Saving Me

Wondering...

Matt's POV:

After watching Joel get carted off to jail—not just for tonight's disturbance but also for violating a restraining order—I made my way back to the room Stormy was in. I pushed the door open gently, not wanting to wake the baby if she was asleep, and stepped inside. I was surprised to see she wasn't alone. Standing beside the bed was a woman with the same hair color as hers. Her facial features told me they were closely related.

"Sorry," I said, beginning to back out of the room. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't interrupt," Stormy said quickly. "This is my sister, Windy. Windy, this is Matt—the firefighter I told you about. He took such good care of Sadie."

"Nice to meet you, ma'am," I said to Windy. Seemed like their parents had a real thing for weather-related names.

"Nice to meet you too," Windy replied. Then she turned to her sister with a smirk. "Storm, you didn't tell me he was a hot firefighter. And not married, too? Girl, you better jump all over this one."

Stormy blushed, clearly embarrassed by her sister's bluntness.

"Windy, I ain't jumping nowhere," Stormy said, shooting me a look that clearly read Sorry about her.

"If you say so. Might have to take this one home myself," Windy teased.

"I'm sure Steve would love that. Another man in his house. One you're clearly acting like a bitch in heat over," Stormy shot back, making me laugh. Lord have mercy, I bet these two had given their parents hell growing up.

"Steve? Steve who?" Windy asked, feigning confusion and tossing me a wink.

"You damn well know who I'm talking about. The man who put the rock on your finger, gave you two kids, and for some unknown reason thinks you hung the moon," Stormy retorted.

"I'll have you know I think he hung the moon," Windy replied proudly. "But that's neither here nor there. I can still appreciate a good-looking man—especially one who saved my only sister's life, and my niece's too."

"I was just doing my job, ma'am," I said, cutting in before Stormy could reply. "And let me just say—it was my pleasure. I got to help someone, hold the most precious baby, and get complimented. Given the circumstances, this night turned out better than expected."

"And he's well-mannered too?" Windy whispered loudly to Stormy. "I'm telling you, this one won't be on the market long—if he's even still on it."

"Look, I just came by to let you know Joel's gone to jail," I said, sensing my time with Stormy was about to end. "He'll be in an orange jumpsuit for a few days at least."

"Thank you," she said softly. Then she turned to her sister. "Hey... Windy? Do you mind giving us a moment?"

"Not at all," Windy said with a smirk. "But I'm taking Sadie with me. My niece doesn't need to see how you plan on thanking the man who saved your lives."

I didn't miss the innuendo, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking of a few ways I wouldn't mind being thanked—though none of them were appropriate. Not that I expected anything. It was just my brain taking a backseat to the part of me that had no business thinking like that.

Once Windy was gone with Sadie, I walked over to where Stormy stood. Lying in the hospital bed, she'd looked small. But standing next to me now, the height difference between us was even more obvious. At 6'3", I wasn't a giant, but I was taller than most.

"Sorry about her. She has no filter," Stormy said apologetically.

"It's no problem. In my line of work, comments like that happen more often than people realize," I replied.