by Sarah Gay
Dax had parked in front of the garbage bin. “And there’s a risk of the dump truck coming at ten p.m. on New Year’s Eve to pick up the garbage?” Dax voiced his annoyance.
“That was low of him.” Pineapple slapped his thighs with both hands, then he shrugged. “But he is a tow guy. I’ll call him tomorrow and tell him to give you a deal to get it out. And I won’t have him stop by here anymore unless I call him.”
Dax was still livid, but he couldn’t take it out on Pineapple. “Thanks, Pineapple. Guess Stone’s giving me a ride home.”
“I know what’ll make you feel better, Dax,” Pineapple said with enthusiasm. “My famous Island style spicy chicken.”
“That does sound good.” Dax had ignored his hunger all evening. His appetite for food had been pleasantly replaced with something more delicious. “Although, I had been enjoying myself with something sweet and citrusy before I was so rudely interrupted.”
Pineapple put his arm around Dax as they walked back into the restaurant. Julia sat at the table closest to the doors with two mugs.
“I thought I would order you something warm.” She pointed to the mugs. “Kava tea. This is the only option.”
Dax rubbed his hands together as he sat across from her at the bright table resembling a craft bench splashed with paint by a two-year-old, then given a hard, clear coating. He didn’t mind that Julia hadn’t raced outside with him. Ordering him a warm drink had been thoughtful. An internal battle still played inside of him concerning her being an attorney, but he was willing to fight that internal battle based on their undeniable chemistry.
“Thank you.” Dax cupped the mug, allowing the hot ceramic to warm his hands.
“But I should warn you…”
He raised the mug to his lips and took a slow sip. Acrid, bilious substance streamed down his throat, causing him to cough.
“I reacted the same way.” Julia furrowed her brows and wrinkled her face into a painful expression. “Don’t like it?”
“Tastes like I’m drinking smashed up roots.”
She smiled. “That’s because we are drinking smashed up roots.”
“Do people actually like this stuff?”
“I Googled it after I ordered. Supposedly, it helps boost immunity, helps fight cancer, shrinks tumors, reduces anxiety, and promotes sleep.”
“Sounds healthy. But couldn’t they make it taste any better?”
“With a little coconut cream and sugar, I think it could be considered tolerable.” She wrinkled her forehead. “But, I also read that if you take too much in a concentrated form it can cause liver damage and a quick, painful death.”
“Ouch.” The mug screeched across the table as he slowly slid it away from himself. “Hungry?”
“Starved.” She stood. “And something tells me the food here is better than the tea.”
He followed her lead, extending his arm out to her as he stood. “I’m that something, telling you the food here really is good.”
“Don’t cut yourself short.” She intertwined her arm with his. “You are so much more than just something.” She closed the kind remark with a wink.
Dax found Julia to be gorgeous, witty, and kind. Abi had been correct in her assessment of her sister. It baffled him that an attorney could be all those things. Now, how would he convince Julia to go out with him? She seemed interested, and he had been straightforward with his hopes. It didn’t add up that she would play games with his head. He needed to do some of his own investigating—stockpile the evidence, as Julia had recommended.
“You were really impressive on the piano. And you’ve got a great voice.”
“Thanks.” He had wondered what she thought about his song but was too intimidated to ask. “It worked then.”
“Worked?” she questioned.
They entered the party room to his buddies slapping him on the back and laughing about how his truck had been towed. “Keep laughing and see where you end up,” Dax responded to Nikola’s jests.
Dax would concoct a brilliant practical joke and they’d never know what hit ‘em. Well, they’d know what hit them, just not who hit them. Jeremy, the youngest and wildest of the group, had done a stint in Juvie. He was a good kid, just needed positive role models and support. Jeremy performed a practical joke on the crew at least once a month. No one got too bothered with his pranks. They were a welcomed relief to dark days after responding to horrific emergencies; a way to escape the traumatic stress. What the other Blue’s Bachelors—Stone, Nikola, and Blue—didn’t know was that Dax crafted and directed the majority of the pranks. He would enjoy this next prank immensely.
Julia tapped him on the arm. “You still here with me?”
“Sorry.” He woke from his scheming to her inquisitive eyes. “Just thinking of important work details.”
She chuckled. “Whatever you were thinking about did the trick, because you had a smile on your face the size of a blue whale.”
“Blue whale?” Dax handed Julia a large paper plate from the buffet table before stacking his own with his favorite chicken dish.
“Whales are big.” She shrugged. “You were going to tell me how playing the piano worked.” She picked up a piece of chicken, scrutinized it in the air, sniffed it, then placed it on her plate.
Dax continued to load his plate to capacity. “Oh, right.” This girl was the most amazing thing he could imagine, but he wondered how much he should divulge. There was danger in expressing affection too quickly. Not that he could rely on that notion. He had never reached that point in his relationships, so he didn’t have the experience to make that claim. No matter his experience, he’d keep to a safe response. “My goal was to impress you. I’m glad that my piano playing worked.”
They made their way to an empty table with three folding chairs. “When did you start playing?”
