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When we arrived at the store, she led me to the makeup department first. After picking up lipstick and eyeliner, she put them both back. As we strolled through the aisles, she did the same thing several more times—picked an item up, checked the price and put it back again. I had seen how meager her paycheck was and knew it would not be enough to cover everything she needed to replace.
When we reached the lingerie department, I told Ember I needed some things for the house and would meet her at the checkout area. After paying for her purchases, she found me waiting at the front doors.
We headed back to the house so she could shower and change her clothes. On the way, she made calls. The insurance company told her to hold on to her receipts and she would be reimbursed. Then she called her landlord to inquire about the return of her security deposit.
“What do you mean, thirty days? I need the money now, so I can find some place to live." I could hear the frustration rising in her voice. “No, I don’t have a copy of the lease. It burned with everything else. It says what? Yeah, you have a nice day too.”
She dropped the phone in her lap and turned to me. “Fuck my life. They’re claiming that, according to my lease, they have 30 days to return my security deposit.”
“I guess you’ll have to stay with us a little longer.” For reasons I could not explain, this made me happy.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ember
“What is that supposed to mean?” I was not sure how I felt about his offer. Or if it even was an offer.
“I am not sure what part wasn’t clear. You can stay with us until the insurance settles and you get your security deposit back.”
I could not believe his change in attitude since we first met. How did he go from wanting me out of his house as quickly as possible to offering to extend my stay indefinitely? Something about it felt wrong. “I don’t take charity.”
“This is not a handout,” he said. “You’ll contribute to groceries with whatever you can afford from your new job. And you’ll be expected to pick up after yourself and help around the house.” He tried to sound tough, but I was beginning to think he was as big of a softy as Logan.
With the only other option being my dreadful excuse of a mother and her lech of a boyfriend, staying in the home of two sexy firefighters didn’t sound so bad. From what Logan had told me and by the way Aiden got all jealous this morning, I was pretty sure he was gay. Hell, maybe both of them were. Neither had shown any sexual interest in me so far. Not that I would have done anything if they had, I quickly reminded myself. I was done with men. Still, they seemed harmless enough, and it would be nice to have guy friends with no sexual tension to get in the way.
After he pulled the Honda Accord into the garage, he told me I could put my things in Logan’s room. It didn't feel right, forcing the big man to give up his bed. “He can’t sleep in that recliner every night. I’ll take the couch.”
“No one is sleeping in the living room.” He suddenly sounded angry. “If we are going to make this work, we need to maintain some semblance of decency.”
The words stung. When I was young, my mother shacked up with guys who only had one-bedroom apartments. I spent a lot of time sleeping on couches. But his voice softened. “Everyone deserves a bed to sleep in. Logan can bunk with me in my room.”
I wanted to ask why they had separate rooms to begin with, but it was none of my business. We unloaded the car, and I took my new clothes upstairs. When I came back down, Aiden was unpacking the groceries he had bought. Pleased to see so many fresh vegetables, I helped put them away. “If you don’t have plans for all of this tempeh, I saw a recipe online for stuffed acorn squash that sounded yummy. I could make it tonight if you like.”
“Sounds good. I’m not sure Logan will be thrilled, but then again, if dinner doesn’t involve red meat, he’s never thrilled.”
My eyes lit up when he pulled a box of King Dongs from a bag. “How did you know those are my favorite?”
“I didn’t,” he said. “These are for Logan. They’re his favorite too. Maybe if you ask him nicely, he will share them with you.” Then he checked the contents of two more bags before handing them to me. “These are yours.”
Perplexed, I looked at the bags. “I didn’t buy anything else.”
“They’re yours,” he said.
Confused, I peeked in the first bag. There was lipstick and eyeliner. The exact brand and color I preferred. The spiral notebooks I use to take notes in class, some pens, and a box of King Dongs. I felt my eyes leaking. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I know, but I wanted to. I had to guess on the sizes for the other things. If they don’t fit, we can exchange them.” I opened the second bag. There was a pair of flannel pajamas, a robe, and a cable-knit sweater. “This old house gets drafty. I don’t want you to catch a cold.”
Afraid I would start crying if I tried to speak, I leaned to kiss him on the cheek, but his head turned at the last second and I ended up kissing him on the lips. Neither of us pulled back. Although not overly passionate, it was a damn fine kiss. When it was over, we both looked away.
“I meant for that to be a friendly kiss on the cheek. A thank you for being so kind to me,” I stuttered.
“It was my fault,” he stammered. “I thought I heard the damn cat on the counter and turned my head.”
I looked around, but Smoke was nowhere in sight. “If you don’t mind, I think I am going to go upstairs for a while.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Aiden agreed.” I’ll finish putting the groceries away.” Neither of us looked at one another as I gathered up my bags.
My heart was still beating rapidly when I walked into Logan’s room. The kiss, although unintentional, was the first intimacy I had experienced in a while and my lady bits were buzzing. Living with a pair of sexy firefighters, even if they were gay, something I was becoming less and less convinced of, was going to be more difficult than I first thought. I needed a cold shower.
