Up in Smoke: A Hot in Chicago Rookies Novel by Kate Meader

Author:Kate Meader [Meader, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub

“Knock, knock.” I lean against the entrance to Roman’s office, my fist raised. “Hey, Lieutenant.”

He turns from whatever he’s reading and looks me up and down. Subtle, but an unmistakable check out. “Hey, Sullivan, everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just wanted to say thanks for earlier, what you said to Danny. I’m sure he didn’t know how far he was pushing it.”

“Oh, he knew. He shouldn’t harass you like that in front of the crew when you’re less likely to cut him off because you want to be polite.” He narrows his eyes. “Of course, if you want to go out with him, that’s your business. It’s not against the rules.”

No. The rules are just for me and Roman.

“I don’t want to date him. Or any firefighter.”

He doesn’t respond, merely watches and waits.

“It’s not personal.” The words are gushing from me now in direct proportion to my fast-rising color. “I’ve just seen how difficult it is to be married to one. How much it hurts to lose someone in the service, so it seems like tempting fate to put two firefighters together like that. Double the potential for disaster.”

My heart’s thumping hard. I’m not saying this to warn him off—we’re already never going to happen. But I want him to know I won’t be dating anyone at Engine 6. If I could and we weren’t already crazily problematic, I would definitely go on that date with him.

“I see,” is all he says.

Subject change needed. “How come you skipped breakfast earlier?”

He taps his pen on the desk, obviously trying to decide if I’m worthy of his confidence. “I had a call from Lena’s school. She got into trouble a couple of days ago. Fight with another kid.”

“Oh no! Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. Physically, anyway. I have a meeting there tomorrow, and I think we’ll figure that part of it out. But she’s pretty mad at me.” He pauses, probably weighing whether to tell me more. My silence is rewarded. “I won’t let her attend her mom’s wedding.”

“Ah, that sounds tricky.” I know that Roman is on less-than-ideal terms with his ex. A curious eagerness to be his shoulder grips me. Surely we can be friends. I’d like that because something is better than nothing where this man is concerned. Sure, that’s risky but everything about this situation is, and apparently I live for danger. “Is it because you don’t want to go?”

“I’m not invited, which is perfectly fine. Only I can’t let Lena go alone. That side of the family are a bunch of booze hounds.” The pen tap becomes more pronounced. “But that’s not the issue—or the entire issue. The problem is that Tori wants to dress Lena up like a doll for this shit show. Trot her out and pretend that everything is A-okay.” He waves a hand. “Sorry, you don’t need to hear this.”

“No, it’s fine. So what does Lena want?”

“She’s eleven so it’s not relevant.”

“Oh dear.”

He points at me with the pen. “You’re not a parent so I won’t be taking that attitude from you.

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