Page 10 of Melting for the Firefighter

Lance

Theaddresscomesoverthe radio, and every part of me goes cold.

“Structure fire, Grandma’s Garden, fifty-four Main Street. Possible occupant trapped in the rear residence.”

Cora.

I am moving before Tessa finishes the dispatch.

Jordan grabs his gear beside me. Zain steps out of his office with his coffee still in one hand.

Zain notices everything. A loose strap. A change in someone’s breathing. Fear a man is trying to keep off his face.

He looks at me and knows.

“Renner,” he says. “Eyes on me.”

I force myself to stop.

Zain sets the coffee down. “You follow my orders in there.”

“Yeah.”

“Say it like you mean it.”

“I follow your orders, Chief.”

His gaze holds mine for one more second.

“Move.”

We are in the engine within forty seconds.

Jordan drives. I sit beside him, dragging straps into place while Main Street flashes past.

I saw Cora three hours ago.

Honey-blonde curls over one shoulder. Green dress hugging the soft body I have spent two years trying not to think about.

It never works.

I keep my distance. Take different routes through town. Remind myself she is too young, too sweet, and too trusting for a man like me.

Then I see her, and every thought I have buried comes back harder.

Her blue eyes. Her mouth. The way her breath caught when I touched her fingers.

It’s the damn cooler. Has to be.

Unplugging it might not have stopped a fault in the wall. Bad wiring. A burned outlet. A breaker that never tripped.

Doesn’t matter now. Only getting to Cora does.

“Tessa says she was conscious when the call connected,” Jordan says. “Rear exit jammed. She broke a bedroom window.”

“When did she stop answering?”

His hands tighten on the wheel. “Two minutes ago.”