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“Are you done? You didn’t eat very much.”
“That was a big plate o’ eggs,” she said, pushing it away. “Do you want to leave now?”
“Yeah, let’s head out. I’ll drive if you’re okay with it. I don’t think I’ll fit in your car.”
“Ha! It’s not as little as it looks, but you can drive.”
Wondering if he could sense she liked to be in control, Geri decided that being herself might not work in a relationship. But she didn’t really want a relationship, did she? Maybe the smart thing to do was to insist on driving like she usually did, and that would turn him off and he’d leave her alone.
They walked out to his truck side by side. He unlocked her door and held it for her, a real gentleman.
“How’d you know I would want to drive? Most guys would just assume they’d drive on a date.”
He looked down at her and gave her that smile. Those eyes smoldered all the time. “I had a feeling you might not appreciate it if I just said I was going to drive. Was I right?”
“It’s not that I wouldn’t appreciate it. I like to drive because I hate giving up control. I guess I must be afraid of something.”
He paused for a moment while she climbed in his truck. “Are you afraid of me?”
“No, not exactly. Not of you. I’m afraid of getting involved.”
Nodding, he closed her door and walked around the front of the truck, the expression on his face definitely one of concern.
He looked over at her when he started his truck. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Sure. It’s really simple. I have a goal to climb the ladder in the fire service. I haven’t let anything stand in my way of becoming a firefighter, and it wasn’t exactly easy, because I’m a woman.”
“I thought San Diego fought to get more women in.”
“Yes, that’s all well and good, but talking about it and actually making it possible are two different things. There’s still a lot of sexism. I thought I’d have a better chance at a rural station. After three days, it feels like I made the right decision. Not that I want Charlie’s job, but beyond that, in the county department.”
“Wow. I feel like a slug now,” he said, laughing.
“Please don’t. I’m just driven that way. I’m probably still competing with my brothers.”
“Yeah, none of my brothers aspire to anything more than just what you see. We’re content to just fight fires.”
“That’s fine, truly. I’m too self-absorbed to care what anyone else’s goals are.”
“I find that attractive,” he said, smiling at the windshield.
“Ha! Oh great.”
Her plan to turn him off with her control-freak, career-driven mindset was thwarted.
“Did you think I’d cancel our plans because you want to make something of yourself?”
“Yes, actually.”
“I think you’re amazing,” he said. “Watching you climb up on the truck to polish the ladders was a turn-on.”
She decided to switch gears from fear to acceptance. Maybe there was something to learn here. “Well, thank you, Jake. I think you’re amazing, too.”
“You do?”
“I do.”
“I’m just an average guy.”
