by Amie Denman
Brady nodded. There was no refuting the point. “Holly said you’d gone away.”
“On a short trip.”
“She didn’t say that. She didn’t seem to know or be willing to share any details when I stopped by your house the day before yesterday.”
“You came by?” Kate’s expression softened and she leaned one hip on the counter and faced him. Her eyes were inviting, but Brady had too many questions.
“I wanted to tell you...well, I just wanted to thank you again for helping me and Noah with Bella.”
Kate’s brow wrinkled and she looked down. “You already said thank you.”
Why did she seem disappointed? Was she hoping he had another reason for coming to her place?
“You don’t have to tell me where you went,” he said. “I know we agreed to a short-term, no-strings summer...thing. But I’ll tell you what I did for the last two days because you’ve probably noticed I’m an open book.”
“Are you?” she asked.
Brady was surprised by her tone that almost implied a challenge. He’d been nothing but honest with her, and he had to be honest with himself in acknowledging that opening his heart to a flight risk like Kate was going to lead to misery sooner or later.
“I helped clean up after the nursing home fire, went to the bank for preapproval on a house loan, read five books to Bella before she finally fell asleep, worked at the station, put out a house fire and...still had time to miss you.”
Kate smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve been busy.”
“And you?”
“I drove to Daytona and met with the flight attendant school’s admissions office.”
“Long drive,” Brady commented. “Now it makes sense.”
“I told Holly where I was going, but I had the impression she wasn’t listening.”
“Next time you should tell someone who’s paying attention,” Brady said.
Like me.
Kate’s smile faded and she dropped her hand from his shoulder, and Brady had the distinct feeling he’d overstepped. He didn’t want Kate to think he was checking up on her or didn’t trust her to take care of herself, but he—literally—lived to keep people safe. It wasn’t only his job. He’d seen the hard knocks of the world all his life, and he couldn’t let someone he cared about put herself in danger. He considered it a miracle that his mother hadn’t fallen victim to violence with the life she had led.
“I’d love to hear about your trip,” Brady said, mustering enthusiasm. “How about over dinner tonight?”
Kate hesitated and bit her lip, and Brady could see a no coming. “I’m not free tonight,” Kate said. “I’m driving for Uber.”
He tried very hard not to react. Not to raise an eyebrow, draw in a sharp breath or tighten his jaw. Considering the big step Kate took as she shoved away from the break room counter, he knew he hadn’t been successful. Her stories of driving for a truck line, crossing the lonely roads of the United States alone...those were in the past and he knew she’d survived. However, putting herself in the risky position of driving strangers around, that made the muscles on the back of his neck tighten.
“It’s a good way to earn extra cash,” Kate said. “You should consider it.”
“I don’t think anyone would want to ride in my eight-year-old truck,” he said. He tried to lighten his tone. He really didn’t have a right to judge what Kate did in her spare time, and she was clearly more than capable of handling herself. She’d be on jets flying all over the world soon, making driving tourists around a beach town seem tame by comparison. He smiled, trying to remember that his summer romance with Kate was about taking advantage of the short time and thin slice of happiness she was offering. “My truck smells like the fire station even though I put one of those air freshener things in it when my brother brought my niece to stay.”
“Does it smell like fake flowers and candles now?” Kate asked, her shoulders relaxing and her smile returning.
“I got the mountain pine scent, but I have no idea how accurate it is. You’ve smelled mountain pines, I’m guessing, with all your hiking all over the country. Maybe you can be the judge next time you’re in my truck.”
“Something to look forward to,” she said.
Brady leaned against the counter and Kate edged closer. “Which is one more reason why you should skip driving for Uber tonight and have a dinner date with me instead.”
Not to mention she’d be far safer in his company. She cocked her head and gave him a long assessing look, and Brady was afraid she was going to announce an early departure for flight attendant school or an abrupt end to their summer...relationship. To his surprise, she glanced around the break room and then closed the distance between them to put a hand on his cheek and her lips on his. She gave him a long kiss that seemed to be full of promises of warm summer nights under the stars.
“Rain check on the dinner,” she said, and she turned to go out to the trolleys and start her workday.
Maybe summer romance was a better name for whatever was between them, after all.
* * *
KATE GREETED HER passengers and clicked the confirm button on her app. She loaded the address of their destination into her phone so her passengers could see it, even though she knew almost every street in Cape Pursuit by heart. The couple in the back seat of her red Escape told her they were on their honeymoon, just a short trip because neither one of them could afford to take much time off work. They chatted about the wonderful trips they hoped to take—someday—on their short drive from their hotel to a widely known seafood restaurant on the other end of town. Kate suggested several national parks they might like if they ever got to take a longer trip, and she was pleased to see they left her a generous tip after she dropped them off.
Kate circled around to the beach area where she parked for five minutes before her app notified her of another pickup. Her next three sets of passengers were all friendly tourists enjoying a night out. A lull set in, and Kate parked on a downtown street, waiting for a request. Ten minutes went by, and she became restless sitting behind the wheel. What was Brady doing since she’d turned him down for a dinner date? A nice guy like him probably didn’t lack for friends to go out with. Or was he at home enjoying the security of four walls that seemed so important to him?
