Page 293 of On A Manhunt: Complete Series

MAC

Turned out, there’d been a grease fire in one of the Hunter Valley ski resort buildings’ kitchens. The fire suppression system had kicked on automatically and doused the flames just like it was supposed to, but we’d had to ensure there were no hot spots and treat a few minor burns.

This had me arriving an hour late for the fundraiser meeting.

Since saving property and lives was my top priority, everyone knew I could be late, or a no-show.

As chief, I was responsible for personnel, paperwork and outreach projects like charity events.

This year, the fundraiser plan was to have a chili dinner instead of a pancake breakfast like last year.

The money raised would go toward the kids’ club that was being added on to the community center.

It was going to be a place dedicated to supporting children with a safe place before or after school as well as breaks, tutoring help, mentorship programs, job assistance for teens and more.

We had the fire truck back in the station and the crew was getting on their morning chores of vehicle washing, hose rolling and whatever else needed to be done between calls.

I veered toward one of the multipurpose rooms used for anything from trainings to meetings.

Hopefully being late meant I missed creating the volunteer schedule, although hopefully I wasn’t on shopping duty.

I hated going to the mega-box store for ingredients like fifty pounds of kidney beans.

I pushed through the door. “Sorry I’m late. Kitchen fire and–”

“–this option will have the most bang for the–”

I froze. Holy shit.

It was Georgia.

Georgia from the plane. From my garage apartment. And now in my fire station standing in front of the fundraiser committee. Her words tapered off and her mouth hung open as she stared at me. I didn’t miss the way her cheeks flushed. I’d interrupted her, then surprised her.

She surprised the hell out of me in return.

I took her in from bottom to top. Shiny red shoes.

High heels. Wide legged black pants. White turtleneck sweater.

Silver hoop earrings. Hair in some half down, half up style that highlighted her round face.

Her lips were painted the same red as her shoes.

Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were dark and fringed by long lashes.

I’d jerked off twice since I saw her the night before and both times, I hadn’t downplayed in my mind just how pretty she was. I was definitely adding her wearing those high heels and nothing else in the future.

Like the day before, she was dressed up. While she was in pants, she was fancy for a Monday morning chili dinner fundraiser meeting.

Around the rectangular table was the rest of the fundraising committee: Patrick from B Shift, the mayor and Maverick James. I ignored them all.

“Georgia.” I frowned. “What are you doing here?”

She blushed and her smile grew. “Mac. You’re… um, a firefighter.”

Her gaze raked up and down my body, took in my uniform. I was single but I wasn’t a priest, and I knew when a woman was scoping and liked what she saw.

“Fire chief, actually.”

“Chief?” she whispered.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, looking around. “This is the fundraiser meeting, right?”

Maybe I was in the wrong place. Was it supposed to be at City Hall? No, the mayor was here.

“This is it,” Mav said. He leaned across the table, hand out for me to shake as way of hello. I hadn’t seen him in a few weeks since we’d tossed cabers in Daniel Pearson’s back yard. “You two know each other?”

I nodded.

“I’m staying in his vacation rental,” Georgia shared, her hands folded in front of her.

Mav’s gaze shifted from her to me and took a moment to consider. “Bradley arranged it?”

She nodded.

“He’s my assistant,” Mav clarified for those who didn’t know, including me. “My brother’s, too. Hell, he pretty much runs James Corp.”

“It’s really nice,” Georgia praised. She was generous to say that since it was Maverick’s company who was paying me the nightly fee. That was life in a small town. A lot of overlapping lives.

“Good to see you,” Mav offered. “Thanks for housing my latest employee.”

“I guess I should’ve charged more,” I joked. Everyone knew James Corp was a billion-dollar business.

Mav settled back in his seat. “Theo told me about the fundraiser and the plans for the kids’ club.”

Theo was Mav’s brother and of the four Jameses, he was the one I knew the best. He was one of the doctors in town, but he participated in the fire trainings. He was a good friend, too.

He continued. “While there’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned chili dinner, Bridget has been driving James Corp into local philanthropic efforts and thinks we have untapped potential. She did the math and well, you know whatever she came up with is correct.”

I knew Bridget Beckett and knew how smart she was.

I went to school with her older sister, Lindy, who was, coincidentally, married to Mav’s brother, Dex.

Bridget and Maverick got together last summer when he came to town to keep the James Inn construction on schedule.

Now, the inn was open for business and Mav was now a permanent resident of Hunter Valley.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Bridget got married in the not-too-distant future.

“Okay,” I said, pulling out a chair and dropping into it.

“We hired Georgia because we’re offering the town her expertise to make this fundraiser as successful as possible. We were just listening to some of her great ideas.”

“About a chili dinner?” I asked, flicking my gaze to her. “We already have the vegetarian option planned and of course we can always add Fritos.”

I was hungry and the thought of some corn chips made my mouth water.

Georgia still stood at the end of the table. Her poise was that of a politician. No, a royal trained to stand just right.

“No. About other fundraising possibilities,” she said. “The committee, while y’all were dealing with the kitchen fire, has decided on a different one.”

The committee was me, the mayor, Patrick and Maverick. Now Georgia as well.

I frowned. “You’re… donating one of your employee’s time for the next few weeks to work on the event?” Looking to Georgia, I asked, “That’s why you’re here?”

“Yes.”

Mav grinned.

“Georgia is here to make it happen, along with a sizeable James Corp donation to the Kids’ Club.

That will get the program up and running so there’s a place for children to go once school is out for the summer,” the mayor chimed in.

She seemed thrilled about the hefty donation.

Mary Morris had been mayor for a little over a year and was well liked.

If she was able to get James Corp and their big purse involved, that said quite a bit.

“Camps, drivers ed. Bridget and Mallory are going to spearhead educational catch-up programs.”

Bridget was a Physics teacher at the high school and a math whiz while Mallory was Andy’s first grade teacher.

“That’s great,” I said. “So if not chili, then… back to pancakes?”

“Not exactly,” Patrick said, then bit his lip. Why was he trying not to smile?

“Georgia had an amazing idea instead of a chili dinner,” the mayor said, grinning. “Something that will support the animal shelter, too. They’re always eager for exposure and funding.”

If I didn’t have to buy canned beans, I was all ears.

Georgia took a step forward. “A chili dinner is a one-time event. The expense to profit margin is good, but with food prices these days, the money raised will be diminished. So we need something that has little overhead. That will also be exciting locally but can collect donations from places across Montana. Maybe even further.”

I sat forward, rested my forearms on the conference table. “Okay, what’s the plan?”

“Since we weren’t sure if y’all were going to be done with the call, we made a decision without you. Instead of a firefighter chili dinner, we’re going to have a firefighter calendar.”

I blinked. Processed. Did she say– “A firefighter calendar?”

She nodded.

“You mean take pictures of the fire trucks? Fires? Trainings? I can’t imagine that raising much money. Other than maybe the Pearson guys who run the mechanic shop, who wants a picture of an ambulance or brush truck on their wall?”

Mav shook his head. Patrick started laughing. The mayor blushed.

Why was the mayor blushing?

Georgia shook her head. “No. Pictures of firefighters.”

“Standing in front of the new engine,” the mayor commented.

“Dressed only in bunker pants,” Patrick said while waggling his eyebrows.

“Holding puppies,” Maverick added.

What? What? WHAT?

Georgia raised her arms out to her sides as if she was a game show hostess. “As fire chief, you’ll be Mr. January.”