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“Do you want a cup?”
“If it will make you uncomfortable, I’d better not.”
“You can have coffee, Tony. I’m sorry I’m overly cautious. I need my job.”
“I’ll leave you alone at work. Is that a deal?”
Contemplating what he’d said, she realized she didn’t really want him to leave her alone, but maybe if he did so at work, it would be a good thing.
“Deal,” she said, holding out her hand.
He looked down at it, aware of what touching her might unleash, and as though in slow motion, moved his hand toward hers, reaching out for it, and almost like it was out of his control, he took it gently and brought it to his lips to kiss.
Chapter 3
Thursday morning, almost at the end of his three-day stint, Tony Saint sat at the edge of his bunk, scratching and yawning, happy to be going home after a hellish night. He heard the scratching of the intercom being turned on, and looked over at his brother Mike.
“No friggin’ way.”
“Escondido dispatch reporting a brush fire spreading to a structure,” a disembodied voice said. Before dispatch could call out assignments, the men were down the pole, pulling on turnout gear.
“Attention: engine 4, engine 6, wagon 2, ladder 17, squad 1, squad 2, rescue 1, fire chief C-1, duty chief 1, fire mechanic. All hands working,” a voice said.
“I’m on my way,” Charlie answered over his radio.
“Escondido 15 on scene,” Connie replied. “Requesting a water tender.”
When Bridget arrived, the organized exodus from the garage as the sun peeked over the horizon had begun, with Devon and Mike in the rescue vehicle. She wouldn’t need to go on this one.
“Yikes,” she said, getting out of the way of the trucks as they exited. Tony saw her and waved, mouthingcall mewith his hand to his ear, then laughing. It was already their private joke.
“Call me when you can tonight. You know I’ll be up,” he’d told her as she left each night.
“I don’t think I will. You need your sleep, and I have to take care of baby Flynn.”
“Can’t blame a guy for tryin’,” he’d reply.
The first night she laughed, the next she winked, and by the fourth night, she called. Well, she returned his call.
“I can’t wait for Saturday, so I couldn’t wait to talk to you again,” he explained.
“Ha! Is that right? You know I didn’t come there for romance, don’t you?”
“Of course you did. You were sent here for me,” he said seriously.
“Tony, the only problem is that today I heard you have a girlfriend.”
The news had shocked her because he seemed so genuine, and if he had a girlfriend, it was news he was hiding from her. Rick Jackson had told her. It had happened in a roundabout way, but later she could tell it was his motive to make sure she knew, maybe so he could home in like a pigeon. She stood at the counter, absentmindedly stirring a cup of coffee; Tony had left for the day. He’d be back the following Sunday for another three-day stint, and he didn’t think he’d last that long without seeing her. He’d have to take a chance and approach her, his heart thumping.
“I have a pass for SeaWorld,” he’d said, standing behind her. She could feel him there and smell the soap he’d used to shower after they came in from the fire. “Let me take you and Flynn on a date Saturday.”
“Tony, he’s only two months old,” she said, nervously moving away. As warmth spread through her, the impulse to put her arms around his neck was powerful, and she would do everything she could to resist him. “I don’t think SeaWorld would be interesting to him.”
Thinking, he brightened up. “How about lunch, then? We’ll have a picnic, and we can walk around the park. Do you have a stroller? My mother will help me make a killer picnic lunch.”
Relaxing a little bit, she’d given in; that actually appealed to her. “I’d like that. I don’t have a stroller, but I have a baby backpack. Thank you.”
“We’ll talk again soon,” he said, and left for the day.
