Page 6 of Recovered By Firefighter Daddy

CHAPTER SIX

Shane

"Are you sure you don't want to go somewhere else?" I asked as I looked around the bar that we had walked into. "This place seems a little bit... I don't even know." Next to me, Jamie smiled as she waved her hand dismissively, walking straight to the bar.

"Here's fine," she stated as she sat at the bar before facing me.

When she saw that I hadn't moved an inch from the door, she immediately patted the stool next to her, indicating that she wanted me to sit down. As much as I wanted to tell her that we should have just gone to the restaurant and gotten something simple to eat, I couldn't help but marvel at how adorable she looked as she sat there in the chair that was much too high for her. When I finally decided that there was no harm in entertaining the idea of her buying me drinks, I started towards the bar stool, getting cut off by a tall stranger who slipped into the seat just when I had pulled it out.

"Thanks, friend," the man said as he started to scoot himself into the chair before turning his attention towards Jamie, who looked disappointed that he had just stolen the chair she had picked out for me. Completely ignoring me, he continued as he leaned against the bar. "So, are you here alone?" She started to open her mouth to respond when the annoyance grew too much for me to bear, and I immediately marched over and pulled him back from the seat, nearly knocking him to the ground in the process.

"She's not interested, pal," I told him as I yanked him out of the seat. "Go flirt with somebody else." The man raised an eyebrow at me as he looked me up and down, taking into account just how old I truly looked as well as how young she seemed.

"Looking at the old man, I don't want any trouble," the man said as he crossed his arms, a smirk forming in the corner of his mouth. "Why don't you tell me what nursing home you came from, and I'll go give them a call so that we can get you back home?" My jaw dropped as I stared at him in disbelief, and, for the briefest moment, I wondered what it would be like to punch him in the face. Meanwhile, Jamie was already jumping up from her chair and moving behind me, clearly frightened by the way the man was behaving.

"On second thought, I changed my mind," she said as she tugged at my arm, trying to pull me away from the man. "Let's go to the restaurant. I'm hungry." Seeing the look of disappointment as well as shock on the man's face made it all worth it as Jamie started pulling me towards the door, and I decided to let it go this time around, knowing that it would be better not to upset her, especially since she had just gotten out of the hospital.

As soon as we were outside, we immediately walked across the street over to the diner, where a lot of people were gathering for mealtime. Even though it was only five o'clock at night, it was darker than midnight outside, so I allowed her to cling to me until we got inside. Once we were seated, she realized that she had been holding on to my arm for so long that she looked embarrassed as she let go and looked down at the menu before her.

"Sorry about that," she said as she picked up the menu, looking eager to change the subject. "I don't know what came over me, especially after that man came up and stole your spot." I couldn't help but smile as I shook my head, waving a hand dismissively at her as I looked down at the menu before me.

"It's perfectly fine," I reassured her while we prepared to give our order to the waitress, who had already come by with some water. "This is actually something that I had in mind rather than the bar anyway." She looked embarrassed as she took a sip of water, and I realized that something was a bit off about her. "So, how are you feeling? Are you still sick?" She shook her head as she looked back up at me, and, for the briefest moment, I saw a hint of fear in her eyes.

"I appreciate how nice you're being to me," she began as she placed the water cup down on the table. "Ever since my parents died in that avalanche, things have been pretty hard, and I appreciate you being kind to me regardless of it all. However, I really don't want you to get the wrong idea about all this either." Confused, I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Well, what exactly do you mean?" I asked, trying to figure out everything. "Like you said, you just wanted to invite me out for drinks, and since that didn't work out, we're getting dinner instead. Where would I get the wrong idea?" She closed her eyes and took a deep, cleansing breath, almost as if she was bracing herself for the worst possible situation that was about to come.

"I just want you to know that this isn't supposed to be a date," she exclaimed, and several heads turned in our direction as soon as the words had left her mouth while I stared at her in disbelief, completely lost for words.

Is it a date? Did she really think I expected this to be a date? As much as I hated to say it, I wouldn't mind it being a date, but I didn't mind the fact that it wasn't a date either. It seemed perfectly logical that until one of us specified that we wanted to be dating, we both assumed that it wasn't a date. That's how we were supposed to keep our hearts from breaking.

"I'm sorry if I upset you," she said as she glanced back down at the menu, looking ashamed at the fact that she had just blurted out the words. "I just wanted to clear up the situation before things got out of hand." A smile spread across my face as I shook my head.

"That's perfectly fine," I reassured her. "As much as I would love to start seeing you, I would be perfectly happy with just being friends for now."