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Hearts on Fire

Julia is a Houston firefighter and Trevor is the news reporter who loves her. Trevor wants to keep their steamy relationship going by proposing marriage, and plans to do it in the most memorable way he knows how.

 Trevor cursed under his breath as he stumbled out of the news van and into another humid Houston night. His polo shirt stuck to him like a second skin and beads of sweat gathered on his upper lip. This was really going to suck.

Ahead of him by about one-hundred yards, a warehouse was engulfed in flames. Ash fell from the sky like confetti to dot the dirty concrete, along with his brand new military style boots. He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, unsurprised to find flecks of ash had already fallen within the raven locks.

“Hey, man, you ready?”

Trevor turned to find his cameraman, Nick, already pointing the camera toward the raging fire. If Trevor didn’t hurry up and say his piece there would be nothing left to report. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

In less than a minute he had his game face on and was answering questions from the anchors sitting in the air-conditioned studio across town. The whole clip lasted about two minutes, and then he was turning off the microphone while Nick took a few final shots.

Trevor was standing in the open door of the van putting equipment away when Nick whistled low. “Damn, there she is. Almost makes me wanna set my house on fire.”

Trevor’s pulse sped up and sweat broke out for a different reason than the heat as he turned to see who had gotten Nick’s attention. And there she was, all five feet-three inches of warm-blooded, Texas woman. Her dark brown hair was covered by the HFD helmet and the protective gear hid her curves, but Trevor had spent most nights of the past two years learning every single one. “Damn. I forgot she was on call tonight.”

He scowled at Nick who was still ogling Julia, but Trevor knew it was just to rile him up. “Put your eyes back in their sockets. You know she’s taken.”

Nick laughed and brushed passed him to put the video camera away. “Yeah, yeah. So when are you gonna make an honest woman outta her?”

“None of your damn business. But keep next June open just in case.”

Nick chuckled. “Ready to go?”

“Nah, you go ahead. I’m waiting around for this one to end.”

Trevor stepped back as Nick slid the door shut. After clapping Trevor on the back, Nick climbed into the van and drove off.

The fire was still blazing but seemed to be more in control. Luckily it was the only building on the block in the older industrial area. The firefighters were still hosing it down as the humid night filled with the acrid scent of burnt wood and metal. Trevor made his way to the closest fire truck and sat on the bumper, as out of the way as he could get while still close enough to watch Julia work. She amazed him. When not in uniform the small woman looked quiet and almost shy, but she hid her boisterous personality well. She was the most generous woman he’d ever met, and one of the hardest working. It had taken a while for him to get over the danger she put herself into every time a call went into the station.

Their two year anniversary was only a few hours away. He planned to make this one memorable, and hoped she wouldn’t be too exhausted to celebrate a little early. Now all he had to do was wait and watch as she did the job she loved, even while his heart stayed in his throat the entire time.

Julia knew the moment Trevor arrived on the scene and almost wished he hadn’t been called to report on the warehouse fire. She had always loved her job. Being a firefighter was a calling, a career, and part of her blood. She had been born into a family of firefighters and never thought to be anything else. Finding a man who wasn’t threatened by her career had been a miracle. The fact that he could sit and watch her do the job without freaking out was a revelation. He was one in a million.

Now she fought to concentrate on the task at hand and forget him sitting a few feet away. Two years was the longest relationship she had ever been in and it almost scared her, but being with him felt too right to question. They had clicked from day one and almost always saw eye to eye. She just hoped they could have at least another two years of bliss.

It took another hour to get the blaze down to simmering embers. After a few more minutes, Julia’s team was dismissed back to the station. They rolled their hoses back up and packed it in. She looked around for Trevor but didn’t see him anywhere. As her team climbed into the truck she asked if anyone else had seen him.

“Yeah, he was here, but I saw him jump in a truck and take off,” Scott said.

“You two have a fight?” Oscar asked. “He kinda looked pissed off.”

The others gave her some good-natured ribbing about fighting with her man, and she joked right along with them. But in the back of her mind was a nagging doubt about why Trevor would have left without saying a single word to her. It wasn’t odd for him to be on the scene. It didn’t happen all the time, but had happened before. They both stayed in professional mode until the fire was out, and talked if they had a chance. He knew he couldn’t ride in the fire truck with her, but who had picked him up?

