Page 33 of Heat Advisory

“You have one chance to tell me what the hell just happened in the last five minutes before I walk out that door, Jay Rainer.”

He shook his head as if to clear it before turning his full gaze on me.

“Talk,” I demanded.

“You were about to leave and go meet whoever was on the phone, and I panicked,” he explained apologetically and somewhat frantically.

“That was my sister, Iris. I wasn’t meeting her.”

He stared at me in confusion. “But you said you’d get her everything in fifteen minutes, and then you put your jacket on. You were going to meet her—and leave.”

“I put my jacket on because even though it is ninety degrees outside, the inside of this restaurant is only a few degrees warmer than a freezer,” I explained with a huff. “And Iris just needs me to email her some things. I told her to give me fifteen minutes because I was going to look at the menu, order my food, and then pull up the emails on my phone and send them.”

His shoulders relaxed as his head dropped forward, his chin to his chest. I couldn’t tell if he was relieved or upset, but then his shoulders began lightly shaking. His head turned back up, and I could see the giant smirk. He was laughing.

“Good to know you’re enjoying this, while I’m over here completely confused about what just happened.”

“I panicked,” he said, still smiling but no longer chuckling. “I thought you were leaving, and this would be date three that didn’t work out. I knew I needed to come up with something before you left me and I lost out on any chance I may have of a fourth chance.”

“So you proposed?” I asked.

“In my defense, it was the first thing that came to mind,” he tried to justify. “I had been fidgeting with my ring while I waited for you, so it was already in my hand.”

He paused briefly in his explanation before his gaze turned more serious. “I should probably say I’m sorry, but I realize I’m actually not, at least not entirely.”

He sighed and dropped his head. “And then Leavenworth and his wife showed up, and I panicked again and didn’t know what to say. That man we spoke to is the key to me getting my promotion, and he makes me nervous, so the words just rolled out of my mouth before I thought better of them.”

“So he’s someone really important?” I asked.

“Yeah. That was Luke Leavenworth, the Assistant Fire Chief.”

“Oh, so your boss.”

“Sort of. Well, not yet. My current boss is Sawyer Stetson, my battalion chief,” he elaborated. “But he reports to that man you just met. The new job I want—fire investigator—would have me report to Hal Thompson, who is the Division of Investigation Chief. He also reports to Leavenworth. So if I want this job, both of them report to him. Thompson is in charge of filling that position, but Leavenworth can ultimately pick who the role goes to.”

“Who does this Leavenworth guy report to?” I asked, trying to understand the hierarchy.

“The Fire Chief, Bret Bleaker,” he answered.

“Who does that man report to?”

“The mayor.”

Oh shit.

This was getting more complicated by the minute, and I was afraid there might not be a way to backtrack from this.

“So what happens when that man we just met finds out the engagement was an accident and we aren’t really getting married?”

“What if we don’t tell anyone it was an accident and see how this goes instead?” His question was asked a bit timidly but full of hope that I would agree.

I had dreamed of being with this man since high school, and technically here was my chance. But this was not at all how I had ever envisioned this happening in my dreams.

I knew I needed to think about this—come up with my usual pros and cons list—but I couldn’t do that while he was around. I needed to be at home, in my safe space, where I could let my mind analyze every detail and give myself time to process what had just happened.

I just hope this decision didn’t come back to haunt me later.

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