The Oil Tycoon Rescue Page 8

  He shook his head and pressed his lips together in frustration.

  “I want to take the woman I care for out for coffee before I leave and its worth every dime to me. Would you like a cappuccino or just regular coffee?”

  “Cappuccino sounds divine.”

  “Two cappuccinos, ring me up for thirty cups of coffee and throw in two Danishes please. We’ll be at the corner booth.”

  “If you two are wanting a little privacy, I’d sit at the one closest to the door. They can’t get a camera angled well enough to get a good photo. We’ve had a few stars in this building when they do filming in Dallas. We are apparently at a prime location,” he said with a shrug. “Just put your lady on the inside seat and you’ll be good.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Sure, it’s no biggie,” the clerk said smiling. “I’ve been married almost thirty years and remember what it’s like to be in love.”

  Claudia couldn’t help the smile that blossomed on her face as Tobin looked over his shoulder to her when she sat. She adored that sweet half smile that touched his lips as he nodded slowly.

  “There’s no better feeling,” Tobin admitted, handing the man his debit card and taking the two small saucers with the pastries on them.

  Claudia heard someone rattling the door several times and was grateful for the tiny semblance of peace they were going to get. She just wished they’d taken the limo instead of Tobin picking her up for their date. He slid into the seat and pushed the larger of the two Danishes towards her. She laughed, grabbed the saucers, and swirled them around on the tabletop, giving him the larger Danish.

  The clerk walked over with the two cappuccinos and set them down.

  “When you get ready to leave, I’ll show you a back way out.”

  They glanced up in surprise and then at each other.

  “Just enjoy and tell your pappy that I’m happy to take care of his girl.”

  “You know who I am?”

  “It took me a minute but yes – and I know he’d have my hide if I let those mongrels outside harass you,” the clerk said with a smile. “Enjoy Miss Jenkins.” As he walked away, Claudia picked up her fork.

  “That was sweet of him.”

  “Is it like this for you all the time?”

  “It didn’t used to be so bad,” she admitted.

  “But now you are back in town so it is flaring up?”

  “It’s because I’m with someone and they want to sell the story,” she corrected, taking a bite.

  “Claudia, I don’t want us to lose contact or grow distant when I head back tomorrow,” Tobin said gently, kissing the back of her hand.

  “I am going to miss you terribly.”

  And she meant it.

  Yesterday afternoon, she’d been practicing a speech when he’d texted to see if she wanted to go to dinner. She had felt so bad that she had to say no. Instead of him being upset, he’d picked up take out and helped her memorize her lines. She was so grateful for him, knowing he had her back. She was going to miss those little smiles, those warm tender kisses, and the way he held her hand all the time as if he needed that connection between them.

  “I will miss you, too,” he admitted, swallowing several times. “I don’t like leaving you here but I need to go back to work.”

  “I know, and I have my work here.”

  “We’ll just figure something out,” he said again, and she could see that this wasn’t the first time he had thought about this. If she knew him at all, she knew he was trying to figure out a way to make everything mesh, make their worlds intermix together.

  “Let’s not focus on the negative or how much time we have left until you leave, let’s focus on the now - and this killer cheese Danish that is screaming my name. I keep picking up my fork and putting it down, picking it up, and then putting it down. Just kiss me, tell me you love me, and let’s get down to business,” she said bluntly, looking at him.

  His eyes widened in surprise.

  “You need me to tell you because you don’t already know it?”

  “Oh, I know it,” Claudia amended playfully, “maybe I just want to hear you say it, instead of beating around the bush all the time.”

  Her breath caught as he scooted closer to her in the booth, his hand planted against the leather beside her head as he leaned towards her. His nose tenderly grazed hers, causing her to shiver with delight as she loved this intimate, playful side of him. He kissed her temple, kissed her cheekbone, traced the shell of her ear with his finger, before hovering just above her lips. His eyes finally met hers and she saw the ragged emotion in them.

  “Claudia, you are everything to me,” he confessed.

  “I love you more than life itself. You are the stars to my night sky, the flowers in my world, the very air that I breathe. I cannot imagine a world without you in it. I feel like, before you, I was on hold. I was waiting for someone to wake my soul up – and then there you were.”

  He smiled tenderly at her, his eyes sparkling.

  “You were yelling at me, calling me Fabio, snapping at me and I think it took all of that to knock down the barriers I’d built up inside… because when you kissed me, there was no looking back. I knew you were my future then, just as I know it now. I love you more than you will ever know.”

  She couldn’t look away from those deep brown eyes that pierced hers down to her very soul. She swallowed hard, knowing this would be the last time she looked into those eyes for a few weeks.

  “What am I going to do without you?” she whispered softly.

  “Miss me? Fall even more in love with me?” he urged, grazing his lips against hers. Claudia melted against him at his words, her hand resting directly over his heart.

  “I don’t think that’s possible,” she admitted in between kisses.

  “Then we’ll figure this out, sweetheart,” he vowed. “I promise you.”

