His gaze skated to Caitlin and back. “But,” he said, “the dog will cross a bridge with her, which is more than I can say for Caitlin.”
She stiffened next to him, suggesting he probably shouldn’t have brought that up again.
Lexi confirmed as much when her eyes widened. Incredulous, she asked. “You’re the woman from the bridge?”
…
And there it went. Anonymity busted. Reputation established.
“You have no idea how much I want to say no to that,” Caitlin responded, almost certain her face flamed neon. Despite her dedicated status as an introvert, she’d immediately liked Shane’s friends. Apparently button-pushing was a thing between them, and a heck of a lot more entertaining when she wasn’t the target.
“Don’t give it a second thought,” Lexi said. “I hate that bridge. It shakes when you walk over it, which in no way convinces me it’s safe.”
Relief wedged through the embarrassment. “It actually moves?” Caitlin asked Lexi. “I thought that was me being terrified.”
Lexi shook her head. “I’m not kidding. I will not walk over that bridge.”
“Seems you’re in good company then,” Jack said. He followed with a warm smile toward Caitlin.
Lexi shot him a glare anyway. “But she met Shane, so it’s all good.”
Caitlin rolled her eyes. “Yes. Trying to get away from him was exactly how I got off the bridge.”
The group fell silent for a long, unnerving moment. Long enough for her to realize they couldn’t possibly know she was joking, before Diego said “daaaaaaamn” under his breath and they started laughing again.
“That was a prime example of my exemplary skill as a first responder,” Shane said. “Do you have any idea how much it takes to get a woman to voluntarily walk away from me?”
“Caitlin looks unimpressed,” Jack said, “so I’m guessing not much.”
Lexi pressed splayed fingertips to her chest, like she couldn’t believe her ears. “You mean you didn’t swoon and fall at his feet?”
Caitlin shook her head and brushed a crumb off the table. “No, but I can tell I’m an exception.”
“Smart woman,” Matt said. “Especially considering he’s bailing on us for a more prestigious gig in another city.”
He was leaving? Was that why he wasn’t interested in her? She blinked. “That’s good to know. I’m not sure how much longer I would have been able to hold out. Hard to resist a guy who spends hours reading books about the history of childbirth while drinking cinnamon roll coffee out of a mug that professes the difficulties in getting a man.”
“I will pay you a thousand dollars for a picture of that,” Diego said while Jack choked on his drink.
“If that had happened,” Shane said, “and I’m not saying it did, I can assure you there would be no photos.”
“However, the security footage…” Caitlin added, biting back a grin when Shane gave her a look of alarm. Good. He deserved to be thrown off-balance. She just wished she knew why she had been. So what if he was leaving? She’d asked him to do so a dozen times, and now she couldn’t even bring herself to ask for details.
The waitress arrived with their food in paper-lined plastic baskets, which momentarily drew everyone’s attention back to their meals while Caitlin gawked. The burger looked amazing, but what she couldn’t get past was the fluted, frosty mug piled high with thick swirls of whipped cream topped with a cherry. A candy-striped straw added the finishing touch.
Though he didn’t say anything, Shane’s gaze rested on her when she tried it, and had most likely remained when her eyes rolled back in her head.
Heaven.
This, she’d cross ten bridges for.
Shane grinned at whatever expression she’d just made, and despite the crowded room, the gesture felt intimate.
“How are things going at the bookstore?” Diego asked, dragging her from the spell she was under.
“Warm without an air conditioner,” Caitlin managed to say with a sheepish grin. She only vaguely recognized Diego from the air conditioner episode—he’d been in his full gear when he’d given them a hand with the fans—but she figured they’d all been there if they were on Shane’s shift. “Thanks for not hosing the place down.”
“I’m glad we didn’t have to,” Jack said. “Pretty cool to have an independent bookstore in town, so I’m glad to see you here to rescue that old place. When are you going to open it up?”
“If I can keep the fire department away”—she shot a pointed look at Shane—“then as soon as I get through enough of the inventory.”
