Charming the Firefighter Read Online Free PDF

crying.”
    Though he was honest enough with himself to admit there was a chance it would be him. Eddie was built like a tank, had fists like bricks, and could take a sock to the nose and keep coming at you.
    Without so much as a glance Leo’s way, James slapped the back of his hand on Leo’s chest, stopping him in his tracks. “I’ll talk to him,” he said to Eddie. “See what bug is up his butt.”
    Frowning, Leo glanced at Max. “Did I suddenly turn invisible?”
    Wide-eyed, his dark hair in a newly minted Mohawk, his mouth stained red, the boy shook his head. “I can still see you.”
    With one of his laconic shrugs, Eddie turned and walked away.
    Leo sneered. “Wuss.”
    James sighed, and before Leo could evade, wrapped his arm around Leo’s neck and squeezed. Hard. “Let’s chat.”
    Leo struggled, but it was no use. James may have been the poster boy for mild-mannered good guy, but he knew how to put a headlock on someone and make it stick.
    “James,” their mother said in the exasperated tone she’d perfected raising four children—Leo figured it was the teen years that had done her in, “what are you doing?”
    James turned, dragging Leo along. Leo raised his head as much as possible to see Rose staring at them from her vantage point on the deck, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun. A small crowd had gathered around her, including James’s wife, Sadie; Sadie’s sister, Charlotte Ellison; and Breanne.
    “Just going to have a heart-to-heart with Leo,” James said, sounding way too cheerful for the situation.
    Then again, if their positions were reversed, Leo would be feeling pretty damned chipper himself.
    “You,” Leo spat out as James sent their audience a jaunty wave, “are a dead man.”
    James whirled them around, forcing Leo to scramble for balance or wind up on his knees. With his free hand, James gave Leo a noogie. “Actually, I’ve never felt more alive.”
    As if to prove it, he started whistling and didn’t stop until they turned the corner behind the garage.
    Leo shoved James, stumbling when his brother’s arm suddenly loosened. “What the hell is your problem?”
    “My problem? You’re the one going all rogue on the basketball court. Far as I can tell, I just saved you from getting your fat head beat in.”
    “I can handle Eddie.”
    “I wasn’t talking about Eddie.”
    “Neil won’t do anything.” That was the problem. No matter how much Leo baited the other man, he never lost control.
    “Neil’s not the one I was talking about, either. Maddie’s pretty pissed at you.”
    Leo twisted the lid onto his empty water bottle. Untwisted it. “She’ll get over it.”
    She couldn’t stay mad at him. No one, especially not anyone female, ever could.
    “You’ve been acting weird ever since you got here,” James said, watching Leo carefully. “What’s going on?”
    He began to pace, but couldn’t rid himself of the edginess riding him like some howling monkey. “Nothing’s going on.”
    Christ, couldn’t a guy have an off day? Just because he wasn’t all charm and humor didn’t mean something was wrong.
    “Charlotte was telling me and Sadie about that car accident on Langmaid Lane last night. The one involving those two college girls.”
    Leo’s stomach pitched. The water he drank threatened to come back up. His brother’s tone was neutral, his expression clear, as if they were discussing something as irrelevant as the Steelers’ chances of making the playoffs this year.
    “She mentioned how upset she was, how upset everyone in the E.R. was that they lost the driver.”
    A cold sweat formed between Leo’s shoulder blades. He pulled his shirt on, but still felt chilled. Sick with unnamed emotion. With regret. “Char’s an E.R. nurse. She understands they sometimes lose a patient.”
    As a firefighter and EMT, Leo knew that as well.
    But knowing it sure as hell didn’t make it any easier to accept.
    “She said you were at the scene of the accident,”