Scarred Trust

The first time Wes St. James really noticed Caitríona Duffy, she was effortlessly beautiful in flour-dusted yoga pants, mortified about a kitchen fire, and absolutely not impressed by his firefighter hero routine.

The second time, she was serving him beer with the kind of professional detachment that made him want to figure out how to make her smile. Really smile, not the polite server smile she gave everyone else.

The third time, she was kissing him like he was oxygen and she’d been drowning.

Wes knows better than to trust what he’s feeling. His ex made it clear: no one wants a broken man. After a year of surgeries and losing his father and brother to a suspicious fire, he’s barely holding together. But Cate sees past his scars—she sees him and finds him worthy.

Cate has learned not to trust that anyone will stay. Men have used and discarded her. So she works herself to exhaustion, hoping each achievement will finally protect her family. But Wes doesn’t leave when things get hard. He stays. He shows her what it feels like to be chosen.

Then reality shatters: her firm is connected to the fires he’s investigating. The cases she’s handled are tied to his family’s deaths. She’s been working for the enemy.

This is the moment everyone leaves. Except Wes doesn’t. When Cate risks her career to expose the conspiracy, he’s beside her. And when arsonists come for her family’s pub in retaliation, Wes is still there from their night together—he didn’t disappear at dawn. He stayed. His training saves her family’s business and proves some people are worth trusting.

Trust earned through scars, protected through fire.

This book is part of the Firehouse 99 shared world but each book can be read as a standalone.