All Summer Long (Fool's Gold #9)(28)

All four of them shook their heads.

“Because some idiot wants it to be easy. It’s not easy. A firefighter wears about fifty pounds of gear. Which means if the guy next to him goes down, you have to drag him plus fifty pounds out of a burning building. And by drag, I mean carry.”

She stepped closer to the blonde, staring her in the baby blues and wishing she’d had onions on her burger at lunch.

“Either you’re ready to do the job or you’re not. Because I, for one, am not explaining to any family that Daddy isn’t coming home because you weren’t strong enough to save him. That tire weighs a hundred and twenty pounds. Assuming the average male firefighter weighs two hundred and his gear is another fifty, then you’re responsible for carting around two hundred and fifty pounds. So don’t whine to me about the damn tire.”

When she finished, she wasn’t shouting, but there was a whole lot of energy in her voice.

The blonde’s eyes welled up with tears. “You’re being a real bitch, you know that?”

“I know, honey, but it’s only going to get worse. So this is probably a good time for you to find something else to do with your afternoon.”

“You’re right about that.”

The other woman stomped off the field.

Charlie turned back to her group. She wasn’t surprised to see that they’d stopped to listen. What did impress her was Clay standing on the other end of the field. He’d completed the assignment.

“Anyone else want to complain about the tire?” she asked.

There was a chorus of nos, followed by some serious tire moving.

Three hours later, everyone was dripping sweat and collapsed on the grass. Charlie made sure they each had a bottle of water.

“Good work, people. Michelle Banfield is teaching the next session. You’ll see me at the end of the week.”

She gave them what she hoped was a friendly wave, picked up her clipboard and started toward the parking lot. Clay fell into step beside her.

“Great workout,” he said.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” She kept moving, doing her best not to notice his muscled arms or long legs. Shorts and a T-shirt had never looked so good.

“You went easy on us.”

She glanced at him. “How did you know?”

He shrugged. “It was the first day. You don’t suffer fools but you’re not mean. You didn’t enjoy making Madeline cry.”

“You know her?”

“She introduced herself to me.”

Charlie might be completely inept when it came to the whole boy-girl thing, but she wasn’t stupid. “She gave you her number.”

When he didn’t answer, she wondered how many of the other women had done the same.

“Must be nice to be you,” she muttered.

“Not always. Besides, I’m otherwise engaged these days.”

She stopped and stared at him. “What does that mean? You’re dating? You’ve only been back a few weeks. I didn’t think you had time to get involved. Look, if you’re seeing someone I don’t want to...” She paused, fumbling for the right phrase for what they were, in theory, going to do.

He faced her. He was taller than her, broader in the shoulder. She was used to being the same size or bigger than everyone in the room, so it was kind of strange to be smaller than Clay. Nice, but strange.

“I’m not dating,” he said quietly. “I meant you.”

“Oh. Okay. That’s fine, then.”

His dark gaze settled on her face. “Know any martial arts?”

“Not formally. I’ve taken self-defense classes, of course and I can have a mean left hook.”

“I could teach you. We could spar sometime.”

She held the clipboard against her chest. Not exactly like a shield. She sighed. Fine. Yes, exactly as if she were trying to protect herself.

“How would that be fun?” she asked. “Sparring with someone who doesn’t know what she’s doing? Don’t you want to work out with someone better than you? Isn’t that how you learn?”

“You don’t think you could take me?”

“Not that way. I wouldn’t know how to begin.”

He took the clipboard from her. “Charlie, take a deep breath.”

“Why?”

He raised his eyebrows.

“All right,” she grumbled and did as he requested. “And?”

“That was flirting.”

“Breathing?”

He grinned. “No. My offer to spar with you. Think about it. The two of us in a room, getting physical.”

“I don’t think that was flirting. I didn’t flip my hair. Isn’t hair flipping required?”

“Is that why you wear it short?”

“No.” She grabbed the clipboard and held on to it with both hands. “It’s more practical this way and I’m busy.”

“Or you’re doing your damnedest to deny your femininity.”

She held in a snort. “Please. Have you seen me? I’m not the least bit feminine.” Something her mother had pointed out endlessly when Charlie had been growing up. “I don’t care about that sort of thing.” She glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. The other trainees had already left and Josh’s next cycling class hadn’t arrived. They were the only ones in the parking lot.