Erin pulls into the firehouse, and Gabby is sitting next to her; babbling. Erin's been listening to her the whole ride to the call and back, but when she gets a glimpse of the new firefighter, she only hears bits, and pieces. She parks the ambulance, and Gabby stops briefly as she walks around the rig. Erin jumps out of the driver's seat, and immediately begins to stare at him; taking in his arms as they bulge from under the short sleeves of his navy blue shirt, and he continues washing the squad truck. She's not sure if it's sweat, or water running down his face, and the stubble along his jaw, before rolling down his neck, but it makes her swallow hard nonetheless, as she gets closer to him.

"Erin did you hear me?" Gabby interrupts; causing the handsome stranger to look over at them. Erin blushes, and averts her eyes as he gives her crooked smile.

"Sorry no." Erin says as she holds the door open for Gabby to walk in to the building. She looks back, and gives him a smirk of her own even though he's not looking at her anymore.

"Louie was so terrified, he was clinging to Matt's leg." Gabby repeats once they're both inside.

"I bet, I hear the first day of school is hard for everyone." Erin replies as they make their way to the kitchen.

"There's your mom Millie." Mouch says as they walk into the kitchen. The fluffy cream puppy that was sitting next to him on the couch seemingly understands his words, and jumps off the couch to run over to her owner.

"That was a quick call." Stella states.

"No it wasn't." Gabby states as Erin picks her puppy up.

"Alright, so did you guys see the new guy?" Stella asks; changing the subject.

"Yeah, someone was staring at him as we were coming in." Gabby replies nudging Erin.

"I was not." Erin denied, as the heat rises in her cheeks.

"Right so you weren't blushing when he looked over at us?" Gabby asks

"Nope." Erin lies, burying her face against her puppy.

"And I suppose you want us to believe that you're not blushing now?" Stella questions

"It's just hot." Erin defends

"Yeah he is really hot." Stella counters.

"Don't let Kelly hear you say that, we all know how jealous he gets." Gabby mumbles at her.

"Ok, I'm going to take Millie outside." Erin states as she turns to walk away.

"Tell Jay we said hi." Gabby yells after her as she, and Stella giggle from behind her.

XXXXXX

Millie plays with the red leash attached her collar, as Erin tries to get her to do her business. She gives up, and just lets the rambunctious puppy entertain herself with her leash. She looks up, and sees Jay rolling up the hose. His arms flexing even more than before with each motion. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his face flushed from the heat, and his lips parted partially before he licks them, and she subconsciously licks her own lips as she notices his damp shirt clinging to his body. She's been a firehouse paramedic for five years, and she's seen how muscular most firefighters are, but he puts all of them to shame. She continues to stare at him, until she feels the leash slip out of her hand as Millie gives it another tug.

"Millie." She shouts as she chases after her.

"Come here Mill." She tries to say calmly, as she follows her around the truck, she's so frazzled that she doesn't even notice him as she runs around the hood of the truck. She runs right into him; almost crushing Millie between them, as he holds her in his arm, and steadies Erin with the other.

"She sure has a lot of energy doesn't she." Jay notes, as Erin tries to right herself, after feeling like she just ran into a brick wall. She notices the slight southern drawl in his voice, and it sends chills throughout her body even with the sun beating down on them.

"A month ago she could barely crawl, and now it's like she's training for a puppy marathon." Erin jokes

"At least she's cute, I've met a handful of firehouse dogs, but she's by far the cutest. She's a Retriever right?" He states and asks.

"I think so, but I'm not sure we found her in the trash, after one of our calls, when she was like two weeks old." Erin replies, as she watches him hold, and interact with her puppy. She takes the opportunity to look at the features of his face, his cheeks and nose are sprinkled with freckles, and his eyelashes are long, and seem to complement his blue eyes, his pink, freckled lips are naturally puckered, and she licks her suddenly dry lips again.

"I don't understand people sometimes, but she's lucky that you saved her, she seems like a happy puppy. She looks like my old Golden Retriever." He says as he hands the panting puppy over to her, and they give each other a smile.

"Halstead, Jay Halstead." He states formally, and sticks his hand out for her to shake, she cautiously lifts her hand, and meets his. There's a jolt of electricity that they both feel as they hands clasp together briefly.

"Lindsay, Erin Lindsay." She says, and he nods his head.

"It's nice to meet you." He adds.

"You too, so which firehouse did you transfer from?"

"Twelve, I was filling in for a paramedic there." He replies.

"And now you're on squad."

"Yeah, but Boden said I'll be filling in for Gabby when they go on vacation."

"Well I look forward to it." She blurts out, followed by a gasp. Her hand moves quickly to cover her mouth, and her eyes go wide. She feels even more embarrassed as he chuckles lightly. There's a pregnant pause before either of them speak again. Goosebumps erupt over her skin as he leans in, and his warm, minty breath hits her ear as he whispers

"I wasn't before, but now I'll admit I'm looking forward to it too." Before stepping back, and giving her a wink. His shoulder brushes against hers as he walks around her. She nods her head, and pets Millie before going back inside to cool off.

XXXXXX

A/N: Special thanks to halsteadpd and queseraone, for everything, but especially for giving me ideas for this fic. There's a lot more in store already. Please review, and I'll try to update soon.