He chuckled. “Time for a diet overhaul for a cute lady I know.”
“Didn’t we have the cute conversation?”
He cringed. “Oh, right.” Yet for all his talk about a diet overhaul, he drank two cups of coffee and put away half the cinnamon rolls. She packed up the rest for him to eat later and fixed him a cup of coffee to go.
“Maggie.” He shook his head as he studied her.
“What?” She put a hand in her hair, figuring she must look pretty mussed.
“You’re a sweetheart.” He looked like he wanted to say more, but his gaze slipped past her to the microwave. “Crap. I have to go.”
He took the coffee and bag of pastries, the strap of his go bag over his shoulder. He leaned in to kiss her, and yep, there went the warm and fuzzies flitting about in her belly.
“Damn,” he swore, his voice thick. “I need to go before I’m fucking you against the wall and late to work.”
She palmed his erection beneath the working uniform he wore, and his eyes crossed. She laughed. “Get out of here. I’ll talk to you soon, okay?”
“No.I’lltalk toyousoon.”
“That’s what I said.”
“Not quite.” He kissed her, his lips both firm and smooth. “Figure out when we can go out again. I’ll text you my schedule.” He cupped her cheek. “Bye, Maggie.”
And he was gone.
Maggie wanted to dissect the night, but a yawn told her she could afford to think too hard about everything later. She went to bed with a smile, inhaling Reggie’s scent on her pillow.
Chapter Fourteen
Reggie had to work to maintain a grumpy facade through changeover. It wouldn’t do to look too happy about life. No one was ever that chipper first thing in the morning. Though things did seem to look up when he realized he and the guys were back on the engine for the next month while the other crew on shift got the aid detail.
Reggie didn’t exactly prefer one to the other. He loved helping people regardless. Whether putting out fires in the engine or helping with medical crises in Aid 44 or 45, he was happiest when working. Because sitting around on his ass was boring.
As he and the guys settled into work, he prepared himself for the questions about his date with Maggie.
But they didn’t come.
The morning passed in a blur of activity. They had the engine to clean, some training videos to go over, as well as forcible entry drills their lieutenant had them reviewing.
Later in the day, a call came in about suspicious smoke at a residence off South Webster, but it turned out to be a barbecue smoker improperly vented. After ticketing the owner since he’d had a prior warning, they drove back to the station and decided to get in some physical training.
He should have known better.
The exercise room at the station was outfitted with some stellar gear. Everything new, from ellipticals and treadmills to exercise bikes, row machines, resistance machines, and tons of free weights and benches. The place wasn’t huge, but it wasn’t small either, and it always had firefighters making use of the equipment. While Reggie and his crew worked out, a few stragglers from the off-duty shifts swung by, and Washkowski and Hernandez, part of C shift currently working in the medical vehicles, were hanging out, chatting.
Reggie liked C shift, though he was partial to his own crew. Hernandez was okay but had a tendency to be an asshole more often than not. Wash, Reggie tolerated more than the others. A big guy from Boston who hadn’t yet left the accent behind, he worked hard and played hard and could always be counted on for a good time.
He also hung with Mack a good bit, pranking the other shift lieutenant more often than not. Reggie wondered when Sue would wise up to the fact that her guys were innocent of the Dora the Explorer stickers all over her notebooks.
As Reggie lay down and readied to bench press two-fifty, Mack, Brad, and Tex crowded him.
“Uh, guys? I only need one spotter.”
“I got this,” Mack said. “I am, you recall, our pull-up champ.”
Reggie snorted. “You got lucky.”
“Well, reigning champ. I’m still impressed.” Brad nodded. “I’m just going to watch Reggie’s form.”
