Page 1 of Her Paramedic (Men in Uniforms #3)

T alia looked on as Slate, as he’d been introduced, beat another one of his friends at pool.

She would be lying if she said he wasn’t good; he made shots that seemed impossible, but Talia had played enough pool with her father growing up that she was confident she could beat him.

She thought about challenging him, but for the moment, she was enjoying looking at him.

The man was attractive. His cheekbones were sharp, and she would bet he could cut glass with them. His eyes were a vibrant green. Talia hadn’t seen eyes that shade of green before. They narrowed in concentration whenever he made a tricky shot, dark hair falling over his forehead.

“I win again.” She listened to his deep timbre inform Matteo as if he didn’t already know.

“Yeah, yeah,” Matteo responded, and Slate smirked at him. It added to his appeal, and Talia shook her head. He had no business being as attractive as he was.

She wasn’t blind. She’d noticed that every man in their friend group was fine, but something about Slate drew Talia’s eye and appealed to her more. He was walking sex on legs, and her imagination was happily running free.

A beat passed as she waited to see if one of the other men would challenge him. She figured she’d give him a run for his money when they didn’t.

“It looks like you’ve been dominating the table,” she said, walking over. Slate slid those bright eyes to her.

“I guess you could say that.” He picked up a stick and held it out to her. “You want to try your luck?”

Talia smiled at him. “Sure,” she responded, taking the pool stick. “But fair warning. Your streak is about to end.”

Slate returned her smile. “We’ll see about that.” Talia watched him rack the balls. When he finished, he gestured to them. “Ladies first.”

“Well, well. Chivalry isn’t dead.”

“With me, never, but in this case, it’ll probably be your only shot. So, I thought I’d be nice.”

She lifted a brow as he gave her a playful smile; it was sexier than it should have been. “I’ll make you regret letting me go first.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

She grabbed a chalk cube and added some to the end of her stick. Placing the cue ball to the left of the racked balls instead of in the middle, Talia lined up her shot and took it. Two solids and one striped ball fell into different pockets.

“Solids,” she called before walking around the table to take her next shot. She knocked two more balls in before missing the next and looking up at Slate to find him with a raised eyebrow. “You still think letting me go first was the best move?”

“Now, now, gorgeous. Let’s not get too cocky,” he replied, taking his shot and knocking in two of his striped balls. “The game just started,” he finished, walking around; he lined up his next shot, sinking another ball into a pocket.

He took his third shot, knocking in another ball, and missed the one afterward. She watched him take a drink from the glass on a nearby pub table as she walked to the other end of the pool table, surveying the balls. She had three balls left to his two.

Talia took the easiest of the three shots first, hoping to position the cue ball to her advantage with a slow roll.

It worked in her favor, and she knocked in her second ball but missed her third.

Slate smirked at her as he walked around the table to where she was, and she could feel the heat of his chest against her back.

“Nice try,” he stated, and Talia felt as if his deep voice had just washed over her.

He continued around the table, taking the easier of the two shots, but he hit the ball too hard.

While his ball went in, the cue ball came back to almost where it began, making his last ball harder to make.

Slate didn’t seem phased as he took the shot.

The cue ball bounced off the side and grazed his ball, but it was enough to position his right in front of her last one.

“Ooh, that’s going to be hard,” he told her, and he wasn’t wrong. She would give him the game if she knocked his ball in with hers, but she did not intend to do that.

“Maybe if I were one of the friends you’ve been playing with,” Talia responded, walking to the side of the table.

She angled her stick and hit the cue ball, bouncing it off the far wall, then the one closest to her. It hit the small space between their balls and the end wall, knocking hers in and his away from the hole. She smirked at him as she walked to the cue ball.

“Eight ball, corner pocket,” she told him, pointing to it, then easily sank the shot. “Better luck next time.”

“Did what I think just happened…happen?” Maximus asked, and Talia didn’t know he’d been watching them from where he sat drinking his beer.

“Yes. Yes, it did,” she responded as she watched Slate rub his hand over his chin before his eyes met hers.

“I guess you have some skills, but luck was on your side.”

Talia raised a brow at him. “You want to find out? You want to play with me again?”

