Cade Creek 11 - Race Against Time (6 page)

“Race?” Jack’s eyebrows drew together. “Wasn’t he one of the members of the Dirty Dozen Motorcycle Club run by Dorian?”

“Yes.” Vinnie nodded. “When Dorian and Bear moved to Cade Creek, Race came with them.”

“Right,” Jack replied. “I remember.”

“Someone beat the hell out of him, Jack,” Ari said with a cold edge to his voice. “They even broke his arm.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Who is they?”

“We don’t know,” Vinnie answered, “and we probably won’t until Dorian has a chance to talk to Race. That’s kind of why we came to talk to you. We’d like your permission to talk to the guys and ask them to keep an eye out on any strangers that show up in town.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Jack asked as he sat back in his chair. “The sheriff will get mighty pissed if we start scaring off the tourists.”

“I’m not saying we need to scare anyone off, Jack, but keeping an eye out for anyone that isn’t touristy couldn’t hurt. Unless there is a fire or we’re training, we have a lot of time on our hands. Being right on the main drag means we see a lot of people coming and going. We have a better chance of spotting something than most.”

“And then what?”

The fire chief had a good point with his question. Vinnie’s first inclination was to find whoever beat the crap out of Race and pound them into the ground, but that would more than likely end him up in jail. Sheriff Riley didn’t play favorites if someone broke the law.

“If we see something out of place,” he said, “we can ask the sheriff to take a look.”

“Okay.” Jack folded his hands together again, this time resting them on his chest as he leaned back in his chair. “So, you just want the guys to keep an extra eye out and report anything out of place, no actual interference? Correct?”

“Correct.” Vinnie blew out a relieved breath, so glad the chief got it.

“I will be reaffirming with the guys that they are not to interfere or instigate anything.” Vinnie swallowed hard when Jack’s dark eyebrow arched high. “Any man that so much as dips his toe in an aggressive situation will be rolling hoses and running the tower for a week.”

Vinnie groaned as he rubbed his thighs just thinking about how much that would hurt. Rolling hoses wasn’t so bad. It was tedious work. Running the tower, however, could break a man. Two hundred steps up and then two hundred steps down, fully geared up, including oxygen tank. Even the strongest firefighter would be winded after running it twice. A week of it might put them in traction.

“I can’t promise not to interfere if I see someone threatening Race,” Ari said, “but I won’t intentionally look for trouble. If there’s a way to let the sheriff handle it first, I’m good, but if not…” Ari shrugged. “If that means I roll hose and run the tower, so be it.”

Even though the fire chief was staring at Ari, his gaze was so intent, Vinnie started to sweat. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Jack nodded. “Fair enough.”

Vinnie wanted to hug Ari, but they had a very strict agreement about not having displays of affection at work after almost getting caught fooling around in the showers once. Fraternization wasn’t forbidden, but it was frowned upon while on duty. Still, Vinnie sent Ari a smile so the man would know he approved what Ari had said.

“Thanks, Jack.” Vinnie stood and held out his hand.

Jack stared at it for a moment before lifting his gaze to Vinnie. “Is this an official thank-you or one from a friend?”

Vinnie felt his face flush as he chuckled. “Definitely from a friend.”

“Good.” Jack grinned, the tension in his shoulders easing. “In that case, you can thank me by buying me a beer after work.”

“Done.”

Jack waved his hand toward the door. “Now, get out of here. Go put out a fire or something. Rumor has it you’re firemen or something.”

Vinnie ushered Ari out of the chief’s office just as fast as he could. He didn’t want the man to change his mind. After closing the office door behind him, Vinnie headed for the rec room where he knew the others would be, waiting for a fire alarm to go off.

As he suspected, Hank was stretched out on the couch with Arson curled up at his feet. Raff was hogging up the other couch. Considering how big the man was, there was no room for anyone at his feet, not even the firehouse dog.

“Hey, you guys got a few minutes?”

