Page 6 of Playing with Fire

Nate barked as he dropped her hand and came around his desk. “Can’t it be both?” As he escorted Willa to her desk, his eyes rolled at the sight of a half-finished game of Solitaire pulled up on the screen. Glancing at his watch, he looked over at Willa with a hopeful smile. “I’ll have Bill from IT come and set you up with your passwords and everything this afternoon. That is, if you can start after lunch.” His eyes were big and pleading, but there was no need for it. Willa was excited to start working and even more excited to give her very anemic checking account an infusion of cash.

“Sounds good,” she agreed. When Nate seemed to almost sag with relief, she held back a smile and a small chuckle.

“Thank God,” he replied as he walked her down the stairs. “I am many,manyweeks behind and having someone who is actually interested in helping me out will be amazing.”

“Amazing? Are you talking about me again, Mr. Mayor?” Lottie asked Nate teasingly as she fluffed her thick curls. “I knew you always had a thing for me, but I thought that was our little secret.”

Nate seemed to nearly stumble over the last two steps when he saw Lottie but managed to stick the landing. “Charlotte,” he said coolly. He turned back to Willa, though she caught his gaze drifting back to her friend slightly. “See you back here at one o’clock.” With nothing more said to either woman, he marched away, disappearing into another room.

When Willa turned to Lottie, she looked hurt, but it disappeared in seconds. “So, you got the job? That’s awesome,” Lottie gushed. Snaking her arm through Willa’s, Lottie smiled at the man at the front desk before leading them out the door.

“It is,” she agreed.

It would feel good to contribute to the town as well as the monthly utility bill. Her wages had been pretty meager at her last temp job in Florida, and Willa didn’t want to have to mooch off of her friend despite Lottie telling her it was completely unnecessary for her to contribute a thing. The two of them walked arm in arm down the sidewalk toward the main drag through town where they planned on having lunch together that day.

Turning to Lottie, Willa saw her purposefully avoiding her gaze. “Are you ever going to tell me what’s up with you and Nate?” Not knowing was starting to bug her, but she would always give her friend the space she needed. After all, Lottie had always done the same for her.

“You call him Nate now, too? Barf.” Lottie kept walking, avoiding the question. When the silence had stretched on too long, Willa turned her friend to face her, the skirt of Lottie’s light blue swing dress billowing out as she did. After Willa bore her gaze into Lottie’s, she finally relented. “Ugh. There is nothingbetween me and the mayor. We were in the same year in high school and we may have been rivalsonoccasion, but other than that, everything is copacetic.”

Willa didn’t really buy the “everything is copacetic” line, but it was Lottie’s story to tell when she was ready. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” she told her, starting to walk again. “Now, we have gotten you a job, something you have been wanting, so we can move on to finding you a suitable date.”

Willa’s heels practically dug into the cement as she stopped in her tracks. “Whoa, whoa. Who said anything about dating?” Did she want to have a relationship again? Yes, that would be amazing. Not just because she was horny as hell and hated navigating the hookup scene, but because she genuinely longed for a romantic partner. That didn’t mean that she was ready for it though.

Lottie stared at her, understanding dawning on her face. “Look, Will. I know you’re scared of falling into that trap again.” Lottie didn’t have to get specific because they both knew she was talking about Jeff and his toxic, controlling ways. “But you’ll never know whether or not you are truly ready if you don’t at least give it a shot.”

What Lottie was saying made a lot of sense. It would be nice to meet a guy she could connect with, as scary as the idea was. Willa’s mind flashed back to the hot guy who caught her dancing in the car, the same one she had also accidentally waved to the other day when he was clearing signaling someone else. Her mind had drifted to thoughts of him occasionally in the days since, but she had already embarrassed herself twice in his presence and didn’t even know who he was or where to find him.

Nodding, Willa pulled out her phone and glanced over at her best friend. “Okay. What’s the best local dating app?” When she named it, Willa stared at her incredulously. “Seriously? It’scalled Apples to Apples?”

Lottie nodded and started walking toward a small bakery. “Yes, it’s really called that. You live in Washington now, honey. Get used to apples in everything. Apple jam on your toast, apple pie for dessert, even the local day spa has an apple body butter. That last one has become a necessity for me.”

Lottie held up her arm and Willa ran her fingers over the smooth, velvety skin. “Holy crap. That’s really soft.” Willa made a mental note to treat herself to some as soon as she got her first paycheck.

“Right?!” Lottie grinned as they stepped into the bakery. “They have other scents too, but apple is my favorite.” She ducked, but not before Willa saw her cheeks blush slightly.Interesting.Before she could draw any attention to it, Lottie’s head tilted toward the chalkboard menu and she smiled, a clear agenda on her mind. “How about we order lunch and then sign you up for that app?”

Rolling her eyes at Lottie’s enthusiasm, Willa sighed. “Fine,” she acquiesced.

Her appetite had returned, and just in time as the menu listed so many appetizing pastries and sandwiches. As she scanned the offerings and settled upon a chicken salad croissant, her calorie sense kicked in. That trap she had fallen into before wasn’t the only one that posed danger, and she had best be on her guard.

Chapter Five

~Beckett~

Of all the days Beckett was scheduled at the station, grocery run days were probably his least favorite. Stocking the station up on food wasn’t the issue, nor was having to drive to the larger market on the far side of town to get all the necessary supplies. No, the worst part of shop days was that everyone and their mother wanted to stop and have a leisurely chat with him and anyone else he happened to bring along.

If he were off the clock, Beckett wouldn’t mind it one bit. In fact, he fully expected to be one of those older folks that sat in a rocking chair on their front porch, bending the ear of anyone who might pass by about everything from the weather to the meaning of life. Right now, though, he had nothing but determination coursing through his veins as he strode through the automatic glass doors of Beecham’s Market, with the probie trailing after him.

Normally one of the crew would shop alone, but today happened to be one of the few times where Freidman volunteered to stay an extra half hour so that they could grab some groceries together, having mentioned his wife being otherwise occupied with her mother. Although Beckett was grateful for the opportunity to stock the station refrigerator with something other than frozen meals, his social battery was running a little low today.

Most days, Beckett was one of the most affable people one could ever meet, but his loneliness was starting to make him grumpy. Even his brother had commented on it the other day when Beckett had stopped by the farm to help with a few things. Travis spent all of five minutes with him before declaring that Beckett was in danger of turning into “our grumpy ass older brother,” and ordering him to go home.

It had been an easy order to follow, as Beckett didn’t want to end up turning into Aiden any more than Travis did. Beckett spent the rest of that day alternating between working off his restless energy at the gym, installing and deleting the Apples to Apples dating app on his phone half a dozen times, and trying to concentrate on the latest book his dad had recommended. How the man could get into reading horror novels when he lived on such a large portion of land that was fairly far from the town center was beyond Beckett, but where his father lived for the dramatic, he preferred things a little more low-key. Beckett may have no problem with facing danger and unknown situations in his work life, but in his down time the last thing he wanted was a jump scare.

The cool blast of air as he and the probie entered the shop hit him like a sledgehammer, but it helped temper Beckett’s annoyance a bit as well as dissipate some of the heat that had built up in his core from being out and about during the hottest part of the day. Grabbing a small shopping cart, he handed Dale half the grocery list, intent on getting this shopping trip over with as quickly as possible and with as little socializing as he could manage.

“Divide and conquer is the name of the game here, probie,” Beckett told him sternly. “If you see a little old lady in need of help, by all means assist her, but do not engage in small talk. I repeatdo not engage. If you get waylaid by them or a group of gossipy, stay-at-home dads, I will leave your ass here. You get me, probie?”

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