  Tobin collapsed into his bunk at the fire station in exhaustion. He quickly texted Claudia to let her know he was back. She was constantly worried about him and the dangers of his job. He understood, but it didn’t change the desire he felt to help people. He’d applied for a position near Dallas but they were on a temporary hiring freeze – unfortunately for the last two months. She’d offered him a job with the company, but Tobin declined.

  He wanted to have some sort of pride and independence between them. They needed that line in the sand so there wasn’t any blurring or accusations of favoritism – thankfully, her father Daniel agreed with him.

  That was a month ago.

  He was back on his shift at the station, a part of the team. His shift was twelve hours on, twenty-four off. Unfortunately, with the distance between here and Dallas, he wasn’t able to see her very long. They talked for hours on end when they could and used Facetime to chat simply to make the ache in his chest ease up.

  Tobin missed her smile.

  Claudia did charter a private plane one weekend that flew by way too fast. Tobin took a chance at applying at Disaster City Search and Rescue Academy for a position, but at this time nothing was available.

  His statement of ‘we’ll figure it out’ was starting to look a little bleak.

  The bell above his bunk rang loudly, indicating they were being called up again for another fire in the area. Tobin jumped out of bed, ignoring the aching muscles, and donned his clothing he’d just removed. Sprinting down the hallway, he slid down the pole to the engine not moments before they started to pull out of the station. Domino was eagerly looking out the front window of the cab of the truck as it roared to life down the road.

  Listening, he heard the radio droning out information. Large electrical fire, third floor of an office building. Tobin quickly texted Claudia a selfie, in the truck, in his gear, so she knew he was on his way out once again.

  Please be careful, you look so tired.

  I am.

  Rest tomorrow. Don’t drive up.

  You have your presentation and I wanted to be there for you.


  I know you do – but I need you to be okay.

  I am.

  I’ll try to fly down again.

  I love you.

  I love you, Tobin. Text me when you get back to the station. XOXO

  Pulling up before the burning building, he put his phone in the cab of the truck, knowing the temperatures they could face inside could fry the electronic components or melt the plastic casing on his phone.

  “Stay here, Domino,” he ordered, shrugging on his oxygen tanks. This was a live fire and he couldn’t risk his partner. Domino only entered when he could guarantee that it was safe for him. He saw flames licking the windows from the ground and there was no way his animal was going in.

  Fastening his mask, checking his tank, and grabbing an axe, Tobin followed several other men into the building. The search line was deployed immediately for them to be able to get in and out safely. Tobin was the searching firefighter and he was partnered up with Mark, the navigating firefighter. Mark was responsible for getting him back to the hallway as he searched each room. As they entered the darkness, Tobin put out a gloved hand to guide himself along the wall. Mark was ahead of him and they kept the slack even on the rope between them. He walked on, entering door after door, calling out for anyone.

  “Clear!”

  “Proceeding to second floor.”

  “Copy that.”

  They climbed the stairs in the darkness; their flashlights on their helmets were practically useless, only illuminating the grey wall of smoke before them. He heard an eerie metallic sound reverberate through his helmet and hesitated, pulling the rope taut between him and Mark.

  “What’s wrong Randall?”

  “Did you hear that? I think the structure above us is compromised.”

  “Chief! Can you hear me? Randall heard…”

  There was a definitive scream of metal on metal from somewhere above them that made Tobin’s blood run cold. “We are evacuating! Let’s go!”

  “Copy!”

  “Move it!”

  “The wall – it’s giving under my hand!” Tobin screamed, horrified as he tried to use it as a guide to make his way back down the stairs. The cement board used in construction felt almost like a sheet of sandpaper tearing when any pressure was exerted, his gloved hand sank almost immediately right through.

  “Mark! Get down! It’s going to come down around us!”

  “Randall! Where are you?”

  Tobin tugged the rope to guide his partner who had to be eight, maybe ten feet from him. The end of the rope had no tension. It was suddenly slack.

  “Mark! MARK!”

  “I’m here! Where are you, Randall?”

  “There’s fire in the stairwell or you’ve dropped the rope.”

  If they couldn’t use the wall for guidance – and their rope was not connected any longer – there was only the metal railing on the wide staircase to use as a guide… as long as it was there. Tobin slid his foot blindly forward along the step trying to find an edge. He was trying to keep the hysteria at bay within his body and ignoring the fact that his breath was speeding up tremendously within the helmet. Great whooshing sounds in the respirator made him sound like Darth Vader and it might have been comical at any other point… just not now!

  “I’m searching for the railing and trying not to drop to the bottom floor.”

  “I’m not leaving here without you.”

  “You probably should before everything comes crashing down.”

  “Just get to the railing and let’s go!”

  Tobin nearly passed out in relief as a hand grabbed him. He heard Mark’s exclaimed epithet as they gripped the railing and quickly started back down the stairs towards an exit in the darkness.

  “Structure is giving way. Stairwell is not safe.”

  “Recommend access from the roof as long as it will hold.”

