CHAPTER ONE

Juliette sat back in her chair at the nurse’s station logging notes in her tablet. She glanced at the clock. Five a.m. A light up snowman danced with elves next to a gingerbread house in the holiday display at the end of the counter. She frowned at the incongruity. Didn’t elves hang out with Santa?

Anayah slouched in the chair next to hers.

“Two hours until end of shift. It’s been quiet. I hope—”

Anayah whipped up her hand. “Stop. Don’t say it.”

“What? That it’s been quiet, and I hope it stays that way?”

“Oh good lord, you’ve jinxed us.”

Juliette rolled her eyes. “That’s a superstition. Saying the words doesn’t make stuff happen.”

“Incoming, ladies,” Tupu sang in his deep baritone as he stopped at the station.

Anayah hissed at her. “See? You don’t say that kind of thing out loud.”

Ignoring her friend, Juliette asked, “What’s the status?”

Staff loved Tupu because of his flowery language and incredible voice. He was a giant of a man who stood at six and a half feet with intricate tattoos in geometric patterns on his arms that reflected his Samoan heritage.

“I will tell you what I know.” Tupu cleared his throat. “Our current drama was caused by juveniles hell-bent on endangering the public by street racing. Incoming Speed Racer crashed his tiny little sports car through a guardrail and rolled to a steep drop-off where he hung precariously at cliff’s edge. At great peril to themselves, stalwart members of our own Sisters FD rescue squad over the side to reach the vehicle and the young idiot trapped inside. The driver, and the firefighter injured in heroic service to the public, are on their way in with flashing lights and sirens.”

“Firefighter?” Juliette tightened her grip on the tablet.

“I’ll take the juvenile delinquent so you can take the firefighter in case it’s your cutie-pie,” Anayah offered. Her voice held a beautiful lilt reflective of her native Kenya.

“He’s not my cutie-pie.”

Tupu shot a finger at her. “Stop lying to yourself, my redheaded friend. You like him.” He sang the word “like” with a soul vibe.

The doors from the ambulance bay slid open and the team pushed in a gurney. “That’s Speed Racer. I got him.” Anayah directed the team to a room and Tupu followed her in.

Juliette stepped outside to the bay area as the ambulance that had brought the injured teen rolled out. The wail of sirens grew nearer.

With her arms crossed against the biting wind, and her hair flying, she paced while waiting for the next ambulance. That evening when she’d been driving to the clinic, she’d seen the rescue truck speeding up Main Street with Mateo at the wheel, so she knew he was working a shift.

It’s not like she and Mateo had anything going other than a flirty acquaintance. As a firefighter, he was at the emergency clinic several times a week. Her very first shift he’d come in with a squad member who’d injured his ankle. One look at Mateo and Juliette had felt her heart rate kick up and her face flush. She’d been irritated with herself. What could be more cliché than falling for a hottie firefighter?

That he seemed to reciprocate was exciting. When he was in the ER, he sought her out, always flirting, smiling that wonderful smile of his, and recently he’d asked her to hang out. Which was great, but the more she got to know him, she realized he was open and friendly with everyone, especially women.

An elderly woman coming into the ER? Mateo offered an arm. A frazzled mom dealing with a cranky toddler? Mateo would hold out his hands and the toddler would reach for him without hesitation. And young, single women? If his magnetism didn’t captivate them, they’d have trouble finding resistance to his delicious package: thick black hair, gorgeous brown eyes, and a slightly naughty grin.

Mateo was attractive and charming, and everyone loved him. Which was great. Terrific even. But a caution for her not to let her heart get tangled up over him. Attractive and charming had burned her before.

The Sisters FD rescue truck pulled into a parking space, followed by the ambulance backing into the bay. Juliette opened the back door.

Scott, the paramedic, hopped out, and he and the EMT, Nicole, pulled out the gurney and dropped the wheels. Juliette’s heart gave a hard lurch when she saw the man on the stretcher.

“Patient is Sisters FD engineer Mateo Reynoso,” Scott reported. “Laceration to the ass, right butt cheek.”

“It’s my hip, not my ass.” Mateo’s voice sounded muffled because he was lying face-down on the gurney, his head turned away from Juliette. “And cover me up. Is my ass hanging out?”

Scott tugged up a blue drape, winking at her. “You’re covered, my man. Your girl won’t see a thing.”

“Is she here?”

“Take him into room four,” Juliette directed.

Mateo propped himself on his elbows so he could turn his head. He caught sight of her. “Dammit.”

“Nice to see you too, Mateo. I’m sure your girl will be disappointed she missed you.” Go figure, he had a girlfriend. Now she really felt like an idiot.

“Shoot me now,” he muttered. Scott and Nicole rolled the gurney into the clinic.

Once he was transferred to a bed, Juliette lifted the drape. His pants had been cut away and bandages were taped from his right butt cheek to his hip.

Mateo buried his face in the pillow. “Can I request a different PA? Or Doc Hanson?”

As physician assistants, Juliette and Anayah worked under the supervision of the elderly Doctor Hanson.

“I’m afraid not. Anayah is with the guy you rescued, and the doctor is setting a bone fracture.”

“Maybe you could switch? Or send in Tupu. Nurses do stitches, don’t they?”

“Really, Mateo? You don’t want me to stitch up a cut on your ass?”

“It’s my hip, not my ass. But I didn’t want the first time you see me down there to be when I’m all bloody.”

“Since this will be the only time I see you down there, I think we’re good.” She tried to dampen the hurt. Keeping her tone professional, she said, “I’m afraid you’re stuck with me.”

“You’ll never go out with me after you’ve sewn up my ass. The magic will be gone.”

