America's Bravest by Kathryn Shay Page A

around
you.”
    “Is it?”
    She turned and seeing no one was nearby, she
faced him fully. “What do you want me to say, Captain? That it
kills me to witness how tender you are with your kids. How terrific
you look in that T-shirt. How I—” She stopped short. “Jesus. I’m
sorry.”
    Acting on need and not thought, he moved in
closer but didn’t touch her. For a minute, he stared at the soap
dribbling from her hands to the floor. “At least you didn’t have to
watch while another woman put her hands all over me.” At Rachel’s
questioning look, he added, “God’s gift to women, Ryan O’Malley.
Hell, he couldn’t stop touching you.”
    “Really? I didn’t notice.”
    Gabe wasn’t going to back down. “This isn’t
working. The last three weeks, today, have been hell.”
    “I know. What are we going to do?”
    “Maybe one of us has to transfer.”
    Her eyes turned hot. “That would be me. I
only moved to our house eighteen months ago. I’d be off the
affirmative action test case. I’d have to break in a whole new
crew.”
    “I can’t leave.” He stepped closer still and
whispered, “If you did, maybe we could—”
    She recoiled back. “Don’t even say it. If I
moved and we got together, everyone would know I transferred
because of you, that something happened between us. That would
confirm all the nasty things people say about having women in the
department. My public shame would make it hard for the rest of our
females to convince others that they’re serious firefighters, not
in the job to sleep around.”
    He inched back. “Okay, I get it.” At her
still-fuming expression, he added, “Pardon me for trying to find a
way for us to be together.”
    She shook her head. “I’m not going to
transfer, Gabe. We’ll have to work this out. We’ll be
stronger.”
    “Yeah, well, good luck with that.” Giving her
his back, he walked toward the door.

Chapter 6
    The O’Malley twins sat across from Rachel and
her sister Alexis. The two guys looked like a million bucks. Well,
two million. They wore blazers, one gray, one taupe, that matched
silk T-shirts, and knife-pressed trousers. Were it another time in
Rachel’s life, she’d be drooling like most of the other women in
the Lakeside Restaurant who got a glimpse of them. She was glad to
see Alexis enjoying herself as Brody’s date.
    “So, you think this is working, sweetheart?”
Ryan’s light blue eyes twinkled when he spoke. He’d asked Rachel
out last night after the picnic at her house, and given her state
of mind, she’d said yes. When he’d wondered if she had a girlfriend
for Brody, they’d decided an all-sibling evening would be fun. So
far, it was.
    “Yep, Sergeant, I do.” She nodded to the
remains of Beef Wellington the four of them had shared along with
scalloped potatoes and a Caesar salad. “Super food.”
    As they drank another glass of good merlot,
they told stories about growing up, though the O’Malley escapades
were a lot more interesting than the Wellington adventures. At one
point, Alexis laughed so hard, she attracted the attention of other
patrons. “You were fifteen and caught naked in the boathouse of
your parents’ cottage? What did your dad do?”
    Ryan chuckled. “First he got rid of the older
women we were with.”
    “Older women?”
    “Yeah, two college freshmen who took a shine
to us when we crashed a frat party.” He grinned at his twin, as if
remembering. “They, um, didn’t know how old we were. After they
left, Dad gave us the
responsibility
talk.”
    “And told us to respect women.” Brody’s eyes
narrowed. “Rach, don’t tell anybody about this at work. I’m already
considered a womanizer.”
    Rachel sipped her wine. “Work’s off-limits
tonight. So vice versa. What happens here, stays here.”
    What happened in the basement…
    No, she wouldn’t think about that. Rachel
had
to forget about work and a certain captain; thoughts
of him were driving her crazy. Which was why she’d