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Val snickers.“What on earth has you freaked out?Is that Luc asking you to kidnap him if you get outbid or what?”
I slowly look up from my phone, having reread the message a second time.I stare over at my boss.“I honestly don’t know.Luc just asked if I could wearthisdress andtheseheels”—I glance down at my silver-heel-clad feet—”but the way he asked was kind of ...notLuc-like.”It hits me.“Maybe Scotty stole his phone.”
“Let me see,” she says, holding out her hand.She reads over the message and a slow smile transforms her expression.“Damn.He really does like that dress, doesn’t he?”
“But that’s not a Luc text.He doesn’t talk like that.Not tomeanyway.”My cheeks burn hot, and I’m definitelynotthinking about how my tummy flipped and my heart sighed when I read his words.
“That’s why your blushing?Sorry, Lonnie.But that text wouldn’t be from anyonebutmy brother.”
“But why is he talking like that?He’s made it clear more than once that we’re friends—bestfriends—and nothing else.”
“Stranger things have happened, babe.And I don’t profess to know the inner workings of a man’s mind, but sometimes they can get a wakeup call and realize things he either didn’t want to see before or didn’tthinkhe wanted to see.”
Her cryptic words confuse me even more, because Val’s talking in riddles.Maybe I’ve entered an alternate universe full of cyborgs who don’t make any freaking sense.
She claps her hands, snapping me from my thoughts.“Right.Well, we have to get going anyway, otherwise we won’t get there in time for all the fun and games.And we wouldn’t wanna missthatnow, would we?”
“Val, you know something, don’t you?About why Luc is sending me weird messages?”
“Lonnie,” she says, bracing her hands on my shoulders and dipping her head so that she locks eyes with mine.“Whatever happens tonight, I want you to just go with it.I’ve got your back.All of us Rossi women and soon-to-be Rossi women do.And we’d never do you wrong.So I’m gonna go to the kitchen and call for a car, I’m going to crack open that champagne in the fridge while we wait for it, and you’re going to spray some of that perfume IknowLuc likes and meet me there ...afteryou text him back and leave him wondering for a while.”
With a wink and a grin, she lets me go and walks from the room, leaving me standing there feeling a little off-kilter, alotconfused, and a bit curious as to why Luc is being almost flirty with me and Val is being cagey about what this night might bring.
Luca: Lonnie?
I um and ah over exactly how to reply, smiling when I decide that two can definitely play this game.
London: I guess that’s for me to know and you to find out.And BTW, don’t forget that I’m bidding with YOUR money tonight, and if you’re not enticing enough, I may have to bid on another eligible firefighter to entertain me ...
Luc: Over my dead body, beautiful.I’m the only fireman you’ll ever need.
Something about the tone of the text has me feeling weird in a totally good way inside, but I’m not about to tellhimthat.
London: There is one important fireman in my life ...my dad
Luc: I’m truly hurt, Lonnie.Maybe I should take out the competition and claim that number-one spot as my own
I giggle and shake my head.
London: You’re ridiculous.
Luc: Just how you like me.So, the dress?
London: I’ll think about it ...but you’ll owe me one.
Luc: I’m going to dazzle you.
London: Just dazzle?Well, that’s disappointing.
Luc: I’m going to rock your world, London Kelly.
London: Cleaning my oven?
Luc: Just you wait.
God, that beautiful, confusing, man.What the hell am I going to do with him?
The restof the women attached to Firehouse 101 are waiting in the lobby of a ritzy downtown hotel when Val and I arrive.
