nylon bag.”
“Goddamnit.” Jonas grimaced, slapping his hand on his desk. “I almost used the new nylon bags, but I wasn’t sure. It was my fuck up, I’ll go back.”
“Don’t worry. You almost never screw up. I was going to head over to the Sixth Fire Battalion and talk to a friend of mine. My brother’s also working there, and I thought I’d see if he was around. I can stop by the warehouse and get those samples.”
“I’ll keep slogging through this mess.” Jonas waved his hand over the stack of papers on his desk.
Heading back out of the building, Sean walked to the parking garage, his steps growing more leaden as fatigue pulled at his body. My fuckin’ age is starting to show. His middle-of-the-night coffee had long worn off, and fast food breakfast biscuits would go a long way to making it through the day. Hell, I’ll get several. If Rory and Blayze are there, they’ll appreciate them.
Jonas joked that Sean was a meticulous planner for good reason. Biscuits. Warehouse. Fire station. Lab. Headquarters. Then, finally, home.
He drove to the warehouse after getting the food, anxious to collect the samples. The wind was whistling when he climbed from his SUV, and he jerked the collar up on his jacket. Remnants of the press were still hanging around, but he moved briskly past. Showing the badge that was clipped to his belt, he moved past the patrol cop standing guard at the site. Ducking under the yellow tape that was securely fastened but flapping in the wind, he walked around the back corner of the building.
His feet stuttered to a halt as he spied a woman bent over near the back window of the charred warehouse, her perfect ass pointed in the air. He could not see her face, but a knit cap was pulled down over her head, allowing long strands of auburn hair to whip about her back. She was directly at the sector where he needed to be.
His boots crunched over the concrete rubble as he approached her, and anger that she had slipped past the guard rolled through him. “Hey! What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”
The woman yelped in surprise as she turned while standing, her feet tangling in some of the debris. As her dark brown eyes widened, she tripped backward. Her arms windmilled as she tried to gain her balance to no avail. Landing hard on her ass and side, her hand took the brunt of her fall.
Unheeding and uncaring, he continued to stomp toward her, ignoring the fact that her gorgeous face morphed from surprise to pain.
3
Harper Walsh focused on the task, never hearing anyone approach. She let out an undignified squeal when a man’s angry voice sounded out just behind her. Whirling around, she landed awkwardly amongst some of the concrete that she had stepped over. A sharp pain shot through her hand and wrist, reverberating up her arm as she stared up in shock.
She blinked for a second, noting that his dark hair and blue eyes, square, stubbled jaw, and tall, obviously fit body combined to create a gorgeous man. But as he towered over her, his eyes snapping and his hands planted on his hips, it was equally obvious that he was furious. Her gaze dropped to where his hands pulled his jacket open, and she saw a badge hanging on his belt.
Damn, I was told the police were finished with the scene. Trained to not get in the way of the police when collecting evidence, she was careful to always follow protocol. She placed her hands on the ground next to her in an attempt to stand. The stabbing pain in her wrist caused her to cry out, plopping back down on her ass, now cradling her injured wrist with her other hand. Shit, shit, shit!
The man dropped to kneel by her side, his large presence seeming to surround her. “Let me see.” No longer scowling, his voice still held an irritated edge.
Fighting the embarrassment of her clumsiness, she started to lose the battle of keeping her tears at bay from the pain. “Why did you have to sneak up on me and then bellow?”
“Sneak? I wasn’t sneaking.”
“Well, you certainly bellowed.” Still cradling her wrist, she looked up, stunned to see him so close. She could now see that his eyes were not just blue but a shade that reminded her of the water in the harbor on a bright, cloudless, sunny day. He did not