12-Alarm Cowboys (24 page)

Maybe Silas Gleason wasn’t such a pushover after all. And maybe Austin could use the month until her evaluation to turn Sunny Gleason into a good Fire Chief, his new plan of action and her last hope that he would stand down.

If that didn’t happen, Austin would be Chief, and Sunny would be the one to decide whether she could work for
him
. And he wouldn’t feel an ounce of guilt.

So, why did her whimper as she turned in the doorway to leave the office feel like a spear sent right through his heart?

‡

T
he pressure in
Sunny’s head was so intense she thought it might explode before she stumbled into the women’s bathroom, the only place where she knew she could find peace at the station, because no other women currently worked there. Somehow she managed to stagger to the last stall and lock herself inside before the storm inside of her broke.

Intense pain twisted her insides as she plopped down on the toilet. Doubling over, Sunny clutched her stomach just as the wail she’d been suppressing, that should be a scream, pushed past her lips to echo off the walls. Tears overflowed her eyes to run hot rivers down her cheeks. The pain in her gut got worse, and Sunny moaned as the tears ran hotter and faster.

Sunny didn’t cry. Ever.

Not when her father left them. Not when Jason betrayed her. Not when she found out she was going to be a mother. Or even when it became apparent she’d be a single mother, because Jason wasn’t going to be in their child’s life.

But she was certainly making up for lost time now, and it pissed her off.

Austin McBride was on a mission to ruin her life. Ruin any chance she had of surviving those other things to make a good life for herself and her son. And from the looks of it, he didn’t have an ounce of guilt over it either. The smug look on his handsome face in her uncle’s office just now would forever be imprinted on her brain, along with another flashing neon sign for her that said—STUPID. Stupid for letting down her defenses, stupid for talking to him about her situation, stupid for thinking he would care a scrap about her or her son, and that information would make one damned iota of difference whether he decided to come to work here.

What it had done evidently, was give him just the ammunition to apply for the job and get it. And now he was playing dirty by tattling on her to the Chief who obviously already thought a lot of him. A lot more than her uncle thought of her evidently.

Then I have to question both your judgment and decisions, Sunny Jane
. Pressure built inside her chest again to fuel her tears. Her uncle opened his mouth, and her father, his brother, had fallen out.
I’m disappointed that you can’t see my side of this, Sunny Jane. I really hoped we could have a relationship, but I guess I was wrong.

The words James Gleason had spoken to her during their first and only visit after he left.

What side was there to see in her father’s decision to divorce her mother? The facts were black and white. She had only been fifteen, but she understood perfectly. He’d gotten the woman he’d been sleeping with on the side pregnant, so he was marrying her.

At least the arguing stopped after he left. That peace, and her mother’s seeming unconcern about his leaving, was the only thing that had gotten Sunny through those rough times. Well, that and hearing that he died two years later while having sex with the tramp. Finding out he left her pregnant when he died was the sweet icing on their karma-flavored cake. Both of them got their just desserts.

“Oh,
God
…” Sunny groaned, rocking on the toilet, clutching her stomach tighter to fight through the pain there that had to come from an ulcer.

This damn place, this job was killing her. She needed to talk to Foxy the next time she went into the ER….maybe get checked out. When the pain subsided, Sunny raised up and her hand shook as she jerked a fistful of toilet paper from the roll to blow her nose loudly.

She couldn’t fall apart—Billy needed her to be strong. And if Silas saw her like this, it certainly wasn’t going to help her cause. She pulled off more toilet paper to sop up the tears on her face then took a few deep breaths.

“Better now?” a deep voice asked from above, and Sunny’s eyes flew to the top of the stall wall to find Austin McBride leaning over the stall watching her, his chin propped on his hands, his gray eyes worried. Well, Sunny wasn’t falling for that act again.

“You’re in the women’s bathroom, asshole,” she grated, as she pushed up to her feet and fumbled with the door latch, as that pressure in her chest built again.

“Call the bathroom police,” he replied gruffly, and she heard his fire boots hit the tile floor as she pushed her door open.

He exited the next stall to block her path, and stare down at her. “I didn’t mean to get you in trouble, Sunny. That wasn’t my intention when I went into Silas’s office.”

Sunny snorted, but no sound came from her plugged up nose. “And that’s more of your bullshit. You went into his office to apply for his job, and you tattled on me to further your chances.” Shoving her shoulder into his, she brushed past him to walk to the sink. She flipped on the cold tap then met his eyes in the mirror. “I’m onto your game now,
Chief
.”

Austin ground his jaw for a second. “I don’t want to be Chief. I wanted to be your second-in-command so I could help you, but you’re making that impossible, Sunshine.”

Her eyes narrowed, and she thinned her lips as she pointed at him in the mirror. “Don’t ever fucking call me that again,” she growled. “I’m not your
Sunshine
—I’m Captain Gleason.”

“You’re right—you definitely aren’t Sunshine. You’re a bitter woman who needs to get beyond her past, or you’ll have a pretty dark future. That pain in your gut isn’t going to go away, until you do that.”

“The pain in my stomach will go away about the same time the pain in my ass leaves. Go back to that ranch where you belong. I don’t need or want you here, McBride.”

