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“Come on, Claire, you’re a relationship kind of girl, and that’s not a bad thing. And what about your rule? You don’t date firefighters, remember?” And for a damn good reason.
“Oh, right.” The hope drains from her face. “That pesky little occupation.” She worries her bottom lip for a few seconds. “I’m starting to wonder if my rules are stupid.”
“Your rules aren’t stupid. They’re logical, and you have them in place for a reason, and while I believe that someday you will move past them, I don’t think today is that day. And I’m not sure I want to be the test dummy.”
Her cheeks flush, and she looks down. “Maybe you’re right.”
“Small steps, Claire. Maybe you should start with Milo.”
“So where do we go from here?” she asks, looking up.
“We go back to doing what we’ve always done.”
“And what’s that?”
&nb
sp; “I flirt and annoy you, and call you Red, and you ignore me. It’s our thing.”
“I’ve never been able to ignore you.”
“Pretend.”
“So, we just forget tonight happened? I’m not sure I can do that.”
“I hope you don’t forget it, because I sure as hell won’t. Tonight becomes a fond memory—one of many between us—that we’ll file away like all the others.”
She nods, her wistful smile transforming into a yawn.
“It’s been a long day.” I brush a thumb across her plump bottom lip. “It’s getting late. You should head home and get some sleep. You’re probably going to be sore tomorrow.”
Claire slides off the bathroom counter. She’s halfway out the door when she turns around. “Tonight wasn’t a mistake, right?”
“Not at all.” I’m protecting you, Red. I’m protecting both of us. Because losing Claire over what I did would be far worse than never having her at all. “It just can’t happen again.”
She flashes me her beautiful smile one last time. “See you around, Trevor.”
8
Claire
“What are you doing here? You do realize you aren’t on the schedule to volunteer tonight, right?” Mo says, swirling in her seat when I blow by her.
“I know.” I disappear into the back room where Mo keeps the animal supplies she gives away with an adoption. Doggie bed. Check. Food bowl. Check. Adoption blanket. Check. Treats. Check.
“Would you like a box for all of that?” Mo asks.
“That would be great. Thank you.”
She looks at me strangely and then disappears, returning a couple of seconds later with a cardboard box. I dump everything in my arms into the box and take it from her.
“Um…Claire?”
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing with all of that?”
“I’ve decided to adopt Milo.”
