Fire and Ice (Firemen do it Hotter Book 1) (2 page)

Her throat felt raw as she looked away from the photograph. Her gaze rested on her cell phone on the vanity, next to the piece of paper with Grady’s name and phone number.

The familiar ache of the old pain had never gone away, and pain blossomed in her chest. Her stomach clenched and she felt sick as she stood, walked to the phone, and picked up the paper. She tore it into tiny pieces and threw them into the wastebasket next to her vanity.

She felt as if she’d been punched in the gut as she turned and walked out of the bedroom.

A
fter loading
a large bag of Spot’s favorite dog food onto the bottom of the cart, Grady pushed the shopping cart to the breakfast aisle. He went from one end of the breakfast aisle to the other. Along the way, he grabbed a bag of rolled oats, a container of granola, a package of breakfast bars, and a jar of malted milk powder.

At the end of the row, he picked out his favorites—Fruit Loops and Cap’n Crunch’s Peanut Butter Crunch. “Food of the gods,” he said as he tossed the boxes into the cart. “Dionysus would be proud.”

One advantage to being a bachelor was he could eat anything he damned well pleased. He rounded the corner of the aisle and stopped by the end cap, where he snagged a twelve-pack of Pepsi before heading for the dairy case. Pepsi and peanut butter cereal didn’t go well together. He’d tried it once when he ran out of milk. Once was enough.

He pushed the cart toward the dairy case when he came to a stop. “Well, hello there,” he murmured to himself as his gaze rested on none other than the woman of his fantasies.

Chelsey Daniels opened one of the glass doors, grabbed a large tub of Greek yogurt, and set it in her almost full cart. She had an awful lot of food piled in the basket and he wondered if she lived with anyone.

Did she have a kid or two? Or three? There was a hell of a lot he didn’t know about Chelsey, but he sure wanted to find out everything he could.

He frowned. Did she have a significant other? He mentally shook his head. She wouldn’t have agreed to call him to make dinner plans if she had. But then she hadn’t called him either, so she could have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend.

Hmmm…

Every man’s fantasy—to be in a ménage with two women.

The possibilities…

He smiled to himself. Fantasies were one thing, reality another. He couldn’t picture sharing Chelsey with
anyone
.

Let’s find out.

She was looking at her phone’s screen. Shopping list, he guessed.

He pulled his cart beside hers and caught her soft, flowery perfume. “What’s for dinner?”

Chelsey jumped. Her gaze shot up from her phone and her eyes met his. She paused a moment as he smiled at her. “Grady.” His name sounded so sexy on her lips, it caused his groin to ache.

“I’m for dinner?” He did his best not to laugh. “Just tell me when.”

She looked flustered. “No. I meant—” She clearly saw the teasing in his eyes and she made a face. “Smartass. What are you doing here?”

He did laugh this time and gave a nod in the direction of his basket. “Same as you. I think.” He pointed to the mound of packaged food and fresh vegetables she had in hers. “Not half as good a job of buying out the store as you are.”

Her cheeks reddened and he grinned.
Freaking adorable.

“Of course.” Her chest rose as she sucked in her breath then fell as she blew out her breath. “That was a silly question.”

He rested his forearms on the handle of his cart. “You look like you’re shopping for a small army.”

“Habit.” She shrugged. “I raised my two sisters and our younger twin brothers, and we never seemed to have enough. The boys ate like they’d never seen food before, and the girls almost rivaled them.” A smile touched her lips as if the memory was a fond one. “So I tend to fill the pantry and always have enough when anyone pops over, which is fairly often.”

“No roommate?” He did his best to sound casual.

“Nope.” She gripped the handle of her own cart as if it was holding her up. She looked slightly amused, as if knowing exactly why he wanted to know.“ Just me, myself, and I.”

Nice to know.
Didn’t sound at all like a significant other was hanging around.

“I live alone, too.” He shrugged. “Hence the nearly empty cart and the kids’ cereal.”

She glanced at his basket before meeting his gaze. “I can see you have a dog, too. A big one considering the large bag?”

“Spot has a hell of an appetite.”

Chelsey grinned. “Spot?”

Grady gave her a quick grin in response. “He was a gift from my sister, Lexi, when I moved here to Wisconsin. He’s a Dalmatian and she named him Spot. She figures every firefighter should have one.”

