“It’s great that you’re so passionate,” he said.
“I just have to keep reminding myself it’s a pilot program. I can’t get too attached. I only hope I can find something equally as meaningful when the program is finished.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Caitlyn said airily. “If the program proves meaningful, I don’t see any reason the grant wouldn’t be renewed.”
And there it was again, that secret smile between Caitlyn and Lucas. Hmmm…
Before she had a chance to devote much thought to it, Caitlyn moved the conversation seamlessly on. “So, Chloe, I know all about your professional past. But tell me about the real you. The good stuff. Like...parents? Brothers and sisters? What’s your story?”
Chloe laughed. “Not much of a story. Nothing like this.” She gestured around the pub, crowded with Caitlyn’s extended family. “It was just my mom, my dad, and me. They were very proper. Very traditional. Very white picket fence. Their biggest hope for me was that I would grow up to marry a nice dentist or something similar. I think it still is. So, yeah. If you know any nice dentists—”
“We know the drill,” Caitlyn interjected.
Chloe laughed. “Nice dentist joke.”
Even though Chloe had gone through the recitation with lightness in her voice, she felt the same pang of regret she always felt when thinking about her parents and how they didn’t understand her. It wasn’t that they didn’t love her or want the best for her. It was just that their version of “the best” was very different from hers, and they wouldn’t make the effort to see things from her perspective.
When she was growing up, the temptation to give up and give in, to do things their way for the simple pleasure of seeing pride shining in their faces when they looked at her — wow, it had been strong. But she never had, and that was one of her proudest accomplishments. No matter how intense the pressure had been to conform, she had blazed her own trail and been her own woman.
She was still her own woman today, and she was still just as proud of it.
“Puns aside, I don’t know any nice dentists,” Caitlyn said, a twinkle in her eye, “unless, of course...do you think maybe Mr. Hero Man is a dentist?”
Chloe laughed. “Unless dentists have gotten a lot sexier and tougher recently, I really don't think so.”
Lucas looked puzzled. “Who is Mr. Hero Man?”
Caitlyn gestured in the direction of the bar. “Hoo, boy.” She grinned. “To tell the story properly, I think we’re going to need a round.”
Chapter 4
“Are you really just gonna sit in that chair and stare out the window all weekend? Snap out of it, man! You’re bringin’ me down.”
Yeah. Chris couldn’t deny that it had been tough to get “the girl” out of his head. That was all he had to call her. He didn’t know a thing about her aside from the fact that she had fiery red curls, sapphire-blue eyes, and the perfect amount of curves for her short, pixie frame. Hell, if she topped five-foot-two on a good day, he’d be surprised. But even through the professional suit she wore, he could see that every inch of her was perfectly formed.
Even though he had so few details to dwell on, he couldn’t stop thinking about her every goddamn waking moment since he’d chased off that junkie and she’d run away like she couldn’t move fast enough. He couldn’t stop mulling it over. He felt like a girl himself, dissecting every nuance of their conversation, replaying every word, every reaction, and wondering what it’d meant, what she was thinking.
Shit! Is this really what women go through all the time? Because it fucking sucks!
The main thing he wondered, though, was how the hell he could get in touch with her again. Because he had to. That was non-negotiable.
Still, three days of thinking had yielded no ideas on that front. And he was, after all, only in town for a week to attend training. Soon enough, he’d be on a plane back to California. So, he’d made a conscious decision to put aside thoughts of the mystery girl, head down to the bar with Jake, and enjoy his Friday night.
Still… just because he’d stopped walking around in a fog hours ago didn’t mean Jake would stop giving him shit about it.
Maybe if he could just change the subject, Jake would stop ribbing him. Worth a try, at any rate. "So where is this place that we’re going?"
"It's called Pat's Pub. The front desk guy told me about it when I asked him where we could get a taste of the real Baltimore. Apparently, it's this really cool family-owned place just a few blocks from here."
Chris nodded. Sounded good to him. Hell, all he really cared about was that the drinks were strong and plentiful. A local joint sounded like it would fit that bill just fine.
"Anyway, I figured you deserve a drink. First round's on me. But I'm cutting you off after two."
Chris rolled his eyes inwardly. He could smell the setup to a joke miles away, but he still had to ask.
"And why's that?" He took the bait in a flat tone.
Jake grinned. "Because hell, if any muggers stop us on the way home, I need your reflexes to be sharp!"
Chris shook his head. It was going to be a long-ass night.
Chapter 5
"Oh, Chloe, look!" Caitlyn laughed. "Do you see those hot guys who just walked into the bar? Maybe one of them is a nice dentist."
Chloe laughed. She was having a lot of fun hanging out with her new boss off the clock. She never would have imagined the brilliant, passionate woman was also so personable and fun. It was a nice combination.
She turned her head to the door to see who Caitlyn had been referring to and froze when she laid eyes on—could it be? Is it possible?
She whipped her head back around to face Caitlyn. "Oh my God!" she breathed, ducking down.
She didn't know why she felt the compulsion to hide. It should've been the farthest thing from her mind. But, it was what she felt. She wanted to slide under the table. She didn't recognize her own reactions, and she didn't understand her own thought processes. They were far from rational. They were based completely off of emotion, and at the moment, her main emotion was overwhelmed.
