Sizzle (St. Martin Family Saga): Emergency Responders by Gina Watson

seemed to be liquid and churning in a way similar to the raging storm outside.
    His eyes resembled the radar images of the spinning hurricane with their white and cloudy inner ring and blue outer ring. He was closely shaven, and his lips were pinched tight. She felt the coiled emotions roiling in him.
    Familiar with emotional men and their abuse, Eve had a keen sense of other people’s emotions, especially when they were trying to restrain them, but even as large as he was, she knew she could never be afraid him; this man wasn’t one who hurt others. That sure knowledge was evident in the way his eyes pleaded with her, as if he secretly wanted to be the one saved.
    She tossed away her fanciful thought when he cleared his throat and said, “This is irresponsible.” He pointed around the room with his index finger. “You should have evacuated. If we couldn’t get to you, she could’ve died. And we’re still not yet in the clear.”
    His voice was harsh and loud. Reflexively Eve cringed, old habits and all, but then she fought to straighten her back and stood her ground. She walked up to the giant and attempted to pull him into the other room away from Ruth. She couldn’t budge him, but he willingly followed her lead after a moment.
    How insensitive could one man be, to mention death in front of an obviously ailing woman? Eve met him with an angry whisper.
    “Keep your voice down; what if she’d heard you?” Eve stretched her neck and stood on her tiptoes to look around Clay and back into the room where Ruth sat in her chair, oblivious. “You’re very thoughtless. I thought rescue workers and firefighters were supposed to keep people calm.”
    His forehead wrinkled. He leaned forward, into her, and said, “We’re also trained to recognize when people put themselves in harmful situations.”
    At least his voice was quieter. But that attitude…
    He fisted his hands and crossed his arms, causing his biceps to bulge. She envisioned one of those fists flying and she flinched; that blow would be the end of whoever was on the receiving end. Studying him again, she innately knew he’d never thrown a punch at a woman. Her instincts were good, so she knew she was right. There had always been something in her gut that told her Nicolas was dangerous. Too bad she hadn’t listened to those instincts the first time they’d gnawed at her.
    She shook off the thoughts from her past—she had enough problems in the present to worry about.
    “I couldn’t just leave her. Her son was supposed to come get her, but coming from the north, he apparently couldn’t get through the traffic.” She shrugged. “We haven’t heard from him in a few hours.”
    “Mrs. Howard isn’t your mother?”
    Eve tilted her head to see his eyes better. “No, I live next door.”
    The front door slammed open and banged against a console table behind it. Jack was drenched.
    “Water’s knee deep out there.” He carried two plastic cases.
    “Oh goodness.” Eve ran to the bathroom and returned to the den with several towels.
    Jack toweled off, at the same time pulling what looked like an electronic tablet from a case and thumbed it on. Eve and Clay watched him wave the machine over Ruth’s chest. He held it in his hand and used the touch-screen features. Shaking his head, he said, “The settings are off. I’m going to need to reset the pacemaker.” He looked to Eve. “Do you have any more of those nitro pills?”
    Eve went down to her knees and started digging through the carpet. Clay stood behind her, grumbling, and she wondered what his problem was. She ran her hands through the thick shag. “Here’s one.” She handed the pill to Jack. “She dropped them earlier.”
    Jack reset the pacemaker without needing the pills, which he said was good in case she needed them for later. Eve found three more in the carpet and a few in the folds of Ruth’s sweater.
    Clay pulled on his gear and turned to Eve. “I need to speak with you.”
    His brow