Page 34 of Silver Fox Firefighters Next Door

“If you had, would you tell me?”

That made her smile. “Nope.”

Brenda leaned over the table, towards me. “I heard you were straddling a firefighter on the back of the fire truck yesterday. One of your neighbors, right?”

“Oh! Do tell.” Margaret perked right up. “Are you starting a love affair of your own, Evie?”

“I wasn’t straddling anyone. You heard wrong. I hurt my hand and he was helping me.” I pursed my lips and looked away. “And what do you mean, a love affair of my own? Who else is having a love affair?”

“You’re a smart one, Evie, but not that smart. You can’t trick me into spilling anything I don’t want to spill.” Wagging her finger at me, Margaret smiled like she’d just won an Olympic medal. “What did you mean, who else is having a love affair? Are you admitting something?”

“Sounds like she’s admitting something.” Coco snorted as she looked behind me. “Here comes one of them now.”

I spun around, just to find that there was no one heading our way. The three women behind me laughed wildly, though. Looking back at them, I sighed. “You three are menaces. Normally I like it. When it’s pointed at me, though, I’m not a fan.”

“You’re just mad at us over the lube. And that wasn’t even our fault. We announced to everyone that it was glue. You just weren’t listening.” Margaret wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer. “Tell us the truth. Are you sleeping with one, two, or all three of them?”

My face burned bright red. “I have to go. I just came here looking for Grandpa.”

“Check the kitchen.” Coco smiled at me and it felt too nice. It sent a chill down my spine.

I said a quick goodbye to them and hurried past the continuing chaos at the counter to peek into the kitchen. Instead of Grandpa, I found Aaron, the chef, standing back while Nash stood over the stove, frowning at it. Hurrying out before Nash saw me, I shot a glare at the table of senior women who loved to meddle and mess with people. I also decided Grandpa was probably fine and I needed to go back home and work before I ended up in my own chaos.

Just when I got outside on the sidewalk, though, I found myself face to face with Tate. I looked up at him and he stared down at me. There was an odd energy in the air I didn’t understand but when Tate smiled and simply stepped out of my way, all the stupid happiness I’d felt after talking with Nash that morning crashed.

I looked down at my feet and forced myself to smile. “Nash is in the kitchen.”

“Thanks. Do you—”

“I have to run. Good seeing you.” I mentally face palmed myself but physically, I got the hell out of there. The energy I was feeling from Tate was distance. A polite distance that made me realize I needed to fully believe them when they said they were leaving and wanted nothing serious with anyone, ever.

My phone started ringing as soon as I moved past him and I only stopped to see who was calling when I was standing next to my car. It was Mark, again. I wanted to feel anything other than the rejection I’d just felt so I answered.

“Evie? Are you there?” Mark’s voice didn’t coat me in warm tingles anymore. It just felt foreign, like I was talking to a ghost.

“I’m here. What is it, Mark?”

“I’ve been calling you, Evie. That text you sent me had me worried. Is everything okay?” The concern in his voice sounded genuine, but it didn’t matter.

“Everything’s fine.” His call wasn’t making me feel any better. “Do you need something?”

“I just wanted to talk to you and hear your voice. Are you doing okay? How’s everything going?” He cleared his throat. “It’s been a long time since we’ve talked, huh? Does it feel as weird for you as it does me?”

I sighed. “Everything’s great. I’m great. How’s your wife doing?”

His silence told me everything I needed to know. He didn’t want to talk about his wife. “I miss you, Evie.”

“Eve!” Tate’s voice startled me. He came hurrying toward me, his face a mask of frustration. He didn’t stop until he was practically on top of me. Then he tugged me into his chest and kissed me. His hands slid down my back to cup my ass and he groaned into my mouth. When he pulled back, he pressed his forehead to mine and locked gazes with me. “Sorry. About before. Not about now.”

The sense of immediate relief and joy I felt scared me. He’d sent my emotions flying to one end of the spectrum and then back the other way with hardly any effort. I searched his eyes for some sign of what he was thinking but he was hard to read.

“Evie? Evie, are you there?” Mark’s voice broke my trance and I pulled away from Tate. I’d still been clutching the phone to my ear.

“I have to go, Mark.” I hung up and squeezed my eyes shut for a few moments. “I have to go, Tate.”

He growled. “What did he want?”

I unlocked my door and slid behind the wheel of my car. “Goodbye, Tate.”

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