Page 42 of Some Like It Hot

“Elise? Is she okay?”

Luna smiles. “Yes. She’s fine. It was just a small kitchen fire. Easily contained. Everyone’s okay.”

I blow out a breath. I didn’t even realize how tense I was until I heard that. “Is she around?”

“Yes. Somewhere. She’s kind of…busy.”

“I need to find her.”

Luna smiles again. “That way.” She points. “Good luck.”

I don’t know what that means. I start moving through the crowd again, people parting for me easily now.

Until I get to the firefighters.

“I need to get through,” I tell the one in front of me. He’s shorter than me, not as wide, but he’s solid, that’s for sure. Still, he’s between me and Elise, so he needs to move.

He turns. “I don’t think so. You need to stay back.”

I realize I know this guy. It’s clear the next second that he recognizes me, too.

“Oh, elevator guy.”

“Firefighter guy,” I respond.

“You can just call me a firefighter,” he says with a half grin. “Or Lieutenant. Or Lieutenant Burke. Or Aidan.”

“That’s… a lot of choices,” I say, for some reason feeling confused.

“Aidan is probably easiest.”

“Okay.”

“And you’re Blake.”

“How do you know my name?” Unless he recognized me from the Racketeers. Maybe he’s a hockey fan.

“Elise called you Blake.”

“Oh. Why does it matter if we know each other’s first names?” I finally ask.

“Because I think maybe we’re going to see each other around. A lot.”

I frown. “What do you?—”

“Blake! Oh my God, I forgot you were coming over!”

I look up to see Elise hurrying toward me. With some guy behind her. He’s got a blanket around his shoulders, but he’s in only black boxers otherwise.

What the hell?

“Hey,” I say. “What’s going on? Are you okay? What happened?” I step forward, past Lieutenant Aidan Burke, and grasp her upper arms. I look her over.

She seems completely fine. She doesn’t even have a smudge of soot on her face. It looks like she was awakened by the fire, though. She’s got a large man’s coat on, but she’s in lounge pants and a tank top.

And that’s it.

When the coat gapes, it’s clear she’s not wearing a bra.

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