“Someone else is giving you shit?” The tone of his voice almost had me regretting my previous comment.
I shook my head to signal that it was no big deal. “It was just Marshall. He was at the gym yesterday and said some things. I think his feelings were a little hurt, which is understandable.” I waved my hand around as if I was shrugging it off.
“What’d he say?”
“Eric, it was nothing?”
“What’d he say?”
I hesitated. “Just that he didn’t expect me to fall for the games of a firefighter or something to that effect.”
“What else?” he asked, forehead wrinkled.
“Uh, he said he thought I was smarter than that or something.”
He gave me a long glare. I could see the wheels of his mind churning but couldn’t read his facial expression.
“It’s okay, Eric. No big deal. Like I said, he was probably hurt. And I mean, I didn’t reach out to let him know that I was now seeing someone else—”
“Which you didn’t have to since you two weren’t a couple.”
“Yes, but…”
“But nothing. Does he go to the gym regularly?”
“Yes, that’s how we met.” I paused. “Don’t do anything. He got the message yesterday after I told him to have a nice life.”
Eric’s jaw clenched before he spoke. “I’m sure he did,” he retorted, but his eyes were staring at something over my head.
I cupped his face between mine. “I’m serious, Eric. Leave him alone, and he’ll go away quietly.”
He turned those dark brown eyes, which often spoke more words than his actual mouth, back to mine. They wrinkled at the edges when his lips formed a half smile. Leaning down, he kissed me. “Okay, Angel.”
I gave him a skeptical look, but he kissed me again, before pulling me into his arms, as he sat back against the headboard of my bed. I turned, so my back was against his chest again. We were quiet for a few minutes, just savoring the feeling of being in each other’s arms. It wouldn’t last all day. Eric had to go to work in a couple of hours and then I needed to open up the bar.
“You have a thing for white wicker.”
I glanced around my bedroom, at the white wicker dressers and vanity, along with the headboard of my bed, which was white wicker as well.
“The picnic basket you used the other week was made of white wicker, too.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I have a thing for it I guess. I went on vacation a few years back, and the hotel room we stayed in was all white wicker. It was right on the beach. Since then, it reminds me of spending time on the beach. That’s how I feel when I come into my room. It’s my own little getaway.”
“Where’d you go on vacation?”
I began telling him about my trip to Costa Rica that I took with friends as a college graduation present to myself. It was one of the most fun experiences of my life. We talked about other vacations we’ve been on until late that morning when I got up and made us both breakfast. Eric had to leave soon after that to get back to his place, shower, and change for work. I missed him before he even left.
Chapter Eleven
Eric
“So, you’re finally doing it, huh?”
I glanced over my shoulder from the laptop on my lap as I sat on the edge of my bunk to see Carter standing over me, arms folded. His head motioned toward the screen of my laptop. I turned back around as he rounded my bed to stand in front.
“Yeah, it’s about time,” I answered, typing in the rest of my registration form for the lieutenant's exam.
“Damn right it is. When’s the test?”
