A slow smile spread across Nick’s face. “Anytime.”
As we left the gym, Jack’s mouth went a mile a minute as he told me all the cool stuff he got to do. I felt silly reading into Nick’s intentions. He was a good man who helped all the boys. More importantly, he knew where I stood. I didn’t have to worry about him trying anything or being any more than just a friend.
I was relieved, but couldn’t shake the slight, and confusing as hell, twinge of disappointment.
“YOU OWE MEbig for this shit, Garcia,” Will grumbled as he made his slow ascent up the ladder.
I beamed at him with triumphant self-satisfaction. In a genius move and some research on Yelp, I set up a dunk tank outside the Scout carnival. It was a little pricey, but I had zero doubt we’d have a good number of people willing to pay top dollar to dunk a fireman. I knew two mothers who would most likely be first in line. Was I exploiting the situation? Possibly. But I was too impressed with myself to care.
And despite Will’s grumbling, he would reap the benefits, too. A couple of other guys were headed here later after their shifts to take turns in the hot seat, and I was sure they’d all leave with more phone numbers than they knew what to do with. I predicted wonderful things from this little venture—helping my boys and redirecting unwanted attention. Nothing but positive as far my eyes could see.
“Sure, Will. Consider me in your debt.” I snickered as I made my way into the school gym.
We were only an hour in, but booths were already busy, and all the boys seemed pleasantly occupied.
“This is so great!” Dylan rushed over to me with a mouthful of cotton candy.
“The kids are already sugared up,” Dylan's mom, Bianca, noted as she came up behind him. “God help us all.” Her brows raised as she gave her son a smile.
Little things like this were important to kids, especially the little guys. Dylan and Jack were good boys, with the same disadvantage. In the beginning, I only volunteered to spend more time with my nephew. The expectant young eyes that fixed on me during every meeting made me realize how important this job really was, especially to the boys looking for a father figure.
“What's a carnival without junk food?” I smirked at Bianca and met Dylan's widened eyes.
“You mean there'smore?”
“Pace yourself, buddy. Wouldn't want you to be sick and miss out on everything.”
I dropped a hand on his shoulder while I craned my head around the gym, my perusal landing on the sand art booth. My eyes followed Ellie wherever she went, and today was no different. I watched her laugh with a little girl as she filled in her cup of sand. I could see why David loved having her as a teacher. She was sweet and patient, in addition to drop-fucking-dead gorgeous.
If Ellie was in a room, it was almost impossible for me to notice anything else. She was the first woman to knock me on my ass from the first moment our eyes met. This ridiculous pull toward her didn’t make any sense. With zero effort on her part, she drew me all the way in. The more I got to know her, the more I admired the hell out of her. She was a tough single mother—sweet as sugar until you got out of line—and watching her tiny little self get pissed off last night turned me on more than I wanted to admit. I thought we were getting somewhere until she point-blank told me she didn't date. I covered my disappointment with a joke, but that didn't make it sting any less.
The first woman I had an actual interest in after all this time shut me down—again—before I even had a chance to ask.
Ellie picked her head up and met my gaze. She gave me a cute little wave and a smile, and my legs directed me right to her. I didn't even remember where Dylan and his mother went.
“Hey, Nick!” Ellie's full lips split with a grin. “This is a good turnout!” She wiped stray sand off the table as she spoke to me.
“I think so. Between everything we have going on inside and the tank outside, we should make some nice money for the year.”
My eyes glossed over her body before I could help myself. She wore painted on skinny jeans paired with a long brown T-shirt fitted just enough to see every curve. She was casual, beautiful—and not interested.
She shook her head and laughed. “I can't believe you actually got a dunk tank.”
“I sensed a demand we could probably cash in on.” I winked, making her laugh even harder.
“Oh, you sensed right. I think there's already a line. Genius move.”
“That's exactly what I thought. Thank you!”
“When do you go up? Not to brag, but I was a pretty good softball pitcher in my day.” Ellie put her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. Those perfect pink lips pursed as she tapped her foot.
“So, it's like that . . .” I raised a brow as I inched closer to her. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was flirting with me. “No, I have some of the guys coming from the firehouse to take turns sitting up there. I have too much to keep track of here to be trudging around soaking wet.”
The smile faded from Ellie's face. Her playful demeanor disappeared as she sat back down. Her cheeks reddened and . . . were those freckles across the bridge of her nose? The more she blushed, the more pronounced they were. Did she have any idea how goddamn adorable she was?
A smile tugged at my lips. There was no way I could let this go.
“Something wrong, Mrs. Taylor?” I leaned over, my hands resting on the table and closing her in. Her skittish eyes darted everywhere but mine. I’d never seen a flustered Ellie before and was loving every second of it.
