Stump broke first, focusing back on me with a million-dollar smile as he released my hand. “Nice to meet you, Posey.”
“You too,” I said, and he walked away.
“You got enough food?” Shadow asked.
“For now,” I retorted.
“Let’s go sit for a bit.”
“Um, okay,” I said, and followed him to one of the empty picnic tables away from the smoker. He snagged a cupcake off the dessert table as we passed it, then he sat across from me on a bench.
“I take it you were the yoga goddess that the kids have been buzzing about all week,” he murmured.
“Goddess, huh? I like the sound of that,” I retorted.
“They haven’t shut up about it,” he said.
“I’m really glad they liked it. I love kids and yoga, so merging the two is always fun for me. What about you? What do you do when you’re not taking the piss out of deities in distress?”
His mouth twitched as he peeled the cupcake lining from the chocolatey goodness. “Just earned my badge at SFD, but they don’t have a budget for another full-time person, so I’m working one shift a week. Sterling keeps me busy, though, so sometimes I wonder if I have time to be a firefighter.”
I smiled. “I hear that.”
“I figure I’m doin’ everything I want to do on my terms, so shit’ll sort itself out.”
“Very namaste of you. You’d do well in yoga.”
He laughed. “No way in hell.”
“You should try it. It would help correct the way you hunch your shoulders.”
“I hunch my shoulders?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Your hips are off too.”
“No shit?”
“No shit,” I said, cutting into the meat. “I can show you a few things to help your balance if you like. You’ll probably be surprised how much easier it’ll be to carry your hose.”
“My hose is pretty big,” he said. “But I carry it just fine.”
I chuckled and took a bite of the pork. Considering the size of his frame, I had a feeling his hose was bigger than pretty big, but I focused on the food in an effort to hide my lady boner. Lord, I seriously needed to get laid.
“What’s your timeframe on fixin’ your kitchen?” he asked.
“My landlord’s coming to inspect it in just over two weeks.”
“That’s doable.”
I sighed. “It’s a huge chunk out of my savings, though. My grand plan was to buy a little house, but I’ve been shoving money into the studio trying to keep it afloat, and the rent in the building’s killing me. Rent pretty much everywhere’s killing me,” I admitted.
“Yeah, real estate’s goin’ crazy right now. I’m glad I’m nomadic or I’d be spending half my earnings on a roof over my head.”
“Where do you live, then?”
“Here.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Oh, wow. I didn’t realize this was anything more than a clubhouse.”
“We’ve got several floors with rooms and bathrooms. The officers get the fancy rooms, and then the rest of us have rooms based on rank. Prospects have to share.”
“Makes sense.”
“There you are,” Quin called, approaching us with the bottle of wine I brought. “I’m sorry I abandoned you. I come bearing a peace offering.”
I smiled. “Shadow’s been keeping me company, so it’s all good. Plus, I’m kind of making love to this food. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so well.”
“Amazing what happens when you don’t cook the box, huh?” Shadow retorted, and I threw a piece of pork at him.
He laughed, standing to let Quin sit, then giving me a chin lift and walking away.
“Isn’t he adorable?” Quin asked, pouring wine into a couple of empty solo cups she’d brought.
Yeah, he was adorable, I thought to myself. I wanted to know how adorable he was naked, but I kept that to myself.
“He’s really nice,” I said instead.
For the rest of the night, Quin stuck by me as she guided me around the room, introducing me to bikers and their ‘ol’ ladies,’ most of whom I’d never remember name-wise, but I sallied forth and tried to make mental notes as I met yet one more gorgeous man after another.
By the time I got home, I fell into bed with a wine buzz and a horny haze. It had been a while since I’d had any relief that didn’t involve batteries, and tonight was a not so gentle reminder of what was out there. Maybe a one-night stand was just what I needed.
For the moment, though, the battery kind was all I could manage, grabbing my vibrator from my nightstand and imagining Shadow as I got some relief.
CHAPTER FIVE
Shadow
WITH NO EMERGENCIES during shift, I left the firehouse at four and headed to Earl’s High-End Appliances & More to pick up the range for Posey.
“Earl!” I bellowed, walking through the warehouse door behind the showroom.
“Back here!” he called back, and I made my way to his office. “Hey, Shadow.”
“Hey, bud. You found that range?”
“Yeah. Had to fix it first.”
“Fix it? What do you mean? I thought you found it in ‘pristine’ condition.”
“It’s got a recall, so I fixed it.”
I frowned. “What kinda recall?”
“They’re a fire hazard when they’re set to self-clean because air gets inside and fuels the flames.”
“So if something inside caught on fire, the oven isn’t airtight?”
“Exactly. They’ve had a couple actually blow, which is why the company discontinued the unit. They did make it right by providing the parts to fix if you have the know-how, or sending someone out to do it for you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, but it was still gonna cost you about fifty bucks, so a lot of folks just said fuck it and donated them or sold ’em for parts.”
“Well, shit.”
“You still want it?”
“Can you give me a couple a days? Gotta find out if the client still wants it knowin’ this.”
“No problem. Just let me know.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, and climbed back in one of the club trucks and headed to Posey’s.
I called Rabbit on the way to do some digging into Posey’s landlord, asking him to pass everything on through Lyric so she could advise us on our legal options. What I really wanted to do was break the asshole’s legs, but Doom’s woman would figure out a way to sue his ass which might hurt more.
* * *
Posey
My doorbell pealed and I checked the peephole, took a deep breath, then pulled the door open. “Hi.”
“Hey.”
“Do you want me to leave the door open so you can bring—”
“About that…”
“Uh-oh, what happened?” I stepped back. “Come in.”
Shadow’s face appeared controlled, but his body was locked. “Did your landlord inform you about a recall for the range?”
“Ah… no. What kind of recall?”
“The kind that makes your oven and stovetop a fire hazard.”