Chapter 11 Honey
HONEY
Conversation in the English department goes on around me while I stare at the essay I’m supposed to be grading.
But instead of letters, I see Beau’s soulful eyes. Instead of paper and ink, I see his rugged jaw. Instead of lines and paragraphs, I see our bodies moving together.
A few days later, and I’m still not over it.
Sighing, I let my mind wander back to that night.
I touch my lips. They were swollen when I got home.
That’s not the only thing that was sore.
God, the things he made me feel. I don’t have words. The closest thing I can come up with is “cataclysmic.”
But then I remind myself of his parting words, and I slam back down to Earth. One and done. Ugh, what an asshole.
It’s never going to happen again, Honey. He doesn’t want you like that.
And even if he did, he knows I’m off limits. Why would he bother when my family will make life hell for him?
“Earth to Honey.” Trish claps in my face, and I jerk backward. “Must be a great essay to hold your attention like that.”
“Jesus, you scared me.” I scoot my seat back. Once I collect myself, I look up at her. “Did you need something?”
She gives me one of her wacky smiles. “No, just wanted to say hi, seeing as we’re the last two people here today. Again. Well, us and the newspaper kids and Adrian, but they never go home.” Adrian’s rowdy bunch yells down the hall. I think he gets them dinner so they can work late.
“Oh, hi. Did… did you have a good day, Trish?”
“The kids are squirrelly. With Halloween next week, I feel like they’re all gearing up to be little psychos. I’ve been meaning to ask, how is the Halloween committee going? I was surprised no one asked me to be on it.”
Is that what this is about? “If you want to help, we need to decorate the rooms after school for the elementary school kids.” We let the children trick-or-treat here so parents can rest assured it’s a safe place.
She shrugs. “If I can make it, I will.” Trish sounds butthurt.
“We’d love to have you.”
“Really?” Pop.
“Yeah. Of course.” Pop. “What’s that sound?”
“What sound?”
Standing, I look around our office, but nothing seems amiss. Then I hear it again. “That sound.”
I run out into the hallway and sniff. Smells like dirty feet.
Nothing unusual there. When I turn to the back exit and walk through the glass doors, I finally spot it.
I point across the parking lot where flames are shooting out of the huge wooden shed where our janitor keeps tools and extra trash cans.
Embers float into the air, and my eyes widen as they float toward my backyard.
Trish is right behind me, and when I stop, she bumps into me. “Oh my God! What do we do?”
Is she always this bad in a crisis?
I’m already racing back to the office where I grab my cell and dial 911.
A few minutes later, the sirens blare down the street as I do my best to hose down the grassy area behind my house and my neighbors’.
Trish was worried about how close the fire was to her car, so she took off.
Nice of her to stick around and make sure the blaze got extinguished.
When the fire truck pulls up, Beau jumps out and stalks straight to me while his crew blasts the burning shed with the fire hose. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I was just worried about the embers.”
He squeezes my shoulder. “That was a good instinct, Honey. We haven’t had a lot of rain lately.”
Sometimes I hate that my father named me Honey because when Beau says it, it feels like a caress. I should be mad at him for how we parted Saturday night, but I’m not. I’m relieved he’s here. Beau might be a grumpy ass, but I know he won’t let anything happen to me.
God, he looks good in his uniform. His scruff has grown to a full-blown beard. It’s sexy as hell. And when he looks me over with those intense green eyes, a spark shoots down my body.
“Glad you’re safe,” he says with a nod.
When he returns to his crew, I finish wetting down my backyard and wave to my neighbor, who saw what was going on and started hosing off his property too.
About ten minutes later, once the fire is out, Beau returns with a pen and a little notebook. “Can you tell me what happened? I need the details for our report.”
I explain the popping sound, and he glances at the remains of the shed.
“Looks like you got us here just in time. Like you said, those embers can do a lot of damage. Doesn’t take much to light up half the neighborhood.
Some of the biggest fires start with a single match.
” He taps his pen on the pad. “This your place or are you just being a good Samaritan?”
“It’s my rental. I’m on the second floor. My landlord lives on the first floor, but she’s elderly, so I can’t exactly expect her to hose down the yard.” I wrap my arms around myself when a breeze blows through. I’m suddenly freezing. Of course, I’m barefoot and standing in mud.
He motions behind me. “Why don’t you go change. You’re all wet. We’ll check in with you before we leave.”
Nodding, I turn around, grab my heels where I kicked them off by the porch, and run inside.
I don’t know why, but I can’t stop shaking. What if Trish and I hadn’t been in the office and no one heard the fire? Would it have gotten out of control? Could it have reached my house? Could it have reached the school? Could it have burned down the neighborhood?
Damn it. My father is going to shit a brick house when he hears about this.
After a quick shower, I tie my hair up in a messy bun, throw on some sweatpants and a t-shirt, and glance out my blinds.
The fire truck is still there. Half the neighborhood has emerged.
I see several flashes go off and realize those must be the newspaper kids.
Poor Adrian. He’s probably out there trying to wrangle them back inside the school.
My phone buzzes on the counter. It’s Ian.
We still on for dinner tomorrow?
A sense of dread washes over me. I want to tell him I’ve changed my mind, that I can’t meet him. That I have a thing for a broody firefighter.
But maybe I should have a sense of self-preservation. Beau’s promised me nothing. One and done, I remind myself.
Except he seemed so concerned when he arrived here this evening. Maybe… maybe something has changed for him.
I bite my nail as I stare at the screen. If Beau asks for my number or gives me any indication he might want to pursue something with me, then I’ll cancel my date with Ian.
So I hold off on responding.
A few minutes later, when the doorbell rings, a smile erupts on my face. I try to calm down as I head down the stairs. I don’t want to seem too eager. That’s not appealing.
I’m expecting Beau in all of his firefighting glory. Maybe I’ll invite him to come by when his shift ends. We could have coffee or lunch or… something.
But when I open the door, my heart sinks.
It’s not Beau.
It’s Melissa.
She gives me a curt head bob. “Just checking on all the neighbors before we leave.” Right. All the neighbors. Not just you Honey. You’re not special.
“Thanks. I’m fine.” I walk down the side of the front porch until I can see the parking lot of the school. The crew is loading their gear into their fire engine. That’s when I realize Beau’s not going to stop by to talk to me again.
Melissa stands next to me. “If you have any more trouble, you know who to call.” I turn to look at her, and she deadpans, “911.”
I’m starting to think that Beau and Melissa might be an item now.
And he and I really were a one-and-done.