by Sherri Hayes
With that in mind, he worked quickly to clean and stow his gear so he could head back over to Beth’s café as soon as possible. His crew noticed his rush and had to give him a hard time about it. He laughed it off and concentrated on what he was doing.
It was after eight thirty before Drew made it back to the café. He’d had to take a shower, which slowed him down, but he didn’t want to show up smelling, and looking, like a burnt piece of charcoal.
He opened the door and walked into the brightly lit space. There were a handful of customers seated at the small tables, and one at the counter talking to the young man who’d been standing beside Beth earlier. As Drew strolled toward him, he noticed the man was wearing a nametag that said Tommy.
“Hey, you made it,” Tommy said, catching sight of Drew.
“I couldn’t turn down the offer of fresh baked muffins, could I?”
“Beth makes the best muffins,” said the woman standing beside him, waiting for her order.
“Is that so?” Drew had to admit he was curious as to what this woman had to say. Clearly, she wasn’t a first-time customer. The way she said Beth’s name was too casual.
“Oh, gosh, yes. There’s nothing like one of her blueberry muffins hot out of the oven and a cup of coffee. The best way to start your day, I tell ya.”
Drew’s stomach took that moment to protest. He hadn’t had anything to eat since dinner the previous night.
The woman giggled as Tommy handed her a brown paper bag. She patted Drew’s arm as she went to leave. “Get one of the cinnamon rolls. I promise you won’t regret it.”
With the woman gone, Drew turned his attention back to Tommy. “You have some loyal customers.”
“Beth does. She has a talent for baking. I just help her out and follow her recipes.”
Although he knew he shouldn’t, Drew had to ask. “Have you two been working together for a long time?”
“I used to work with her at the old bakery when I was in high school. She was starting this place up, and found out I was looking for work, so she asked if I wanted to come help her. I’ve been here ever since.”
Drew was about to ask another question when Beth came through a set of swinging doors. She stopped when she spotted him. “You made it.”
“An offer of fresh muffins is hard to pass up.” He smiled, hoping it was having the effect on her he wanted.
“I suppose it is.” Beth slid a tray of chocolate chip cookies into a glass case and wiped her hands on her apron. “Did you want some coffee? Or we have milk or juice.”
“Coffee sounds great.”
She nodded. “Why don’t you go sit down and I’ll bring it out to you.”
Before he could say anything else, she disappeared through the swinging doors again. He shook his head and went to find a place to sit as far in the back as he could. When Beth brought his breakfast out, he was hoping she might stay and visit with him for a few minutes. A guy could dream, right?
Chapter 5
What had she been thinking? After completely freaking out the last time Drew came into her café, she went and invited him to come have muffins? Was she crazy?
Apparently.
As she placed two muffins on a plate—one blueberry, one banana nut—she tried to regulate her breathing. She could do this. She would do this. It was only breakfast.
After seeing him earlier that morning in his firefighter gear and covered in dirt and grime, Beth had experienced a jolt of fear. Whether it was fear for him or fear of what could have happened had they not been able to contain the fire, she didn’t know.
The fire he’d help to put out was a little over two blocks from her café. She was no expert, but Beth knew in places with buildings so close together it wouldn’t have taken much for the fire to spread. What would have happened if it had made it to her café?
Carrying the muffins and a carafe of coffee out to the dining room, Beth tried to push her thoughts about the fire aside. She and Tommy were safe, as was her café—thanks to Drew and the other firefighters.
He grinned as she walked toward him. Beth felt a fluttering in the pit of her stomach seeing him sitting there in his white T-shirt and jeans. The thought of what he would look like naked flashed through her mind. She ignored it, and set the plate down in front of him.
“Thank you,” he said.
“You’re welcome. I hope you like them.” Crazy as it sounded, Beth really wanted him to like her muffins. It was completely irrational, but there it was just the same.
She cleared her throat. “Well, I’ll let you eat. Just let Tommy know if you need anything else.”
As she turned to go, his voice stopped her. “Will you join me?”
“I don’t . . .”
“Please? I won’t bite. I promise.”
Beth chuckled. “I thought you preferred being the bite-e.”
Almost instantly, she started to blush. Why in the world had she said that?
Drew glanced down, and then back up to meet her gaze. “Touché.”
Their eyes locked for several moments before Beth lowered herself into the chair beside Drew. “Sorry about that. I shouldn’t have—”
“It’s all right. Besides, it’s the truth. At least, I think it is.”
Drew picked up the blueberry muffin and took a large bite. While he chewed, Beth was drawn to how his throat moved as he swallowed. His skin was smooth. He’d shaved before he came.
She lowered her gaze to the T-shirt he was wearing where it was pulled tight against his muscles. For some reason, Beth was having trouble looking away.
“Wow. This is amazing.” His exclamation roused her from her thoughts.
Beth felt the blood rushing to her cheeks again. “Thank you.”
He took another bite, chewed, and then took a drink of his coffee. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
She had no idea what he wanted to know, but given the gratitude she was feeling, Beth figured she’d take a chance. “All right.”
