Winter's Fire (Welcome to Covendale #7) Read Free Page B

not going to hit on her, then I will. But you might change your mind when you see her, so I’ll give you first crack.”
    “Wow. What a pal.”
    “That’s me. The best damned friend in the universe.”
    Adam grinned in spite of himself as they reached the ground floor, and Dom led the way to the small visitor’s lobby off the engine bay. “You know what?” he said. “I’m onto you now. I bet she’s seventy years old, with alligator skin and one of those raspy, pack-a-day for fifty years voices. Am I getting warm?”
    “Man, if you were any colder, you’d be in Antarctica.” Dom waggled his eyebrows and pulled the door open. “Here we are, ma’am,” he called inside. “I brought you the man in charge.”
    Adam shot him a look, stepped through—and the polite smile on his face froze as the fire marshal stood and stared at him. Mai Tais and ocean waves and sand on his skin flashed through his mind in rapid procession, and he thought of the brief, probably meaningless note he’d nevertheless kept all this time. Thanks for a great night.
    He was looking at the woman who’d written it.
     
     

Chapter 2
     
    For the first time in her life, Winter thought she might faint.
    It was him. Ocean eyes, sex on the beach. The man she was never going to see again, who she’d met so far from home, was the chief of the Covendale Fire Department. He’d been half an hour away from her all this time. And to meet him again like this, under business circumstances—no. This could not be happening.
    For what it was worth, he looked just as shocked as she felt. But that didn’t make her feel any better.
    “Um, hello?” The firefighter who’d shown her inside—Don? No, he’d said Dom—stared slowly from one to the other. “You two both look like you’ve seen a ghost. Did I miss something?”
    Winter forced herself to recover her professionalism. “Not at all,” she said briskly. “I’m with the county fire marshal’s office. You must be Chief…?”
    “No, I’m not the chief.” The man’s shocked expression vanished, and suddenly he was grinning at her—which was even more unnerving. “Looks like I’ll be getting your name after all,” he said.
    Okay, she definitely didn’t like that grin. Or his smug attitude. “No, you won’t,” she said. “If you’re not the chief, then I’m not dealing with you. I asked to speak to the man in charge.”
    “That’s him,” Dom put in helpfully, with a barely contained laugh. “He’s the department liaison.”
    “Well, I need to talk to the chief.”
    “Chief’s busy.” The man she’d slept with advanced toward her, and it was all she could do not to step back. Oh, God, he was even more gorgeous than she remembered. She didn’t think that was possible. “I’m authorized to deal with all official matters,” he said, stopping to hold out a hand. “Adam Rhodes.”
    She was surprised to find that hearing his name had the opposite effect of what she’d expected. It made him a person instead of a dream, the subject of an investigation rather than the embodiment of the most amazing night she’d ever had. But the relief that flooded her failed to comfort.
    She looked at the hand coldly. No way would she touch him again—not after what happened the first time. “Winter Solomon,” she finally said. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Rhodes.”
    “Winter.” He whispered the name like a caress, and to her horror, she felt her face flush with heat. “Your name is Winter? Of all the names I—”
    “It’s Miss Solomon,” she said curtly.
    He blinked once, and at last lowered his hand. His expression was completely blank. “Of course. Miss Solomon,” he said. “What can we do for you?”
    “ You can show me your insurance claims and expense documentation,” she said, throwing a pointed look at the other firefighter. It was hard enough dealing with this man at all, let alone with an audience. “I’ll need to review all of your files for the past five