Beneath the Badge (First Responders) Read Online Free PDF Page A

looked very official and sexy. In jeans and a T-shirt at the pub, she’d had an idea that he was very fit. But this…other than the shorts he was naked. And if his butt was as tight as the rest of him, he was pretty much perfect.
    The towel followed the same path as the gloves. “You didn’t have to do that.”
    There was something different about him tonight. Yesterday he’d been friendly and kind and had stayed well into the evening to help. Now it was like she was a nuisance. Intruding. She suddenly felt her face heat. What if he had plans? A date? Surprising someone like Matt had been foolish, hadn’t it? She was the one who spent most evenings alone, wasn’t she? He was the kind of guy who had a healthy and active social calendar.
    She attempted to sound breezy. “I just wanted to say thanks for all your help yesterday. I should really get back.”
    She put the bag on the floor. Never mind there was enough food in there for two. She’d embarrassed herself enough already.
    Matt sighed and came forward. “I’m sorry, Lindsay. I didn’t mean to sound…” he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, like he was working out a kink, “ … like an asshole.”
    “Hey, I showed up uninvited. No biggie.”
    “How are the puppies?”
    She met his gaze, smiled a little. “Good. Nothing major wrong with them besides being a bit underweight. With a few days of proper care they’re going to be terrors, no doubt about it. One of the techs has taken them home with her until they’re ready for fostering or adoption.”
    He smiled back, just a little, but it warmed his eyes so he didn’t look so intimidating. “Look, I need a quick shower, but will you stay? I’m guessing there’s enough food in there for both of us, and once I clean up I’m bound to be starving.”
    “You’re sure? I understand if you have other plans…”
    He laughed, but it wasn’t a humorous kind. More like sarcastic. “No plans, trust me.” He raised an eyebrow. “I haven’t been fit to be around the general public today.”
    She longed to ask why, but knew she probably wouldn’t want to know the answer so kept her mouth shut.
    “I don’t want to impose…”
    He sighed. “Just stay, okay? Give me five minutes.”
    She nodded, picking up the bag. “Okay.”
    She followed him through the cavern that was the gym and into a space that wasn’t much homier. The kitchen wasn’t really a kitchen at all, but a corner with appliances on one wall and a work space in the form of a long counter top. There was no table and chairs, just four tall bar stools in front of the counter. The back wall was nearly all windows, each one divided into maybe twenty smaller squares of glass. At one point Lindsay thought this place had housed a clothing manufacturer, but she couldn’t be sure. Early evening sun poured through the glass now, illuminating dust on the scarred hardwood floor. The guy would need an industrial mop to keep this floor shiny. Especially since the only other furniture was a huge sectional sofa and a coffee table holding a selection of magazines and a few paperbacks. There wasn’t even a television.
    “I’ll be right back. There are plates in the cupboard and forks in the drawers.” He grinned. “I don’t have much. You won’t have trouble finding anything.”
    Not much indeed. As the shower started running, she opened the first cupboard she came to. The dishes were mismatched and there weren’t many of them. She pulled out two plates, two glasses that looked like they were the gas-station-giveaway type, and in the second drawer she tried she found forks and knives.
    The shower stopped running and her hands paused on the foil pan holding noodles. This wasn’t really domestic, but it was strange putting out food while Matt cleaned up. While he was standing in his bathroom buck naked…
    That was not why she was here. It was not…
    Except she thought maybe it was. Because she couldn’t get that kiss out of her head, and