“Forget that,” Matt said. “I want to know how you’re getting to work. Or did I sleep through the excitement on the scanner?”
Yep, she wouldn’t live this down any time soon. “The guy in the shop next door told me about Uber. I’m not sure why Shane couldn’t have mentioned that option.”
“Some men have to be creative to get that second date,” Lexi said.
“Third,” Shane tossed back. “She couldn’t get through a single day without me.”
“But wouldn’t I like the chance,” she threw out, not bothering this time to correct the not-a-date thing.
Noticing that Shane didn’t, either.
“You’ll get it,” Lexi said. “Apparently Denver holds an appeal we just can’t match here. Greener pastures and all.”
“More like grayer pastures,” Matt said.
“Concrete, even,” Diego added.
“None of us want him to go,” Lexi told Caitlin, shooting a scowl at Shane.
Matt titled his head in Jack’s direction. “Except him. I think he’s up for promotion.”
Jack held out his hands in defense. “I don’t want his job. Besides, that happens and I have to stay out of trouble. Instead of helping them TP his truck, I’m going to be the victim.”
“Damn straight,” Diego said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Matt said at the same time.
Shane shook his head. “All three of you need a good run-in with karma.”
Jack shrugged. “Don’t park next to the sprinklers.”
“A fire hose is not a sprinkler,” Shane argued.
“Annnnd we’re back to men and their hoses,” Lexi said, rolling her eyes. To Caitlin, she said, “I’m glad you’re here. Don’t abandon me.”
Lexi didn’t have other friends who would kill to hang out with these guys? No non-awkward way to ask that question, but Caitlin’s surprise must have shown.
“Matt and I hang out a lot, though most of the time I’m not sure why, because I’m never going to get a date with him following me around, and these men travel in a pack. No woman wants to put up with them,” Lexi explained.
“Except you,” Shane reminded her.
“We are mutually and completely friend-zoned. I haven’t seen another woman come within twenty feet of you guys without someone trying to hook up, and frankly it’s just too much to keep up with.”
Jack snort-laughed. “Way to keep Caitlin from abandoning you.”
“Well, no, there’s hope,” Lexi argued. “Because none of you are going to mess with the lieutenant’s girl, and he’s leaving in two weeks, and not even he can screw up so badly in two weeks that she won’t want to look at us again.”
The lieutenant’s girl? “Um, I’m not his…” Anything. “We’re just friends.” If they were even that.
“Doesn’t matter. He saw you first,” Lexi said, toying with the straw in her glass. “Bro code. They’d never break it.”
The group shot assessing stares at Shane, which was fantastic, because that meant none of them noticed how flaming red Caitlin’s face must be.
Almost none. Because Shane was too close to miss it.
And there wasn’t a chocolate shake in the world that could make her forget the look in his eyes when he noticed and grinned.
Chapter Seven
Shane was out of his league. Even though the guys were somewhat surprisingly on
their best behavior, right up until they’d abandoned the table seconds after declaring Caitlin his girl, there was no way they hadn’t noticed the way he noticed her. Sitting next to her had been a mistake. He should have told her to move in next to Lexi…so he could gawk across the table. Yeah, that wouldn’t have worked.
Every time Caitlin’s mouth closed on that straw, his pants got tighter.
And he had to ride a motorcycle home.
His grin widened. Wouldn’t Caitlin just love that?
Only one way to find out.
“I’ve proved harmless enough,” he said, trying hard to seem innocent and causal when he had nothing but nefarious thoughts running through his mind, the least of which involved finding out if her lips were as soft as they looked. If she put half the passion into him that she did worrying, he’d be in for a hell of a night. “Why don’t you let me give you a ride home?”
Caitlin glanced around, probably looking for an ally in Lexi, but the woman in question stood across the room, next to a pinball machine, involved in an animated dispute with Matt. Shane was surprised how quickly they’d made their excuses and cleared out, but he recognized it for the gesture it was. In the meantime, Lexi had just given Matt an elbow in his side that put him against the wall two feet away. Leave it to the two of them to kill each other over an arcade game.
