The Firefighter Who Rescues Me

Chapter 12 ♚ A Chance

I would only admit in the privacy of my mind that I expected him to chase after me.

Half of me craved it, even. Not because I enjoyed drama, like Cata always said, but because I wanted to take it as a sign that someone saw me as worthy of the effort.

But he didn't follow.

Sunday went by under a blanket and pillow fort I only left to get baked goods from the kitchen.

The next day, I had the worst case of the Mondays anyone had ever seen. Margaret steered clear off me in the morning as we got ready to start our day. As I left the house, even the nearby birds stopped chirping when I walked by.

The guys at the site took one look at me and followed in my landlady's example.

During the morning assembly, Brian gave me a look, eyebrows raised and chin tipped my way, as if to ask what the deal was with me. I gave him no reaction to indicate whether I was fine or not, because the truth was I didn't know.

There was too much roiling inside of me. Self righteousness of having done the right thing to protect myself, mixed in with horror at having made myself so vulnerable just so I could keep a guy away.

I was mad that again and again my actions were shaped by men. This was why I'd escaped out here, so I could finally vanquish their rule over me and defeat them at their game—and I had to do it through work, not through whatever could've happened with Pace.

"Good morning, everybody," Brian started and I focused on him with laser precision. Enough distraction.

"Morning," some of the others responded.

"Before we go over today's placements," the foreman said as he lifted up a piece of paper. "Today we'll have an inspection done by the fire department while we work."

What happened in my gut would be the biological equivalent of a record scratching.

Cálmate, I told myself. It wasn't like Pace was on duty every single day. Maybe he wouldn't be part of the inspection.

"They'll just be observing to make sure we're doing everything according to code, so don't go panicking if you see a firefighter watching over you, okay?" Brian asked everybody before moving on.

I lingered on that even as I headed over with the guys to start flooring work. Even an hour into the work day, I kept glancing around expecting a certain someone. The distraction lasted until I grabbed a load wrong and almost dropped several hundred bucks worth of flooring on my foot.

I managed to catch it on time but whew, it was a good reminder that I needed to focus.

"Ah, youth," Teddy said as he watched me pick up twice the weight he could carry.

"Not youth." Shane grunted as he lifted an even smaller load than Teddy's. "It's called working out."

I grinned at them, comfortable with the equivalent weight of an adult on my shoulders. "Maybe you should try it."

"It's not just that," a new voice said. "The lifting technique matters."

My heart skipped and it must have caused a sudden oxygen shortage in my brain, because I turned around to confirm the source of the voice despite the long load I carried.

Fortunately, the only one in the way was Shane and he managed to duck in time.

"Oh, shit," I said.

Everybody's eyes were as wide as could be.

That was already the second disaster averted and it was all Pace's fault. Or the fact he was constantly in my head and now stood before me.

He jotted down something on the clipboard he carried and added, "Yeah, that's dangerous."