Page 47 of Living with Fire
“So, dinner with the gang?”
“Yeah,” she says, her smile a little forced, but I can tell she’s glad for the change of subject. “As long as I’m not intruding on firehouse time, I’m game.”
“You’re not,” I retort, rolling my eyes as I release her hand and get to my feet. “I spend enough time with the knuckleheads. I’ll be happy for you to be a distraction.”
As she gets to her feet, I whistle low when I catch sight of her legs in a pair of jean shorts. Her ass doesn’t hang out of them, but they don’t cover more than an inch, two at best, of her thigh. “Very, very happy.”
She just laughs and comes around the desk, giving me a glimpse of those toned calves before pushing me towards the door. “C’mon, let’s go. Can’t keep Liam waiting, you know.”
Oh, we could. We definitely could. Lucky for Liam I’m too much of a gentleman.
CHAPTER 17
SAVANNA
“They’re alive!”
Nate and I both look across the restaurant to see Liam sitting at a table, grinning at us, his hands up in the air like he’s just scored a touchdown.
Beside him sits a woman I recognize from the night of the fire, but I’m not sure if she’s Hailey or Quinn. Whoever she is, she’s stunning. Despite still being behind the bar where Nate is getting us both a beer before we join the table, it’s easy to see her beauty.
She has jet black voluminous hair cut with shaggy attitude just past her shoulders. Wisps of hair frame her face, the style saying she doesn’t try too hard, but still makes it look damn good. A sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and pale skin make her standout. With the curves I can see from here, it wouldn’t surprise me if every pair of eyes in the place follow her whenever she moves.
“Remember when you met Liam and Brody, and I warned you about them?” Nate says, drawing my attention back to him. I nod and he continues as he hands me one of the beers, “This might be worse than that.”
I laugh at his sudden apprehension. “I did just fine that night. Don’t worry, I got this too.”
As if to prove my point, I grab his hand and pull him away from the bar, heading towards the table where Liam and the girl sit. The second we’re in their sight, I see the girl elbow Liam in the side, and I know they’re both zeroing in on our linked hands.
“Oh shit. This just got serious. They’re holding hands,” Liam says in a mock whisper loud enough for us to hear. Leave it to him to call us out on it.
“Has this ever happened before?” The woman asks, and I glance at her, awestruck by the color of her eyes. They’re a shade of violet that can’t be anything besides contacts, but they make her striking features stand out even more.
He shakes his head. “Not that I’ve witnessed.”
“Okay, okay. Enough out of the two of you,” Nate says, releasing my hand to pull the chair across from the girl out for me. Someone has put three tables together for all of us and Liam and the woman have chosen the middle table to sit down at. “Can we please not scare her off?”
“Oh!” The woman gasps, turning to Liam as I sit down. “Is this it?”
I’m not sure what she’s talking about, but Liam narrows his eyes and glances between Nate and me before leaning back in his seat to shake his head. “Nah. Not his M.O. He’d do something spectacular, and this isn’t it.”
I look to Nate for some kind of explanation. He raises his beer to his lips, I think to hide a smirk, and doesn’t meet my eyes. Nate would do something spectacular? For what?
Turning back to Liam and the woman, I raise my eyebrows. “I don’t suppose one of you wants to fill me in?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Liam supplies cheekily.
The woman adds with a finger in the air, “But when Nate asks you a question, you should definitely say yes.”
My head snaps towards Nate, and I break into a full grin. Nate’s already asked me a question. Two, in fact. I’d bet that Liam means Nate would plan something spectacular for our first date.
My stomach assaults me with butterflies. They’ve been swirling around in there ever since Nate stuttered his way through asking me out. He was so adorable. I’ve seen his neck and face redden before, but they’ve never been the shade of crimson they were when he was trying to get the words out.
With the nerves so obvious, I was pretty sure I knew what was coming. Though I might have looked more composed than Nate, my heart was racing, and my hands were shaking. I’ve thought about Nate a lot over the last week, and I decided that if he were to make a move, I wouldn’t stop him. I don’t think I could, even if I wanted to. There’s this connection between us that is so strong, it’s been near impossible to keep myself from jumping him at times, especially in the moments when we touch accidentally.
Oh hell, even when it isn’t accidental.
I got sprayed with bacon grease the morning before his last shift when we were cooking breakfast, and he went all fireman on me, taking my arm to inspect it and rinse it under cool water. It wasn’t bad at all, probably didn’t even need to be run under water, but Nate was determined so I let him take care of me. It was sweet and innocent until our eyes met and I’m pretty sure if Jordan had walked in thirty seconds later, she would have caught us all over each other.