“Okay, that works.”
“Six o’clock.”
“I’ll see you then.” I gave him what I thought was one last smile, but he had other plans. I pressed the button for my locks, but when I went to open it, his large hand covered mine. I felt his warm breath on the back of my neck and the heat from his body along my backside.
“I got it,” he said in my ear, pulling the door open for me to get in. “Wear something comfortable, to walk around in.”
Turning, I looked at him, confused.
“For tomorrow night.”
I nodded and then shivered when he ran his thumb along the inside of my wrist before releasing my hand just enough to allow me to get in the car. Instead of shutting the door, he leaned down, resting one arm on the roof of my car.
“Drive safe, Angel.”
Another shiver. I was liking my new nickname, but only if it came from his lips.
“I will.”
He stepped back, watching me as I started the car and pulled out of the parking space. I took a peek in my rearview mirror and saw those dark, hooded eyes still watching me. The first thing I was going to do when I got home was to take a cold shower. Unfortunately, my phone rang a few moments later, interrupting my thoughts about Eric.
I sighed when the name of the caller popped up on my car’s bluetooth screen.
“Hi, Marshall,” I answered.
“Hey, Angela, how’re you?”
“I’m well, just finished teaching spin class.”
“That’s good. I was calling on my break to see if you wanted to go out again tomorrow night. I know Wednesday and Sunday nights are your only evenings off.”
“Yeah, uh, I can’t tomorrow night.”
“Oh.” Disappointment filled his voice.
“Maybe next week?” I injected my voice with false hope.
“Sure. Sure, next Wednesday will be fine.”
“Okay, that’s great. Listen, I just got home and need to do a ton of stuff before I go in tonight.”
“A-all right then. I guess I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.” I felt guilty for rushing him off the phone like that. Marshall was a good guy?an eighth-grade English teacher who tutored over the summers. The few dates we went on were decent, but none of them compared to the feelings experienced in Eric’s presence. And while I’d told Stephanie passion wasn’t that important and building a solid foundation with someone was, I’d be a fool to actually believe it. Besides, it’s not like Marshall was my boyfriend, and Eric and I were just going on one little date. I’m sure after our date we would both realize there wasn’t much between us besides physical attraction. I avoided dating firefighters for that very reason. But for some reason, I couldn’t find it in me to turn down Eric’s offer.
Chapter Four
Angela
I checked my gold wristwatch again. I wore it because I liked the way it looked against the sleeveless white flowy top I wore, with a pair of skinny sky-blue jeans that were ripped at the knees. On my feet, I wore a pair of platform white, strappy sandals. I wasn’t sure how to dress for the evening since Eric didn’t tell me where we were going. I hoped I dressed appropriately for our evening out. It was about ten ’til six, which meant I had just enough time to freak out about our impending date.
I checked around the bar to see Stephanie and Walter behind the bar serving the happy hour customers who’ve begun to trickle in since our four o’clock opening. I liked having the bar closed during the day. It left me some free time in case I needed to come in and do paperwork, pay bills, make orders, or anything else with less of a distraction. I checked my watch again.
“Keeping time?”
A chill ran down my spine. I turned on the bar stool I was sitting on and my breath caught as Eric’s tall, muscular build came into my line of sight.
“Just making sure I was on time,” I lied. “I hope this is okay. I wasn’t sure what to wear.” I held out my arms, displaying the outfit I chose.