Kate turned down a side street that led to an intersection with a larger street running parallel to the tourist district. She knew Brady lived on the northern edge of the desirable rental neighborhoods. He’d told her as much himself, and then she couldn’t help noticing his address in the company paperwork she was currently in charge of. It wasn’t really snooping. Brady would tell her his exact address and probably social security number if she asked.
She drove slowly down his street, glancing at addresses on the homes that were all similar. They were previously vacation cottages, but current owners had expanded them with porches, additions and even a second story in some cases. She saw Brady’s gray pickup sitting in the driveway of a house and she didn’t have to look at the numbers anymore.
His house was already small, and the double driveway, front doors and mailboxes made it clear that it was a duplex. He shared half a small house with his brother and niece? He was even nicer than she’d realized. She’d had her own bedroom, bathroom and walk-in closet as a child. Brady’s half-a-house would almost fit into the space where Kate had enjoyed growing up.
Lights were on in the front window and the garage door was up as Kate cruised slowly by. The light was also on in the garage, and she could clearly see Brady working on something. Was it a bicycle? Kate slowed down to get a better look just as Brady glanced up and saw her.
She couldn’t keep driving. He’d caught her spying on him. Brady straightened up from his project and came out of the garage, waving at her. Kate sighed, backed up and pulled into his driveway. As soon as she rolled down her window, Brad
y leaned in. He glanced into the back seat.
“No passengers?”
“Not right now. It’s been pretty busy up until the last twenty minutes.”
“Bar-hoppers?” he asked.
Kate shook her head. “Honeymooners and some tourists. Some of them were going to bars, so I imagine I might see them again at the end of the night.”
“Want me to ride along with you as your bodyguard?”
“I don’t need a bodyguard.”
“Then I could give a narrated tour, local color, like on the trolley.”
Kate laughed. “People who call for a ride aren’t looking for entertainment. They want to get from point A to point B as quickly and cheaply as they can.” She nodded toward the garage. “What are you working on?”
“Training wheels on my niece’s bicycle. We went shopping after dinner and found a bike just the right size for her, but she needs the training wheels unless we want to run alongside her and hold up the bicycle.”
“That would be tiring.”
“I can tell you from only a five-minute experience that it’s brutal. I’d rather haul a fire hose up a ladder,” Brady said.
Kate’s phone beeped with a notification of a ride request, and she took the phone from the holder and acknowledged the call.
“I have to go,” she said.
Brady nodded. “Will I see you tomorrow?”
“The scavenger hunt kickoff is bright and early,” she said. “I helped George with some of the planning, but he was going to use a computer program to randomly match players early tomorrow morning after he gives people one more night to sign up. You signed up, didn’t you?”
Kate had only signed up because of loyalty to her boss and her temporary position as his helper. When she had first seen the activity posted, it had seemed as if it was too great a time investment, even though the participation points and the bonus for winning were highly motivating.
“I’ll sign up if you are,” Brady said.
“There’s no guarantee we’ll be teamed up together.”
“Then we’ll have to compare notes over dinner.”
He leaned in the car window and kissed her, and the sweetness of his kiss and his nearness made her wish she could stay. Kate pulled back and put her car in Reverse, reminding herself that she had a job and a goal. Brady’s face showed disappointment, but he didn’t say anything. She backed out of the driveway and waved as she headed downtown for her pickup. She couldn’t ask her riders to wait another minute, even though it had been hard tearing herself away from Brady.
When darkness fell, she picked up two men and then two women who’d had too much to drink, but aside from being sloppy in their directions, they were harmless. People didn’t scare Kate nearly as much as being tied down and making choices for her life out of fear and a desire for safety. Behind the wheel, she was in control and that control empowered her.
If Brady could see that Uber driving is perfectly safe and nice, he’d take back his offer of being her bodyguard. It had been tempting to trade an evening of work for an evening with Brady. Would he have given her a tour of his house? What was it like to be inside his world? She still wanted to tell him all about her visit to the school and share her excitement, but she was afraid he wouldn’t understand her passion for getting away. Not a guy whose passion required him to keep both feet on the ground.
Kate signed out of her driving app after midnight, more than a hundred dollars richer but also knowing that morning would come early and she’d have to be focused on the launch of the employee scavenger hunt. Whoever she got paired up with for the twenty-four-hour time limit for completing the activity, he or she would have to be flexible if Kate got called in to work an extra shift on the trolley or an afternoon in the boss’s office. She couldn’t pass up an opportunity to grow her bank account because she only had a limited amount of time, and summer was already going fast. Every fleeting moment took her closer to her dream job...and closer to saying goodbye to Cape Pursuit—and Brady.
