Burning Love

by Cassandra Car

  Looking down at herself, she made a face, knowing she couldn’t keep her chef’s coat on. She’d only donned it for the ride over and back, since it was hotter than hell in her kitchen, but there was no way she wanted to be seen running around in just her tank top. The girls were barely confined in her DD bra as it was, but the tank top made them even more prominent. She sighed. It was either get dressing all over everything else or bite the bullet and hope she didn’t look too top-heavy.

  She removed her chef’s jacket, folded it into itself so the slimy dressing wouldn’t spread, then surveyed what she still had left to bring in. Michaela had intended to deliver the dressing, say hi to Pedro, and maybe get him to help if he wasn’t busy. She had certainly not intended to run into a smokin’ hot guy—literally. She couldn’t regret that her actions had caused him to take off his shirt, though. A man with a torso like that shouldn’t be allowed to wear a shirt. Ever.

  Jude lumbered over, and she frowned. Had he been injured when they collided? He was trying to hide it, but he was limping. Michaela swallowed. She’d never forgive herself if he got hurt running into her. Jeez, considering his career, that would be quite a thing to happen, and just my luck.

  “Does everything go?”

  Jude wouldn’t hold eye contact, focusing his gaze somewhere over her right shoulder. Michaela’s eyebrows drew down. Why wouldn’t he look at her? She got her answer when his gaze flickered over her boobs before he quickly looked away again.

  Ah, I should’ve known. What can I expect? The girls are right in his face, and he is a man. All man.

  Michaela forced her thoughts back to his question. “Yeah. Pedro said he’s got a busy day today. I often bring food over, since that’s the only way he remembers to eat when he’s engaged in something.” Quit babbling, you idiot. He grabbed one of the trays. “Were you posing for the calendar?”

  A self-deprecating smile crossed Jude’s expression. “Yeah. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. At least he didn’t make me get naked or something.”

  Jude started to walk away, and she got an eyeful of a round, tight ass encased in long cargo shorts. “More’s the pity.”

  He stopped and turned slowly. “What was that?”

  “Nothing.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll be right there.” Get ahold of yourself. You’re acting like he’s the first man you’ve ever seen shirtless.

  She grabbed another tray and followed him inside. As he turned to the side to hold the door open for her, she noticed some damaged skin around his knee and had to force herself not to wince. That looked pretty painful. He must’ve gotten that in a fire, she would guess, and pretty recently, from what it looked like. They went inside and she looked again, noticing some healing scars from what looked like knee surgery. Great, and here he was helping her bring stuff inside.

  “Here good?” Jude jerked an elbow to indicate a table off to the side.

  “Yeah, that’s perfect, thanks.”

  He smiled and her hand crept over her heart. With a smile like that, Jude probably lit panties on fire wherever he went. Maybe that had pushed him to become a firefighter. “What’s so funny?”

  “Huh? Oh, nothing. I think I’m a little punch-drunk. I’ve been up since four.”

  “Four in the morning? Why?” Jude looked astounded, and she laughed.

  “I own a café. We serve breakfast and lunch, plus dinner on Friday and Saturday nights. We make everything from scratch, so I need to be in pretty early.”

  “Wow. So, wait. If you own the place, how can you be over here?”

  “The café isn’t far, and I have a great assistant. She’s in charge right now.”

  “We should get you back there, though. I’ll go out and grab the rest.” Her gaze was drawn to his knee and when she looked up once more, he was frowning. “Yes, it’s gross, and yes, I’m hurt, but I can carry a few trays of food, I assure you.”

  “I didn’t…I wasn’t….”

  Yes, you were.

  “Let’s just go.” His mouth was set in a tight line and her heart ached for him.

  “I’m sorry, Jude. I-I thought maybe I’d hurt you when I ran into you. I saw your knee. Whatever happened, I’m sorry.”

  “Thanks.”

  They brought in the remaining items and then returned to her van. He slammed the back doors shut before turning to her. She didn’t want this to be the last time she saw him, and before her brain caught up with her mouth, she asked, “Why don’t I make you lunch?”

  “Lunch?”

  “Yeah.” She bit her lip. Way to be suave. “It’s the least I can do.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, you’re probably busy.”

  “I might be, but if you can hang out for a bit, I should be able to talk in an hour or so. Like I said, I have an assistant there. I might as well take advantage of that.”

  “Okay. I’ll meet you there.” He hesitated. “Exactly where is ‘there’?”

  Michaela giggled. Now I’m giggling? Good God. “Sweetness Seventeen.”

  “Oh, I know the place. I’ve come in for coffee a few times after getting off an overnight shift.”

  Not when I was out front. I wouldn’t have forgotten that face. “Great, see you in a bit.”

  ***

  When Jude arrived at her café, he’d replaced his soiled shirt with a clean one, and she couldn’t help but mourn the loss of that eye candy. Not that staring into his deep brown eyes or noticing how his full lips practically caressed his coffee cup was a bad thing. Plus, the health department would have a field day with shirtless patrons hanging around the place. Shirtless guys to drool over were not the way to take Sweetness Seventeen to the next level. Michaela needed to focus.

