Page 36 of Witch Please

“Fire department! We got a call. Is everything all right? If there’s no response in thirty seconds, I’m coming in.”

To be precise, he tapped the stopwatch on his phone, and at twenty-nine seconds, a young woman threw open the door. With deep-brown eyes, short brunette hair, and elfin features, she looked a bit different from the photos he’d seen when he picked Danica up for their date. Clementine resembled her cousin, but to his mind, Danica was prettier. The smoky smell was stronger, but nothing seemed to be actively on fire.

“Who reported us?” she gasped.

Two more ladies popped into the foyer. One was tall and elegant with fair skin; the other had silky black hair and bronze skin, and she wore a beautifully embroidered sari in coral and yellow. Both of them stared like he’d threatened to chop the door down with an ax. Which,maybe, he sort of had, and he was carrying a bunch of firefighting gear, so possibly their reactions were appropriate.

Titus set his pack down and took a step back. “I’m not sure, but it’s usually one of the neighbors if you didn’t call in a request for help.”

“Who’s at the—Titus.” Danica gaped at him like she’d seen a ghost, and she clutched the doorframe for support. “What are you doing here?”

Judging by everyone’s reactions, the fire must’ve been minor. It seemed like he’d been overzealous in his response. “Sorry if I alarmed you. Time is of the essence in these situations, however. It’s best to be sure nobody’s actively in harm’s way.”

The other three women were silently swapping looks. He could tell they were talking about him with their eyes, and they seemed to be extrapolatingsomethingfrom Danica’s reaction, but hell if he knew what. While it was a bit frustrating not to understand what was going on, relief also bobbed to the surface like a fishing lure. Danica had told him the truth about her plans today. She’d said she would be hanging out with her cousin and a couple of friends; here they were, proving that his fears were unfounded.

She wasn’t lying to me. I can trust her.

A huge weight slid from his shoulders. He’d been blown off so often and through so many creative means that he had trust issues. Hell, Titus knew that was the case, and still, his imagination ran wild, predicting all kinds of ways that a new relationship could go off the rails. Sometimes he even feared he was sabotaging himself somehow, and he wanted more than anything to stop, to make this woman stick around.

Eventually, Danica’s friends and her cousin concluded their silent conference, then the pale woman moved toward him and stuck her hand out. “Well, everything’s fine now, though we did have a bit of a scare earlier. I’m Kerry, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He exchanged handshakes and greetings with Priya and Clementine while Danica seemed to steady her nerves. Finally she said, “I had no idea you were a volunteer firefighter. Do you work at animal shelters and nursing homes too? Maybe fight crime on the side?” Her voice held a note that he couldn’t identify, both teasing and not, rich with reluctant admiration.

More like, I’m too good to be true?

That put a smile on his face, one that felt like it must be stretching his cheeks. When she looked at him that way, it felt like they were the only ones in the world. “Are you asking if I’m secretly Superman?”

“It’s hard not to wonder,” she said.

The rising heat within him, it was ridiculous. Inappropriate even. He shouldn’t think about kissing her with her friends in the room. But he couldn’t pull his eyes away from Danica, from her flushed face and overbright eyes.What’s even happening right now?If he didn’t know better, he’d swear he was under a spell.

“Holy shit,” Priya whispered. “I’m not even involved, and I’m a little turned on by all this ambient sexual tension.”

Someone laughed and shushed her. Titus tried to recall what they were even talking about. “No crime fighting, but we have activities at the fire station for the elderly. We run a coffee klatch most mornings from eight to ten, and the firefighters on duty chat with the old folks who come in.”

“How does that work? Do you subsidize the expense?” Kerry asked.

Titus glanced at her, vaguely surprised that other people still existed in the world, let alone were standing in the room. “No, members of the coffee klatch donate for the supplies, and it doesn’t cost anything to use the meeting room at the station.”

“Probably much cheaper than a fancy caramel macchiato,” Priya noted.

“And they like seeing the same people daily, hanging out with the firefighters. From what I hear, it’s tough when you don’t have anywhere to go in the morning and nothing particular that you have to do,” he said.

Kerry was nodding. “My grandfather had a rough time after retirement. We work hard our whole lives, only to earn the right to be lonely and feel useless.”

He smiled, eyes still on Danica. “As for stray animals, I’m always pulling cats out of trees. Does that count?”

She couldn’t seem to stop staring at him either. “Absolutely.”

Titus shuffled his feet. He shouldn’t flirt with Danica or chat about fire station activities before resolving the outstanding report. “May I assess the damage? Since I responded to the call, I need to document what happened. If you file an insurance claim, I may be asked for corroborating information since I’m the responder on record.”

“Everything is fine,” Clem said, “and we don’t intend to file a claim, but by all means, follow me.”

Leaving his bag by the front door, he trailed her to the kitchen, where the smoky scent lingered. Charred remains of synthetic curtains lay in wet, dark tatters in the sink. Judging from the broken glass and recently snuffed candles, he guessed there must have been a mishap with the mood lighting. Feeling like a bit of a tool, he gave his standard safety speech with regard to open flames.

“We’ll be careful,” Clementine replied with an edge to her voice.

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