“When I was five.” Remembering how difficult he had made piano practice for his parents, his torso shook with the release of an amused grunt. “I can’t tell you how many times I threw a fit when I was told before and after school to sit at the piano for half an hour.”
She looked at him in disbelief. “You mean to tell me that you practiced an hour a day since you were five?”
“’Till I was fifteen.” He hadn’t planned on bringing up that painful year.
“Why did you quit?”
He shrugged. “Sports.” He chose not to mention he dropped it when his mom had left them. “I picked it back up a few years ago at the recommendation of a trauma counselor.”
“To avoid PTSD?”
“To cope with it.” Dax took a hearty bite of his food, but then found it difficult to continue with such a huge mouthful. He covered his mouth with a bright floral napkin. “I’m not sure there is any real way of avoiding it.”
“I’m impressed you guys can function in normal society after seeing what you do.”
“A lot of us don’t. When I first contemplated becoming a fireman, a veteran firefighter took me aside, told me his story, then gave me sound advice.” He shoveled in another large mouthful and raised a finger to ask her forgiveness while he chewed.
Julia scooped a large serving with her fork, shoved it in her mouth, and looked up at him with playful eyes. “Go on,” she mumbled through her chew.
“Are you teasing me?”
“I would never,” she said with sarcasm. “You don’t need to be formal with me. I’m just your average girl.”
She was not your average girl, not to him at least. There was something extremely unique and intriguing about her.
“Okay average girl, did you always want to be an attorney?”
“Yes.” She smiled. “I got surprisingly good grades and had an opportunity to clerk for a judge, but public defending called to me. When I was young, my dad would come home in the evenings and tell us about his cases after they became public. I was enamored with his exciting stories.” She moved her rice around with her fork before taking another bite. “He was a trial lawyer as well.”
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“I bet your father is proud of you. Why did you say it was surprising you got good grades?”
“The road to acceptance into law school was rough. It took hundreds of hours of study, not to mention taking the LSAT twice. I was happy just to get in. Law school’s tough, even for the brightest star pupils. But when I got there, it just clicked, and I devoured everything.”
“No regrets?”
“Some days I look back and think I should have gone into journalism, but then, after a day like today, I know I chose the right path.” She pointed at him with her fork. “How about you? Did you always want to be a firefighter?”
“A ninja, actually,” he said with sincerity, which caused her to laugh. “I’m completely serious. I got called into the principal’s office in kindergarten for carrying a pocket utility set.”
“You took a pocket knife to school? Did you get suspended?”
“Lucky for me, it wasn’t a knife. I knew I couldn’t take knives to school. I even told the principal that only bad kids took knives to school, which made her nod and ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. And my answer to her?” He opened his hands, motioning for Julia to finish his thought.
She caught her cue. “A ninja.”
“I explained to the principal that I wanted to protect her and the other women in the office if a bad person came to the school. I could tell that I had made the school office’s day with that one, but my mom still got called in to discuss why I shouldn’t take anything that could resemble a knife to school.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe that you got called in to the principal’s office in kindergarten.” She raised her eyebrows. “What else is on your rap sheet?”
Dax could feel their connection deepen, but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted her absolute attention. Her eyes told him that her heart was not readily accessible. “Sounds like you need to spend more time with me to find out.”
“I thought kindergarten teachers were supposed to be sugar sweet, and there she was throwing you under the bus?”
“I don’t blame my teacher. One of my classmates yelled out in the middle of class that I had a knife in my hand and had shown it to him.” He pointed to her plate. “What do you think about the food?”
She lifted a finger in the air and took another bite. “Succulent.” She moved her tongue around inside her mouth, causing him to swallow hard. “Sweet.” More swishing. “And spicy.” She nodded to him. “So, something convinced you to be a fireman and not a ninja.”
“Someone, but he suffered for his service.” Dax put his fork down and rested his elbows into the table. “This old captain, we’ll call him Joe, never got help soon enough. He held it all in. It affected his marriage, his relationship with his kids, everything. He started drinking to escape the nightmares. It got to the point where he couldn’t even sleep without self-medicating. His advice to me? Get help before I needed it.”
“That’s so sad.” Her eyes turned down to her plate. “So, you play the piano for therapy?”
“It takes more than that. I see a therapist on a quarterly basis. When we first started meeting, she recommended that I take up a few calming activities. I had been working a second job as a paramedic with a medical helicopter unit, but that just increased my exposure to trauma, so I dropped that for sushi lessons, which branched into me attending a culinary school.”
Her face lit with excitement. “You know how to make sushi?”
“You could say that.” He sat taller. “On my days off from the station, I’m a sushi chef at Sushi Central.”
“I love that place!”
“I’ll make you sushi sometime.” Sushi proved, once again, to be an excellent chick magnet. “Just let me know what rolls you’d like and I’ll get the ingredients.”
“It’s a daaa…” she drew out the long A sound as her face flushed. “That’ll be a great day activity.”
He reached across the table and took her hand. “Were you going to say date?”
“Nope.” She shook her head. “Jury is still deliberating. Weeks, remember?”
