The Fire Inside (3 page)

Her look was grateful. Warm. Feminine. Huh!
He liked it. A lot.

o0o

“Sit down, Captain Righetti.”

Furious at herself for showing off for the
recruits, Tess did as she was told. Damn it all, she should have
paid attention to her ankle. It had begun to ache partway up. But,
she’d been too proud to quit and she was going to pay dearly for
it.

Mason said, “Thanks, Hanley. I’ll take it
from here.” The recruit nodded and left; he must sense Mason’s
authoritative attitude, too. She remembered his words the other
day.

In my other life, I was the boss. I know how
to treat people who work for me or who I’m training.

“You don’t have to stay.” Her voice was low,
whispery.

After he dragged a stool from the corner, he
put a nearby blanket on it and lifted her foot to rest on the soft
fleece. “Where’s the ice?”

“Really, Mason. I can take care of
myself.”

“I know you can.” He winked at her. “Not sure
I’ll make it up the rope, so I’m actually doing this for selfish
reasons. Ice?”

“There’s a fridge in the bathroom.” He left
the office, and Tess closed her eyes. For twelve months she’d been
taking care of her foot in hopes of getting back on the line,
despite what the doctors warned…

The ankle’s weak, Righetti. You’re going to
have to work hard and be sensible at the same time if it’s ever
going to be strong enough… And I’m not sure even that’s going to
allow it to heal enough.

Tess had said she’d prove them wrong. And now
she’d gone and done something idiotic. Anger at herself swelled
like a fire gone wild.

“Here we are.” Mason came back in and knelt
before her. He had a full head of dark hair, but she could see some
strands of gray in it, more at the temples. All of it looked soft.
Sexy.

Hell, what was she thinking? Especially after
his reaction when she’d sprawled on top of him. He was a recruit,
for God’s sake.

He packed her foot with ice, then wrapped a
large ace bandage around it. “This has to be elevated higher than
the stool.”

“I can manage by myself.”

“I’ll help you to the couch.”

When she was settled with pillows beneath her
feet, he went into the bathroom and returned with a glass of water
and a bottle of pills. “Ibuprofen. It’ll counteract the
swelling.”

“Thanks. I’ll rest. You can leave.”

“I could.” He dragged a chair over to the
couch. “Now, what’s this all about? You had a previous injury?”

Shaking her head, she sighed. “I broke my
ankle when I fell through the floor of a burning building and my
foot crumpled.”

“Prognosis?”

“The docs say it’s healed but weak.”

“I see.”

For some reason, she wanted to confide in
this man. So she told him their concerns about her ever being on
the line again. “But I’m going to prove them wrong.”

“Not like this, you’re not. What you did was
foolish.”

She bristled. “Thanks for pointing out my
flaws when I’m at my worst.”

He recoiled. “If I did that, I’m sorry. Your
actions were foolish but human. I understand wanting to be good at
things. To be able to show you understand what you’re trying to
teach others.”

A thought struck her. “Is that why you’re
here? Were you a teacher before?”

“In a way. But this isn’t about me.”

“You’re right. I don’t want to know any more
about you.”

His smile was uber-sexy. “Afraid you’ll warm
up to me?”

“Not a chance.” Time for comeuppance.
“
You
were the one who got aroused in front of six
recruits.”

“When you sprawled all over me. Plus, you’re
a beautiful woman, though I think you try to disguise that.”

“Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Not like when I was in high school, and all
it took was a glimpse of the head cheerleader to make it necessary
to carry my books in front of me all day.”

She laughed, despite the pain. “You’re hard
not to like.”

“Why would you want to dislike me?”

“Because you’ve disrupted my equilibrium in
the class.”

“Then, again, I apologize.”

“Gonna tell me what your story is?”

“No.”

“You could. It wouldn’t hurt anything.”

“I’m not sure why.” He shrugged his
shoulders. “Maybe I’m enjoying being a mystery man.”

“You enjoy being maddening.”

“I never have before.” The corners of his
mouth turned up. “You must bring that out in me.”

She moved on the couch, and pain shot up from
her foot. She cried out.

“You’re hurting, more than those
over-the-counter pills can cope with. We have to call the fire
department doctor.”

