She felt the back of the ambulance dip as Eric climbed in behind her. "I can appreciate a woman who's willing to turn her nose up at a judicial order to be with me," he said in his deep sexy voice that had Joe rolling her eyes.

Joe turned and smoothly shoved several bags of expired saline in his arms. "You know a piece of paper will never stand in the way of our love," she said in a sweet teasing voice while she batted her eyes up at him.

Eric chuckled softly. "I see you missed me."

She nodded solemnly. "I did. I really did. When Bill called up and begged me to come in even though we just got off a twenty-four hour shift this morning I jumped at the chance." She ran her eyes down his lean well defined body back up to meet his mischievous green eyes. "You know I can never stay away from you." She reached up with both hands and pinched his cheeks, hard. "You're just so darn cute," she said, pursing up her lips.

"I'm studly, baby, get it right," he sighed heavily as if it were a burden to remind her yet again.

She placed her hands on her hips. "You're absolutely right. What was I thinking?"

Eric jumped out of the ambulance. "It's okay. I forgive you," he said as he made his way to the trash can to dump the saline. He was going to have to post something to remind crews to double check supplies when they picked them up at the hospital.

He grabbed a bottle of sanitizer and some rags before heading back to the ambulance. Joe was already completing their check list. He tossed a rag onto her clipboard. She looked up to stick her tongue out at him and went back to her paperwork.

"Did I mention that we have a third rider today?" he asked as he sprayed down the stretcher and began wiping it down.

"Great," she said, stretching out the word.

He paused mid-swipe to look over at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I have to play babysitter the entire shift," she answered.

Eric frowned. "I don't think he's going to be much of a problem. He looked capable."

Joe rolled her eyes. "I wasn't talking about him."

Chapter 2

"Everything okay back there, Greg?" Eric yelled into the back of the ambulance.

Greg turned around in the tech seat to answer him. "Yeah, everything's fine. Um, when are we going to get a call?" Greg asked, trying to feign casualness. Eric and Joe shared a look. No doubt the kid was a whacker.

A whacker was a term they used for someone in the field that took the job too seriously and thought of themselves as Superman. They got too excited about the job and focused way too much on it when they weren't working. Most new EMT's were guaranteed whackers who came in overeager, too confident and full of their own bullshit. As entertaining as it was to seasoned EMT's, and a little annoying, it could also be dangerous in the field.

"Cause I'm ready you know. I don't really need to third ride, because I have some experience, but Bill said it was policy. He said it was up to you to sign me off early so I can get off the initial probation period. So, if you want to do that you know I wouldn't mind. I don't want to waste your night or anything," Greg rambled on.

Joe covered her mouth to keep from laughing and leaned into the steering wheel while Eric glanced around the convenient store parking lot they were stationed at.

"I, um," he forced himself not to laugh and keep a straight face, "I really appreciate the offer, Greg. Thank you, but don't worry about wasting my time. We really like the company."

Joe shook with silent laughter against the wheel. Yup, they'd been training officers for six of the twelve years they'd worked as EMT's and heard it all from their third riders. A few were honest about being nervous, the others hid it well until their first call and a few like Greg liked to bullshit their experience right from the start. Definitely a whacker, Eric thought.

"I've been working as a lifeguard at a resort since I was sixteen," Greg offered.

"Is that so?" Eric said with false interest. This was the point where Greg would brag, trying to convince the two of them that they didn't need to train him and that he knew what he was doing. It never failed to be entertaining when a third rider thought they were seasoned pros just because of one or two experiences from their past.

They had one guy outright refuse to listen to them while they were extricating a man from an overturned car and tried to correct them because he'd seen an episode of ER where they did it completely different, and wrong. Eric ended up having to punch the guy out before he paralyzed the poor bastard in the car. The jerk tried to yank the patient out of the car by his head. That patient actually thanked Eric and lied to a cop later, covering Eric's ass. Again, whackers could be very dangerous in the field.

"Yeah," Greg said, nodding to himself. "Did that for almost ten years now. I've been teaching CPR and first aid for two years as well."

Great. He taught people how to watch a video and pass a written test so he thought he was king shit now. This was going to be an interesting night.

"Ever have to use your skills?" Joe asked, twisting in her seat to look back.

The guy averted his eyes as he said cockily, "Oh yeah, you wouldn't believe the shit I saw on that job." Which no doubt meant he hadn't so much as applied a band-aid to some kid's skinned knee.

Joe gave him a smile. Her beautiful baby blue eyes sparkled. "That's good. It means you'll probably pick up on the way we do things around here quickly."

Eric had to hold back a snort. Joe was always too nice. Well, right now she was. If this guy's bullshit got in the way of patient care even he wouldn't want to get in her way. She'd go apeshit on this guy if he caused one of their patients any problems.