By the time they pulled into the station she had gone from confused, to mad, to worried. She hopped out and did what needed to be done before hitting the shower. Her shift had ended thirty minutes ago, but of course fires paid no attention to schedules. As soon as she was dressed she tried calling Trevor. It went straight to voicemail but she didn’t leave a message. He would see she called. She texted him a simple message to call her.

Dawn peeked over the horizon as she walked out of the station toward her car. She had just thrown her bag into the passenger seat when someone yelled her name.

“Julia!” She turned to find Scott jogging toward her. “We just got a call. Come on. We need you on this one.”

“What? I didn’t hear the alarm. Didn’t day shift just come on?”

He waved away her questions with one hand while grabbing her arm with the other. “Cap says we need you. Your boyfriend called it in.”

“What? Trevor?”

Fear fueled her veins as she pulled away from Scott and ran back into the station. The trucks weren’t even running but one rear bay door was up and the Captain’s large pick-up was raring to go.

“Julia,” the Captain called to her from the driver’s window. “Let’s go.”

She glanced around in confusion even as she ran to his passenger door. As soon as she was inside he put the truck in drive and flipped on his lights and siren. She pulled her seatbelt on as her heart raced. What the hell was going on and how was Trevor involved? He knew fire was nothing to play around with and he’d never seemed like the daring type before. Maybe he had been called to report the fire and noticed the department wasn’t on the scene yet?

They drove for less than fifteen minutes when the Captain pulled onto a dirt road between two heavily forested areas. Julia’s apprehension spiked. Houston had suffered one of the worst droughts in recent history. A forest fire could spread quickly. She looked through the trees as they drove, praying she wouldn’t see smoke. All she saw were green trees and an overabundance of squirrels.

They pulled into a clearing and stopped at the edge of a sheer drop. Julia recognized the area as Spring Creek, though it was barely a trickle of water at the moment. On the other side was a sandy flatland where people often rode their four-wheelers on the weekends. A lone figure stood waiting.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked. “Is that Trevor?”

He was about two-hundred yards away and below them. She walked as close to the edge of the drop as was safe and raised her arms in question. He waved and turned away.

“Yer boy there called me n’ said I needed to git you to the scene of a far,” the captain said.

Julia almost laughed at the familiar sound of his Southern drawl. Now that she could see Trevor with her own two eyes, the fear and tension slowly drained from her body. “Oh yeah? I don’t see a fire.”

She turned to smile at him but he looked passed her. “I do.”

He pointed across the way and she returned her attention to see lines of fire slowly making their way across the sand. Trevor stood a few feet away, but too close for comfort.

“What’s he doing? Trevor!”

Panic was beginning to take hold when the Captain grabbed her shoulders. “Whoa, girl. Hang on n’ look.”

Her pulse was racing as she fought the urge to slide down the embankment and run to Trevor. After a few seconds her brain finally clicked to what was happening. “Oh my god.”

The line of fire finally stopped spreading and Julia’s eyes registered the full pattern. Written in flames in the sand were the words Marry Me. Trevor moved away and lit another match. He dropped it onto the sand and a flaming heart quickly formed with J+T inside of it. Julia clapped her hands over her mouth as tears burned her eyes.

The Captain laughed. “There’s yer fire.”

Commotion behind Trevor drew her attention and she saw the rest of her team walking out of the trees with extinguishers. They all looked up toward her and Trevor spread his arms.

“Well?” he hollered.

“Girl, he’s waitin’ fer yer answer,” the Captain said.

“I don’t have a light,” she replied.

He threw back his head and laughed.

“Oh, all right.” She cupped her hands around her mouth so there would be no doubt on Trevor’s part. Then she hollered out, “YES!”

The men below cheered as Trevor dropped his arms and smiled up at her. He blew her a kiss before turning to accept backslaps from her teammates. She could hardly wait to be in his arms again.

It took a few minutes for the men to put the fires out and clear the scene Trevor had created. She hated to see it go but the Captain confessed Nick had been nearby photographing the whole thing.

“Oh my god. I better not see that on the news tonight,” she said.