“That is awesome. Lexi has a fun sense of humor.” Chelsey glanced at his basket again. “I take it you’re also not crazy about cooking.”

“Not at all.” He leaned forward as he drank her in. God, she was beautiful. Those amazing curves, all that blonde hair, and he’d never seen such an amazing shade of green as her eyes.

Damn.

“My favorite homemade meal is a bowl of Cap’n Crunch and a glass of malted milk.”

She smiled and it lit up the whole damned grocery store. “Maybe you should take a few cooking lessons. You might enjoy it then.” She had a warmth to her tone that made him think she was coming around.

He couldn’t hold back another grin. “Are you offering to teach me?”

“What?” She blinked. “No. I mean, well, no.”

“Too bad.” He held her gaze. “I might take to following you around like a lost puppy. I’d be hot for the teacher. Hell, I already am.”

Her cheeks flushed and she looked embarrassed.

Maybe a little too much too fast.

“I’m teasing.” He watched the tension leave her expression. “At least part of it was. You have to guess which part.”

“No dice.” She seemed to be able to jump right in when it came to the teasing. She was probably used to it after raising her siblings. “I know a losing hand when I see one.”

A laugh rose in his chest. “Something tells me you’ve played cards a time or two.”

“Try twelve hundred.” She rolled her eyes to look up at the perforated ceiling panels for a moment. She glanced back at him. “The kids—my sisters and brothers—always wanted to play when they were young. We started with ‘go fish’ when they were little and ended up with Texas Hold’em before they were teens.” He liked the way her eyes went soft when she talked about her brothers and sisters. It was clear she loved them.

“I’m the youngest out of a big, noisy, Irish family.” He shook his head. “Three older brothers and six sisters. Then there are all the aunts and uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces, grandparents, and of course my own parents. Longevity in our family tree is crazy.”

Except the alcoholics, who tended to live shorter lives.

Not going there now.

If Chelsey agreed to date him, he’d have to tell her sooner or later. More than likely it would be sooner.”

“Your family sounds huge” Chelsey tipped her head to the side. “We have just the five of us in our family. Five brothers and sisters sound like a lot to some people, but both of our parents were only children and we only had one living grandmother, Janice, before she passed away twenty years ago. We don’t have any aunts, uncles, cousins, or other grandparents—just us.”

She looked a little sad as she continued. “Our parents were killed when the bridge they were driving over collapsed. The girls were five and six, and boys were two. Fortunately, none of the kids were in the car. After our mom and dad passed, our Grandmother Janice took us in until she died.”

Chelsey’s statement about her grandmother had a hard edge to it, and Grady had no doubt that Chelsey hadn’t been fond of the older woman. He wondered why.

“I have enough family for both of us, and then some,” he said. “We have fifty or sixty in our clan, including extended family, and that’s just in this country.”

Her jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me?”

He shook his head. “We might as well be a small town when we get together for a reunion.”

“How do you keep track of everyone?” She looked at him with amazement in her expression. “A spreadsheet?”

He laughed. “Now there’s a great idea.”

“I’m full of them.” She gave him a broad smile. “Grady Donovan is a very Irish name.”

“That it is, lassie.” He did his best impression of an old Irishman speaking in a deep brogue. He switched his speech back to normal. “You are amazing on the ice—I could watch you for hours. I can see how you were a world champion.”

“Thank you.” Clear confidence changed her expression, replacing the shy look. “It used to be everything to me. I lived to skate. I still can’t wait to get on the ice as often as possible.” She tilted her head to the side. “How did you know?”

He shrugged. “Small town.”

“Not
that
small.” She seemed to relax as they fell into conversation. “It’s not like the really small towns where everyone knows their neighbor’s business.”

“But you forget something.” Grady shifted his arms on his basket handle. “You’re a star. A home town girl who made it.”

Something entered her gaze that gave her a faraway look. “That was a lifetime ago.”

Grady watched Chelsey. “I work with Craig Roberts.”

She nodded. “I see him every now and again at the rink. I forgot he’s a firefighter.”

After a pause, he said, “I was hoping you would call.”

She looked as if she was deciphering his words and then she straightened. “Oh. I didn’t—I mean I couldn’t.” She let out an audible breath. “I can’t.”

