Free Fire at Sunset: The Firefighters of Darling Bay 4 by Lila Ashe Page A

Truth or Dare?”  
    The door to dispatch opened, and Bonnie felt her knees heat up. Caz. Of course.  
    “Hey, you,” said Lexie. “Come in, we were just talking about you.”  
    Oh, jeez…
    Caz’s voice was low and he didn’t meet Bonnie’s eyes. “I’m looking for the chief. Do you know where he is?”  
    Lexie said, “Am I in trouble for something?”  
    Caz looked surprised. “Um, no…”  
    “Good.” Lexie hit a few keys. “His MDC says he’s at the coffee shop. Lousy chief that he is. Didn’t even offer to get me a cup.”  
    “Okay…”  
    “Now, get in here. What do you think of Truth or Dare? Can you explain to me why Bonnie here thinks it’s a good idea? The only thing I can think that would be fun about it is if we got firefighters and medics up there and dared them to kiss pigs. Oooh, or each other.” Lexie’s eyes widened as she looked between the two of them. Bonnie predicted she’d have to kill her soon, probably before the afternoon was over.  
    Caz said, “We talked about the game, but—”
    Bonnie interrupted, “Hey, didn’t we have to wash the blankets on the rig? I mean, no one used that last one, but it did hit the floor, and we can’t have—”
    “I already did it. They’re sanitizing now.”  
    “You see?” said Lexie triumphantly. “He’s on it. Now. Caz. Old buddy. Old pal. What would you do if someone dared you—for money—to kiss Bonnie over there right on the smacker?”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

    It was the last question he’d thought he’d be asked in dispatch. Bonnie had told Lexie?  
    “Really?” He shoved his hands in his uniform pockets and threw a glare in Bonnie’s direction. “I can’t believe you—”
    “I’m just teasing,” said Lexie. “ Sheesh . Okay, so let me talk this out, so I’m sure I understand what the plan is. All right. So we get two firefighters up there on the stage after the dinner portion of the evening.”  
    “Neither of whom will be me.” Caz had to look away from Bonnie and the way she bit her lower lip when she was nervous. He couldn’t be totally sure he wouldn’t reach over and touch that same lip with his forefinger. Right in front of Lexie. Good grief, Bonnie Maddern acted on him like a nerve agent. She should come with a warning placard. A red light should have been flashing outside Dispatch’s door, to show people it wasn’t safe to enter.  
    “Shhh. You don’t have to go first, if that’s what you mean. But yeah, two firefighters up on stage. Okay, they choose whether they want a Truth or a Dare. Then we hold a mini-auction. Whoever collects the most money each round is off the hook, and the other person has to either tell the truth or do the dare in front of everyone.”  
    “Exactly,” said Bonnie. “So that means that if the dare is take your shoes off and get a pedicure, Guy Mazanti will work extra hard to raise money in the crowd so his opponent will have to do it instead of him.” Everyone knew Guy Mazanti couldn’t stand having his feet touched, or even, really, looked at.  
    “Oh, man, I love the pedicure idea. And I’d like Coin to lose that one, please. I want to see his toes a pretty, pretty pastel pink. With flowers. And maybe rhinestones and glitter!” Lexie looked delighted.  
    Caz could admit that it would probably raise money. It was a cute idea. If he were a citizen going to a benefit put on by firefighters, he’d probably be into seeing them laughingly humiliated, too.  
    It’s just he didn’t want to be one of them up there on the stage. “Sounds good. Sounds funny. And since we’re organizing it, we won’t have to be on stage.”  
    Bonnie looked at him gratefully, her eyes wide with relief. A man would ride a horse a long way to get a gorgeous blonde to look at him that way, Caz realized. He might even ride a bike to see her, a bike that hadn’t been ridden since he was a seventeen-year-old with nothing better to do than mess around on bikes all day.