by Erin Wright
“That’s a brilliant suggestion!” Penny said, her eyes sparkling at the idea, her bright red lips curling into a bright smile. “Thank you! I’ll tell Mr. Toewes that I’ll follow up on this tonight. See you then.” She headed out with a swish of her skirts, closing the door quietly behind her.
Georgia stared at the door, feeling a bit like she’d just lived through a human-sized tornado.
At least tonight at the fire station, she’d have the other guys there to help her manage the sheer amount of energy that radiated off Penny the Reporter with every step.
Now that she’d voluntold the department for a group interview, she should probably warn them about it. She picked up the phone, biting her lower lip with worry. Hopefully none of the men were too camera shy…well, other than Troy, of course. He didn’t even speak to his fellow firefighters; he certainly wasn’t going to open up to a newspaper reporter, of all people.
Well, there was no getting out of it now. If they wanted to hate on her for voluntelling them for this, so be it.
She dialed the number for the fire station.
Chapter 15
Moose
Moose pulled up in front of the fire station, his stomach dancing with nerves. Jaxson had sent out the call earlier, telling everyone what to expect that night at their monthly training session, so Moose’d actually taken the time to put on a nice pearl-snap shirt and hole-free Wranglers instead of just showing up in his greasy John Deere uniform like he normally would.
It wasn’t the newspaper reporter coming that was making him nervous, although it was awkward to think that someone wanted to interview him. That was the sort of thing that his father did, not Moose.
No, it was more the small matter of Georgia being here tonight; he hadn’t had the time to talk to his dad or Tennessee yet, so it wasn’t like he could walk right up to her and lay one on her like he so desperately wanted.
On top of that, just being around her made his hair stand up on end, like he’d accidentally touched a live wire while standing in a puddle of water.
The thought made him chuckle to himself. Honestly, his hair wasn’t the only thing that stood at attention around her…
Somehow, by some miracle of the universe, his father hadn’t heard about him sneaking out early to go drive Georgia out to her car, and so when Moose had finally gotten home last night, ready for a big fight, he’d discovered it was just a normal evening in the Garrett household. Zara had been watching TV while playing on her phone; his mom had been loading up the dishwasher; his dad had been tinkering out in the garage on an old John Deere tractor he was in the middle of restoring.
Moose wasn’t sure if he was happy for the reprieve, or disgruntled that it would continue to hang over him, worrying at him. Sure, he could choose to confront his dad right now, but why? He should let the peace linger just a day or two more. Be totally sure of what he wanted to say, then approach him.
He absolutely wasn’t a wimp. Absolutely.
He blinked, focusing on the world around him. He realized he was still hiding out in his truck, so he forced himself to get out. He couldn’t spend the whole evening hunkered down in it; hiding from the questions in Georgia’s eyes. He headed for the open bay, the hard fluorescent light spilling out into the cool early summer evening, when he saw Georgia’s car pull into the gravel parking lot, tires crunching to a stop next to his truck.
The butterflies kicked up another notch.
Manners dictated that he help her out of her car, not just stand around like a nervous 14-year-old boy on his first date, and so he hurried to the driver’s side door, opening the door and extending his hand out to her.
“Hi,” he said softly, his eyes taking in her skirt and blouse, paired with towering high heels. Taking his hand, she slid out of the car and to her feet in one graceful move. She looked up at him – no, she looked at him. With her high heels on, they were almost the same height. It was a little strange how off this felt to be practically eye to eye with her.
She smiled, a beautiful smile that threw him for a loop, and asked, “How are you?”
Was she breathless? She sounded a little…breathy to him. Was she asking in code if he’d talked to Tennessee or his father yet? He couldn’t tell.
“Good,” he said smoothly, his voice sounding even and unperturbed. “Ready to head inside?”
She nodded, her curled blonde hair glinting in the harsh light streaming from the open bay, and then they were walking side by side, as if nothing at all was amiss.
As if he hadn’t swallowed boiling lava.
Inside, the volunteer firefighters were milling around – Luke Nash and his hired hand Dylan along with Levi and Jaxson, with Troy sitting off to the side, idly petting Sparky who was leaning contentedly up against his legs. Levi looked up with a smile on his face, a smile that quickly faded when he saw Moose and Georgia walk in together.
They hadn’t been touching; they hadn’t even been talking.
But Levi was pissed anyway.
Instinctually they split, with Georgia heading over to pet Sparky and ask Troy how she was doing, while Moose headed towards the knot of men, all talking and laughing. All of them except for Levi, of course.
Moose came to a stop next to his best friend, who was rigid, a muscle ticking in his jaw. The conversation flowed around them as Moose tried to think of what to say.
“There’s nothing between us,” wasn’t true. “We weren’t doing anything,” was true but defensive-sounding. “If you were going to make a move on her, you should’ve done it a long time ago,” was aggressive and mean. Levi was his favorite person in the world. He couldn’t say something so abrasive to him, even if it was true.
And anyway, Levi had made his move on her. They’d dated for years. And then, when he’d asked her to marry him, she’d turned him down flat. She didn’t want kids; he did.
Dad would shit a brick if I not only married the wrong cousin, but refused to give him grandchildren.