He studied her. Something burned in her eyes, something that came straight from her heart. He didn’t know what that something was, but he intended to find out.

“You’re blocking the aisle.” An elderly woman’s voice cut through the sudden tension. “Take it somewhere else.”

C
helsey cut
her gaze to the small woman who instantly reminded her of her grandmother in both manner and appearance. The thought of her abusive guardian gave Chelsey a bad taste in her mouth. She let out a slow breath as she moved her cart out of the way. She didn’t know this woman’s life story, what she’d been through, what might have happened this morning. Even though she looked like Chelsey’s grandmother, that didn’t mean they were anything alike.

“Excuse us,” Grady said, at the same moment Chelsey said, “So sorry.”

The woman grumbled something beneath her breath as she pushed her cart past them.

Chelsey looked at Grady, who shrugged.

“Where were we?” He tipped his head as if in deep thought. “Oh, yeah. We were just talking about you going out with me.”

Grady rested his arms on the handle of his basket once again and her throat worked. God, his forearms and biceps looked so strong, his hands big and his body firm and sculpted beneath his T-shirt.
Fire-ice blue eyes
—that’s what she had thought the moment she had first seen him at the skating rink. She didn’t normally notice eyes, but in this case she was drawn in to his vivid gaze.

His lips curved into another smile. “How is Friday night? I can pick you up at 6:30.”

Taken off guard, she couldn’t think of a word to say. When it came, she found herself feeling disappointed, even as she said it. “No.” She shook her head. “I—just no.”

“Why not?” His expression was open and genuine.

“I—well.” She bit her lower lip.

“In other words, you don’t have an excuse.” He winked, clearly teasing once again. He reached into his back pocket. “Do you still have my number?”

She shook her head.

Do you have a pen?”

“I think so.” She dug in the cross-body bag before she produced a pen and handed it to Grady.

He opened his wallet and pulled out a business card for a local insurance agency. He crossed out the information on the front before flipping it over and writing the number she recognized as the same one he had left for her the first time they had met.

She watched him as he took her hand, opened it, and pressed the card against her palm. The warmth of his hand heated her through as he closed her fingers over the card.

“Call me.” He held her gaze. “I promise I don’t bite.” His lips quirked. “Unless you want me to.”

Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

“I shouldn’t tease you so much.” He smiled and released her hand, taking away the warmth.

“It’s okay.” She lowered her hand and almost said, “I like it,” but stopped herself and said, “I’m used to it with four younger brothers and sisters.”

“Good.” He reached for her as if he couldn’t stop himself and touched the soft skin beneath her ear. He slid his finger along her jaw. “Call me tonight.” He let his hand drop from her face. “I’m off, so I’ll be home.”

She wanted to grab his fingers and press his palm to her cheek. Even as she started to utter “No” again, the words got confused in her brain and she said, “Okay.”

His smile was devastating, his words husky. “I’ll talk with you later, Chelsey.”

She simply nodded, suddenly finding herself tongue-tied.

He gave her one last, long look before turning back to his basket and pushing it toward the dairy case. He opened the door, and grabbed a gallon of whole milk, and set it in his basket as the glass door closed.

She watched him leave, unable to move. He paused once to look over his shoulder and smiled before rounding a corner and disappearing from view.

Unable to move for a long minute or two, she sighed. She had no idea at this moment why she had been refusing to go out with Grady Donovan. She found herself wanting to chase him down and tell him she was ready to go with him wherever he wanted,
now.

He was funny, friendly, and everything about him was so real. She felt like she could take him at face value—she didn’t think he was the type of man to put on a façade. He was straight forward, and clearly went after whatever it was he wanted.

And apparently he wanted her.

The thought made butterflies bounce around in her belly.

She shook her head. She couldn’t let this man get to her. She couldn’t go out with him.

Why not?
The whisper of a thought floated through her mind.
Just call him.

She felt almost like she was in a fog as she finished her shopping. Confusion made her drained and numb. Yet, at the same time, a tickle of excitement burned in her belly.

Truth was, she wanted to talk with Grady tonight. She would worry about the why and why not later. For now, she just wanted to hear his voice and chat with him. She was really looking forward to going out on a date with the man.

She bit her lower lip as waves of concern washed over her. She was driving herself crazy with wanting to go out with him and then going back to not wanting to see him again.