"What's wrong?" Caitlyn asked, her voice and face taking on a concerned cast.
"I think"—Chloe turned her head toward the front door again just to make sure—"no, make that I know, that he's the guy. The blond one. Over by the door. The potential nice dentist. He's the guy."
"The guy?" Suddenly, Caitlyn's face opened up, and her jaw dropped. "Oh, the guy!" She turned and grabbed Lucas’s arm. "That’s the guy, babe!"
Lucas laughed. "Yeah, I picked up on that."
Caitlyn grabbed her hand. “You have to go talk to him. You have to.”
Chloe shook her head. She needed to think clearly. This whole thing would be so much easier if she wasn’t already three beers in. But by the time she looked up to say anything, the situation was already out of her hands. Lucas had an arm in the air, and he was gesturing for the guys to come over to the table.
Chloe’s eyes widened, and Lucas said, “I’ve always found the direct approach to be the most effective. Don’t you agree?”
A shot of adrenaline flowed through her. She couldn’t quite bring herself to believe that her hero, her rescuer, wasn’t actually a figment of her imagination. It all felt surreal.
But then she looked up into his face.
His eyes widened. “It’s you,” he breathed, as if maybe he’d also suspected the entire encounter had been a dream.
“Yeah. It is,” she said, a small nervous tremor plaguing her voice. God, she hoped she’d be able to hold it together a little better than this the first time she had to go to court.
A smile spread across his face that reached every inch of it, all the way to his eyes. She flushed. No one had ever looked at her like that before.
She could get used to it.
“I’m Chris,” he said.
“Chloe,” she replied.
God! Think of something more interesting to say!
Mentally screaming at he
r brain to come up with some sparkling repartee didn’t work any better in this situation than mentally screaming at her feet to run had when she was being mugged. Her brain was a blank.
“Um, Chris? Are you by any chance a dentist?” Caitlyn asked, her polite voice betraying none of the joke behind the words.
Chris drew his eyebrows together but smiled. “No. Not a dentist. This is my friend Jake, by the way. We’re both firefighters from California.”
“Oh, firefighters,” said Lucas. “That’s really interesting. Jake, can Caitlyn and I buy you a drink over at the bar? I know we’d both love to hear some firefighting stories. And then Chloe and Chris can get better acquainted.”
Jake clapped Chris on the shoulder. “Sounds good. See ya later, buddy. And don’t worry. I won’t wait up.”
After the trio had gone, Chris slid into the booth across from Chloe. “Sorry about my friend,” he said, a sheepish smile playing on his lips.
Chloe laughed. “Sorry about mine!”
Chris joined in her laughter. “It’s pretty weird, right? Running into each other again?”
“Oh, yeah,” Chloe agreed. “It’s straight out of a movie. I mean, sure. We’re in the same neighborhood, and this is a popular pub, but still… what are the chances?”
Chris shook his head. “I don’t know what the statistics would be. Math isn’t really my thing. But I know one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Whatever the odds are, I’m glad they fell my way.”
Chloe looked down, a flush spreading across her cheeks. “So am I.”
“So, are you from around here?”
She smiled, warming to the topic. She was much more comfortable around him when the conversation was about something she felt on solid ground about. Like her career. “I am now. I just moved here for my first job right out of law school. In fact, when you saved me earlier this week, I was actually coming from the interview.”
“Wow, your interview was just earlier this week and you’ve already started? They must have really liked you to call you back that quick.”
Pride swelled in her chest. “Actually, I was offered the position in the interview. That was my boss you just met.”
“The man or the woman?”
Chloe’s face lit up. “Oh, wow. You didn’t just assume it was the man.”
Chris tilted his head to the side, drawing his brows together. “Why would I?”
Chloe settled back against the booth cushion, a satisfied smile growing slowly across her face. “Chris,” she said finally, “I really think this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
He took her hand, sending sparks running up her arm, so strong it took her breath away. He leaned in close, looking into her eyes. When he spoke, it was low and, despite all the noise in the pub, felt very intimate. “God, Chloe. I hope so.”
Chapter 6
“Thanks for walking me to my car. It wasn’t necessary, but very much appreciated.”
Chris’s heart did a little dance in his chest at the sight of her smile. He wanted to protect her. It was a new instinct to him. With every other girl he’d dated, it had been so casual that the thought of protecting had never even entered into the equation. They were good time girls. And that worked out just fine, because he was a good time guy. Nothing serious. No ties.
With this girl—with Chloe—it was different. From the moment he’d seen her on that sidewalk being threatened by the asshole jabbing a knife in her direction, he’d known he’d do anything to keep her safe. He’d run over there like he was wearing a damn cape. It wasn’t enough that she be rescued. He had to be the one doing the saving.
“No way am I letting you walk these mean streets alone. Not after what I’ve seen almost happen.”
Ooooooh, God. No!
He heard the corniness as it escaped his mouth, but it was like he was watching a movie of himself—fully present, but powerless to stop it.
