Page 56 of Burning for Alexander
And then an inspection reminder popped up on my calendar for Timber.
We were sitting around the big station house kitchen table, having an impromptu schedule debrief over lunch on Friday, when Lieutenant Pope said, “I can take the Timber follow-up, Chief. I’ve got to head over to Sullivan Hardware anyway to pick up a few U-bolts for the storage room shelving thing.”
Letting Kinsey take the Timber inspection would have been the smart choice, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. “No, I’ll take this one. But while you’re at Sullivan’s, ask Maddox if he still wants to sponsor an ad in the fire safety leaflet for next year’s camping season. Hayden Thomasson is typing it all up for us and having it printed after the holidays. We’ll be able to send out the bundles by February.”
We continued the meeting, discussing everything on next week’s schedule, plus addressing new concerns, until a call came in for a possible gas leak out on the edge of town. Sujo and McMasters took the truck out to respond to the call, and Pope headed to the hardware store.
I spent some time with two of our rookies, going over some training before Sujo and McMasters returned. Then it was time to head out. Timber wasn’t the only inspection I had in town this afternoon. I also needed to stop by the Pinecone for Sadie’s semi-annual inspection. My plan was to grab dinner to go from whichever place I visited last.
Which was, of course, a lie. Because if Alex Marian was at Timber and not too annoyed by yet another one of the inspectionshe’d agreed to, my strong preference would be to eat at Timber. Preferably with his company.
Four days had been too fucking long.
So I decided to head to the Pinecone first and knock that out. Thankfully, I hit it at just the right time between the hectic lunch hours and the dinner shift. It was my first time inspecting Sadie’s cafe, so I had to familiarize myself with the place as I went through the inspection checklist. Everyone was very friendly and accommodating, and there were only a few minor things she needed to fix.
“A friend pointed out a good deal on a value pack of fire extinguishers at Costco up in Billings when I was there recently. Those would do just fine for the cash register stand, and you can take the other one to your house to store in your kitchen. Or Sullivan Hardware has singles. Theirs are just smaller. Maddox can probably order you the bigger ones.”
“Oh, I didn’t think of Costco. Thanks. You want to stay for an early dinner?” she offered. “Fresh meatloaf tonight, and it’s getting chilly out there.”
I shook my head. “Heading to Timber next. I’ll grab a pizza to take home. Thanks, though.”
As I turned to finish tucking my tools and tablet away into my bag, I heard one of Sadie’s servers lean over to gossip with her. “Speaking of Timber, I heard Alex Marian’s going out with Will Wascomb tonight. He’s so cute! I had no idea he was into guys. Maybe that explains why Sydney couldn’t get him to look at her twice.”
The two of them kept chatting while I made my way out to the truck.
Will Wascomb? Not only was Alex violating our agreement, but he was doing it with the preppy pissant who’d left a folder ontop of his mug-warming plate and started a fire in his office?Christ.
When I got to Timber, my jaw ached from clenching it. It wouldn’t be professional to mix personal feelings with work, so I shoved down my annoyance at Alex and focused on the job.
The now-familiar woman at the host stand welcomed me with a big smile. “Table for one?”
I held up my tool bag, which also had my tablet sticking out of the top. “Afraid not. An inspection. Is Alex around?”
Her smile dropped. “Oh, I… let me see. I know he has plans later. I’ll just go check in the back.”
She came back from the kitchen a moment later. “He said go ahead and do whatever you need to do.”
I blinked at her. Alex wasn’t going to come give me hell about the inspection? Or ride my ass to make sure I didn’t dare look into anything not on the list?
Was he feeling well? I almost wanted to ask, but I held back. “Great, thanks.”
I moved back to the kitchen, where his ornery chef gave me the evil eye. I was not Juni Song’s favorite person. From what I understood, most of her anger came from the placement of one of the fire extinguishers that she took as a personal affront.
“I don’t set fires,” she muttered every time I came back there. As if the mandatory safety regulations had been my personal choice of how to annoy the fuck out of her.
I didn’t bother responding; I simply got to work.
From time to time, I could hear Alex speaking in his office either on the phone or to one of his employees, but it wasn’t until I heard his warm laughter with a tinge of flirtatiousness in it that I snapped.
But instead of saying something intrusive or being a jealous prick, I simply waited until he was off the phone, entered his tinyoffice, closed the door behind me, and moved to his desk to kiss the ever-loving fuck out of him.
His little whimpers of shock and then surrender went straight to my balls. I knew this was dangerous. Before coming in here, I’d sworn not to mix business with pleasure. But something about this man lit a short fuse in me, and if I hadn’t kissed him, I would have railed at him in anger.
When I pulled back, seeing that Alex’s lips were now red and damp with my own saliva, I felt a kind of satisfaction that was ten times more powerful than if I’d yelled at him.
He cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. “What exactly are you here to inspect, Chief? My tonsils?”
“Was that our last kiss, Marian?”
