AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Without thinking, Beth sent up a silent prayer Drew would be kept safe. She wasn’t sure she wanted a relationship with him, but she was quite certain she didn’t want to see him harmed either.
***
Drew didn’t have much time to think about Beth during his shift. They’d not been back fifteen minutes on Saturday afternoon before they were called out to a car accident. Once they got that cleaned up, the guys headed back to the station. They were less than a minute away when the call came in for a small grease fire.
By the time they got back and cleaned their gear, they were all ready for some downtime. Unfortunately, there was still work to be done. His lack of sleep the night before was beginning to wear on him. As soon as the clock struck nine thirty, Drew made a beeline for his cot, and crashed. Lucky for him, the next call didn’t come until four hours later. He rolled out of his bunk and hit the ground running.
Shawn cornered him the next morning. “I heard it was a busy shift.”
“All minor stuff.” Drew shrugged. It had kept him occupied. That was probably a good thing.
“So. What’s with you and the lady at the café?” The two of them were alone, but they wouldn’t be for long.
“Nothing.”
“Sure. I heard you were craning your neck all throughout lunch trying to get another glimpse of her. You gonna ask her out?”
“Gonna ask who out?” Johnson, one of the stations EMTs, asked.
Two other guys followed Johnson in and Drew became the center of attention.
Drew sighed. The last thing he wanted was to draw the guys into this. For one thing, he couldn’t explain how he knew Beth. Or how he knew she wouldn’t be thrilled if he asked her out.
Before he could figure out how to answer, Shawn did it for him. “Parker here had to babysit a scene yesterday until the inspector got there, and apparently the new inspector took them all to lunch at this little café. Rumor has it he was taken with the woman behind the counter.”
“Was she hot?” Martinez asked.
Romeo chose that moment to join the conversation. “An eight or a nine, I’d say.”
The guys whistled.
Drew shook his head. It was useless. “I’m outta here. See you guys tomorrow.”
On his way home, Drew took a detour and drove by the café. All the lights were out and the doors locked. According to the sign, they were closed on Sundays and Mondays.
He wasn’t sure if he was disappointed or relieved. Drew wanted to see Beth again, but what exactly would he say? He supposed he could apologize for the day before, but even that sounded lame. Nicole had blindsided them both.
Drew didn’t know what to make of Nicole. Never in his wildest imagination had he dreamed of running into her, or anyone else from the club for that matter, on the job. Maybe that was naïve of him, but it had thrown him for a loop.
He had done his best to remain professional throughout their examination of the building. She hadn’t brought up their connection, even when Romeo was out of earshot. Katrina had explained to him the importance of privacy for many of the club’s members when he’d joined. He was completely on board with that. Drew couldn’t imagine the ribbing he’d get from the guys if they ever found out he wanted a woman to dominate him. He’d never live it down.
The week seemed to drag. It had nothing to do with work. They had plenty of calls to keep them busy. Most of them were medical, but something was better than nothing.
Drew did a lot of thinking over the course of the week, and most of it revolved around Beth. It had been a while since he’d pursued a woman. Being a firefighter had its perks. When he was younger, it was great. Find a pretty woman in a bar, tell her how you rushed into a building and saved someone’s life, and more often than not, she was enamored.
It was great for the first five years or so. He’d been more concerned with getting laid than finding a long-term relationship. Drew wasn’t sure if it was because he was getting older or not, but he was ready for something more meaningful. He didn’t want to wake up ten years into the future and not have someone waiting for him at home. He wanted a wife—a family. Was Beth the right woman? He didn’t know, but he wanted to find out.
Friday night Drew put on his best black jeans and a dark blue T-shirt his ex-girlfriend always said made his eyes pop. He was hoping Beth would be at the club. Drew still wasn’t quite sure how to cross that line Beth had drawn in the sand regarding their relationship, but he knew he had to figure out something.
The first thing he did when he walked in the door of Serpent’s Kiss was look for Beth. It took a minute, but he found her in the corner laughing with Katrina. Drew smiled. She looked happy. Relaxed.
As if Beth could feel his eyes on her, she turned her head in his direction. Her smile faltered, and his heart sank. She wasn’t pleased to see him.
A second later, Nicole was in front of him. “Don’t get discouraged.”
He blinked. “What?”
“Beth. Don’t let her attitude discourage you.”