Greg nodded thoughtfully. "True."

"Great. I'm going to run inside and grab a drink. I'll be right back," she said, still smiling.

Eric watched her walk into the store and wasn't aware that Greg moved out of his seat to lean in the front and do the same until he heard the man mutter, "Nice."

More annoyed that the man was getting a little too close to him, he shoved him back with his elbow. "I don't swing that way, cupcake."

"Oh," Greg said, moving back. "Didn't mean to crowd you."

Eric leaned back as he kept an eye on the store's entrance. This wasn't the best neighborhood, but Joe would kick his ass six ways to Sunday if he tried pulling any of that chauvinistic shit on her. As far as Joe was concerned she was one of the guys. He knew she could handle herself and would tear his head off if she even suspected for a second that he doubted her, which is why he kept his mouth shut and didn't offer to go get that drink for her. He liked his balls right where they were.

"Hey, um, Eric?"

"Yeah?" he said, already fearing the guy would try to convince him to let him drive.

"Joe, is she seeing anyone?" Greg asked as he ran his fingers through his greenish brown hair. The five minutes he shoved his head under the sink faucet hadn't helped.

"Nope," Eric said, making the word pop.

"So, you and Joe aren't....," he said leadingly.

"Nope."

"Do you mind if I go for it?"

"Nope," he said, knowing the guy would be shot down and how pissed it would make Joe. Joe didn't date doctors or whackers. Yup, this should be very entertaining indeed.

*********

"Such a tough choice," Joe mumbled as she looked from the Snickers bar to Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

"You should get them both," a low voice said.

Joe looked over her shoulder and forced a smile as Greg gave her what he probably thought was a sexy grin. Great. This was going to be a fun night. She looked past Greg to find Eric leaning against the door frame, grinning hugely. The bastard set her up. She was so going to kick his ass later.

It was only the knowledge that she'd done worse to him that kept her from chucking one of the candy bars at his head. He better hope they weren't sent to the Sunflower nursing home tonight. Judy was working and that cougar was completely hot for Eric, much to his horror. She was barely five feet tall and definitely five feet wide, wore more makeup than a drag queen and had no shame when it came to Eric.

"Shouldn't you guys be in the rig in case we get a call?" she asked casually.

Eric held up a portable radio. Damn technology! "Got it covered. Already told dispatch we were stepping out," he said cheerfully.

"So, Joe," Greg said as he picked up a candy bar to study it. "How long have you been an EMT?"

"About twelve years now," she said, shooting a glare at Eric who had the nerve to wink at her.

"Wow, twelve years. You must have some pretty amazing stories to tell. Maybe sometime we should get a drink and talk about them?"

Before she could answer, Eric spoke up. "That sounds like fun. She really likes that bar over on Madison. They have karaoke there every Thursday and Saturday night."

Greg' smile widened. The poor bastard probably thought Eric was helping him. "Really? You like karaoke?"

"She loves it," Eric said, wiggling his eyebrows. "You should hear her rendition of 'War,' she totally kicks ass."

Joe sucked in a breath. That rat bastard! The one time she made the mistake of getting drunk at a frat party and danced on a table taking requests and he was going to throw it in her face? Unbelievable! He was the one that requested that song!

"So, what do you say?" Greg asked, giving her a cocky grin that he probably thought was irresistible. There was only one man she knew who could pull that grin off without fail and right now he was a rat bastard.

"Say about what?" she asked, returning her attention back to the candy bars. If she was going to survive this night she was going to need chocolate.

She heard Eric's soft laughter and discretely flipped him off, making him laugh harder.

"Tomorrow night? You, me, dinner, dancing, and maybe a little karaoke?" Greg asked smoothly.

"Not gonna happen tomorrow night, spanky. She has plans with me," Eric announced. Joe wasn't foolish enough to think he was coming to her rescue. Oh no, not Eric. He just didn't want to get stuck with whatever bimbo his mother was throwing his way and had no problem with using her as a shield. If she didn't love Alice, Eric's mother, so much or really love her cooking she'd ditch his ass in a heartbeat.

"Well, what about this weekend?" Greg asked, sounding a little unsure of himself.

Oh, this was perfect. She smiled sweetly when she answered, making sure she could see Eric's expression. "I'm sorry. I already have plans for this weekend. I'm going deep sea fishing for three days." She was not disappointed by Eric's reaction.

"You betraying bitch!" he hissed.

She winked at him. "You got that right." There were really only a few things in this world that Eric really loved and lived for and deep sea fishing was one of them. His Uncle Brian and grandfather used to take them out several times a year when they were kids and they both loved it. Still did.