With a look of suspicion he deserved, whether or not she knew as much, she said, “I’ve been on enough bridges with you today, thanks. I’ll call someone. Or app them. Whatever you’re supposed to say.”
No way he’d let her get away with that. Maybe she was right and he really did harbor a gnawing need to play the hero, but he wasn’t ready to let her go yet, either. The least he could do was get her home, and maybe not think about her sliding naked between the sheets after he got her there. “As your companion who is not a date, I’d like to know you made it back safely. Please. I promise to take the center lane. What Uber guy would do that?”
“Most, I’m guessing, if you asked nicely.” Her tone still bore suspicion, not that he could blame her.
“And if I ask nicely?” He hated how much he wanted her to agree.
She sighed. “Fine. As long as you promise to take the center lane and not stop on the bridge.”
“I hereby promise all of those things.” He withdrew his wallet and threw down a few bills. They needed to get out of there, because if she didn’t quit sucking on that straw he was going to explode. Especially since for some godforsaken reason all he could picture was her in that button up shirt and messy bun, down on her knees, unzipping his pants, glasses ever so slightly askew—
“You guys done here?”
He blinked at the waitress, who’d just dragged him out of a world of trouble…not that he was entirely grateful. “We are,” he said, “but the rest of the gang will be back, so don’t kick them off the table just yet. You know they’re good for it.”
She gave a weary sigh that bore the weight of a long day on her feet. “I know. Best tippers in town.”
He grinned. “Best waitress.”
She swatted at him. “Stop flirting with me in front of this lovely young woman. You’re going to run her off before you ever get your foot in the door.”
“The door is firmly closed,” Caitlin said, flashing another one of those infuriatingly delectable saccharine smiles.
“It’s about time someone didn’t make it easy for him,” the waitress said with a laugh. “Enjoy your night, even though I think she just indicated that won’t happen quite the way you want.”
“I have my ways,” he said, earning a bemused glance from Caitlin.
She waited for the waitress to leave before clarifying her terms, no doubt a response to his declaration. “If you think you can stop implying you have any chance with me whatsoever,” she said, “and will also not drive near the edge of the bridge, I’ll let you take me to my driveway.”
He barely heard her list of demands, mainly because he’d gotten caught up in watching her mouth move. “Hey, I’m good for my word.” He stopped, realizing what she’d said. “Only the driveway? I can be trusted all the way to the front porch. Possibly beyond.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” she said under her breath.
He didn’t ask what she meant. Ignorance, just this once, might be bliss. Because if he and Caitlin were on the same page, he was in a world of trouble.
He caught Jack’s eye and gave him a bro nod to indicate they were leaving so someone would know to reclaim the table, then followed Caitlin through the packed diner. The place was awesome, vintage to the core, and offered some of the best food he’d ever had in his life.
But none of that compared to the moments after Caitlin Tyler had walked with him through that door and sat by his side in his favorite booth. He wasn’t supposed to be this crazy about her. Especially not when she presented such a challenge. But already, his mind had gone to what all that passion and power-playing might do to a fresh set of sheets, and…hell, he might as well give up trying to walk around her.
Outside, the fresh air did little to clear his head.
“So,” she said. “You’re leaving town.”
“Yeah. Which is what makes me your ideal date. Or, not date.” He’d forgotten their deal, and suddenly he didn’t like the terms. A date wouldn’t be the worst thing, though maybe the line she’d drawn was for the better. This was new territory for him, wanting something he couldn’t have, and keeping his distance would be the smart thing to do.
Unlike plotting to have her cling to him while she straddled his bike.
They walked in silence, the chorus of the city a backdrop. He’d parked a couple of blocks over in the municipal lot, which saved him from the annoyance of a parking meter and not so much the awkward aftermath of having his friends declare her his girl.
