LITMIR.BIZ

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blue T-shirt he was wearing was very similar to the one he’d had on at the pancake breakfast. The one she’d assumed he’d gotten from his uncle who led the volunteer crew. Although, this time, Hannah’s eyes zeroed in on the words Chief Jones stenciled in white letters over one of his well-formed pectoral muscles.

       Oh. No.

      Isaac paused only for a second when his gaze landed on her. If Hannah hadn’t already been gawking at him, she would’ve missed it. But he was quick to recover and turned all of his attention toward Nurse Dunn. “You might want to call them out again. In the meantime, have everyone stay here while we go make sure the building is clear.”

      Hannah’s palms were cool and clammy, which must’ve made it easy for Sammy’s fingers to slip out of her hand. Before she could pry her stunned mouth open and stop him, he was bounding down the stairs and sprinting toward Isaac.

      She should’ve expected it. Her son loved big trucks and he loved running every time he got the chance. But she was still in a state of shock.

      “Can I come with you?” Sammy asked, further surprising Hannah. Her son normally didn’t warm up to people very quickly and he was always way too shy to ask for what he wanted.

      Isaac smiled at the boy and bent down. “Not right this second, big guy. But as soon as we make sure that there isn’t a fire inside, I can let you climb up into the engine and pull the switch for the siren.” The man’s hazel gaze flickered over Hannah and he amended, “If you’re still here when we come out.”

      She sucked air through her clenched teeth. What was that supposed to mean? Did Isaac think she was just going to run off at the mere sight of him? If so, he had another thought coming. She marched down the steps and recaptured Sammy’s hand, forcing a tense smile at her son, but refusing to make eye contact with Isaac. “We can wait.”

      The truth was, she couldn’t leave, even if she wanted to. Her purse and car keys were still inside her classroom. Two teachers she’d known from her previous years at the elementary school were huddled with the nurse on the front sidewalk. However, their whispering stopped when Hannah looked their way. Not that she could blame them for their curiosity at seeing one of their recently returned coworkers suddenly confronted with the reappearance of an old flame. But it still made Hannah’s nerves twist.

      She let out a sigh when Sammy tugged on her hand, pulling her closer to check out the fire engine. While she definitely did not share her son’s enthusiasm for the monstrous vehicle that had brought her ex-boyfriend literally screeching back into her life, at least Hannah now had an excuse to avoid any conversations where she might be asked about why her skin had gone as red as the truck the second Isaac appeared.

      Unfortunately, her relief was short-lived because the incessantly loud ringing came to a sudden halt. In fact, in the echo of the fire alarm’s silence, she could hear her pulse picking up tempo. That meant Isaac was coming back this way and now it was Hannah’s internal alarm bells going off.

      “All clear,” one of the other firefighters—the driver—announced and Hannah was surprised to see that Nurse Dunn and the other two teachers had already left. Hannah’s car was the only one remaining in the lot and she again silently cursed herself for not bringing her purse and keys with her. The female firefighter came out next and Hannah found herself hoping that one of them could quickly show Sammy the fire engine so they could sneak back to her classroom before Isaac arrived.

      But there was no such luck. Isaac, looking way more confident and smug than he had a right to, came loping down the steps. He passed a clipboard to the fourth firefighter and said, “Write up the report, Rook. I have a junior officer here who needs to learn how to drive the engine.”

      Isaac gave Sammy a high five and then the boy sprinted after him toward the driver’s side of the big red truck.

      “No problem, Chief,” the baby-faced young man said before smiling at Hannah. She looked at his nametag. Clausson. He didn’t look familiar to her. In fact, she realized as she scanned the other firefighters’ faces, she didn’t know any of them.

      “Apparently, the volunteer fire department is finally recruiting people under the age of fifty-five.” Hannah’s forced chuckle sounded more like a nervous giggle and the younger man lifted one dark eyebrow at her.

      “Don’t worry. Jonesy and Scooter and the rest of the elders are still around picking up volunteer shifts. But now that the city also has a paid department, our full-time crews are a bit...oh, shall we say...less seasoned.” Clausson gave her a wink, but her heart was already rioting inside her chest, so it didn’t have the flirtatious effect he might’ve intended.

      “You mean you’re not a volunteer?” she asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer.

      “None of us are today, miss.”

      So if Isaac wasn’t a volunteer, this wasn’t just some short-term gig for him. Which meant that he wasn’t here temporarily. Hannah forced herself to breathe deeply. She was seriously going to throttle her older brothers for not warning her.

      Young Clausson leaned closer and lowered his voice. “If you want to come by the brand-new station, I can arrange to give you, uh...a private tour.”

      “Hey, Rook.” The female firefighter walked between them and tapped on Clausson’s clipboard. “If the chief catches you putting the moves on his ex-girlfriend instead of writing that report, you’re going to be on laundry detail indefinitely.”

      Clausson’s whiskerless cheeks turned a shade of pink as he muttered a four-letter word and scrambled away so quickly that Hannah choked on the sudden cloud of overpowering cologne left in his wake.

      Well, she was either choking on the scent, or on the female firefighter’s unexpected statement. Hannah looked down at the woman’s nametag—Rodriguez—then cleared her throat. “I’m not really Isaac’s ex-girlfriend, you know.”

      “Sorry about that.” Rodriguez transferred her helmet from one arm to the other and gave a sheepish grimace before extending her hand. “I’m Olivia. I’ve only lived here for eighteen months and I’m still learning how to navigate small-town gossip.”

      “Hannah Gregson.” She swallowed, returning the handshake. “There’s...uh...gossip? I mean, obviously there’s gossip, but I just hadn’t expected it already.”

      She was dying to ask what people were saying, but she closed her eyes and gave a brief shake of her head. Nope. Hannah didn’t care back then what people thought and she certainly didn’t care now.

      “The talk is why I assumed something was going on between you two,” Olivia explained and Hannah’s fingers curled into her hipbones as she twisted the fabric inside her jeans’ pockets.

      “I guess, technically, we’re exes, but it was more of a summer fling when we were in high school.” She attempted a casual shrug but her shoulders were too stiff to properly execute it. “Maybe two summer flings. But it wasn’t like we had an ongoing official status or anything since it was strictly only a part-time, seasonal kinda relationship. Really, things didn’t get all that hot and heavy until after graduation...oh, my gosh, I need to stop talking.”

      Hannah pinched the bridge of her nose, squeezing her eyes shut so she wouldn’t have to see Rodriguez’s response to her long-winded ramblings. “Anyway, it was all so long ago, I hardly ever think about it anymore.” She gave the woman a tense smile. “I should go check on my son.”

      Her legs were trembling with a combination of embarrassment and annoyance as she walked toward the cab of the fire engine. Embarrassment that she’d just spilled her guts to a complete stranger who also happened to work for Isaac. And annoyance because Hannah hadn’t been better prepared to deal with suddenly having the man back in her life.

      Watching the fire chief put his helmet on Sammy’s head as her son held on to the huge steering wheel, pretending to drive the truck, she felt a wave of tenderness battle against the rest of her raging emotions. Unfortunately,

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