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Under different circumstances, I could see having a romantic relationship with this man.
Unfortunately, that’s not in the cards. We need to figure out how to work together productively so we can finish the project, and then I’ll be on my way home.
We head back to the path that leads up to Shawn’s house, and he suddenly tenses.
“What is it?”
“Something’s wrong.”Chapter 4~Shawn~“What’s wrong?” Lexi calls out from behind me as she scurries up the hill, following my lead. She’s in excellent shape, and she’s able to keep up with me.
“Don’t you smell it?”
“Smell what?”
I stop and turn to her, and she plows right into my chest. I catch her shoulders in my hands to keep her from falling.
“Take a deep breath.”
She complies, and then her eyes grow round. “Fire?”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, God. Is your house on fire?”
“I fucking hope not.”
My heart races in my chest as I crest the top of the hill and round the path. My eyes skim over my home, and I breathe a sigh of relief that I don’t see any smoke coming from the building or the detached garage.
“Not your house,” she says, panting. “Has to be a neighbor. Or the woods.”
“I only have one neighbor close by. I’m going to run over and see if it’s their house. You stay here.”
“Yeah, right,” I hear her mutter as I take off in a full sprint, running to the neighbor’s house that’s a quarter of a mile down the road. Sure enough, smoke plumes from the roof of Steve’s house.
I don’t have to look back to know that Lexi’s right behind me. I can hear her panting. She’s too damn stubborn to do as I ask.
“Stay back. I mean it, Lexi.”
“You can’t go in there!” she shouts, but I ignore her and kick in Steve’s back door.
“Duchess!” The fattest English Bulldog you’ve ever seen in your life comes jogging toward me, whining. “Come on, baby girl. Let’s get you out of here.”
“Oh, poor baby,” Lexi says as Duchess lumbers over to Lexi and kisses her hand.
I immediately call 911 and give them the information about the fire, and then call my neighbor on his mobile.
“Hello?”
“Steve, it’s Shawn. Your house is on fire, man. I got Duchess out and called 911, but you’ll want to get over here.”
“Shit. I’m on my way. How bad?”
I stare at the billowing smoke. I can now see flames coming out of the roof.
“Bad. I’m sorry.”
“Be there in ten.”
He hangs up, and I can hear sirens from the fire trucks as they make their way down our windy road. Lexi’s sitting on the ground, cradling the big dog in her arms.
“At least Duchess looks happy.”
“She’s a sweetie,” Lexi says and kisses the dog’s face. “You know, I never thought much about having a dog, but I think when I get home, I’ll look into getting one. I mean, how could anyone resist this face?”
Her anger from earlier is gone, and despite the inferno raging behind me, Lexi grins at Duchess, petting her gently. I briefly wonder what it would feel like to have Lexi’s hands stroking me like that; to have her smile at me with such tender affection.
I must be losing it if I’m jealous of a dog.
The fire trucks descend on the area, and we’re pushed back so the firemen can do their jobs. Steve comes screeching up beside us in his truck a few minutes later. He immediately reaches for his bulldog, who happily abandons Lexi for her master.
“Thank God you got her out.” Steve’s a middle-aged bachelor who never married. He has his dog, and he works as an attorney in town. “I usually take her with me, but I had meetings today, so I left her home.”
“It doesn’t look like she was near the fire,” I reply. “I’m sure sorry about this. Just let us know if you need anything.”
He nods, and I step back to take Lexi’s hand. We stay for a few minutes more as Steve calls his brother and gets things as under control as he can, and then I lead Lexi back to my house.
“That poor man,” she says quietly. “He just lost everything.”
“Not everything. He still has Duchess and his family, who will be happy to let him stay with them while he rebuilds.”
“Still, it’s scary.”
“Look,” I say as we approach my house. I take a deep breath. The idea of going back to work now, returning to the bickering and being flat-out pissed at each other, appeals about as much as a root canal. “It’s Saturday. We shouldn’t be working today anyway. Let’s go into the city for a few hours. I’ll show you some stuff, and we can just enjoy the day.”
“That actually sounds nice. But I smell like a campfire.”
“Showers first. Then we play hooky.”* * *“I’ve never seen so many flowers in one place in all my life,” Lexi says a couple of hours later as we walk through Pike’s Place Market. We just took her obligatory photo with the famous pig statue, and we’re eating piping-hot tiny donuts as we browse. She fusses over a specific bouquet, and without a second thought, I tug some cash from my pocket and buy it for her. “You didn’t have to do that.”
