Free Hot Nights with the Fireman by Lynne Silver Page B

the entire room tipped heavily toward the testosterone-carrying card members, but there were a few women scattered throughout the room. The rescue team pulled from across the community for a variety of occupations. It was heavily populated with firefighters from this county. They made up the core with assists from other more white-collared jobs.
    The woman left the front, and a tall man with silvery thinning hair took her place. He was a firefighter. Jason would stake his fingers on it. Sure enough, he introduced himself as Chief Sean McGowan. He sat up in his chair and leaned slightly forward, forearms on his thighs. McGowan had the gold to impart. He talked about the admissions process in great detail.
    Everything he listed sounded like cake. Physical fitness? No problem. CPR training? Already done. When he got to the essay section, he realized his fingers were digging into his thighs. He forced them to relax, but each sentence the captain uttered had his gut clenching tighter and tighter. The essays counted for a lot. They wanted to ensure they were getting people with the mental capacity to handle the job.
    His breathing grew choppy and he tried to concentrate on the older man at the front, but his stupid, messed-up brain kept circling back to the essays they’d have to write. Before he could refocus, it was over, and the room was filled with the din of people standing and stretching. Dan sauntered over with a grin, looking as cocky as he deserved to be. He would have no problem getting a spot.
    “Ready to go?” Dan asked, smiling over at some women eyeing him on the other side of the room.
    “Sure.”
    Back in the car, Dan was driving too fast and talking a mile a minute. “Damn, I want to get on the team so bad. Sounds like a blast.”
    Jason shot him a look. “If you make the team, you’ll be shipped to countries in the middle of chaos. The only blast will be when the rescue team blows apart rubble looking for survivors. Doesn’t sound like a party to me.”
    “Then why are you doing it?”
    He blinked. “To help people and for the challenge.” And to prove to everyone back in Aberdeen, family and friends, that he wasn’t a moron.
    Dan scoffed. “See? You’re not that different than me. It’s the adrenaline rush. Don’t deny it.”
    He couldn’t argue. As much as he wanted to help people, there was the allure of putting his body in dangerous situations and challenging himself to get out. It had always been about the rush. It’s why he did what he did. Even if he’d had a brain that could handle a desk job, his body couldn’t. It needed to move at high octane. Yeah, he was ready to take his career to the next level.

Chapter Six
    A week later, Jason found himself in another long line but at a totally different venue. He’d e-mailed Valerie to apologize for snapping at her at the school. She’d reciprocated by asking him if he played golf. Sure, he’d played once or twice in his life. He’d had no idea she’d interpret that as the go-ahead for her to put him down for a foursome for the charity golf tournament to benefit a local children’s burn unit. Most of the firefighters were going to be walking the crowd, hat in hand to solicit donations, but they wanted some actual firefighters to play some golf.
    She tried to sell it as an easy way for him to repair his damaged reputation, and she’d hinted that she wanted to see him again socially. It was tricky to read her signals. Now that he was here, he was questioning the ease of golf for charity.
    He got to the front of the line feeling entirely out of place and looked around desperately for Valerie, but she was nowhere to be found. He eyed his fellow firefighters roaming through the crowd in their familiar navy work wear and wished he were among their ranks today and not about to play golf.
    “Hi. Name?” A perky brunette with an overly whitened smile grinned up at him from behind her place at an official-looking check-in table.
    “Uh. Jason.