Page 22 of A Gift for her Festive Firefighter

“Or we could text or talk about the weather because it’s supposed to be getting cooler now.”

“Holidays are right around the corner, aren't they…?”

“They are. Halloween first.”

“Yup – and then poof – all the pumpkins are gone, and out comes the leaves and mums… if you are into that weird girly decorating stuff.”

“Then the Christmas trees, stockings, lights…”

“And mistletoe,” he whispered, staring at her lips for a moment only to get this strange look on his face as he quickly met her eyes. “I’ve gotta go.”

“Me too,” she replied, her voice breathless. “See ya.”

“Bye.”

Both got this ‘I’ve got to get outta here!’ look on their faces and turned away from the other, speed walking and then jogging in opposite directions despite the crowd. Holly did see Krista – and several delicacies she was going to be indulging in tonight when she was alone at her apartment, replaying the conversation in her mind in slow motion just like any mildly healthy masochist would do.

“I am such an idiot…” she whispered thickly, holding back the panic barely. “He’s never going to give me the time of day.”

Hours later and sick to her stomach on cheesecake, Holly had just laid down to go to bed when she heard a noise out back. Grabbing her rifle, she saw the floodlights come on and was about to yell out a warning – only to have words fail her.

She stared in disbelief as Cade left something on the hood of Butter – and ran before he got caught, disappearing quickly into the shadows. Stunned, she flew down the stairs, not caring that she was in her pajama shirt and shorts, things jiggling with the effort, and every lick of makeup gone from earlier in the day. She yanked open the back door, slid on the pair of worn-out crocs she kept to take out the trash and raced over to her car.

There was a tiny pumpkin, no bigger than a small orange, sitting there with a perfectly curled stem and a jack-o-lantern face had been drawn on it with a blue ink pen.

“Well, I’ll be…” she breathed, unsure what to say or do.

Obviously, Cade wanted it to be a surprise or a secret, or he would have knocked. No, he was trying to be sweet without getting caught, making her replay the conversation in her head one more time – only this time, the tone was very different. The hottest man in Sweet Bloom had just left her a tiny gift because he wanted to make his friend happy.

And she was.

“Come with me, my little Pumpkin. You are going right beside my bed, and we have to think of a name for you.”

Chapter 9

CADE

Happy Halloween

Cade smiled at his phone, looking at the simple text, and couldn’t hold back the chuckle that escaped him. This was insane. Having someone dress up nicely shouldn’t have affected it because then that made him vain but seeing Holly in a different light had done a number on him. When he’d first seen her after the accident, he thought that was the shortest guy he’d ever met – and honestly, it prevented him from taking a swing at the little ‘fella’ when ‘he’ brazenly shoved him. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that the town’s beloved mechanic was a spitfire of a girl.

Sass, confidence, and spunk were his biggest weaknesses – and Holly had all three in spades. It was just a hard pill to swallow when he felt a bolt of attraction and thought it was a guy. Her hair was always kept up or stuffed in that ratty baseball cap, her nails were short, chipped, and unkempt. She wore steel-toe boots, baggy clothes that had been greasy each time he saw her until yesterday.

Yesterday, Cade looked up and spotted the most beautiful woman that he’d seen in his life – an angel with a halo of blonde curls around her head – and had been drawn forward. He expected to say ‘hello,’ flirt just a bit, maybe get her number… but when he looked into those familiar eyes and saw the flare of recognition, everything in his brain came to a screeching halt.

His ‘angel’… was the unknown grease monkey he was supposed to talk to about his truck, whom he’d called a ‘Creature’ to her face. Seeing her standing there, having removed any of the masculinity she hid behind, he saw the woman in her – and was horrified at the amount of guilt within him. He would never treat a lady like that or call her names. His mother would have hung his hide out to dry if she was still alive.

“I thought you didn’t like us to be on our phones, captain?” Mayberry teased, looking over at him. “You texting a new girlfriend or one of those others you went to dinner with that week. Is it girl ‘A,’ ‘B,’ or ‘C’?”

Cade winced.

That was not the reputation he wanted to have in town, and combined with the fact that he’d lied through his teeth to Holly about being interested— yeah, really not good. It did not bode well for anything at all to call a future girlfriend a ‘Creature-Feature,’ argue with her several times, have a reputation of getting around, nor was he ready to announce his intentions to everyone else. Things had a way of getting twisted, warped, and blown out of proportion.

“First of all, Mayberry - eyes on the road, okay?” Cade grinned, looking at the older man. “Secondly, it wasn’t girlfriend ‘A,’ ‘B,’ or ‘C’ that I was taking to the same restaurant. I’d been in town only a few days and knew of one place – and each of them had been eager to go on a date. Who knew the three amigos were actually like…” and Cade paused as he realized everyone in the cab of the truck was listening to see how he described them. No, he didn’t need it getting around town that he called those three women a hydra, Cerebus, or a pack of bloodthirsty wolves.

“Anyhow,” he began again, clearing his throat. “I’m just texting Beary about my truck.”

“Mannnn-oh-man,” Jude sighed dramatically. “Did you see ol’ Beary at the festival yesterday? Holy cow! Who knew she was hot under those coveralls and…”

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