A smile spread across his face, and he licked his lower lip. “Are we still talking about pool, gorgeous? Because I haven’t played with you yet, and if we aren’t, I’m not opposed.”

She listened to Maximus snort, and she refrained from pulling her lower lip between her teeth.

She assumed he’d just been bantering with her earlier, but no.

This man was flirting with her, and while she’d meant to play another game of pool, she didn’t find herself opposed to the latter part of his statement.

Before she could answer, arms wrapped around her waist, and a chin settled on her shoulder.

“Did you beat him?”

“You know it,” she responded to Journee, and the other woman laughed, probably at Slate rolling his eyes.

“I’m making a drink run. Do you three want anything?” Journee questioned.

“I’ll take a vodka cranberry,” Talia stated.

“I’m good. Thanks,” Slate responded.

“I’ll take another beer,” Maximus requested.

“Okay.” Journee released her and was gone just as quickly as she’d come.

“Loser racks the balls,” Talia told Slate.

Once racked, she broke them, knocking in one solid and one stripe. She chose stripes, and the new game commenced. It went much like their first, and by the time she’d sank the eight ball, Matteo had migrated over to watch.

“There’s no fucking way,” Slate stated, and Talia laughed a bit.

“What’s going on?” Axel questioned as he and her sister came over, passing drinks around. Talia took hers.

“Talia just beat Slate two games in a row,” Maximus responded. From watching his other games, she’d already figured that wasn’t an easy feat, and she couldn’t help but feel a little smug about it.

“I’d ask you if you wanted to play again,” she started as her sister and Axel walked off to continue passing out drinks. “But I don’t think you can handle a third loss,” she teased with a smile.

“I can admit when I’ve met my match,” Slate responded, placing the stick on the pool table and gesturing to the empty pub table on the other side. He pulled a chair out for her, and she thanked him.

“So, Slate, Axel says you’re all current or former military men. Which are you?”

“Former. I’m currently a paramedic in Pueblo.”

“That’s not too far from here.”

“What about you? What do you do, Ms. Talia ?”

She paused briefly. The way her name rolled off his tongue sounded better than she’d ever heard it coming out of anyone’s mouth, and she wondered if he’d done it on purpose when he gave her a small, knowing smile. Picking up on her pause, even when she hadn’t felt that it lasted long.

“I’m a cosmetologist. I own a salon.”

Slate studied her for a moment. “That means I can come see you next time I need a haircut.”

“Sure,” Talia responded.

“And if I don’t need one? Can I still come see you?”

Oh, this man was bold without being overbearing.

Typically, they came off far too aggressive when she got questions like that.

Men typically approaching her came off that way.

She knew it wasn’t always their fault because society demanded that men be confident, but it often appeared overbearing.

She was about to answer him when someone else spoke.

“Can you believe Kaydence just called me a cock-sleeve?” Alivia asked, and Talia could hear the pout on her face before she even turned to look at her friend.

Yes, she could believe that her sister called her a cock-sleeve, but for Kaydence to have done so, Talia knew Alivia had pushed her buttons one too many times. She would have taken it as another ordinary day if she had told her it was Journee.

“I’m sure you probably said something you shouldn’t have,” Talia responded.

“Not really. I was telling her the truth.”

“Then it was probably your delivery. Either way, enjoy the rest of the night, and don’t tell any more truths.”

Talia knew well that Alivia’s truth was straightforward, but it could also appear callous or like she was probing for a reaction when that wasn’t the case.

“Let’s get some food. I’m starving,” Jax announced, and Talia downed the rest of her drink.

It wasn’t until she was in the parking lot, getting into the car, that she realized she hadn’t answered Slate’s question.

Slate sat across from Talia as he drank from his beer bottle. After leaving the last sports bar, they contemplated finding a diner but went to a bar and grill instead. They’d ended up across from one another by accident, but he was not complaining.

He spotted her as soon as she’d walked into the last bar with the other women. He hadn’t known at the time that Axel was dating one of them, but his eyes had immediately migrated to her. All the women were pretty; he would be lying if he said they weren’t, but Talia commanded his attention.