Page 18 of An Ex Affair

“Great.” She held up the sander. “And thanks for the tip.”

I opened my car door. “Anytime.” I got behind the steering wheel and blew out a big breath as I watched Emmerleigh walk into the hardware store.

I could keep putting it off with projects galore around Mama’s place, but I didn’t want to be that person who blows people off.

I needed to meet up with Colson.

A fire truck zoomed down Main Street as I waited to pull out of the hardware parking lot. I watched it go, wondering if Colson was on the rig right now. I would never admit it out loud, but there was something enticing about knowing Colson was a firefighter. He’d been talking about becoming one at the end of our marriage. He was tired of his job being the lackey for a local contractor. Colson worked hard and provided for us. That was never the problem in our marriage. His attractiveness was also never a problem in our marriage. It was a problem now though, when I didn’t want to find him hot in his firefighting gear.

I turned onto Main Street and followed the almost comically light traffic to the fire station where I parked and got out before I could talk myself out of it. Flashbacks of last night wouldn’t leave my brain. In all the horror of being naked in front of him, I’d forgotten until this morning that he’d also been nearly naked. The man had filled out in the years since we divorced. And all in the right places.

My heart beat so fast I thought I might pass out on the way to the open bay. Colson’s erection had pressed against me and it wasn’t something I could get out of my mind. He still wantedme. Or maybe he always got excited over a naked woman in the woods. Probably that. Pretty sure I’d burned every bridge when I surprised him with the divorce and walked out of Blueball without a backward glance. He couldn’t possibly want me, not when he probably harbored bad feelings toward me. And rightfully so.

“You look a little peaked, Tully.”

My eyes flew open and I saw Joey bending down to look at me with concern. His hand came up and cupped my elbow, tugging me into the bay.

“Let’s get you seated and I’ll call Colson out.”

I resisted the chair Joey was steering me toward and got a firm grip on my brain. There was no time to be thinking about Colson that way. I’d lost all rights to think about his body when I handed him those divorce papers.

“No, it’s okay. Colson and I were supposed to meet to talk about the fundraiser.”

The door to the fire station banged open and Colson appeared in the doorway, frowning at Joey’s hand on my arm.

“Here we go again,” I muttered under my breath.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Colson

“I baked cookies,”I growled.

Joey cracked a shit-eating grin that pissed me off. Then again, anytime anyone was around Tully and taking all of her attention, it pissed me off. I thought maybe that reaction would lessen given space and time apart, but clearly it hadn’t.

“You what?” Tully blinked like she didn’t understand simple English.

“Good to see you again, Tully.” Joey gave Tully a side hug, grinning at me the whole time, knowing his proximity was pissing me off. I’d have to have a talk with him about putting his hands on her. He was a married man. He’d do well to remember that next time he felt the urge to hug someone who wasn’t his wife.

“Figured if we were going to abuse your time with this fundraiser, I could at least make it worth your while. Still drool over those chocolate peanut butter chip cookies?” I remembered how much Tully loved the chocolate-and-peanut butter combination. At least she did when we were kids.

Tully stepped over to my side, looking more like her younger self in a pair of loose-fitted jeans with holes at the knee and a bright red blouse despite her gorgeous hair being wrangled into a straight hairstyle again. When she did her television show, she was always in a skintight polo shirt and tool belt, not a hair curl in sight. This casual look reminded me of old times. More Tully Cassio and less Tully Starling. “Egg bites and now cookies? You trying to butter me up, hotshot?”

It was the nickname that had me losing the frown. She used to call me that, back when I was only talking about getting into firefighting. She’d been my biggest supporter. Until she wasn’t.

“I can add in tacos and a margarita if that’ll help.”

Tully smiled at me, both of us just soaking in the sight of the other person. Joey cleared his throat and I stepped back, remembering he was there. I indicated Tully should follow me into the fire station. She swept past me, and right before the door closed, I turned around and flipped off Joey. His bark of laughter was muted by the door between us, thank God.

“We have a meeting room over here.” I ushered Tully into the closet-sized room we rarely used.

I shut the door behind us, not wanting any of the guys to poke their heads in and fawn over the Hollywood celebrity like they did last time she was here. There was just enough room for a small table and two chairs in the plain room. I held out one chair and Tully sat down. I took the other, though the tight room meant our elbows were touching. I didn’t mind that part at all. Except now her perfume was clogging the airspace, and I wasn’t going to be able to think straight.

I pushed the notepad toward her, where my chicken scratch writing listed out about fifteen items we’d need her help with. She eyed it and then gave me a hoity-toity look I hated.

“Still haven’t learned to write above a second-grade level?”

I gave her a dirty look right back. Good handwriting was overrated. “Been busy saving lives. You?”

---