“I don’t want to do that.”

Drawing in a heavy breath, he stood. “I don’t
think we have a choice. You’re too involved to know if your foot
needs attention, like a splint or something. Giving it a few days
could make it worse.”

He drew out his cell phone, entered in
numbers, and Tess shut up. Actually, her foot was throbbing, so he
was probably right. The last thing she needed was to be foolish
again and do more damage.

Because no matter what anybody thought, she
was
going to get back on the line, regardless of how long it
took or how many setbacks she had.

o0o

“Where’s Captain Righetti?” Jill asked.

“Her EMS buddies took her to the hospital.
The fire department doctor ordered her there—for X-rays and further
treatment. She’s in a lot of pain.”

Jill frowned. “She going to be all
right?”

“Yes. She may require some time off,
though.”

“Who’ll take her place?” Jordan wanted to
know.

“Me.” A man spoke from behind them. A tall,
redheaded guy had approached them. “I’m Captain O’Leary. I’ll be
taking Captain Righetti’s place until she comes back.” He scanned
the recruits. “Now, what’s this about ropes?”

Jack sighed. He was going to have to climb
the damn thing after all.

Later, he showered, then left the gym, his
thoughts whirling in a million different directions. He’d gotten
only two-thirds of the way up the rope—Hanley had aced this one—but
Jack had learned something vital. Rope climbing was going to be a
stumbling block for recruits, and best he know that before
April.

He bumped into the fire chief in the
corridor. “Hey, Chief.”

Bob Lincoln was a big black man with a shaved
head and an easy smile. He carried an air of command. “Hey, Mason.
You still giving Righetti trouble?”

“No.” He recounted what he’d done for her. “I
was hoping you could tell me how she is after her fall.”

“Let me make a call.” Pulling out his phone,
he spoke with whoever answered. “Yeah, uh-huh. Yep. Okay.” Then to
Jack he said, “She’s been admitted to the hospital. Since this is a
workplace accident, and she previously injured that ankle, the
doctor here didn’t want to take any chances.” He checked his watch.
“I wish I could go see her, but I’ve got a shindig with the mayor
to attend.”

“I could visit her.”

“We don’t want to upset her even more, Mason.
Besides, you’re supposed to be a recruit.”

“I know. But I’m older and have a different
relationship with her. I’ll just check in.”

“Hard to believe you can pass for a recruit.
You just take charge.”

“I’m not doing such a good job of passing.
I’ll have to reconsider my options.”

“Mitch Malvaso said you were a great guy. I
wish all of my people were so dedicated that they’d go undercover,
so to speak, to be better at their jobs.”

“You’ve got a good one there in Righetti. She
goes the extra mile.” Despite his reservations about her, he didn’t
want to share his concerns with the fire chief. Yet, anyway.

“Yeah, I know.” He glanced at his watch.
“Would you call and leave a message on how she is? When she’s going
home?”

“Of course.”

As he drove to the hospital, Jack thought
about what he was doing. He didn’t even know if he liked Tess, at
least he didn’t like how she treated the kids. Their professional
philosophies were diametrically opposed. But she seemed different
when she wasn’t on stage with them. Vulnerable. Reasonable—taking
the blame on herself for being careless with her foot, using it as
a teachable moment for the recruits. He’d had clients who were
injured in a fire and the hardest thing to deal with was the threat
of losing their position on the line.

Twenty minutes later, he knocked on the door
of Room 215 and heard a cranky “Come in.”

Tess lay in the bed, her foot elevated and
bound by what looked like one of those removable casts. She was
pale and appeared listless. When she saw him, though, instead of
annoyance, her expression lightened. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“You didn’t have to come.” She frowned. “You
shouldn’t have.”

“I wanted to see how you are. What the
diagnosis is.”

“I bruised my ankle bone, the one that had
just healed. Ordinarily, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but because I
broke the bone once, this is a problem.”

“May I sit?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Pulling a chair around, he focused on her.
“How big of a problem?”

“It’s going to take a lot longer to get back
on the line.”

“I’m sorry.”

“If ever.” Her voice came out in that hoarse
whisper. Again, he got a glimpse of her vulnerability.

