Hold Me by Susan Mallery

saw Kipling was walking toward the stairs on the side and knew she should join him. After all, she was going to be speaking to the group.
    The room was nearly full, she thought as she reluctantly got up and followed him to the small podium on the stage. There were a couple of chairs behind it. He turned to her. A smile tugged at his mouth. She felt everyone in the room watching them.
    “Don’t even think about it,” she said in a low voice.
    He chuckled. “I was going to ask if you wanted to speak first, or if you wanted me to go first.”
    Like she believed that. The man was trouble. Grandma Nell would have adored him.
    “You tell them about the program,” she said. “I’ll talk about the technical stuff, then we can take questions together.”
    Kipling nodded and approached the podium. He flipped on the microphone.
    “Thanks for coming tonight, everyone. I appreciate the show of support from the community. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Kipling Gilmore, and I’m in charge of the town’s search and rescue program.”
    “You mean you’re our head HERO,” Eddie yelled from her seat in the audience. The older lady next to her clapped.
    Kipling nodded. “That would be me. Help Emergency Rescue Operations is going to save lives. But we’re a small organization, just getting started, and we’ll need help. Volunteers. Tonight’s meeting is to explain how the program is going to work and how you can get involved.”
    Destiny only half listened as Kipling went through the details of the program. She knew the particulars better than most. When it was her turn, she would explain how the software would make finding those who were lost just a little easier.
    She liked her job. She liked knowing that when she moved on, she’d left things better than when she arrived. She liked the people she met and the sense of belonging, however temporary. She’d met a lot of nice people and more than one attractive man. But no one had rattled her as much as Kipling. She was going to have to figure out why he got to her, then find a way for it to stop.
    When Kipling was done, Destiny took the podium and talked about the STORMS software and how it would help with HERO, then together they took questions. She tried not to notice how close they stood to each other as they shifted to use the microphone in turn.
    Eddie Carberry raised her hand. “Gladys and I want to volunteer. Are you going to tell us we’re too old?”
    Destiny smiled at Kipling. “I’ll let you take that one.”
    Several people in the audience laughed.
    “Thanks,” he said, moving forward and clearing his throat. “We appreciate everyone who wants to volunteer. There are going to be opportunities for every level of fitness.”
    Eddie scrunched up her face. “You’re going to stick us in the office, aren’t you? We want to be out in the field.”
    Kipling’s expression turned pained. “We can talk about that, if you’d like—”
    “And then you’ll say no.” She stood, as did Gladys. “We want an adventure this summer, before we’re too old. If you’re not going to give it to us, we’ll find someone who will. That’ll show you what we’re capable of.”
    The two older women walked out of the meeting. When they’d left, a tall woman stood. She wore a dark blue T-shirt with FGFD emblazoned across the front, and she was clearly pregnant.
    “Don’t let them get you down,” she said. “They love to make trouble. I’m Charlie Stryker, by the way. Fool’s Gold Fire Department. I’m interested in volunteering. Most of us on the department are. We’re going to sign releases so the HR department can link our work shift information to your database. That way you’ll know who’s available when. People tend to get lost when it’s least convenient to everyone else.”
    A couple of police officers made the same offer. Kipling took down the names of the two departments’ human resources contact and promised to be in touch. By the end of