Page 50 of My Favorite Hero

We said yes, and she headed to the kitchen. Mark and I exchanged greetings, and I asked after Linda.

“She’s good.” He grinned. “Cal had a few stories about you.”

I rolled my eyes. “A misunderstanding.”

“He said you were rather protective of your little tenant.”

I shrugged, taking a sip of coffee to buy myself some time. “I promised Lou I’d look after her.”

“She met him and Lori and a group of their friends the other night at Dusty’s.”

Dusty’s was the local bar. Decent food, cold beer, and always filled with locals.

“Oh, she didn’t mention it.”

“Cal said one of his friends liked her. Thought she was cool. And she agreed to meet them Saturday for karaoke.”

I had to tamp down my reaction.

Casey was going on a date? With a friend of Cal’s?

My gut churned at the thought.

I took another sip of coffee, this one bitter in my mouth.

“I hope she has fun,” I muttered.

Breakfast came, and it took everything in me to eat it. It tasted like ash. Mark and I talked about the station, a project he wanted to build at his place he wanted my help with, and we chatted about the new probie.

“Wet behind the ears,” I said, pushing my plate away. “But decent.”

“He’s got a good attitude,” Mark agreed. “Wants to learn.”

“He’s on our rotation next. We should work with him. I had a veteran take me on when I first started. Taught me a lot,” I mused, thinking back to when I first became a firefighter. “His lessons probably helped save my life more than once.”

Mark drained his coffee. “Good idea. We’ll stay busy too.” He stretched. “Any plans today?”

“Cleaning a closet,” I murmured. “And Casey needs help—she moved that old armoire, and now it’s on rollers and she can’t get them off since the piece is tight to the walls.”

“How the hell did she move that thing? We tried.”

“She got some furniture lifters.” I shook my head. “She didn’t like where it sat, so she moved it.”

“Stubborn.”

“You have no idea.”

“You like her,” he stated.

“She’s nice.”

He leaned forward. “You like her.”

I met his eyes. “She’s great. But I don’t do relationships. Especially with someone living that close.”

He grinned. “Who said it had to be a relationship? Friends with benefits, or neighbors with benefits, can work. You said she only planned on being here a year or so.”

Hearing him say that out loud bothered me. Why, I wasn’t sure. My life would be a lot quieter once Casey moved on.