Читать книгу The Firefighter to Heal Her Heart - Annie O'Neil - Страница 9

“NO-O-O-O!” LIESEL DID her best to squelch a few choice words as she wrestled with the steering wheel, the thud-thud-thud coming from her swerving car the unmistakable sound of a flat tire.

A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed that Liam, strapped into his car seat, was snoozing away, blissfully unaware of his mother’s battle for control with the vehicle. At least one of them was relaxed! She pulled over as quickly and as safely as she could, a glance at the dashboard clock confirming what she already knew. They’d be late. Getting to Adelaide in an hour with a flat tire to fix was out of the question. Not to mention the fact her adrenaline was running at full pelt. Another reminder she didn’t—couldn’t—do high octane anymore. Just the few seconds it had taken to pull the car over had been more than enough to set her heart racing. Her hands shook as she put the car into Park and rested her head on the steering wheel to collect herself, before getting out to assess the damage.

“That was a well-controlled skid, Miss Adler. I didn’t have you pegged for a rally driver.”

Liesel nearly jumped out of her seat at the sound of the male voice—the exact same male voice attached to the exact same pair of lips that had been doing reruns in her head since yesterday afternoon.

“Hello again.” Liesel managed a feeble wave through her open car window, heart still racing but for a completely different reason now. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“It’s one of the perks of living in a small town.”

Mmm … he wasn’t kidding. Then again, these run-ins were beginning to accrue quite a high count of embarrassment in her camp. Why couldn’t he ever see her when she was doing something normal? Or, even better, laudable? Not that it mattered. Not really.

“I hope you weren’t racing off to find a chocolate shake without me.”

“At nine in the morning?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Even I’m not that keen!”

“Shall we take a look at your car?”

“I’m sure it’s just a flat—I’ll be fine.” Liesel ran her fingers through her tousled hair. This guy sure had a knack for showing up when her hair and a comb were distant strangers.

“Oh, I never had any doubt about that.”

Liesel felt herself being appraised by him and wished for the second time in as many seconds that she’d looked in the mirror that morning and perhaps even bothered to pop on a bit of lip gloss after brushing her hair. She was only going to housesit for her parents so hadn’t bothered with the whole dolling-up routine.

Who was she kidding? Dolling up had been the last thing on her agenda for the past three years. Yet under Jack’s gaze she suddenly felt the need to look her best. No. Not “the need” … No, that wasn’t it. She wanted to look good. For him to like what he saw. And the collateral wake of feelings that went along with that little revelation was throwing her nerves into a right old jumble.

“First things first, Miss Adler.” He squatted down so his head was level with hers, a long index finger reaching out to pull a couple of wayward curls out of her eyes. “Any bumps or bruises?”

Liesel shook her head, praying he hadn’t noticed the lightning bolt shooting down her spine at his touch. It was obvious he hadn’t done it as a flirtatious move—she’d made the same gesture along Liam’s forehead countless times. Although somehow she didn’t think her two-year-old got butterflies in his stomach when she did it.

“Would you like me to take a look at your car?” Jack pressed, standing up with a nod toward the back of her car.

Not really. Basking in that crooked beam of a grin of yours is working pretty well for me.

Rescuing damsels in distress had to be his true calling.

Seriously.

He had already proved he was good with schoolboys in distress, and from the spray of goose pimples shivering up her arms in the morning sun he wasn’t going far wrong with the damsel part, either.

“That’d be great.” Liesel made her decision, clicking the door open and hoping it would signal to Jack that she needed a bit of space. Close proximity to this guy was unnerving. In a good way. Far too good.

She got out of the car and joined him at the offending rear tire.

“Looks like I won’t be getting to Adelaide anytime soon.”

“I’m afraid you won’t be getting to Adelaide at all with that. It looks like a cracked tire wall—not just a flat.”

Liesel stood in silence, her mind working through all the possibilities. She’d promised to look after her parents’ “replacement child,” Moxy, the toy poodle, while they spent a weekend with her sister in Melbourne. Their neighbors were a bit too elderly for the walks and if anything went wrong—well, she was hoping nothing would go wrong. Their train left in just a couple of hours and after all their amazing support she couldn’t let them down.

“I’m headed to Adelaide.”

“Are you staying long?”

“Overnight.” Liesel looked up at the sky in frustration. She had to sort this out. “I’m meant to be house-sitting for my parents.”

