by Desiree Holt
He gave her a half grin. “Sure. It’s what we Coasties do.”
“Listen.” She looked into the packed bar and back at him. “I-I need to get some fresh air for a minute. I don’t think I’m ready to go back into that mixing machine yet. But thank you again.”
“Why don’t I just step outside with you?”
Why don’t I just shoot myself first?
“Excuse me?”
He held up his hands. She probably thought he was waiting his turn after the faux-pro linebacker. “No ulterior motives. I’m just not sure it’s too safe out there for you alone.”
Sparks lit up her eyes and her posture stiffened. “I’m a firefighter, Chase. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Thanks, anyway.”
Well, crap. Here was Miss Sass again.
“I didn’t mean to imply that you couldn’t.” He made his words slow and deliberate. “But there are a bunch of loudmouth drunks in here. You never know how hostile they might get if they come on to you and you turn them off. Just sayin’.”
He could almost hear her processing everything in her mind. Then she gave a sharp nod of her head.
“Okay. As long as we agree I really don’t need protection. You’re just—” She shrugged. “Running interference?”
Chase had to swallow a smile. “Sure. Interference. Let’s go.”
The heat of the day still lingered, although a slight breeze had picked up to bring in a little cool air. The night was actually pleasant, if he were anywhere else, with someone else. But who? He wasn’t currently dating anyone. And why had he opened his big fat mouth and offered to come outside with her, anyway?
“Whew.” Holly let out a breath. “I’m glad to be out of that mess.”
“Yeah, me too.” And sorry he’d ever agreed to go along with this. How sad was it that he was glad Holly’s little “episode” gave him a chance to get out of the whirlpool of sound and people?
They stood in a tiny space next to the building, just staring at each other. Chase shoved his hands into his pockets, not quite knowing what else to do with them. Or, uncharacteristically, what to say next. He was still pissed he’d allowed his friends to drag him here tonight. He hated places like this, but John and Amy had already been giving him so much grief about hibernating again he’d decided it was easier just to go along to get along. Now he’d wound up playing savior to Miss Sass.
Crap!
The silence stretched uncomfortably between them, so heavy Chase thought he could reach out and touch it. Apparently Holly was having as much trouble coming up with a topic for discussion as he was. Finally she broke the silence.
“I can’t believe I let myself get talked into coming here tonight.”
“Me, either.”
She blew out a breath and brushed a loose strand of hair back from her face.
“This is definitely not on my wish list, I can tell you that.”
She shrugged, as if none of this mattered to her. “Sure. Whatever. I wish I’d driven myself tonight so I could leave.”
He dipped his head. “Right there with you. It’s the last time I do this.”
“Come to a place like this or ride with someone else?”
“Both.”
She tilted her head. “I thought guys like you lived for places like this.”
Guys like him? “Exactly what does that mean, guys like me?”
“You know. All macho and full of themselves.” Her voice was edged with just a tinge of anger.
Had someone ruffled Miss Sass’s feathers and left permanent damage?
“You don’t know anything about me,” he said in a slow voice. “You always make snap judgments like that?”
“I’m basing it on history with the male sex.”
“You don’t like us much, do you?” He made it a statement rather than a question.
“Depends on the situation. Let’s change the subject.”
Ookayy.
He wanted to ask her what that history was, but it was none of his business. Still, he wondered what had made her so bitter. There wasn’t a thing wrong with her looks. If she cut the attitude, she might even be fun to hang out with.
Again silence plunked itself around them. If he hadn’t known better, Chase would have thought the buzzing in the air came not from the bug lights on the poles, but from some weird sexual chemistry popping up between them. Chemistry with Miss Sass? The ball-busting firefighter? Was he fucking crazy?
In the light from the parking lot, he took a good look at Holly Funchess. She looked just as good as she had at the pizza place, her top softly draped over her breasts, her jeans emphasizing her rounded hips and long legs.
“I, uh, spilled something on my top.” Holly’s voice broke into his thoughts.
He blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You were staring at my chest, in case you hadn’t noticed. I guess there’s a big stain there, despite trying to wash it out.”
She crossed her arms over her chest, the movement tugging the upper edge of the top down just a little, exposing another infinitesimal amount of the ink.
“Uh, oh…”
“I know there’s big stain there.” She heaved a sigh. “Some asshole made me spill a drink. I tried to wash it out, but I guess I didn’t do a very good job.” She scowled. “That is what you were looking at, right?”
“Um, actually I was…” Jesus, Chase. Can you unstick your tongue from the roof of your mouth? “I was thinking you’re probably a great firefighter.”
Her eyes widened until they looked like saucers. “And you saw that on my chest?”
“I wasn’t staring at your chest,” he argued. Liar. “I was just—”
Fortune must have been smiling on him because at that exact moment the back door to El Caliente banged open and a small female with a wild head of black hair and a frightened look on her face burst out into the parking lot. Chase was pretty sure he remembered her from Pump It Up, working out with Holly. Oh, yeah. She was the one who had come on to him, the one he’d shut down. She spotted them and planted her hands on her hips, relief replacing the fright.
“There you are.” She glared at Holly. “You scared the shit out of me, do you know that?”
