Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
CASEY
T he texts started the day he left for his next three-day shift. Simple at first.
I left the door inside unlocked.
I had to grin at his hint.
Great.
Miller ok?
I shook my head.
Yes. He is fine. It’s only been four hours.
Just checking. You good?
Fine as well. Trying to work.
I can take a hint.
Be sure to lock the doors tonight.
What was he doing? Was he worrying about me?
Thank God you reminded me.
I am sensing sarcasm.
You are a smart man.
He took the hint, but it struck me as odd. He usually only sent one or two short texts to check on Miller. He was being chatty.
Later that night, there were more.
Everything ok?
Thorne, are you expecting Armageddon? Everything is FINE.
Okay.
Work go okay for you? How’s the website coming along?
Do you want a progress report?
***
I drew in a deep breath, then grinned and typed a reply.
The new one is going well. The old one I’m trying to fix—yikes. The design is overclocking UX. So now, it’s a DDoS mess. Owner is lax with weak-ass auth. Allows bots in like it’s Free Beer night at Dusty’s.
Um, riveting.
You asked. Some men find tech a turn-on.
You’re my turn-on.
If I were there in your bunk with you, I’d turn you on.
Stop it.
I’d turn your software into a hard drive and ramp up your output until you ran out of memory.
Jesus. I am getting turned on now.
Careful. If that monster gets loose, it’ll be knocking on the bunk above you and scaring someone.
LOL – you are so good for my ego. I hate to tell you, but we have single beds, not bunks anymore.
Just speaking the truth. And stop ruining my fantasies.
Okay, then. Live your dream. Night, Pixie.
Night, Thorne.
No kiss goodnight? You gave me one last night. Several actually.
PITA – xx
Stingy.
Me – XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Better. Night.
I stared at my phone for a few moments, rereading the texts. I liked teasing, funny Thorne. He was usually so serious. Although, I had to admit, since we’d slept together, he’d been different. Lighter. Quicker to smile.
I wondered if he’d stay that way.
I was busy working on the website the next afternoon when my phone pinged with an incoming text. I broke into a smile when I saw it was Thorne again.
So I forgot to tell you, next week there’s an open house at the station. The public can come in, look around, ask questions, meet the crews. You could come if you want. I mean, if you were interested.
I would love to. Can I ride in a fire truck?
You can ride a firefighter if you want.
Cool. Which one?
ME, Pixie. You can ride me.
Oh. I thought you were offering something different.
You can ride me cowgirl style if you want something different, but it will still be with me. Clear?
Okay, then. Crystal.
Mark Wednesday off.
Done, boss.
Stop bothering me at work, Pixie. I’m a busy man.
I started laughing at that text. Teasing Thorne was still around. That was good news. I hoped he was around when he got home tomorrow. Maybe I would cook him a roast with extra gravy.
Go back to shining the truck, mister.
For your information, I’m shining the brass.
As in knob? LOL
I’ll leave that up to you for now.
I snickered at his humor, and my phone finally stopped pinging with incoming texts. I stared at the screen, grinning. I did like to rile him up. I had never ridden cowgirl style, and for fun, I looked it up, my eyes widening when I watched the screen.
I was definitely holding him to that one.
JESSE
I shut my locker, towel-drying my hair. I was anxious for this shift to end. To go home. See Miller.
Fuck Casey.
It was strange how much I missed her. Our fun texts seemed only to amplify that feeling. It wasn’t one I was used to, and I told myself it was because this was new. Different.
I ignored the laughter in my head. I was getting used to it being there. And thinking I would have her out of my system in a day or two proved to be wrong. I wanted her more now than ever.
I pulled on a fire station T-shirt and pants, ready in case we got a last-minute call.
It had been busy yesterday, but today had been spent mostly in drills and card games.
The sun was high and summer almost here.
I was looking forward to taking some time off, planning some trips in the truck, Miller beside me as we explored parks, camped, and enjoyed nature.
I dismissed the thought of Casey joining us. This wasn’t a relationship. We’d set those ground rules very clearly.
