“I’m sorry.”
He hated that pained expression on her face. “I know, and I didn’t mean to drag it all out there again. Since you know there’s a chance he knows you work at that salon, just be vigilant. If you get scared, call me. If you think something’s wrong, call 9-1-1 and then call me.”
“I’d feel stupid if it was nothing.”
Grant reached out and grabbed her wrist as she went to deal the cards so she’d look at him. “I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that the police would rather respond to a false alarm than get there after the fact because the victim talked herself out of calling. I mean it.”
Her gaze locked with his and he knew she meant it when she nodded. “I promise, if I feel unsafe at all, I’ll call 9-1-1. And then I’ll call you.”
“Good.” He let go of her wrist and blew out a breath that turned into a wry chuckle. “Do I know how to suck the fun out of game night or what?”
“Stop.” She dealt the cards, and then glanced at him. “It’s kind of sexy, having you worry about me like that.”
“Really?” He liked the sound of that. “How sexy?”
She gave him that slow, sensual smile that made everything else fade away until it was just the two of them, just the way he liked it. “Everything about you is sexy.”
“Wanna play strip gin rummy?”
Her musical laugh drove the lingering shadow of her ex away as she shook her head. “One, I don’t know how you would even score that. And two, you’re fully dressed and I’m wearing two articles of clothing.”
“It’s easy to score. If I win, I get to choose which article of clothing you take off. If you win, you get to choose which article of clothing you take off.”
“You suck at gin, so—” She stopped when what he’d said sunk in and he laughed. “Hey!”
In the end it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d agreed to the stripping or not because he didn’t win a game. He didn’t care, though. Wren was more competitive than he was, and he got a kick out of watching that victory shimmy, and she was pretty good at trash talking for a woman who didn’t watch a lot of sports.
When she got bored with beating him, she got up and carried the paper plates from their pizza to the trash. He watched her go, admiring the way the hem of the sweatshirt flirted with her thighs and wished like hell she’d drop something and have to bend over to pick it up.
But she didn’t, and then she started puttering around the kitchen. He couldn’t let her do that alone, so he pushed back from the table and walked over to her. His intention had been to stop her from trying to wash the few dishes sitting in his sink, but when he got there, he couldn’t stop himself from putting his hands on her waist and dropping his mouth to that bare shoulder. He kissed her there, nipping at the skin lightly, as she dropped her head to the side to give him access to her neck.
“I won more games than you tonight,” she said in a breathy voice. “You know what that means.”
“It means I get to take off your clothes now?”
She laughed, and then sucked in a breath when he caught her earlobe between his teeth. “Since I won, that means later you get to strip for me. But that’s after the movie.”
He groaned and dropped his forehead to her shoulder. “I was hoping you forgot about that.”
“It’s a comedy, Grant. I don’t think anything blows up, but it’s not about women traveling to find themselves, either. You can do it.” When he started kissing her shoulder again, his hands sliding down to the hem of the sweatshirt, she sidestepped away from him. “And no, we’re not watching it naked because I actually want to see the movie.”
He poured them fresh drinks while she flipped through the on-screen menu to find the movie he’d agreed to watch. If they’d already decided on gin rummy, he never would have agreed to the wager. If they’d played chess tonight, which she sucked at, she’d be baking him snickerdoodles right now.
But once they were settled on the couch, his feet up on the table and Wren snuggled against his side, he had to admit he didn’t really care who won what because the real prize was having her with him. It didn’t matter if they baked cookies, watched movies with no action or washed the damn floor. Any day she was with him was a good day.
“Did you tell Gavin we’re up for going out?” she asked during a lull in the movie.
“Yeah. Cait’s going to look at her schedule and then she’ll probably get with you and you two can figure it out. She wants it to be a real date night, I guess.”
“Good.” She smiled up at him. “I like real dates with you.”
“We could have gone out tonight if you wanted.”
“No, these are my favorite dates with you. But it’s nice to go out sometimes.”
“These are my favorite dates, too.” He slid his hand into her hair and closed his fingers, tilting her head back so he could kiss her.
He was about to haul her into his lap when she pulled her head back. “You’re watching this whole movie, Grant.”
“If I can stay awake,” he muttered, letting go of her hair.
“If I miss any of the movie because I can’t hear it over you snoring, I’m leaving you here on the couch.”
He laughed, but then she shushed him because apparently the movie had come to a good part. It seemed like it was still a bunch of people just talking, but Wren laughed, so he tried to pay attention.
All he had to do to stay awake was think of all the things he was going to do to her when that sweatshirt finally came off.
* * *
Wren didn’t mind driving in snow, but she hated freezing rain. Especially the light mist that didn’t look like much, but turned the city into a skating rink.
Mrs. Belostotsky had called her shortly before she left the salon to tell her that business would be slow in the bad weather and they didn’t want to worry about her being outside or on a bus in the ice.