He smiled a little to himself, the thought giving him a perverse bolt of pleasure. Revenge for everything his father had put him through would be bittersweet, though, because Moose wanted children. Giving them up for Georgia…
That would be the biggest sacrifice of all. Even bigger than losing the dealership.
Am I willing to lose everything, just to gain the chance at a relationship with a woman I’ve never even kissed?
On the surface, the idea seemed insane – downright stupid, really – but even as he told himself that, he couldn’t seem to convince his soul of its truth. Georgia just felt right, like a key sliding into a lock. He craved that feeling more than—
The air changed suddenly and Moose looked up, spotting a tall, gorgeous woman walking through the open bay door, a large, friendly smile gracing her lips. She walked with a natural sway to her hips, oozing womanhood and pure sex appeal with every step.
Ohhhhh…
This. This was why Georgia had spent so much time getting dolled up for tonight. She was nervous about her competition.
Moose wanted to snort with laughter even as he turned to find Georgia in the open bay area. The idea of some woman outshining Georgia was ridiculous on the face of it. No one was prettier. No one was funnier. No one was more perfect.
He caught her gaze and winked, and even in the dim lighting, he saw the blush covering her cheeks.
She liked him enough to fight for him, using a skirt, make-up, and high heels that made her legs look like they went on forever.
A grin spread across his face. He felt ten feet tall.
The newspaper reporter – Penny was her name, turned out – was going around the grimy bay, introducing herself and scribbling notes down on her notepad as she went. She stopped in front of Sparky and Troy, Georgia standing awkwardly to the side as Penny introduced herself to Troy, kneeling to pet and love on Sparky.
“Aren’t you a sweetie,” she cooed, letting Sparky give her face a bath while her tail swept up a storm on the dusty cement floor. Moose w
as shocked to see it; somehow, this elegant woman didn’t seem like the kind to kneel on a dirty concrete floor, and certainly didn’t seem like the kind to inspire a deep and abiding love in a dog.
But Sparky seemed to love Penny on sight almost as much as she loved Troy.
Interesting…
He walked over to stand casually next to Georgia. He wanted to observe this up close and personal.
“So you’re the one who saved Georgia from the fire?” the reporter asked, looking up at Troy, obvious interest in her eyes. Troy was perched on the tailgate of the water truck, Sparky tucked between his legs, but the close proximity of the reporter seemed to be unsettling the usually rock-solid man.
“No, not me,” Troy said, shaking his head. He jerked his head towards Moose. “He did.”
“I thought the dog was found up in the fire,” Penny said, her brow knotted with confusion. “How did she end up with you, then?”
“She likes me,” Troy said simply, shrugging his shoulders.
Moose couldn’t believe his eyes. Or his ears, actually. Although these would seem like terse answers to most of humanity, he knew Troy well enough to know that he was practically spouting speeches at this point. So many words at the same time…
Why, he was being downright loquacious.
“How long have you been a firefighter?” she asked, continuing to pet Sparky as she looked at Troy, ignoring the whole supposed reason for her being there – Moose and Georgia.
Moose felt Georgia moving and he looked over to see her shoulders shaking with suppressed mirth. They caught gazes and grinned at each other. All jealousy was gone, and for just a quick moment, Moose missed it. It was kinda nice to be desired like that.
They stood there for a minute more, listening as the reporter asked probing questions and Troy gave short, to-the-point answers, appearing to be alternating between excitement to be the center of this woman’s attention…and sheer terror.
After a bit, though, it started to feel like they were a third wheel on a blind date, and they instinctively moved back towards the knot of men Moose had left behind, no words needing to be exchanged between them.
“How’s the interview going?” Jaxson asked, a huge grin on his face as he peered over their shoulders at the two – no, three, counting Sparky – of them in the corner. “Answering lots of questions?”
“Someone is,” Moose said with a laugh.
They stood around for a minute longer, and then Jaxson shrugged his shoulders. “I’d like to get going so I can head back home at a decent hour,” he said. “If she thinks of any questions for the rest of us, we can answer them then. In the meanwhile, let’s get started on our training. Tonight, I thought we’d talk about how to detect—”
Moose turned to Georgia, who was worrying her bottom lip as she listened to Jaxson talk. She was clearly debating – should she stay? Should she go? She didn’t want to be a third wheel on the date happening in the corner, but she also wasn’t a member of the Sawyer Fire Department.
“You should go hang out at the desk over there,” Moose whispered, jerking his head towards the paperwork desk, where cubbies held every form the fire department could ever need, and some old ones too, that no one had ever bothered to throw away. “Just for a few more minutes, just in case.”
She paused for a moment and then nodded, heading for the desk, her skirt tight across her ass, her heels showing off every slender curve of her calves. Moose suddenly had a hard time breathing. The newspaper reporter was pretty, sure, but she was no Georgia.
He looked over and saw Levi’s stormy face, who’d obviously caught the whole exchange, and felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. He needed to talk to his best friend, and soon – before his best friend refused to ever talk back.
Chapter 16
Georgia
Georgia slid into her car and shoved the key into the ignition, but didn’t turn it. Instead, she folded her arms across the top of the steering wheel and laid her head down on them.