Chase frowned at the woman. “I remember you from the gym.”
It was hard to tell in the minimal lighting, but he was sure she blushed. Was she remembering how he’d told her to go peddle her papers elsewhere? She wasn’t his type, even if he’d been interested in hooking up with someone, and he’d made it plain to her, in what John called his normal abrasive manner with women. Everything always came back to bite him in the ass.
“Yes. We met.” She looked as if she wanted to make a comment, probably something derogatory, but instead she just held out her hand. “Adara Mann.”
He took her hand briefly.
Adara stared at him, then turned back to Holly. “You’re out here with Mr. Hot Guy?”
Chase’s jaw dropped. “Mr. Hot Guy?”
Holly snorted. “Don’t let it go to your head. That’s coming from her, not me.” She turned to Adara. “Sorry. I just needed some air.”
“Air? So you decided it would be safe out here in the parking lot of a bar full of noisy, predatory drunks?” She blew out a breath. “Are you crazy?”
“As you can see, I’m perfectly safe.” She waved her hand in Chase’s direction. “I have the Coast Guard to protect me. Besides, you were the one who wanted to come here, weren’t you?”
“Not one of my best decisions,” Adara admitted, a scowl creasing her forehead. “Maybe next year when you can actually find room to breathe in here. Anyway, come on. We’re leaving.” She grabbed Holly’s hand and tugged. “Come on. I’ve got our purses.” She pointed at the two hanging by thin straps from one shoulder. “Say good-bye to Mr. Hot Guy.”
Holly looked at Chase and shrugged. Her lips almost curved in a tiny smile. “Bye, Mr. Hot Guy.”
Chase didn’
t know whether to be flattered or insulted. Did these two women really think he was hot or were they just mocking him? He nodded at that.
“So long.” He almost called her Miss Sass but decided he didn’t need the backtalk he was sure it would bring.
As he stood there wondering if he could convince John and Amy to leave soon, the back door opened again and here they came.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” John said.
“Not hiding,” Chase corrected. “Just getting some fresh air. There sure isn’t any inside. I think my brains are rattling from the volume of the noise.”
“Man.” John blotted his face with a handkerchief, then put the square of linen back in his rear pocket. “Talk about a place hot in more ways than one.”
Amy giggled. “I think we’re getting too old for these kinds of spots.”
“So are you guys ready to hit the road?” Chase asked.
“Yeah. That’s why we came to find you. Amy figured you’d ducked outside.”
He grinned. “I always said Amy’s a smart cookie. Let’s get out of here. If you’re planning to go anyplace else, you can just drop me off first. I’ve had more than my allotment of fun for the night.”
Chapter 7
The last thing Holly felt like doing after the day she’d had was working out. For a Monday, they’d been run pretty ragged.
“I’m thinking about just turning around and going home,” she told Adara. They were standing in the women’s locker room at Pump It up, and she still had her workout bag in her hand.
“Oh, come on. You can work out the kinks,” Adara told her.
“I worked out plenty of kinks today. We had a five alarm that had all hands on deck and took us the better part of four hours to fully contain.”
“Any casualties?” The nurse in her always asked that first.
“One person with serious burns. Everyone else was ambulatory. The EMTs took them to the hospital for treatment anyway and to get them checked out.”
“Always a good idea,” Adara agreed. She studied her friend. “You look wound up tighter than a drum. Something going on I should know about?”
Yes, there is, she wanted to shout. I can’t get that stupid Mr. Hot Guy out of my brain. What the heck was that all about? And wouldn’t Adara just laugh her butt off if she knew. But instead, Holly just shook her head.
“Uh-uh. Just still stressed from today.”
“Then you definitely need to work out. Come on.” She took Holly’s gym bag and zipped it open. “Some stretches will do you good. Make it a light one tonight but get that tension out of your system.”
Holly swallowed a sigh. She really wanted to go home and curl up with a gallon of ice cream, except she saved those for dating disasters. Maybe pizza or tacos or—
Or get your shit together, Holly. Go work out, get a takeout salad, and go home and forget about today, Mr. Hot Guy, and everything else.
Yeah, the devil on her shoulder said. Easier said than done. But obediently she took out her clothes and changed into them.
“Good girl.” Adara grinned at her. “Maybe Mr. Hot Guy will be here tonight, and you can ogle his buns.”
“No, thanks.” That was the last thing she needed. He reminded her too much of Brad and the other alpha males who figuratively beat their chests and demanded control of every situation. Of course, he had been really nice to her Friday night. He didn’t have to rescue her from the guy with ham hocks for hands, or hang out with her in the parking lot.
Still…
“Are you coming?” Adara snapped at her. “Jeez, are you even conscious tonight?”
“Probably not.” Holly slammed her locker shut, slipped the key bracelet onto her wrist, and headed out to the main workout area.
She did her warm-up stretches, grabbed a bottle of water, and headed for one of the ellipticals. With her ear buds in and her iPod in a band on her arm, she set the machine for a mountain climb and pressed start. She was about fifteen minutes into the routine, her favorite playlist booming in her ears, when she sensed someone on the machine to her left. Sliding a glance over, she saw Chase setting up his routine and getting ready to start. When he caught her glancing at him, he nodded and gave her a half grin.
