Chapter 7

"To what?" Kristi frowned.

"I know your schedule. You're off twenty-four starting tomorrow. Dinner. Tomorrow night."

"Dinner?" She stared at him. In the middle of a fire scene, he was asking her to dinner?

She studied his face, the navy-blue eyes with the indecently thick lashes, the late day scruff just sprouting on his jaw, the lock of midnight-black hair that had escaped his patrol hat. He was most definitely good looking, but there was also something else there, a heat and an intensity that woke up parts of her body she'd been keeping in cold storage.

"Great!" He grinned, as if she'd said yes. "Pick you up at seven." He waved as he ran back to help one of the other cops with a traffic problem.

Kristi stared after him. Now what was she supposed to do? She didn't even have his cell phone number to tell him it was all a big mistake.

Go ahead! The little devil in her brain whispered to her. It's about time.

She might have been on a dating diet but she had to admit, every time she saw Patrick her appetite perked up. She hadn't allowed herself to relax enough to date anyone for such a long while, not since- She shut down that line of thought. Should she break down and take a chance here?

This is so the wrong thing for me to do. My luck hasn't gotten better overnight. I'll just politely tell him no. Again.

"Hey, Kristi." Jared nudged her. "We need to finish packing up our stuff. You can dream about lover boy on the way back to the station."

"I'm not dreaming about anyone," she snapped.

"Uh-huh."

They had just finished putting everything back in the ambo and she was climbing into the cab when Patrick raced over to her again, holding out his cell.

"Put your information in here. Seven okay with you?"

"Uh, sure. Seven. Great." She took the cell phone he handed her and entered her address and phone number. Of course, now it was there to be used again. And maybe again. The feelings rippling inside her were a combination of fear and anticipation.

"See you then." He winked at her and hustled back to work.

He watched from across the street, big sunglasses obscuring most of his face, the bill from a ball cap taking care of most of the rest of it. The crowd had been big enough that he could blend into it and not call attention to himself. They always came out in droves for big fires. The bigger the fire, the bigger the crowd.

He managed to keep in the background yet still have a good vantage point from which to watch. When she pulled up in the ambo she drove with her partner, his heart raced in anticipation of seeing her. And when she jumped down from the vehicle's cab, his cock got instantly hard. Not even those sexless jumpsuits she wore could disguise her luscious body. He let his mind run wild imagining her curves beneath the thick fabric and had to clench his fists and shove them into his pockets to keep from doing something that would embarrass him.

He wondered if she knew he set these blazes just for her. Kind of an homage to her skills, as it were. And yet another chance for him to see her, even if it wasn't up close and personal. He could admire her from afar, drinking in the sight of her and watching her skillful movement.

He took pictures of her at work, each image so precious to him. At night, when he lay in his bed, naked, he'd close his hand around his cock, run through the pictures like a slideshow while he brought himself to orgasm. If only he could do that to her in person. If only he could show her how much she meant to him and how good he could be to her.

He'd had occasion to be in the fire station for work twice in the past couple of weeks but she'd only been there for one of them. Even so, that one time he'd drunk his fill of her, watching her when she was there between callouts, drinking in the sight of her like a thirsty man with water.

Kristi!

He loved the sound of her name. Driving by himself during the day, he often said it aloud, loving the way it rolled off his tongue. The sound of it so sweet and soft that he'd say it over and over.

He loved setting these fires for her. Watching her work always made him hard as concrete. She was just so efficient about it. Go figure he'd think it was sexy to watch her fit someone with an oxygen mask. Or clean and bandage burns and other wounds. The jumpsuit she always wore wasn't designed to show off her figure, but he could still see the sweet, sexy curve of her ass. He wanted so badly to be able to run his palm over it, feel the roundness of her.

Shit! He'd better stop or he'd embarrass himself right out here on the street.

When he saw that cop go over and talk to her, he had to force back the anger that rose up inside him. What the fuck did that asshole want? He should be paying attention to business instead of fooling around with Kristi. His Kristi. Or she would be, soon enough. He gritted his teeth the entire time, sending a steady stream of silent curses toward the man. And the way he touched her arm when they spoke, the way he tilted his head. He could not let anything happen between them and get in the way of his plans.

All too soon, she and her partner were finished treating everyone who needed it and began packing up their gear. The firefighters were far from finished with their job, but the need for paramedics and EMTs was over. He never took his eyes from her as she climbed behind the wheel of her vehicle and drove off.