Chapter 8
Devyn
“Get a picture of him!”
“Give him a chance.”
“I love the Salt River. You’re going to have so much fun!”
“Just be careful.”
My sisters’ voices all merged with one another as they spoke over each other on our conference call. My phone was on the dresser on speaker as I turned and studied my reflection in the mirror.
“I will,” I said in answer to all of their demands.
Turning, I checked out my butt and smiled in satisfaction.
I wasn’t showing yet, so I was still looking good.
Keeping in shape for my job was important.
Well, not as important as when I was an actual firefighter.
Now I investigated the remnants of fires once the others put them out, but it was still important to me. And…I wanted to look good for Bolo.
Smiling, I shook my head. Who was I kidding? I wanted to blow him out of the water.
“You wearing that little pink suit?” Audrey asked. I could hear the sly grin in her tone.
“That’s a good one,” Shay added.
“Emphasis on little,” Sophie said with a laugh. “That’s the one if you bend over too far you might pop a boob out!”
“Or a cheek,” Audrey added.
Shay snorted. “Most of her cheeks are already out in that one. It barely covers her crack.”
“Like you don’t have the same suit in every color imaginable,” I argued.
“There’s always that black one, too,” Vivian suggested. “Both look great on you.”
“Thanks,” I told Viv. “I’ve got the pink one on for now.” It was itty bitty. I wanted to remind Bolo of what I looked like, before I retired cute clothes to the closet and lived the rest of my pregnancy out in sweats and oversized t-shirts.
Frowning, I remembered that I needed to speak with my fire chief soon.
At some point I’d need to bite the bullet and let him know that I was pregnant.
As much as I wanted to stay in the field for my whole pregnancy, I couldn’t.
Those burned out buildings I crawled around in could be dangerous.
Not yet though. As long as the smoke was cleared out, and I was careful, I could get away with it for a while longer.
Once I was a little further along, I’d let him know and I’d do admin work in the office for the remainder of my pregnancy.
There was always plenty to do and it would be safer for my baby.
“You’re going to give the old guy a heart attack,” Audrey said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes. “You realize he and I are both thirty-five…right?”
“So?”
“So…calling him old is calling me old, Aud.”
There was a pause before she started coming up with excuses. “It’s not the same for you.”
“How?” Soph asked with a laugh.
“Because Dev is beautiful.”
I snorted. “Wait until you see Bolo.”
“He’s beautiful?” Viv asked, sounding doubtful.
His handsome face flashed in my mind. “He’s drop dead gorgeous,” I sighed. “You’re all going to be trying to get your own ‘old guy’ once you get a look at him.”
“Tell him to make a social media account,” Shay said, a pout in her tone. “We can’t spy on him without one.”
“Yeah, sure. That’ll make him jump to create a profile,” Viv pointed out.
“Think he even knows how to use a computer?” Audrey asked.
Sophie and I were laughing at our younger sisters. “He knows,” I told them.
“You sure?” Shay asked.
“He was in the military,” I told them. “I’m sure he knows all kinds of things.”
“He doesn’t know how to pull out.”
“Sophie!” I gasped.
“O-kay,” Audrey said with a hint of disgust in the word.
“Ewww,” the other two said in unison.
My doorbell rang and my heart leapt in my chest. “He’s here. I gotta go.”
“Don’t forget the picture!” Vivian shouted.
“Ignore them,” Soph told me. “Have fun, but please be careful.”
“I will. I swear.” There was this nagging feeling I had that told me there was no way Bolo would let anything happen to me anyway.
I wasn’t sure why. We hadn’t spent enough time together for me to really know how he’d handle an emergency situation, but he seemed so protective, I couldn’t imagine him panicking.
And if nothing else, I was cool as a cucumber in those kinds of situations. I was used to taking control and getting through whatever needed handling. So there really wasn’t anything to worry about. But that was what Sophie did best.
“Bye!” I hung up on my sisters and cast one more glance at the mirror before I pulled on a pair of jean shorts and tank over my suit. Shoving my feet into some flip flops, I shouted, “Be right there!”
He must’ve heard me, because he didn’t ring the bell again. I grabbed the bag I was bringing with me and opened the door. His smile hit me like a brick to the forehead and I froze, just staring at him.
“Hey,” he said, his smile getting a little wider. He knew how good looking he was.
“Hi.”
His eyes dipped down to my bag. “You have everything you need?”
“Yeah.” That jolted me out of the small trance he’d put me in and I smiled and stepped outside my door. Turning, I locked up, then faced him again. “Ready to go.”
“Alright.” He took my bag from me and walked me down the stairs and out to the parking lot. “That’s nice,” I told him as the lights flashed on an SUV nearby.
“Thanks. Sometimes you need something other than a bike.”
He didn’t sound thrilled about it though. I got into the passenger seat and buckled up as he started the engine. “I’m looking forward to this,” I told him with a smile as he pulled out onto the road. “Thanks for suggesting it.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d be feeling up to it,” he admitted, his eyes darting over to me, then back to the road.
It’d been a tough week. We’d been texting and talking on the phone over the last four days so he knew I hadn’t been feeling great.
Not that I was complaining to him about how miserable I was, he just seemed to pick up on it.
Sophie said it was because they could kind of hear it in my tone as I spoke.
And Bolo was clearly the observant type.
“I think it’ll help to get out and get some fresh air, honestly.
