Harm
Reynolds hasn't asked to be the liaison between the
firefighters' union and the city, he's been thrust
into the role. Even worse, his opponent in the negotiations
is the new assistant mayor, the reputed Ice Queen,
a heartless ball buster who doesn't care if his men
charge into fiery buildings with equipment that doesn't
work. He strides to his first meeting resolved to
prove that a fireman can handle an Ice Queen.
Beth Edwards
knows of her reputation as a heartless bitch, and
in truth, she even uses it to her advantage at times.
She isn't without compassion, she just doesn't handle
emotion well. And since she has only career plans
in mind and no time for love, well, what does a nasty
nickname matter?
Both Beth
and Harm should have known that playing with fire-whether
it involves matches or love-is a dangerous thing to
do.
Harm Reynolds cast his best
friend Danny Cameron a "fuck you" smile and calmly
kept buttoning his uniform jacket.
"Yup," Danny continued,
"you've got the look all right. Hey, Casey! Harm's
pale, hands are shaking, he's quaking in his boots. What
does that tell ya?"
"Oh man, he's off to see
the Ice Queen."
"He's off to see the Ice
Queen, he's off to see the Ice Queen," Danny chanted
and the other firefighters joined in.
"Y'all are just soooo
funny," Harm said. "And honestly, it sounds like
you're ready to move up into third grade now. I'll have
a talk with the school board while I'm over at city hall."
He grabbed his hat from the top shelf of his locker and
fit it on his head.
Tony, their ladder truck driver,
slapped Harm on the shoulder. "Face it boy, you'd better
take your flannel undies if you're gonna be with that broad
for long."
"And be sure to wear your
cup. She's a nutcracker, for sure," Casey added. Cat
calls rang out.
"I think she just needs
to get laid," said Danny, "but who'd want to take
on the job? She looks like a cross between a school marm
and a librarian."
John Markey, one of the EMTs
said, "Yup, she's got a stick up her ass awright."
"Y'all are just jealous
you're not the union rep."
"Oh, yeah, that's the
problem, all right," Danny agreed. "I actually
agreed to take two extra shifts a week just to get out of
being the negotiator, but I'm jealous."
Harm laughed. "Later,"
he said, walking out to jeers, laughs and admonitions to
bundle up tight.
Fifteen minutes later he dropped his briefcase onto a chair
in a small conference room on the fifth floor of Woodfield
City Hall. He was a few minutes early, not because being
early was his habit--though it was--but more to give himself
the chance to settle his nerves before facing the city's
assistant mayor over contract issues.
He was newly elected to the
post of union liaison. The previous rep and the mayor allowed
negotiations to implode because they'd run afoul of each
other outside the talks. Harm had heard their bad feelings
started with a dispute over a tree that separated their
properties. A neighborly disagreement escalated to a lawsuit
and then a shouting match three days ago in this very conference
room. The next day, after an emergency meeting by union
leaders, Harm was elected representative and told he'd be
negotiating with the brand new assistant mayor. They added
that the contract expired at the end of the week--as if
he needed reminding--and that they expected him to knock
out a fantastic contract, not a satisfactory one, with no
strike.
Great. Just great.
The woman with whom he had
to reach agreement was a stranger to him. He might have
seen her around town somewhere, but for all the guys' razzing,
he had no idea what they were talking about. It might be
true that she was plain, but that didn't matter. No woman
had interested him since his wife died eighteen months ago.
Only now was he beginning to appreciate the sunshine again,
hear birds sing, laugh fully at a joke. He had no desire
for involvement, not when he was just finding himself.
He wandered the room, examining
photos of the city from years ago. He'd grown up in the
Shenandoah Valley, in a tiny town no one had ever heard
of. But if he said, "It's near Woodfield," strangers
recognized the area. In the overall scheme of life, Woodfield
was a mid-sized Virginia town, but in the microcosm of Harm's
childhood, it had been "the big city." This was
where he'd always dreamt of living and when he finished
his firefighting training and he and Sally married, this
was where they'd settled. Back then he'd never thought he'd
have to live there alone, yet ten years later, here he was.
He stopped before a sepia-tone picture of his fire station
from the turn of the century. Even after renovations and
repairs after its own fire--yeah, irony reigned--the building
was recognizable.
"Look familiar?"
The throaty, feminine voice
couldn't possibly belong to any Ice Queen.
" Both of these stories
were excellent. The heroes were everything you could want
from a hero while the female leads were just as impressive.
Romance is the name of the game in each … Both stories
were fast … sexual and sensual keeping the romance
alive. My only complaint was they ended too soon but you
can't have everything!" - 4.5 Hearts, Terri, Night
Owl Romance
"I really enjoyed this
story…" 4 Stars, LT Blue, JERR
