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7
AMBER
“You did what?”
My best friend and roommate Ella practically screeched that question, making me wonder if I should plug my ears. As it was, I couldn’t hold in a wince at the unexpected noise. This was the response I’d expected—but she was smiling instead of frowning at me.
“Ohmigod, you have to tell me ev-er-y-thing,” Ella gushed, leaning forward in her seat.
We were having dinner at the Mexican restaurant the next evening. I’d pouted around the apartment all day while Ella was at work at the town’s only newspaper,The Rosewood Ridge Record. She was working for next-to-nothing in the hopes they’d promote her to staff reporter when the dude who’d had the job for thirty years retired next year.
Last night seemed like a million years ago. I’d left as soon as Clay’s friend Zane got the door open, not looking back. They obviously either fixed or replaced the lock, though, because when I showed up for work this morning, everything worked as usual.
“What’s there to tell?” I shrugged and took another long sip of my margarita. I was hoping to dull the pain. “We did it and now it’s over.”
Ella narrowed her eyes at me. “You lost your virginity, and you act like it’s nothing? Where did it happen? Who did you do it with? So many questions!”
“His name is Clay,” I said. “He’s a volunteer firefighter. I don’t know what he does for a living. I assume if he’s a volunteer, that doesn’t pay the bills.”
Ella didn’t care about any of that. “When did it happen?”
“Last night.”
“Where?”
“At work.”
I was hoping to move on from there, but it became immediately clear that Ella wasn’t letting it go that easily. “You work at a tattoo parlor.”
I nodded. “It happened there.”
“Excuse me.”
The male voice came from the end of the table. It was a guy in a fireman’s uniform, holding a helmet over his stomach. Ella, whose mouth was open to ask the next question, turned to look at the guy, and her mouth fell open even more.
No surprise that the guy was looking directly at Ella. Was my best friend about to get hit on by a firefighter? That would be just perfect. I almost rolled my eyes at the whole situation.
But then he suddenly turned his stare toward me. “Are you Amber?”
I nodded, not able to speak. A firefighter was asking my name.
Was I in some kind of trouble? Maybe because of last night?
“Can you step outside a moment?” the guy asked.
My gaze went straight to Ella, who shrugged, then said, “I’ll go with you.”
The guy didn’t seem to mind that. In fact, he didn’t take his eyes off Ella as he stepped back and swept his arm wide as if to invite us to go ahead.
Even before I stepped through the front door, I saw the fire truck out front. There was no missing the large splash of bright red through the windows that lined the restaurant. In fact, everyone seated in that area was gaping at the scene out front.
“Is there a fire?” I asked nobody in particular.
No, fire trucks showed up for all kinds of situations. Someone might have had a heart attack. Someone could have reacted to one of the ingredients in the food. But this guy had asked me to step out front. This was about me.
Sure enough, when I opened the door, I found Clay standing in front of the truck, hands clasped in front of him. He looked nervous. But he was wearing a firefighter’s uniform, and I’d never seen anything sexier in my life.
“Amber,” he said. “I’ve fallen in love with you. I know it’s soon. We just met. But I can’t help how I feel. If you’ll at least give me a chance, I want to prove that I’m the man for you.”
