by A. J. Pine
She spoke as if she’d been running the place for years instead of just under a week. Well color Ben Callahan impressed. Not that he expected any less of her. After all, she did save lives for a living. For someone who loved city life, she took to country living like a cowboy to the ranch.
“You got it, boss,” Tyler said.
Ben cleared his throat, and Charlotte’s eyes flicked up to meet his.
Her auburn hair hung pin straight at her shoulders. Her lips were painted bright red and parted in a smile that knocked the wind straight out of his chest.
He plastered on his easy grin. “Evening, Doc,” he said, hoping to hide his reaction. “You look…Wow.”
Her cheeks flushed, and Tyler made a point to avoid eye contact with either of them, focusing instead on the laptop monitor.
“I didn’t know what the dress code was for the evening,” she said, emerging from behind the counter. “And I figure I won’t have too many occasions to get all gussied up while I’m here, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I hope that’s okay.”
She spun slowly, the skirt of her blue and white polka-dot dress twirling above her knees. The top of the dress fit snug against her torso, hugging her curves in all the right places. What really did it, though, was that she topped the look off with a short denim jacket and a pair of well-worn cowboy boots.
“Very New York,” he said. Then his gaze trailed down the length of her body to the boots. “And very country.”
She curtsied. “Why thank you, kind sir. That’s exactly the look I was going for.”
Everything about the look worked so well, he had to remind himself that she hadn’t actually done all her gussying for him. It was for Pearl. All of this was for Pearl.
He held out his arm, and she linked hers right through it. She felt so familiar next to him and yet so entirely new. He wasn’t sure what to make of it other than him being utterly clueless about how tonight would go. Usually he simply turned on the charm, and the night went straight to the bedroom. But starting the evening off knowing the bedroom was the last place he and the good doctor would end up meant he was up a creek without his most trusted paddle.
“Good night, Tyler,” Charlotte said over her shoulder. “You have my mobile number in case of an emergency.”
“No worries, boss,” the younger man said. “It’s all under control.”
They stopped short just before stepping back out onto the front porch because through the windowed door they could see Chief Burnett outside leaning over to give Pearl a kiss on the cheek.
“We should probably give them a moment,” Ben said.
Charlotte nodded, then tugged him to her right so they were just out of view of the front desk.
“You know,” she said. “If this were a real date, you could greet a girl like that if you wanted to.”
His eyes widened. “Is that so?”
She nodded. “I mean, you’d have to read the signs, see if the woman was open to it.” She unthreaded her arm from his and clasped her hands in front of her.
Ben crossed his arms. “And how would I know if she was open to it?”
Charlotte shrugged. “She might be demure, like this.” She smiled sweetly, averting her eyes, and turned her cheek toward him.
He laughed softly. “You would never do that, Doc.”
She groaned and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, if you ever come to pick me up and Pearl is, I don’t know, eavesdropping and/or spying, we might want to sell it better. Just in case.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Who would eavesdrop and/or spy?”
Charlotte’s cheeks flushed. “No one, of course!” she protested. “I’m just saying that if we were afraid that might happen, we might have to take our little act to the next level.”
Ookaaay.
“Doc…” He cleared his throat. “Are you suggesting we kiss right now for your grandmother’s sake?”
She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, then let out a nervous laugh.
“No. Of course not. Not right now. I mean, if Gran were right here next to me, I wouldn’t be angry if you did. To sell it.”
He leaned closer to her and inhaled. The scent reminded him of his childhood, of the time their parents took Ben and Sam to pick oranges at a local grove, and he found it hard to pull away.
“Something innocent like this?” he said, then his lips brushed across her cheek. “You look lovely tonight, by the way.”
Her cheek felt warm against his mouth. And being so close to her mouth made his throat dry and tied his gut into knots. But he pulled away because anything more than this would give him away.
Ben could play along. She didn’t need to know that he wanted to kiss her. Or that he’d said things to Pearl outside he’d never say to Charlotte’s face for fear of freaking her out and making her realize she’d made a huge mistake thinking she could be simply friends with him.
She cleared her throat and brushed off her skirt, not that there was anything to brush. “Yep. Great. Just like that. And look. Gran and the chief are leaving. That means if any spying did occur, we likely passed the test.”
Her words came out clipped and a little breathless, and it took everything in him not to gloat. Or maybe it was that his pulse had quickened, too, and gloating might be slightly hypocritical. He could pretend he wasn’t still wildly attracted to her, but his increased heart rate said otherwise.
He glanced out the window to see Pearl talking, her good arm punctuating her words with animated gestures, and the chief laughing as he slowly pushed her chair down the porch’s ramp.
Ben strode back to the door and held it open for Charlotte. “After you.”
“Such a gentleman,” she said as she walked through.
He followed her out. “Just so you know, I’d have held the door for you whether this was a date or not. I do have a few polished edges.”
She looked over her shoulder before heading down the stairs. “And just so you know, women can open doors too. We’re not all damsels in need of saving.”
