Can't Help Falling in Love

When Marcus’s pop-star girlfriend had heard that the city’s stations were facing heavy budget cuts, it had been her idea to play a show to raise money for them. But at the tail end of her acoustic benefit concert, Station 5 had been called out to the three-story building on Conrad Street.

She threw her arms around him and he purposefully pulled her closer as Marcus looked on. The way his brother shook his head said he knew exactly what Gabe was doing. Any other time, Marcus would have had him up against the wall for getting this close to his woman, but evidently being stuck in the hospital had some bonuses. Like the fact that Marcus was too happy Gabe was alive to lose it over the placement of his hands just above the curve of Nicola’s hips.

Still, Gabe knew he could only push things so far when Marcus wrapped his hands around Nicola’s waist, growled, “Get your own damn girlfriend,” and yanked her back against him.

Gabe got exactly why his oldest brother had fallen for the pop star. She wasn’t just easy on the eyes and talented, she also had a huge heart. It had been years since Gabe had been with anyone like that—a woman who had all those qualities, someone with whom he could actually imagine having a long-term relationship rather than just a few hours between the sheets.

Fortunately, a moment after Nicola was pulled away, Chloe was taking her place in Gabe’s arms.

“Damn it,” Chase muttered, “now he’s got mine. Nothing like being a hero to make women throw themselves at him.”

Clearly, they were all so glad he was okay that they’d let just about anything slip right about now. Everyone except his mother, who was staring at him with eagle eyes.

“I just spoke to the doctor and he’s informed me that you’ll be staying here for another night so that they can make sure no internal bleeding has started in your brain.”

“Aw, Mom,” he said, sounding more like a fourteen-year-old boy than a twenty-eight-year-old grown man as Chloe moved back toward Chase. “I feel fine.” His head ached like a son of a bitch, but he’d suffered hangovers nearly as bad.

“Since I’m sure the beam to the head has knocked out what little common sense you have, I’m going to trust the doctor.” He barely stifled his groan at being stuck in one place for so many hours on end as his mother added, “And so are you.”

Chase was doing a pretty good job of acting like the bandage on Gabe’s head wasn’t that big a deal. But Marcus, who had stepped into their father’s place when he’d passed away more than twenty years ago, was clearly concerned.

“How did this happen, Gabe? You’ve always been smart out there, but from what the news reports have said about the fire, the building wasn’t safe to go into.” His expression tightened even further. “Not even close to safe.”

At eight years his senior, Gabe had figured Marcus would be the one to call him on what he’d done. But although the rescue had almost ended in disaster, Gabe wouldn’t have done a damn thing differently. Not when he could still see the helpless little girl in her mother’s arms, her big eyes pleading with him to save the person she loved most in the world.

“The building wasn’t empty.” It was the only explanation that mattered.

“You could have died, Gabe.”

He held his oldest brother’s gaze. “You’re right. I could have.” He waited a beat before saying, “But I’m still here.”

Marcus blew out a hard breath. “How many goddamned lives are you going to burn through playing hero?”

“Marcus!” their mother exclaimed.

Wanting to break through the tension in the hospital room, knowing this was just all part of being a firefighter’s family, Gabe said, “It’s okay, Mom. This is Marcus’s way of showing he cares.”

Fortunately, Nicola helped thaw things out in the room by laughing. When Marcus glared at his girlfriend, she merely grinned at him and said, “We all know you’re like one of those hard candies with a gooey center, Marcus.” He turned the full force of his scowl at her, but when she went up on her toes and kissed him, he stopped scowling.

Before Marcus—or anyone else—could start in on Gabe again, he yawned big and loud. One sibling after another had been in and out of his hospital room all day. The nurse had even said at one point, “How many of you are there? My patient needs his rest.” Of course, when Ryan had flirted shamelessly with the woman, the no-fail effect of his too-pretty face meant she’d pretty much agreed to bend visiting hours as much as she could for the Sullivan clan.

Picking up on his signal, his mother began to shoo them out, kissing him on the cheek before leaving. “I’ll be by your house with food tomorrow.”

He could take care of feeding himself, but he knew helping him like that made his mother feel better about what had happened...or, more to the point, about what had almost happened. She’d never been crazy about the dangers that came with his being a firefighter, but she’d supported him anyway.

“Thanks, Mom.”

They left and he had just closed his eyes for a few minutes when another knock came at his door. His captain, Todd, stepped into the room.

“How’re you feeling, Gabe?”

“Good, Captain.”

He moved to sit up straighter on the bed and Todd shook his head. “You’re fine just like that. I know your skull must hurt like hell.” He nodded back to the doorway. “Are you ready to see Ms. Harris and her daughter, Summer?”