  “If the floor gives, the building will collapse in on itself. Recommend ladder extension for retrieval from upper floors…”

  The conversation droned on in his headset as he breathed hollowly in the live-giving mask. He had to get out of here and get to safety. He wanted to help people, but dying before he got a chance to ask Claudia to marry him wasn’t on his agenda today – if ever.

  Tobin needed to talk to Daniel and Melissa, Claudia’s parents, as soon as he got out of here. He wanted their permission to marry her. He was done waiting or trying to figure this long-distance relationship out.

  He would find some way to give back to the community, maybe through teaching or something else – but he missed Claudia terribly. The idea of possibly dying had terrified him and he couldn’t do that to her - not after he’d finally found the woman he couldn’t live without.

  As they stepped out into the sunlight, Tobin yanked up his mask, gulping in deep breaths to slow the panic racing in his body. He never thought something like this would ever happen to him and it wasn’t that he was terrified of the fire – he was more fearful of never seeing her again.

  It didn’t sit well with Claudia knowing that Tobin willingly went into the fray, day in and day out. She had to have complete faith in him, knowing that he was skilled enough to do the job and make it out alive. She’d always been impressed by some of the stories he’d told her and the image of him fighting the fires on the rig would haunt her. They’d worked out a system to where he would text her on the way to a call and then when he was safe afterwards. It seemed like a good idea at the time – until she realized that time essentially slowed down to a crawl while her anxiety ramped up to another level.

  She let out her breath as she finally got his text message.

  I’m safe – and going to sleep. Love you.

  I love you too. Rest.

  “Claudia? Claudia? Are you busy?” her father said quickly, knocking on the door frame of the office she now occupied not far from his. She glanced up from the computer to see that he looked almost relieved.

  “Hey Daddy,” she began easily, sitting back in her chair. “Everything alright?”

  “Yes. I just have a huge favor to ask.”

  “Other than take over the company?”

  “Don’t sass me girl,” he growled with a warm smile.

  “Yes sir.”

  “I have a surprise for your mother and can’t make it out to the site for the exhibition for the press. I need you to go for me.”

  “Sure. When is it?”

  “Friday.”

  “This Friday?” she parroted, feeling a sense of dread. “Tobin was supposed to come up and we were going to see each other for the day. He bought tickets to the movies.”

  “I guess I can reschedule everything…” he began.

  Claudia grimaced. She knew exactly what that meant. Rescheduling the press, media, and marketing would take an act of congress to get it to go through three days before the event. Maybe Tobin could come with her or meet her here?

  She’d find out when he woke up, not wanting to interrupt his precious sleep while he was on his rotation.

  “Daddy – I’ll get it. It won’t be a problem. I’ll find a way to work everything out and make sure it all meshes together.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  “What are you surprising Mom with?”

  “If I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise – would it?”

  Claudia rolled her eyes and groaned in annoyance.

  “Fine…” she drawled.

  “The event is themed, so wear something white and something blue.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yep. Thanks honey.”

  “Sure thing, Daddy.”

  Claudia was so disheartened that evening after talking with Tobin that she ended up eating a huge bowl of chocolate ice-cream, with Reese’s cool whip and caramel sauce drizzled all over it. If she’d have had Magic Shell, she would have dumped that on there too.

  He wasn’t coming up.

  Tobin had been asked to cover for another coworker whose wife gave birth to their first child. She might have be
en upset if it was for any other reason, but she understood that. Family always came first in her book – and it was a sign that it meant a lot to him too.

  “You sure you aren’t mad, Claudia?”

  “How could I be mad when I’d want you there too?”

  “That’s what I thought too. If I was getting ready to be a father for the first time, I would have found any way possible to be there.”

  “No, I’m not mad. Disappointed… but never mad.”

  “I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”

  “It’s okay. I had something come up too.”

  “Oh? What’s going on?”

  “Daddy is apparently going to surprise mom with something but he won’t tell me what. He dumped some media event on me at the last minute.”

  “You hate those too.”

  “Exactly! I need to start memorizing facts and stuff so I can talk intelligently when the press starts to ask a bunch of questions.”

  “You know you are always perfect, right?”

  “Keep telling me that, handsome, ‘cause I need to hear it.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” she breathed, cradling the phone to her head. “Now, as much as I adore you calling – you need to rest while you can…”

  Another bell went off overhead.

  “Busy night. Gotta go! Love you!”

  “Love you! Be safe!”

  “Yep! Bye babe!”

  The phone disconnected and Claudia shook her head ruefully. Gosh, she loved that man so much and it was uncanny at how well they just clicked together. It was effortless and wonderful all at once.

  Perfection.

  Chapter 10

  Claudia was stunned to see her parents were gone long before she got up to leave for the media event. The helicopter was supposed to be here shortly and it was a long flight out to Houston. She donned her business suit and neatly coiffed her hair, slipping on some slippers that could be hidden away in her purse once she arrived. There was no reason to be in the businesslike high heels any longer than necessary – besides they pinched her toes terribly.