Mr. February by Ann Roth Read Free Book Online Page A

realize. I can do it.”
    Not about to interrupt the rest of the mother-to-be of her niece or nephew, Jillian shook her head. “Never mind. Go on back to sleep.”
    Chelsea didn’t argue. She lay back down. Jillian slipped out of the room and shut the door behind her.
    While she scrubbed clay off the work table and vacuumed, she muttered and worried about her brother. He’d better not fall in with the wrong crowd, not with a baby on the way.
    She was fed up with his sneakiness and broken promises, and done letting him off the hook while she did everything and he goofed off. It was time he grew up, found work, and moved out. Which he apparently wasn’t going to do without a push.
    Tough love, Rafe had advised. Although she bristled at the very idea, she had to do something .
    She would ask him to leave by a certain date. Nothing in the too-immediate future, but she would set a definite date. She would tell him in a gentle, loving voice, rather than using the harsh, rigid tones her father favored.
    No matter how she said it, JR wouldn’t like it. But he’d brought this on himself. The next time she saw him, she would tell him.

Chapter Seven
    ‡
    A t the Guff’s Lake Fire Department Rafe wore many hats, including teaching fire safety classes around town, conducting building inspections, and a host of other tasks. He divided most of his time between two main jobs—firefighter and paramedic. This was his month to serve as a paramedic. With two cardiac arrests, a concussion, and several additional medical calls, it had been a long day. Tonight could be equally busy or slow enough to grab some much-needed Zs.
    Evenings, each firefighter took a turn cooking dinner for the whole crew, while someone else cleaned up. Having fulfilled his food duties the previous month, Rafe could do other things. Taking advantage of the momentary lull in activity after the massive spaghetti dinner Max had cooked and served up, he descended the stairs to the apparatus bay, aka the garage. Near the aid car, he laid out a clean, pressed paramedic shirt, his paramedic windbreaker, and shoes. When the next call came, he could quickly climb into them.
    He checked his watch and thought about Jillian. By now, her pottery class was in full swing. He wondered how that was going, caught himself, and frowned.
    She wanted to get married and have a baby, and he wasn’t going to think about her anymore, period.
    Yet, here he was, doing exactly that.
    Kissing her behind Rosemary’s had done a real number on him. He shouldn’t have done it, but there was something about her that drove him wild. Her long-limbed, slender body, for one. Slender, but not skinny, with curves that were all woman. And her mouth…
    His body woke up, and he started to get hard.
    Hell.
    Setting his jaw, he strode into the garage, where several of the guys were prepping for future calls and doing other stuff.
    Adam was finishing up with a call on his cell phone. “Love you, babe,” he said, with the goofy smile he got when he talked to Sam.
    They had a good thing going on, might even make it long term.
    For both their and little William’s sakes, Rafe hoped so. While he was happy for them, he didn’t understand love and for sure didn’t want it. Watching his mother ruin numerous relationships and reel in the aftermath, witnessing his father suffer when his marriage to Lori had soured had been awful. Rafe would never set himself up for that kind of pain.
    “Up for a game of hearts?” he asked when Adam had finished his call and laid out his stuff.
    They had an unwritten rule to not play poker at the station. That they reserved for Friday nights, with a standing game at a different coworker’s house each week and everyone from the station welcome. Sometimes ten people showed, sometimes two or three. Lately, Rafe hadn’t played at all.
    “Okay.” Adam nodded to Hank. “You in?”
    “Sure. Hey, Liam, how about a game of hearts?”
    Wearing the trademark scowl guaranteed to