Breaking Protocol (Firehouse Fourteen Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

watching him expectantly, and realized he had no idea what he wanted. So he ordered a basic hot fudge sundae, then released her hand and reached into his back pocket for his wallet. He slid a sideways glance at CC, half-expecting her to argue about who would pay for it.
    But she surprised him again with another soft laugh, shaking her head. "I'm not like a lot of other women, Big Guy. If someone is going to offer to buy me chocolate, the answer is always yes."
    And for some reason, her answer didn't surprise him. For a day full of surprises, that was probably most surprising of all. So he pulled out some bills to pay for the ice cream then let CC lead him over to an empty table that was set slightly apart from the others. She took a seat, watching him as he lowered his large frame into the small metal chair.
    Then he just sat there, not knowing what to say. He shifted, the chair squeaking with the movement, and wondered if it would break. At least that would give him something to talk about, he thought.
    CC chuckled and he frowned at her in annoyance. Not because she was laughing at him, he knew she wasn't. But because laughter seemed to come so easy for her.
    "I wish I had a camera so I could take a picture right now. You look so uncomfortable over there. Oh, wait. I do." She pulled her phone from her back pocket and, before Dave realized what she was about to do, she snapped a picture. She looked down at it, grinned, then turned the phone around and handed it to him.
    With reluctance he accepted the phone, his fingers brushing against hers with a tingling awareness. He started, surprised, but she only grinned and released her hold on the phone.
    The image on the screen showed a man in his early thirties, with deep set dark eyes, brows lowered in a partial scowl. A square jaw covered with a shadow of stubble. Small grooves bracketed lips pursed in annoyance.
    No wonder CC kept calling him grumpy. The man in the picture looked perpetually pissed-off, and Dave wondered if that was how he looked all the time. The thought filled him with a weary sadness and a permeating sense of loss. Quickly on top of that came another emotion, fleeting but no less intense.
    Anger.
    Anger at the truth captured in that frozen second of time. Anger that he had allowed himself to become the man he glimpsed in the picture. His fingers tightened briefly against the phone, then relaxed as he handed it back to CC.
    She was watching him carefully, her eyes studying, her oval face a blank mask hiding whatever she was thinking. Dave may have only just met her, but he knew that this sudden seriousness wasn't characteristic for her. He was sure she could be serious, had to be serious, given the nature of her job, but not like this.
    He cleared his throat, looked away from her watchful gaze, turned back and tried to smile. It felt like a grimace. "I hope you're going to delete that."
    CC suddenly smiled at him, all seriousness gone. Her thumb tapped at the phone's screen then she held it up for him to see. "All gone. Who knows, maybe one of these days, I'll get one of you smiling."
    One of these days . She said it like she was sure there would be more days, more opportunities for candid pictures.
    A chance she'd capture him smiling, for at least a frozen second in time.
    Dave didn't know what to make of that, not when he wasn't even sure why he had called her tonight in the first place. And right now, he couldn't think past this minute, wouldn't consider anything past this hour, right here, right now.
    But he couldn't tell her that and, thankfully, didn't have to, because the teenager bellowed their number from the window. Dave stood to pick up their order, then paused when he saw the tray being pushed their way.
    One ice cream sundae, the clear plastic glass filled with two scoops of vanilla ice cream, drizzled in hot fudge, topped with whipped cream and a cherry.
    And one monstrosity, dwarfing the sundae in size, drowning in so much hot fudge sauce, his