Fighting Fire: a Friends-to-Lovers, Single-Dad Firefighter Romance

Gun-shy after a failed marriage, the only woman Reno, Nevada firefighter Kaden Phillips allows close is his partner, fellow firefighter Riley Carmichael. But lately Riley’s lighting a fire of her own in his heart. When a horrific accident on the job threatens both their lives and passions get too hot to handle, can Kaden and Riley stop fighting the fire and just enjoy the heat?

PROLOGUE
Reno, Nevada, Fire Department – Station 3

“Kade!” The voice came over the intercom at the same time Riley Carmichael’s shot on the 4-ball missed the pocket. “Your wife is here!”
Riley turned—along with everyone else in the room—to gauge the reaction of her partner and fellow firefighter, Kade Phillips.
Kade frowned as he handed the cue stick to Lucas “Oz” Osborne. “Step in for me.”
As partners—and even when they’d been at Academy training—she and Kade had helped each other through some rough times. If you caught a bad fire or a wreck where someone you worked on died—especially if things outside the station were strained at the same time—it helped to hang with others who understood.
But she’d been unable to raise Kade’s spirits over the past week—or even get him to talk about whatever was going on that had him tied up in knots.
Without another word—or even a glance in her direction—Kade headed for the stairs.
Oz nudged Riley’s shoulder. “Are we solids or stripes?”
Riley focused her attention back on the pool table. “Solids.”
Fifteen minutes later, they’d lost the game. She handed the cue stick to the next pair waiting to play, then wandered through the kitchen area. She stopped at the plate-glass windows that overlooked a small garden and gazebo the senior high-rise had installed in their backyard.
Movement in the gazebo caught her eye. She would recognize Kade from miles away just by the way he held himself.
Relationship troubles. She’d had her share lately, as well, with her boyfriend Quint and his ridiculous jealousy of her job—and especially of Kade. It didn’t seem to matter how often she reminded him that Kade was married with a two-year-old daughter.
Sure, if she and Kade weren’t already with others—and didn’t work together—he’d be the kind of guy she’d like to date. Maybe more. But his friendship was a highlight in her life and she would never jeopardize that.
Riley shifted her gaze to Kade’s wife, who placed something white on the picnic table, then set a rock on top of it. Papers of some kind. Kade didn’t even glance at them.
Connie turned and walked toward the parking lot. Riley trekked her progress for several moments, then turned her attention back to Kade.
He paced a circle in the gazebo, head down, hands shoved in his pockets. Then he sank down onto the picnic table, tucking his hands between his knees. He made no move toward the papers.
His head dropped to his knees. That didn’t look good, even from where Riley lingered at the window, debating the wisdom of barging in on her partner in what looked like a sub-stellar moment.
But that’s what they did, she and Kade. They made each other talk even when they didn’t want to.
Her mind made up, she took the stairs to the main floor and let herself out the side door.
As she approached the gazebo, she noticed Kade was twisting his wedding band around his finger.
“Hey,” she said.
He didn’t raise his head, or change his focus from the ring. “Hey Riley.”
“You okay?” she said.
He continued to stare at his hand.
She hesitated; clearly, the standard firefighter fallback of gallows humor and raunchy jokes wouldn’t work right now. She sank onto the table beside him. “All couples fight,” she said. “You’ll work it out.”
“Not this time.” He blew out a breath, then jerked his head toward the end of the table. “Divorce papers.”
Her head swiveled to the white sheets. “Oh shit.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Oh shit.”
He twisted the wedding band again. “She doesn’t love me.” His voice was unsteady, as if he were on the verge of tears. “She hasn’t for a while. I knew it. I thought…” He swallowed. “Now she… she’s met someone.”
Met someone?
“Oh, Kade.” She sounded more shocked than he did. How could any woman reject a man like Kade? He was the most upstanding, decent, thoughtful guy she knew… not to mention freaking hot.
She shifted so that her thigh was pressed against his. “I have no words,” she said.
“What am I going to do about Grace?” The pain in his voice just about wrenched her heart out along with his. “She’s my daughter. I’m supposed to raise her. Be her daddy. How can I do that if I only see her part of the time?”
Riley didn’t have an answer for that. “Maybe you don’t have to think about that right this second.”
He dropped his head into his hands. “I did everything I was supposed to,” he said hoarsely. “Why couldn’t I be what she needed?”
She felt the tremor in his shoulders, and realized with a shock that he was crying.
“Why, Riley?” he said.
Her hand clutched his arm. “I don’t know.” She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I don’t know.”