“I want to do something with animals when I grow up,” Cooper says confidently. “Maybe work at a zoo or something.”
“That’s super cool. I love animals.”
I take in their casual conversation, my heart warming. The ease with which Sawyer interacts with Cooper is exactly what I hoped for, even as it surprises me just how close they seem to be after meeting only two times. But that’s Sawyer, I guess. You can’t help but like the man, whether you’re a kid idolizing a hero, or a woman daydreaming about a man. Then Sawyer gives a hard pull on the hose reel and turns to me with mischief written all over his face.
“Do you think your mom wants to handle my hose?” he asks, his tone of voice casual even as I choke on air.
“No, but I do!” comes Cooper’s enthusiastic reply, his obliviousness to Sawyer’s innuendos a relief.
I give them both a stern glare. “I don’t want to get wet, boys. Not today, at least.” My words hit their intended mark as Sawyer coughs to cover up his own laugh.
For several minutes, I watch as Sawyer lets Cooper spray the hose at the other truck his teammates are washing. When they’re done, he shows Cooper how to reel the hose back in, the two of them laughing and joking with each other as well as the other firefighters the entire time.
Patting Coop on the head once they’re finished, Sawyer says, “Hey Coopzilla, why don’t you head inside with my friend Castro, and he can grab you some of the stuff we have for open house days. I’ll be in soon with your mom.”
“Okay,” Cooper says, happily following after the other firefighter.
“Not gonna lie, angel, it’s painful being this close to you and not touching you.”
The rumble of his voice comes from closer than I expected, and my head whips around from where I was watching Cooper enter the station to see Sawyer leaning casually against the side of the fire engine.
“Thank you for this, for taking the time with him.”
It’s not what I want to say. Heck no, I want to tell him I’m struggling to keep my hands off him as well. That I want to kiss him senseless for being so good to my kid, that I want him to come to my house when Cooper’s at school tomorrow and make me scream his name again.
But I can’t say that. Not here, where his coworkers are around, scrubbing the other fire truck, hopefully oblivious to the ridiculous amount of lust I’m certain is radiating out of me. Thank God Sawyer seems to be on the same wavelength, because instead of flirting any more, he folds his arms across his chest and gives me a softer smile.
“He’s a good kid, Tori. A great one. You’ve done an awesome job with him, I can tell, even after only hanging out with him a couple of times. He’s smart and curious.”
His compliment hits me hard, but in the best possible way. “Thank you,” I murmur. “He makes it easy. Most of the time.” Our eyes connect. “You handled his question about being scared really well. It’s not always easy answering kids’ questions; they have zero filter but they also can sense a bullshit answer a mile away.”
Sawyer nods slowly. “Everything I said was true. I love my job, and I never underestimate the risk or the importance of it. It’s my priority, because if I don’t take it seriously, if I’m not focused, that’s when stuff goes wrong.”
The subtext in his message is clear. This is why he doesn’t do relationships. Just like he said over the weekend, he can’t afford any distractions at work. Now, I’m confused. Is he trying to say even our casual sex agreement is too much of a distraction?
Pushing off from the truck, Sawyer makes to move past me. “But what I didn’t say is that my job can be summed up in one sentence. I go in hot, and I don’t stop until everything is verywet.” With one wicked wink, and a subtle brush of his hand against my side, he walks toward the station. “Let’s go find the little dude and make sure the guys hooked him up right.”
And just like that, Sawyer Donnelly walks away, yet again, leaving me a puddle of lust — and confusion.
Chapter nineteen
Sawyer
“That was one hot mama who came to visit today.”
The force of the glare I turn on Castro as we’re packing up at the end of our shift could melt the pavement, but the piece of shit just stands there, unaffected. “Don’t be a dick, Castro,” I growl.
He scoffs. “Acknowledging a woman’s beauty is hardly me being a dick. But if you’re laying claim, I’ll back off. Are you tryin’ to get in her pants?”
I start to see red, but Sloan’s hand on my shoulder holds me back. “Hey Castro, get your ass in the kitchen, you were on dinner cleanup duty and the place is a mess. You know Cap won’t let you leave till it’s done,” he says to his fellow probie.
Thankfully, Castro hustles out of the bunk room without another word, but now I’m left with Sloan, the other guys already gone. And this motherfucker is looking at me like he knows something.
“What?”
“He’s got a point, Sawyer. Anyone with eyes could see you flirting with her earlier.”
I shrug off his hand. “Fuck off, probie. We’re just friends. You were there, you saw, I helped her kid when I did the career day thing.”
