She turned down the police officers today, but she wouldn’t do that forever. The day would come when she said ‘yes’ to another man. Some guy who was willing to take the risk on a woman as sparkling and beautiful as she.
He looked back at the picture he’d stopped on. Why was he holding a goofy picture when he could be holding her instead? How many times could he slam the door in her face before she moved on?
Perhaps it was time to reconsider his priorities. Or abandon them completely.
Chapter 16
* * *
Erin couldn’t sleep.
It was almost midnight. and she was too jazzed up. They were back on service as of 2100. The Chief was covering Williams’s spot. Baker’s presence was never good for Erin’s emotional state and knowing he was sleeping a floor below her wasn’t helping her find dreamland.
She had constant wild fantasies where she climbed into the Captain’s bunk room and seduced him.
Or she found him in the gym and got on her knees.
Quietly deserting her bed, she hoped occupying her time would keep those impulses under control. Dividing the mass of noodles into takeout containers for each shift seemed like a good idea.
Footsteps from the stairs alerted her she wasn’t alone anymore. A too attractive fire chief, still wearing a comfy Firehouse 33 T-shirt and jeans, encroached on her solitude.
“Hi, Chief.” Erin tried to keep her focus on the kitchen island in front of her, not the off-limits man.
“Hudgens,” Baker acknowledged her and lounged against the island, only a few feet from her. “That’s quite a lot of noodles.”
“Yeah. If I label it ‘gagh,’ do you think people would still eat it?” she quipped, avoiding eye contact.
“In my experience, after enough calls, starving firefighters will eat anything, including the tray and food labeledKlingon space worms,” he answered, his voice soft and low.
Erin glanced at him and regretted it. His gray tinged hair was more tousled than she had seen in the past. It was sexy dark-Jedi Chief bedhead.
She needed to fill the air with something. Anything, rather than offering to get an up-close and personal bedhead experience. “Do you want some noodles?”
“Thai food is fine, but I’m more of a hamburger and fries guy.”
She avoided looking at his trim waistline or letting her runaway tongue mention how good his body felt when she landed on him in the water pit. “It doesn’t show. You know what? I should stop talking.”
“You talk as much as you want. It’s refreshing,” he whispered. She could have sworn he inched toward her, but that wasn’t possible.
“I should have recruited more help before I unloaded these.” Erin said, telling herself she imagined it.
“Everybody else settled down for the night?”
“I think so. There was a pre-bunkroom thumb war over who gets to call Charlie.”
“All three of them?”
“Luna got her number, too,” Erin joked. “Kevin gave her a picture. It’s one of his easiest openings, makes him seem all sensitive.”
“And vulnerable with hidden pain,” the Chief said, “though he had his whole family thing today.”
“He’s had worse Unbirthdays according to Aiden. At least the cake was yum this year.” It was on the other counter, reduced to the largest two tiers and the ‘Jay-Z’ scrapped off.
“Was it? I missed having a piece.” The Chief didn’t turn to the cake.
“Do you want some cake now? You’d expect cheap cake, but it ended up being this sweet, airy, melt in your mouth type of chocolate.” She stepped toward the counter holding the cake but found Baker had blocked her path with his body. When had he moved?
“I’m not hungry for cake.” He regarded her steadily.