“You’ve made that obvious, but I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me, and unless you decide to let me help, you might be the one leaving.”

About to splash her face with the cool water in the sink, Sunny stopped, and it flowed through her fingers to soak her pants as she spun to face him. “Don’t threaten me, McBride.” But his words worked through her brain, and caused her lower lip to tremble. Sunny bit it to hold onto the new tears that burned her eyes.

“I’m not threatening you at all, Sunny. I’m stating a fact.” His voice was so calm, his face so sincere, Sunny wanted to slug him. “The only threat to you is your bad attitude, which is caused by your own insecurity. I can help you, if you’ll let me.”

“Bull
shit
! You want—” she started, but with a growl, Austin stepped forward to grab her chin in his fingers as he pushed his body into hers to trap her against the wall.

“The only thing I want is to help you,” he said, swallowing twice. His eyes bored into hers and Sunny was overwhelmed by his heat. “But for me to do that you’ll have to give up an ounce of that damned control of yours. We could be a helluva team, make this station a lot better than it is, if you’d do that.”

His eyes mesmerized her, but Sunny fought their pull. “Why in the hell would you want to help me if you applied for Silas’s job too?” The break in her voice pissed her off.

“Because I know you need it more than I do, and I want you to have it.” Austin’s eyes fell to her mouth, and Sunny tensed, but he just ran his thumb over her lower lip, before looking into her eyes again. “But you’ll never get it, even if I’m not here, if you stay on the path you’re on. The board will either give it to me, or advertise it outside of the department and you know it.”

“I’m a woman, they’re good ole boys, so you’re probably right,” Sunny said, her heart dropping a notch in her chest.

Even though she’d answered the questions thrown at her, the determined way the board members grilled her at her interview told her they didn’t have an ounce of confidence in her. She didn’t walk out thinking she’d won them over at all. Since she was their only choice though, Sunny thought she had it in the bag. But then Austin showed up, giving them a choice.

A male choice. Of course she’d feel threatened now.

“It has nothing to do with you being a woman, baby. It has everything to do with the way you handle things…situations. Your current mode-of-operation isn’t effective leadership. The morale at the station is awful, and the turnover is high, right?”

Anger singed the hair at the back of her neck. “Yes, but I have no control over people not wanting to volunteer or stay when they do.”

“You’re wrong. You are in control of everything. If you do things a little differently, you’d have so many volunteers you’d have your pick. We need to hold fire trainings and classes, have a junior firefighter program and visit the schools. Do community service work to meet new people who might volunteer. But the main thing you need to do is fix what’s wrong in here,” he said tapping her temple.

Emotion shot up to her throat and knotted there. “I don’t know how,” she said, her lower lip twitching again.

Austin put his finger on her bottom lip. “Let me help you—everyone needs help now and again. Get some counseling. Not a soul but us needs to know except you and me, and I’ll help you get things right here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Sunny’s eyes fell to Austin’s mouth, as she digested his words.
I’m not going anywhere
. If that was true it would be the first time in her life a man didn’t desert her.
Because I know you need it more than I do, and I want you to have it.
God, she really, really did.

Was he telling the truth? Should she trust him?

Evidently her mouth decided before her brain did. “Okay,” she said.

The corners of Austin’s mouth curved up as his head dipped toward hers. Sunny’s breath caught in her throat as his hot mouth sizzled over hers in a quick pass. Need buzzed through her, she put her hand on his chest to slide it toward his neck, but he pulled back.

His grin popped that dimple in his cheek. “This is going to be the best damned firehouse in Texas, baby.” His eyes softened, and he grabbed her shoulders. “I’m so damned proud of you, and I can’t wait to be second potato to the best Fire Chief in Texas.”

Tears blurred his handsome face from her view, and she reached up to swipe them away with her forearm. “Even a crazy female Fire Chief?” she asked with a laugh.

His fingers tightened on her shoulders. “Crazy smart, crazy beautiful and crazy talented. I’ll take your kind of crazy any day, Sunshine.”

A shiver worked through Sunny, as a wobbly smile curved her lips. This man pissed her off more than any she’d ever been around in her life, but then he turned around and in the next breath made her feel so damned good about herself.

“Thank you,” Sunny said, her voice shaky.

That left eye dipped down and he grinned wider. “Don’t thank me yet. We have a lot of work to do.”

“I’m ready.” And Sunny was ready.

Ready to forget the past, and put some light in her future. The more Austin McBride’s frank words settled into her brain, the more she realized this was exactly what she needed to hear. That Austin had enough balls to speak them to her earned him her respect.

The fact that he was still around, was going to be around and was willing to help her, even after the hell she’d put him through for the last two weeks, spoke volumes too.

I’m not going anywhere
.

God, she hoped he meant that, she thought, as Austin grabbed the door handle, gave her another wink, and walked out the door.

‡

“I
’m really sorry,
Mom. I should have called you first and told you about the new job. Since it’s new, I can’t come home for a visit right now. I will soon though, I promise…” Austin’s eyes darted to Sunny who was sitting at the table of the station studying for her Fire Chief’s exam. Austin should be in there helping her, but his mom had called, and he knew what about. He had to take it or he knew there would be hell to pay—the family grapevine was still working. Maybe mentioning Sunny would buy him some time, and cheer her up.