She laughed. Thank God. She’d thought he was joking. Better than her jumping to the correct conclusion—that he lost every ounce of flirting mojo he’d possessed when he was around her. She was a goddess who reduced him to tongue-tied dorkitude in her presence.
Not a good look.
When they got to her car, he put on his best “sexy rogue” smile—the one that had never failed him in the pick-up department. Hell, he figured he was only nervous with Chloe because the stakes were higher. This was more important than his normal flirty pick-up because she was more important. But, that was actually all the more reason to pull out his best, most tried and true tools rather than fly blind.
“It’s such a nice night out. How about a quick walk around the block?”
She flushed, and he marveled at how she could look even prettier than she had up until that moment. He wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but, damn. With her cheeks, rosy-red with color and her blue eyes flashing in the moonlight, she was a dream come to life. “Yeah. I’d like that.”
They continued on down the street and Chris took her hand. It wasn’t pre-meditated. He didn’t give it any thought at all, in fact. It was natural. He simply reached out and slipped his hand into hers on instinct, like it was woven into his DNA to do it. Her fingers gave his a little squeeze, and they continued on, walking like that.
His lips turned up in a small grin. Apparently his flirting mojo was making a triumphant return.
“So, tell me the truth,” he said, his voice confident, even bordering on cocky. “You were hoping to run into me again, right?”
She laughed, and played along. “Oh, yeah. It’s just about all I’ve thought about. It’s been keeping me up at night.”
God. He knew she was joking, but the thought of her lying awake in bed at night, thinking about him...fuck! It made his dick twitch in his pants. He rushed to change the subject. “Do you want to play a game?”
She considered. “What are the rules?”
“We guess things about each other. Favorite foods, movies. Our backgrounds. How old we were when we got our first kiss. That kind of thing. And then we tell each other how close the guesses are.”
“How do we know who wins?”
He laughed. “Okay. That’s the first thing I’m learning about you: you’re ultra-competitive.”
"I’m a lawyer, that shouldn’t be a surprise.”
“Your clients are very lucky.”
She flushed again. God, if she only knew how beautiful she was when she did that, and what her beauty did to him.
“Okay,” she said, straightening her shoulders a little. “I’ll go first. I’m going to guess that you played sports in high school.”
He shook his head. “No way. That’s no fun. It’s gotta be specific.”
She narrowed her eyes as they moved over his face and body, appraising what they took in. His cock twitched in his jeans again. Damn, he might as well stop even trying to control that. He figured it was probably going to end up being pretty useless, when every single thing she did was so freaking sexy. Even when she wasn’t trying to be. Hell, especially when she wasn’t trying to be.
“Fine,” she agreed. “Football. I’ll guess football.”
“Close. Rugby. And it was college.”
“What? I don’t think I’ve ever met someone that played rugby before.”
“Now you have.”
“Your turn.”
“Okay.” He ran his eyes up and down Chloe from head to toe, giving her an over-exaggerated expression of appraisal to make her laugh, a goal which he achieved. “I think your favorite movie is The Little Mermaid. I think people always told you that you looked like Ariel, so you just decided to make it work for you.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, alright. I see we’re getting very specific, then. Hmm...let’s see—“
“Nope,” he interjected, “no fair moving on until you tell me how close I was.”
God, there was that gorgeous blush again. He could get used to this, just constantly saying outrag
eous or funny things to try to make her blush or laugh. That wouldn’t be hard to get used to at all.
“You’re...closer than I’d like to admit. Let’s just say that, while I wouldn’t call it my favorite movie, I’ve definitely enjoyed more than my fair share of viewings.”
He nudged her shoulder with his own. “And my reasoning?”
Her lips curled up gently at the edges. “Spot on.”
With the hand that wasn’t holding hers, he thrust his fist in the air. “Sweet! Alright, now it’s your turn.”
“Good, because I have a guess I feel pretty confident about.”
“Well, don’t hold back! Let’s hear it.”
“I think you’re the first firefighter in your family. I think you’re a rebel. The rest of your family was...” she tilted her head again, thinking, and then continued, “...military, I think. Marines, to get specific. And that’s why you’re so brave. It’s in your blood.”
He couldn’t speak for a moment. Could she just be that lucky? Or was it that she was just that perceptive? He did his best to keep his tone light when he spoke. He didn’t want to bring the energy down between them. “Damn, girl. You are competitive. Did you secretly Google me while I was in the john earlier?”
Her face lit up. “I’m right?”
“Close,” he conceded. “Cops, not marines. But the rest was pretty dead-on.”
“Yes! I mean, sure, I probably had a competitive advantage because of all the imag—“
She snapped her mouth shut mid-word, and when he looked down at her, she stared straight ahead with widened eyes.
“Oh, shit. You just got so carried away with the thrill of victory that you almost let something slip.”
“I can neither confirm nor deny that.”
“You don’t need to. Come on. Spill.”
She closed her eyes and sighed, an embarrassed smile creeping across her face. “Oh, God. Fine. So, here’s the thing: this week, after you saved me, I may or may not have devoted some mental energy to inventing personas that might describe you.”
Wild Irish: Falling for Wild (KW) Page 2