He just laughed before leading her back to his truck. She expected to be dropped off somewhere nearby, but they drove all the way back to the station. Two other pick-up trucks arrived right behind them and soon Trevor found her waiting at her car. He approached slowly, looking almost unsure of himself. Julia didn’t want to make a scene in front of the men, but couldn’t stop from falling into Trevor’s arms as soon as he stood close enough.

“I can’t believe you did that,” she said with tears in her voice. “The guys scared the hell out of me when they said you were at the scene of another fire.”

Trevor held her close and kissed her forehead before tilting her chin up with one finger. “I didn’t mean to scare you, baby. I just wanted to do something special, to show you how much you mean to me.”

She sniffed back her tears and smiled up at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too. And I’m going to keep loving you for as long as you let me. You set my heart on fire the moment we met, and I don’t ever want it put out.”

That made her laugh even as a couple of tears slipped free. “That’s so cheesy. Are firefighter puns what I have to look forward to for the rest of our lives?”

He chuckled and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “Oh yeah. I got a million of them. Ready to go home and burn up the sheets?”

She laughed harder. “Are you hot for me?”

“Hotter than hot, baby.”

“Then we better get home before you go up in flames.”

She tried to pull away from his arms but he held tight. “Hang on. One more thing.”

Trevor dropped to one knee and pulled a small black box from his pocket. He popped it open before holding it up to her. Inside rested a beautiful silver ring, with tiny diamonds in a peculiar shape.

“Is that…is that what I think it is?” she asked.

“It’s in the shape of a burning flame.”

“Oh my god.”

She pulled the ring free and slipped it on as he stood. Then she jumped into his arms again. “I love you so damn much. Even with all the silly fire references.”

“You light up my life.”

She was laughing so hard he could barely kiss her.

“Okay, okay,” she said. “Enough already. I’ll need to think of some news reporter puns to say to you.”

He sighed dramatically before kissing her again. “Here’s a newsflash, I can hardly wait.”

She groaned and kissed him to keep him from saying anything else.

“Hey, cool it off over there before we hose you down,” Scott called out.

Trevor and Julia turned to find most of the station watching them.

“Oops. I kinda forgot about them,” she said.

“Me too. We better go.”

“You got it, news man.”

He started humming Great Balls of Fire and she laughed all the way home.

Heating Things Up

Trevor cursed under his breath as he stumbled out of the news van and into another humid Houston night. His polo shirt stuck to him like a second skin and beads of sweat gathered on his upper lip. This was really going to suck.

Ahead of him by about one-hundred yards, a warehouse was engulfed in flames. Ash fell from the sky like confetti to dot the dirty concrete, along with his brand new military style boots. He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his hair, unsurprised to find flecks of ash had already fallen within the raven locks.

“Hey, man, you ready?”

Trevor turned to find his cameraman, Nick, already pointing the camera toward the raging fire. If he didn’t hurry up and say his piece there would be nothing left to report.

“Yeah,” Trevor replied. “Let’s go.”

In less than a minute he had his game face on and was answering questions from the anchors sitting in the air-conditioned studio across town. The whole clip lasted about two minutes, and then he was turning off the microphone while Nick took a few final shots.

Trevor was standing in the open door of the van putting equipment away when Nick whistled low. “Damn, there she is. Almost makes me wanna set my house on fire.”

Trevor’s pulse sped up and sweat broke out for a different reason than the heat as he turned to see who had gotten Nick’s attention. And there she was, all five feet-three inches of warm-blooded, Texas woman. Her dark brown hair was covered by the HFD helmet and the protective gear hid her curves, but Trevor had spent enough nights fantasizing about them to know every single one. “Damn.”

Nick chuckled and clapped Trevor on the shoulder as he walked past to put his camera away. “Ya know, she could prob’ly use a cold drink after a blazer like this one. I’ll bet if you were ‘round the station at quittin’ time she’d let you take her out for one.”

Trevor was shaking his head before Nick even finished. “No way, man. A woman like that is more than I can handle. I like mine uncomplicated and forgetful. As in, they forget I never called them back.”

Nick snorted a laugh before stepping into the van.

Trevor turned his attention back to the lone female firefighter on the scene. Julia wasn’t an anomaly in the city, but she was the only one on duty for the stations that had been called. A full year had passed since they met when Trevor did a story on female firefighters in Houston. She had caught his eye all those months ago and plagued him like a sickness, but he was determined not to get snared by the beautiful woman. He didn’t do long-term relationships, and she had forever written all over her. So, for now he would keep her in the fantasy category and nothing more.

