scott. What a man.

  Tucking the card in her pocket, she rolled her eyes and puffed a piece of her hair out of her face. She wouldn’t be calling him unless there was a real emergency. Like a fire or something. As attractive as he was, and as interested as she was, the timing was off.

  Once she had her life in order, that’s when she’d look for someone to stand beside her. She’d keep her focus on the kids and work on making herself into someone her parents would have been proud of. Until then, that’s all she needed.

  Chapter 4

  As Carlos walked into the station bay, Harris seemed to be lying in wait for him. “There he is. Our friendly neighborhood fireman.”

  “Shut up.” Carlos rolled his eyes, smiling. “I only did it because Polly asked.”

  “Well, how’d it go? Did you teach the kids all about firefighting?” Harris pushed off the wall and walked with Carlos to the kitchen.

  Carlos shrugged. “I did my best. It was sure better than listening to you drone on and make lame jokes.”

  Bryan looked up from where he sat at the table. “Hey, how was it?”

  “It was good.” Carlos walked to the fridge and put away the lunch his sister had packed for him. The company tended to eat dinner together, and Polly tried to make sure he had at least one healthy meal as her way of taking care of him.

  “Just good?” Bryan’s eyebrows lifted to his hairline. “The way Polly talks about this program, you’d think that Ashton guy hung the moon and maybe even a few stars.” Bryan’s fiancé, Elise Richards, had become friends with Polly after sharing a frightening close call that Bryan and Carlos had went through. Since then, they’d become like sisters. Elise must have told Bryan about the “Ashton guy.”

  Carlos popped open a soda and took a sip. Facing Bryan and Harris, he leaned against the counter. “Funny you should say that.” He took a breath, preparing for the razzing that was coming. “The name Ashton is apparently gender-neutral.”

  Bryan’s eyes widened. “I wonder if Elise knows. If she does, she didn’t fill me in.”

  Harris snorted. “A woman, huh. What’s she like?” A sly grin grew on his lips.

  Fantastic. “From what I could see, the place is great. She’s providing an amazing service to the community.”

  Nodding, Bryan said, “From what I’ve heard, she’s a powerhouse. She takes care of all those kids without knowing from one day to the next how many will be there. Elise said she vets the families whenever a new kid comes in so she can know the sort of situation they’re dealing with at home—if they are. She tries to make sure the kids get what they need.”

  Taking another sip of his drink, Carlos nodded. “From the little bit of time I was there, I need a nap. I can’t imagine how she does it.”

  “I think it’s the sort of job you have to love.” Bryan took a bite of the sandwich Elise most likely had prepared for him. She was similar to Polly in that she wanted Bryan to eat healthy too.

  Harris took a seat adjacent to Bryan. “Isn’t that what they say about us?” At least the man wasn’t making remarks about Ashton. “Don’t we have to love the job to do what we do?”

  “Yeah, and just like us, it’s not everyone who can run a program like that. Dealing with so many kids in such varying situations?” Bryan shrugged. “Elise says Polly would be great at that type of work. She loves kids. She’s patient. Creative too. Apparently, Polly was the one who came up with the idea for the photo booth with the dogs from the shelter. Remember what a hit that was?”

  Bobbing his head, Harris added, “From what I heard, a bunch of dogs got adopted out too.”

  Carlos grinned, pride filling him. “I heard the same thing, and you’re right. Polly is a bright girl.” He pushed off the counter and joined the guys at the table, taking a seat across from Bryan. “Sometimes too bright. She turns those smarts on me, and I find myself running in circles, trying to keep up with her.”

  Harris shot him a grin. “So, this Ashton person. Is she cute?”

  So much for dodging that bullet. At this point, he could either fess up or try to avoid the question. The latter would be a sure sign he was attracted to her. It would be waving a red flag in front of the guys. Now, he wished he hadn’t given Bryan such a hard time with Elise. “Yeah, she’s cute.” He worked to make himself sound as detached as possible.

  Bryan lifted a single eyebrow. “Oh yeah? How cute?”

  “What he said.” Harris tilted his head toward Bryan. “On a scale of one to ten?”

  Eleven? Maybe twenty? How did he put a number on a woman like Ashton? “She lands well outside the scale.”

  Harris’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Well, did you get her number?”

  Laughing, Carlos shook his head. “No.” He’d keep the part where he gave Ashton his number to himself. “And it’s not like that either. She has that program to run, and I have a kid sister to raise.”