” I’d ended up taking a couple sick days and just sleeping the days away, but I needed to save my leave for later in the pregnancy, so I didn’t plan to do that much.
At least I was hoping I wouldn’t have to take more days.
I didn’t like missing work. I enjoyed what I did.
It was like a real life puzzle that I got to solve.
“Good.” He reached over and took my hand, linking our fingers together.
It was so smooth and efficient I didn’t even know what was happening until we were holding hands.
I hid my smile and didn’t say anything about it.
Though I wasn’t sure he’d let go if I did point it out.
But I liked having his big strong hand linked with mine.
Despite working in a firehouse and doing dangerous work this was nice.
It reminded me I was still a woman and I had always liked the protective kind of a man.
“What do you do for a living?” I asked, because I realized his hand was rough and work-worn, and that I hadn’t asked him that before.
“I work construction, building houses mostly, with my dad and brothers,” he told me.
That explained it. I loved a man who worked with his hands.
We made small talk as he drove us to the river.
He found a close parking spot since we were here pretty early.
This was the first float trip of the day and most of the college kids wouldn’t be out on the river until mid-day.
It was going to be mostly families here this early. That was fine by me.
“Wait here,” he told me, opening the back of the SUV. “I’ll go pay and then haul all this over to the bus stop.”
I nodded, staring with wide eyes at all the stuff he had piled in the back.
I’d brought a container of water, some small snacks, sunglasses, water shoes, and a hat.
And of course my phone and wallet. He’d brought…
a lot more. Of everything. He’d even brought his own tubes.
That was a good thing, because the black inner tubes they rented out burned the crap out of your butt and legs once the sun beat down on you for a while.
The tubes he had were white and would help reflect the heat.
Slipping on my water shoes, I left my flip flops in his vehicle so I wouldn’t lose them. I took off my tank and shorts and left them as well, piling them on top of my wallet so it was out of view.
“We’re all set. Bus should be here in… Fuck me.” The last two words were mostly said under his breath, but I caught them. I bit my lips to keep from smiling as I faced him fully.
His eyes roamed all over my body and a thrill raced over my skin as hunger flared in his gaze.
I wanted him to want me. This was supposed to be the fun part.
The getting to know you phase. Of course we’d skipped a couple steps, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy ourselves along the way.
He swallowed hard then cleared his throat.
“You look great.” he said, his voice deep and gravelly.
I smiled. “Thanks. I can take-”
“No. I got it. You go sit on the bench in the shade there.” He motioned toward the one bench over at the stop where the buses picked people up.
Nodding in agreement, I didn’t bother to argue. Again, it was nice to be taken care of for a change. I was going to soak it up. “Can I get a picture first?” I asked.
“A picture?”
“Yeah. Of us. Together.”
“Oh. Yeah, sure.” He set down the bag he’d picked up and turned to where I was holding up my phone.
Wrapping an arm around me he grinned in a way that I was sure was going to make my sisters all melt.
“Hang on,” I said after I took a couple.
” My eyes scanned the lot and I found my target. “Excuse me?”
The older couple passing by paused and looked at me expectantly.
“Could you please take a photo of us?”
“Oh sure, dear,” the lady said, taking my phone from me. “This one?” she asked, pointing at the button.
“That’s it. Thank you so much.” I turned and nearly swallowed my tongue.
Bolo had taken off his shirt and was standing there in just board shorts and flip flops, showing off abs you could clean laundry on.
Holy…wow. I was ready to whip my bikini top off and rub it against his abs to test if that phrase was true.
Didn’t even matter that I’d be flashing the whole parking lot.
It’d be worth it. I didn’t, of course. We didn’t need to spend the day at the police station for indecent exposure.
Plus, there were kids piling out of vehicles all around us as more people showed up.
I locked down my inappropriate thoughts as much as I could.
I’d been really drunk the night we’d had sex and didn’t remember a whole lot. I knew, from hugging him, and just the way he looked in clothes that he had muscles, but jeez. You could grate cheese on the guy. Even the old couple were staring with their mouths hanging open.
Swallowing hard, I went back to him and wrapped my arm around his waist. His went around my shoulder and I tried not to look shell shocked for the photograph. “Thanks,” I said with a smile at the couple, taking my phone back, then turning it off and putting it in the back of the SUV.
“What?”
“What?” I repeated his question, hoping it didn’t come out as a squeak.
“Why are you looking so…”
Soph had made me promise to give him a chance. Flirting was a part of that. “Nothing. You just look really good,” I told him, side eyeing him.
He chuckled. “Thanks. But trust me. No one is going to be looking my way.” His eyes roved over me again.
Laughing, I gave into impulse and touched his bicep. Rock hard. “Thanks. Sure you don’t need help with anything?”
“Nope. Here.” He handed me a tumbler.
Opening it, I looked inside. “What is it?”
“Lemonade. Friend of mine made it, and all the food. She said sour things can help with morning sickness.” When I looked up at him, he shrugged. “She’s pregnant, too. I also brought a bunch of water.”
“Thank you,” I said, smiling and heading over to my designated bench to wait.
It wasn’t exactly a hardship to watch him load himself up with everything he brought and carry it over.
Muscles were flexing everywhere and by the time he was done a small crowd was gathered and every female eye was glued to him.
Most of the guys standing there looked a little put out that their girls were watching the show.
I just grinned and drank my lemonade while staring at the hot guy who was somehow mine, for now. I wasn’t about to complain.