The Fireman Who Loved Me Read Online Free PDF Page A

tarp behind his garage. It would give them an icebreaker, right?
    A date. Jesus. Not that he didn’t enjoy women and make damn sure they enjoyed their time with him. But dating . . . no. Not for him. Unless it was with an eighty-something woman who couldn’t possibly disturb his peace of mind.
    One more knock on Mrs. McGuire’s door, and then he’d go home and work on the wiring in his kitchen.
    His attention was already back on the car when he felt his hand rap against soft flesh instead of hard oak. “Oh shit . . . I mean, so sorry, ma’am, are you hurt?” He reached out to keep his victim from losing her balance and felt the unexpected thrill of a slender arm and warm skin under his fingers. All he could see was a blur of hands protecting a dark head, fumbling for the glasses he’d knocked off her face. A face, he realized as his appalled vision cleared, that was most definitely not old. In fact, it was riveting. Maybe not beautiful, precisely, but arresting. And—familiar.
    It was the girl from the bachelor auction, with the same skin like vanilla cream, stubborn jaw, vulnerable mouth, and eyes glaring a deep green at him. He realized he was staring and looked away, dropping his hands, just as the girl firmly set a pair of horn-rimmed glasses back onto her nose.
    “You?” She didn’t look all that happy about it.
    “Are you all right? I’m so sorry. I was starting to think no one was here.”
    “Your eyes aren’t blue.”
    It seemed like a non sequitur, until he remembered she was expecting Ryan. “I am aware of that, and I do apologize. Ryan, the one you bid for, was . . . indisposed. I told him I’d take his place, if that is acceptable to you . . . that is . . . to Nelly McGuire. You can’t be . . . You’re not Mrs. Nelly McGuire, are you?” Of course she wasn’t. He knew all about his date. But still, his thoughts went wild. Maybe he’d gotten the name wrong. Maybe Ryan had seen the glasses and assumed she was old. Maybe her dark brown hair had looked white in the bright lights of the auction.
    “I am not,” she said firmly. “Strangely enough, my grandmother is also indisposed. Grans! Come out here.”
    No one responded. The girl shot him a suspicious look. “Are you in on this too?”
    Brody had no idea how to answer that. He had the feeling he’d stepped into some kind of looking-glass world.
    “Grans!” the girl called again. A door snapped open, and a white-haired, feisty-looking woman with golden eyes behind thick glasses marched out. So here was Nelly McGuire.
    His date.
    “Who the dickens are you?” She adjusted her glasses. “You’re too old, and your eyes don’t look blue to me.”
    No doubt about it, he’d fallen down a rabbit hole. “My name is Captain Brody—”
    “Where’s Number Five?”
    Brody cast a desperate glance at the girl and was relieved to see she looked just as confused as he was.
    “What kind of operation are you people running? You wouldn’t be trying to fool an old lady, would you?” Nelly demanded.
    “Not at all.” This situation was infinitely more mortifying than Brody had feared. His whole body stiffened, and when he spoke again his voice sounded painfully formal. “Ryan Blake works under me over at San Gabriel Fire Station 1, and when he informed me he wouldn’t be able to be here tonight, I requested the honor of taking his place.”
    “Why can’t he be here?”
    “Well . . .” How to put it politely without lying? “An unpleasant fire station situation came up.”
    Nelly’s suspicious gaze scanned him, head to toe. “You’re not wearing a fire captain uniform.”
    “It didn’t seem appropriate for the occasion. If you’d like to see my identification—”
    “No!” the girl broke in. “I’m sure that won’t be necessary. You look like a fire captain to me.”
    “Melissa, he could be anyone. Just walking in off the street like that.”
    So that was her name. Melissa. It suited her. It would feel like honey