“Why don’t you catch a ride with me? I’m doing a weekend course with the Metropolitan Fire Service. I’m not heading back until late Sunday afternoon. Would that work for you?”

Jack let the words hang between them in the fresh morning air. They were out there before he’d had a chance to really think about what would happen if she said yes. But seeing the stricken look on Liesel’s face had instinctively made him offer his help.

“Oh, I couldn’t let you do that.”

“Why not? I’ve got a perfectly good truck with a spare seat.”

“That’s really kind of you, but …” Her mind raced, knowing there was a lot he didn’t know about her, a lot she wasn’t ready to share. “I don’t even know your full name.”

“Officially it’s Brigade Captain John G. Keller, but given that we’re both technically state employees— meaning we’re colleagues—I’d say you should still just call me Jack. And I’m warning you now—” he waggled a finger at her “—you’ll never get to know what the G stands for!”

There was that laugh again. A smiling Liesel was definitely better than the one who’d looked utterly panicked when he’d arrived. He wasn’t sure what it was about this woman, but being around her brought out a deep need to protect her. Not to mention a whole slew of other things he’d already decided were not options for him. Like finding out what it would be like to really kiss those ruby-red lips of hers.

Lust aside, he reasoned with himself as he held open her car door, as one of the few salaried members of the CFS he was a civil servant. It was his job to help.

Shaking away the idea his protective impulses were anything more than a fireman’s gut reaction to any human in distress, he gestured toward the truck. “Grab your stuff and hop in, Miss Adler.”

“Oh, no, really. I couldn’t accept.” Her eyes darted to the backseat of her car. “It’s not just me.”

Jack’s eyebrows shot up at his oversight. “Right, well, who have we got back here? You have a dog?” He tipped his head so he could get a glimpse of the backseat passenger.

Liesel moved in between him and the car as if by instinct. “He’s my son.”

“And what a good-looking little fellow he is.” Jack peeped over her shoulder, trying his best to give her a relaxed smile.

He sure hadn’t seen that one coming.

He felt sucker punched. Liesel was taken. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and certainly didn’t have a mumsy aura about her—but a son was a pretty good indicator she wasn’t available. True, he hadn’t considered dating someone with children before, but—honestly? He hadn’t even considered dating in a long time. It might take a little while to shake off the effect she had on him but—big picture—it was probably just as well she was off the market.

“Should we give his dad a ring and have him come collect you two?”

Ice flooded Liesel’s veins. She still hadn’t found a way to tell people about Liam’s dad. Not without wanting to cry or subjecting the other person to huge waves of embarrassment.

“No, it’s just us, I’m afraid.”

She felt Jack’s hand rest lightly on her shoulder. It was all she could do not to press into the warm comfort of it. Lean into the strength he offered.

“Not to worry,” Jack said gently. “Guess it’s a good thing I showed up. Let’s get you two packed up and hit the road.”

As if in a daze, Liesel followed Jack’s lead. She was so grateful to him for not prying. Not asking more. Just a few short years ago she’d been a girl who loved to hash out emotional affairs in minute detail, but keeping things neutral was her survival mode now. In fact, accepting a ride from a virtual stranger was a leap out of her current comfort zone, but it wasn’t as if she had a lot of choice. Her parents were expecting her and what harm could come of it? They were both state employees. Colleagues. Right?

Jack gave her the number of a local towing company, who, after a quick chat, agreed to pick up the car and drop it at the school on Monday morning when they had finished. Everything fell into place like a well-laid plan. Living in a small town definitely had its advantages.

As she spoke to her parents to let them know about her change of plans she watched as Jack expertly unclipped Liam’s travel seat, a single muscled arm smoothly moving him from car to truck before securing all of the appropriate buckles in his backseat with barely a flutter from her son’s sleeping lashes. She grabbed the enormous tote bag she’d hurriedly packed moments before they had left the house. It contained more of Liam’s things than her own. Looking after herself had come a distant second over the past two years and this morning had been no different.

“You’re going to have to forgive the mess, I’m afraid.” Jack sent an apologetic glance toward the front cab of the truck. “Regulation dictates we keep it free of excess materials, but regulation doesn’t take into account a man’s hunger when on call twenty-four hours a day!”

“Don’t worry about it.” Liesel found herself strangely relieved to see the jumble of empty soft-drink cans and tomato-ketchup packets lying about the cab. It took the superhero edge off, making him the tiniest bit more human.