The Firefighter's Fiance. Kate Hardy

      Quietly, Matt knocked on the door, walked in and sat on the edge of her bed. “Kels?” He stroked her hair. “It’s okay, just a bad dream.”

      “I couldn’t save them, Matt. I failed.”

      “It wasn’t your fault. Nobody expected the fire to suddenly come shooting out like that. None of the crew could have done any more,” he reminded her. “And look at today. You made a difference today. If it wasn’t for you, Noel could have been in a really bad situation. Yo u got him out while we could still help him.”

      “It’s not enough.”

      “Hey.” He shifted to pull the duvet aside and slid into the bed beside her. “Come here.” He pulled her into his arms, pillowing her head against his chest. She was shaking. Still crying? He wasn’t sure, though her face was damp. He held her close, stroking her hair and soothing her. “It’s going to be all right, Kels. I promise,” he whispered. She’d be safe in his arms. Always.

      And eventually she stopped shaking and curled her arms around him. “Thanks, Matt. For being here, for everything.”

      “Any time.” He dropped a kiss on her hair.

Dear Reader,

      I think firefighters do an amazing job—they work incredibly hard, in extremely tough conditions, and they are true heroes. I really wanted to write a firefighter book—and I wanted it to be a little different, with the heroine as the firefighter.

      Of course, writing this book meant doing some research. And when my friends found out how my research was going to be conducted I had quite a few offers of help because I went to visit the local fire station. The response was absolutely brilliant—they showed me around, and even did a test call for me so I could hear exactly what everything sounded like. They also let me run my scenarios past them, and gave me some constructive suggestions about how I could make them even better. (That’s why they get the dedication for this book—they were fantastic.)

      And no, I didn’t go down the firemen’s pole. Have you seen the size of those things? Scary is an understatement!

      My heroine is battling with a lot in this story—major life changes—and just when she thinks she’s winning, she’s knocked over by a real tragedy. And then she discovers that love appears in the most unexpected places and can help you overcome what seem like impossible odds.

      As usual, I had my editor wiping away a tear, but the ending made up for it. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. And I’m always delighted to hear from readers, so do come and visit me at www.katehardy.com.

      With love,

      Kate Hardy

      The Firefighter’s Fiancé

      Kate Hardy

       www.millsandboon.co.uk

      CONTENTS

       Cover

Dear Reader

       Title Page

      CHAPTER ONE

      CHAPTER TWO

      CHAPTER THREE

      CHAPTER FOUR

      CHAPTER FIVE

      CHAPTER SIX

      CHAPTER SEVEN

       CHAPTER EIGHT

       CHAPTER NINE

       CHAPTER TEN

       CHAPTER ELEVEN

       CHAPTER TWELVE

       CHAPTER THIRTEEN

       CHAPTER FOURTEEN

       Extract

       Copyright

       CHAPTER ONE

      THE familiar warble burst into the air, then the Tannoy announced, ‘Turnout, vehicle 57. RTC. Lorry and car, driver trapped.’

      RTC. Three little letters that had blown Kelsey’s life apart. Changed it completely. Had it not happened, she’d have been a maths teacher by now. Married, maybe with a child.

      But it had happened.

      Five years ago. The driver of the car on the other side of the road had been concentrating on his mobile phone instead of the road and had hit their car head on. Kelsey had walked away without even a scratch, whereas her fiancé Danny had been rushed to hospital, with surgeons tutting at the foot of his bed and saying he’d be lucky to make it. She’d sat by his bedside for days, not sure if he’d ever come to.

      And then he’d squeezed her hand.

      She’d cried with relief, sure that everything was going to be OK and it was the beginning of the long road back to normal…But the day the doctors had told Danny he’d never walk again and he’d spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, he’d asked Kelsey to return his ring. Hadn’t accepted that the wheelchair made no difference, in her eyes. ‘I don’t know what I want any more, Kelsey. I don’t know who I am any more.’

      She knew who he was. The love of her life. The man she wanted to support back to health. The man she should nurse back to health.

      But he didn’t let her. She wasn’t enough for him. ‘I care about you, Kelsey. I always will. But I don’t want to get married to you any more. I need…’ He shook his head. ‘I don’t know what I need.’

      Whatever, it wasn’t her. And Danny pushed her out of his life. Nothing she said or did was able to change his mind. Their parents, their friends: nobody was able to get through to him. It was over and he wanted her to walk away.

      And in the end she had to accept it. Accept that she wasn’t what he wanted any more. That he needed to adjust to his new life, and she wasn’t going to be part of it.

      She wasn’t able to face carrying out the rest of their plans on her own. The life they’d intended. So she sold their house, split the proceeds with Danny. And she walked out of her teacher training course. Being a maths teacher would have reminded her too much of the life they’d planned together. So she applied to train for something completely different. Something that would make a difference.

      She became a firefighter.

      A good one.

      Payback, in her eyes, for having her own life saved.

      Every time she heard the call over the Tannoy saying it was an RTC, it still sent adrenalin coursing through her veins. Brought back the memories, the shaky feeling, the fear that she wouldn’t get out alive. But every time she shoved the emotions back where they belonged. In the past. Because she had a job to do.

      The same job she needed to do right now.

      Kelsey was the nearest to the fax machine, so she ripped off the top copy and headed straight for her fire engine. The rest of the crew were sliding