Chad & Rumor: Rightly Swept: A Station 74 Novella

By Amber Stone

Rumor Browning is living out her dream of owning a bakery. Starting out in her apartment, now she is the proud owner of a storefront on one of the busiest streets in Charlotte, NC. Right in the thick of things, business will be booming once she opens. However, just down the street Is Station 74 and every time the engine is cleaned, all of the water runs right down to her front door. It's past time to give the firehouse a piece of her mind. Fire in her veins she stomps down the sidewalk to do just that, when she locks eyes with the hunkiest guy she's ever seen, that fire fueled by anger turns to something else fueled by lust. Her best friend Tara convinces her to join the Rightly Swept dating app. Now if she could find someone as hunky as Fireman Chad to go on this new journey with her.

 

Chad Boyd is working his way up the ladder of Station 74. But for now, he'll settle for doing the grunt work, especially since it seems they have an arsonist on the loose. The furthest thing from Chad's mind is trying to find a woman to share his life with, but when his best friends bet him four hundred bucks to create a profile on Rightly Swept, a dating app, it's game on. Thing is, he has to make it to the second date with whoever he is matched one hundred percent with. And now there's this hot baker with curves like an hourglass that has caught his eye. When the arsonist hits too close to home, Chad must do everything in his power to protect the woman he's falling for and her dream.

 

Who says you can't find true love on a dating app?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amber Stone
• Release date: May 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223351870

Book preview

Chapter One

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Idragged myself off Engine 220, shrugging off my turnout coat covered in soot, then pulled off my helmet, shield and SCBA—self-contained breathing apparatus on the engine. I unhooked my suspenders and rolled down my turnout pants to my ankles, then carefully stepped out of them, trying not to trip.

I was worn out. My lungs were filled with smoke, my throat burned. I coughed to clear the gunk out, then hung my discarded gear over my SCBA, then my coat and placed my helmet on top.

We’d been fighting one hell of a three-alarm fire at an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. It was the second one in a month but more intense than the other. There were rumblings that we may have an arsonist on our hands.

Fuck!

Especially when all I wanted to do was take a hot shower, throw myself onto my cot before my shift ended and take a nap before I headed home.

It had only been about two months since I’d transitioned from volunteer to firefighter II. I knew I would eventually make the transition, so I became as qualified as possible, getting certified in hazmat and emergency vehicle operation. I’d just passed my EMT training and technical rescue training. But none of it prepared me for the massive fires we had been battling recently. We had to use portable water tanks and firefighter seaplanes that dipped their bellies into Lake Norman to help us extinguish the fires.

Grabbing my things, I made my way to the locker room to take a shower. Ash mixed with sweat, clung to my neck. I pulled everything I needed from my locker and beelined to the showers.

With my head against the cold shower tiles, I relished the hot stream of water soaking into my muscles and aching bones. I watched the water swirl down the drain replaying the scene from today until the water had turned lukewarm. My mind was still clouded by what I saw today, and I was grateful the place was empty because if it wasn’t, massive lives would have been lost.

Charlotte was one of the biggest cities in North Carolina, and although there was little rural space, the warehouses they’d doused these past few months were throwbacks to a time before the city expanded into a sprawling metropolitan area. Warehouses still in use were few and far between.

I stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around my waist. I still had about three hours left on my shift. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be another call this evening, and I could get a nap in. I quickly dried off, then pulled on my t-shirt and cargo pants. I ran my fingers through my damp black hair. My stomach grumbled, but my weary bones were about to give in to the fatigue. So, I lay back on the tiny cot and closed my eyes, then I turned to my side, facing the wall. I lay there for only a moment before I turned the other way. I lay there. Then I was right back flat on my back again.

Damnit!

Why wouldn’t sleep find me?

Turning on my back, I stared up at the white ceiling, hoping sleep would come. Tomorrow was my day off, and I looked forward to the end of a forty-eight-hour shift, although I wouldn’t do anything but clean my garage and cut the grass. It was sad, but I had no social life. And when I did go out, it was to get takeout and come back home. Me and the guys rarely got the chance to hang out anymore. I didn’t like dining on my own because I looked weird. I sighed, then pulled out my cell. If I couldn’t fall asleep, the least I could do was entertain myself with social media.

I swiped through a few videos, including one with a floating sculpted head insulting someone’s cooking. It was funny, but the ads pissed me off more than anything. Ads that had nothing to do with what I was interested in until one caught my eye.

A dating app.

I’d never had dating apps pop up on my feed before. It boasted of meeting single men and women who were ready to meet their one true love. I laughed. Who actually believed in true love? Certainly, not me.

I installed the app on my phone, anyway, thinking it would be funny just to put up a profile.

Hey man, Charlie, another volunteer turned firefighter and one of the fellas I hung out with occasionally, called out. What’s up?

Charlie and I were around the same age. We’d been to the bar and club for drinks when we could, but most times Charlie ended up ditching me for some woman.

It didn’t matter where we went—the club, a bar, hell, even a fucking basketball game—Charlie White was leaving with a woman. He claimed they couldn’t resist his baby blues. I didn’t know if that was true, but I couldn’t deny they rarely turned him down.

I was trying to get some rest, but this dating app ad caught my eye.

I showed him my phone.

Charlie laughed. Man, that shit doesn’t work. I’ve been on so many of those apps. They’re good for finding a one-night stand, but a real woman to settle down with? Hell no.

I shook my head. I should’ve known he’d know about dating apps. So, you just join for some ass?

You damn right, Charlie smirked.

What the hell is he smirking at? William McCormick asked as he sat down on the cot adjacent to mine.

I thumbed my finger over at Charlie. This dude joins dating apps for ass.

Charlie really is a jerk. How the fuck is he my friend?

Dating apps? William faced Charlie. You join those?

Charlie nodded. Yeah, but not the one Chad was looking at. Charlie pulled his phone from his back pocket. He tapped something on his phone, then put it back in his pocket. I bet you clowns four hundred bucks you won’t get through two dates with your match.

William smiled, then rubbed his hands together. I’ll take that bet because your ass only joined for some tail. I’m about to be eight hundred dollars richer.

The two of them looked at me. What about you, Chaddy Boy? Charlie goaded.

I’ll take that bet.

Charlie