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Dammit. A little more.
“Mike!”
“Come on, Sandy! Reach!”
As soon as their fingers touched, he grasped her hand and firmed a good grip. He jerked her up and pulled her free. Then immediately slipped an arm around her back and lifted, practically throwing her in Jared’s arms.
The fire trucks had arrived. Men scurried with hoses and rushed to the burning vehicle. Heat seared Mike’s back. Blustery fire drew way too close and he knew time had run out. He jumped. Two firefighters caught his arms, breaking his fall.
“Hey, man. Are you okay? You got her out of there just in time.”
Mike turned to find the SUV engulfed in flames. Trucks from Station Nine rolled in and more men scrambled, immediately hooking up hoses and spraying the burning vehicle.
“Better get that looked at.” A firefighter pointed to Mike’s side. He glanced down. Blood oozed through his torn shirt. In all the excitement, he hadn’t noticed. Exhausted and drained, he gave a nod.
A medic met Mike and escorted him to the back of an ambulance. His shoulder stung. He figured he’d scraped it crawling up the underside. Now that she was out, the girl, Sandy, was crying hysterically and kept repeating, “He saved me. He saved me.” At least she’d held herself together when it counted. He’d seen countless victims fall apart right after the crisis was over.
All in a day’s work.
He tried to swallow and choked on a cough. Shit. He needed something to drink. A bottle of water was shoved into his hand.
***
“Well, this was a bust.” Tammy dipped a nacho chip into a dish of sauce and popped it into her mouth.
“How can you eat any more? My God, we’ve been here for hours.”
Why am I still here?
Cassie glanced around the packed dining room. Loud voices and laughter came from a group clinking glasses, obviously celebrating a special occasion. By the bar, a fat guy gave her a flirty nod for the hundredth time. She quickly turned, reminding herself not to look over there again.
“We got stood up,” Tammy said.
“How poignant since we didn’t have dates to begin with.” Cassie rolled her eyes. “And I’m not coming back here again tomorrow or any other night. The men in here will think we’re on the prowl.”
“We are.” Tammy grinned.
“You know what I mean. Who knows when our guys in uniform will show up again?” It was a long shot. A pathetic attempt, hoping the gorgeous men in navy blue would sweep in and carry them away.
“Jared did say they’d been in some sort of regional training that night. Like it only happened once or twice a year.”
“In six months, we can try again,” Cassie said flippantly.
“You’re depressing,” Tammy said with a glare. “We came here to have fun.”
“We came here looking for men in uniform.” Cassie gave an exaggerated sigh.
“You scared him off.”
Where had that come from?
“I what?”
“You had to mention the boys. You’re the one who scared him off.”
“Good grief. I did not scare anyone off. I simply tried to remind you of the time. You had to pick the boys up from the Scout Hut. And if something as critical as children scared those guys, then good riddance.”
“I had a lust brain-fart. Ignore what I said.” Tammy took a gulp of her margarita.
