I don’t want to forget.
“Are you leaving, Reed?” She sighs and shakes her head at me.
Grabbing my bag, I nod my head at her and then I can’t resist looking at Mercy.
There’s no mercy when I get lost in her deep blue eyes. I can barely think. I can’t breathe.
But then a hand waves in front of my eyes and I shake my head. My mother smirks at me. “You better get going. The guys are going to think there’s something wrong. You’re never this late when you’re on shift.”
“Right. Right.”
Nodding at both women, I step out the door and close it, finally taking a deep breath for the first time since I first saw Mercy Lee.
Jogging down the steps I hit my SUV and head for the firehouse, not really surprised when I find my guys waiting for me. Perry eyes me and grins.
“You’re late. I wonder what kept you.”
Another guy grins too. “Maybe the Lou finally managed to get himself some. It’s been years, man. When he finally blows, it takes awhile!”
“Stop fucking around. There’s a helluva lot of stuff that needs checked to make sure that it’s ready to go. And what happened to keeping all the areas clean. I saw the weight room. Looks like chipmunks have been eating seeds in there.”
All of them stand there staring at me, wide-eyed and grinning. “Go!” I roar.
Laughter follows them as they all take off to clean and get this place organized.
We only have four guys including me on shift at any one time. And if I cover overnights like tonight then I might go a good twenty-four hours at a time without sleep.
Luckily, it’s Sunday night and it’s quiet. There’s rain in the forecast day after tomorrow so everybody’s enjoying the warmth of a unique spring day. Walking to the door, I step outside and stare up at the stares in the black sky. Twinkling. Bright.
My eyes find one really bright star and I stare at it. What am I doing? No woman wants to be stuck with a guy who can’t deal with his own problems.
“What’s up, Lou?” James says, his voice soft. The night demands it. Solitude. Stillness.
“I don’t know.”
“You know.”
I glance over at him and growl, “You do know that I’m in charge, right?”
He laughs, a rough bark that breaks the eerie stillness. “You like to think so.”
Rolling my eyes, I flip him off. But I don’t say anything else.
“You like her.” The night’s so still, so eerie. Like it’s waiting for something.
Maybe it’s this. An admission.
“I do.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“I don’t know. She’s got a job to do. I can’t interfere with that.”
“Nothing says you have to. But that doesn’t stop you from finding out if there’s something here more than just a pretty woman and a desperately horny guy.”
Choking on a laugh, I flip him off again.
He leans against the door and sighs. “I assume this is about Roger.”