She dipped her head once, then turned back to her routine, but now she was acutely conscious of his presence. The short cut of his blond hair was perfect to set off his square-jawed face. His T-shirt and gym shorts clung to a body that was all muscle from head to toe. She couldn’t help noticing the flex of his thighs and calf muscles or the way his T-shirt hung on his broad shoulders. The fluid movement of his muscles unexpectedly captivated her.
Crap!
With the discipline she’d learned training as a firefighter she jerked her attention away from him and focused on the video screen in front of her. But somehow it didn’t seem to hold her attention the way it usually did.
Focus, idiot. On the screen, not the man.
But no matter how she tried to keep her eyes averted, she kept catching him in her peripheral vision. Her glance slid sideways almost as if it had a mind of its own. Finally, she shut down the machine, grabbed her water bottle and towel, and headed to the opposite side of the room and the machines she worked with for upper-body strength. Playing out the heavy fire hose and sometimes having to carry people out of a fire required every bit of her body be in tiptop condition.
Besides, she had made it a pledge to herself the day she was hired to be faithful to her fitness program. She would never be the one who let her squad down because she hadn’t maintained her physical condition. She constantly felt the need to prove herself, both to the male firefighters and to the people who had told her she was wrong to pursue this career. Maintaining a rigid discipline and always shooting for perfect was her complete focus. She had no intention of giving anyone a chance to say she didn’t make it or she was a failure at her dream, so the last thing she needed was a distraction.
Her good intentions, however, seemed to be taking a short vacation. Even an entire exercise room away, Holly couldn’t keep her traitorous eyes from wandering over to Chase, still pounding away on the elliptical. If she’d been interested—and that was a pretty damn big if—she could certainly do a lot worse than this man. She had to work hard to keep her mouth from watering. Too bad for her he was in the “look, don’t touch” category. Men who made her salivate were forbidden fruit as far as she was concerned.
She’d come to a conclusion after Brad; if she wanted her life to be emotionally fireproof, she should stay away from this type of male animal. Looking didn’t count, though. Right? She could still get her fill of looking, couldn’t she? After all, protecting her heart didn’t mean she couldn’t ogle eye candy now and then. As long as all she did was ogle.
She was actually facing in his direction when he finished with the elliptical routine, took a long swallow of water from the bottle he carried with him, and wiped his face with his hand towel. How could such simple actions be so sexy? She’d seen men do those same things a gazillion times and all she’d seen were sweaty male specimens. Why was it that on Chase the sweat looked good?
Damn, damn, damn.
She grabbed her water and towel and headed to the free weights, the last part of her routine. Okay, so Mr. Hot Guy was sexy. And cute. But she’d bet he wasn’t interested in a relationship for the long haul any more than she was.
Wait. Maybe that was good. Wasn’t that what she was looking for? She’d have to think about that. Which she did, all the while she did her reps. Finished at last, she pulled her attention away from Chase and headed to the juice bar. She was just slugging down an ice-cold mango juice when she sensed someone come up beside her.
And there he was. Mr. Hot Guy. Chase. Looking at her and giving her a half smile.
Her brain froze. “Uh, hi,” she managed. Yup, a stunning conversationalist. She was that, all right.
“Hi, yourself.” He accepted a glass of juice from the work
er behind the counter and slugged at least half of it down at once.
She supposed the next few seconds were what were referred to as an uncomfortable silence, except she didn’t feel that uncomfortable. Well, maybe a little. Still, what was up with this? She was never tongue-tied with men. She could talk sports and—sometimes—politics with the best of them.
“So, how ’bout them Padres?” The comment seemed to just pop out of Chase’s mouth, as if he’d been tuned in to her thoughts.
She burst out laughing.
“What?” He scowled. “I think that’s a perfectly normal question.” He gave her a hard stare. “You do like baseball, right? And the Padres? Or are you an Angels fan? Or Dodgers?” He lifted an eyebrow. “Giants?”
She hid her smile behind her juice glass. “Yes, I love baseball. Only I’m a Cubs fan. I know, I know,” she went on, when he gave her a strange look. “Live in San Diego, root for the Padres. But I’m a Cubbie follower from way back.” She took another sip of juice to pull herself together. “Listen, about the other night. I wanted to thank you—”
“No thanks necessary,” he broke in. “I saw you had a problem and thought you could use a little more brawn than you had on your side.”
“I could have handled it, you know.” She hated the fact she sounded so defensive, but it was important to her that he know she wasn’t some weak-kneed female.
One corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile. “I have no doubt about it. And if the same thing ever happens to me, I hope you’ll return the favor.”
She laughed so hard she snorted her juice. Embarrassed, she wiped her face with her towel and blew out a breath. “I’ll remember that.”
Another awkward silence dropped between them as they concentrated on their drinks.
“Uh, listen. Would you like to go get a cup of coffee?” When she just stared at him he added, “Not like a date or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about. Just, you know, coffee.”
She blinked. “Why would you want to do that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. If I say I never met a female firefighter so I’d like to get to know you better, would I sound too smartass?”