* * * *

“Hey, Vinnie,” Raff called out as he walked into the rec room from the truck bay a week later, “there’s some guy out front asking for you.”

Vinnie lifted his head and glanced up at the big man. “Me?”

“Well, he ain’t here to bring me muffins.”

Vinnie’s eyebrows rose. “Muffins?” Who in the hell would be bringing him muffins? And on a Saturday? Vinnie’s curiosity got the better of him. It had been a week since he explained the situation with Race to the guys and nothing had happened since then, not even a cherry bomb in a garbage can.

He got up and strode out of the rec room, making his way to the truck bay. As warm as it was, the big bay doors were open. Raff and Ari had pulled one of the rigs out and had been washing it down. Vinnie had been on restocking duty and he had finished that an hour ago.

When he reached the open bays, he almost stumbled to a stop when he spotted Race standing by the open door, holding a plastic container in his good hand. Vinnie swallowed tightly at the welcoming but hesitant smile the gorgeous man sent his way when he spotted Vinnie.

And he was gorgeous. Most of the bruises and swelling were gone, even if he did still have a neon-green cast on his arm. His limp, scruffy blond hair was now bright and shiny and…orange. Vinnie blinked in surprise. Race’s hair was carrot orange, and Vinnie was pretty sure it wasn’t a dye job.

Maybe the blond had been a dye job.

“Race,” Vinnie said as he approached the man. “How are you? You’re certainly looking better.”

“Hi.” Race’s smile grew bigger as he held up the plastic container in his hand. “I wanted to bring you and Ari some muffins to thank you for picking me up at the airport.” Race leaned to the side a little, his eyes darting around the truck bay. “Is Ari around?”

“I’m sure he is. He’s on shift right now.” Vinnie glanced back over his shoulder, searching the shadows of the bay for his lover. If Ari didn’t already know Race was there, he was going to flip when he found out.

When he couldn’t immediately see Ari, he turned back to Race. “How about we go find him.”

“Oh, no, that’s okay.” Race held out the plastic container. “I don’t want to bother you while you’re at work. I just wanted to—”

“It’s no bother, Race. I promise.” Vinnie flashed one of his big grins. “We’re not doing anything right now anyway. It’ll be nice to break up the monotony.”

Race’s eyebrows drew together in a pensive frown. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You won’t get into trouble?” When Race chewed on his bottom lip, Vinnie just about melted. It was quite possibly the cutest damn thing he had ever seen.

“I’m sure,” Vinnie reassured him. Vinnie didn’t want to overwhelm Race or scare him off, so he merely placed his hand in the small of Race’s back to guide him through the truck bay. “Ari is around here somewhere. He’s supposed to be washing the trucks with Raff.”

“Raff?” Race frowned.

“The guy you talked to before.”

“Big guy?” Race asked, his eyes widening comically. “Really big guy?”

Vinnie chuckled. “That would be him.”

“He was really big.”

“You kind of have to be a bit bigger to be a firefighter.” Vinnie frowned. “Well, you don't, but it helps.”

Race breathed out deeply as his eyes roamed over Vinnie. “Yeah.”

Vinnie barely stopped himself from preening. There was only one other man that looked at him with that degree of heat, and he seemed to be missing from the truck bay. “Hey, Raff,” he said when he saw the big guy, “have you seen Ari?”

Raff rolled his eyes as he pointed to the top of one of the fire trucks, then he continued walking through the truck bay. When Vinnie glanced over, he could see Raff’s husband, Dr. Noah Helmond waiting for Raff across the street in the park. Must be lunchtime.

Having an inkling what Ari might be up to, Vinnie grinned and then held a finger to his lips. He gestured for Race to follow him before making his way to the steps that led to the back seating area of the massive vehicle.

Stepping up into the back area, Vinnie stretched up to take a peek. Sure enough, Ari was stretched out along the back of the fire engine. His legs were crossed and his arms were folded beneath his head. The guy was sound asleep.

