“You cook in a firehouse?” Jack’s nose scrunched at Will. I laughed at how that was what fascinated him the most so far.
“Yep, we all take turns.” Will stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Even the lieutenant over here.” Will gave Nick an exaggerated salute.
“Because I’m the best cook and they would cry if I stopped.” He pursed his lips at Will and shoved his shoulder.
“Nice to meet you both.” Will cocked an eyebrow at Nick and strolled off. Nick scowled in return as he led us away.
“Can I see your uniform, Nick?”
“Well, this is my gear. Uniforms are only for special occasions.”
Jack peered inside Nick’s helmet.
“Who’s in the picture inside?”
Nick crouched in front of Jack and took the helmet from his hands. “That’s my mom, dad, and my sister. The baby picture next to them is my nephew, David.”
“Oh wow. David still looks exactly the same.” I chuckled. Nick’s mother was beautiful. Fair skin with brown hair and hazel eyes. Nick and his sister both inherited their father’s olive complexion, but Nick and his mother had the same twinkling eyes.
“So, that’s the five-cent tour.” He led us down the stairs and back outside. “What did you think?”
“So cool!” Jack beamed at Nick.
“Definitely,” I agreed. “I’ve never seen the inside of a firehouse before.” I offered Nick a smile. There went the familiar flutter I felt in his presence. Nick’s gaze broke away from mine as if he had the same spark in his belly when our eyes met.
“Well, I’ll let you guys go back to your Saturday. See you at school on Tuesday, buddy.”
“Do you want to go to the movies with us? My mom and I were going to seeTransformersand then make pizza when we got home.”
I cringed to myself before gazing back at Nick.
He uttered a sad chuckle. “That’s a nice invitation, buddy. But you should ask your mom first—”
“If you don’t have any plans, you’re more than welcome.” What was I doing? I didn’t have enough evidence today of how much of a bad idea spending time with Nick was? But I liked him. We both did, and it was just a movie.
The same as Nick and I had “just a dinner.”
“Nick, let’s sit here.” Jack yanked Nick by the hand down the movie theater aisle and pulled him into a seat. Jack plopped down in a seat next to him adjacent to the wall. So much for my son wanting to sit anywhere near me tonight.
“Perfectly good seat right here.” Nick patted the chair next to him. All the theaters had been renovated with leather recliners. Usually, since my son dragged me to the latest kid movie, it was a real fight to keep my eyes open and not drift off mid-movie. I was sure sitting next to Nick for the next couple of hours would keep me wide awake.
“I can’t wait to see Optimus Prime!” Jack exclaimed through a mouth full of popcorn.
“Me, too! He was my favorite when I was your age.” Nick took a handful from the bucket resting on Jack’s lap.
“Really?”
“And I used to drive a car like Bumble Bee.”
“You did?” I squinted at Nick as I took a slurp of diet soda.
“A yellow Camaro.” Nick’s mouth tipped in a sexy smirk as he pushed his seat back.
I bit my lip to hold in a laugh as the lights dimmed.
“You can wipe that smug look off your face. Chickslovedthat car.” Nick whispered in my ear. The hot tickle of his breath against my cheek made goose bumps spread down my neck to my shoulder.
“Did you drive around blasting Metallica in your banana-colored Camaro?” I giggled back. “At least they saw you coming.”