With unexpected time off that, sadly, didn’t coincide with Grant having the day off, she was heading home to relax for a while and maybe surf the job listings online. Now that Grant was back in her life again and their lives were full of friends, she’d been thinking it might be time to revisit her employment situation. Not only because of the travel annoyances with the market, but because she’d rather work one full-time job with regular hours than two part-time ones that barely added up to enough.
Maybe she’d even get lucky and find a Monday through Friday day job, so she would only have two nights of sleeping alone and an otherwise normal schedule.
You’re getting ahead of yourself, she thought. Changing jobs for practical reasons was one thing. But changing jobs to suit a life she wasn’t living yet was putting the cart before the horse.
She was almost to the fire station, which she passed on her way home, when a light ahead turned red and the car in front of her started sliding. One second everything was fine, and the next, she was looking at the side of the compact car as it went sideways under a red light and into the intersection.
The impact of the pickup driving into it was so jarring, Wren hit her brake too hard and her car started to slide. She let off, letting it correct itself, and then gently brought it to a stop. Luckily, she didn’t get rear-ended and, after turning her four-way flashers on because there was nowhere to pull out of the way, she got out of her car.
Another woman was already running toward the wreck and Wren could hear her yelling into her phone. Since 9-1-1 had already been called, she went to the car, which had been shoved into a pole and was sandwiched between it and the crumpled grille of the pickup.
The driver was awake, his eyes wide as he raised his hand to the gash on his forehead. “What happened?”
“You were in an accident. Are you hurt anywhere else?” Not that she could do anything about it, but maybe if she had answers by the time the ambulance showed up, it would save time if he was
hurt.
“I don’t think so.”
Other people were talking to the driver of the pickup, so Wren craned her neck to see into the backseat. It looked as if he was alone in the car, which meant it wasn’t as bad as it could have been if there were kids in the backseat.
She heard sirens and looked over the hood of the sedan to watch cars trying to get over enough to let the firetrucks through. She’d been expecting an ambulance, but her heart jumped when she recognized E-59 and L-37 fighting their way to the intersection. It was probably overkill, she thought, but they responded to accidents and they always responded together.
“Help’s here,” she told the driver. “Just be still and they’ll get you out in a few minutes, okay?”
“I should call my wife.” He looked around and he seemed a little confused still. “My phone. It was on the passenger seat.”
“They’ll get it for you.” As much as she knew he probably wanted to hear his wife’s voice, she wasn’t about to go fishing around in broken glass for his cell phone. If he’d been more severely injured, she would, but he was going to be okay.
“Wren!”
She heard Grant shout her name and looked to where the firetrucks had stopped. He was running toward her and she was so afraid he was going to slip on the ice, she gave him a thumbs up, hoping he’d slow down. He didn’t stop until he reached her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, grabbing her upper arms and looking her over.
“I wasn’t in the accident,” she said, left a little breathless by how fierce he looked. “My car was behind his. See?”
He looked over her shoulder and then back at her. “You’re not hurt?”
“I only got out to see if he was okay.”
She could feel the tension ease in his grip and then he wrapped his arms around her, smothering her with his bunker coat. “Seeing you... I don’t know. Even though you were on your feet, it scared me.”
She was aware of the other guys moving around the accident scene, checking on the drivers. Another siren in the distance meant the ambulance was on its way, but Grant didn’t seem to be in a hurry to let her go.
“She okay?” Wren heard one of the guys ask. She thought it was Chris, though she couldn’t see because her face was against Grant’s coat.
“Yeah, she’s a bystander.” He let her go, then, and took a step back.
She was about to speak when he looked at something over her shoulder and his expression changed. Not quite a frown, but more like an instant of intense concentration. “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” He looked back at her and then shook his head. “I don’t know. Some guy was looking at me and I feel like I’ve seen him before, but I can’t remember where.”
She turned, but there were a lot of people standing around, watching the goings-on. “Where?”
“He walked away. It’s probably nothing. I see a lot of people in this job, plus there are always people fascinated by accident scenes. It’s a little gruesome, but whatever. You should go sit in your car while we clear the scene. It’s freaking cold out here.”
She didn’t want to. Now that she knew everybody was okay and help had arrived, she was having a bit of a delayed reaction and she wanted to stay with Grant. But he had a job to do, so she nodded and backed away.
The ambulance finally managed to pick its way through the cars and Wren stopped when she realized it was Cait and her partner, Tony. She’d never actually gotten to see Grant or any of their friends in action, and she took the opportunity to watch them.
Cait did a double take when she saw Wren, but she waved to let her friend know she was okay. And then she saw Grant talking to her as the firefighters stood by. They hadn’t tried to open the doors or get the driver out, and when she saw Cait putting a collar around the man’s neck, Wren realized why.
