Logan

 

The station seems to have a Christmas party every year. I was planning to give it a pass, pleading lack of babysitters, but then it seems ungrateful not to go when others have to be on duty. No one will hear of me swapping shifts. They deliberately don’t put the new members of the crew on the roster so we get to enjoy it.

The truth is, Emma has offered to babysit again so I can get the night off. And I don’t want to look like the Grinch, so I’m here, whether I want to be or not, a little late. The party has maybe been going on an hour or so. It’s really not so bad. It won’t hurt to show my face and drink a few beers with the guys. They’re a good crowd.

The fire station is decked out like Santa’s workshop with fairy lights strung everywhere, a whole snowman family that glows in the dark, and a Christmas tree. There are plenty of off-duty firefighters and their families around, so I’m not the only one able to enjoy the party.

It’s a pity Alice is too young for all this, though I’m sure she’ll be ready for it in a couple of years, racing around with the other kids instead of tucked up in bed at home.

The guys are in high spirits, laughing and joking. I meet a few wives and girlfriends. Lucky guys, happy at home.

When I first see Tia, I do a double take. She looks stunning. Why did I decide she wasn’t for me, again? She looks gorgeous in her normal office gear, but tonight she’s taken sexy to a whole new level.

“Yes.” Adam laughs. “Caught you. I thought you were immune. She gets the hottest woman at the party prize tonight, for sure.”

“Nice dress.”

“I didn’t think it was the dress you were looking at.”

I’m surprised she’s not flirting with the single firemen. Was I wrong about her? She could have any of them in that red dress, low cut at the front, long skirt, but with a slit up the side, and heels. I notice the sexy wiggle the heels give her when she finally moves from her dad’s side to the kitchen.

Time for another beer. I put the bottle down that one of the guys thrust into my hand as soon as I stepped through the door of the fire station.

Lady Luck is on my side. I find there’s no one else with Tia in the kitchen right now.

She looks up at me and smiles when she sees me. “Your first Christmas here?”

“Yes. I didn’t know what to expect from a fire station party in Bexford.”

“Me neither. It’s my first too.”

“I thought you might have been to a few with your dad.”

“It’s not very cool for a teenager to go to parties with her dad.”

“You’re a teenager? You look all grown up to me.”

She catches my eye, and smiles again. Neither us looks away. “Not a teenager anymore. Not going back there. That sucked.”

“And everything in the garden is rosy now? Despite the ring thing.”

“No, that sucks a bit, too. I keep seeing him with his new girlfriend when I go out with Cassie.”

Ah. Does that mean she’s been going out with her friend rather than staying out all night with a whole string of guys? My heart perks up at that idea.

“Is Cassie your friend I met when we got you out of the drain?”

“Yes.” She colors at the memory.

“Don’t worry. It’s the highlight of my time so far at the Bexford district station.”

She laughs. “Pleased to have been of service. Anytime you need another highlight, I’m available for getting stuck in trees, rescuing from the river. That kind of thing. Just say the word.”

“I might have another kind of highlight in mind. If you’re offering.”

I’m not sure, but I think she sucks in a breath at my words before recovering her composure. “What kind would that be?”

“A kind your dad might not approve of.”

She raises her eyebrows. “That could be anything. He still thinks I need protecting from breaking a nail to all out nuclear war and everything in between.”

“And do you need protection?”

“That depends on whether you’re a serial killer sort of guy or not.”

“That’s not in my job description.”

“Good, then.”

I want to kiss her right there in the kitchen, but it’s not going to happen when I know people are going to come crashing through the doors looking for a drink any moment now. People like her dad, who shows up right on cue, like a bad penny.

“Oh, there you are. I wondered where you got to,” he says, protecting her. From me.