With a relieved sigh, I tossed my towel into the laundry chute and stepped out of the bathroom into the station. Now all I needed was a hot cup of coffee, and I’d be ready to start the paperwork for the call.
As I started toward the kitchen a familiar, musical laugh rang out.
My stomach twisted, something in between desire and dread. Tru’s laugh was loud and unrestrained, unselfconscious, just like everything else about him. I wanted to see him—see what was making him laugh like that.
But why was he at the station? I’d been surprised to see him at the site of the fire, and since I hadn’t been prepared to deal with him, the shock of arousal had knocked me off balance. I could handle him at the Stella’s site because I expected him to be there, but when he just showed up out of nowhere, with those long legs and glittering eyes and teasing smirk… He pretty much had me by the dick. It made me stupid, and subsequently made me annoyed. Because I was at work, and I couldn’t afford to be distracted. And that’s what he was: a distraction.
Jono popped out of the kitchen with a scone in hand. He was still sweaty and dirty from the call, and I wrinkled my nose at the scent. “Yo, boss,” he said. “One of the guys from Stella’s is here, and he brought us muffins!”
“That’s a scone,” I said. “Go clean up, you reek.”
“Huh,” Jono said curiously, peering at the scone as he ambled past me toward the showers.
I steeled myself and headed into the kitchen. Ostensibly for coffee. But I wasn’t kidding even myself.
Nora was sitting in one of the beat-up chairs at the kitchen table, and Tru was next to her, leaning over with his palm on the swell of her baby bump, and she was grinning. “Feel it?” she asked. “There he goes again.”
“He’s strong!” Tru exclaimed. “You better be lining up soccer scholarships!”
Nora was not the type to let just anyone touch her like that—as far as I knew, the only men who’d felt her boy kick were me and her husband, Mike. And yet here she was with Tru, laughing like they were old friends. How had he managed to charm her so quickly?
I cleared my throat pointedly from the doorway.
Tru glanced up, and his easy smile became something a little more sultry, a little closer to a smirk. His attention was like a physical touch as his gaze slid down my body, not even trying to hide it.
And why would he, when he looked the way he did? He was so effortlessly gorgeous, especially like this, with his leather jacket thrown carelessly over the back of his chair and his white t-shirt stretched tight over his lean muscles. His dark hair was tied up into a bun, as usual, but it was a little messy; a few loose strands were tucked behind his ears and falling into his pretty, almond-shaped eyes. The piercings lining his ears caught the florescent light of the kitchen. Did he have others?
I wanted to peel that tight shirt off him and find out myself.
“Hiya, Beau,” Nora said with a knowing smile. “How was the call?”
I shoved those thoughts out of my head. It was really unbelievable how quickly I got distracted when Tru was around—I needed to get my head on straight.
“Fine,” I said. “Uneventful. Still got some paperwork to do.” I flipped the coffeemaker on, and then leaned back against the kitchen counter with my arms crossed over my chest. “What are you doing here, Tru?”
Tru leaned back in his chair. The teasing expression fell off his face, replaced by something a little more serious as he nodded towards the scones on the kitchen table.
“Brought these by,” he said coolly. “The other guys of the Crew and I wanted to thank you and your team for your help with the investigation around Stella’s. We’re starting the rebuilding process now. Dare—Dante’s really relieved the exterior was able to be saved.”
Ah. Some of my annoyance fell away. Even though Tru had been flirting with me, that didn’t mean he was unaffected by the fire. It seemed like Dante was the most affected by it: he’d been a little dazed and stilted every time he was on-site, with his cute boyfriend hovering worriedly around him. Tru had taken on a decision-making role in his stead, working with me, the insurance guys, and now the construction crews.
But just because he was stepping up to the task didn’t mean it didn’t hurt to do it. His entire club had lost a major part of their lives, and I knew from working this job how painful that was.
“Oh,” I said, softening. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know,” Tru said.
“Thank you.” I nodded at the scones. “And tell Dante thank you, too.”
A little bit of Tru’s sudden defensiveness melted away, replaced by that sneaky little smile I’d grown familiar with. “Will do.” He nodded at Nora. “I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to meet your lovely wife.”
“Nora!” I scrubbed my hand over my forehead. I shuddered to think what kind of stories Nora might’ve told him—especially if they were already this friendly. She loved me, but she also loved to tease me. And she already suspected I had a thing for Tru—I had a feeling his presence had done exactly zero good in mitigating that suspicion.
“What?” she asked innocently. “We’ve just been enjoying getting to know each other.”
“Definitely not talking about you,” Tru said.
“Definitely not,” Nora agreed with a serious nod.
I cringed. “Whatever she’s told you, it’s not true.”
Tru nodded, and then held up his hand, miming writing notes. “Nora… liar?” he muttered as if he was writing it down.
“That’s not what I meant!” I said.
Nora cackled gleefully.
“All right, I’m glad y’all are having fun,” I said. “But we’ve got to handle the paperwork for this call, Nora. I need your eyes on it.”
“Doubt that,” Nora said, “but yes, I’ll help you with the debrief.”
Tru stood and stretched his arms overhead, arching back quite a bit into the stretch—God, he was flexible—enough that his shirt rode up and revealed the smooth, taut plane of his belly. I wanted, suddenly and desperately, to drag my tongue across it.
Tru dropped his hands and caught me looking. And he had the audacity to wink. “Guess that’s my cue to leave, then,” he said. “Thanks for letting me stop by.”
“Hello?” a familiar, high voice called in a performative, musical tone. “Anyone home?”
Oh, no.
Oh, fuck, this was bad.
My stomach dropped to my feet. Of all the times for Mom to show up at the station—she had to come by now? I’d told her countless times that she shouldn’t just show up, but she never seemed to actually absorb that information. It was like she didn’t actually realize this was my career, like she thought I was still a high schooler starting to volunteer with the department for fun.
“Hi, Beau,” Mom said as she strode down the hall like she owned the place. She looked elegantly put-together as always in a pressed suit with a strand of pearls around her neck and blonde hair in a neat, short bob. “There you are! I’ve been trying to call you back all morning.”
“I’m on shift, Mom, I can’t just chat all day,” I said.