Page 29 of Single Mom for the Firemen

“I mean, I know that firefighters are meant to behot,” she explains, lowering her voice dramatically to make sure Callie doesn’t hear us. “And you’re out here for the whole summer, alone. I thought maybe…”

She raises her eyebrows. Shit, she’s onto me. I should know that I can’t keep anything from Lara. She started off in the businesscreating these kick-ass celebrity profiles, so she knows how to read people, how to see the secrets they think they’re hiding.

“Well, I mean…we’ve gotten quite friendly.”

Her hand flies to her mouth. “Friendly? Friendly like how? Friendly like…?”

She waggles her eyebrows at me pointedly, drawing another giggle from between my lips.

“No, not like that,” I assure her. “I mean, not with all of them.”

“But with one of them?” she asks. I shake my head, and her eyes widen. “Two of them?”

I nod. “And I kissed the third one.”

She closes her eyes for a moment and pinches the bridge of her nose, taking in this glut of new information. “Please tell me that you’re not putting this in the profile…”

“Of course I’m not!” I reply. “It’s got nothing to do with the story I want to write on them, anyway.”

“So these affairs, they’re just strictly in your free time. For fun,” she clarifies.

I shoot her a look. “I wouldn’t go as far as to call them affairs,” I tell her. “They’re just…we’re just having fun, that’s all.”

“I can’t believe you,” she murmurs, shaking her head in obvious shock.

“Is it really so unbelievable that I’d find three guys who are interested in me?” I laugh, and she giggles and squeezes my arm.

“No, no, not like that,” she promises me. “But more just…you’ve always been so focused on work and Callie in all the time I’ve known you. I don’t think you’ve mentioned more than two dates to me over the last six years, and neither one came to anything. But…”

She eyes me for a long moment, as though making sense of the information she’s just been given.

“But here you are, getting involved with three guys at once,” she remarks. “I guess they must be pretty special for you to be able to relax enough to enjoy it.”

I pause, silent. I don’t know what to make of that. Because I guess, on some level, she’s right—it’s been a long time since I’ve even thought about being with a guy the way I’ve been with them, and I’ve been in no rush to change that anytime soon. But something about their attention—not just individually, but knowing I command it from all of them—is seriously hot to me. And there’s something about the fact that they’re older that makes them even more captivating to me. They’ve probably been with lots of women over the years, and yet, I’ve still managed to become the object of their desire.

“You’re being careful, aren’t you?”

Her voice cuts through my reverie.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…” She looks over at Callie, and frowns. “You came here to get away from something,” she reminds me. “I wouldn’t want you getting caught up in the middle of something else in the process…”

“Well, you don’t have to worry, Lar, honestly,” I promise her, squeezing her hand. “I’m not getting involved in anything. I’m just having fun. And I feel like I’ve earned a little fun, after everything that’s happened.”

“I guess so,” she agrees. “But just—just don’t let any of these guys fuck you around, okay?”

“I won’t,” I promise.

“Even if they’re really hot firefighters.”

“Even if they’re really hot firefighters,” I reply, planting my hand on my heart as though I am making the world’s most solemn vow.

“So…is it good?” she asks, leaning in again. I groan, sliding back in my seat as the memories catch up with me all at once.

“It’s so good,” I whisper back. “I can’t believe it. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way in my life before…”

We chat a little as we sip on the wine, and Lara sticks around to make some dinner with us before she drives back. She gives me a huge hug at the door, squeezing me close.

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