And I disregarded the fact that we were both lousy at following rules. Or that, at times, I was tempted to sway from that one—it felt like a relationship of some kind.
I headed for the kitchen, needing coffee. I stepped into the chief’s office to wish him a safe trip since he was leaving on holidays the next morning. He waved me in, smiling in thanks at my words.
“Whatever you’re doing different, Thorne, keep it up.”
“Sir?” I asked.
“You’re smiling more. I heard you tell a joke last night.”
“Oh, ah…” I scrubbed the back of my neck.
He chuckled. “Whatever or whoever it is, I like it.”
I left, wondering if anyone else noticed a change. I didn’t think I was any different, although constant lovemaking with a sexy tenant certainly helped my mood.
That had to be it.
I had poured a cup of coffee and sat down before I realized I had called it lovemaking.
It was sex. Just sex.
Slip of the tongue.
That made me grin.
Alan—or the probie, as everyone called him—walked in, pouring a coffee. “Hey.”
I lifted my chin in acknowledgment.
He swung a leg over a chair, facing me. “I just want to say thanks for all the extra work you and Mark have been putting in with me.”
I nodded. “Someone did the same for us.”
“I appreciate it. We’re not on the next roster together.”
“No, Chief likes to mix it up. Make sure we can all work together.”
“You can bring Miller.”
“Maybe. He’s got a…sitter now he likes. I might leave it as is.” I knew Casey liked having him around. She had mentioned it in passing once that she felt safer with him there.
“The house seems so big when you’re gone,” she whispered in one of our late-night chats. “Miller makes me feel not so alone.”
I didn’t want to take that from her.
I stood, deciding to go and finish up some paperwork to end the shift. With any luck, there’d be no calls and I would be home in a few hours. I clapped Alan on the shoulder.
“See you around, probie.”
But as I crossed the station, I looked over at Martha, who was hanging up the phone. She gestured to me, waiting until I was at the desk to talk.
“Lila just called.”
“And?” I asked. Lila called a lot. Stray animals, a branch on a tree hanging too low, a stranger in the neighborhood. She was lonely and liked to talk, and she used every opportunity to call Martha.
“Um, she noticed something.”
“Aliens?”
She shook her head. “She says there’s a person stuck in a tree. She heard a call for help.”
I groaned. So much for no calls. “Where? On the street? In the woods? Bloody kids know they shouldn’t climb them.”
Martha was fighting a smile. “Not the street.”
“Where, then?”
“Your backyard.”
I gaped at her. “Someone is in my—” I stopped.
And right then, I knew who that person was.
It was a woman.
And her name was Casey.
CASEY
I sat on the back deck, enjoying the breeze. We were having the perfect weather. Warm and lovely, but not hot and sticky the way Ontario summers could be. It was only June, and I knew those times would come soon enough.
In the meantime, I was loving the days we had. I took a sip of my iced tea, the lemon and lime flavor I added giving it a great tang. Idly, I wondered if Thorne would like it.
A shiver went through me at the thought of Thorne coming home. I hoped he’d missed me the way I missed him.
I liked the new dynamic, although it was a little confusing.
We agreed no strings, no relationship, yet he’d kept me close after we’d started this agreement.
I’d even slept in his bed the last two nights before he left for his shift, wrapped in his arms, unable to leave.
Both mornings, he’d fed me breakfast, then sent me through the closet with a kiss to my forehead, telling me to stay out of trouble as if he was used to sending me off to work every day.
And his antics at the grocery store had been amusing and sweet, even though I gave him shit about it.
He wasn’t acting the way I expected him to. It was almost as if he cared.
It was all still new, though, and I was sure that would wear off quickly.
I watched the wind move the branches of the tree in the corner of the property. It was a massive oak tree and had seemed tall when I was a child. It was majestic and full, providing shade and a lovely canopy of green.
A memory I had forgotten stirred. Lou loved to craft things—something I swore I got from her since my mother could barely sew a straight line and hated all things glue and glitter.