Free Stoking the Embers (New Adult Romantic Suspense): The Complete Series by Leslie Johnson

day.”
    As he begins to lead me to a table, I glance around the room. Oh my god. It’s Jerome, sitting at a table in the corner, eyes boring into me.
    I freeze as surely as a deer does in a road when twin beams of light come bearing down. My phone vibrates in my hand, breaking my paralysis. I look down, it’s from Jerome:
    “I thought this was about u becoming a paramedic. Not coming with a paramedic.”
    I want to scream at him, throw my phone at him, beg him to leave me alone. This isn’t the place, even if I had the courage. Besides, I’ve embarrassed myself in front of Ken quite enough as it is.
    Ken, bless him, is totally oblivious to my internal turmoil. It’s only when he reaches a table that he turns to find I’m not right behind him. He locates me and gives me a WTF look.
    I shake my head and give him a ‘let’s go’ look. Crap, we’ve reverted to facial sign language. I clear my throat and manage, “Can we go?”
    Not waiting for an answer, I cast another glance in Jerome’s direction. He’s smug, arms crossed over his chest like he’s enjoying the show. I turn on my heel and walk out the door. Taking a deep, cleansing breath of air, I wait for Ken. Seconds later, he’s out the door and at my side.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “My ex, Jerome. He’s in there.”
    “You’re kidding?”
    I shake my head and show him my phone, sliding my thumb over the screen to unlock it and let him read the hateful message.
    “How’d he know you were here?”
    I shake my head again and watch him scroll through the messages earlier. His jaw clenches, the muscle popping out in anger.
    “I don’t know how he knows. No one knew I’d be here, not even Beth.”
    He hands me back my phone and turns back toward the door. I grab his arm, knowing what he’s about to do, but he shakes me off.
    “Stay here; I’ll take care of this. That psycho prick’s messing with the wrong guy.”
    I grab his arm again, feel the heat of anger radiate from him. “Please, let me handle him. It’s better if we just go somewhere else.”
    We both turn as the doors open. Jerome strolls out, a shit-eating grin on his face. “See you later lovebirds. Don’t let me ruin your plans.”
    Ken moves toward him, his finger leading the way. “Listen here, you fucking prick. Leave her alone or you’ll be messing with me.”
    Jerome laughs in the face of the much larger man. “Don’t threaten me, fireman. I know you were a black belt in high school, but you don’t want to ruin your little career. Or do you?”
    Ken’s fists tighten until his knuckles turn white. Good sense fights with the need to kick some ass. I pray good sense wins.
    It does.
    Ken turns to me. “Let’s go.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder and gives Jerome the universal one finger salute.
    Jerome laughs, pure evil vibrating from his throat. He’s gone mad. I hear it. See it. The quality of the sound he makes is different than what I’ve heard before.
    “ See ya later, Stephanie.”
    Why does that fuckhead always get the last jab?

    The station is definitely a testosterone driven place. I notice all the guys staring at me as I walk into the building with Ken. The high fives going on behind my back are barely visible. It’s a man thing, these signals, but men are too easy to read anyway. I do my best to ignore them.
    “Hey guys, listen up. This is Stephanie. She’s almost done with her RN and is thinking about being a paramedic. I asked her yesterday if she wanted to ride along, get a feel for our routine.”
    One of paramedics takes his eyes off my tits long enough to look at my face. He recognizes me. “Hey, aren’t you the chick from the store?”
    With a furrow in his brow, Ken responds, “She’s also the one who saved the old couple at Sunset, the accident the other day. The one where the drunk slob hit the church van.”
    Soft murmurs of acknowledgment spread and the mood changes. One guy speaks up. He looks important.
    “Well Stephanie, you did a