“Don’t live the trouble before it comes.”

Her brows knitted. He hadn’t noticed how
delicate they were before, how fine boned she was. “You sound like
a shrink.”

“Just a concerned friend.”

“We’ve only known each other seven days. I’m
your instructor. We’re definitely not friends.”

“Back to your ankle. You’ll be more careful,
train wisely, and maybe you’ll only lose six months on the
line.”

“You think so?”

“It’s a strong possibility.”

She eyed him as if he were an enemy
combatant. “You’re a good guy, too. I saw that before.”

“My bet is you’re a whole different person
when you’re not yelling at the recruits.”

“I am.” She sat up straighter. “Let’s not
talk about recruits, or it’ll remind me I shouldn’t be with you
right now.”

“It’s a deal.”

He checked his watch.

“If you have to go, I understand.” Her voice
had taken on an edge.

“Go? Hell no.
Cleveland Fire
is on
tonight.”

“Ah, my fav.”

“Mine, too.” He picked up the remote. “Shall
I?”

“Yep.”

They watched for thirty minutes, commenting
on what was real, what was so outlandish, it’d never happen in a
firehouse. Halfway through the program, though, Tess dozed off.
Jack watched her, admiring the delicate sweep of her dark lashes on
her face. Tonight, she had a loveliness about her that he’d not
seen before. Then again, his reaction to having her plastered all
over him might have changed the way he was looking at her.

He had to smile. He hadn’t lived like a monk
after Elizabeth died, except pretty much for those first few years
when he was trying to raise twins on his own and get his degree,
then hold down a full-time job. Thank God for his grandmother,
who’d still been young enough to move in with him and watch the
kids. Since then, he’d dated, but nothing serious had developed
between him and any of the women he saw. Today, he’d had a
surprisingly strong physical reaction to Tess Righetti, and
tonight, something inside of him shifted. Hmm, could there be
something between him and this woman? The question was, did he want
it?

o0o

Tess awoke with a start. The room was dark,
and it took her a few seconds to realize where she was. Something
moved off to the side, frightening her even more than her fuzzy
brain.

“Tess?” A deep male voice came out of the
shadows. “It’s me, John. Are you all right?”

Her heart beating at a clip, she managed,
“Yeah, bad dream.”

Some rustling, the he switched on a small
light off to the right. He moved to the bed and sat down on the
side of the mattress, facing her. He seemed bigger, stronger…and
safe. “Was it about the fire you got hurt in?”

“Uh-huh. How’d you know?”

“Common reaction after an injury. Your
unconscious is remembering what happened to you previously as it
tries to deal with this latest blow.”

She leaned back on the pillows. Her eyes had
adjusted to the dimness and she could see his hair was askew and
his shirt rumpled. “What time is it?”

He glanced at his wrist. “Around four.”

“In the
morning
?”

“Yeah, you fell asleep during
Cleveland
Fire.”

“And you stayed?”

“Not intentionally. I dozed off in that
lounger.” He gave a self-effacing chuckle. “Must be climbing that
rope tuckered me out.”

“How far did you get?”

“Two-thirds up.”

“How’d the rest of them do?”

“Hanley starred. The blonds about the same as
me. Mick didn’t do well.” He studied her. “Now that you’re updated,
you should try to rest.”

“You can go home.”

“I might as well stay. You’ll be getting out
in a few hours and I can take you to your place.”

“You’ll be late to class today.”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Now that
her head was clearer, she tried to conjure her annoyance at
him.

“There’s a question for another time.”

She watched him.

“Lay back and shut your eyes. You might be
able to catch a few more z’s.”

“Okay.” Her lids closed. For some reason, she
felt more optimistic. She drifted off.

Two days later, as he pulled into Tess’s
driveway, Jack shook his head, chiding himself. He didn’t know why
the hell he was doing this. He’d talked to Tess earlier in the day
and she was fine—except Fire Chief Lincoln had told her she
couldn’t come back to the Academy until next week. Her tone had
been so depressed, Jack felt sorry for her. So he’d grabbed a
bottle of his favorite merlot on the way to his hotel, and once
there, he showered, shaved, put on jeans, a zip-up sweater, a
quilted vest and headed out.