Hot in Here: Uncovered / Tailspin / An Honorable Man. Lori Foster

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СКАЧАТЬ tell me what you think and what you feel. But you don’t get hung up on little stuff. You’re always honest with me.”

      She’d closed her eyes and Harris wasn’t sure if she was listening. “Clair?”

      Leaving her chair to pace, she said, “We’re already involved. We just haven’t slept together. If you like me how I am now, well, I can’t see why sex should change anything.”

      “Sex changes some stuff.”

      She turned to face him, one brow raised in an attitude of skepticism. “How?”

      How? Harris shook his head and rethought his words. “I should say that sex between us will change things. If you were a different woman—”

      “Your secret admirer?”

      “Don’t sneer, Clair.” He liked her show of jealousy. It sort of tickled him, because he’d never thought of Clair as a jealous woman. “All I’m saying is that with another woman, I might not care. But if we do this, I’ll expect some rights.”

      She crossed her arms over her chest. “What rights?”

      Somehow, this was backward, Harris thought, almost laughing at himself. Here he was, a man who avoided commitments, now trying to pin her down. But what had seemed so appealing just days before, now felt too open-ended. Clair never pressured him, never wanted to know where he was or when he’d be back or if he’d call. He was a firefighter, yet, to his knowledge, she never worried. And that had been cool—till now.

      If she cared, shouldn’t she show a little concern every now and then? Shouldn’t she want to know if he was with another woman? Damn right, because if she didn’t demand that special consideration, how could he demand it of her? And he wanted to. All this talk about her past boyfriend had him feeling his own dose of jealousy. He didn’t want her with anyone else.

      Harris pushed away from the desk. “I won’t want you to ever jog at night without me.” He warmed to his topic, moving closer to her. “Hell, I don’t want you to do that now. If I can’t make it, you’ll skip it.”

      Her mouth fell open, then snapped shut and she declared with feeling, “I will not.”

      “Now Clair.” He closed the space between them, forcing her to back up. “It’s dangerous.”

      “You never cared before.”

      He was a dumb ass before. “We didn’t have that kind of relationship. Now we will.”

      “Ha. What if you find your mystery lady? Then I’ll be put on hold. So until you resolve your feelings for her, I’ll just continue to do as I damn well please.”

      Harris loomed over her. The thought of her alone at night infuriated him. “Then I guess I’ll just have to make sure I jog every damn night until we’ve got this settled.”

      Her back touched the wall and stopped her retreat. “You do anyway,” she grumbled. And then, a little defeated, she added, “Besides, I don’t enjoy jogging without you. Odds are, if you couldn’t go, I’d skip it too.”

      Harris cupped her face. Logical, honest Clair. “Thank you.” He kissed her again, but kept it light because he was running late. “I’ll be over tonight as soon as I get off work.”

      “Why?” Thanks to the kiss, her eyes looked soft behind her glasses. “We don’t run until it’s dark.”

      “We’ve got a lot to talk about. Me, you, sex.” He grinned at her. “We’ll hash it all out, because I don’t think I can wait too much longer.”

      He started to turn away, and she said, “Harris?”

      “Yeah?”

      “I don’t want to wait either.”

      Oh hell. A statement like that guaranteed he’d be semihard for most of the day. Not a comfortable circumstance while working with a group of men who lived to harass each other. And no doubt Ethan would be the worst, but then Ethan still prodded him about the shoebox. If he found out how much Harris cared about Clair, there’d never be an end to it. Without another word, Harris made his escape.

      But just as he’d suspected, Clair stayed on his mind, distracting him, filling his thoughts and making him edgy. That is, until a truck driver swerved off the road, striking a gas line and sparking an apartment fire on the north side of the town.

      The collision smashed a natural gas manifold, and intense, gas-fed flames shot up into the building’s roof, turning the four-unit apartment into a gigantic blaze. Harris temporarily plugged the gas lines so the fire was no longer fed, but flames were already licking a large portion of the building. Harris’s unit was forced to fight the flames on two fronts, one group using a fog stream to keep the fire contained in the rear, while Harris and several other men engaged in fire attack and an internal overhaul.

      Not long after that, gas workers arrived to shut off underground pipes, diminishing the danger. It was still another two hours before the fire was completely out and only smoke remained. Cleanup would take a while, but thank God, other than a few minor injuries, no one was seriously hurt. The renters, including several small children, all made it out safely. One older woman suffered smoke inhalation, but she’d be okay. A young man had some minor burns and the paramedics were already working on him.

      Harris was exhausted, dirty, and reeking of smoke. Muscles in his neck and shoulders cramped. His eyes burned. He shoved aside a pile of embers, making sure they were cold before moving on. Ethan stepped up beside him. He looked as bad as Harris felt, but he was smiling.

      Harris said, “There has to be about fifty-thou worth of damage. Three of those apartments are no longer habitable, and a bunch of people are going to be hunting for a place to stay.” He pulled off his helmet to swipe black soot from his face. “So why the grin?”

      Ethan followed suit, removing his helmet and running one gloved hand through his sweat-soaked hair. “Rosie.”

      “What about her?”

      “Whenever there’s a fire, she dotes on me.” Ethan elbowed him. “And I don’t mean she brings me chicken soup, either.”

      Reminded of the love between Rosie and Ethan, Harris felt a little melancholy. He forced a smile. “I might be too young to hear this.”

      “You’re definitely too young for details. Let’s just say that I’m sorry for the damage, I hate it that people will be displaced, but I’m anxious to get home to my loving wife.” Ethan winked, replaced his helmet, and sauntered away.

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