  Her good intentions were blown out of the water when she got a free moment, though, and instead of going out to talk to Jude, Michaela skipped to her office and opened her laptop. Feeling a little guilty for spying on him but needing to know what happened, she did a search for recent news about firefighters being injured, and sure enough….

  Wow.

  He’d rescued two children and a family dog then gotten disoriented. A wooden beam had fallen, pinning him. She gasped as she read. It appeared Jude himself had pushed the beam off and staggered out of the house. It didn’t say what his injuries were, but it was obvious his knee had taken the brunt of it.

  Closing the laptop down once more, she put on a smile and went out front to his table. “How is everything?”

  “So good. This grilled thing is amazing.”

  Michaela laughed. “That’s a pesto chicken panini with asiago cheese.”

  He smiled. “Yeah, that.”

  “Do you mind if I sit down?”

  Jude motioned to the other chair with his hand full of panini. “No, go ahead. You own the place, right? Not for me to say where you can and can’t sit. Besides, it’s nice to talk to someone other than my physical therapist.”

  She sat, pulling at the bottom of the clean chef’s coat she’d put on as soon as she’d cleared the back door of the restaurant. “So, um….”

  “You can ask what happened.”

  “I assumed you didn’t want to talk about it.”

  He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if I do or if I don’t. It won’t change anything. I won’t miraculously recover like nothing happened.”

  “True. Well, all I really wanted to say is that I have a huge amount of respect for firefighters. I don’t know how you guys do it. Fire scares me. I’m a total chicken when working the grill in the back.”

  “It’s unpredictable, that’s for sure. But someone has to do it.”

  “You’re playing it off like it’s not a big deal, but it is to me. In fact, I think I’m going to start offering free coffee to all first responders. That would be police, fire, and ambulance workers, right?”

  “Yeah. Are you sure you want to do that?” He stretched out his leg, rubbing near the top of his knee. “That could get expensive.”

  “Well I would do just regular or decaf c
offee, not all the specialty stuff. Do you think it would be okay if I excluded those?”

  Jude grinned. “Anything is awesome, Michaela. I’m sure it would be appreciated.” He popped the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth. “How much do I owe you?”

  “I’ve got it, remember? I spilled dressing all over you a few hours ago.”

  He frowned. “Are you sure?”

  “Completely.”

  “Well um, could I take you to dinner tonight? It’s Wednesday, so I assume you’re not open for dinner.”

  “We’re not….”

  “But…?”

  You idiot. Say yes. You can inventory anytime.

  “Nothing. Just needed to rearrange a few things in my head. I’d love to.”

  “Where should I pick you up?”

  “How about here at seven?” That’ll maybe still give me time to get stocking done. “I live upstairs so that should work out well.”

  “Seven, it is.” He rose and flashed another grin at her. “See ya later.”

  The afternoon crawled along. Michaela was excited about her date and found herself drumming her nails on the counter more than once, then felt guilty that she wanted to get out of the restaurant so badly. Sweetness Seventeen was her life, for good or bad. She loved the place and was pretty proud of herself for what she’d accomplished so far. But her future plans for the café would never be realized if she didn’t push toward them every day.

  They closed at four and, despite her anticipation factor ramping up by the minute, she worked until five-thirty, then dashed upstairs to take a shower. Her best friend and assistant, Gina, had insisted they go out on a girls’ shopping night a few weeks ago when Gina had dumped her latest boyfriend, and Michaela could kiss her for that now since Gina had convinced her to buy the purple sundress she’d decided to wear tonight.

  After doing her hair and applying some makeup—it had been so long since she’d bothered wearing any, she hoped like hell it hadn’t expired and gotten gross—she went to her hall closet to search for appropriate footwear.

  Michaela knelt and started flinging shoes behind her, searching for something suitable. Her bell rang and she looked with dismay at the pile that had built up around her, freezing in place as she debated. Should she try to throw it all back in the closet? Scoot it behind the door? The bell rang again, and Michaela stood.

  “Hi.” She blew a stray piece of hair away. “Come on in.”

  Jude looked at the pile dubiously. “Doing some redecorating?”

  “No.” She debated how honest she should be. Screw it, he might as well know how crazy I am. “Looking for something to wear.”

  “Did you find them?”

  “No. In fact, I didn’t find any shoes I can wear.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Oh, I’ll pick some because I’m starved, but I didn’t realize when I bought this dress that I didn’t have any footwear to go with it.”

  “I’ll trust you on that.”

  Michaela took a moment to drink in the sight of Jude in a pair of jeans that made him look so hot he could melt butter in the Subzero freezer at the café. A black T-shirt nicely complemented his hair and eyes and lent him a bit of a dangerous look.

  “I’ll just, um, grab one of these.” She knelt and grabbed a pair of sandals before rising and slipping them on her feet. Michaela reached for her purse. “Ready to go?”

  “Yep, all set. You look gorgeous, by the way.”

  “Thanks, so do you.”