“I’m attracted to you.” He motioned to her then back to himself. “You’re attracted to me. What’s the issue?”
“The issue is, I’m thirsty. Would you mind grabbing me a bottle of water?”
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Yes I am.” The look she gave him said that conversation had ended. She was going to make him work hard for a date with her.
Not a problem.
He stood. “When I get back with your water, I’d like to learn more about the fascinating Julia.”
He would kindle her heart.
And it would start with the spark of a kiss.
4
Midnight neared. Julia ran her fingers along the slippery edge of the black piano as Dax tinkered out a jazzy song. His talent astounded her. She could sit and listen to him play for hours, but she grew antsy. She hadn’t seen Abi in a while. That didn’t surprise her, considering Stone didn’t show much affection in public. It was possible they had merely slipped away to the front room to be alone together, preventing their intimate exchange from being witnessed by everyone when the clock struck midnight.
Julia would need to embrace the paradigm shift, but she fought it. She and Abi had always ushered in the new year together. Neither of them ever seemed to be dating anyone when New Year’s Eve came around. It felt as if something special slowly slipped through Julia’s fingers. She couldn’t react fast enough, and it splattered on the floor in front of her.
“You okay?” Dax stopped playing. “You’re not impressed with my music anymore?” He tapped down a few more keys.
“It’s amazing.” She gave him an eager smile, but then looked around the room. “I guess I’m just preoccupied with Abi. I haven’t seen her in a bit.”
He touched the bare skin on her shoulder, sending zips of energy shooting through her muscles. “Stone would never let anything happen to Abi.”
And there it was again. One of the many criminal statements made by every man. Julia couldn’t seem to understand why men thought women needed protecting. “Abi can take care of herself. I guess it’s more about me being with her when midnight rolls around.”
“I understand the feeling of losing a good friend to their soul mate. I’ll help you find her.” He stood. “We only have a few minutes.”
He laced his fingers through hers. The electricity created from his touch reached her heart for the second time. She took in a sharp breath to stay the crackling sparks threatening to broil her from the inside out.
They wove through the crowd to the front. Unless Abi and Stone had hidden behind the counter or in the kitchen, they’d left the restaurant.
Julia placed a hand on her hip. “I’m guessing we’ll find them at my house.”
Dax tapped his foot. “That’s not like Stone to leave a brother behind, but he has been a bit lost in general lately.”
“I’d say you’re the one a bit left behind and lost.” She raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn’t going to pin this one on Abi. Stone was a willing participant in he and Abi’s relationship. “But I can give you a ride to my house, then you can catch a ride home with Stone.”
“Thanks. Do you want to head back into the party?”
Like Stone, Julia wasn’t much for an audience, and she had every intention of ringing this New Year in with a rugged, beautiful fireman kissing her silly. She gave him a seductive smile. “What would you say if we stepped outside?”
He didn’t waste a second. “I’ll grab our coats.” He was back within a minute, wrapping Julia’s coat around her shoulders and skimming his hand along her back.
Julia took the cue, nestling comfortably into his chest as they walked outside. The temperature hovered around thirty. It was much warmer than normal for January, but she wasn’t complaining. The slow rolling hills on the other side of the four-lane thoroughfare road in front of Pineapple’s was scattered with tall evergreens and naked, w
hite aspens. The moonlight, coupled with the white glow of the streetlights bouncing off the snow, produced a daylight effect.
She held up her hand to catch a few falling snowflakes. “Don’t you love how bright it is when the moon shimmers against the reflective snow?”
“Yes,” he responded, but his gaze never left her face.
“I’m serious.” She wrinkled her brows and pouted her lips, pretending to be annoyed by his inattention to their surroundings. His preoccupation with her pushed Julia to a place of insecurity. That place scared her more than standing to hear a guilty verdict for her innocent client.
Dax’s face glistened from the large snowflakes melting into his skin. “I’m serious too. Your face is shimmering, and I can’t seem to take my eyes off your lashes, brimming with white puffs, like a fuzzy caterpillar.”
She laughed. “That is actually an option at the lash bar, except I think they called it the furry caterpillar.”
Half his face lifted in confusion. “There’s such thing as a lash bar?”
She laughed. “My parents gave Abi and me a gift certificate to one last year.” She placed her hand on his chest to steady herself. “We made jokes through the entire procedure. I don’t think the lash technicians appreciated our humor.”
Dax covered her hand with his, holding it firm against his chest over his heart. “Tell me you don’t feel a draw to me like I do to you.”
“I…I…” she looked down at their feet and stuttered. In an effort to control the wave of excitement, she sucked in a quick breath before bringing her eyes back to his. “When you say draw, do you mean—”
A clamorous chorus from inside the restaurant cut her ramblings short. Midnight. Dax’s lips found hers before she had time to finish a nervous inhale. An electrical current pulsed through her, instantly popping a few circuits in her brain, preventing rational thoughts, or any thought. She moved her hands under his arms to his back. She found the defined muscles under his shoulder blades and drew him in closer. Accepting his decree that he found her intoxicating, Julia allowed herself to release her inhibitions and indulge in the exhilaration of his thirsty kiss.
