“You, too,” Calder said over his shoulder, watching her leave with a look of relief on his face. Then, he turned back to me. “Well, she’s lovely.”
“Likes to chat,” I added with a quick wink. “Too bad it’s at the most inopportune times.”
“You’re telling me,” Calder agreed. “Honestly, is it even a date if we don’t get interrupted at this point?”
It was as he said this that his phone began to ring and he cursed under his breath. I waited tensely for him to answer, and as soon as he did, his face fell somewhat.
“Chief,” he said with a disappointed tone in his voice. “How can I help you, Sir? Mm, okay, yeah… I mean, I understand, Sir. I’ll be right there.”
When he ended the call, he looked at me terribly forlorn. I was certain whatever news he was going to share wasn’t going to be good.
“He wants to talk about how we’re going to handle the press with the apartment fire,” Calder explained as he ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’m training to be a lieutenant, so since it’s going to be part of my job, I don’t really have a choice but to go in.”
“Right now?” I asked sadly, and he pursed his lips.
“Yeah, but I won’t be leaving you with nothing.”
I was about to ask him what he meant when he put one hand around my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. I moved the pretzel out of the way just fast enough for it not to get squished between our chests.
I could taste the salt on Calder’s lips and feel the heat of his body through our clothes. With my free hand, I grasped at his shirt, feeling the hunger building in me. I knew that we were still in public, still in the park, but some part of me simply didn’t care who saw.
The passion behind Calder’s movements was a promise of what was possible, of what he could offer me behind the walls he had built. It told of a wild side, an animal part of him hidden behind all of his stoicism, and I wanted to find that.
But before I knew it, it was over, and he pulled away from me. I could feel the heat rushing to my face as I stood breathless in front of him.
“I need to go,” he said, touching my chin with his thumb and forefinger and making me shiver. “But there’s more where that came from, if you have the patience to wait for me.”
I was speechless, and he smiled before he left. I watched him walking away and wished that our moments together never had to end. At the same time, I was aware that I needed to get back to work, and that this pretzel wasn’t going to eat itself. I munched on it as I headed back to the mall, my heart feeling as if it had been lifted to the clouds.
When I returned home later, I was still dreaming of that kiss in the park. That was probably why I was surprised when I walked up onto the porch and noticed Beck standing there with a box of tools.
“Beck?” I paused in front of the door as I unlocked it. “Did I forget you were coming over? I’m sorry. It’s probably the light fixture upstairs, right?”
“Ah, you didn’t forget anything,” Beck said, taking a step closer toward me. “And as for the light fixture, we’ll see if I still have time for that after.”
“After what?” I asked, but Beck didn’t answer my question verbally. Instead, he pulled me into a kiss, pushing me through the front door and into the house. I heard it shut behind him, and I felt a flutter in my stomach as I wondered what was coming next.
11
~
Beck
I’d been waiting for Rhea on the porch for almost twenty minutes. A lesser man might have given up and walked away, but I was determined. Now, I had her in my arms, and she was clearly just as into it as I was.
I dropped the tools in the foyer and began leading Rhea forward, never once breaking the kiss. After that romp in the medical rig, she was all I could think about. I was more than a little frustrated when we were interrupted, and this time, I was making sure that we wouldn’t be. I was off and not on call, so no fires would be my problem unless one of the other guys had some incredible medical emergency or decided to quit on the spot. I doubted either would happen.
I managed to get Rhea to the living room, when she pulled away to catch her breath. My brain took this as the perfect opportunity to get one over on the competition.
“After this, you won’t even remember Ash,” I said confidently, and Rhea grinned, before stepping forward to run her finger over the seam of my shirt.
“I guess we’ll see, won’t we?” she answered, a look in her eyes that was driving me wild. I was already hard, and my body was craving hers in a way I had never anticipated.
At the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder about her experience with Ash. What had he done that was special in any way?
Really not where I want my head to go right now,I reminded myself.Focus on this. On her. On us.
I reached down and lifted my shirt over my head, already feeling the heat. I noticed Rhea’s eyes running over my body, and I smiled at her. “Not bad, huh?”
