Read The Bad Boy Firefighter's Secret Fling (Red Hot Reunions Book 3) Online
Authors: Jessie Evans
The Bad Boy Firefighter's Secret Fling (Red Hot Reunions Book 3) (22 page)
Brandon slowly shook his head. “Um…”
“But today I searched for a reason and I couldn’t find anything,” Lucy pressed on, needing to talk to someone before the bad feeling ate away her stomach lining. “I’ve been trying so hard to shut off that part of myself, but maybe…” She twined her fingers together on top of the counter. “Maybe I tried too hard, and now…I’m broken.”
Brandon let out a long, measured breath. “You confuse me sometimes, Lucy.”
Lucy sighed. “Thanks.”
“But I like you,” Brandon said with a smile. “And I know what it’s like to get down in the dumps, so…if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m right across the street.”
Lucy cocked her head, studying Brandon, reading the genuine concern in his pale eyes. “You lost someone?” she asked. “To depression?”
Brandon’s eyes opened a little wider. “Yeah…I did. The year before high school.”
“I didn’t read your mind,” Lucy said, rushing to reassure him. “That wasn’t being psychic, just perceptive. I’m sorry for your loss, whoever it was.”
Brandon nodded, the muscle in his jaw leaping. “Thanks.”
“But I’m not depressed, don’t worry,” Lucy said, feeling for the guy, and hoping she could put his mind at ease. “And I’m not crazy, either. There are just more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Brandon’s eyes narrowed. “Shakespeare?”
“Yeah,” Lucy said, surprised. “Hamlet.”
“We studied that in high school,” Brandon said. “Wasn’t really my thing.”
“Mine either,” Lucy said. “I just like the quote. My Gram cross-stitched it on a pillow for me when I was little. She always told me that God made me this way and God doesn’t make mistakes. Some people say being psychic goes against the church, but I’ve only ever used what I can do to help people.” Lucy paused, screwing up her nose before she confessed, “Except that one time I used it to bet on a horse so I could pay my electric bill, but I felt guilty about it after.”
Brandon shot her a bemused smile. “Then why were you trying to turn it off? If you use it to help people?”
Lucy swallowed. “I needed a break. Just for a little while. But I didn’t want it to go away forever.”
Brandon shrugged. “Well…maybe it’s like working out. Maybe you need some time to get back in top condition. If I quit lifting for a week, I can’t jump right back in where I left off, you know.”
“Maybe…” Lucy nodded, mildly cheered. “That’s a thought.”
“I have those sometimes,” Brandon said, making Lucy chuckle when she realized he’d made a joke.
She looked up at him, seeing him through a different lens. “Thanks, Brandon. It was really nice talking to you this morning.”
“You too,” he said, eyes dropping to the pink box and bread on the counter between them before returning to Lucy’s. “So…think you might want to talk again sometime? Maybe over pizza or something?”
Lucy stared at him for a long moment before the meaning of his words penetrated. It had been so long since she’d been asked out on a date, she’d almost forgotten the warning signs.
“Oh,” she said, blinking fast, not sure what else to say. “Um…I…I don’t know, Brandon. I think I’m a lot older than you are.”
Brandon’s brows drew together. “Doubt it. I’m twenty-one.”
“I’m twenty-seven,” Lucy said, accustomed to people thinking she was younger than she actually was. It was a hazard of being five-two, on the scrawny side, and preferring to wear one’s hair in pigtails.
Brandon shrugged. “That’s only six years. Doesn’t seem like such a big deal.”
“But you think I’m crazy,” Lucy said.
“No, I don’t,” Brandon said, smiling. “You’re different. But in a good way. An interesting way. I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
“And I’ve never been out on a date with anyone like you,” Lucy said. “I’m more into beta males.”
Brandon frowned. “Beta males? Like…feminine guys?”
“Sort of,” Lucy said. “Guys who aren’t afraid of their emotions. Guys who don’t mind letting a woman take the lead if she’s more qualified or in the mood to be the boss on a given day. Guys who aren’t a full foot taller than I am.”
Brandon frowned harder. “You’re discriminating against me because of my age and height. Isn’t that illegal?”
“I’m not discriminating,” Lucy said, vaguely troubled by the notion that she
was,
whether she liked to admit it or not. “And besides, I’m not an employer, I’m a girl, and all’s fair in love and war.”
Brandon sighed, nodding as he grabbed the bread and pink box and tucked them inside his coat to stay dry. “Gotcha. Forget I asked.”
“I’m sorry,” Lucy called after him as he stomped toward the door, feeling awful for hurting his feelings. “I’m not myself this morning. I didn’t mean to—”
The door closed behind him, cutting off Lucy’s apology. She watched Brandon run through the rain to the firehouse across the street with a miserable feeling in her stomach. But this time, the misery had nothing to do with psychic phenomenon.
It was the feeling a girl gets when she realizes she’s let a perfectly decent guy—a guy with hidden depths, a sweet smile, and eyes that seem to be searching for answers, even if they aren’t the answers he expects to find—slip through her fingers.
The Firefighter Meets His Match is
available now!
Also by Jessie Evans
The Red Hot Reunions Series:
Last of the Red Hot Firefighters
The Bad Boy Firefighter’s Secret Fling
The Firefighter Meets His Match
The Lonesome Point Series
(Even HOTTER cowboy romances):
About the Author
New York Times
and
USA Today
bestselling author, Jessie Evans, gave up a career as an international woman of mystery to write the sexy, contemporary romances she loves to read.
She's married to the man of her dreams, and together they're raising a few adorable, mischievous children in a cottage in the jungle. She grew up in rural Arkansas, spending summers running wild, being chewed by chiggers, and now appreciates her home in a chigger-free part of the world even more.
When she's not writing, Jessie enjoys playing her dulcimer (badly), sewing the worlds ugliest quilts to give to her friends, going for bike rides with her house full of boys, and drifting in and out on the waves, feeling thankful for sun, surf, and lovely people to share them with.
Learn more at
www.jessieevansromance.com
.