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Janey grabs my hand and drags us up to the front of the rapidly forming queue. I grab a slip of paper from the instructor’s outstretched hand eagerly, sort of excited to see what role I have to play like I’m a kid seeing what character they’ve been assigned in the school play. I giggle at my own ridiculousness, stepping to the side to read the slip of paper while everyone else collects theirs.
“I’m trapped in a smoke-filled room,” Janey reads out with an audible wince. “Unconscious and with smoke inhalation. Ugh. No,thank you.”
I shake my head at her. “I don’t think any of these things are supposed to be good,” I tell her with a grin before scanning my gaze over the bold letters on the paper in my hand. “I’ve got two broken legs apparently.”
Janey pulls a face of imagined pain that I imagine mimics my own expression as I shudder at the thought. I’m sure I can pretend enough to pull off lying on the ground and moaning in pain for half an hour.
“Alright, everyone take your places!”
Janey mouths something about mouth-to-mouth as we hurry to the correct side of the room and plop down on the thin blue mats provided. I set my paper down beside me as instructed, then shuffle back to lie down, craning my neck so I can see the door as the drill begins. Thankful I’m wearing tailored black pants today and not a skirt, I bend my knees to the side to emphasize the pretend issue here. Unlike Janey, I don’t have to pretend to be unconscious and damn am I grateful for it, especially when the door opens.
A team of firefighters dressed in all their black and yellow uniforms, reflective strips gleaming in the lighting, rush through the doorway.
I turn my head to get a proper look at something other than their thick leather boots, finding that the first few are already heading to other volunteers to begin their task. A strange sense of anticipation bubbles up inside me, and I have to force myself to lie still and wait.
Suddenly, not moving becomes a hell of a lot easier because my heart skips in my chest.
I blink as though I’m dreaming. I must be because there’s no way in hell anyone in real life actually looks that hot, right? Except, nope, he’s real. He’s real and he’s heading straight for me.
I’ve never really understood the attraction to a man in uniform before this second. Even with the thick material of the uniform, it’s obvious this guy is a wall of muscle.
He’s tall, though from my prone position, it’s hard to judge just how tall. The moment my gaze hits his face, though, a ragged exhale leaves my lips. Those eyes. Bright green and boring into me as he glances my way and our gazes lock. I’m frozen as my heart picks up its beating at a rapid pace, sending my blood rushing. Dark brown hair is cut short at the sides, a little longer on top, and his sharp jaw is covered with stubble. Suddenly, I can’t stop wondering how that stubble would feel against my skin.
Thank God I’m lying down because my knees are so weak I might faint if I was standing.
2
AIDAN
“Now if this is your first time, don’t panic,” I say to the crowd of rookies standing in front of me. “It’s perfectly normal to be nervous.”
A few of them smother laughs at the innuendo, and I grin, happy that they seem at ease. This drill really isn’t a big deal, but I remember being in their boots…nearly twenty years ago. The thought makes me shake my head, and I run my hand over the scratch of stubble at my jaw.
Damn, these guys are half my age, fresh-faced, and that mix of eagerness and nerves that’s so familiar. It’s my responsibility to encourage that excitement for their job because that kind of drive is what’s going to help save lives and keep them from burning out while they’re at it.
“Now, even though the volunteers are only pretending to be injured for this exercise, it’s important you all treat this as though it were real and take it seriously,” Waylon, my Lieutenant, says to the team.
I nod in agreement. “Take time to read over the scenario cards beside your volunteer, reassure them the way you would a real victim, and go through the motions needed to evacuate and transport them safely to the treatment center on the right side of the room. Understood?”
“Understood, Captain!” they all answer in unison, and I smile at them, pleased.
“Alright then, let’s get started.”
I turn and open the door to the room we’re using for training, heading inside and pausing to make sure the recruits are ferrying in behind me. Only when the first couple kneel at the side of a volunteer do I take the room in fully. There’s a volunteer for every one of us, all laid out on thin blue mats that remind me of gym class. Beside them all is a white card with their scenarios written in black pen because if they’re supposed to be unconscious, they can’t exactly tell the guys what’s happened to them.
My gaze stops as it lands on a pair of deep blue eyes. I can’t look away even if I want to. The woman is on her back with her knees bent, her neck craned towards the door I’m standing by. Dark blonde curls are splayed around her, and the white blouse and black pants she’s wearing accentuate her curves even in her prone position. Her full lips are parted in what looks like surprise, and I swear I see her pupils dilate as I take her in.
She’s stunning. The kind of woman who could stop traffic with her beauty. She might as well have done just that, considering I’m standing here looking like a damn fool, utterly enchanted by someone I’m supposed to be pretending to help.
It’s not even a choice—she’s the volunteer I’m tending to. I need to know who the hell she is and if she’s hiding white feathery wings beneath that golden hair because surely she’s an angel. No mere human could look so heavenly surely.
I take a long stride in her direction when someone else does the same.No.This girl is mine, and like fuck is anyone else treating her. I glance sideways just enough to see that it’s Waylon as I shoulder-check him, pushing myself in front.
“Get your own,” I growl at him, not meaning the words to slip out until it’s too late. What the hell am I doing? Never in my life have I felt this surge of possessiveness that’s coming over me, especially not for a stranger. I’m determined she won’t be a stranger any longer. And I can’t bring myself to regret my out-of-character actions towards my lieutenant, even as he murmurs a confused“What?”from behind me. I’m not paying attention. No, my entire being is focused on the woman who’s sending my heart beating so fast I’m half worried I’m going to end up as a training exercise myself.
I reach the edge of her mat and drop to my knees. My uniform rustles and my boots squeak on the tiled floor, my mind whirring. It’s a struggle to remember how to act even though I’ve done this drill countless times. One glance at her and my brain is a useless puddle, incapable of producing a thought other thanmine, mine, mine.
“You here to save me?” a sweet, light voice asks. There’s a smile playing on her lush lips when she says the words, a glint in her ocean-blue eyes that sends heat rushing through me as if there’s actually a damn fire in the building.