  Bryan and Harris looked at each other and then chuckled. “Yeah. Right,” Harris replied. “Don’t even pretend. The second you started talking about her, your whole face changed.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Seriously, man, what’s the big deal?” Bryan shrugged. “Polly looks up to Ashton, so if that’s an issue, it’s already solved. Just ask her out i
f you’re interested.”

  The big deal was Polly. His focus needed to be on her, not dating. She’d be graduating soon, heading off to college. It had been just them since their parents died, and with a big change coming, he wanted to make sure his sister knew he was there for her.

  Plus, he’d tried dating when he first took Polly in. Polly’s teacher, Gayle Bradseth. Things were fine with them. He could see marriage in his future. Then when their parents died, he’d sort of pictured the three of them making it a go as a family. Gayle didn’t share his vision. After that, he’d sworn off dating to focus on raising his sister.

  “I’m fine with the way things are for now. Once Polly is in college and I know she’s settled and doing well, I’ll look into dating.”

  The guys wouldn’t understand any of that. They weren’t responsible for another human being yet. For now, Carlos needed to keep his eyes on his own grass, even if it was looking a little brown and sad. He could handle being single a little while longer.

  Chapter 5

  Carlos glanced at his sister sitting across the table from him. She’d had breakfast waiting on him that morning as he walked in. Typically, that was a sign that she needed to talk, but he’d learned early on to wait until she started the conversation.

  “So…” Polly took a sip of orange juice. “What did you think of Ashton?”

  He’d actually thought a lot about her, even going so far as to look her up. There wasn’t much online. She didn’t have much of a social media presence, and he’d chalked that up to how busy she was with the kids.

  The only thing he’d found was the report of her parents’ deaths. It had triggered a memory of the event a while back. An affluent family from Richmond who regularly vacationed in Virginia Beach had taken their sailboat out. A sudden storm caught them, and they capsized, leaving behind one daughter who attended the University of Virginia. She’d been twenty-two at the time, which would make her twenty-eight now and only a year younger than him.

  “I think what she’s doing is great.” Carlos shoveled some of the scrambled eggs onto his fork and took a bite. “The kids seem to love her. The facility is great. It looks like she puts in a lot of time and effort.”

  Polly set her fork down and blinked. “Well, yeah, I told you that.”

  “I know, but hearing about someone is different than meeting them. I have a face with the name now. I was impressed with the whole place.”

  “She’s so dedicated. I think she even sleeps there sometimes.”

  “Sleeps there?” He hated to hear that, but he understood trying to keep your mind off tragedy. In the years following their parent’s death, he’d had Polly. He couldn’t imagine how different things would have been had he been an only child. Of course, he had his brothers at the station, but that was different.

  Nodding, Polly tore off a piece of sausage. “Yeah, she’s so nice and smart.”

  “You really like her, huh?” He finished the little bit of eggs on his plate and took a swig of juice.

  “What’s not to like? I mean, she does so much for so many. I want to be like that.” Her smile widened. “The way she gives back.”

  He was happy Polly had someone to admire. “I’m glad you have her.”

  “She seemed to like you too. Well, everyone did. A few of the younger kids pretended to be firefighters after you left.” She chuckled. “It was really cute.”

  “I’m glad I was able to come speak, then.”

  “Maybe…” She bit her lip and twirled her fork in the remainder of her eggs. “Maybe you could…convince the captain to have a day where the kids could come in and look around at the station. You know, learn more about what you do. I think I remember going on a school trip to do that.”

  It had been a few years since any school kids had taken a tour of the station. Well, other than the huge calendar party they’d had, but that wasn’t the same thing. They didn’t go into much detail during that. “I can talk to the captain.”

  “Really?” Polly beamed. “You think he’ll say yes?”

  “I don’t see why not.”

  “Awesome. I’ll tell Ashton.” Polly cast her gaze to the table, a sly grin growing on her face. “You know…she thought you were cute.”

  Carlos jerked his attention to Polly. “What?”

  His sister looked at him with one eyebrow reaching her hairline. “Like you didn’t think she was cute too.”

  “Yeah, so she was cute. There are a lot of cute women out there. That doesn’t mean anything.” Even if it made his heart skip a beat to think that the attraction might be mutual.

  “Relax,” she said, laughing. “I’m not encouraging you to ask her out. I was just saying that I could tell she liked you.”

