Every cell in my body says to kiss her. Every shred of reason says don’t. Her breath brushes my jaw, warm and sweet, and I swear I could lean down a few inches and taste summer itself.
I straighten, stepping back and running my hand through my hair. “Maybe we could get coffee or dinner later? Get to know each other better?”
“I don’t know. Won’t you have your hands full with the auction?” she asks.
“Only tonight. Some other time, then?”
She looks down at her shaking hands, pressed together in front of her. I long to reach out and grab them, intertwine my thick, work-hardened fingers with her dainty, pale, pink-tipped ones. If they feel as soft as they look, I might have a hard time letting go. “I don’t know. I’m not into all that fame stuff.”
“Me, either.”
Catalina twists her hands, eyes dilating and melting into two ebony pools. She licks her lips sensually, nostrils flaring, and cheeks pink as the petunias blooming near the fence. “I feel jittery.”
“Adrenaline. It’s normal,” I explain gruffly, tracing the delicate curve of her sculpted Cupid’s Bow with my eyes.
“Is that why you do what you do, Ambrose?”
The way she says my name incinerates me. “You mean firefighting?”
“Yes, and rescuing people. Is it like an adrenaline thing?”
“Avery, honey,” Ms. Dupont hollers. “Is Cat down yet? Tilly’s here if you need an extra hand.”
“Tilly?” I ask, ruing the broken moment.
Catalina nods. “She helps care for my grandma when I’m at work.”
“Where do you work?”
“The DMV.” The corners of my mouth turn up, already hatching a plan in my head. Considering the auction will be a shit show, I’ll have to find another way to see this woman again. “Maybe I can steal you away for lunch sometime.”
She shrugs. “I can never thank you enough for your help today. You really saved me from a bind.” Catalina says, eyes almost begging me to kiss her.
“Will you give me your word that you’re going to quit climbing trees without ladders? Or at all?”
“But why, when I have a firefighter on standby?”
I chuckle. “Yeah, my chief wouldlovehearing that.”
More fodder for the station laugh track. But I can’t help myself. I like this girl. I like her grit and courage, her well-placed sass. She could keep me on my toes, make me laugh at myself instead of feeling so damn insecure and serious all the time.
“All kidding aside, you really were a lifesaver today,” she says.
Bid on me tonight, then. The request hangs on my tongue. But I can’t ask a virtual stranger something like that.
I reply, “No need to thank me. It’s my job, Catalina.”
“Speaking of job, I’d better get back to work.”
I back away from the delectable beauty. I could almost swear disappointment flickers in her gaze, but I can’t be sure. I do know one thing, though. I absolutely have to see her again. And not at the bachelor auction. My stomach roils at the thought of what she’ll witness tonight.
Suddenly, I have it! “Dumpling. What does she look like?”
“A big, fluffy tabby cat with green eyes and one lopsided ear. She wears a collar with a name tag, too.”
“I’ll look for her while you head back to work, and if I find her, I’ll take her back to my place. Give her an insulin shot and feed her … until you can pick her up.”
“You would do that for me?” She looks stunned, like a deer in headlights.