The police were there, too, and they slowly managed to get cars moving through the intersection, weaving around the accident with some guidance from the officers. After filling out a quick police report, Wren got back in her car and turned off onto a side street when they waved her through, but when she found a parking spot, she took it and walked back to the scene.
They were loading the driver of the car into the back of the ambulance, which she hoped was just precautionary. And the driver of the truck was standing next to his vehicle, his hands waving in the air as he tried to explain to the police officers what had happened.
It looked as if the firefighters were getting ready to leave, but she spotted Grant. He was standing near the crumpled car, looking at something or somebody in the distance, that same look on his face as before.
She tried to follow his gaze, but he turned and saw her before she could pinpoint where in the crowd of onlookers he’d been staring.
Smiling, he started toward her, at a walk this time. “You came back?”
“It didn’t feel right to just drive off. I felt like I should wave goodbye, at least, but you were busy. Did you see that guy again?”
“I’m not sure. But it doesn’t matter. Sometimes people get a little too interested in watching us work and they listen on the scanner and show up where we do. I don’t really get it, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” He tugged at the strings of her hood, drawing the fake fur trim around her face. “Are you warm enough?”
“I’m okay. Are you guys leaving?”
“Yeah, and it won’t be long before we get toned out for another MVA. How far away is your car?”
“Just around the corner.” She smiled up at him. “Since nobody got badly injured, I guess it’s okay to tell you it was really cool getting to see you guys work.”
He laughed. “I opened a car door. I don’t know about cool.”
Grasping the front of his coat, she pulled him closer. “I thought it was sexy.”
“Really?” Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “Just me, though, right? None of the other guys were sexy.”
“Just you.” She tilted her face up for a quick kiss and then let go of his coat. “You should go. And I’m on my way home since they told me not to bother going into the market.”
“Stay inside, out of the weather,” he said. “And think of me.”
“Oh, I’ll definitely think of you.” She laughed when he made a sexy growling sound and then gave him a little shove. “Go. Do your job.”
“I’ll call you later.”
Once she was back in her car and very carefully finishing her drive home, Wren couldn’t help smiling at the memory of him running to her. He’d been scared, which wasn’t a good thing, but his need to get to her was going to keep her thinking of him until he called and she could hear his voice again.
Chapter Fourteen
It was almost two weeks before all four schedules aligned and they could finally go on a double date. A nasty stomach bug seemed to being going around the fire department and, though Gavin and Grant avoided getting it, there were a lot of shifts that needed covering.
The guys had floated the idea of just hanging out at Kincaid’s Pub for the evening, but Cait had checked the sports schedule and told them there was no chance in hell that was happening.
We’re not going to sit and watch you two stare at a hockey game on the screen all night, she’d sent in a group text message. There had been multiple exclamation points and a red frowning face after that.
Kincaid’s was definitely out.
Cait ended up making them reservations at some trendy new spot, which meant clothes that had to be ironed. Khakis. A shirt with buttons and a collar. Grant grumbled about it for hours, but it was all worth it when he walked into Patty’s house to pick up Wren.
She looked gorgeous. A soft blue sweater over slim black pants and black boots that made her legs look incredible. Her hair was gathered up in a bun and she was wearing sparkly blue earrings that matched the sweater.
“You are
so beautiful,” he whispered as she moved into his arms for a hello kiss.
“Thank you. You’re looking pretty good yourself.”
The kiss hello turned into a kiss he never wanted to end and if she didn’t live with Cait’s mom, there was a chance they wouldn’t have made it out the door. But Patty’s car was in the driveway, and Gavin and Cait would be waiting for them, so he reluctantly let her go.
“I’m just going to say goodnight to Patty and then I’ll be ready,” she said. Then she handed him the bag she’d had slung over her shoulder. “Can you hold this?”
“It weighs a ton.” And now that he thought about it, it wasn’t the kind of purse that went with her outfit. It was more like a tote bag.
“It’s my overnight bag.” She arched her eyebrow. “Okay?”
“Definitely okay.” It was so okay, he almost wished they could pile into one vehicle, do a fast-food drive-thru and call it good.
By the time they drove to the address Cait had sent and found a parking space, Gavin and Cait were waiting on the sidewalk out front. They couldn’t have been there long, since they weren’t shivering yet.
“Wow,” Grant said, looking over the fancy front facade. “This looks expensive. What the hell is a gastropub, anyway?”
Gavin snorted. “It just means the food costs double and the beer has hints of citrus and bergamot or some shit.”
“What is bergamot?”
“It makes the beer cost more.”
“Stop it, you two,” Cait snapped. “New rule. For every four nights we hang out at Kincaid’s, we get one night out at the place of our choosing.”
Grant winced. “That could add up to a lot of bergamot.”
“Every six times,” Gavin countered. “And any times just Grant and/or I are at Kincaid’s don’t count. Every six times we’re there as couples.”
“Oh, you’re good at this,” Grant muttered.
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