Chapter 21 #2
That makes her smile again. “I brought you this.” She carefully thrusts the box toward me. “They’re my famous chocolate brownies. You can share them with the others, if you want.”
“Umm, thanks. Appreciate it.” I have no idea what to say. This is awkward as fuck. “So, uh, Cherie. You dropped off a note at my sister’s work. Can I ask how you found her?”
She waves her hand, as if dismissing my concern. “Social media.”
“I don’t have social media,” I state, that same annoyance I had a couple weeks ago when she dropped off that note returning.
“No, but she does. Camden and Cade too. They all have photos of you. That’s how I found her.”
“Okay,” I reply, taking a deep breath. “But why?”
“Well, because I wanted to spend time with you. After you helped rescue my cat from a tree, I just kept thinking about you. I saw you come and go a few times here and after a while, I knew I had to make my move.” Her face sobers. “But you didn’t show up to the bistro where I thought we’d meet up.”
“Oh.”
“But I forgive you,” she beams, grinning from ear to ear. “I thought we could go get breakfast when you get off shift tomorrow morning.”
The fact she knows when I would be leaving work is a little unsettling. “Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Again, her face falls, and I swear I see tears in her eyes. “Why?”
My mind reels as I scramble for a reason that lets her down easily and doesn’t send her in to a tizzy, because, frankly, I don’t know this woman or how she’s going to react. Then, it hits me. Honesty. “I’m seeing someone.”
“You are?” She looks completely despondent as my words sink in.
“I am. It happened right around the time of your note. I probably should have met up with you and told you then, but to be honest, I didn’t know you.”
She gives me a sad smile. “Safety first, right?”
I nod. “It’s been drilled into me,” I reply.
“I get it.” After a beat, she adds, “So, this woman? It’s serious?”
“Yes.” The answer is out before I even think about it.
The truth is, yes, it’s serious, even if we haven’t officially had that conversation yet.
I love hanging out with her, working with her, talking to her, but my favorite part is falling asleep with her in my arms. And since we jumped into our casual relationship, I’ve spent more nights outside of work with her than without her.
Not to mention the line we firmly drew in the sand, keeping personal and professional separate, has been slowly blurring.
I just like her in my life.
It feels more enriched this way.
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you.”
She sniffles, clearly upset by the news. “It’s okay. I mean, it sucks, but I get it. I just waited too long to make my move. Maybe if I had reached out to you sooner, things would be different, right?”
Her dark eyes are laced with hope, and even though it’s a little white lie, I go ahead and give her what she’s looking for. “Perhaps.”
She smiles and relaxes, rocking from heel to toe. “Okay, well, maybe now isn’t our time, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen at all. Promise me, if you and the woman you’re dating break up, you’ll call me.”
I nod, refusing to say the words.
“Great! In the meantime, keep the brownies, because they’re the best brownies in the world.” Leaning forward, she asks, “Do you know what the secret ingredient is?”
“No?”
“Love, silly,” she replies with a giggle. “Anyway, when you’re ready, let me know. I’ll bake you more brownies. Naked.” She throws in a wink.
I clear my throat, wishing this conversation were over. “I need to get back to work.”
She nods, the sadness returning to her eyes. “So long, Collin. Maybe our paths will cross again one day.”
Before I can reply, she goes up on her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. “Goodbye.”
And then she’s gone, leaving me standing here, holding a box of brownies and wondering what in the hell just happened.
Spinning around, I find Gio there with a grin on his face. “That looked…”
I exhale deeply. “That was nuts.”
“She kissed you,” he states, walking forward and taking the box from my hands. “Gimme.” He practically dives into the box and steals the first one he can get his big paws on.
“Who was that?” he asks between bites.
“Remember the woman who dropped off the note at my sister’s work?”
His eyes widen almost comically. “Shut up, really? That was her?”
I nod. “That was her.”
He shovels half the brownie into his mouth. “What was her name again?”
“Cherie. Don’t eat those.”
“Why not?” he asks, reaching into the box for a second one. “They’re good.”
“They’re probably laced with something,” I mutter, closing the box and setting it aside.
“Like what? A woman trying to woo a man isn’t going to lace his brownies with Ex-Lax. There’s nothing sexy about shitting through a screen.” He takes another bite. “Viagra, maybe.”
I pause and look at the brownie my friend is consuming. “You think she’d do that?”
He shrugs. “We’ll see in a bit if I get an erection that lasts longer than four hours.”
I huff in exasperation. “Stop eating them.”
“Can’t. They really are good.” Another bite.
“Fine, I don’t want you crying to me if you get some weird side effect from them,” I state, watching as he takes the box and starts heading back to where the guys are gathered for breakfast.
Shaking my head, I take a moment to wrap my head around what in the hell just happened. I can’t believe she just dropped by here—with baked goods, no less—and thought I’d go out with her. A woman I only met once, more than six months ago, after we rescued her cat from a tree.
Talk about the weirdest firefighter story I’ve heard yet…
Pulling out my phone, I realize Lizzie will be getting up soon. More than anything, I want to talk to her as she starts her day. With a hint of a smile, I start typing.
Me
You won’t believe what just happened…