Desperately Seeking Fireman Read Online Free PDF Page B

degree from Bryn Mawr.”
    “Then you should have no problem with it.”
    She heaved a sigh and shifted to her knees. Jeb studiously kept his eyes on the pipes above his head. Nita on her knees. Not a helpful image right now.
    “Pass the wrench.”
    It took her a minute to locate the wrench—maybe she’d skipped shop at Bryn Mawr—but in the end she handed him the correct tool.
    “That sounded pretentious, didn’t it?” she said. “Mentioning Bryn Mawr. Bradford used to do that. He was a master of the degree-drop and the name-drop.”
    Ah-ha. An opening. “What happened with him? You two looked very . . .” He searched for the right word. “Like a real power couple.”
    Actually, the guy had looked like a weenie to him, but a wealthy one.
    “And you looked like a homecoming couple.”
    “Shows what you know, Bryn Mawr. We weren’t ever a homecoming couple. We both got our GEDs. Never went to prom.”
    She seemed to take that as a challenge. “And we weren’t a power couple, fireman. That would require us being an actual couple.”
    “You were snuggled up pretty close.”
    “So were you. I saw you on the dance floor. It might as well have been a prom. You probably made out in the parking lot afterward.”
    He made the sound of a buzzer. “You lose. There was no making out.”
    “Really? Maybe she was mad because you were flirting with the bridesmaids.”
    He gritted his teeth. “I wasn’t flirting. And I only talked to one bridesmaid.” Had there been other bridesmaids? Honestly, he couldn’t remember.
    “It was three years ago. You can’t possibly remember if you talked to other bridesmaids. Or if you made out or not.”
    “I’m pretty damn sure.”
    “Why?”
    “Are you always like this with the questions?” He twisted a pipe, which came out in his hand.
    “No. But I had this idea that you were the perfect couple, the perfect family, and now you tell me you’re divorced, and all my illusions are shattered. I’m wondering what happened between then and now. You looked so lovey-dovey together.”
    Lovey-dovey? He wanted to gag, especially given the true state of things between him and Belinda. “That’s funny, because by the time of Brody’s wedding we hadn’t had sex in two years.”
    “Two years ?”
    Oh God, now he’d done it. He always did have a knack for brutal honesty, which had its good points and its bad points. Might as well go for broke.
    “Or for two years after the wedding. In fact . . .” Why hold anything back? “I haven’t had sex for five years.”
    N ITA STARED AT the mouth-watering length of man stretched under the sink. Jeb Stone had been at the Enchanted Garden for the sum total of one night, and already he’d turned all her ideas about him upside down. The man exuded sex from every cell, but he hadn’t had sex in five years?
    “Why not?”
    “Long story, but the gist of it is that my wife—ex-wife—Belinda decided we shouldn’t, since we both knew we wouldn’t last past Alison’s eighteenth birthday.”
    Nita wondered if she’d been wrong about everything at Melissa’s wedding. She’d certainly been wrong about Bradford.
    Jeb continued. “I feel I should warn you that when a man hasn’t had sex in five years and he meets a woman he’s attracted to, that could be trouble.”
    A thrill shivered through her. “Trouble how?”
    “I’ll probably be pulling out all the stops to get you into bed. In fact, I know I will.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “Yep. Brace yourself. Plumber’s tape, please.”
    Slightly stunned, she passed him the only thing that could possibly be plumber’s tape. “You’re a player, aren’t you? You were flirting at the wedding. And now you’re doing it again.”
    “A player?” He let out a bark of a laugh. “That’s a good one. And I didn’t flirt. I was about to flirt. Never quite got there. It’s quite likely I’m flirting now, but since it’s been a long time, I’m not sure I’m doing it right.”
    “Oh,