Cade Creek 11 - Race Against Time by Stormy Glenn Read Free Book Online

something.”
    Vinnie ushered Ari out of the chief’s office just as fast as he could. He didn’t want the man to change his mind. After closing the office door behind him, Vinnie headed for the rec room where he knew the others would be, waiting for a fire alarm to go off.
    As he suspected, Hank was stretched out on the couch with Arson curled up at his feet. Raff was hogging up the other couch. Considering how big the man was, there was no room for anyone at his feet, not even the firehouse dog.
    “Hey, you guys got a few minutes?”
     
    * * * *
     
    “Hey, Vinnie,” Raff called out as he walked into the rec room from the truck bay a week later, “there’s some guy out front asking for you.”
    Vinnie lifted his head and glanced up at the big man. “Me?”
    “Well, he ain’t here to bring me muffins.”
    Vinnie’s eyebrows rose. “Muffins?” Who in the hell would be bringing him muffins? And on a Saturday? Vinnie’s curiosity got the better of him. It had been a week since he explained the situation with Race to the guys and nothing had happened since then, not even a cherry bomb in a garbage can.
    He got up and strode out of the rec room, making his way to the truck bay. As warm as it was, the big bay doors were open. Raff and Ari had pulled one of the rigs out and had been washing it down. Vinnie had been on restocking duty and he had finished that an hour ago.
    When he reached the open bays, he almost stumbled to a stop when he spotted Race standing by the open door, holding a plastic container in his good hand. Vinnie swallowed tightly at the welcoming but hesitant smile the gorgeous man sent his way when he spotted Vinnie.
    And he was gorgeous. Most of the bruises and swelling were gone, even if he did still have a neon-green cast on his arm. His limp, scruffy blond hair was now bright and shiny and…orange. Vinnie blinked in surprise. Race’s hair was carrot orange, and Vinnie was pretty sure it wasn’t a dye job.
    Maybe the blond had been a dye job.
    “Race,” Vinnie said as he approached the man. “How are you? You’re certainly looking better.”
    “Hi.” Race’s smile grew bigger as he held up the plastic container in his hand. “I wanted to bring you and Ari some muffins to thank you for picking me up at the airport.” Race leaned to the side a little, his eyes darting around the truck bay. “Is Ari around?”
    “I’m sure he is. He’s on shift right now.” Vinnie glanced back over his shoulder, searching the shadows of the bay for his lover. If Ari didn’t already know Race was there, he was going to flip when he found out.
    When he couldn’t immediately see Ari, he turned back to Race. “How about we go find him.”
    “Oh, no, that’s okay.” Race held out the plastic container. “I don’t want to bother you while you’re at work. I just wanted to—”
    “It’s no bother, Race. I promise.” Vinnie flashed one of his big grins. “We’re not doing anything right now anyway. It’ll be nice to break up the monotony.”
    Race’s eyebrows drew together in a pensive frown. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You won’t get into trouble?” When Race chewed on his bottom lip, Vinnie just about melted. It was quite possibly the cutest damn thing he had ever seen.
    “I’m sure,” Vinnie reassured him. Vinnie didn’t want to overwhelm Race or scare him off, so he merely placed his hand in the small of Race’s back to guide him through the truck bay. “Ari is around here somewhere. He’s supposed to be washing the trucks with Raff.”
    “Raff?” Race frowned.
    “The guy you talked to before.”
    “Big guy?” Race asked, his eyes widening comically. “Really big guy?”
    Vinnie chuckled. “That would be him.”
    “He was really big.”
    “You kind of have to be a bit bigger to be a firefighter.” Vinnie frowned. “Well, you don't, but it helps.”
    Race breathed out deeply as his eyes roamed over Vinnie. “Yeah.”
    Vinnie barely stopped himself from preening.