He shook his head and laughed. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that Charlotte North was completely capable of saving herself should the occasion arise.
She walked right up to his truck, then burst out laughing when he left her standing at the unopened passenger door and rounded the cab so he could hop into the driver’s seat.
She climbed in next to him, and he bit back a grin.
“Touché, cowboy.”
He shrugged. “You want to open your own doors. Who am I to stop you?”
She buckled her seat belt and turned to him with a grin. “So, where are you taking me?”
Ben made a quick U-turn, drove one block, then parallel parked in front of the Meadow Valley fire station.
“We’re here,” he said. “Need help with that door?”
Chapter Ten
We’re…where?” Charlotte asked.
She’d expected him to take her to Midtown Tavern, the only place other than the inn where you could order food off a menu—even if it was pub fare. Sure, she’d dressed up to make this look real, and maybe Ben had done the same, but once Pearl and the chief left the inn, Charlotte and Ben could have simply wandered down the street to the tavern to do what they both would have done separately anyway. Instead, he’d actually planned something?
“Should I have eaten before you picked me up?” she asked. “Because I’ve been at it with the inn since sunup, and I don’t think I’ve had more than a cup of coffee and a banana. So I should just warn you that when I get hangry, I kind of lose my filter and say things I shouldn’t.”
He laughed. “As much as I’d like to see what that looks like, there’s plenty of food involved tonight—as long as Meadow Valley has no major emergencies.”
He leaned over, one hand braced on the edge of her seat while the other reached across her torso. For a second, he was so close she thought he might kiss her for real this time, not just that sweet peck on the cheek that had still sent her
mind off to places it shouldn’t go. Her belly flip-flopped, and she held her breath only for him to open her door from the inside.
“It’s a compromise,” he said, straightening. “I get to be a little chivalrous, and you get to exit the vehicle on your own accord.”
She exhaled. “Compromise. Right. Okay.” Come on, Charlotte. Full sentences. You’re not going to let a little chivalry get to you. “You still haven’t explained why we’re not at Midtown or having Pearl’s kitchen staff cook us dinner. Once she and the chief were gone, we could have even gone our separate ways.” Though she wouldn’t admit out loud that she was relieved they hadn’t.
He scoffed, the gesture exaggerated. “You think I’d say yes to taking you on a date and feed you what you eat every day? Or worse, not take you out at all? I didn’t know you thought so little of me, Doc.”
Her mouth hung open for a second. “I’m…I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I wasn’t insinuating you weren’t good for your word.”
“Seems to be a touch of that going around,” he said. “People not sure to trust me at my word.”
Her heart sank. She’d hurt his feelings, or his pride at least.
He hopped out of the vehicle, so she did the same, meeting him in front of the cab.
“Ben, I really didn’t mean…”
He waved her off and plastered on his most charming grin, but she could still see the flicker of pain in his blue eyes.
“You ever picnicked on top of a fire engine under the stars?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “Is that allowed?”
He held out a hand, and she threaded her fingers through his. Again her belly did that flipping thing. She’d have to explain to it later that this was nothing more than Ben doing her a favor and her going along for the ride.
“It is when you’re friends with the lieutenant—and his girlfriend helps get everything together on an hour’s notice. Ivy would kill me if I didn’t give credit where credit was due.”
“You did all this for me? Simply because I asked you to?”
He winked. “What are friends for?” he asked.
Right. Friends. But he’d pulled out all the stops when he didn’t have to, which made this one of the most romantic dates she’d ever been on, and it had only just begun. Even if it wasn’t real, Charlotte could still enjoy the effort he went to. She could still feel a little special, couldn’t she?
She bit her lip and grinned. Screw it. Even if the effort wasn’t truly for her, Charlotte was going to enjoy herself.
“Thanks…friend,” she said. “And I will be sure to thank Ivy for her help tomorrow,” Charlotte said.
Ben led her onto the fire house’s property, but instead of heading for the main doors, he pulled her around the corner to where a bright red engine sat parked outside.
“Wow,” Charlotte said. “That thing is huge. I’ve never seen one up close.”
Ben gave her hand a squeeze. “Now that’s what a man likes to hear.”
She laughed and backhanded him on the shoulder. “Do all grown men still have the sense of humor of a thirteen-year-old?”
He nodded. “Every single one of us.”
On the back of the engine was a small set of stairs leading to the top, but the stairs themselves were a good two and a half feet off the ground. In tennis shoes and jeans, it would have been no problem. But she’d gone and gotten gussied up, and while she was glad for the reaction it had elicited from Ben, she was not dressed for climbing.
After standing and staring at the engine’s rear for long enough, Ben finally broke the silence.
“Something tells me you might need some assistance. Would it be all right if I provided said assistance?”
Ugh. She never should have made the comment about opening her own door.
She groaned. “Yes, Ben. I might be in need of some assistance.”
Looking at it now, she swore that small set of stairs was a full three feet off the ground. And once up there, it didn’t lead all the way to the top of the truck. She’d have to do some jumping or shimmying or some other maneuver where she had a very good chance of winding up with her rear end hanging out of her dress.