Seeing Moose tonight had been exquisite torture. He hadn’t talked to Tennessee or his father yet, of that she was sure. She knew she would’ve heard the explosions all the way over at her condo if he had. She couldn’t figure out what was taking so long. Sure, it’d only been 24 hours, but it was the longest 24 hours of her life.
Did he not actually want to break things off with her cousin? Was Georgia somehow the other woman?
She groaned, beating her head against her folded arms repeatedly. If someone didn’t talk, and soon, she was going to go stark-raving mad. Did no one realize how hard it was to keep her hands to herself? To not kiss and touch and curl up against Moose?
Not to mention that she wanted Moose and Tennessee officially over with for her cousin’s sake. She couldn’t break Tenny’s confidence in her; she couldn’t tell Moose what Tennessee refused to say. She’d given her cousin her word that night at the fundraiser, and she couldn’t break it now, no matter how much her soul begged her to.
But if talking didn’t start soon, she was going to drag everyone into a room and lock them in there until the air was cleared.
The idea was starting to sound better by the moment, honestly.
She finally started her car and pulled out of the parking lot. It was time to go home and drink a glass of wine. Or three. She could curl up with a Tessa Dare book, and pretend for a moment that her own life would be fixed and going along swimmingly if she just made it through the next three chapters.
If only real life were like a romance novel. She could use a little bit of happily ever after right about now.
Chapter 17
Moose
Moose stood on the front doorstep of the imposing Rowland family home, shifting from cowboy boot to cowboy boot. He had the requisite bouquet of flowers in a stranglehold in front of him, clinging to them as if to a life preserver. He’d brought yellow roses over tonight instead of the usual red; yellow meant friendship. Red meant love. Even he knew that.
So, yellow it was.
Gathering his courage, he knocked firmly on the front door of the Georgian plantation home – or the closest replica to be found this side of the Mississippi. The style seemed horribly out of place up in the wilds of Idaho, but it’s what Tennessee’s parents considered to be the best.
And they always needed to have the best.
Tennessee’s mother opened the door, a haughty look on her face that melted into a smile once she spotted him. “Oh, hi dear!” she exclaimed, standing back to welcome him inside. “Come in, come in. We didn’t realize we would be graced by your presence this evening. What a lovely surprise. Tennessee!” she called up the grand staircase. “Deere is here to see you.”
Moose kept a smile firmly planted on his face even as he fought back the urge to correct her usage of his legal name. He was Moose…to everyone he cared about.
In that case, he figured that maybe it wasn’t so bad to be called “Deere” by Tennessee’s mom after all. He felt a lot of things in this case, but genuine love for the pretentious, snotty woman standing in front of him was not one of those feelings.
Tennessee peered down over the railing, her hair falling forward in a riot of curls as she tried to see who was in the foyer. “Oh, hi Deere!” she said, the surprise evident in her voice. She had on a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt. “Please…I’ll be right down. Mother, can you take him to the drawing room?” She disappeared from sight, probably going to go change into something more formal.
He wanted to tell her not to bother – it wasn’t nice to have her get all dressed up just so he could break her heart – but he also didn’t know how to holler that up the stairs – that wasn’t exactly the sort of thing you could holler up the stairs, he didn’t think – and so he just allowed her mother to lead him to the drawing room, as if he didn’t know exactly where it was. It was where he was directed every time he came over to visit Tennessee, as if he was the lead character in some dreadful Regency novel. No doubt Tennessee’s parents felt li
ke they’d been born into the wrong century and country. They certainly acted like that, anyway.
“She’ll be right down,” Tennessee’s mother promised him, and then shut the doors to the drawing room behind her, leaving him in the dim lighting of just one lamp glowing in the corner.
He wandered over to the grand piano and plunked at a few keys, the rich sound belying his complete ineptitude in the realm of music. No wonder Tennessee sounded so amazing when she played the piano. A three year old would sound amazing playing this instrument. Not that Tennessee didn’t have musical talent – she did – but there was no denying that this piano was worth some serious cash.
Only the best for the Rowland family…
“Hi, Moose!” Tennessee said, slipping into the drawing room and closing the door with a click behind her. She was wearing a calf-length bright blue dress that matched the color of her eyes perfectly, with her hair up in a stunning cascade of curls that tumbled over her shoulder. She looked like she was ready for an evening out at an upscale restaurant and an opera to finish off the date.
Moose felt his stomach begin to clench harder. If he threw up, he would never live it down. He’d have to move to Timbuktu and change his name to John Smith.
Just tell her the truth…just tell her the truth…
“Oh look, you brought me roses. Yellow ones, even. Usually you bring me red ones!” she said delightedly. She took the roses from his sweaty grasp, leaving him with nothing to cling to. He swallowed down the desire to ask her to give them back, please, and instead shot her a devil-may-care grin.
“I thought it was a nice change of pace,” he said with a shrug.
“Yellow roses are my favorite!” she said with a huge smile, burying her face in their petals. “Red are fine, of course,” she said quickly. “I love them too. I just…yellow is so cheerful, you know?”
