Sure enough, her ponytail whips as she whirls to look at me, hands on her hips.“Why am I off the schedule?”
I clear my throat and stand up from the desk.In my mind, this was going to be an awesome moment where I make up for being a dick and yelling at her in front of everyone by now praising her in front of the crew.But judging by the way her eyes flash, she’s not exactly receptive.
She’s already jumped to some erroneous conclusion.
Still, I go for jaunty.“Sparks, you’ve been selected for a special training.”I really wish the other fucks weren’t standing around listening.
She arches a suspicious brow.“Oh yeah?What’s that?”
“Fire inspector certification.”I try to sound detached and professional.“Your interest in detective work at the site of fires has been noted, and the department agreed to give you a leave of absence while you complete the training.”
Lia’s jaw drops.But not in a good way.In fact, I’m pretty sure there are flames coming out of her ears.“What?”
Shit.I totally screwed the pooch with this one.I go ahead and drop the rest of it on her before she explodes.
“Training starts next week, but you’re off the schedule for the rest of this week to job shadow with Inspector Patton.”
She shakes her head slowly.“No.”
Okay.This wasn’t the response I expected.When I cooked up this plan, I was definitely going to be her hero.
I rub my jaw.“Listen, maybe I overstepped?—”
“Yathink?”
I glare at Scott and Rocket, but neither of them show any intention of moving along.I turn back to Lia.“I believe you have a real talent with this stuff.I had to pull a lot of strings to get it all arranged.”
Wrong thing to say.
“No one asked you to pull strings.In fact, I didn’t ask to be a fire inspector at all.I guess that speech you gave the reporter today was total bullshit.You don’t think having a woman on the team is a good thing.You want me safe and sound, away from danger.Isn’t that right?”
Sonofabitch.“Lia, that’s not why?—”
“Yeah, right.You know what, Captain?Save it.”She turns to survey the rest of the crew.“I heard you assholes were taking bets on how long I’d last.Well, this was one sneaky bitch of a way to get rid of me, wasn’t it?Make it seem like I’ve won the freaking lottery.Well, thanks.Thanks a whole lot.”
She grabs the schedule from the wall and crumples it up in her hand as she stalks out.
Fuck.
“Lia, wait.”I jog after her.I don’t care now who sees us together or what they think.I just need to talk to her.“It’s not like that.Will you just wait?”
She heads out the door and jogs down the steps, flipping me the bird over her shoulder without turning.
Shit.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I stop pursuing her.Maybe it’s better to let her cool off first, then I can explain.
Damn.
Lia
Blaze has already leftfive texts by the time I get home.I’m too pissed to even look at them.I’m also too pissed to do anything but stomp around my apartment.Eating and sleeping seem like an impossibility.
My phone rings.
I know who it will be.Fuck it—I answer.“You have some nerve, you know?”
