What was I thinking? Truck’s right. I can’t dance. I know how to run into fires. Run. Not dance. In a fire, I test the door for heat and then I barge in, ready to do what it takes. Barging. That’s what I do. Dancing, not so much.
“I heard what you said to Laura on my way out,” I tell Angie.
“So you got me dinner?” Her voice raises an octave. Her forehead remains frozen in a scrunched expression.
“You and the twins.”
“You didn’t have to do that, EJ.” Her words sound final, but she reaches out and her fingers wrap around the handle next to mine.
“What is all this?” she asks, lowering the bag and peering into it. “This could feed half the block.”
I shrug. Maybe I got too much food. She can always save the leftovers.
All I know is that she’s accepting my gift.
I release my hold on the handle and Angie stands, cradling the bag and staring me in the eyes.
I always wondered how a woman with hair as dark as hers ended up with such light blue eyes. I tear my gaze away, even though I could stare at her forever.
Laura steps out from the back room. “Towels are in the dryer, and …” Her words die off when she sees me. “EJ?”
“He’s like ants at a picnic,” Angie says, glancing at me briefly and then back at Laura. “Relentless.”
I chuckle and turn to head for the door, taking my cue from Champ. Move in, back away. Maybe I can do this after all.
“I’m just serving my community,” I say. “I took an oath to hold myself in readiness to respond to calls of duty—and to serve my community with courage, integrity, and honor.”
“Serving your community?” Laura asks, raising her brows at me. She obviously sees right through my words.
I look directly at Angie. “You had a need. I met it.”
I bow—literally bow like an actor in a Shakespearean play. It probably looks awkward, but I go with it and add, “Bordeaux Fire at your service, ma’am.”
Then I pause and lower my voice. Laura can still hear me. But I’m talking to Angie.
“Don’t make it complicated, Angie.” I don’t know what comes over me, but I wink.
Angie blushes, then in a voice as quiet as mine, she says, “Well, thank you.”
I nod at her. “Anytime.” Then I turn and walk out the door, resisting the urge to glance at her one more time.
Chapter 3
Angie
A friendship between a man and a woman
was what you called it
when one had been pursuing the other
for a long time and never gotten anywhere.
~ Joe Abercrombie
Laura stares at me. I set the bag of takeout on my station chair and finish straightening up, avoiding her eyes.
“Mm hmm,” she says, her smile coming through in her tone. I don’t even have to glance her way to see it. “Well, I’m not saying a thing, but Rob won me over with lasagna.”