“Is it me, personally, that you don’t want to date, or is it men in general? Because of what happened, I mean.”
Looking down at where she had her hands clasped on the table, Beth thought about how she should answer. If she told him it was only him, she was fairly positive he would go on his way and not bother her anymore. But could she do that? As much as she didn’t want to date anyone at the moment, Drew had revived something in her she thought was dead.
Taking a deep breath, Beth glanced up. “It’s not just you.”
He nodded and took another bite.
As Drew was tearing into his second muffin, the timer she had attached to her apron went off. “I need to go check on something in the kitchen.”
“I’ll let Tommy know if I need anything. Thank you again for breakfast.”
“You’re welcome.” As she stood to go, Beth felt reluctant to leave. It made no sense, and it certainly wasn’t what she wanted. Too bad her mind and body weren’t on the same page.
Forcing her legs to move, she hurried into the kitchen, and leaned back against the wall. She needed to get a hold of herself. He was only a man, and other than him being a firefighter and a sub, she knew very little about him. Getting too involved could land her in a world of hurt. Again. She couldn’t let that happen.
Her secondary timer went off on the oven, and Beth rushed over to remove the bread before it burned. She didn’t know what she was going to do about Drew. She really didn’t.
A little after noon the next day, things became even more complicated when a man showed up with a bouquet of spring flowers for her. The flowers were beautiful. Simple, yet lovely.
“Who are they from?” Tommy asked as he followed her into the back.
“I don’t know.” It was true. She didn’t know. She hadn’t dared look at the card yet. That didn’t mean she wasn’t ninety-nine percent sure.
Tommy huffed. “Well, open the card already. The suspense is killing me.”
She laughed. “It’s killing you?”<
br />
“Yes.”
Beth shook her head and plucked the card from where it was nestled in some baby’s breath. “Well, I don’t want you falling dead on my kitchen floor, so . . .”
He rolled his eyes. “Come on, B. You never get flowers. I bet it’s that hunky firefighter. I saw the way he was looking at you.”
“And just how was he looking at me?”
“Like he was imagining what you looked like with your clothes off.”
“Tommy!”
He chuckled. “Well, it’s the truth. Now, are you going to open the card or not?”
Beth toyed with the idea of not opening it for about two seconds, before running her finger along the envelope’s seam. Whether she liked it or not, she was curious.
Slipping the card out of the envelope, she flipped it open.
Beth,
Thank you for breakfast.
Drew
“Well?” Tommy demanded.
She fought a smile, and lost the battle. “They’re from Drew.”
“The firefighter?”
“Yes.”
Tommy did a fist pump. “I knew it.”
It was Beth’s turn to roll her eyes.
“So?”
“So what?” she asked.
He sighed. “Sooo. Are you going to go out with him?”
“Just because he sent me flowers doesn’t mean we’re going out on a date.”
“Pfft. A guy doesn’t send a woman flowers he doesn’t have the hots for.”
Beth moved about the kitchen to get some water for her flowers. “Don’t you have customers to wait on?”
Tommy gave her a hard stare. “Yes. Probably. But, B, give this guy a chance. I like him.”
“Why? Because he’s a firefighter?”
“No. Because I’ve met him three times now and not once has he talked down to me.”
She knew what Tommy was saying. Ben would often come into the café for free meals when he was in town. Whenever Tommy was at the counter, which was almost always, Ben would make Tommy feel as if he were little more than a child—at least that was Tommy’s view. Whenever Beth would ask Ben about it, he would deny doing any such thing. And, of course, Beth never witnessed the interactions personally. Ben was always on his best behavior when she was out front.
“I’ll think about it, okay?”
Tommy smiled.
“Now, get out there and take care of our customers,” Beth ordered.
He stuck out his tongue, and jogged away.
Alone with her flowers, Beth read over Drew’s card again. It wasn’t anything fancy—very direct and to the point. But if she was honest, she liked that he wasn’t all about the frills. If Beth did this again, she wanted real. She wanted honest.
Placing her flowers on the table beside where she was working, Beth went back to preparing the mixes they’d need for the next day. As she worked, her eyes kept going back to the flowers. Could she take a chance on Drew? Could she trust him not to break her heart?
The problem was she didn’t know the answer. There were too many what-ifs—too many unknowns.
By the time she and Tommy closed everything down for the day, Beth was finally coming to a decision. Although she’d told Drew they could be friends, she’d kept him—and their friendship—at arm’s length to protect herself. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea.
She and Ben hadn’t been friends first. They’d jumped into a relationship right from the start. She’d trusted everything he’d told her on blind faith. That obviously hadn’t worked well, so maybe it was time to change things up.
As she drove the short distance to her house, Beth knew she and Drew would need to sit down and talk, really talk, if he was truly interested in her. She would offer friendship. A real friendship. They could see where things went from there.
Pulling into her garage, Beth turned off the engine, and retrieved her flowers from the passenger seat. She hoped Tommy was right—that Drew was different. Only time would tell.
