The old cat crouched farther under the bed.
I could hear more footsteps pounding down the hallway now, doors banging, people running.
There’d been a half a dozen false alarms in the last year I’d been living here, but this time, I’d heard the sirens outside. There were a lot of emergency vehicles currently parked in front of my small apartment complex, and something told me this wasn’t a false alarm.
“Jinx, goddammit, get your grouchy little ass over here.” I lunged under the bed, the edge of the cheap metal frame cutting into my upper thigh. “Fuck!”
I kept stretching, trying desperately to dig my fingers into his soft fur so I could haul him out of here with me.
No way could I leave my sweet kitty in a building that was going up in flames.
It was probably just Mrs. Avery on the third floor, blind as an old bat and cooking soup. The flames had crawled all the way up the wall and left a trail of soot the last time this had happened, and the super still hadn’t replaced her range hood. She complained about it to me every time I went upstairs for cookies and tea. I hated the tea, she put way more lemon in it than I liked, but I choked it down for her.
I hoped she was safe. I hoped everyone, as motley a crew as they may be, was already out on the lawn. I’d grown attached to everyone here, and in a way, we’d banded together over the complete lack of upkeep on the part of our landlord.
If it wasn’t peeling paint or heaved sidewalks, it was a leaking pipe or a burned-out air conditioner.
I hated this fucking building.
Part of me hoped it would go up in flames, but I knew it was the cheapest rent I could find in this city. Rents were climbing higher and higher every year, and I was barely making it as is. If I didn’t have an apartment to live in, where the hell would I go?
“Jinx…” I tossed him another treat, begging him to inch just a little closer. “Please, boy?”
A half a dozen loud bangs rattled the door of my apartment. Jinx chose that moment to swipe at my hand, slicing my finger ruthlessly and causing blood to pool between my fingers.
“Fuck!” I recoiled, not bothering to check the gash on my thigh that was now throbbing, and launched down the short hallway to my front door.
Just as I reached the kitchen, the door burst open and a firefighter, complete with breathing mask, barged in.
A pair of intense dark eyes was all I could see of the stranger, his hand waving me to him rapidly.
I shook my head, stubborn tenacity and adrenaline charging through my veins as I turned back down the hallway. I didn’t even give a shit that I was seriously undressed. I had to get Jinx.
“Ma’am!” The firefighter pounded down the hall after me.
I slid beneath the bed again, stretching to reach Jinx.
“Ma’am, I’ve got to get you out of here.” His hand rested at my back. Gentler than I would have expected considering the layers of fireproof gear he wore.
I shook my head, glancing over my shoulder to find he’d taken off his mask.
And then the air was sucked straight out of my lungs.
Warm, honeyed skin stretched across a dark, stubbled jaw. The angles of his face inviting, the dark slash of his eyebrows and empathy radiating from his eyes making me weak in the knees. His full lips parted with each breath, the reckless, unkempt dark hair…he was the walking embodiment of a firefighter’s calendar I’d seen a while back. Except this guy was better, features so chiseled I was pretty sure I would spontaneously combust if I stared at him for too long. Why did it feel like something was twisting down deep in my belly with just one look?
Wait, what is going on again?
Why is there a gorgeous, rugged fireman in my bedroom?
Right.
Jinx.
“My cat,” I breathed, pointing under the bed, shaking the fireman-induced haze from my brain.
“Your cat is under the bed?” His throaty voice curled my toes.
I gulped. “I can’t leave him.”
His eyes heated with understanding. “I’ll get him.”
He stood, walking around the bed, his gait slow and confident. I would have killed to see what he was packing under that fireman’s getup, if the place wasn’t burning down around us, that is.
“Wait—” I interjected. “He’s been a moody bastard. He might bite you.”
A crooked smile that made my stomach turn somersaults cracked his lips. “I’ve encountered a lot of mean kitties. That’s why they give me the gloves.” He held up one gloved hand and winked.
He winked.
He fucking winked at me.
I nodded, unable to form a syllable before tall, rugged, and dangerously sexy leaned beneath the bed and swiped up my ornery old cat in one hand. He cradled Jinx in the crook of his elbow, covering his eyes before coming around the bed for me.