Page 12 of Protected By Her Mate

“Charlie!” Dale’s booming voice has me flinching. “Come join us. Your new partner here is making breakfast.”

“Not my partner,” I mutter, sliding into a chair and staring blankly around. No less than seven firefighters are lined up at the counter, plates in hand as Lennox serves what looks like toaster strudels with strawberries and Cool Whip, microwaved bacon and sausages on the side.

Dale’s eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles at me. Smiles! Before today, I assumed he didn’t have the correct facial muscles to lift his lips into a proper smile.

“She never was a morning person,” he says to Lennox with a wink. “It’s why you had to wait two hours for her to show up.”

“Two hours!” I swing my gaze to Lennox. “What time did you get here?”

“6:30,” he says pleasantly, tipping a toaster strudel onto a waiting plate. “You told me to be here early.”

Oh. I did, didn’t I? “Sorry,” I mumble. “I should’ve been more specific. I don’t start before the sun does.”

“Not a problem,” he replies cheerfully. “The extra time allowed me to get to know your colleagues better.”

I look suspiciously at the faces surrounding me. These people worshipped Ramón and have as much as told me I need to remain true to his memory until my dying day. I thought I’d give them a decade before attempting to introduce a new beau, but they seem quite taken with a guy I barely know myself.

Realizing the direction my thoughts have drifted to, I push my chair back and stand.

Dale frowns at me. “Sit and eat.”

Shaking my head, I reply, “I had some toast already. I need to get to work.”

“Since when don’t you eat with us?” Angela demands, her expression concerned as she searches my face.

“C’mon,” Dale pushes. “Sit down.”

I want to argue with them, but I don’t know why.

Angela is right. Even once I stopped fighting fires with the crew, I was still considered one of them. It was hard to sit and eat with them after Ramón died, but they understood. They waited patiently until I was ready to come back to them.

But this… is different.

Why would they accept Lennox so readily into our tight-knit group. It feels like a betrayal. Not just to me, but to Ramón. He earned his place at the table, but he only got to sit at it for a few short years before giving his life in service to his city.

What has Lennox done to deserve their attention? To deserve mine?

“I’ll be in my office when you’re ready to work,” I say to Lennox without meeting his eyes.

Ignoring the murmurs that follow, I make my way to my office, climbing over boxes before collapsing into my chair.

I get barely ten seconds to myself before Lennox pushes his way in. I open my mouth to blast him, but before I can speak, he says, “I’m sorry, I overstepped. I shouldn’t have done that.”

My grump starts to dissipate. “You’re sorry you pitched in to feed a bunch of hungry firefighters?” I force a smile, though I don’t meet his gaze. “Don’t be. They work hard and deserve a treat once in a while.”

He doesn’t say anything and I look up. His expression is serious. “No, Charlie, I’m sorry I barged into what is clearly a family dynamic without your permission or blessing. I shouldn’t have done it. Getting to know them was a thinly veiled excuse to get to know you better. I should have waited until you were comfortable before introducing myself.”

The gorgeous deep blue of his eyes holds me while my heart thumps at his words. At his bald honesty. He wants to get to know me better. He wants to get to know my colleagues better.

My mom is always warning me about red flags when I go on dates, but this guy is the opposite of red flags. A flush stains my cheeks as I realize I’m fantasizing about introducing the detective to my mother. What’s wrong with me?

“You’re forgiven,” I tell him. “I’m actually a little surprised the crew accepted you so readily. They usually haze newcomers who wander into the station.”

He flashes a grin. “They did. When I showed up at 6:30 asking for you, I thought your chief was going to take me out with the axe he was sharpening. I explained who I was and my purpose for being in the fire station. He said I could stay as long as I bought the groceries. When I asked what that meant, I found myself bundled into the back of one of the trucks and off to a grocery store. The rest you can probably work out.”

Now that I’m past my pique, I can see the humour in Lennox’s introduction to my favourite fire station. Dale probably got him to pay for the groceries too, which isn’t cheap when filling that many hungry bellies.

My smile dims as I remember my reason for asking him to meet me. “I found something.”

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