He swore to protect his town—but guarding his heart is the real challenge.
Volunteer firefighter Shawn Miller thought he had his life figured out in small-town Elken Grove. His print shop pays the bills while his real passion—fighting fires—keeps him connected to the community he loves.
Then his new Captain walks through the station doors: Rebecca “Becks” Schwartz, the woman who walked out of his life nine years ago. Now she’s his superior officer, and someone in the department is determined to drive her away—or worse.
As danger closes in, Shawn must balance protecting Becks with respecting her authority. But when sparks fly hotter than ever between them, he realizes some flames aren’t meant to be extinguished—they’re meant to be stoked.
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The whisper of wrongness crystallized into certainty when he spotted it: the tampering was subtle but unmistakable to someone who’d maintained this equipment for years. The safety seal on the regulator had been broken and incompletely reattached, and the connection threads showed fresh tool marks—signs of recent disassembly by someone other than their certified technician. Even more concerning was what he found when he inspected further: the O-ring that created an airtight seal had been partially shaved down on one side, creating a slow leak that would accelerate under pressure.
A cold weight settled in Shawn’s stomach. This wasn’t an accident or normal wear. Someone had deliberately damaged the equipment—Becks’ equipment specifically—in a way that would pass cursory inspection but fail catastrophically during use.
For a moment, his fingers hovered over his radio. He should alert Becks immediately—tell her what he’d found.
But the station was a flurry of activity now, everyone preparing to respond to a potential structure fire. Lives could be at stake. There wasn’t time for the investigation this would require—not with flames potentially spreading through the Thatcher house.
His pulse quickening, Shawn glanced at the wall where their spare units hung. Making a split-second decision, he quickly tagged the compromised tank and set it aside, grabbing a spare air cylinder from the rack. He then carefully checked that the regulator and face mask in Becks’ personal gear were undamaged before connecting the replacement cylinder.
As the crew moved toward the engines, Shawn pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to Chief Washington: “Possible tampering with B’s air cylinder. Tagged unit and secured in equipment room. Replaced with spare number three. Will brief after call.”
He slipped his phone back into his pocket as he pulled on his turnout gear. He’d tell Becks after the call. For now, they had a job to do.
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