Page 12 of Flashpoint Feelings

“But I didn’tlethim kiss me. More like I challenged him to.”

Her face splits into a wide grin, and she lies back, tucking her hands behind her head. “Oh, now, you’ve got to spill.”

“It happened this morning,” I start. “I overheard him ask the chief to send someone else with him to perform an elevator inspection. Anyone but me. I was furious.”

“Not how I thought this story would start, but go on.”

“We were in the elevator, and I confronted him about it. About how he’s been avoiding me for days. But instead of denying it, you know what he said?”

“What?”

“That he can’t think straight when I’m around!”

“Then he kissed you because he couldn’t hold back anymore?” She fake swoons.

“Not exactly.”

“That would have been romantic.”

“Yeah, well,” I say, fiddling with the hem of a moisture-wicking tank top, “he didn’t. So I said something like, ‘if I’m such a distraction then maybe you should kiss me and get it out of your system.’”

“You didn’t!”

I wrinkle my nose. “I did.”

“So he did? He kissed you?”

“No, he told me it was a bad idea.”

“Which it was,” she agrees.

“Of course.”

“Then he kissed you.”

“Still no. Then I assured him no one was around to see and that it was just between the two of us.”

She springs up faster than a popcorn kernel in a hot pan. “Who are you and what have you done with my disciplined, hardworking, take no shit friend, who never in her entirelife has challenged a man to kiss her? Especially not anotherfirefighter?”

I get her confusion, really I do. “Mack’s…different.”

“Different how?”

I absently trace a finger along the FDNY logo on the nearest shirt, gathering my thoughts. Before now, I haven’t had to explain what it is about Mack that has me so off kilter. Haven’t had to put it in words.

“He never makes me feel small. Though he’s huge, Mack doesn’t use his size to intimidate me. Instead, he…” I trail off, remembering how it felt on the ladder last week, and today, in the elevator when I was wedged between him and the wall.

“He what?” Shannon prompts, tucking a leg under her and inching closer.

I blow out a breath. “He makes me feel safe.”

“Safe?”

“Safe.”

“You’ve never needed anyone to make you feel safe.”

“That’s just it. I don’t need him to. He just…does without even trying.” I run a hand through my loose hair, frustrated by my inability to explain. “It’s like he sees my strength as sexy instead of threatening. Like he actually respects me as an equal. Oh, and he has a rescue cat named Smokey. I mean, come on!”

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