“Where are we going?” she finally asked when he led her to a side street.
Though it was as well lit as anywhere else, the old lantern-style streetlights that lined downtown had been replaced by plain, utilitarian ones. The landscaping, which consisted of hardy blooms and indigenous grasses, had whittled down to bare concrete with the occasional mulched tree. It would have seemed perfectly clean and kept if not for the curated beauty on display everywhere else. As it were, he didn’t blame her for being wary, though it irked him that she remained wary of him.
However good her reasons, not that she knew them yet.
“There’s a lot over here for city employees, mostly for daytime use, but it works,” he said. “I’m not a fan of meters.”
They walked up on a squirrel, and she watched it take off across the bare parking lot before questioning Shane. “I’m not allowed to be afraid of that death span, but you can avoid parking meters?”
“I didn’t say I was afraid of them.” He paused next to the bike, though he wasn’t sure she’d noticed it. Instead she watched him, so he leaned close to whisper against her ear, “If your pulse never kicks up over 60, you’re barely breathing. Get out there, Caitlin. Live a little.”
He backed away a bit, though her face remained inches from his. Alone on that side street, the sounds of the city faded. Moonlight bathed the warm evening.
And her.
He’d never seen anyone so beautiful. His logical side tried to pinpoint it—the brightness of her eyes or the softness of her mouth, or maybe the way her hair splayed so wildly on a woman who was afraid to cross a damned four-lane bridge—but instead of an explanation, all he got was a rush. Need crawled through him, bringing with it the crippling desire to touch her mouth. Whether he dragged his thumb across her full lower lip or dipped his head and gave into the craving to kiss her, that touch would haunt him.
But no more so than she would, a hint of a smile teasing the corner of her mouth as she watched him. He couldn’t help feeling like it was an unspoken challenge.
One he wanted to accept.
Instead, he took a full step back, accidentally nudging the bike.
Her gaze shift
ed and her eyes flew wide. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
The intensity of the moment faded, and he wondered if it had just been him. Imagining her breathless would do that to a man. He glanced from her to the bike, then decided imagining her straddling anything wasn’t much better.
Damned lucky machine.
He recognized the tension that had her limbs tight and face blanched, but he dodged the guilt and instead grabbed the moment for all it was worth. “What’s the matter?” he asked, feigning innocence. “You scared?”
He’d learned her body language the first time on the bridge, and yeah, she absolutely was scared, but he caught a hint of determination when she flexed her hand out of a fist and straightened her spine. She set her mouth into a haughty smirk that he’d have given his right arm to kiss off her lips and crossed her arms across her chest in an unmistakable gesture of defiance.
“If you think you can handle us both at once,” she finally said, “I’d love to see you try.”
…
Shane’s response to Caitlin’s challenge was to swing his leg over the bike and offer her a helmet. She stared at the proffered protective gear and wondered what good it would do the rest of her. Forget being plastered to the pavement…she had a much bigger concern, and that was holding on to him. There’d been enough crowd-necessitated body contact in the diner to leave her on a very achy edge—one she’d certainly go over if she had to sit behind him on that bike. He’d literally be between her legs. Ninety percent of her hesitation rested with that point, not that she’d admit it.
“You having second thoughts about being handled?” he asked, treating her to that smirk she’d once thought cocky. Now, she wondered how it tasted, and how quickly she’d wipe it off his face if she made a move to find out.
Hell yeah, she was having second thoughts about being handled.
“No,” she lied, taking the helmet. She slid it on while he did the same, then she hesitated. How, exactly, did a person climb onto one of those things? Turning her back on him and walking away sounded like a better idea with every ticking second, but when he held out his arm, she somewhat grudgingly accepted. So what if she rapidly approached the point where she’d rather face that bridge than her attraction for him? He was leaving. Between that and the fact that he was a trained medic, she didn’t have much to lose, at least when it came to bridge crossings.
Her Sexy Challenge (Firefighters of Station 1) Page 6
