“What’s up, Allen?” Darius, or Big D as we like to call him, comes into the washroom at the firehouse and drops his gear next to the washing machine. “You using this?”

“I’m done.” I smile and pat his back. “It’s all yours.”

“What’s gotten into you?” he asks, shoving his turnouts into the washer. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile this much since the Cardinals won the World Series.”

“Nothing’s gotten into me. Just ready to be done with this shift.” So I can go see Claire.

We texted off and on all day yesterday and made plans to meet up tomorrow night. My shift ends tonight, but I won’t get home until late, and tomorrow I have to work at the ranch. But after that, she’s all mine.

Still don’t know what in the world I’m going to say to her, but I’ll figure it out.

Big D bobs his head. “Don’t I know it. My shift is over effective…” He looks at his watch. “Right now, and all I want to do is go home, take a hot shower, bang my wife, and sleep for a day.”

I laugh. “What the hell are you hanging around here for? Go. I’ll take care of your gear.”

“I appreciate the offer, and any other day I’d take you up on that, but Todd and I have to go to the elementary school for community career day.”

“On your day off?”

He shrugs. “No one else wanted to do it, and I can’t let the kids down like that, man. They love us.”

I glance over at Todd, who is in full gear, doing a check on truck 1090. I vaguely remember seeing a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board asking for volunteers for career day, but that’s never been my thing, so I ignored it.

“You said it was at the elementary school?”

“Yeah,” he answers. “First and second grade.”

Thoughts meet brick wall.

I’ve never really believed in fate, but this has to be some sort of sign.

I turn to Big D. “I’ll do it.”

“Really? Because I don’t mind.”

“I know you don’t, but your shift is over. You should get home to that gorgeous wife of yours.”

“You’re sure?”

I nod. “Absolutely. And don’t worry about your gear; I’ll finish it up for you.”

“Thank you, Trevor. I’ll owe you one.”

No, thank you. “Anytime, Big D.”

I watch him leave, and then I walk over to Todd. “I’m your wingman today. What do you need me to do?”

He tosses a clipboard on the front seat of the truck. “What happened to Darius?”

“I told him to head home. No sense in him going on his day off when there’s a dozen others here to do the job.”

“Sounds good to me. I don’t care who goes, just as long as I’m not alone. Those kids can get a little rambunctious.” He shuts the truck door. “I told the principal we’d come after first period, so we’ll leave here at nine. We’re doing first grade first, and then second grade.”

“Sounds good.” I look at the clock. One hour to kill.

And it’s the slowest hour in the history of hours. All I do is think about Claire and her beautiful smile and bright green eyes, which are on full display when we finally go and she sees me pull up in the fire truck.

The kids are all lined up on the sidewalk, squirming around, faces full of smiles as they prepare to learn about being firefighters. But nothing compares to the look on Claire’s face. The clouds that were in her eyes two nights ago are gone, and I’d like to think I had a little something to do with that.

“Hey, Red.” I give her my best smile, and with one hand on her elbow, I lean in and kiss her cheek.

She squeaks, her eyes darting toward the kids on the sidewalk, but they’re paying no attention. She looks back at me, her smile growing by the second. “What are you doing here? Where’s Darius?”

“Don’t pretend you aren’t happy to see me.”

“Cocky much?”

“Admit it. You’ve been thinking about me just as much as I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Have you thought about what I said before you left?”

“Among other things.”

She tilts her head. “What other things?”

“The kiss you gave me. I’ve been thinking about that a lot.”

Claire’s cheeks turn pink.

“Are you ready, Trevor?” Todd asks.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.” I return my gaze to Claire. “Have you thought about the kiss, Claire?”

“Come on, bro,” Todd hollers. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

With a mischievous grin, Claire places her hands on my chest and slowly pushes me away. “You better get to work, Mr. Allen. You’ve got a group of kids waiting on you.”

“You’re evil,” I whisper, joining Todd on the sidewalk.

We spend the next hour talking to the kids about the fire truck, showing them how to explore and see what each thing does. The kids get the chance to climb inside, and we let them turn on the sirens and lights, and it’s a lot more fun than I thought it would be.

After we’ve gone through our normal spiel, Todd and I have the kids sit back down on the grass. “We’ve still got plenty of time. Does anyone have any questions?” he asks.

Two little boys in the front row throw their hands up, and I smile to myself when I recognize them as Marcus and Troy. They probably don’t recognize me, and I’m not sure how they’ve been handling the fire, so I don’t plan to bring it up.

“What’s your name?” I ask, pointing to the boy on the left. The boy on the right pouts while the other smiles proudly.

“Marcus.”

“What’s your question, Marcus?”

“Have you ever saved someone’s life?”

Yeah, buddy. Yours. “I have.”

“How many?” he fires back.

“I don’t know. I don’t keep track.”

“More than ten?” his twin brother asks.

“Way more than ten.”

They look at me approvingly, and Todd moves on to the next kid. “What’s your name?” he asks a little girl in the back row.

She stands up. “Lilah.”

“What’s your question, Lilah?”

“My mom watches a firefighter show on TV.”

Todd and I watch Lilah, waiting for her to get the questions, but she just stares at us.

“Cool,” I say. “Did you have a question for us?”

She shakes her head and sits down.

Todd laughs and claps his hands together. “Trevor and I have time to show you one more thing before we finish up today. We can either practice our stop, drop, and roll, or we can show you the different ways to do a one-man carry. Raise your hand if you want to stop, drop, and roll.”

All the kids keep their hands down, and Marcus blurts, “We stop, drop, and roll all the time.”

“Okay then, one-man carries it is.” Todd looks through the sea of kids. “Who would like to volunteer?” Twenty hands go up in the air, but when I spot Claire behind the kids, an idea pops into my head.