***
Drew had arranged for the bouquet of flowers to be delivered to Beth around noon on Wednesday. He’d watched the clock all morning. Then he spent the entire afternoon wondering what she’d thought of them.
When he’d asked her the day before if it was him or guys in general, her answer gave him hope. She’d been burned, and he understood her caution. That didn’t mean he was willing to give up. There was something about her that sucked him in. He couldn’t explain it. Yes, she was gorgeous, but it was more than that. The way she gave him that look—the one that made him excited and edgy all at the same time. It was damn close to how he felt when they were responding to a fire. He could only imagine what it would be like to play with her.
He’d watched a few scenes with Dommes and their male submissives. One he witnessed stood out above the others. It wasn’t so much what was being done, but more the connection between the players. He’d later found out that the two had been together for almost twenty years. Drew wanted that.
Shawn found him on Thursday morning as Drew was filling up his coffee mug. “Saw your girl yesterday.”
“What?” Drew wasn’t sure he’d heard Shawn correctly.
Shawn took a mug out of the cabinet above the sink and reached for the coffee pot. “You heard me. I stopped in at that café you had lunch at last week. The one on Crawford Street.”
As curious as Drew was, he tried to play it cool.
When he didn’t respond, Shawn continued. “Yeah. And your girl was there. Looks like you may have yourself some competition.”
“Really? How’s that?” Drew said, leaning back against the counter.
Shawn raised his eyebrows up and down several times. “Someone sent her flowers.”
“And?”
“And? Come on, man. Don’t try to tell me you’re not interested. If half of what Romeo and Baily are saying is true, you were practically drooling over her. Heed my advice, if you want in on that, you’re going to have to make your move, but quick.” Shawn had ten years on Drew, but the two had developed a friendship over the last few years. It was Shawn who’d encouraged Drew to apply for the captain’s position when it opened up.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Drew tried not to let it show how pleased he was that not only had Beth received his flowers, but that it was done in such a way that her customers had noticed. He needed to change the subject, though, or he was going to give himself away. “So what brings you in early? Didn’t you want that extra hour’s sleep?”
His buddy smiled. “Chief called. You and me have a meeting in his office first thing. Hope you didn’t have any plans this morning.”
“Just a date with my bed,” Drew said as he pushed himself away from the counter and headed toward the chief’s office.
“Be better if you had someone there to keep it warm for ya.”
Drew gave Shawn a playful shove. “Sure. Keep rubbing it in that you have a woman at home.”
Shawn laughed. “Could be you, too, buddy. Just saying.”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on. Let’s see what the chief wants.”
Turns out, the chief wasn’t the only one waiting for them. Nicole was also in Chief Franks’ office along with the other captains assigned to the station, and another man Drew didn’t recognize.
The meeting was brief. The man he didn’t know was from bomb and arson. It had been confirmed that both the fire from two weeks ago and the one over the weekend had been arson, and they looked to have been set by the same person. The mayor was all over this. So far, they’d been lucky—the arsonist seemed to be targeting abandoned buildings. Sooner or later, someone was going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The mayor wanted the guy caught before that happened.
By eight thirty, Drew was headed out to his car with his duffel bag. He tossed it in the backseat and was about to get behind the wheel when someone called his name.
He pivoted to see Nicole striding toward him. “I’m glad I caught you.”
“Something wr
ong?”
She smiled. “Nope. Not a thing.”
Drew was confused. She’d sought him out to tell him everything was good?
“Don’t give me that look. I just wanted to let you know that I think the flowers you sent to Beth were perfect.”
“Thanks.”
“I wanted to find out what your next move is.” she said.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought that far ahead. The flowers were a gamble.”
Nicole looked serious. “You got any plans for today?”
He shook his head. “Just sleep.”
“Good. Why don’t you stop into the café for a late lunch—say, around one thirty?” There was a gleam in her eye Drew wasn’t sure he liked.
“Why one thirty?”
The evil look in her eye spread to the rest of her features. She had a wicked grin on her face. “Because the café closes at two. It will give you enough time to eat and linger. Maybe you can offer to help her close up. Show off some of those service skills.”
He snorted. “You’re pushing awfully hard for this relationship. Why?”
Nicole’s face fell. “You didn’t see her . . . after. Although she’s been cautious with you, there’s finally some life in her again.”
Drew guessed that made sense. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Before Nicole could add anything more, Drew lowered himself into the driver’s seat.
“Take care of my girl,” she said.
He nodded and drove away.
When he arrived at his apartment, Drew was struck at just how bare it was. Some of it could be explained by him being a bachelor with no woman in his life. Even that, however, was a stretch. His one-bedroom apartment didn’t contain more than the basics. He had a bed, a dresser, a small table with two chairs, a television, and a recliner. That was about it when it came to furniture. He’d always intended to make more of an effort, but had never gotten up the energy to do it. After all, who was going to see it?
If he was thinking about pursuing a relationship with Beth, maybe he should finally do something about the place—spruce it up a little. He couldn’t imagine she’d be all that impressed.