  Exactly what he figured. His sister didn’t want him anywhere near her idol. “I think you’re wrong, but even if you aren’t, neither of us has the time. Besides, I promised I wouldn’t do that again, remember?” He worked to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

  Polly picked up her plate and stood. “I remember.” She paused a beat. “I’m holding you to it, too. I like going to the center. If you dated and something—”

  He held up his hand. “I know. If something went wrong, it would be awkward and you’d be in the middle. I won’t do that to you.” He checked his phone. “You need to get to school. I’ll take care of the dishes.”

  His sister trotted over to the sink, set her plate down, and grabbed her bag as she headed for the door. “See ya tonight, big brother.”

  “Yeah, see ya tonight.”

  The door shut behind her, leaving Carlos alone in the kitchen. It hadn’t felt so empty before all the talk about dating…or meeting Ashton. He hadn’t felt that flicker of attraction toward anyone in a long time. Even her teacher hadn’t made his skin tingle.

  But Polly was right. If he and Ashton dated, it would be awkward for Polly, and he didn’t want that for his baby sister. She’d had a tough enough time already, and he didn’t need to add to it. Not saying that any future relationship could end up affecting her, but she was close to Ashton, and she was one of two women Carlos appreciated being there when Polly needed girl talk.

  Standing, he picked up his plate and walked to the sink. Things were fine. He’d lived this life long enough now to know the loneliness or the want for someone to kiss him when he came home wouldn’t last long. A least, that was the lie he’d been using until now. He just needed to believe it a little while longer.

  Chapter 6

  Ashton paused her typing, stretching her arms above her head. Looking up from her desk, the last little bit of Sunday light streamed in through the window, and she realized she’d had her nose in her computer since the last kid left at four. She could have closed early, but if there was a chance a child needed a place to go, she didn’t want them to be turned away.

  When her parents were still alive, this would’ve been family night. They’d eat dinner and play a game or watch a movie. It had been a while since the longing for family had hit her. Seeing Polly and her brother interact reminded her of what she was missing.

  Of course, unlike family dinners in the past, she couldn’t have stayed all night. Not when she had so much work to do. But then again, if her parents were still alive, she’d probably never have opened this sort of place or devoted so much time to it.

  Although, there would’ve been the chance that she’d have her own family by now. It wasn’t hard to picture her parents coming to see their grandchildren, or at least having a boyfriend or husband to take to dinner.

  She liked to hope that would be true, but at the same time, she loved what she’d built. It was moments like these, in the quiet, that she wrestled with herself the most, torn between wondering “what if” and “what was” and feeling selfish for wishing she wasn’t so lonely. Wasn’t it wrong to want something for herself when there were so many kids needing somewhere to go?

  It was the same old argument, over and over, anytime she paused long enough to really think abo
ut her life. With a long exhale, she powered down her laptop before pushing out of her chair.

  Each night, she’d made a habit of walking the building to shut off anything that might have been left on. Crossing the gym, she started with the farthest room and made her way back.

  What she wouldn’t give for a vacation. The very thought pulled a laugh from her. Like she could leave. That morning, one of the kids had tried to flush an entire half-roll of toilet paper. She could only imagine what she’d come back to if she left for a week.

  Just as she reached the women’s bathroom, she stopped short as she heard a noise like the sound of sneakers on linoleum. She’d locked the doors after the last child left, leaving a ring-the-bell sign on the door at eye level in case anyone came by and needed a place to go.

  Quietly, Ashton eased the door open, peeking her head in. “Hello? Is someone in here?”

  She’d left her purse in her office like she always did. It was the last stop on the way out. Plus, it was an abyss of miscellaneous items that made it heavy. Aside from that, she’d heard no windows breaking, so it had to be a kid who’d found themselves locked in.

  “I know someone is in here. Just come on out, okay?” She paused and then added, “I’m not mad.”

  The lock to one of the stalls rattled, and slowly, a small almost-too-thin girl, maybe four feet tall, shuffled out with her head down. “I’m sorry.”

  “Lucy?” Ashton asked now that she could see her.

  The little ten-year-old girl lifted her head and nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, sweetie.” Ashton crouched down so she wouldn’t feel loomed over. “You’re not in trouble. Not at all. Okay?”

  “I thought I could stay here until tomorrow.”

  “What? Why would you do that? I bet your mommy and daddy are so worried about you. We need to call them.”

  Lucy’s eyes widened as she shook her head, her chestnut braids bouncing around her elbows. “Please, don’t.” The fear in her eyes didn’t seem to match the care it took to neatly braid her hair, but a child refusing to go home wasn’t a good sign. “No, you can’t call them.”