LITMIR.BIZ

      Adam looked up into the pale blue eyes of the mother of all those children.

      “Thank you,” she murmured, her voice clear despite all the confusion around them.

      “No problem,” he ground out between more coughing.

      “Do you always do that?” Carly asked.

      “Do what?”

      She crouched beside his stretcher. “Deflect a compliment. I was thanking you for saving my son from the fire. And Molly. What you did was extraordinarily brave. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

      He gave her a tiny salute and muttered, “All in the line of work,” then lay back down. Molly the dog was lying on the stretcher beside his, apparently playing dead except that her tail was wagging.

      Adam closed his eyes.

      Dear Reader,

      I’m delighted to bring you the fourth book of The O’Malley Men series, which is also a Creature Comforts title.

      Many of my readers have been intrigued by youngest brother, Adam, the firefighter. He’s been an enigmatic figure in my previous books, Colorado Christmas, The Sheriff and the Baby and Colorado Cowboy, drifting in and out of family gatherings, never really connecting with anyone.

      So, to make Adam reveal his true self, I’ve had him move back to his hometown of Spruce Lake. Only problem is, moving back to the town he escaped when barely out of his teens has forced Adam to confront the demons from his past.

      Adam is good at pretending that nothing touches him, but he’s a dedicated firefighter. Hailed a hometown hero when he saves both a toddler and a dog from a burning building, Adam tries to shy away from the accolades, knowing he’s no hero. Instead, he’s been harboring a dreadful secret and he’s convinced that when the town discovers the truth, he’ll be condemned instead of praised.

      But of course the large and gregarious O’Malley clan isn’t letting Adam hide from either them or his past. Add to the mix the mother of the toddler, Carly Spencer, who refuses to let Adam get under her skin.

      Adam is in for the ride of his life with Carly, her four children, his matchmaking mother and Molly the basset hound.

      I love hearing from readers. You can email me at [email protected]. Please watch for the fifth and final installment of The O’Malley Men, when we finally learn why Jack left the seminary to become a master carpenter—and when an old flame comes to Spruce Lake and turns his life upside down.

      Happy reading and healthy lives!

       C.C. Coburn

      Colorado Fireman

      C.C. COBURN

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      MILLS & BOON

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      Many thanks to

      Battalion Chief Neil “Rosie” Rosenberger and Captain Derek “Goose” Goossen of the Red, White and Blue for their invaluable assistance and patience with my research. It’s encouraging to know our safety is in the hands of such capable men.

      Remedial massage therapist Lynn Creighton for her help and insights into what is involved in massage therapy and for her amazing massages.

      And my dear friends, equine veterinarian Dr. Holly Wendell and horse-rescuer Helen Lacey for again patiently educating me about horses.

      Any errors or discrepancies in this story are the fault of the author and in no way reflect the expertise of the aforementioned.

       Chapter One

      Desperate for more air, Firefighter Adam O’Malley cracked open the bypass on the regulator leading to his airpack.

      The smoke inside the apartment building in Spruce Lake, Colorado, was thick and filled with lethal fumes. His helmet light shone through the gloom, barely illuminating his path as combustible materials manufactured in the seventies ensured the building burned fast and hot. Thankfully, the positive pressure inside his face mask prevented the noxious wastes from entering through its seals.

      Adam heard the unmistakable whimper of a child and turned toward it.

      He’d promised the mother he’d bring her toddler out alive. His vow had been the only thing that kept her from racing into the burning building to save her son.

      Adam hadn’t lost a victim yet and today wasn’t going to be his first, not if he could help it.

      Dropping to all fours, he crawled along the floor, where the smoke was less thick, toward the child. He spotted the little guy because of his diaper, a white beacon in an otherwise blackened world. He was on the floor beside his crib, hands stretched out, tears running down his chubby cheeks.

      How could anyone have left a kid behind? he wondered as he ripped open his bunker coat, lifted the child into his arms and placed him inside its protection, talking to him in soothing tones. “It’s okay, little guy. I’ve got you now. We’ll see your mom in no time,” he assured the child, praying their exit hadn’t been blocked by falling beams or other debris.

      He picked his way back out of the apartment, his body and jacket shielding the boy who clung to him, whimpering. The deafening sounds of fire consuming everything in its path—timber splintering, walls exploding, windows shattering—followed Adam as he moved down the stairs, testing each step to ensure it was still intact. Moments later, they were outside in the bright winter sunshine.

      The child’s mother broke from Captain Martin Bourne’s hold and rushed toward them. Tears streaming down her face, she muttered incoherently as she tried to take the child from his arms. But Adam wasn’t giving up his charge just yet. The paramedics needed to check him over, so he grabbed her with his free hand and directed her to the ambulances waiting nearby.

      He’d just extracted the child’s deathlike grasp around his neck when the mother screamed and raced back toward the building.

      “Don’t tell me she’s got another kid!” Adam yelled at his captain as he ran to intercept the woman.

      Then he noticed she was chasing after one of the kids they’d rescued earlier. He was running back into the building. What was it with this family?

      Adam had always been quick on his feet, and in spite of the cumbersome firefighting gear he wore, he managed to overtake the mother, warning her to “Get back!” as he passed her.

      He caught up with the kid, threw him over his shoulder in a fireman’s hold and returned to where Martin was trying to calm the mother. The kid kicked and screamed and beat at Adam’s back but the blows slid off his bunker jacket, slick with water from the fire hoses.

      He put the kid down but the boy spun away, intent on running into the building. Adam reached out one arm, snagged the child and hunkered down in front

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