  He grinned as if he could see the erotic movie forming in her mind, and heat suffused her face. She locked up her apartment and followed him out to his truck. Jude went around to her side and steadied her as she balanced on the running board to awkwardly climb inside, feeling guilty she was leaning her not-insubstantial weight on the poor guy. If she’d thought about it, she would’ve worn pants. There was no graceful way to enter and exit this vehicle in a dress. If Jude noticed her awkward scrambling, though, he made no comment.

  He pulled himself into the driver’s seat. “So what are you in the mood for?”

  “I thought we could check out that new place, Left Bank, over on Rhode Island Street. Does that work?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  ***

  When they walked into the narrow, deep building, Michaela was instantly charmed by the aged mahogany bar and exposed brickwork. They were seated on a little rise with just a few other tables and given menus. She wondered if Jude would mind if she studied the menu. Sweetness Seventeen didn’t have the same vibe that Left Bank did, since she preferred to foster a friendlier, more casual atmosphere, but there was always something to learn, even from fancy places like this.

  “What would you like?”

  Michaela chewed the inside of her cheek. Would he balk at sharing things so they could have more of a variety? One way to find out. “I was wondering if you’d like to share several of the smaller plates. That way we can taste more of the dishes without having a ton of food or spending a fortune.”

  “That sounds great.”

  They decided on one of the restaurant’s famous flatbread pizzas, along with three other appetizer-type dishes. She couldn’t wait to taste everything.

  True to its burgeoning reputation, the meal at Left Bank was delightful, and Michaela loved getting to know Jude better. He was charming and funny, but she could see shadows in his eyes, whether from the pain of his knee or something else, though, she couldn’t say.

  “Would you like to order coffee or dessert?”

  Jude shook his head. “I’d better get you home if you need to be in your café by four in the morning.”

  “My assistant is opening for me, but I’ll still need to be there by six-thirty.”

  They walked to his truck and shared an easy silence on the way home. Michaela couldn’t remember a time she’d been more at ease with someone she didn’t know well.

  At her door, he pulled her to him. “Thanks for coming out with me. This was the most fun I’ve had in weeks. I’ll call you, and we’ll do it again soon.”

  “I had a great time, too.”

  “I’m glad.”

  Jude lowered his head and kissed her, capturing her chin in his large palm and turning her mouth to more fully meet his. His other arm remained around her waist, tightening and bringing their bodies fully flush from chest to hip. He ran his tongue along her lips, and she opened to him with a moan. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew they were taking things really fast, but try as she might, she couldn’t think of a good reason to slow down. Their tongues tangled in an intimate dance before he retreated to his own mouth and she chased him, moaning again when he briefly sucked on her tongue.

  His hand moved lower on her back, cupping her ample ass and pushing his groin into hers, making his erection obvious. They battled for control of the kiss, but Jude eventually won out, pushing the hand that had cupped her chin around to the back of her head to tilt her to his liking. Finally they broke apart, both breathing hard.

  Jude gasped for air. “Holy hell.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “We need to stop, or I’m gonna start begging to take you right here.”

  “Okay.” At Jude’s expression of surprise, she realized what she’d said and had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at herself. “I meant, yes, we should stop.” Very witty commentary. “So you’re going to call me?”

  Jude held up the phone containing her number. “Count on it.” He waited for her to open her door before backing away.

  “See you soon, I hope.”

  Famous last words.

  Chapter Two

  Jude did call Michaela, and she called him back, repeatedly. Unfortunately, they kept missing each other due to conflicting schedules, and he would’ve been totally bummed if he hadn’t finally gotten clearance to return to work in a nonphysical capacity. Helping with paperwork and other mundane chores had never sounded so good, and he threw every ounce of energy not being used to heal into doing the best jo
b he could and showing the chief how valuable he could be to the company even when he wasn’t fighting fires. With hard work and some good luck he wouldn’t be doing the job forever but for now, at least it was something.

  Michaela had left him a couple of replies to his voice and text messages, mentioning that both a busser and a dishwasher had quit abruptly and she was up to her eyeballs in work. He thought about stopping by some morning for coffee, but figured if she had time to see him, she would’ve told him. His insecurities began to pop up when they continued to miss each other, and Jude began to wonder if she was really this busy or if she was blowing him off. As far as he knew, they’d had a great time at dinner, and the kiss afterward, wow, surely he wasn’t the only one who’d felt that zing.

  Usually Jude was a pretty laid-back guy when it came to dating, but the combination of continuing to miss Michaela and the stress of not being able to work fighting fires impacted everything else around him.

  The nightmares plaguing him since the fire became more frequent as his mood darkened. He was back at square one again, as if he’d never gotten control over them like he thought he had. When he went to physical therapy several days after meeting Michaela, Stacey mentioned how tired and pale he looked, and Jude knew things were bad.

  “When can I go back on truck duty? I’ll be better then.”

  “I have no idea. Your knee still isn’t stable, certainly not enough for a physically demanding job like firefighting. From what I understand about the reentry test, there’s no way you’d pass it in your current shape.”

  He swore as his body illustrated perfectly what Stacey was talking about, his knee buckling as he climbed those infernal stairs again. Jude clenched his teeth against the pain. “Is this ever gonna get better?”

  “It should. It’s already a lot better than it was right after you injured it.”