Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 28714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28714 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 144(@200wpm)___ 115(@250wpm)___ 96(@300wpm)
Easton
Taking a bullet was supposed to be as bad as things could get.
And then I moved to Silver Spoon Falls.
There is nothing easy about life in this crazy small town.
Especially when a curvy little dispatcher decides she doesn't like me.
She's got me working every crap call in this town just to torture me.
And I let her get away with it…right up until it's her at risk.
Now, I'm the one calling the shots to keep her safe.
And she's mine to command.
Molly
My job comes with a lot of rules.
The only one I haven't broken is the one I made for never date a cop.
But the minute Easton walks through the doors, he's determined to change my mind.
I've never wanted to give in so badly.
There's just something about the man that makes me crazy.
So I do what any dispatcher would do…I make his life miserable instead.
But the night someone breaks into my house and he moves in, everything changes.
Now, this thing between us seems less like a game…and a whole lot like forever.
They protect, serve...and deal with all the drama life on the front lines in Silver Spoon Falls throws their way. But these firefighters, deputies, and first responders were not prepared for the madness of falling in love in this small town. When love comes calling, these heroes will do whatever it takes to secure their happily-ever-afters. Even if it means bending a few rules. But convincing their soulmates to give forever a chance? Well, they made handcuffs for a reason.
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Chapter One
Molly
"Oh, dang it!" My coffee mug tips, sloshing the dark liquid all over my desk. I squeak, trying to rescue my paperwork before it gets soaked, but it's no use. Coffee runs in rivulets down the paper, making smudges of the judge's already illegible handwriting.
I grab it anyway, shaking the coffee from it in a desperate attempt to salvage it. Naturally, a 911 line starts blaring through the room as soon as I have it in my hands.
Goodbye paperwork, hello emergency.
I hit the button on my keyboard to answer, stretching to grab paper towels at the same time.
"911, where is your emergency?" I ask.
"Oh, honey. I'm so glad you answered," the little old lady on the other end of the line says. "I think there's a mountain lion in my yard. I see it looking at me every time I look outside."
I flick my gaze to the mapping system to check the location, but it's still in phase one, pinging at the cell tower instead of a physical address. I don't need it though. As soon as I see the phone number, I know who I'm talking to. Lula Peterson.
And unless I miss my guess, there is no mountain lion. There's just a lonely old lady who probably needs help working her remote again.
"Is this Lula Peterson?" I toss the paper towels down to sop up the coffee and tap the key to generate a new call in the system.
"Well, yes. How did you know?" Ms. Lula asks.
"I never forget a phone number," I say, typing notes into the call. "Did your daughter have to go to Dallas again, Ms. Lula?"
"Yes, she's been gone for a few days. I sure am worried about her coming home with this mountain lion running around."
I sigh, my hands flying over the keys as I type in notes to send to our unit working patrol in her area. Ms. Peterson always calls when her daughter has to go out of town for work. Last month, she swore there was a snake in her kitchen. The month before that, it was a bear in her garden. Both times, the responding deputy helped her turn on her game shows, and we never heard another peep about the bear or the snake.
"I'll send someone by to check it out, Ms. Lula," I promise anyway.
"Oh, thank you, honey. You sure are a good girl."
I smile at her praise. It's the same every time. I don't think she realizes or remembers that I've talked to her a dozen times since I started working here after I graduated from college last year.
"Can I help with anything else?"
"No, that's it, dear."
"Okay. I want you to stay in the house until the deputy checks your yard, okay?"
"Of course."
"Have a good day, Ms. Lula."
I wait for her to disconnect the line before submitting my notes. As soon as the call populates in our system, I key up the radio to dispatch the call. Thank God, Brian is working today. He's good with Ms. Lula. "Unit 216, copy a welfare check."
"Go ahead, dispatch," he responds almost immediately.
"Ms. Lula needs someone to swing by. She thinks there's a mountain lion in her yard," I tell him.
"Did you say a mountain lion?"
"10-4."
"10-4. Show me en route to mountain lion wrangling detail, then."
"10-4." I laugh softly, swap his status, and then finish cleaning up the mess I made. Poor Ms. Lula. I hope, when I'm her age, my only friend isn't a deputy.
Oh. Who am I kidding? When I'm her age, my only friend will probably be a cat. I've lived in Silver Spoon Falls since I took the job working here, but I haven't made many friends. I'm always here…and I tend not to spend a lot of time hanging out with cops and firefighters outside of work.
They're great, don't get me wrong. I just prefer to keep work at work. It's easier that way. Especially when a lot of these guys are just like my dad. They'll sleep with anything that moves. I'm not interested in being a notch on a bedpost or anyone's latest conquest. And I don't want a reputation as a badge bunny, either. I have plans for my life. The fastest way to derail them is to have that rumor chasing me around.
Getting hired on at the FBI as an analyst is hard enough. No one looks at me and thinks I belong at the FBI. I'm short and curvy. I can pass any fitness test anyone else can, but there's still this assumption that I'm a bad choice because I'm heavier than the average candidate.
I've been the same size since I was a teenager. No matter how much I exercise or how little I eat, the scale never moves. So I gave up fighting my body a long time ago. But I've been passed over three times already for the job I want because of it. It's depressing as hell. I'm not incapable just because of my size. And I'm not unhealthy, either.