Julia watched the news van pull away as the acrid taste of smoke burned the back of her throat. It wasn’t enough to worry over. She had just removed her mask and instinctively sucked in a lungful of humid air. The warehouse was a complete loss and now they simply watched for hot spots to flare up. Annoyance filled her at how quickly Trevor had jumped in the van to leave. Would it kill the man to say hello? With a shrug she went back to work and pushed him from her thoughts.

Three hours later she pulled into an all-night diner with a sigh of anticipation. The big fires always made her hungry, as she burned off untold calories while working them. Eating alone usually depressed her but tonight she was too tired to care. Not to mention hungry. Her stomach growled its approval as she stepped inside and the distinct smell of bacon filled her nostrils. She took a deep breath and smiled at the waitress behind the counter. Without bothering to look around she slipped onto a stool and picked up a menu.

By the time Julia was ready to order, a glass of ice-water and a set of utensils appeared before her. “Coffee, please, and the breakfast special.”

The waitress nodded her approval and moved away.

Julia picked up the water and gulped half of it down as someone took the seat next to her. A large shape filled her peripheral vision but she didn’t think much of it until he spoke. “Fancy meeting you here.”

She couldn’t hide the surprise from her face as she turned to face Trevor. He just grinned and blatantly looked her over. “As usual, you clean up well.”

“Thanks…I think. I guess you don’t.” She brushed ash off one of his shoulders with a laugh.

“Damn. Thanks. I thought I’d gotten it all before walking in here.”

“I figured you’d be fast asleep by now.”

The waitress set down his water and utensils and he nodded thanks before looking at Julia again. “Nope. Just finished wrapping up the piece for the morning news. Nick dumped me here before taking off to the studio.”

They were in the heart of the city, an area with new residential building going up every week. Julia lived in a loft only two blocks away. “Oh? So you live close, or is he coming back for you?”

“I live a couple of blocks from here in one of the new high-rises.”

“Hmm.”

“So…that was some fire, huh?”

She hid a grin by taking a sip of water. He never seemed to know what to say to her. All of their conversations had consisted of talking about firefighting.

“Um…yeah. It was really…hot.”

He snorted a laugh and shook his head. “Yeah.”

She set her glass down and turned to fully face him. “Trevor, why can’t you talk to me like I’m a woman, and not just a firefighter?”

Both brows went up in true surprise. “I talk to you like you’re a woman.”

“Bull. What’s my favorite color? My middle name? The last book I read?”

He looked completely dumbfounded for a moment and she almost took pity on him. But then he shrugged and turned to fully face her. “You know I don’t know any of those things. But, have you considered you don’t know those things about me either?”

She opened her mouth to give a sarcastic response, but stopped herself and snapped it shut.   

“Ha,” he said. “Nothing to say to that, huh?”

“Well…okay, you’re right. So tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

She rolled her eyes. “Your favorite color, your middle name, and the last book you read.”

He spun back to face the counter and motioned for the waitress. Julia waited patiently as he placed his breakfast order before facing her again.

“All right. Blue, Marcus, and The Art of War.”

“I see.”

He rolled the finger of one hand toward her with an expectant look on his face. She smiled and gave in. “Purple, Grace, and The Pale Horseman.”

He looked completely surprised again. “Yeah? You like Bernard Cornwell?”

“I love him. You?”

“Yeah, he’s pretty good.”

Her food arrived and she dug in while he talked of the Cornwell books he liked the most. Once his food was set before him they shared a companionable silence as they ate. Their coffees were refilled and the diner slowly came to life. The minutes slipped away as they talked some more and eventually became more friends than acquaintances.

 Finally, Julia covered a yawn with one hand and glanced out the window. “Damn. Is that the sun?”

He turned to look and laughed. “Yup. Looks like we brought in the dawn.”

“I need to get home and get some sleep.”

“Probably not a bad idea.”

He grabbed both checks and before she could protest headed for the cashier. She just smiled as she followed him out the door. “Want a ride home?”

He looked down the street at the light traffic. “It’s not far.”

“Yeah, but you’ll sweat off all the food you just ate before you walk three steps. My car has great air-conditioning.”

