Page 18 of Light Up My Life (Forbidden Heat 3)

“No,” I said. “I think I’ve still got it. I just haven’t thought about using it.”

He laughed and kept solid eye contact with me. Wow, nothing was fazing this guy. He didn’t care at all what I thought of him. He was not going to be deterred, interesting. His confidence was a huge turn on. I wanted him more than ever. I could feel my body getting warmer with each breath I drew. I was starting to flirt a bit and I wasn’t sure I could control it. I needed to hold it back right now. My girls were looking on with amused expressions.

“Ah, ok,” Lance said. “You must have been busy.”

“Yeah,” I replied. This was actually kind of true.

“Well, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends?”

“Sure,” I replied. “This is Susie, Kayley, and Janice. Everybody, this is Lance.”

He shook hands as he made the rounds with them. All three were giving him the eye, and Susie was even leaning forward to show some cleavage, just because she could. It was her best weapon and she actually played a game to see how many guys she could get to stare at them in one night. Her record was twenty-four. I watched Lance’s gaze and he didn’t even acknowledge her chest. Interesting…

“We’ve actually met, sort of,” Susie said. “I’m on the softball team that played you the other night.”

“Ah, ok.” Lance really seemed to care.

“So, Lance what do you do?” Kayley asked.

“I’m a firefighter,” he replied.

This surprised me. I didn’t expect him to say that. It wasn’t something I’d discovered online when I went to search him. His social media accounts were all set to private. What was a guy who had as much money as he did, doing as a fireman? This was intriguing as hell.

“Wow, interesting,” Kayley replied. “How long have you been doing that?”

“A few years, actually,” he replied. “I love it.”

“Do you have a calendar?” Susie asked with a giggle in her voice. Yeah, she needed to switch to water for the rest of the evening.

Lance laughed. “No. I don’t. We haven’t been asked yet.”

“Oh, well. I’m a photographer,” Kayley said. “I could definitely get something like that together for you. There is always room in the market for some hunky fireman calendars.”

“I agree!” Susie cheered.

Lance smiled. “I’ll run it by some of the guys, but don’t get your hopes up. Most of them are pretty private.”

Kayley and Susie both seemed disappointed. This was funny. And it was getting uncomfortable. Lance must have sensed it.

“Well, I’m going to get another drink,” Lance said. “Kat, would you like to join me? You look like you could use a refill.”

Susie and Kayley were smiling and nodding at me.

I felt like stretching my legs and I was tired of the awkward conversation happening right in front of me, so I agreed. “Sure, let’s go.”

We made our way closer to the bar. There was a huge line, so we waited together. “Your friends seem nice,” Lance said.

“Yeah, they are. But they are a bit crazy,” I

replied.

“I’ve got some friends like that, too,” Lance said. “I can relate.”

There were a few moments of silence between us as we stood there. I wasn’t sure if it was awkward for both of us, or just me? It was strange, but I felt like we were comfortable enough around each other that the silence didn’t have to be awkward. That was a vibe that Lance put off. He could be present with people and there was no awkwardness at all. I admired that.

“So, you should probably go ahead and ask,” Lance said.

His question interrupted my thoughts. “I should ask what?”

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