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“And I went there thinking I’d seduce Ash! We both had seduction plans.”
A few weeks ago, the man’s name would’ve sent a spear of jealousy through him, but this relationship they were building felt too damn secure for Ash to rattle. “Glad I won.”
Her eyes softened as she reached across the table for his hand. “Me, too.”
He held on to her for a moment, then regretfully pulled his hand back and picked up his menu again. “What do you want?”
“A burger. A big, juicy burger with cheese and bacon and all the bad-for-you stuff. But…” She sighed. “I’ll probably get a salad. My diet, you know?”
Yeah, he wasn’t about to let her do that. When the waiter came to take their orders, Sasha did indeed order a salad. He ordered two bacon cheeseburgers with fries.
“Wow,” she said as the waiter walked away. “Hungry?”
“Yeah, but one’s for you.”
She groaned. “Donovan, I’m trying to be good.”
“I don’t want you to be good. I want you to be fed. You’re gorgeous the way you are, and I hate the thought of you starving yourself to fit someone else’s definition of a beautiful woman.” He leaned across the table and lowered his voice as the hostess led a group of men past their table. “Besides, we burned a helluva lot of calories earlier, and I have plans to burn more when we get home.”
Her cheeks flushed a charming pink, and she opened her mouth, but he never got a chance to hear her reply.
“Donovan? Donovan Scott, is that you?”
One of the men broke away from the group and walked over to their table. He was tall and leanly built, with deep-set dark eyes and a sprinkling of gray at his temples.
“Tiago.” Donovan stood and met Tiago Jimenez’s outstretched hand with his own. “Hey. I hear I owe you one for making sure I didn’t end up barbecued.”
The Hispanic man threw his head back and laughed. It was a big sound, too loud for the hush of the restaurant, and drew several glares from other patrons. “Yeah, you’re just damn lucky my date went so well that night, or else I would’ve already been home asleep.” He turned his charming grin on Sasha. “Speaking of dates, I don’t believe we’ve met.”
Donovan glanced back and forth between them and wondered if his scrambled brain was playing tricks on him again because they must’ve met. Hadn’t Sasha flagged him down during the fire? Then again, that night had been crazy. It was possible Tiago just didn’t recognize her now.
Sasha narrowed her eyes in question at him, and he realized a beat too late that his silence had gotten awkward.
She stood and offered her hand. “Hi. I’m Sasha LeBlanc.”
“Oh, right. The vet. My sister—” Tiago broke off, and a deep, heavy grief flashed in his eyes before he hid it. He determinedly plastered his smile back in place, but it was less charming now, strained around the edges.
Donovan’s heart clenched with a brief, hot spike of sorrow. Chrissy Jimenez, Tiago’s sister, had been part of the Paws for Vets therapy group before succumbing to her heroin addiction. Her death had been a blow to them all because she had seemed to be one of their success stories, then, out of the blue, she stopped coming to the group. Less than two weeks later, she was dead from fentanyl-laced heroin.
Tiago cleared his throat. “Sorry. My sister’s cat was a patient of yours.”
Sasha nodded, radiating empathy. “Yes, Gizmo. His new owner still brings him to see me. I was very sorry to hear about Chrissy’s passing. I liked her.”
“Everyone loved her.” He stared at Donovan for an uncomfortably long moment. “Isn’t that right?”
“Yeah.” Chrissy had been one of those people who drew others to her with her bubbly personality and radiant smile. Even after the trauma she experienced while in the Army, followed by an addiction to painkillers that eventually led to heroin, she never lost that sparkle.
Donovan had been drawn to her, and they’d become fast friends. They would’ve been more if circumstances were different when they met, but at the time, they had both been supremely fucked-up individuals barely holding themselves together. Neither could’ve spared the emotional bandwidth for a relationship, though they had both wanted one. They’d flirted, dancing dangerous circles around each other right up until a couple of months before Chrissy’s death.
He swallowed back the lump of guilt suddenly blocking his throat. He hadn’t thought about Chrissy once since Sasha came into his life. “I never got the chance to tell you how sorry I am about your sister.”
A dark shadow passed over Tiago’s face. “She knew the risks every time she stuck that needle in her arm, but she didn’t stop.”
“I wanted to help her.”
“Yeah, man. We all did.” He sighed and glanced over to the table his friends had settled at. “I’d better get back. We’re headed out to the fireline tomorrow, so this will probably be our last good meal for a while. Sasha, nice meeting you.” He nodded to her, then clapped a hand on Donovan’s shoulder. “And you stay out of burning buildings, comprende?”
“Yeah, you don’t have to worry about that. It was a one-time deal. I’m not pressing my luck again.”
