Eiley stopped on the threshold of the stockroom, the mess of which had already riled Warren upon arrival. Whoever wasin charge, be it the careless landlady or the firecracker in front of him, seemed to have been using this area as a garbage bin rather than a storage room.
He leaned on the doorframe hoping perhaps the sight of the damage would change her mind. The shelves leaned precariously, and piles upon piles of books – which, judging from the towering stacks in all corners, had been purposely placed there long before the mess – broke safety regulations across the floor.
Her breath shuddered from her as she took in the miserable state of it all: ceiling tiles bulging in and foamy insulation visible, with a steady drip of water and plaster showering down.
“I’m glad I’ve got you here, actually.” Since she was disobeying his orders, he no longer had the patience to be gentle. “Do you know how dangerous it is to have books piled up all over the show like this?”
She turned around, trembling. He didn’t know if it was with cold or anger. “It’s abookstore.”
“Aye, and there are these things called shelves.” He kicked over one of the many book piles with his boot. “These catch fire with you in here, and you’ll never make it out alive. There isn’t even a clear aisle. Honestly, I’m surprised an accident hasn’t already happened.”
She watched the disrupted books plop into the flood water, jaw clenching. He didn’t particularly care if he’d pissed her off further. He’d tried to play nice, and it had got him nowhere. Now, she was just being careless, and clearly had been since the moment she’d moved into this place.
“In case you haven’t noticed, fire is the least of my worries at the moment. Are you trying to make things worse on purpose?” Her teeth were chattering now, dripping hair leaving patches of damp on her fluffy bathrobe. She might have been a firecracker, but she was also an eejit. Who turned up to a flooded property wearing pyjamas and one shoe?
He stepped closer, bending down to her eye level. If he had to patronise her to get through to her, so be it. “You were lucky it wasonlywater. If it had been fire, and it could very well have been, the building would have gone up like that.” He clicked his fingers, and a muscle in her throat jumped in response. “All because you clearly couldn’t be bothered to keep things in order here. Too busy gazing out the window, maybe?”
“Oh, please!” She scoffed. “You caught me looking at youonce, before I knew you were a big, pompous flirt – and believe me, I’d be glad if I never saw you again, here or anywhere else! Let it go!”
His hands flexed at his sides, and he paused at the faint tang of alcohol on her breath, only half-masked by something fruity. “Oh, and you’ve been drinking as well, I see. Quite the responsible adult, aren’t you?”
“Warren,” Nate warned from somewhere behind, but Warren had forgotten where he was,whohe was. She had no idea how serious this was, how easy a place like this could set aflame (when it wasn’t sodden). Did she truly think he was saying all this just to make her life harder? He’d seen plenty of homes disintegrate because people didn’tthink.
“God, you’re such a …” Eiley trailed off, pursing her lips as she stammered. “A …”
“A what? Please, enlighten me.”
Her chest brushed against his uniform, and he couldn’t help but notice how transparent her T-shirt had become between the robe that had fallen open. The outline of her breasts, full and heavy, was suddenly all that he saw, nipples peaked and dark against the damp fabric. And despite all the fury, all the exhaustion, electricity pooled from the crown of his head all the way down to his cock. He wished his turnout gear wasn’t so thick, wished he could feel her when she was this close. With the adrenaline coursing through him, through both of them, they might have devoured each other.
She sputtered for words as though she’d never given an insult before. “Such … such … an arsehole!” was what she settled on, her wide eyes and satisfied nod plucking another taut string of want in his stomach.
But stronger still was the resentment. She’d met him twice and decided he was some terrible mix of a cad and a jobsworth, not just the emergency responder trying to save her building. If he didn’t care about his job so much, he might have stormed out there and then, refusing to hear any more of this.
“Right.” He swiped his tongue over his front teeth, mouth filling with acid. “I’m the arsehole who wants you, and your kids, and your customers safe. I’m the arsehole doing myjob. Is that really the best you can do, firecracker? At least tell me something I haven’t heard before.”
“Warren!” Nate scolded, firm now.
Warren took a step back, Eiley’s glower following with the same ice as the lapping water at his feet. He wondered what she saw to make her hate him like this. He had his faults, aye, but nobody had ever treated him this way before.
“You need to get out.” It was no longer a suggestion; rather, a low, warning growl. “Stop wasting our time and let me do my job.”
Eiley paled, her eyes glistening with what he prayed weren’t tears. It bothered him that he still didn’t know what colour they were in the light of day, without any darkness marring them. He didn’t know why.
When she shifted back to put space between them, he didn’t feel as vindicated as he’d hoped.
She turned to gather some of the books that weren’t yet drowned, bundling as many as she could into her arms. When one slipped, he caught it before it hit the water. He couldn’t make out the title, gilded letters swimming in the torchlight. She said nothing, just gripped them tighter, dipping her head when he placed the fallen paperback atop the others. And then she was gone, leaving behind a steady pounding that filled his ears.
The tension whooshed from him, and he steadied himself on the doorframe, realising only as the water dripped down his neck that she still had his helmet.
“Do you want to explain what the hell that was about?” Nate questioned.
Warren grunted out a, “No,” and went back to work.
Some bad-tempered lass with no sense of self-preservation would not get the better of him tonight.
“She’s going to freeze out there,” Nate said, craning his neck to look out of the window. An hour later, they’d managed to stop the tank from spilling any further and drained the water. Eiley had been right – most of the shop stock higher up was untouched. Now, it was only a matter of making it safe to venture upstairs, which Lorna and Ness were dealing with. Slowly. Warren could only hope they hadn’t heard him going at it with a civilian earlier.
“Maybe then she’ll learn her lesson,” Warren muttered, but his bitterness was long gone as he surveyed the place. He knew what it felt like to look around your home and find only ruin. The bookstore and the flat would recover as promised, but it was natural to feel upset. To want to save as much as she could. It didn’t mean she had any right to talk to him with such vehemence, but he could see why tensions had risen quickly.
