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I smiled and adjusted the fit of my cap. “Yeah, yeah. I just wanted to try to catch you. Last few shifts it’s been crazy on days, and then when it calms down, you’re already gone.”
“Well, what do you need?” He motioned to a chair and I sat down.
“I figured with the auction about four weeks away, I’d give you a little update.”
I ran through the latest plans for food and setup with him. “Krystal’s doing a really great job moving things forward.”
Danny's eyebrows lifted. “Is this the girl in the closet with you?”
I rolled my eyes, but I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. “It wasn’t like that. If Probie is shooting his mouth off again–”
Chief cut me off with a laugh. “I’m just messing with you, Storm. Besides, I heard around town that maybeit isa little like that.”
I froze.
Oh man. My mind raced with how to respond. Misleading Gladys with her creepy insinuations and aggressive matchmaking was one thing. But I didn’t really plan on the chief being interested in my love life–fake or otherwise.
“I, um, I don’t really…”
“Don’t worry about it, Storm. If it’s not official yet, it won’t be long. Why don’t you bring her to my house for dinner on Friday night?”
“Uh…” How could I get out of this?
“Don’t say no. If she’s as great as all the guys make it seem, I want to meet her. And besides, Marcy adores you, and she’ll be excited to have you over. She’s been bugging me to set you up with my niece, but I kept holding her back on that one.”
I coughed a laugh. “I appreciate that, Chief. Tell you what, I’ll see what Krystal is doing Friday and I’ll let you know.”
That would be no big deal. I could easily push off this dinner until she was going to leave town.
“All right. Saturday’s fine with us, too.”
Or not.
* * *
KRYSTAL
I took a deep breath in the cab of Bryce’s truck as we sat on the street in front of Chief Bergman’s house.
“Are you sure we should do this?” I asked, with a glance at Bryce. He wore a blue button-down shirt, and instead of being concealed by his usual ballcap, his hair was styled into that effortless tousled look the guys in LA surely worked far harder to achieve.
He winced. “I’m not really sure. I don’t think we have a choice, though. Apparently, everyone in town has opinions on our relationship. But we don’t have to act like anything more than friends, okay? Remember…everyone will just draw their own conclusions, right?”
I nodded. Friends. Right.
“I can do that.”
He smiled. “Good. Danny is pretty important to me. I care what he thinks, and I don’t want to lie to him.”
We knocked on the door, and a petite woman with reddish-brown hair answered with a grin. “Come in, come in! Bryce, it’s so good to see you. And you must be Krystal. I’ve heard so much about you. Daniel, you didn’t tell me she was so pretty,” she scolded her husband.
I grinned at her enthusiasm.
“I’ve never met the girl, Marcy.” Chief was a big man, with reddish cheeks and a bushy gray mustache. “Nice to meet you, Krystal. I can see why PFF Burns was jealous of Bryce here.” His laughter was deep and rumbled through his chest.
I glanced at Bryce, hoping for a translation.
“Probationary firefighter,” he explained. “Burns was the probie who ended up with the closet project for his smart mouth.”
