Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95264 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Dean Fanshaw grins. “Good to see you too.”
I’ve always liked the quiet and easygoing firefighter, even if he’s a hound when an attractive woman is within fifty yards. “I meant you’re not going to buy anything.”
He stops a foot away from me—a wall of impressive muscle beneath layers of winter gear. “Not today. Here to pick up that chest freezer for my neighbor.”
“Yes! Tony called and said he was sending you in. It’s all ready to go around back. Let me get the paperwork for you.” Ned shuffles toward the office as quickly as his slight seventy-six-year-old body can carry him.
“Just out there, saving Polson Falls folk, one fire or appliance delivery at a time, huh?” I tip my head back to admire Dean’s face. There’s no denying he is stunningly attractive. I have the urge to drag my finger along his cut jawline every time I see him, but especially now that it’s emphasized by the black beanie pulled down to hide his blond hair.
“It’s who I am.” His baby-blue eyes drift from the box of sweets I left on our front counter, back to me, to my mouth. “You have a little something …” He taps the corner of his bottom lip with his finger, a secretive smile growing wider by the second.
It has to be cannoli filling. If we had customers, I’d be professional and grab a tissue. But Ned is in the back office, and every interaction Dean and I have had since we met has been laced with sexual innuendo, so why stop now?
“Right here?” I make a show of slowly dragging the tip of my tongue along my bottom lip until I catch the sweet cream. “Did I get it all?”
Dean tracks the move, clearing his throat. “Yeah.”
He knows it’s all an act. At another time in my life, we would have found ourselves tangled in bedsheets by now. I know he’d be game. But, while flirting shamelessly with Dean has become a favorite pastime, the last thing I want in my life is another wandering dick—especially when it’s attached to a guy who happens to be best friends with Scarlet’s soulmate.
Platonic friends with the big, sexy meathead, I can do. In fact, I appreciate it.
“Looks like you’re settling in well here.” His gaze snags on a grill in the corner—the one I’ve been begging Scarlet to go halfsies on for the house.
“Can’t complain. Thanks again for the hookup.” Dean’s the one who mentioned Ned urgently needed a reliable hand after his only employee stopped showing up. We figured out later the jerk got a job at Home Depot.
“Glad it worked out.”
“I hope Ned thinks so. I’ve heard him use the word ‘eccentric’ once or twice in reference to me. ‘Dramatic’ too. But not ‘insane,’ so I think I’m in the clear.” I’m only kidding, of course. Ned is nothing but smiles when I show up in the morning and is always chuckling. He seems to appreciate my antics. In truth, I think he’s been lonely. “Speaking of working out, what happened with that gorgeous brunette you were dry-humping in the corner of Route 66?” They were all over each other at this year’s New Year’s Eve party and ghosted a minute past midnight.
Dean shrugs. “Nothing much.”
“Really? I was so sure there was something there.” I struggle to keep my composure.
His eyes narrow. “What did Beckett tell you?”
“Nothing.” I pause a few beats. “Except that you and Abuela hit it off.”
Dean’s head falls back with a groan as I burst out with laughter.
“I had no idea her grandmother lived with her, okay? She never mentioned it.”
“Sounds like you gave a senior citizen one hell of a Happy New Year’s eyeful, though.” I look downward, which is what dear Abuela did when Dean strolled into the kitchen buck naked in search of a glass of water. According to details Shane wasn’t supposed to repeat, she got a solid five-second look at his morning wood and then chased him out of the house with a rolling pin, screaming at him in Spanish for defiling her granddaughter.
“What’s it like standing naked on a front porch in January?”
“Embarrassing, and cold.”
“Or embarrassing because you were cold.” I hold up my hand and pinch my index finger and thumb close together. “Even big boys have to hide sometimes.” Which is what happened to Dean. It wasn’t too long before his one-night stand realized what her grandmother had done and let him back inside, but it was long enough to shrink more than his ego.
His cheeks flush. “I can’t believe Shane told you, of all people.”
“Of course he did! I’m his favorite. Here.” I reach into the pastry box and collect a profiterole. “Open wide.”
With a smirk, Dean obliges, and I pop the treat into his gaping mouth.
“All set!” Ned ambles out from the office, waving the paperwork. “Why don’t I help you load up from the dock?”