Page 13 of Fools in Love

What were they about to say? Why’d they stop typing?

April: Fine. Text me the address.

Me: I’ll drop a pin.

April: I might be late.

Me: I’ll be here all night. It doesn’t matter.

April: K.

K.

Girl code for,Everything is not even remotely okay or anywhere close to it.

April didn’t want to come here, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her. But the issue was, I couldn’t go to her or meet her anywhere. At least, not for another thirty-six hours, and according to Sheila, I was already out of time. Being at the start of my shift, of which I lived and breathed at the firehouse, didn’t leave me many options.

I guessed we could talk on the phone, but I had a feeling that before we did what we were supposed to, April would hang up on me. For some reason, we both seemed to push the other’s buttons. I was sure it was mostly my fault, but I didn’t want to participate in this farce. No matter how fucking sexy I found her. And trust me, she definitely turned me on, but I wasn’t interested in dating right now.

Probably not ever, if I was being honest. And definitely not with a woman who went to bachelor auctions and actually bid on the men there. A woman like that couldn’t be less my type. So why was I counting down the minutes until she showed up here, then?

OFF TO THE FIREHOUSE

APRIL

Glancing at the time, I groaned, realizing that it was already close to eight p.m. I’d sent Meredith home a couple of hours ago, which wasn’t unusual. I liked being in the office alone—when it was quiet and the lights started shutting themselves off because there was no movement to trigger them. The silence was soothing, especially considering the fact that this city was anything but.

Once I stepped outside of the building doors, I’d be greeted with the familiar sounds of horns honking, people shouting, and music blaring out of cars. The city itself seemed to hum with life, creating an undercurrent of noise that most tended to memorize without even meaning to.

My computer dinged out a calendar alarm, drawing my attention to it. I’d set myself a notification that said,Go see stupid Robbie at his stupid firehouse.It was immature, but sometimes, I could be exactly that.

I fired off a text, letting him know that I was planning on heading over in a few minutes. If he had been called out to an emergency, I assumed that my message would go unread and unanswered. To my surprise, he responded right away and warned me that all the guys were still awake, playing cards.

Great.

Like seeing him at hisofficewasn’t going to be awkward enough, but now, I’d be forced to meet all of hiscoworkerstoo, who I was sure had heard all kinds of things about me. Knowing Robbie, none of them would have been flattering.

Hailing a cab, I hopped in, gave the driver the address, pressed my back into the seat, and focused on my breathing. This wasn’t a big deal. We’d pick a day to go on this date and get it over with. Then, we’d never have to see each other again. It would be like it never happened. Robbie, the hot fireman, would cease to exist in my universe, the same way he had two weeks ago.

And I’d be just fine with that.

“You meant to be dropped off here, correct?” the cab driver asked as he stopped in front of the firehouse.

How embarrassing. I was sure I looked like some sort of groupie or something. I wondered what the women who chased firemen were called.

“Yeah. Visiting my brother,” I lied, but the look he gave me in his rearview let me know that he didn’t believe me.

Why do I care what this person thinks about me?

Tossing him a twenty-dollar bill, I told him to keep the change as I exited the car and slammed the door shut harder than I’d meant to. He pulled away, and I stood outside of the brick building, the garage doors in front closed. It was only then that I realized I had no idea how to get inside. If the giant doors had been open, I would have walked right in and figured it out from there, but they weren’t.

Pulling out my phone, I let Robbie know I was here and asked him where to go. Within seconds, one of the doors was swinging upward, the lights from inside turning the driveway from night to day.

Robbie appeared, a large silhouette at first before he turned three-dimensional. “Hey,” he said, and I tried not to ogle him.

I remembered how well that had gone over last time, but, damn, he was in uniform, and it looked tailor-made for his body. I understood the appeal. Not that I hadn’t before, but this man, decked out from head to toe in his dark blues, was a sight.

“Hey,” I said back, taking a few steps toward him. I wasn’t sure if we were just going to have a quick chat out here and I’d be on my way or if he had something else in mind.

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