Vinnie chuckled silently as he climbed back down. He pressed his hands together and placed them along his cheek, tilting his head and closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Race was staring at him with a big grin.

Vinnie took the plastic container from Race and set it on the front seat. He then grabbed Race around the waist and lifted him up onto the floor of the back area before climbing up behind him. Race’s eyes danced with laughter as he covered his mouth. Vinnie motioned for Race to plug his ears and then reached over and hit the siren.

Ari came up as if he had been struck by lightning. His arms and legs went flying as he struggled to roll over. Vinnie’s amusement got the better of him and he bent over laughing. Tears started to stream down his face.

When he finally got himself under control, he looked up to find Ari glaring at him. When the man went to open his mouth—no doubt to chew him out—Vinnie pointed to the gorgeous man standing next to him. As short as Race was, his head barely tipped the top of the fire engine.

“Race brought us muffins.”

Ari’s eyebrows shot up. “Muffins?”

“He wanted to thank us for picking him up from the airport.” Vinnie smiled as he glanced down at Race. “Isn’t that what you said?”

Race’s soulful green eyes still danced with merriment. “Yeah.”

Ari’s mouth slowly spread into a grin. “Nice,” he said before scrambling over the side of the fire engine and then dropping down to the concrete floor. He met Vinnie and Race at the truck steps. Holding up his arms, he said, “Come on, Race. I’ll catch you.”

Race took a few hesitant steps, right to the edge of the back platform, and then leaned down. Vinnie wasn’t worried. He knew Ari would rather cut off his arm than hurt Race. Once Race was on the ground, Vinnie jumped down. He reached into the front seat for the plastic container.

“How about we take these over to the park?”

Race’s eyes widened as he took the container. “Can you do that?” he asked. “Don’t you have to stay here in case there is a fire?”

Vinnie smiled, warmed by the thought that Race hadn’t said no. “As long as we don’t go any farther than just across the street to the park, and we let the chief know where we’re headed, we’re good. If the alarm goes off, we will hear it and we can run right back.”

Race stared for a moment, and then said, “Okay.”

“I’ll go let the chief know we’re headed across the street,” Vinnie said. “I’ll meet you guys in the park.”

Ari gave him a long look before smiling at Race and leading him out of the truck bay. Vinnie watched them walk across the street and then turned to go find the chief. He thought it would take longer to meet up with Race and show their interest. He never dreamed the man would come to them. That made things a lot easier.

Now, he just had to make sure everyone was on board. Somehow, Vinnie had the feeling that was going to be a bit harder than it seemed.

Luckily, he was up to the challenge.

Race clenched his hands and then released them, trying to let loose some of the nervous tension he was feeling. He had stepped totally out of his comfort zone by bringing Vinnie and Ari muffins, but he had wanted to do something to show the two men his appreciation.

And to get another look at them, ’cause, damn, they were hot. Race had a really hard time not drooling when he looked at either of them. He didn’t want to embarrass himself by staring too long, but it wasn’t easy to look away, especially when Ari was standing right beside him.

“How about here?” Ari asked when they reached a bench under one of the many trees in the park. It looked out over the grass, facing the fire department.

Race sat down. When Ari sat down beside him, he didn’t know whether to look at the handsome man, or watch for the other one. As vivid as his fantasies had been over the last week, he knew he couldn’t have both of them. He couldn’t even have one of them. He had seen the heated looks between the two men, and if they weren’t involved now, they would be soon.

Race didn’t think he fit into that equation. One plus one did not make three, no matter how much he wished it did. Race sighed, then quickly smiled when Ari glanced at him. He didn’t want the man to know how exciting and depressing it was to be near him. Being anywhere near Vinnie was just the same, which brought Race right back to his main problem… There were two of them.

He was doomed.

Race started to get up, intent on leaving, when Vinnie walked out of the fire station and jogged across the street. Race wanted to think the man was racing toward him, but he wasn’t stupid. Vinnie wanted his muffins.