Fired Up

Lucas Hartley grabbed his helmet and equipment and jumped out of the fire truck. The helmet wasn’t a requirement to go and fit smoke detectors, but if the house had kids, it was pretty much a necessity. He’d yet to come across a rug-rat who didn’t ask Lucas to put his fireman’s helmet on, then take it off so they could try it on. He quite liked kids, so it was nice to see their little grinning faces, to make their day. Plus, if they were a handful, he could use the helmet as bribery to make them behave while he fitted the detectors and ran through a comprehensive fire safety discussion with a responsible adult. It never failed.

The downside, however, was that the whole fireman-in-uniform thing often got the responsible adults of the female persuasion all hot under the collar. For most guys, this wouldn’t be a problem. After all, a little flirtation here and there was good for the ego. But for Lucas, it was a drag—why couldn’t there be a single dad somewhere who was gay and needed a smoke detector fitting? Sadly, it just never seemed to work out that way.

Sighing, Lucas slammed the door on the mocking comments of his colleagues, who’d opted to stay in the truck. It only took one person to do the job in question, and today Lucas had drawn the short straw—literally. The others would no doubt chill out, chat and use their phones to text, mess around...