He sounded so woeful she couldn’t help a smile. She reminded herself about the girlfriend and not to take his flirting seriously. Juliette wondered who the girlfriend was. “I haven’t gone out with you yet, so stitching your posterior won’t change anything.”

She took a minute to study his chart on her tablet. Mateo Reynoso, thirty-three years old, skimmed in a half inch under six feet, and weighed a hundred eighty pounds. Both blood pressure and heart rate were a little elevated, as would be expected with an injury. No known allergies. After putting on gloves, she pulled the rolling tray table to the bed and opened the laceration kit.

 “Anything you want to warn me about before I start? Fear of needles? Tattoos you don’t want damaged? Any unusual piercings I should know about?”

“I’m not scared of needles. I don’t have a piercing on my ass. Or a tattoo, for that matter.”

“Good. That makes things simpler. I’ve had patients cry when their tattoos got messed up by an injury. Let’s see what we’ve got here.” She removed the bandages and winced in sympathy. “That has to hurt.”

“Yeah, it hurts.” He glanced over his shoulder, dark eyes reflecting pain that dulled their usual spark. “But I won’t ask you to kiss my ass and make it all better.”

“That’s a relief. Tell me what happened.”

She listened while preparing the lidocaine syringe and irrigating the wound.

“We got the kid out and he’s being hauled up the incline to the road. He’s damn lucky the car stopped when it did. Another couple feet and he’d have been at the bottom of the mountain as opposed to hanging on the side.

“We had a cable on the vehicle, but the car was in a bad position and it shifted. I was the last one up and a torn piece of metal caught me right between the harness straps.” He rested his forehead on his folded arms.

She swabbed the area and covered all but the wound with sterile drapes.

“Sounds like a risky rescue, especially in the middle of the night.” Keeping the syringe out of his line of vision, she injected lidocaine to numb the area.

“The kid’s alive, and that makes the risk worth it.”

Mateo’s comment was exactly what made him heroic.

“This will keep you off duty for at least two weeks,” she murmured as she used the needle driver to insert the curved needle and pull through the suture thread.

“Two weeks? I can’t be off duty for two weeks.”

“That’s how long this will take to heal. You’ll need to come back to get the stitches out.” She concentrated on her sewing skills, making a neat row of stitches. “I’m putting two weeks in the off-work orders I’ll submit to your captain.”

Mateo’s shoulders slumped. “C’mon, Jules. Can’t you make it one week as a favor for a friend?”

She glanced at his bent head. She’d love to run her fingers through all that thick hair. That is if they were anything more than verbal sparring partners.

“No, and you’ll need to keep the stitches dry for at least two days so that means no showers.” He shifted again so he could see her.

“Face down, hotshot, so I can make the awesome scar you’ll have nice and straight.”

He shifted to face-down again with a sigh. With the wound closed, she knotted and snipped the thread.

“Will I be able to sit?” Even muffled his voice sounded pathetic.

“You’ll be sore enough that sitting will be uncomfortable for several days, though the injury is more toward the hip so you’ll be better off positioning yourself with your weight on your left side. You’ll want to watch for infection. Any redness, swelling, drainage, pain, you come back and we’ll put you on antibiotics.”

“Got it, doc.”

“I’m not a doctor,” she said crisply. “We’ll send you home with care instructions and anything else you’ll need.”

“How can I see my ass to check if it’s infected?”

“Any person in this community would be happy to check on your ass for you.” That was no exaggeration; the people of Sisters looked after their own. “Or ask your mom. She’s awesome.” He groaned.

“I don’t want my friends looking at my ass. I certainly don’t want my mom looking at my ass. I only want you.” He perked up. “Hey, you can come over and give me some TLC. Check my injury, have dinner with me. We’ll do takeout.

“We can watch a movie, and since I have to lie down, I can rest my head on your lap while we’re on my couch. You could play with my hair.” She’d bet money the smile he aimed at her had gotten him what he wanted all his life. She wished she could accept his invitation at face value, not overthink it, simply hang out with Mateo without involving her heart. But the risk of heartbreak was too great.

“That’s very specific.”

“Yeah, it’ll be great. I’ll get the food from Easy Money and ask Owen to set aside a couple slices of the lemon meringue cheesecake everyone’s crazy for.”

“Is this your way of asking me out, by luring me with amazing cheesecake?”

“Is it working?”

“I’m not dating you, Mateo.”

“But you’re getting close to accepting. Your resolve was weakening. I can feel it.” He was right. Her resolve was weakening. She liked Mateo. As in really liked Mateo. But he had a girlfriend so either he wasn’t serious about the invitation, or he was a player. She’d hoped he had more substance than that.

Tupu came in carrying a bag.

“How’s the kid?” Mateo asked.

“Lucky to be among the living. His mother and father have arrived. The mother is crying over his injuries. The father is glad his son is alive and that his injuries aren’t more serious, but you can tell that boy will be paying for his lack of judgment.” He put the bag on the bed next to Mateo. “Here, sir, is a change of clothes brought to you by your compadres.”

“Thanks, man.”

Someone called out from the hall and Tupu stepped out.

Juliette moved to the head of the bed so Mateo could see her more easily. “Tupu will finish up and go over the care instructions. Take the meds as prescribed to help with the pain. It’s going to hurt when the lidocaine wears off. I’ll leave you to get changed. Wait until Tupu is here to get up.”

Mateo propped himself on his elbows. “If you’re not going to kiss my ass to make it better, you can give me a kiss right here.” He tapped his cheek.

Maybe it was because it was the end of shift and she was tired, or maybe he was just so appealing, and she hated that he’d been hurt, but she leaned down and gave him a brief kiss. “Feel better, hotshot.”

His dark eyes gleamed. “I knew you liked me.”