Excerpt
Abby liked her life but still…something always seemed missing but she just didn't know what it was. So she went from place to place, job to job, just wandering through the streets of life. At the moment those streets were in Chicago where she’d spent the last few months. In that time, there were many fires in the area but tonight felt different. It was as if this fire was calling her, demanding her presence. Her intense focus kept returning to the one firefighter from the basket escapade. She had an almost uncontrollable urge to approach him but hesitated, uncertain of her own motives. She felt as if she knew this person before her but then again Abby did see many people around the area because of her work. Still she couldn’t shake the feeling she knew this brave individual.
As she watched the firefighter from the road, Abby wondered what kind of person took up that line of work. As the reflection of the flames danced across his helmet, casting his face in shadows, she noticed the slump of his shoulders, the weariness in his body language. There was a sense the man believed he'd fallen short somehow; that he couldn't contain the blaze, halt the destruction.
Abby felt the overwhelming urge that she was intruding. She looked away, trying to avoid his gaze, knowing the pain she'd see there on his features. The firefighter removed the helmet, tousling the short hair as the beads of sweat rolled down tanned cheeks. The shock on Abby’s face must have been visible as her eyes fell into a sea of blue of the beautiful woman standing a few feet away from her. She had strong arms and shoulders, a sleek neck and a well-formed chin. And then there was the expressive mouth, full lips, incredible bone structure and those brilliant eyes Abby could see despite the lack of light and the distance between them. Abby watched the woman as she wiped a dirt-smudged hand across her brow. After removing her coat, she let it drop by the rest of her equipment.
As Abby took in the sight before her, she felt her heart stop. The woman stood like a goddess of fire, her tanned skin seemed to glow in the reflection from the blaze. Abby swallowed deeply and found it hard to concentrate on anything except the woman's profile, her shoulders and the strong line of her jaw.