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One black eyebrow rose. “Sam Faurier. Do you really think I’d come to you and tell you I want something if I’m not sure I want it?”
She had a point. “You are quite decisive.” He worked up his very best half-smile. “And brilliant. And fierce. And hot.Sohot. And—”
“Now you’re just trying to butter me up,” Lucy said, but there,therewas the smile he’d been after.
“Yep. Is it working?”
“Of course it’s working,” she said. “Now can we please go talk to Captain Bridges before everyone in the house takes one look at me and instantly knows I’m fucking crazy about you?”
Something warm and tingly and so, so good spread out in Sam’s chest, and he had no choice but to jump into the feeling with both boots first. “Well, since I’m fucking crazy about you, too, I’d say that’s an excellent idea.”
They got out of the Jeep and headed into the fire house, bypassing both the common room and the locker room in favor of heading right to Captain Bridges’s office. Unlike the last time they’d been here, Sam felt zero trepidation, not even when January looked up from her desk outside Bridges’s office, her blue eyes widening in surprise.
“Oh! Welcome back, you two. I’m glad you’re safe.”
Of course, the news of Lucy’s SUV fire had traveled through the fire house at light speed. While Captain Bridges had been briefed on the Intelligence Unit’s ongoing investigation out of necessity, the rest of the case details were strictly closed-book to everyone else while the Intelligence Unit continued to look for Malachi.
“Thanks,” Sam said, lifting his chin at Bridges’s office door, which was slightly ajar. “Is the captain in? We were wondering if we could have a minute before roll call.”
One quick knock on the door later, and he and Lucy were walking into Bridges’s office and closing the door firmly behind them. Sam’s nervous system warned that he should be on full alert, but his heart overrode it, thumping steady and strong.
“de Costa. Faurier,” Bridges said, sitting back in his desk chair. “It’s good to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back,” Sam said, and damn, he really meant it.
Bridges eyed the door they’d shut on their way in. “We’ll review the safety measures the department has put into place after roll call. Every fire house in the city will be operating on high alert until Malachi is brought in, and all structure fires showing flames will be called in to the Intelligence Unit as soon as they’re confirmed by dispatch.”
Lucy sent the briefest glance to Sam before saying, “Actually, sir, we’re not here to talk about the case.”
Bridges’s blond brows lifted. “Then what’s on your mind?”
Sam was fully prepared to break the news to their captain—after all, he was no stranger to the hot seat. But Lucy squared her shoulders, her chin lifted in confidence, and if Sam hadn’t already been in love with her, he’d have fallen right there on the spot.
“Sam and I wanted to disclose that we’re in a personal relationship,” she said.
Bridges’s face did exactly what Sam expected it to. “I see.”
“What’s going on between us isn’t going to change how either one of us does the job,” Sam said, but Bridges’s expression didn’t budge.
“I feel the need to point out that the last time you were on shift, both of you disregarded clear and direct orders on an active fire call. While that may not have been motivated by any relationship you had or didn’t have at the time, how you do the job is still of concern.”
Well, shit. While Sam might have once argued that he’d been right to break those rules, he knew now that Bridges had one hell of a point.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” Sam said, “and for the fact that I put Lucy in an untenable position at the warehouse fire. That’s on me, and I know I can’t change it. Icanpromise I’ll do better moving forward, though. For whatever you feel that’s worth.”
To his relief, Bridges seemed to take Sam’s words to heart. “The two of you have never had trouble working together before, and you are both excellent firefighters. I’ll go on the record to say that I don’t love when any of my firefighters fraternize, and if it becomes an issue, even once—”
“It won’t,” Sam promised, but Bridges continued, undeterred.
“—then we will be having a very different conversation. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Lucy said.
Bridges waited until they’d both stood and made it halfway to the door before he added, “And off the record? Good luck. I’m happy for you.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Sam said, and there went his grin again. He followed Lucy out of the office and back toward the center of the house. Hawk, Dempsey, and Tyler were in the kitchen, hogging a pot of coffee, and Sam shot them a glance from the common room hallway before turning to look at Lucy.
“Divide and conquer?” he asked, and her conspiratorial smile warmed a path up his spine.
