What did her mother tell her? Live a little and don’t be so rigid?
Yeah, right. Some habits were hard to break.
She looked at her watch, saw that twenty minutes had gone by.
How could she not be rigid when she had a plan that wasn’t going her way?
“I hope they aren’t much longer,” Mary said. “Tom just texted me he’s bringing dinner home and it’s going to get cold if we have to stand around here.”
“Just eat it out here,” she said.
Her stomach was rumbling now too.
“It’s not burgers,” Mary said indignantly. “He’s bringing home seafood casserole and linguine.”
“Lucky you.”
Wish she had someone to bring her dinner home now and again.
“Looks like maybe they are wrapping things up,” another woman said who came over. She didn’t know the older woman’s name and didn’t care all that much. Seemed like it was someone Mary knew.
“I hope so,” Jocelyn said. Her plan of going to the gym was changing. Yoga in her apartment, then a quick dinner and shower sounded better. And faster.
See, she could pivot just fine.
“I heard that someone started the fire the other day in a garbage can. They are still trying to figure out who did it.”
There was more talking around her. She’d seen the one fireman come out with the can in his hand days ago and give itto the building manager. Probably had some truth to it, but she wouldn’t believe anything unless it came from the source.
“I hope they figure it out,” she said. “Because this is irritating. It’s always around this time too. Maybe they should narrow it down that way.”
The last two alarms came when she was coming home from work and barely got out of her car. She’d been late those two days. Today she’d gotten out earlier than normal.
“That’s a good point, Jocelyn. You should bring it up with the manager.”
How did this woman know her name? Probably Mary.
She shrugged. “We’ll see.”
More firemen came out, the captain going to talk to the manager again. She was watching the men while they worked to see if there was any sense of urgency and there hadn’t been once they’d exited the truck.
One fireman lifted the shield on his helmet, another did it too. The one who was looking toward her.
He wore a sexy smirk, and her jaw dropped in response. Then, with maddening ease, he lifted a hand in a lazy salute.
Only one man had ever made that move in her life.
Holy shit, that was Chance Drummond. What was he doing dressed like a fireman?
Not dressed like one in costume, butactuallyin uniform.
Yes, please!
Didn’t he own a bar?
She lifted her hand in a half-hearted wave, clearly stunned, and him throwing his head back in laughter didn’t help.
With all the noise around her, it was as if the sound pressed right into her ear, intimate and undeniable. Her chest warmed, tingles swept through her limbs, and her heart pounded so loudly it drowned everything else out. The world blurred, leaving only the rush of feeling she hadn’t expected but couldn’t ignore.