He laughed and nodded his agreement. “Okay, you win.”

Julia had a sinking suspicion she knew where he lived as he pointed in the direction of her building. Sure enough, they soon realized they were neighbors.

“How long have you lived here?” he asked.

“About three months. You?”

“Almost a year.”

He followed her up two flights of stairs, but stopped at the landing to the third floor. “I’m up there.”

She watched him motion with his chin and fought the urge to grab his hand.

“Oh. I’m here on two. Do you wanna…have some coffee?”

Never mind the two pots they’d most likely had at the diner. Julia couldn’t silence the urge she had to spend more time in Trevor’s presence. She was exhausted, her muscles were sore, and she needed to pee. But the idea of letting him walk away seemed too final. After the past year of dancing around each other, getting him to even talk to her felt like some sort of miracle. She wasn’t usually this daring with a man she hadn’t actually dated yet, but this one time she wanted to take a chance.

“Um…are you sure?”

She almost laughed at his question because she wasn’t sure at all. But there was no way she’d let him know that. “Yeah, of course.”

He smiled and her heart melted a little. She turned away quickly to hide any tell-tale signs on her face and led the way to her door.

Trevor wanted to kick himself. What the hell was he doing? Warning bells were going off in his head as he watched Julia’s fine rear-end lead him down the hallway. He tried to remember the reasons he had convinced himself getting to know her was a bad idea, but they had all disappeared the moment she smiled at him. Sitting down beside her at the diner had been a momentary lapse in judgment, but he couldn’t regret it. He’d learned over the past couple of hours that she was an amazing woman.

Now he just had to keep his cool. The last thing he wanted was another cup of coffee but he also didn’t want to go home to his lonely loft just yet. No, spending even five more minutes with her would be time well spent.

They walked into her place and he looked around at the finely decorated open space. She had an eye for nice things, but he could tell nothing was over-the-top expensive. If anything, Julia seemed to know what went well on a firefighter’s budget and he admired the feminine touches. Overall, it had a warm, lived-in look.

“Do you want coffee?” she asked.

Her nervousness was palpable and endearing. Now that he was in her place she didn’t seem to know what to do with him. He took pity on her and closed the distance.

“Hey.” He cupped her face in both hands and placed a soft kiss on her pretty, pink lips. “It’s just me. You know me.”

Her breasts rose as she took a deep breath and his attention was momentarily snared. He fought to raise his gaze and noticed moisture in her eyes. Crap.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I know you. But do you know me?”

He ran his thumbs over her cheeks before letting his hands drop to her waist. Then he slowly pulled her into his arms. He rested his chin on her head and held her. “Yeah, baby, I know you. I’ve been fighting this insane urge I’ve had to know you better for months. But now, fighting it doesn’t seem like such a good idea anymore.”

“Why were you fighting it? You had to know I’ve wanted to spend time with you. I never made it a secret.”

He smiled as he remembered the heated looks she’d given him when they crossed paths. It had taken a lot of willpower to ignore those. “I know. I’m just an idiot, I guess. It’s been a while since I’ve really dated a woman seriously. I usually just go out for a good time on the weekends.”

She pulled away and frowned at him. “I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl, Trevor. I thought you knew that.”

“I do.”

“So…what are you doing here?”

He took the time to think about it, knowing this answer would be one of the most important things he ever said to her. “I’m here to start something that will last a hell of a lot longer than one night.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

He took the step separating them and kissed her again. Suddenly, all the reasons he’d told himself to stay away from her no longer mattered. As he pulled her back into his arms he realized she fit against him perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle. The soft curves he’s been dreaming about melted against his hard planes and calm acceptance filled him. This was right.

“Trevor?”

“Hmm?”

“I don’t believe in one-night stands, or taking a guy to bed after only one date.”

“Okay.”

“But, I think technically we’ve just spent two days together and it’s no longer night time.”

He glanced out the window at the slowly rising sun. Then he turned back to her with a grin. “I’m off the next couple of days. So, if it’ll help I can just stay in your bed until we know each other better.”

She laughed and left his arms, turning away from him. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Then she whipped off her shirt and walked away.

“Hot damn, am I glad I was called for that warehouse fire.”

He followed the trail of discarded clothes to her bedroom and prepared to help the firefighter heat things up.