“No, I wasn’t laughing at you,” I promise her. “It’s just that Tony’s been pushing me to find ways to diversify, and now you toss this in my lap. Either you two are working together behind my back, or I really needed fresh eyes to see the opportunities I’m missing out on.”
“Well, you’ve kept that gorgeous man of yours all the way across the country, so I can guarantee you we haven’t been teaming up against you,” she teases. “It’s probably just a case of great minds thinking alike.”
I shove the folder of information in with the rest and glance at my phone. I have about thirty minutes to get to the airport if I don’t want to race through security. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it. I’ll go over this in the next week, and then we’ll talk about it. Okay?”
“Sounds good, boss.” I wave as I walk out of the building, feeling better than I can remember being in a long time. I still hate the time I have to spend away from Tony when a major client comes in, but it’s okay. I might be able to do this.
* * *
The house isdark when I walk inside. I flip on the kitchen light and see a note from Tony, letting me know he picked up a shift for one of his buddies who had a family emergency. I send him a quick text, and start unpacking while I wait for a response.
An hour later, there’s still nothing. I turn on the scanner and hear chatter about a café fire in town. Over the past few months, this little box has become my best friend. When I know something’s going on, I sit at the breakfast bar, trying to keep tabs so my mind can’t race out of control. Tony says it’s a bad habit, but he doesn’t push it because he knows how nervous I am about what he does.
With nothing better to do, I get up and start cooking. It sounds like the guys have already been on the scene for a while, so they’re going to be hungry when they get back. I’ve done it a few times, and some of the guys give Tony a hard time about his boyfriend taking care of everyone like a den mother, but they never have a problem eating the food.
When it sounds like they’re loading up to head back to the station, I carefully place the pans of ziti into the trunk of the Charger and drive into town. By the time I stop off to pick up something for dessert, because I’m not about to waste homemade baked goods on this group, the trucks are all back in the garage and the guys are getting cleaned up.
“DeLuca, the wife’s here,” his buddy, Anderson calls out. First name Anderson, not last, as he quickly pointed out to me the first time we met. I think he was rambling, trying to come up with anything to say, because it was easier than addressing the elephant in the room. In our case, that elephant was the fact that he’d just walked into the alley to find Tony with his tongue shoved down my throat.
“Fuck off! You’re just jealous no one’s sucking your cock these days,” Tony yells from somewhere in the back. He walks out with a towel wrapped around his waist and another drying his hair. It takes every bit of willpower I possess tonotthink about the fact that he’s naked under there. “Hey, baby.”
I duck away when he leans in to kiss me. I’m still not exactly comfortable with public affection in the station, especially not when he’s practically naked. Tony thinks I’m insane, but I figure we’re lucky no one has caused bigger problems for Tony than a few sophomoric pranks.
“Get dressed and I’ll be in the kitchen.” I inform him. Anderson, who’s already had his turn in the showers, is at the back of the car, waiting to see what I brought with me. I may want to consider getting a hobby if some of the guys are starting to equate me showing up after a fire with them getting a hot meal.
While most of the crew finishes getting cleaned up, and whatever it is they do out there, I make myself busy in the kitchen, getting dinner ready to put on the table. Not exactly how I hoped to spend the one night we’ll have together in over a week, but at least I’m not sitting around the house irritated that he’s working.
Tony walks in and starts helping me pull plates and glasses out of the cupboards. “You do know you don’t have to do this, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s better than sitting home alone,” I say, not doing a great job hiding my annoyance. “Besides, I knew the guys would be hungry and most of them enjoy it. I blame Mama, she’s the one who taught me to cook when I’m anxious.”
“I do love that woman.” Tony laughs as he kisses my cheek. He jumps back at the sound of someone clearing his throat across the room. We both look up to see the chief looking somewhat amused at having caught us. “Sir, sorry about that. I was just trying to thank Dom for taking care of us.”
Chief Mitchell motions for the two of us to take a seat at the long dining table. We do, and I shift uncomfortably on the wooden bench. The way he’s looking at us now is precisely why I keep telling Tony we have to keep our distance.
“I wanted to talk to the both of you, before everyone comes in to eat.” The older man tugs at the collar of his shirt, which only makes me more nervous. “Dom, you have no clue how much of a help it is when you bring food down, but I do worry about how it affects Tony.”
“Sir?” I ask, not ready to admit that these same thoughts have crossed my mind.
“This is a bit of a man’s world, and I’m worried how the guys might act toward Tony. I have enough shit to raise my blood pressure, I don’t need to add to it, wondering if any of my men are being assholes,” he says gruffly.
“Sir, I appreciate the concern, but it’s nothing I can’t handle,” Tony assures him, reaching for my hand beneath the table. “When we’re on the scene, I’m not any different than the rest of them.”
Chief Mitchell stands, knocking his fist against the wooden table. “Good to hear. If anything changes, you’ll tell me?” Tony nods, and the chief leaves us alone.
* * *
Tony
By the timeI get home, it’s almost two in the morning. In less than seven hours, I have to be back to the station so a few of us can drive Richmond for three days of intense training. I used to live for these trips, but it’s bittersweet now, because it means time away from Dom.
I sneak into the bedroom, and find Dom sitting up in bed with papers strewn everywhere. He looks sexy as hell in his reading glasses, and I start calculating how much sleep Ineedbecause I really don’t want to wait three more days to be with him. Unfortunately, my body chooses that moment to remind me what a crappy day it’s been. My muscles are all sore, and my back is killing me. I need to start focusing on spending time in the gym again, because I can feel myself going soft.
“Hey you, I was starting to wonder if you’d be home at all,” Dom greets me when he realizes I’m standing in the door watching him work. He starts shuffling the papers into a stack as I strip out of my uniform. He turns down the quilt and I climb in next to him, picking up the papers.
“What’s all this?” I ask. The last time we talked about it, Dom seemed fairly intent on selling his company, which I truly believe is the worst thing he could do. From the looks of it, he might be coming around, because the proposal he’s looking at isn’t something that would interest a man who’s getting out.
“Jenni asked me to take a look,” he responds, trying to take the papers out of my hands. “She has some solid ideas for how we can drive more business over the summer. Not this year, obviously, but it’s worth looking at for next year.”