CHAPTER TWELVE
BRADY FINISHED UP his niece’s bicycle and took advantage of a few minutes of daylight to watch her try it out in the driveway before bedtime. She crashed into the side of his truck once, but he rubbed out the scratch with his palm and told her it added to the truck’s personality. Bella appeared on the point of tears, but she’d laughed when he licked his finger, rubbed it on the scratch and declared it all better. It had been a beautiful evening, especially when Kate had pulled into his driveway and he’d said good night with a kiss.
Before he turned in for the night, he logged into his phone and signed up for the scavenger hunt because Kate wanted him to. If he was the luckiest guy in Cape Pursuit, he’d get paired up with her, but there were probably at least twenty employees signing up. The odds were more likely he’d be scouring the town for strange items with someone he didn’t know and like as much as he did Kate. The sign-up officially ended at midnight, and the matchups were supposed to be posted by seven the next morning. He’d have to take his chances.
Brady woke up, showered early and grabbed his phone just after seven to see if the teams were announced. His shoulders sank when he saw his partner. He loved the thrill of the hunt, but he’d been randomly matched with someone who didn’t impress him much with her responsibility or work ethic. Holly. He’d hoped for Kate and got her roommate instead. Still, he couldn’t let Holly—or anyone—down, so he showed up five minutes early and waited outside the door of the beach office for the official rules and the list of items they’d have a full day to find. It was a beautiful summer day. How bad could it be?
“Hey,” Kate said, giving him a sympathetic look. “I already told Holly she couldn’t lose interest or wander off on you. You deserve a shot at winning.”
“Who’s your partner?” Brady asked.
Kate leaned close and whispered, “Tom the Summer Heartbreaker.”
Brady tilted his head back and stared at the sky. “Not ideal.”
“I’d try to trade him, but I don’t want to offend him,” Kate said.
Brady felt a glimmer of satisfaction and hope. “Are you saying you’d rather be teamed up with me?”
“Of course I would,” she said. “It’s a scavenger hunt, and a local like you with in-depth knowledge has a much better chance of winning. You probably know everyone in town, and they’ll be motivated to help you because you’re a firefighter.”
“And a nice guy,” he added.
Kate laughed. “And a nice guy.”
“So, about that trade.”
“Shh,” she said, one finger over her beautiful lips. Brady wanted to kiss that finger and her lips, but they were in a group of at least two dozen people in the bright morning light.
“Who’d you get?” Holly asked, running up breathlessly with less than one minute to spare. She grabbed Kate’s phone and looked at it without waiting for a response. Her expression changed to joy and excitement. “We’re trading,” she said.
“What?” Kate asked.
Brady hoped Kate wouldn’t argue because he would happily trade Holly for Kate.
“I’ve been trying to convince Tom to take a chance on a nice girl like me,” Holly said. “But he’s had his eyes on just about everyone else.”
Not exactly a recommendation, Brady thought. Maybe Kate was right about being concerned for Holly’s well-being.
“So you give me Tom and you can have whoever I got stuck with,” Holly said. She handed Kate her phone, and Brady nearly laughed out loud at Kate’s expression. It was partly disapproval of her friend’s rudeness, but he saw satisfaction there, too. Kate would rather be with me. Maybe this scavenger hunt was going to go his way, after all.
“I believe you were stuck with Brady,” Kate said. “But I’m willing to be saddled with a local hero so you can work on your love life. I’d do that for you.”
�
�Thanks,” Holly said, her eyes scanning the crowd. She didn’t even appear to recognize Kate’s sarcasm.
Brady couldn’t resist slipping an arm around Kate’s shoulders as Holly found Tom the Summer Heartbreaker in the crowd and scurried over to him. The dozens of summer employees waiting outside the office were all people Brady recognized, some of them locals making extra cash, and some of them returning summer workers from the previous year. He liked and respected most of them, but Kate was different. Being with her felt like warm summer rain and sparkling sunshine all mixed together.
“We’re going to be a great team,” he said, his voice low with excitement at his newfound good luck. His sense of self-preservation had served him well throughout a difficult childhood and during tense and dangerous situations as a firefighter. However, he chose to ignore the voice in his head reminding him not to get in too deep with someone who would break his heart. Spending the day with Kate was too hard to resist.
Kate smiled up at him. “I have high hopes.”
“Rules,” George said, holding up sheets of paper. The gathered workers grew silent. “You can go in any order you want, but you have to be back here by eight o’clock tomorrow morning, and you can’t call off work if you’re scheduled. It’s an automatic disqualification, sorry to say.”
“Can’t believe how lucky we are,” Kate said. “We both work a short shift this afternoon, but we’ll still have plenty of time.”
Brady knew she was talking about time to find the required items for the scavenger hunt, but he felt as if he’d never have enough time with her. She wore a bright yellow T-shirt that contrasted with her dark hair and blue eyes, and the smile she gave him was worth a thousand sunrises.
“I hope you don’t get called into the fire station,” she said. “I’m looking forward to having fun with you.” She nodded toward their boss, who was handing out papers, one to each team. “And winning, of course.”
“I’ll do my best,” Brady said, but he didn’t know if Kate heard him as she stepped forward and grabbed one of the rule and list sheets.