He unthreaded his fingers from hers and crossed his arms. “You want me on top or bottom?” he asked with a devilish grin.
She shook her head. “You really are just an adolescent child in a grown man’s body, aren’t you?”
He arched his brows. “What’s it going to be?”
She weighed her options. If he went up first and helped her from above, she had the best chance of her dress keeping her covered, but if she fell…well, there’d be no one to catch her. If she went up first, he’d be getting quite the view, but he’d also catch her if she lost her footing.
“I’ll go up first,” she finally said, realizing it wasn’t him sneaking a peek that had her tied up in knots. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before. It was that this date that wasn’t a real date felt like a real date. And she wasn’t sure if that thrilled her or made her want to run for the hills. Right now the only place she could run was up the ladder of a very large fire engine.
“Note to self,” Ben said, perfectly clear so she could hear. “The lady likes it on top.”
She didn’t dignify his comment with any sort of a response but instead approached the four stairs that started three feet off the ground. There was a railing, but it only extended as low as the second stair so that when she grabbed it, her arm was fully extended, leaving her practically dangling with only the toes of her boots left on the ground.
“May I?” Ben asked from behind her. Then he pulled the skirt of her dress against her thighs and wrapped his arms around her knees so that she was basically using his shoulder as a chair.
She laughed nervously as he set her down with ease on the first step.
“Wow. Kind of felt like I was the cheerleader on top of the pyramid.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. Forget climbing the engine. Ben Callahan’s easy smile could knock her on her butt at any second.
Run for the hills, Charlotte.
But she was sort of stranded now.
“Still got the uniform?” he teased.
She made it to the small landing at the top of the four steps and managed to hoist herself onto the vehicle’s roof.
Ben was next to her in seconds flat, hopping onto the rig as easily as he hopped onto the back of a horse.
“I wasn’t actually a cheerleader,” she told him.
He gestured toward the front of the vehicle and helped her maneuver her way to where a red-and-white plaid blanket lay over the unencumbered area above the cab. On top of the blanket sat two pillows that looked like they were stolen from a couple of deck chairs, a picnic basket, and a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket of ice.
“Let me guess,” he said, holding her hand as she lowered herself onto one of the pillows before taking the spot next to her, their backs against the cab. “A dancer? Color guard? Oh! Maybe marching band? Had a crush on a flute player back in the day.”
She spread her skirt over her knees and looked him straight in the eye. In those stupidly beautiful, long-lashed blue eyes.
“Not a cheerleader. Not a dancer. Not anything involved in football games or basketball games or whatever. I never actually went to any of my high school’s athletic events.”
He was in the middle of removing the bottle of wine from the bucket and stopped short.
“Not one.” He said it more like a statement than a question.
She shook her head, and because he wasn’t moving things along, grabbed the wine from him. Thankfully, it was a screw top—a sparkling rosé with a label that read CROSSROADS VINEYARD from Oak Bluff, California. She’d heard of the town but didn’t know it had a winery.
“I know I said I’d never drink again, but that was then, and you said it yourself—famous last words.” She could use a little liquid courage to settle her nerves. So she unscrewed the top and searched their limited surroundings for something in whi
ch to pour the bubbly.
Ben flipped open the basket and produced two red Solo cups.
“Classy,” she teased.
“Nothing but the best for you, Doc.”
She poured them each what she hoped was the equivalent of one glass of wine and set the bottle back in the bucket.
She took a sip and waited for the bubbles to spread through her, then let out a long breath. She glanced up at the star-studded sky on this beautiful night and allowed it all to sink in. The date that wasn’t a date that sure as hell felt like a date. And the nickname. Ugh, the nickname she tried to get him to stop saying that he made a term of their friendship.
“Sorry,” he said, breaking the silence. “I will try to get used to the whole Charlotte thing if that’s really what you want. Old habits die hard, I guess.”
She shook her head, not sure what was more unsettling—that he was practically reading her thoughts or that she didn’t want him to break the habit.
“It’s not that. I mean it is, but…no one has ever given me a nickname before,” she said. “Not even my parents. And I guess maybe I like it? I mean, it’s kind of sweet. Something that’s just for me—unless, of course, you call all the girls Doc, in which case the joke’s on me.”
He knocked the bottom of his cup against hers. “Nope. You are and have been the only Doc in my life. Can I ask though? Does becoming the doc that you are have anything to do with missing four years of athletic events in high school?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like athletics is the be-all and end-all of school experience.”
He raised a brow. “True. So…debate team? Model UN? You weren’t some hermit, were you?”
Her pulse quickened. They hadn’t done this before, this getting to know each other. Talking about personal stuff.
“Why do you want to know about my uninteresting teen years?” she asked, trying to sound breezy.
He shrugged. “I’m a little inexperienced, but isn’t that how this friend thing works? You tell me stuff about you…I tell you stuff about me. Come to think of it, it’s really not as complicated as I thought.”