“How about we use your teacher?” I ask, making it sound exciting and cool.

The kids fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

Claire’s eyes widen, and she shakes her head. “No. No, no, no. Use one of the kids.”

“Come on, Ms. Daniels,” a few of the kids taunt, and then they all break out in a chant:

Ms. Dan-iels.

Ms. Dan-iels.

Ms. Dan-iels.

I should’ve brought candy for these kids. Not only do I get to stare at their beautiful teacher, but because of them, now I get to touch her.

Finally giving in, Claire rolls her eyes and walks over to Todd, but I grab her wrist and pull her toward me. “He’ll talk. I’ll demonstrate.”

She grins. “Of course you will.”

“The first hold is called a one-person lift. Place one arm under the victim’s knee and the other around their back.”

I step into Claire. “Good thing you didn’t wear a skirt,” I whisper.

Before she can respond, I bend down and scoop her up the same way a husband would carry his new bride. Claire wraps her arm around my neck. Her body is warm against mine. She feels so damn good, and today she smells like lavender.

“I’ve thought about the kiss a lot,” she whispers, while smiling at her students.

“I knew it.”

“I’m also not wearing any underwear,” she adds.

My cock starts to grow thick in my pants, and I think of anything and everything I can to make it stop, because no way in hell can I get a raging hard-on in front of a group of first graders.

That little minx knew exactly what she was doing.

Bunnies.

Pink bunnies.

Kittens.

“This hold only works with a child or someone you can easily lift,” Todd explains while I run through a list of cute little animals. “If someone is really big or overweight, we would have to find a different way to move them. The next hold is called a firefighter carry.”

I set Claire back on her feet. She smooths her hands down the front of her blouse and takes a bow when the kids clap for her. She tries to step away, probably thinking I’ll use a different volunteer for each hold, but I put a quick stop to that when I grab her arm and fling her over my shoulder. The kids all laugh, and Claire places her palms on my lower back for leverage as I parade her around the group so they can get a good look at how I’m carrying her.

“With this hold, the victim is carried over one shoulder. The rescuer’s arm, on the side that the victim is being carried, is wrapped across their legs, and the rescuer grasps the victim’s opposite arm. This technique is used for carrying a victim longer distances,” Todd says.

“It’s also used to carry a woman to bed and provides the perfect opportunity spank her ass if she’s been bad,” I whisper, so only Claire can hear.

I can’t see her, but I hear her breath hitch.

“And it’s a mighty fine ass,” I add.

“If a victim is on the ground, this hold is difficult and will require a strong rescuer,” Todd says, continuing to the next hold. “The last one-man carry we’re going to show you today is the pack-strap carry.”

I let Claire down. She turns away, pretending to be unaffected by me.

“In this hold, you’ll see that Trevor is going to pull the victims arms over his shoulders from behind.”

I follow Todd’s direction. I step in front of Claire and bend at the knee. She lifts up on her toes, allowing me to hoist her up on my back.

“You’ll notice that this is similar to a piggyback ride, but Ms. Daniels leaves her legs hanging rather than wrapping them around Trevor’s waist. When injuries make the firefighter carry unsafe, this method can be used.” Todd smiles. “That’s it. Doesn’t anyone have any questions?”

I lower Claire to her feet, and before she can turn away, I grab her wrist. “Did my words turn you on, Claire?”

“Why would you think that?” she says, adjusting her top.

“Because your nipples are hard. They were cutting into my back.”

She spins us around so my back is facing the kids and then she steps in close, as though she’s giving me a hug. Her fingers curl around my erection through my pants. She gives it a solid squeeze, followed by a pat, and then she winks. “And now so is your cock,” she whispers.

Well played, Claire. Well played.

“That’s it?” Marcus asks.

I turn around to face the kids and watch Claire take her spot by the tree.

She winks, and while my cock is definitely hard, there are other strange things happening in my body—a warmth radiating to my toes and a gallop in my heart that wasn’t there before. I know without a doubt that I’ve got to come clean, and if she decides she hates me, I’ll do whatever it takes to win her back, because I need this woman in my life.

“No, those are just one-man carries. There are two- and three-man carries, and we also use stretchers, ropes, straps, and chairs to move victims,” I answer.

Todd looks at his watch and steps forward. “It looks like our time is up. Does anyone have a question they have to have answered before we move on to the next class?” The group of kids sit quietly, no one raising their hands, and Claire claps hers together.

“All right, class.” She steps around the group and stands in front of Todd and me. “What do we say to these two firefighters for coming and talking to us today?”

“Thank you,” they all say in unison.

“I want you all to stand up and form a single-file line behind Tara,” she tells them.

The kids rise to their feet, and Claire turns to us. “Thank you so much for coming. We really appreciate it.” She wraps Todd’s hand between hers.

“It’s our pleasure. We’ll see you next year,” he says.

She nods and watches Todd walk toward the fire truck before turning to me. “I take it you haven’t come up with any excuses.”

I shake my head. “Not one.”

“Good.” She smiles, and I notice her clear eyes once again.

“You look good…happy,” I say.

“I have you to thank for that. And I have you to thank for calling Mo yesterday morning.”

I was hoping I wasn’t crossing any lines by calling Mo. Judging by the easy smile on Claire’s face, I think it’s safe to say I’m in the clear. “I take it you got your dog back.”

“I did.”

“That’s good.”

A bell rings. Claire’s eyes dart to the school and then back to mine. “Will I see you tomorrow night?”

“Absolutely.”

She turns to her class and starts them walking. I join Todd by the fire truck, but keep my eyes on her until she disappears into the school.