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“Erin’s mentioned you a few times. Good to meet you in person,” Noah said and took Bianca’s hand.
Bianca’s gaze followed their clasped hands to Noah’s face, looking at him directly for the first time.
Erin counted to three, telling herself to wait for it. . .
The rookie’s jaw dropped when she received the full force of Noah’s eyes. He had the most beautiful blue eyes on the planet, and he was damn fine, being a blonde silver fox and all.
Total Black girl kryptonite. It wasn’t fair, and no one on the team had prepared her for it.
“Chh-ieee-fff. Umm. Wow. I’m Bianca,” she stammered, reintroducing herself.
Erin said, “Probie, it’s okay. No reason to worry about rank right now."
“Yes, ma’am. I mean, yes, Hudgens . . . I mean Baker.”
“Our rookie used to be a scrub tech at MetroGen. She was at the Siren Bar fire during training, and she performed an emergency surgery in the back of an ambulance during the tornado,” Erin sang her praises.
With Carver gone, it was good to have another medically inclined teammate. Even better, Bianca had a great sunny attitude, and she didn’t use the word ‘MetroGen’ in every other sentence.
Bianca turned red, still transfixed by Noah’s gaze. “Well. Only with instructions from Ortho at MetroGen. And I’m a firefighter now.” She turned a shade of red, and Erin took pity on her.
“Want to go check the keg and the drinks? Wine coolers are over there. Maybe pass them out?”
“Yes, I do. Very much.” Bianca retreated and almost crashed right into the huge, hulking form of Captain Jacen Williams.
“Don’t threaten my rookies.” Williams nodded at Noah. They’d once been the best of friends, until Jacen’s wife died. And Noah’s divorce. And Jacen returning to town. And Noah secretly marrying Erin, his subordinate.
“I don’t need to threaten rookies,” Noah said.
“Hmm.” Williams glanced around at the meticulously cut lawn and landscaping. “Nice place. Definitely better than that last dump you lived at. Or maybe it’s the company you keep now.”
Noah’s face hardened at the comment. Erin wasn’t sure where their friendship stood after the revelation of their marriage came out. Noah wouldn’t talk about it, though yet another rumor included they had a yelling match in Firehouse 15.
“It’s a good starter home,” Noah agreed, eventually.
Next in line behind Williams, Erin’s best friend Theo Jefferson mouthed ‘Starter home?’
Erin shook her head quickly. The last thing she needed was a rumor she was pregnant. They’d promised to have the Fire Wedding of the Century, and she was certain pregnancy was not part of the approved PR plan.
“Interesting.” Williams’ comment was more than loaded, his eyes flickering over Erin’s flat abdomen, and Noah’s smile twitched in a battle to remain in place.
“The rookie needs help with the keg,” Theo announced, imposing his body between Noah and Williams. “Erin, Noah, I’ll be back.”
Chapter 4
Thankful for good friends who understood the assignment of running interference if the inevitable awkward situation arose, Erin grinned as Theo funneled Williams away.
Which left a line of five people, only one of which actually needed an introduction.
“Sir, Erin. I’d like to introduce you to Nikki, my—” Kevin Jones started and glanced down at the Black woman beside him.
“Girlfriend. A pleasure to meet you,” Nikki filled in. Erin thought Kevin had picked her up in the MetroGen Hospital cafeteria in July. From the comments she’d heard, they were moving pretty quickly through the relationship steps. Which was a rarity for Kevin, who usually changed girls faster than he changed socks.
Then she noticed Kevin had positioned Nikki in a way that she effectively stood between Aiden Clarke and Vanessa Knight.
Another reason to grin. By mutual accord, the other members of Firehouse 15 had agreed to do everything in their power to block the situationship brewing between Aiden and Vanessa. Kevin was particularly dedicated to the plan, not a surprise since he and Aiden were roommates. He’d already watched Aiden lose out at captain of Firehouse 15 for dating Luna (Vanessa’s roommate) and then Aiden collapse after various emotional traumas.
If that didn’t deter the two of them, Erin would’ve hoped they wouldn’t make their affection obvious in front of Noah.
