“You think she still?—”
“Shut up,” I growled.
The auction dragged on like a twenty-four-hour shift. Probie Sanchez went for eight hundred to a giggling table of nurses. Rodriguez pulled in just over a grand from a retired widow who winked at him so suggestively I thought he might combust. Even cranky old Bartlett from B-shift managed seven-fifty.
Through it all, I kept stealing glances at Pepper. She’d composed herself, but her rigid posture told me she was still rattled. Once, I caught her looking back at me, and she quickly averted her gaze, tucking a strand of auburn hair behind her ear—a nervous habit I remembered all too well.
Finally, Hollywood called all of us back to the stage for a final bow. The crowd applauded as Chief Holloway announced the total—over fifteen thousand dollars for the department’s equipment fund.
As we dispersed, I saw Pepper rise from her seat, her friends still flanking her like bodyguards. I needed to talk to her, to figure out what had just happened, but she was already moving toward the exit, her steps quick and purposeful.
I’d waited through the entire damn auction. I wasn’t about to let her disappear now.
I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the congratulatory pats on my back and dodging the women who’d bid on me earlier. My eyes locked on that auburn hair bobbing toward the exit.
“Pepper!” I called, but my voice drowned in the sea of post-auction chatter.
She’d almost reached the lobby doors when I finally broke free, squeezing between a group of tipsy women.
“Pepper, wait!” I caught up to her in the lobby, gently taking her elbow. She startled at my touch, those gray-green eyes widening as she turned. Up close, she was even more beautiful than I remembered. The subtle lines at the corners of her eyes were new, but they suited her. Made her look more... real.
I jerked my head and guided her away from the flow of people toward a quiet alcove near the coat check.
“Rhett.” My name on her lips sent a jolt through me. How many times had I dreamed of hearing her voice again while I was deployed?
“Hey.” I released her arm, suddenly unsure what to do with my hands. “It’s good to see you.”
She crossed her arms, defensive. “This wasn’t my idea.”
“Fifteen hundred says differently.” I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips.
Her cheeks flushed. “My friends are idiots.”
“Expensive idiots.”
That earned me the ghost of a smile before she caught herself. “Look, you don’t have to take me to dinner. I’ll make sure the money gets to the department, but we don’t need to?—”
“Them’s the rules, DeLuca.” I shrugged, feeling more like myself than I had in months. “You did rescue me again. Let me at least take you to dinner. We can share a meal, and if you don’t want to see me again after that, you don’t have to.”
She studied me for a long moment, uncertainty clouding her eyes. I held my breath, waiting.
“Fine,” she finally said. “One dinner.”
“One dinner,” I agreed, fighting to keep my face neutral when all I wanted was to grin like an idiot. “When’s your next night free?”
Six
Pepper
“This is insane. I’m insane. We’re all insane,” I muttered, tossing another rejected outfit onto the growing pile on my bed.
Allie flopped backward onto the only clear spot remaining. “You’re not insane. You’re just going to dinner with your ex-husband. Totally normal Tuesday.”
I shot her a glare that could’ve curdled milk. “Not helping, Taggert.”
Jess emerged from my closet with another option—a forest green wrap dress I’d forgotten I owned. “What about this? It brings out your eyes.”
“And shows off your legs,” Meghan added, not looking up from where she was organizing my makeup collection. “Those firefighter-loving legs that got you into this mess.”
