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“How long ago was that?” I can’t stop myself from staring at her silky legs as she gets up off the floor.
She grins and says, “I’m twenty-three.” She could have told me that she was crowned prom queen yesterday, and I would have believed her.
“I know the place needs some work, but donations aren’t easy to come by these days, so I do what I can with what I have. The dogs are my priority.” Her voice softens when she speaks about the dogs, and I see a glint of passion in her eyes that makes her even more desirable.
She places the documents on the counter and takes Lucky out of my hands so that I can fill them out. I tap the pen on the paper as I contemplate whether or not this is the right time to ask her out. I work a lot and almost never date, but this girl is something special, and I’m dying to get to know her, but I need to make sure Lucky is taken care of first.
When I finish signing the papers, she asks me if I want to say a last goodbye to him. She hands me the pup, and as her hand brushes against mine, I feel a jolt of electricity that runs straight to my groin. This girl has got me good, and she isn’t even trying. One touch of her skin and I’m hard as a steel rod.
I give Lucky a hug and am about to ask her for her number when my radio cracks and whines, dispatching me to a fire in progress. I set Lucky on the floor and rush out to my truck. I have to haul ass to get there from here.
The door to the shelter is closing when I hear her yell, “Take care!”
***
We’re called to a small house fire. An elderly woman left a kitchen towel too close to the burner on her gas stove and left the room. By the time she returned, the fire was too big for her to control. Once the situation is contained, my mind drifts back to Sara at the shelter, and I look at my watch to see if there’s time to go back out there. Unfortunately, it’s almost five, and I’m running late for other plans. I tell myself that the shelter is probably closed anyway and commit to going back out there tomorrow. The one thing I know for sure is that I can’t stop thinking about her, so I have to see her again. Wild horses can’t keep me away from her.
2
The Fireman
Sara
Lucky needs a quick health check and a bath before I can kennel him for the night. Then, I have to go home and get ready for dinner with my mother, so I quickly examine him and put him in the tub. I try to concentrate but all I can think about is the tall, sexy man who dropped him off.
Sam is older than me but incredibly handsome in a rugged sort of way. The whole man in uniform thing was never a turn on for me, but he’s clearly the exception. With his huge arms and broad chest pressing against the blue uniform shirt, he looks more like a hot calendar model than a real fireman. He has thick black hair cut short, probably a requirement for the job, and a strong, sensuous face complete with a chiseled jawline and full lips. I felt my pulse quicken when he smiled at me, and I wished we had more time together. If I was a little bolder, I might have asked him out, but that’s not me. All I can do is hope that he comes back to check on Lucky so I can see him again.
Once Lucky is safely kenneled, I close up shop and head home to prepare for dinner with mom and her new husband. Some women change their hairstyles after a divorce but not my mother. My mother booked a flight, left the country, and fell in love with a man that she could have met just as easily at the corner market. What are the odds of traveling to Europe and falling for a man from your own hometown? When they decided to elope, mom offered to fly me out for the wedding, but it was financially impossible for me. The shelter has been bleeding money, and I don’t have the resources to hire a staff. There’s no way that I could leave the dogs in the care of my teenage volunteers. I’ve seen their photos, so I know what he looks like, but I’ll be meeting my new step-father for the first time tonight.
Mom and her husband already have a table when I arrive at the restaurant, and she waves me over. She stands, wraps her arms around me, and says, “Sara, I’ve missed you so much. You look great.”
“Thanks, mom. You look really good, happy too.” I hug her back and kiss her cheek. I’m not lying, though, because she’s glowing.
“Mark, this is my daughter, Sara. Sara, this is your new stepfather, Mark,” she introduces him, and he comes to our side of the table and hugs me.
“Glad to finally meet you, Sara,” he says.
“I’m sorry I missed the wedding. There was just no way that I could have gotten out of town,” I start to explain, but he waves it off.
“My son didn’t make it, either. You kids have your careers, and we parents have to be understanding. After all, we raised you to be responsible, hard-working people, right?”
He seems very nice, and I can see why my mother fell for him so quickly. He’s a well built, handsome man that I would expect to be in his mid to late fifties, but there’s something youthful about his eyes and has hardly a wrinkle on his face. He’s over six feet tall and looks strong, with a great deal of muscle definition for a man his age.
Mark holds my chair for me as I sit, then repeats the process for my mother. When he returns to his side of the table, he motions for the waiter and explains, “We’re having drinks while we wait for my son to join us, but I’d be happy to order some appetizers if you’re ready to begin.”
“Thank you, that would be nice,” I reply but he looks past me, smiles, and stands up waving to someone behind me. I assume that his son has arrived, so I turn in my seat. My jaw drops, and my heart pounds hard in my chest as his son approaches the table. I’m shell-shocked and tongue-tied like a twelve year old who just saw her childhood crush, and my cheeks get hot. There’s a slimy feeling in my gut, and I briefly wondered if this is actually happening.
“Sorry, I’m late. I was… Sara? Is that you? Wow, this is so crazy,” Sam says as he stands over me. He has the same perplexed look on his face.
“Hello,” is all I can manage to mutter. If I thought he looked good in his uniform, Sam in dark dress pants and a crisp, white shirt exudes raw masculine sex appeal. I’ve never fully understood when girls referred to guys as “a man’s man,” but that’s the only way to describe Sam.
“You know each other?” my mother asks, eyeing me as if she can sense my sudden discomfort.
“Yes. Sam brought a Dalmatian puppy to the shelter today. He rescued him from a fire,” I explain.
“Really? That’s a really nice thing to do. You’re a hero,” my mother exclaims, flashing Sam a quick smile.
“Well, since you two are already acquainted, let me introduce my wife and Sara’s mother, Susan. Susan, this is my son, Sam Sutton.”
