“Damn, she was hot. Can’t believe you let her leave alone, bro.” At the sound of a voice behind him, Rico turned to see two twenty-somethings in suits, their eyes red-rimmed and unfocused, sniggering and swaying on their feet. “I’d hit that up in a second flat.”
“Probably about as long as you’d last with her, Owen. She’s out of your league.”
Frat boy idiots.Silently agreeing with the friend, Rico headed toward the subway. It had been a nice evening, but all he wanted to do was go home and go to bed. His phone buzzed.
Thank you for the lovely evening. Your father was right. You’re a very nice guy. Hope to see you soon.
If those frat boys only knew their competition was a gay man. He laughed all the way home.
*
The wail offire engines caught Rico’s attention the next morning as he walked to work. When he turned the corner and spotted a parade of red trucks lining the street in front of Garden of Eat-In, his heart almost stopped at the chaotic scene in front of him.
“What the hell?”
Smoke poured out of the building, and he prayed harder than he ever had in his life that it hadn’t spread to their store. Not only did he wish no one got hurt, but a fire now, when they’d only begun to see a profit, would cripple them financially.
Please please please.He skidded to a stop in front, watching the firemen climb the ladder braced against the front of the building, listening to their shouts. For a second he wondered if Adam was in one of the trucks, but the crackle from their radios spewing out unintelligible noise distracted him, and he strained to hear anything mentioning his store. Ash swirled through the clear morning air, stinging his eyes.
“Out of the way, out of the way.” A burly, older fireman with a brace of heavy equipment on his back brushed by him.
“That’s my business. My store is one of the ones on fire.”
“You know if there’s anyone inside?” The fireman stopped and spoke over his shoulder. “We’re getting the people out from the apartments above.”
“No. It’s not open yet. What happened?”
“Not sure. Could be faulty wiring, HVAC system, or arson. Too soon to tell.”
“Arson? Like you think someone did this deliberately?”
“We’ll know better when the smoke has cleared. Sorry, I haveta go.” He hurried away, leaving Rico staring after him.
Thank God Gideon wasn’t there. He’d go insane at the sight of the broken windows. Wincing at the thought of having to tell him about the damage, Rico scrubbed his face with his hands. “Shit,” he swore. The fiftieth birthday party for Judy Miller, who’d given them one of their first big jobs when no one else would, was tomorrow. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
“Rico?”
Glancing up, his heart beat a bit faster, but not from fear.
“Hey.”
Standing before him, face lined with concern and blue eyes blazing, was Adam. Broad shoulders filled out his heavy fireproof jacket, and the early morning sun behind him burnished his hair a fiery, red-gold halo. Goddamn, the man was sexier than he remembered.
“You need to stand back in case any of the other windows blow out.” His voice, gentler than the other firefighter’s but no less firm, didn’t keep Rico from asking more questions. He had to know.
“The other fireman said it might be arson. Is that true? Do you know anything? Adam, man, you gotta tell me.”
For a split second, Adam hesitated, then, glancing over his shoulder, took Rico by the arm and pulled him to the side. “Not sure. It could be something as simple as faulty wiring. I promise once the craziness settles down, I’ll make sure to find out and let you know.”
Rico nodded, now satisfied. A different kind of warmth, but no less intense than the heat from the fire, traveled up his body, centering on the point where Adam’s hand held on to his arm. He glanced down, then flicked his gaze up to meet Adam’s heated one, the yearning in their blue depths as apparent now as it had been their last time together. Thinking about the powerful hunger they’d had for each other, Rico mourned what could have been and drew away.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
He’s gotta understand. It’s better this way.
A veil of grim awareness settled over Adam. “I have to go.” And with that, he turned and hurried back to his colleagues, getting swallowed up in the morass of FDNY uniforms. But Rico knew where he was and kept an eye on him, watching as Adam deftly assisted the firemen bringing people down the ladders from the apartments above the store.
He could ill afford to spend time worrying about the hows and whys of the fire at this point. Determined to keep this problem contained and away from Gideon, Rico’s immediate concern was to call the insurance company first, then figure out another venue to cook for this dinner party. He thought of the synagogue’s kitchen but dismissed it, recalling they’d had a leak in the ceiling the other week and had to close it down. Gideon had mentioned that the plumbers were working on it, before he and Jonah left for Boston.
